I have always admired people like Joe Biden — people who are not only capable of genuine, physical expressions of affection for perfect strangers, but who also seem to relish in it. Sure, I consider myself a compassionate person and I can physically express love and affection without hesitation with my wife and kids. But I have something of a mental-block for it when it comes to strangers and even for people in my church and my friends, and I recoil with horror at the thought of bringing that sort of feeling into the workplace.

For every dollar invested in high-quality early childhood education, the public saves $13 in the place of costs for special education, public assistance, unemployment benefits, and crime. Expanding eligibility for families in the Care4Kids program would greatly improve the lives of not only children and families but Connecticut taxpayers as well.

My interest in politics was sparked by a college course.  It was late 80s – early 90s and my professor made no attempt to disguise for his distaste for Reaganomics, epitomized by the “trickle down” economics policy the president embraced.  I graduated into the worst job market in decades and, brief Internet bubble aside, the years have shown the falseness of the premise that putting money in the hands of the top 1 percent of shareholders, investors and titans of industry would make its way down to stimulating economic prosperity for the majority of Americans– the recent tax cut to wealthy people and corporations included.

Water is life! Clean water is essential to our health, our environment and our economy. As a public health advocate and a homeowner with a private well, I was alarmed to read reports of PFAs found in Greenwich wells  and in water supplies all over the country.

This note is in response to a recent op-ed by a community college student published in CT Viewpoints. The Connecticut State College and University system fully agrees that community colleges can and must continue to be the most affordable, accessible option for students to receive a quality education in Connecticut. I applaud the author for being engaged in public discourse and making his voice heard on an important topic.

Hunters will be incentivized to kill wildlife and hunting will be expanded in the state under a revised version of a bill approved by the General Assembly’s Environment Committee that was aimed at establishing a black bear hunt in Connecticut.

I want to comment on the “Future of the Gas Tax? Running on Empty” article. The number of dedicated electric vehicles (EVs) is increasing as the article the article indicates, and Connecticut is collecting no road use tax, which needs to be addressed soon. The “Governor’s Council on Climate Change” looked at 2030 and out to 2050, but did not place much emphasis on near time transportation period and technology needs.