I would like to commend The Friends of the Animals for their informative article regarding single-use plastic and Styrofoam containers. The article does a good job of raising awareness about how sea life can be saved by not using plastic bags. One thing that was missing from Ms. Feral’s op-ed was acknowledgement of the impact that a ban on plastic straws would have on people with disabilities.

Transparency is critical for our democracy, and no part of the government should be exempt from sunlight. If our state is going to create a smarter justice system, all of us need numbers on what prosecutors are doing. Prosecutors, known as “state’s attorneys” in Connecticut, are government employees who hold people’s lives in their hands. But in Connecticut, there is very little public information available about prosecutors’ actions.

I’m going to lie to you. I’ll disrespect you, too. At least that will be your perception because we seem stuck in a society where if your and my version of the facts don’t match, we walk away mad, frustrated, and feeling disrespected. We need to listen to the opposite side and find the commonalities in each of our versions of reality.