Thumbs up, thumbs down
Thumbs up to Carly Simon, who grew up in Stamford,
being named an inductee in the 2022 Class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Simon had a memorable childhood in Connecticut. Among other things, her family hosted Baseball Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson while the Robinsons were building a home in the city (she became an unofficial Brooklyn Dodgers mascot). While Connecticut claims only a few Rock & Roll Hall of Famers as natives (notably Rockville’s Gene Pitney), the state has also occasionally been the home to inductees such as Paul Simon (New Canaan), Diana Ross (Greenwich), Ronnie Spector (Danbury), Keith Richards (Weston), Alan Freed (Stamford), Alice Cooper (Greenwich) and Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads (Westport).
Thumbs up to all of the Connecticut candidates who put themselves out there at the political conventions over the weekend. Everyone has opinions over
candidates — that’s what elections are all about — but there should be a measure of appreciation for anyone willing to make personal sacrifices to serve the public. The conventions mark an unofficial start to the heart of the campaign season. Four years ago, the race for governor was far thornier, as five Republicans squared off before Bob Stefanowski won the spot on the ballot. Stefanowski’s status as the clear candidate this early in the race will hopefully make platforms much more clear this round as he tries to unseat incumbent Democrat Ned Lamont.
Thumbs up to the Fairfield fourth-graders who learned lessons in the legislative process as they unsuccessfully tried to lobby lawmakers to declare
lollipops as Connecticut’s state candy. While the bill did pass the Senate, it lost its flavor by the time it reached the House, where it never came up for vote. But it’s a valuable exercise for any state resident, let alone 9-year-olds. The bill should have had more hope, given that the lollipop was invented in Connecticut. Alas, it’s a bonus lesson for students that Connecticut is really bad at celebrating its successes.
Thumbs down to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau that suggest Connecticut lost 850 nonprofit and business employers during the first year of COVID
in 2020. While there is some reassurance for the state that the vacuum was subsequently filled by startups, that’s no consolation for the companies, workers and clients who lost those places of business. The biggest drops cited by the Census Bureau were hospitality and finance businesses supporting four jobs or fewer.