As the Boards of Education and Selectmen move into refining individual budget proposals, with the Board of Finance and Legislative Council poised to take up their roles in the annual process, the leaders of each of those elected panels weighed in on the prospect of enhanced collaboration.
On first pass, the proposed 2020-21 municipal spending plan that was unveiled to local selectmen January 21 by First Selectman Dan Rosenthal and Town Finance Director Robert Tait does conclude with just under a 2.5 percent increase.
Ahead of the 55th anniversary of The Selma to Montgomery Marches that took place in March 1965, Newtown Bee Associate Editor Shannon Hicks is hoping to hear from current and former Newtown residents who either participated in any of those historic marches, or lived in Newtown in March 1955 and remember first-hand accounts of the events in Alabama.
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill reminds votes that if they are registered in one party, but want to vote in a different party’s presidential primary this April 28, they must change their registration by January 28.
Over the course of two meetings held two nights apart on January 13 and 15, the Board of Finance and Legislative Council finalized a five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that included a moratorium on bonding in the 2025 fiscal cycle — creating what officials have dubbed a “debt vacation.”
Michelle I applaud and support you for focusing on the issues that impact everyone in the town. The next priority has to be on CT's out of control electricity rates. Your opponent and his supporters are quick to blame the other side of the aisle and have given up on trying to accomplish anything. You need to be the voice at the Capitol that the town needs and has missed for so long.
After your short sighted decisions on bussing, something parents are still feeling the repercussions of, I would not want you making any decisions on traffic.
With all due respect Lynn, while no one's property should be damaged, it is demonstrably false to suggest this issue only happens to Democrat signs. If these comments allowed for photos I could show you some pretty abhorrent examples of what has been done to Republican candidate's signs for years in the past few elections (including local races.) Just today we had a supporter message the RTC that their signs were stolen.
Indeed suicide awareness is important as is asking young people these tough questions. That said, saying that "every suicide is preventable" is not only incorrect, it is overly simplistic at best and downright harmful at worst.
The Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors - an online support resource with over 25,000 members worldwide writes frequently about the ramifications of such slogans. Many family members say that prevention messages leave them feeling guilty, upset and fearful of being judged – as if they “dropped the ball.". A few of the many sentiments on their webpage from bereaved family members include:
-“I believe suicide is preventable ONLY if someone shows a sign. …My daughter did not show any signs."
-“As a newly bereaved mother, I find the campaign offensive & repulsive. It places the responsibility on family members and those who are about to take their lives. We obviously would have done something if our loved ones expressed their intentions." -"Awareness yes. Preventable no. There was nothing to prevent what happened to my son. Nothing. And I am so sick of the saying it is preventable."
-"I lost my husband to suicide four months ago. It makes me feel cold and sick in the pit of my stomach when I read ‘suicide is preventable’ because I think: ‘It’s my fault, I let him down.'"
Suicide - especially youth suicide - is a complex problem with no easy answers. It’s possible to prevent sometimes — but not always.