Thumbs up, thumbs down

to the ongoing lack of snow in Connecticut. We're now well into February, and most people in the state have yet to need a shovel, let alone a plow. That's hardly the norm for this time of year, even in an era of rising global temperatures. By some measures, 2023 has seen the warmest first month of the year on record, and despite the weekend's bone-chilling temperatures, the thermometer is again at milder-than-average levels this week and there's no snow in the immediate forecast. It makes life easier, in some ways, but it doesn't feel like New England. But for those tempted to think winter is already over, beware March, when historically some of the biggest snowfalls have arrived.

to the UConn women's basketball team. No, the Huskies didn't beat South Carolina, but they took the No. 1 team in the nation to the wire, and they did it with a few of the best players in America sitting on the sidelines with injuries. It's not hard to think where this team would be without a terrible run of bad luck. Of course, this is UConn, and no one comes to Storrs in search of moral victories. That's not how you win 11 national championships. But for now, it's consolation enough that the team is ranked in the top five nationally and well-positioned for a big run in March as more players get healthy.

to a lack of explanation for Sikorsky. The Connecticut delegation has repeatedly sought a briefing from the U.S. Army to explain why the Stratfordbased company was passed over for the Army's future long-range assault aircraft contract. There was good reason to think Sikorsky was best positioned for the work, but the reasoning for the move has so far been lacking. Members of the state's delegation say they have heard only vague answers about why the proposal from Texas-based Textron Inc.'s Bell was selected over Lockheed Martin's Sikorsky to replace the locally made Black Hawk helicopters in a $7.1 billion deal. That's not good enough. Sikorsky will continue to thrive, but an explanation is owed.

to the prospect of high-speed ferry service from Connecticut to New York City. It's long been an economic dream to find a way to bypass the roads and rails to get people from here to the economic center of the nation, and Bridgeport officials quietly broke ground recently on a facility to do just that. It makes sense on paper — Long Island Sound is right there, after all. But making it happen has been no easy task, and some observers have declared it to be unfeasible. Still, it's worth a look as a way to boost prospects for the state's largest city. It will never happen without buy-in from state and local officials, so it's important that everyone be on the same page. And whatever we can do to boost our connectivity is worth exploring.

to a recovery in manufacturing jobs in Connecticut. The state finished 2022 with 161,200 manufacturing jobs, surpassing the state's prepandemic total. That's important for a few reasons, but most important is the scale of losses that COVID produced. Still, it's not all good news, as manufacturers have about the same number of jobs now as they did 10 years ago. The state overall has shown tepid job growth for years now, and one of the biggest problems is filling available positions. The jobs are there, but the people aren't. Filling open jobs is a key economic priority for a number of stakeholders, from the governor on down. Getting it done, though, is another matter altogether.