Editorials from around New England

Editorials from around New England:

CONNECTICUT

The Norwalk Hour

Aug. 25

Just when hearts weigh heavy from recent emboldened racist and white supremacist actions, hope is restored by ordinary people who come forward out of goodness to show hate is not welcome.

This happened in New Milford when the community enveloped a family whose restaurant had been vandalized under the cover of night. David and Senka Thompson arrived at Thompson’s Fine American Comfort Food Wednesday morning to find a crude swastika and the n-word spray painted in black across the door, shutter and picture window of their restaurant. David, who is black, and Senka, who is from the former Yugoslavia, like Melania Trump, had opened their family restaurant just two months ago.

As word spread, volunteers came to clean away the racist graffiti; by evening the restaurant was packed with diners conveying their support.

After the demonstrations and violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, Aug. 12, many were appalled to see images of Nazis marching in America and they verbally denounced the white supremacists. Many marched in counter protests from coast to coast last weekend.

In New Milford, many responded as best they could in a small community - with compassion and visible support. May their example inspire others in the times ahead.

Inspiration is needed particularly after President Trump, in contrast, sought to deflect his own ineffective response to the Charlottesville tragedy by blaming others, notably the media. Speaking in Phoenix Tuesday, his eighth political rally since taking office seven months ago, Trump began talking of unity, then quickly slid into anger and led the crowd with the chant “CNN sucks.”

The president, who should be appealing to the “better angels of our nature,” instead sunk to calling the national media “very dishonest people” - for reporting his utterances. It is their job, needed now more than ever.

And it is everyone’s “job” to not tolerate hate, in no uncertain terms. Last week, for example, Westport’s three-member Board of Selectmen, representing both major parties, signed an Anti-Defamation League petition to urge Trump to take a stronger stand against white supremacy. Rallies and interfaith gatherings organized quickly across Fairfield County and the state to denounce the violence in Charlottesville.

Though many were shocked by what happened in Charlottesville, overtly racist acts have been steadily increasing in recent months. Last fall, six swastikas were painted in black on houses or etched into metal on vehicles in Danbury; in February white supremacist pamphlets were thrown onto driveways in Norwalk, Westport, Weston and Wilton; in March a swastika and racial slur were drawn on the ground near the tennis court at Ridgefield High School. These disgusting incidences are not isolated to only those communities - they are emblematic of what is happening across the state and throughout the country.

Our elected leaders, and we individually, must respond clearly and unequivocally against hateful acts. Like the New Milford community turning out to support the restaurant owners, we must stand together and display the power of our “better angels.”

Online: https://bit.ly/2vdhsJS

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MASSACHUSETTS

The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro

Aug. 20

When it comes to financially responsible ways to increase public transportation in the Attleboro area, we’re all aboard.

That’s why we salute the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s recent decision to launch an 11 1/2-month pilot program expanding weekday commuter rail service to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.

The demand is clearly there.

Anyone who has boarded the MBTA commuter rail on the Providence line serving the Attleboro, South Attleboro and Mansfield stations knows how crowded those trains can be. Adding nine runs from Gillette to South Station in Boston during peak commuter hours is bound to ease packed trains that often lead to another major problem: failure to collect fares.

While the MBTA has been justifiably criticized for expanding rather than improving service, the $1.2 million project cost is rather minimal. Gillette owner The Kraft Group is contributing $217,000 and 500 parking spaces, and the MBTA expects another $459,000 in revenue, bringing the actual price tag to $524,000.

If the pilot program, scheduled to begin in the spring of 2019, is made permanent - and there’s no guarantee of that because the MBTA will have to vote again to continue it - the agency stands a good chance of seeing a return on its investment.

The cost is primarily to the safety of grade crossings, which was a concern of Walpole neighbors.

There was also opposition from supporters of the Fairmont line from Dedham to South Station who have been seeking rapid transit, a proposal that seems unlikely now that Fairmont trains will be used for Foxboro.

