The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Thumbs up, thumbs down
Thumbs down to the host of HBO “Last Week Tonight” for his pledge to deliver a “thrashing from John Oliver — children included — (expletive) you” to Danbury residents. And thumbs up to Danbury for taking the barbs in the spirit of humor in which they were intended — then returning fire. Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton pledged to name the town’s sewage plant after Oliver, while the Hat Tricks hockey team offered puckish remarks about the comic’s lessthan-memorable film roles in “The Love Guru” and “The Smurfs.” If anything, the unexpected rant has inspired Danbury to embrace and defend its many assets.
Thumbs up to everyone in Connecticut who participated in “Save the Post Office” rallies on Saturday. As organizers stressed, the postal service has always played a pivotal role in democracy in our nation. If anything, its enhanced role in the pending elections should be a clarion call to celebrate that function, rather than drawing attacks that reach the nation’s highest office. The U.S. Postal Service is one of our nation’s hubs — it must not be diminished, privatized or transformed into another partisan battlefield.
Thumbs up to lawmakers reviewing state guidelines that electric companies follow in responding to power loss. Under plans approved by the state Public Utility Regulatory Authority, Eversource and United Illuminating restored power after the recent storm within the mandated cap of 10 days. Such standards were set after massive storms in 2011 and 2012. It shouldn’t take a storm for lawmakers to review such guidelines, but doing so with fresh memories of recent week-long outages might identify gaps. Technology changes should mandate regular reviews by lawmakers, perhaps every four years or so. It’s always better to plan for a storm than to contemplate mistakes after it strikes.
Thumbs down to college students who brazenly dismiss protocol over COVID-19. It only took a few days after University of Connecticut students returned to campus for social media posts to reveal large gatherings on and off campus. It’s hard to imagine an action more callous than a group of people packed in a room without masks, though videotaping it suggests an “F” isn’t a low enough grade for participants. As younger students prepare to return to school in the weeks ahead, their older peers should serve as examples of how to behave in an academic setting, instead of modeling worst behaviors.
Thumbs up to the career of Nancy Stevens, who will step down as coach of the University of Connecticut field hockey team on Sept. 1 with the most career wins in the sport in the history of the NCAA. Stevens has been at the helm of the UConn program for the past three decades, and previously coached at Franklin & Marshall and Northwestern. Her singular tally also includes three national titles for the Huskies (all in the last seven seasons), and 10 Final Fours. With COVID-19 canceling the fall field hockey season, Stevens chose to bow out quietly. But UConn should make a lot of noise over her 700 career victories.