Page 10 - Ct Viewpoints News Today

Psychologist: Why suicide and medical aid in dying are truly different As a board-certified clinical psychologist for the last four decades who has counseled both patients who were dying and those who wanted to end their life prematurely via suicide, I can tell you unequivocally that there is no comparison between the two. But don’t just take my word for it. Jeff Gardere The American Association of Suicidology, a suicide prevention, medical research association whose membership includes menta...

Send educational funds where they are needed most Yehyun Kim :: CTMirror A classroom in suburban Farmington. Students here have had the opportunity to return to school in-person, full-time for months. As a widowed mother of two wonderful boys, a senior at East Hartford High School and a sixth grader at Sunset Ridge Middle School in East Hartford, I support SB 948 An Act Addressing Education Funding and Racial Equity in Connecticut. I work as a Pre-K, paraeducator at the Early Childhood Learning...

Monthly CT VIEWPOINTS -- opinions from around Connecticut Five to 10 cents a gallon: A small price to pay for meaningful reduction in pollution Not so long ago, I was able to pay $2 per gallon at a Shell station when using the discount rewards from shopping at Stop & Shop. Now, only a few months later, the market price of gas is $2.90 at the pump. Whether the Transportation Climate Initiative (TCI) adds five or ten cents to the cost of a gallon of gas...

CT Department of Education testifies to lack of capacity, expertise on dyslexia Grassroots movement aimed at raising dyslexia awareness and informing policy makers on best practices. Days before her new appointment, Interim Educational Deputy Commissioner Charlene Russel-Tucker filed testimony opposing bipartisan legislation House Bill 6517, An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Task Force to Analyze the Implementation of Laws Governing Dyslexia Instruction and Training, citing lack of...

Connecticut needs voting reforms Yehyun Kim :: ctmirror.org A resident drops an absentee ballot application into a box outside West Hartford Town Hall during the last election season. Like 650,000 Connecticut residents, I voted by absentee ballot last November. Like me, these voters might be shocked to learn this method of voting is not available in future elections. Connecticut has some of the most restrictive voting laws in the nation built into its Constitution. These restrict people to a si...

On characterizing Woodbridge as racist without evidence The March 1  article “Open-housing debate in Woodbridge: Define racism” described the latest developments in the push to require affordable housing in Woodbridge. The article symbolizes a much broader contemporary philosophical battle than that involving Woodbridge and affordable housing. Alan Calandro Regarding the Woodbridge case, the state passed a housing law in 1989 (C.G.S. Sec. 8-30g) requiring towns to adopt a certain amount o...

Monthly CT VIEWPOINTS -- opinions from around Connecticut It’s time to fulfill Sheff v. O’Neill’s legacy and reform Connecticut’s zoning The Zoning Atlas developed by Desegregate Connecticut identifies the extent to which communities limit housing choices. With the 25th anniversary of the Sheff v. O’Neill decision coming up in July, it’s time to fulfill the ruling’s true legacy and reform exclusionary zoning in Connecticut. Thomas Broder...

Yehyun Kim :: CT Mirror A healthcare workers union, SEIU 1199, rallies outside the State Capitol last July as the pandemic raged. They asked for providing personal protection equipment to frontline workers, holding private sectors such as nursing homes accountable and strict social distancing. For the past year frontline health care workers stood in the way of danger, working throughout the pandemic in nursing homes, home care, substance-abuse counseling and helping children in need. Yet, someh...

State legislature to decide fate of Long Island Sound Blue Plan Do a Google search on “puzzle sales during pandemic” and you’ll find phrases like “going bonkers” and “sales up 370%.” While rediscovering the simple pleasure of jigsaw puzzles as a way to unwind, many of us are also experiencing the mental health benefits of turning off the brain noise by focusing on a pleasant challenge. But what if there were no picture on the puzzle box? And what if the pieces formed a three-dimen...

Participatory budgeting builds trust in government The year 2020 was challenging for most of us and, when people are suffering, they tend to blame their governments – local, state, and federal.  If we’re being honest, however, trust in our governmental, academic, scientific, and civic institutions has been eroding for some time.  The polarization of our society has made it increasingly difficult to work together to solve our shared problems, and the barriers erected by those in power have...