But the demand for that has been questionable; there’s no doubt of the need for more commuter rail service to ease the overcrowding on the Providence line, especially at the Mansfield station, one of the busiest in the MBTA network.

The decision was supported by the towns of Foxboro, Mansfield, Franklin and Sharon and backed by local business leaders, who see it leading to economic development at Patriot Place and along Route 1. Indeed, commuter rail has been a key part of the renaissance in downtown Attleboro and Mansfield.

We also support any effort to expand and improve public transportation at a reasonable cost to the public because of its benefits to traffic and the environment.

We urge the MBTA to consider connecting the trains with shuttle buses that would pick up and drop off passengers in Foxboro, Mansfield and Sharon. And we urge the MBTA to closely monitor the pilot program to determine if it’s worth considering.

But in the long run, we’re hopeful this public-private partnership will be a ticket to success.

Online: https://bit.ly/2xiSfeh

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RHODE ISLAND

The Westerly Sun

Aug. 22

It strikes as odd that Westerly police were charged with investigating financial malfeasance in the finance operations of the Westerly School Department. Why not the Rhode Island State Police?

It wasn’t long ago, early 2015, that the Town Council asked the State Police to investigate whether a former Zoning Official was attempting to blackmail certain Town Hall officials in order to get a severance package in the Copar Quarry mess.

If a blackmail charge can bring in outside investigators why not bring in outsiders if financial fraud is being alleged? We’re talking about an accounting of taxpayer dollars after all.

Today’s Page 1 story indicates that Westerly Police investigated the allegations of money being diverted from a town account to a personal account via electronic transfers.

Sadly, a 13-year school department employee turned herself in to police Tuesday to face charges that on eight occasions over about a year-long period she deposited eight checks made out to the town into her personal account. The total taken was $8,400.

Police Chief Richard Silva indicated his department started the investigation in July after receiving information from recently hired school Superintendent Marc Garceau and former Finance Director Deb Bridgham regarding the allegations.

“We reviewed financial information and it does not seem to extend back any further than that,” Silva said, referring to a year-long period.

An argument can be made that this was an in-house investigation by fellow employees of the town.

State Police have a White Collar Crime and Public Corruption Unit that is “charged with the responsibility of prosecuting any crime that can be committed with a pen, a balance sheet, or a computer,” according to the State Police website. “The Unit also prosecutes traditional financial crimes such as embezzlement, forgery, obtaining money under false pretenses, wrongful conversion, forgery, banking violations, extortion, criminal usury, perjury, and false swearing, in addition to crimes relating to mortgage and loan fraud, which recently have become more widespread with the collapse of the housing market and struggling economy.”

Of note in the description of this unit is the following: “…one of the Unit’s primary goals in these prosecutions is asset location and restitution recovery for victims.”

State Police have the technology, in other words, to ferret out misappropriation of funds and then follow the trail further to get those funds back for the victims - in this case, the taxpayers.

Local police deserve credit for their work, but even they should want to be distanced from this kind of in-house investigation.

Online: https://bit.ly/2xjyC5W

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MAINE

The Portland Press Herald

Aug. 25

Among the Katahdin-area businesses that have opened or expanded at least in part because of the year-old national monument is a bookstore and cafe fittingly named Turn the Page.

Now that the secretary of the Department of the Interior has recommended that the national monument stay at its current size and within federal ownership, it’s time for opponents of the designation to do exactly that and help the area make the most of a great opportunity.

We had hoped that moment would come after then-President Obama’s order creating the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument on Aug. 24, 2016.

That order put in federal hands 87,500 acres east of Baxter State Park owned by businesswoman and philanthropist Roxanne Quimby, all but ending a years-long battle between supporters of what was originally conceived as a North Woods national park and those who saw federal ownership as a danger to the traditional way of life in the region, mostly as it has to do with logging, hunting and snowmobiling.

To be sure, many opponents in the region have since changed their tune, or at least become resigned to making the most of it. But much acrimony remains, not the least of which comes from the Blaine House.

Gov. Paul LePage has long been an opponent of Quimby and her proposal for her land, which she bought with the proceeds from the sale of her company, Burt’s Bees.

