Something I'll just add about the DMV experience is that as others have said, it's by appointment. But when you go to book an appointment online, the availability could look pretty bleak depending on the DMV you picked and what you selected as your reason for the appointment.

If that's the case, just pick the soonest appointment and check back on a daily basis. I've had instances where I had to book 30 days out and then checked the next day only to find they'd opened up a bunch of time slots 7 days out.

Make sure your appointment is only for the kind of service you're needing. Don't select a different reason for the appointment in hopes of getting a better time slot.

You aren't entitled to cruise in the passing lane, regardless of what speed you drive.

Like another commenter, I'm interested in any efforts to reduce car dependence. Through mixed use zoning and densification, bike infrastructure, mass transit funding and infrastructure (especially trains and light rail).

But also, given the recent Eversource hikes and apparent fragility of our electrical grid in CT, I'd super appreciate any investigation of ties between Eversource, their lobbyists, their regulators, and elected officials.

I keep hearing how there's a revolving door and family or political ties that allow for enormous dividend payouts and executive pay, and little in the way of rate relief or grid maintenance or grid hardening.

Are there such connections? Who is getting campaign donations from whom, and to what effect? Is anyone on the take? Are there any legislative efforts to take the grid under state or local control? Or to build more green energy capacity to put downward pressure on rates?

Thank you for asking, and for potentially shedding some sunlight on this mess.

These guys coming in and disrupting public agencies under the guise of exposing corruption aren't honestly attempting to expose corruption in the first place. They're just pestering people on until one snaps to generate rage bait content on YouTube or TikTok or wherever.

You want to expose corruption? You FOIA documents. Look up court records, campaign contributions, police records, contracts. Build credibility with sources to a point where they go on the record with you. You know, stuff that actual journalists do.

As a citizen, I'd be absolutely livid if one of these jackwagons came in while I was, say, trying to get a license down at the DMV, and totally muck up the operation. Where's my right to functioning government services, and how is that less important than generating ragebait for some dishonest actor?

This wasn't an instance of a driver hitting a pedestrian. Although that is a big problem for WH.

This crash happened on Simsbury Road (aka CT-185) and Timberwood Rd (a residential street). I couldn't tell you what the speed limit is on Simsbury road, because there aren't any signs showing speed limit on that stretch of road, but it appears to be 45 miles per hour further down the road.

If I were to guess what happened here, someone was driving way over the speed limit down 185 and someone who wasn't paying attention tried turning onto that road from Timberwood. Or someone crossed the center line on 185. Won't know without further information.

Couldn't agree more.

Often times people throw around these huge numbers to discourage forcing Eversource spending any of our money on upgrades.

Not all lines need to be buried, but we should as hell spend more than $0 to bury lines.

To be fair, there was and still is enormous competition for linemen given the sheer scale of this storm. But with the rates we pay, you'd think we could have more workers and equipment in-house at Eversource to deal with this. Or, again, more money invested to harden the grid against events like this.

As a point of reference of how our money is being spent, this year alone, Eversource sent $891M of ratepayer money out as dividends to investors. I wonder how many more line workers we could have for $891 million USD every year?

More housing density and mass transit.

Turn 84 and 91 into boulevards and route through traffic clear around the city.

And if you want to drive briskly through the scenic countryside, Lime Rock Park will let you do that there.

Y not both?

Eversource will still own the grid and charge you for delivery even after you change suppliers. There's more work to be done here.

There are 44 million electric customers served by public utilities or not for profit co-ops: https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=40913

And ten percent of electricity generated in the US is generated in public power plants: https://www.publicpower.org/public-power/stats-and-facts

So it is a thing, we just need to make sure it's a thing here in Connecticut.

Does it need to be profitable, though?

I mean, I get how a for-profit business needs to be profitable. But this is power generation, an essential part of a modern economy. We don't need a profit motive to make these nuclear plants.

I don't see how the Democrat's failure to invest more in green energy absolves Arora of being a fossil fuel profiteer or not pursuing green energy-friendly policies himself.

Democrats being useless doesn't make Arora any less unreliable.

Has Arora, a former Enron employee, also former employee of Amaranth Capital (a fossil fuel hedge fund sued for manipulating gas prices), ever voted to increase the electric capacity through green, renewable energy?

From the article:

> In the worst-case scenario, a cluster of states with a combined economy bigger than Japan’s will run out of fuel to keep the lights on and heat homes and businesses.

This appears to be the one thing the editor honed in on when writing the headline for the article (writers don't write the headlines, editors do).

But the writer doesn't quote anyone directly saying as much, so it's unclear whether any expert on the matter is predicting a gas shortage significant enough to shut down power plants.

I can't stress enough how important it is to think critically about who is being interviewed how for stories about energy in particular. There are vested interests who want to keep making money off fossil fuels, and will throw around threats of freezing to death in the winter to keep their assets profitable.

Will it be an expensive winter to heat your home with fossil fuels? Yes. Is that a big problem for vulnerable populations? Absolutely. Does that mean CT will have roiling blackouts and gas shutoffs? I don't see anyone credible saying that.

Hello, I would like to introduce you to Texas, the state with the most fatal road rage shootings.

>How can we incentivize real discussions with all these different stakeholders in our state without just turning it into another name-calling exercise or political fight?

The issue here is that zoning and land ownership is inherently a political issue.

Politics is the competition between competing interest groups for power; the power relations among individuals especially regarding resources and status.

Land is wealth and a finite resource, and housing is essential for survival and status. You have people concerned with accumulating wealth in competition with those trying to merely eek out a living. There's nothing apolitical about this discussion.

Perhaps you mean partisan, e.g., adherence to a party or cause? Even then, you have firmly defined and contradictory causes: wealth accumulation vs wealth equity (or merely avoiding being homeless, really).

The civility of this discussion around affordable housing is directly linked to the stakes we're talking about here, and the general health and wellbeing of the society.