Come Sunday morning, a new grandchild will have joined three others. That would have been on Friday, when Mary was in session at the state capitol and I was sequestered at home, waiting for news about the birth, coming from one state over.
Mary and I texted each other.
“Any word?”
“Nothing so far.”
And then, the announcement coming in a text.
“Mom and baby are good. Everything went well. Will text more when they get settled in.”
Relief and gratitude followed, and a couple more texts between Mary and me, because no one shared the baby’s name.
That came later along with photos and a phone call.
In the end, wonderful!
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Earlier in the week, I had babysitting duty which brought me to Norwalk and the mess that was there after the tractor trailer accident on I-95 that erupted into a massive fire, damaging he highway and an overpass. I don’t know what I was thinking–maybe I wasn’t–but I thought I might avoid the area, and still I got caught in the middle of traffic, spending literally hours navigating a couple of miles.
On Saturday evening, Gov. Lamont announced that traffic in the northbound lane would be opened by 8 p.m. The southbound lane would be closed through Sunday.
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Today we have in Bristol the Bristol Chorale performing at the Rockwell Theater on Memorial Boulevard and Forestville’s Duck Race. On Shrub Road, there is the grand opening of the Wallace Barnes Accessible Nature Trail at 2 p.m. this afternoon.
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Listening this week, there is more on Trump v. United States. For the latest audio and a transcript, consult the Supreme Court website by clicking here. Scroll down the page to the box where the case is featured and choose your delivery method.
Then there are the student protests and their coverage that has become a subject of its own. The Majority Report podcast provides an alternative discussion from an eye-opening perspective — that we are not getting the whole story about the protesters, who have been, for the most part, peaceful.
“3331–Propaganda, Protest, & Politics w/Mehdi Hassan” (click here) begins the discussion. I recommend listening to it and following up with the podcast Ones & Tooze, “The Columbia Protests and the Economics of Divestment,” which provides addition insights but requires paying careful attention to absorb the context. Click here.
Note: In this Ones & Tooze segment reviewing university endowments, The University of Connecticut is brought up as an example of how an esteemed public university works compared to private, such as Columbia and Yale.
On another note, ff you haven’t got to it, I highly recommend Ones & Tooze’s “Famine in Gaza,” available by clicking here.
As for reading, there is the Jewish Forward, which has articles and commentary about the protests and the situation in Israel. Click here.
On a different subject, you might try this article from The New York Review of Books, “Choosing Pragmatism Over Textualism: A method of judicial interpretation that looks only to the original meaning of legal texts risks producing a Constitution and laws that no one would want,” by former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Click here.
Anyone have a recommendation? Email dfortier@bristoledition.org.
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City meetings this week include the following:
On Monday, May 6
- Police Memorial Committee, 5 p.m., Meeting Room 1-3, city hall.
- Library Board of Directors, 6:30 p.m., Bristol Public Library, 5 High St.
- Conservation Commission/Inland Wetlands and Watercourses Agency, 6:30 p.m., council chambers, city hall.
On Tuesday, May 7
- Police Awards Committee, 9 a.m., canceled.
- Ordinance Committee, 5 p.m., Meeting Room, 1-1, city hall.
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 7 p.m., canceled.
On Wednesday, May 8
- Persons with Disabilities Commission, 7 p.m., city hall.
On Thursday, May 9
- Bristol-Burlington Board of Health, 3 p.m., 240 Stafford Ave., Board of Health.
- Retirement Board, 5 p.m., council chambers, city hall.
- Zoning Commission Special Meeting, 5 p.m., virtual, online, via Zoom.
On Friday, May 10
- Banking & Audit Committee, 8:30 a.m., Meeting Room 1-3, city hall.
TBE will do our best to update meeting times and locations, but it’s a good idea to check the agendas ahead of time for cancellations. Click here for specific meetings and times.
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We encourage all people, young and old, from our community, who have an interest in telling Bristol stories and improving their skills, to join us. If you are one of these people, or know of one, please contact dfortier@bristoledition.org.
TBE is also looking for sports correspondents to cover our high school events, especially, Bristol Central High School. We encourage coaches to send in game summaries with highlights, so that we can post them.
TBE is the website of our nonprofit, The Central Connecticut Online Journalism Project, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization. One-time donations and regular recurring monthly donations from our members are welcomed and encouraged.
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Enjoy!
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