In his usual style, that opposition has been loud, tireless - and light on facts.

He traveled to Washington, D.C., on the taxpayer’s dime, to give thin, contradictory testimony against the monument designation. At one point, he called it a “mosquito area” that no one would want to visit, while praising the state park next door.

The governor also refused to put up highway signs for the monument, even as it began to attract visitors, and even though those signs could have been paid for by private funds.

LePage, along with 2nd District Rep. Bruce Poliquin, argued that the state should control the land, relinquishing all the prestige and marketing that come with a federal designation.

However, while visiting the site in June, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke praised the national monument.

He called federal ownership of the land “settled,” and said he saw an opportunity to build “something different here,” something “made in Maine” that takes into account all of the land’s traditional uses.

That’s something that Quimby’s son, Lucas St. Clair, who has been leading the push for a national monument, has been saying since he took over for his mother. Hunting and snowmobiling are allowed on part of the land already, and Zinke and St. Clair have said that some level of timber harvesting could be, too.

That’s a sensible solution that will go a long way toward winning over the opposition, most of which has been based on fear, not facts, but nonetheless comes from an honest place, and must be honestly addressed.

Time and experience will help - they already have. A year of modest success at the monument, which is far from a finished product, has changed minds in the Katahdin region, and given supporters much more concrete evidence on which to hang their support.

Now that Zinke has told President Trump that Katahdin Woods and Waters should not be changed, it’s well past time for LePage to join the crowd and put all of the state’s support behind this beautiful area.

It’s time to turn the page on the divisive fight that pointlessly pitted industry vs. tourism, when both are needed. It’s time to turn the page on the bitterness that fight has engendered, when it won’t help reverse the decline of the area’s economy.

It’s time to turn the page on a new chapter for the Katahdin region, and get excited for what could be next.

Online: https://bit.ly/2wNmKvm

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VERMONT

The Rutland Herald

Aug. 25

To say that finding a place to live in Vermont is a challenge would be an understatement. As Gov. Phil Scott and his team, as well as other groups aimed at luring more people to the Green Mountain State, come up with plans and incentives, the numbers tell a rather daunting story.

With the exception of Chittenden County, which sees both a steady rental market and a continued spike in new construct ion, the state seems to continue to struggle with its housing needs. Currently, midway through the latest five-year housing needs assessment, which was commissioned by the Agency of Commerce and Community Development and done by Bowen National Research of Ohio, Vermont’s crisis is real.

While the total state population has grown modestly (2.8 percent) between 2000 and 2010, and is projected to grow through 2020, there are more Vermonters living in poverty (nearly one in 10 in all households statewide) with fewer housing options, and much greater cost burdens when it comes to finding a place to live. Add to that wages in most sectors have remained stagnant for decades.

But consider these facts about Rut land County, specifically. According to the Bowen report:

- Rutland County saw a decline in population (0.9 percent) between 2015 and 2020, While the population declined, its number of households increased. The trend was expected to continue, putting demands on the tight housing market.

- The largest share of households by age will be 55 to 64.

- The county has an overall vacancy rate of 0.8 percent for rentals. At the time of the survey, there were 1,062 units countywide.

- At the time of the report, there were 1,022 homes for sale countywide, with a median price of $199,250.

- The county’s mobile home vacancy rate was 5.1 percent.

- The county’s vacancy rate for senior housing was 10.1 percent.

- Single-person households will represent more than 47 percent of all renter households in Rutland County, and 24 percent of all owner households in the county. Large family households (four or more persons) will represent 12.5 percent of renter households and 17.9 percent of owner households.

- Rutland County had an estimated median household income of $ 47,308 in 2010. It was projected to remain generally unchanged through 2020.

- In 2015, more than 31.4 percent of Rutland County households had an income below $ 30,000. Less than 30 percent of all households in the county have incomes between $ 30,000 and $ 59,999, while the remaining third had incomes above $ 60,000. According to Bowen, all household incomes segments were projected to decline going into 2020.

