The Editor's Notepod, Thur., Jan. 21, 2010

Meriden: The discussions about high school renovation raise an interesting point about the two schools’ auditoriums and Maloney’s swimming pool. The state, in its wisdom, will only consider an auditorium for half the school’s students and reimburses less for pools. Here’s a good argument, given the numbers included in our story, for renovating instead of building new.

Wallingford: It is very difficult to discuss the K-2, 3-5 realignment – which is a rational idea on which one may have differing opinions – simultaneously with the deep school personnel cuts, about which it is virtually impossible to have rational discussion.

The state’s reimbursement rate for jury service is ridiculously low, as reported in discussions of the selection process for murder defendant, Steven Hayes. It all but guarantees that any serious trial will wind up with a jury of rich or retired people, which is hardly a reflection of our state as a whole.