Bulletin Praises Sen. Somers for CMEEC Reform Efforts

THUMBS UP to Three Rivers Community College, which recently announced that it had been named a 2017 Military Friendly School by Victory Media, a veteran-owned business that helps connect veterans to opportunities in civilian life. To qualify, the college had to meet certain metrics for graduations, job placements and degree advancement, among other measures. Over the years, The Bulletin has profiled the college’s veterans programs like OASIS Center, a lounge area where veterans can access services and socialize. We were heartened to see the college’s efforts get some recognition.

THUMBS DOWN to the Norwich City Council, which continues to refuse reopening its decision to spending nearly a million dollars to tear down the historic Reid & Hughes building — despite the interest of a developer and local donor to keep it standing while the details are ironed out. While we’ve noted that the council is within its rights to err on the side of caution considering proposals that aren’t fully developed. But given the degree of public pushback against the demolition decision, aldermen would do well to rethink the issue.

THUMBS UP to state Sen. Heather Somers, R-Groton, for demanding accountability of the Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative, the group that organized and paid for the vacations in the “Derbygate” scandal. Somers’ bills — which would go as far as disbanding CMEEC but which Somers has said are intended to hold CMEEC’s feet to the fire — got a public hearing in Hartford last week. The freshman senator testified opposite strong CMEEC supporters including local chambers of commerce and the Norwich Community Development Corporation. We applaud Somers for standing up for her constituents.

THUMBS DOWN again to the new president and his administration, which late last week was stepping up its hostility toward major news outlets like CNN and the New York Times. In a speech at a political conference on Friday, Trump repeated his dangerous rhetoric about the press as “the enemy” of the American public, and soon thereafter a handful of major outlets were blocked from attending a White House press briefing. The administration’s retaliatory streak is deeply concerning to us even as a local outlet far-removed from the drama of Washington, D.C.