By David Fortier
Come Sunday morning, inauguration day at the state capitol will have come and gone. Since Mary was taking her oath as a new member of the state house of representatives, she got to invite a few members of the family—two of us joined her on the chamber floor for her oath and another sat in the gallery.
It was all pretty thrilling for me, to watch democratic process unfold with its ceremony and ritual–a few swings of the gavel, speeches, oaths and later the first votes of the new session. Earlier Joe Hoxha, the new representative from the 78 district and I crossed paths and exchanged a hurried, hello. Cara Pavalock-D’Amato from the 77th district was visible across the chamber floor in her red jacket.
Nominating speeches for the House speaker from Jason Rojas (D – East Hartford, Manchester) and John Candelaria (R-New Haven) presented a much different relationship between the two parties here in the state than what we hear from the nation’s capital. Rojas, the majority leader and Candelaria the minority leader both had kind words for Matt Ritter (D-Hartford) who will continue as speaker
At the same time, while they both made clear that they have a job to do representing their constituents, they complimented each other on the work they had accomplished in the previous couple of years and looked forward to working together again for the citizens of Connecticut.
***
It was only the next morning that the news about the representative from Middletown, Quentin “Q” Williams reached us. Williams, who died in a wrong-way driver crash early in the morning on Thursday on his way home from the inaugural ball, was young and energized and focused on the next session. He was heading south on Rt. 9 when a car going the wrong direction hit him head on. This was terrible news, very difficult to comprehend. and so very sad.
Within a day, and talking to a few people, I learned that Connecticut has the highest wrong-way traffic deaths in the country, and to confirm this, I heard from two people that they had experienced wrong-way drivers in the past couple of years. One of these was driving his young daughter, and for a moment, thought he might try to hit the car going the wrong direction before someone got hurt. He thought better of this—there was not a little danger involved—and later found out that the car was involved in a fatal crash soon afterward.
***
This weekend our Christmas celebration comes to an end. We will have taken down the Christmas tree on the Feast of Three Kings—completing the 12 days of Christmas. On Saturday night, we connected via Facebook with the son and girl friend/partner in Australia to watch them find out who their Secret Santas were and to watch them open their gifts. They had been in New Zealand over Christmas and had just returned to Sydney the day before.
***
Reading/listening recommendations this week have to do with what makes for student success and another about getting some rest. The former is a short read from the New York Times, “The Key to Student Success is So Simple, It’s Almost Never Mentioned.” The secret is buried down in the text of the guest essay, but I don’t think it will surprise anyone. Click here to read.
The latter is an Ezra Klein podcast, “Sabbath and the Art of Rest.” It features a book named “The Sabbath” by Abraham Joshua Heschel, and as it would happen, it’s a book I have a copy on my shelf, and turn to it every once in a while, to ground myself. Klein calls the book stunning. He discovered it during his college days, and it is one he turns to himself. Click here for the episode.
***
And, one more time, TBE is a business enterprise. While many of us have gotten used to the idea that online news is something we are entitled to, I remind you here and now that news needs funding if it is going to be able to provide its readers with better coverage. Take the time to support TBE with a small recurring monthly donation. The more readers who do this, the better the news coverage.
All TBE readers, supporters and donors
The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.
- Non-members will be able to access eight (8) articles per week.
- Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access eight (8) articles per week.
- Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.
Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.