By David Fortier
Come Sunday morning, the Bristol Boys and Girls Club will have completed its second consecutive sold out gala. Something chief executive office Jay Maia pointed out in his comments–the gala, sold out two years in a row; the UConn men with Bristol’s Donovan Clingan, two consecutive years as national champions; and prior to this year, two consecutive National Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year Award out of Bristol. Not bad.
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Earlier in the week a plan to roundup and exterminate geese as part of a plan to clear Veterans Memorial Boulevard and Park, and a couple of other Bristol parks, drew an overflow crowd to city hall, where council chambers filled, an adjacent conference room filled and 80 people joined the meeting virtually. In addition, another 119 people emailed and another 40 called to voice their position on the issue. In the end, the Parks Commission voted to look into other means to control the geese population.
But the issue of exterminating geese is not mute. The mayor, at the meeting after it was clear the commission would not be moving ahead with the plan, asked the commissioners to bring the topic and the plan up again on a monthly basis, which is interesting because the mayor chairs the commission, and the chair sets the agenda. It pretty much looks like the commission will be taking up the subject again.
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And mid-afternoon Sunday, there will be the Bristol Brass and Wind Ensemble’s Spring Pops Concert at Bristol Eastern High School, at 3 p.m. This is a special one, since it will be the final one for Rich Theriault, the ensemble’s director for the past 15 years. The event is free, but donations are welcome.
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And of course, it’s Earth Day on Sunday!
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Listening this week is an old favorite, the Gray Area podcast with Sean Illing, this one, “Fareed Zakaria on our revolutionary moment,” featuring an in-depth conversation about the confluence of politics, artificial intelligence, the pace of change and the rise of illiberal democracy. It’s a big discussion at a critical time that deserves attention. Click here.
As for reading, I have gone back to “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind” by historian and public intellectual Yuval Noah Harari. That title says a lot about the book. It covers a lot of territory in a relatively short space, 416 pages, but what pages. The way Harari captures ideas–I am guessing most of us are familiar with the details that have emerged in recent years about Neanderthals and Desovanians and Homo Sapiens living contemporaneously rather than one after the other–and the way Harari synthesizes these ideas and draws really thoughtful conclusions from them, is mind-blowing. Everyone should be exposed, not only to the topics but also to the manner in which the topics and information is handled.
Anyone have a recommendation? Email dfortier@bristoledition.org.
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City meetings this week include the following:
On Monday, April 22
- Planning Commission, 6 p.m., council chambers, City Hall — cancelled.
On Tuesday, April 23
- Board of Finance, Budget Adoption, 5:30 p.m., council chambers, City Hall.
- Diversity Council, 6:30 p.m., City Hall.
On Wednesday, April 24
- Historic District Commission, 5 p.m., Meeting Room 1-3, City Hall–cancelled.
- Fire Station 3 Building Committee, 6 p.m., Meeting Room 1-4, City Hall.
- Fair Rent Commission, 6 p.m., Third Floor, Conference Room, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3, City Hall.
On Thursday, April 25
- Purchasing Committee, Board of Finance, 5:15 p.m., Meeting Room 1-1, City Hall.
- Fire Commission, 6 p.m., council chambers, City Hall.
TBE will do our best to update meeting times and locations, but it’s a good idea to check the agendas ahead of time for cancellations. Click here for specific meetings and times.
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Enjoy!
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