Bristol resident wins New Yorker cartoon captioning contest

It was a nice surprise to open to the page opposite the back inside cover of the Sept. 12 issue of The New Yorker to see that this week’s winning caption was submitted by Edgar Grove, Bristol, Conn.

The Victoria Roberts’ cartoon depicts a man in a business suit, with tie and jacket and briefcase, holding a tin can to his left ear. A string from the tin can, one of those old telephone contraptions, unwinds over miles and miles of empty hills with no end in sight and no one at the opposite end of the call.

The caption reads: “I haven’t heard from you since we were kids!”

Drought situation continues

Current conditions for Hartford County indicate that 100 percent of people in Hartford County, which includes Bristol, is affected by moderate to severe drought conditions.

Statistics from Drought.gov indicate an estimated 4,912 acres of hay, 2,029 acres of corn and 1,460 acres of haylage are currently suffering from either moderate or severe drought.

Through Thursday, after the considerable rainfall over the past week, a quarter of Harford County is experiencing 100 percent severe drought conditions.

Under abnormally dry conditions crop include the following:

• crop growth is stunted; planting is delayed
• fire danger is elevated
• lawns brown early; gardens begin to wilt.

In a moderate drought,

• irrigation use increases; hay and grain yields are lower than normal
• honey production declines
• wildfires and ground fires increase.

Severe drought involves the following:

• specialty crops are impacted both in yield and fruit size
• producers begin feeding cattle; hay prices are high
• warnings are issued on outdoor burns; air quality is poor.

COVID updates for two weeks days

Bristol has experienced a rise in positivity rate from to 8.7 to 9.4 percent over the past two weeks. The city remains in the red category with over 15 cases per 100,000 people.

The CDC recommends that people at high risk for severe illness, talk to their healthcare provider about whether to need to wear a mask and take other precautions. In addition, the CDC reminds people to take the following measures:

In Hartford County the community level is low.

• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines
• Get tested if you have symptoms
• People may choose to mask at any time. People with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask.
• People who are immunocompromised, can learn more about how to protect themselves here.

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