Getting my real estate broker’s license was a dream that I finally achieved after spending nearly two decades in prison and ultimately being exonerated for a crime I didn’t commit. My professional license allowed me to start a real estate business that helps formerly incarcerated people to buy homes and to build their careers.

Residents of Texas are still reeling after two winter storms and freezing temperatures swept through the state. These storms have resulted in at least 82 deaths and about $195 billion in property damage, in addition to widespread power outages, food and water shortages, and eye-popping electric bills for some consumers. While ice and snow are commonplace in New England, could a weather event or other disaster cause extended statewide blackouts and a similar type of energy crisis here? The simple answer is no.

World Water Day, observed this year on March 22, is dedicated to acknowledging issues surrounding access to clean water around the world and here at home. This year’s theme is valuing water. In these unprecedented times, water is an indispensable resource in fighting COVID-19 and making life better for people who are spending more time at home.

Medical distrust is hard to heal. It may linger for generations, being passed down along with china sets and pocket watches. In order to heal long-standing divides between patients and doctors, medicine needs to be responsive to persistent calls for change. Obtaining explicit permission for examination of a patient’s sexual organs is one such area.

In 2019, a student could show up to school, sit in their seat for the requisite hours, and go home, and we could have safely said that they had attended school that day. If they completed assignments, asked questions, studied in the library, and participated in school-based activities, we could have confidently considered them engaged in the process of learning. What happens when school is without a building?

University of Connecticut students pay over $2,000 each year solely for the privilege of having intercollegiate sports on campus. Unfortunately, these students do not realize any educational benefits for this high-cost penalty. Students, trustees, and UConn’s president need to consider the cost-benefit issue, particularly in the context of graduates’ long-term debt.

I have been involved with zoning and environmental issues for most of my adult life, and I’ve never seen such an attack on our local zoning and land use as I have today by our General Assembly. I strongly believe these proposals, specifically, HB 6107, will weaken the planning and zoning commissions that our 169 towns and cities have had for decades.