By David Fortier
Come Sunday morning, Mary and I will have attended a pre-Halloween party at the behest of one of the 3-year-old grandchildren. It’s not that this grandchild is obsessed with Halloween, a new concept for him, but that they have a thing about scary things, hence the only criterion for attending is that a guest wear something “scary.”
Knowing what I know about kids, not all kids, well, very few, I guess, rarely, do these little people like scary. There would be two other grandkids there and I could only imagine their reactions. But, good grandparents that we are, we compiled. I costumed as the Grim Reaper, with a black robe and plastic scythe, gloves and a mask. Mary went full out with a wicked witch of the West from “Wizard of Oz”–right down to green face makeup.
Our host was thrilled, except for the moment I arrived with mask in place, seeing the reaction and removing the mask, which then was passed around. The other grandkids barely tolerated the costumed characters, which was anticipated. Overall, the party was a success, with anther witch, Bowzer the Dog, Frankenstein and a couple of ghosts.
***
On the campaign front, there was a city council meeting earlier this week, with plenty of public participation, since it is the last council meeting before the Nov. 7 election. If you missed it, TBE covered the meeting, which turns out, was also covered by The Daily Beast, which referred back to our story.
The city also experienced, along with the families of those involved and police officers from across the state, the 1-year anniversary of that terrible night on Oct. 12, 2022, when we lost two young police officers in a shooting off Redstone Hill Rd. It’s as difficult to report on today as then, but the candlelight vigil, in acknowledging the painful past as does the reporting, our hope is, might also continue the healing that has followed.
***
Reading and listening this week has been fairly limited. I am always curious about those New Yorker pieces that, at first, intrigue because the topic is one that I might not consider in the first place. It only takes a moment, though, to skim the first paragraph, before I am drawn in. This week it was “Big Little Lies,” subtitled “Dan Ariely and Francesca Gino got famous studying dishonesty. Did they fabricate some of their work?”
I recalled the names of Ariely and Gino from a couple of news stories within the last month, but even then, I did not take the time to read through the news reports. What got me going this time, I can only guess, looking back at the article, which begins with a massive first paragraph of longer than an entire page-length column. At the least, the article is full of information about lying. At most, it is a character study.
Listening this week drew me to the second in a three-part collaboration between On the Media and ProPublica, “We Don’t Talk About Leonard,” the investigation about Leonard Leo, the Republican influencer who has built a political machine across the country to bring cases to the Supreme Court, as well as state courts, and to fill vacant judgeships, through funneling dark money their way. Click here.
Enjoy!
“Come Sunday morning” is intended to be a weekly review, a recounting of the past week and an anticipation of week to come. Among its features will be reviews of old and new books, sharing of favorite podcasts, some family news, Bristol events and happenings and issues surrounding education, work and community journalism. He can be reached at dfortier@bristoledition.org.
All TBE readers, supporters and donors
The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.
- Non-members will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
- Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
- Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.
Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.