Little fanfare over state budget debate

With almost all news being drowned out by Sunday’s slaying of international terror suspect Osama bin Laden, it would not be surprising if many people missed Tuesday’s state news, that the Connecticut Senate passed a two-year, $40.1 billion budget, in a deal reached between legislative leaders and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.It was an opportune week to push the economic passage through, as debate regarding the subject paled in comparison to the staggering details of the mission performed by U.S. Navy SEALs in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Suffice it to say there was much less fanfare over the state budget than in previous years.Still, there are reasons to be worried about Connecticut’s economic future, in which residents, businesses, state organizations and nonprofits have been repeatedly urged to accept shared sacrifice.The problem with this concept lies in the the fairness of its implementation. Numerous legislators have pointed out that the budget will be good for big business in Connecticut, with endorsements coming from the CEOs of major corporations, but little has been said about how the budget will affect daily life for ordinary citizens, who will see taxes increased and services reduced.For Winsted and towns throughout Litchfield County, where population growth has been minimal, so will be the increases in funding. As school systems and municipalities struggle to balance their books, affluent towns like Greenwich will receive significant increases in state aid. Colleges and universities will see reductions in funding, and state employees will give back a significant chunk of the benefits packages promised to them when they were hired.In an age in which corporations have been outed across the nation for not paying any taxes, and in a state where corporate tax returns are allowed to be kept secret, it is astounding that Connecticut continues to coddle its most fortunate citizens while telling everyone else that shared sacrifice is a virtue.Following passage of the budget and the governor’s signature, Connecticut residents should focus their efforts on tracking how much of the sacrifice is truly being shared by affluent residents, communities and corporations, and how much is being asked of the middle class and the poor. The goal of future legislation should be to correct the obvious inequities.

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Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago — March 1924

The mysterious disappearance of Lawrence Travis, 20 years old, in a Star Sedan belonging to A.S. Martin, was solved at 5 o’clock last Thursday afternoon, when the car containing the young man’s body was drawn to the surface of the lake, after hours of hard and dangerous work. The search for the body resulted from the discovery of a patch of black oil under the surface of the ice by William Bassett, a fellow worker of Travis at Martin’s Garage. Mr. Bassett had never been fully satisfied in his mind that young Travis had gone very far away and he believed that some accident had befallen him. On Thursday John H. Garrity’s small derrick was taken to the lake and block and tackle installed. By this time a crowd of between two and three hundred people had gathered, and many hands laid hold of the rope to draw the car out. Soon it was resting on the ice, and a moment later Michael P. Flynn entered the car and brought forth the remains of the unfortunate young man. An autopsy conducted by Medical Examiner Bissell was done immediately after recovery of the body and death was found to have been due to drowning. Much sympathy is felt for Mr. John Travis, father of the young man, and his grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Owen Travis, with whom the lad had lived. There is a great feeling of sadness throughout the community over his untimely death.

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Letters to the Editor - 3-28-24

Thankful farewell after 41 years of practice

This week brings to conclusion more than 41 years of my practicing Ophthalmology in Lakeville.

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My impulse to push back is not entirely irrational. Betamax, New Coke, MySpace, the Segway, Theranos, even the electric knife: did they ever have a chance? As a society, we are programmed to immediately accept the new and vastly underestimate how long it will take to become the norm.

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Hose company feeds Lakeville

Anna Pattison sliced countless potatoes for the Lakeville Hose Company’s St. Patrick’s Day Dinner

Patrick L. Sullivan

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Watching her manipulate tuber and slicer, it was apparent she had done it before.

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