Entering Eastern Standard Time, a gala and reading

Posted By: David Fortier November 3, 2024

By David Fortier

Come Sunday morning, the clocks will have been turned back an hour. It’s kind of funny, the way we look at things. How many texts or emails have crossed my social media asking what I am going to do with the extra hour. Someone has a sense of humor.

Last night was the Carousel Museum Gala, with a Hollywood theme. Some of the “characters” who showed up were “Audrey Hepburn,” “Marilyn Monroe” and “Billy Wilder.” We have a wonderful museum in the Carousel Museum. Like anything of value, supporting it takes a village to make it work, meaning making it prosper.

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And of course, it’s two days until Election Day, one more day of early voting at council chambers in city hall. One of the interesting stories out there is that people can now bet the election–pick a winner, or a loser and make a few bucks. How is that a thing?

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As for TBE, our election coverage needs some work. We hope that moving into the next year we will have a dedicated reporter who will cover city hall and elections.

For the time being, we rely on candidates to reply to our election questionnaire. Republicans, following the lead of the mayor, did not respond to our inquiry. We did not hear from Republicans State Sen. Henri Martin (31), State Rep. Joe Hoxha (78) and State Rep. Cara Pavalock-D’Amato (77) and new candidate David Schrager (running in the 79 House race).

Martin and Hoxha are running unopposed, but it would have been good to hear from them. Pavalock-D’Amato is facing a late entrant, Independent Mary Rydingsward.

The two candidates who did respond were State House challenger in the 77th Rydingsward and incumbent Democrat Mary Fortier (79). Here are their responses. Click here.

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In other TBE business, we have been struggling with our donation link, but it looks like we have solved that puzzle. If you attempted to contribute and received a 404-error message, we hope you will try again. Click here or look to our message at the end of this column.

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Overall, there is no more reason to log in, and if you look for a log in tab, you won’t find it. At the same time, the website is loading faster, or it should. I will keep you updated on new developments. Direct questions to dfortier@bristoledition.org.

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For listening, try the Lex Fridman interview with Bernie Sanders, “#450-Bernie Sanders Interview,” by clicking here. The good thing about these interviews is that they are long. The challenging things is that they are long. The best thing is that a listener gets to hear directly from the interviewee. Oftentimes, it’s enough to set the record straight, especially in these days of social media madness.

For reading, I am finishing up “Martyr” by Kaveh Akbar. Last week I wrote about the main character being one that does what any good main character does — takes us on an adventure. This week the adventure continues. Here is some background about the author and novel on Goodreads. Click here.

Aside from the novel, there are the news accounts of latest developments in this election cycle. They are never ending and always provocative. Lately, I have turned to the Atlantic for deeper reporting about the candidates, their rallies and policies.

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City meetings this week include the following:

On Monday, Nov. 4

  • American Rescue Plan Task Force, 4 p.m. Council chamber, city hall. For the virtual meeting, click here.
  • Police Memorial Committee, 5 p.m. Disbanded.
  • Cemetery Commission, 5:30 p.m. Bristol Historical Society, 98 Summer St. For the virtual meeting, click here.
  • Library Board of Directors, 6:30 p.m. Bristol Public Library, 5 High St. For the virtual meeting, click here.
  • Conservation Commission/Inland Wetlands and Watercourse Agency, 6:30 p.m. Council chambers, city hall. For the virtual meeting link, click here.

On Tuesday, Nov. 5

  • Storm Water Trust, 8:30 a.m. Meeting Room 1-2, city hall.
  • Police Awards Committee, 9 a.m. Chief’s Conference Room, 131 N. Main St.
  • Ordinance Committee, 5 p.m. Meeting Room 1-1, city hall. For the virtual meeting, click here.
  • Board of Public Works–Tree Hearing, 5:30 p.m. Meeting Room 2-2, city hall.

On Wednesday, Nov. 6

  • Code Enforcement Committee, 9 a.m. Council chambers, city hall. For the virtual meeting, click here.
  • School Readiness Council, 12:15 p.m. Zoom: click here.
  • Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m. Council chambers, city hall. For the virtual meeting, click here.
  • Board of Ethics, 6 p.m. Meeting Room 3-1, city hall. For the virtual meeting, click here.
  • Arts & Culture Commission, 6:30 p.m. Meeting Room 1-3, city hall. For the virtual meeting, click here.
  • Board of Education, 7 p.m. Board of Education Auditorium. For agenda, click here. For virtual meeting, click here.

On Thursday, Nov. 7

  • Economic and Community Development, 5 p.m. Council chambers, city hall.

On Friday, Nov. 8

  • No meeting posted.

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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Have some life experience in a particular business or field of study. You might be a journalist in the making. Contact editor@bristoledition.org.

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Enjoy!

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