The Editor's Notepod, Thur., July 8, 2010

Southington: Reading about the proposal to reuse an empty school and demolish two other town-used buildings in a consolidation of office plan makes perfectly good sense, once you figure out where the players are all moving. But no one should hope that a thorough modernization project on a public building is going to be done for pennies as a weekend project: it doesn’t happen that way.

Area: the ice business has been booming during the present heat spell. Who knew so many people bought ice, either bagged or in blocks?

Wallingford: the posturing between town officials and union officials over arbitration is kind of tempest in a teapot. Everyone knows arbitration will yield some increases (either wages or benefits) and that, barring tax increases, this will be met either with layoffs or unfilled positions, and that there’s always a gray area where wiggle room for particular cases can be discovered.

There’s a discussion among legislators and other officials over the euthanasia policies of the Connecticut Humane Society, a private charity. The indications here, as elsewhere, suggest that this might be best handled, given the modern sensibilities, by a state-run agency with transparent policies and accountability.

There’s something wrong with the way small business employees are being for selling tobacco products to minors, evident after a sting operation in Meriden. For one thing, when a sting operation is involved, there’s no way of telling how often any establishment or clerk actually sells tobacco to a bona fide purchaser who is under age.