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to businesses large and small that are maintaining charitable giving throughout the pandemic. The Garden Catering chain, which has restaurants from Greenwich to New Haven, has donated thousands of meals to residents in need in their markets over the last nine months. Other companies are making financial donations to food banks and the like. It’s a smart way to literally spread the wealth.

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to a record number of gun sales in the United States, which is unfortunately mirrored in Connecticut. By the end of November, state sales already surpassed the totals for each of the last three years. The pandemic is not generally recognized as the only reason for the uptick. The year 2020 will also be remembered for months of civil unrest as well as a transition to a Democratic president. Nationally, the 35 million background checks documented by the FBI through November break the previous record of 28 million set in 2019 by an uncomfortable margin.

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to an apparent rise in damaged teeth as another unfortunate consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey conducted by the American Dental Association found that 60 percent of the dentists who responded cited a rise in the grinding of teeth among their patients, along with related damage. The stress of dealing with the fallout of the coronavirus can cause other ancillary health damage, but this is an area where experts suggest relief might be provided through the wearing of mouth guards at night.

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to the latest COVIDdriven pause in activities for the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team, which has joined the women’s team in missing practice time and games after positive tests. With everything happening in the world it could seem inappropriate to focus on sports. But after all that has been taken away in 2020, so many people are craving any kind of normalcy they can find, and sports helps provide that. Here’s hoping they can get back on the court and salvage something of the current season.

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to U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro winning election by the Democratic caucus to chairmanship of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. The New Haven Democrat, who has represented the Third District for 15 terms, will now be at the center of all federal spending decisions and will be able to ensure local priorities get attention. She had been campaigning for more than a year for the position, after having served on the committee for 25 years and as the chair of the subcommittee that oversees education, labor and health spending. DeLauro is wellequipped for her leadership role and has the distinction as the first representative from Connecticut to lead the Appropriations Committee.