Granby Drummer (https://granbydrummer.com/category/voice/opinion/)
As Connecticut takes bold steps forward on environmental policy, not all legislators are moving with the same urgency. Granby and its surrounding communities deserve a representative committed to safeguarding our air, water, land and the health of future generations.
The First Amendment was enacted to assure the freedom of conscience in speech, religion and assembly without coercion by government. However, we’ve forgotten the moral religious underpinnings of the Amendment, living in a day where all sides are trying to silence the other’s free speech with who can “shout” and “profile” the loudest for their cause.
Thank you, Representative Anderson, for your efforts toward preserving our second amendment rights.
The Broadleaf Solar project proposed by the private equity firm the D. E. Shaw Group, plans to install solar panels on a majority of the 322 acres that the Shaw Group purchased from the Monrovia Nursery company.
The June Drummer ran an opinion piece by Michael Fitzgerald questioning my legislative agenda, specifically HB 5717. Fitzgerald cited the Sandy Hook tragedy that led to Connecticut’s restrictive gun laws, and the recent Granby budget that funds a School Resource Officer (SRO).
At the beginning of this year’s state legislative session, local Representative Mark Anderson sponsored House Bill 5717. This legislation proposed to eliminate capacity limits on firearm magazines, remove all requirements to register large capacity magazines, and would require the state to destroy any records accumulated that document the location of large capacity magazines.
The election has brought abortion to the forefront of my mind. Money issues will “ebb and flow”, but life and death issues take priority.
On the night of Oct. 21, 2023, a white supremacist group distributed propaganda to some Granby neighbors, seeking white men to turn New England into a whites-only ethnostate by any means. In response, the local nonprofit, Granby Racial Reconciliation, led a Stop the Hate Rally with 200+ people present and distributed free “Hate Has No Place in Our Town” lawn signs—many are still seen in town today. To counter the “us vs. them” of such hate groups, GRR works to support connections and community forged in mutuality, understanding, collaboration, and love.
Due to my perception of a rise in malicious social discourse, I offer portions of the rally speech I gave. We can do better, Granby.
As the summer days wind down hundreds of education professionals are gearing up for another year of tremendous work with the students and families of Granby. Education today is so much more challenging than it was when many of us were students.
Connecticut and New England are experiencing a surge of activity aimed at constructing battery energy storage systems (BESS). BESS have been used in dedicated applications such as backup power for computer server installations for many years. Large conventional power plants have BESS in the event of a black-out of grid electrical power.