Connecticut News

MANIFESTO

On what's otherwise another day for handwringing, three Connecticut stories have caught my good eye. Viz.,

After 67 seasons, the fat lady has sung for Connecticut Opera. The opera has ceased business, has let staff go, has closed its office, and told its 2,000 subscribers they will get no money back on the two springtime productions that were recently canceled.

The lede is a no-brainer, but how many times does one get such a chance?

Anyway, John E. Kreitler, chairman of the opera board, ascribes it to "just another casualty of the economic conditions," but let's face it: Even in the best of times the appeal of opera in a fairly small market such as Hartford has got to be minimal.

Also,

Republican legislators presented a sweeping budget-cutting plan Wednesday that would allow ... the sale of alcohol on Sundays, which has been banned in a long-held tradition in Connecticut. Carroll Hughes, chief lobbyist for the state's package store owners, is telling legislators that liquor sales would be spread over seven days — rather than six — and would lead to no increased revenue for the state.

I'm with the retailers on this one. Those poor laborers (a great number of them in Mom and Pop operations) work 72-hour weeks as it is. To legislate more would create a counterproductive Wal-Mart effect so that the Connecticut Beverage Marts and their ilk would be the only survivors.

Finally, under the umbrella of "what were they thinking?"

The chief executive of a Stamford-based professional wrestling company was approved [overwhelmingly] Wednesday by the state Senate for a seat on the 11-member State Board Of Education.

The Senate approved the nomination [of Linda E. McMahon, who oversees the World Wrestling Entertainment empire with her husband, Vince], made by Gov. M. Jodi Rell, 34-1. McMahon is a Rell campaign contributor. Sen. Joan Hartley, a Waterbury Democrat, was the only one to vote against McMahon, saying she believes McMahon would be better suited for boards other than the one that helps set state education policy.

I think Sen. Hartley may be right on this one. I'm not sure I'd consult anyone having anything to do with WWE if I needed guidance on an educational issue. But that's just me.