Thumbs up to Bagwell’s pending Hall induction

Thumbs up to Jeff Bagwell’s pending induction in Baseball’s Hall of Fame. The former Houston Astro was born in Boston, but arrived in Connecticut before his second birthday, and went on to play ball for Xavier High School in Middletown and at the University of Hartford. The previous three players from Connecticut to make it to the Cooperstown, New York, Hall of Fame all played in the 19th century. Unfortunately, Bagwell doesn’t technically count as the first modern Hall of Famer to hail from the Nutmeg State because of his Beantown roots.

Thumbs up to Connecticut logging its largest single-month jobs gain since April 2011. You read that correctly; we haven’t picked up this many new jobs in more than six years. June saw 7,000 new jobs in Connecticut. Hopefully, the state can continue boosting positions to close down the remaining 19,000 that vanished during the downturn that began almost a decade ago.

Thumbs down , however, to a record high in available office space in Fairfield County. The availability rate rose about 27 percent in the second quarter. Nearly half of the county’s new leases were signed for Stamford offices, while the markets in Danbury and Norwalk were described as “lethargic.”

Thumbs down to the proposed slashing of Pell Grant funding in President Donald Trump’s budget. It all depends on how you look at the math, but the bottom line is that Connecticut students would lose up to $6 million annually as they become ineligible for an estimated $165 increase in the grants in 201819. Mark. E. Ojakian, president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities system, dispatched a letter to a congressional committee warning them of the impact the cut would have on the neediest students. Ojakian should know, as he oversees a dozen community colleges, four universities and an online degree program.

Thumbs up to Connecticut Radio Information System opening a new office in Norwalk. The station, which will serve southern Fairfield County, offers around-theclock broadcasts of local and national print publications for people who are unable to read. CRIS is based in Windsor and has offices in Danbury, West Haven, Norwich. Broadcasts from the Norwalk office are expected to begin by the end of the month.

Thumbs down to the need to instill guidelines at Bridgeport Hospital to control prescription rates. Yes, it’s good news that Dr. Richard Grenier noticed while working in the emergency department that there was a high number of people looking for narcotics to relieve chronic pain. That bad news is that someone had to notice to institute guidelines to address abuse. Narcotics prescriptions dropped by 35 percent when the guidelines were introduced, but they should have already existed, and should be in place at all hospitals.

MARY ALTAFFER / ASSOCIATED PRESS Newly elected baseball Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Bagwell speaks to reporters during a news conference.