- In all, about 12 percent of the county’s population lives in poverty, including 1 in 6 children. Approximately 7.3 percent of the county’s population between the ages of 18 and 64 live in poverty; 1.4 percent of seniors in Rutland County live in poverty.

” When asked what common barriers or obstacles exist as it relates to housing development in Rut land County, the cost of land, financing, the cost of labor/materials and community support were the most commonly cited,” the Bowen report stated. “Respondents offered multiple suggest s for housing development, including first-time home buyer education, lease-to-purchase housing, and reduced property taxes.” Other innovative programs, such as home sharing, were recommended.

This is a crisis, plain and simple. As a state, we do not want to believe this is what our “quality of life” has come to, but it has.

Vermont needs to look hard at its housing crisis, including the economics behind the myriad costs affecting it. To reasonably allow for more people to live in our state, and contribute to its economy, we have to provide affordable options - and a real opportunity to live in them. It is time for hard questions and progressive ideas toward making a difference for where we call home.

Online: https://bit.ly/2xj3F1G

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NEW HAMPSHIRE

The Portsmouth Herald

Aug. 22

With so many major issues going on at the federal government level, to say the least, it cannot be forgotten that local residents can make major differences in their communities by running for local office. There are upcoming elections in Portsmouth that are sure to put front and center many issues up for debate. There are also local elections in Kittery, Eliot and South Berwick, Maine.

The filing period for elected office in Portsmouth opens Aug. 28 and nomination papers are already available in the southern Maine towns. Don’t miss your chance to take part in what truly is grassroots governance. Change is going to happen, one way or another, so be part of it.

Portsmouth’s filing period runs through Sept. 11 and elections will fill nine positions on the City Council, five on the School Board, and two each on the police and fire commissions. Those who serve in these positions will have the opportunity to affect changes, both great and small, that can shape the city for years to come.

While campaigns for the respective elected positions will draw focus to the most important issues in the city, there are plenty that have dominated for the past several years. Development remains a huge issue and as Portsmouth begins to construct its much-anticipated second parking garage on Deer Street in concert with the Deer Street Associates project, it will certainly stay that way for the next few years.

Within the realm of development is the city’s long pursuit to acquire the McIntyre Federal Building from the federal government. With each passing day it looks more likely that this will finally happen after more than a decade of bureaucratic gymnastics. The city has a tremendous opportunity to redevelop a 2-acre parcel in the heart of the downtown. Many expressed reservations over how the former Parade Mall was redeveloped and now residents get a second bite at the apple to create something that will serve as jewel of the city and perhaps become a leading force in how it would like to see development progress.

The city’s intense popularity has worsened a housing shortage that has lingered for 20 years, making it more expensive than ever before to live in Portsmouth. The city’s Housing Committee has done great work so far, but far more is needed to assure a diversification of the city’s housing stock to provide for a balanced human ecology that keeps the door open for people of all income levels and assures there is a local workforce to keep the economy churning.

Increasing the number of residences in the city by way of workforce and affordable housing projects, accessory dwelling units and market-driven developments will heighten the need for the city to create more public and alternative transportation so as to not need a third parking garage in the next few years. Transportation other than cars can also mitigate a growing population’s impact on traffic congestion.

Intense popularity can also be applied to the long debate over the Prescott Park Arts Festival, which is a truly an essential element of the city’s vitality. Those who win election to the City Council will have the opportunity to address some of the legitimate concerns with the festival, while assuring its long-term vitality.

As part of the growing demand for housing is the reality that generationally the population is changing as the millennials, the children of the baby boomers, are rapidly moving into their child rearing years. School populations may soon be on the rise. The city still must upgrade and modernize Dondero and New Franklin elementary schools. This would complete a full K-12 modernization of its school buildings following the high school, middle school and Little Harbour Elementary School. The School Board and City Council can work to make sure the needs of Dondero and New Franklin are met well and soon.

There will be many other issues to discuss as the campaigns begin. Run for office, be part of the discussions and make a difference.

Online: https://bit.ly/2xzjq3Q