Eight Reasons Enfield Republicans Should Drop the Pride Flag Referendum

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  In 2022, the Town Council, under a Democratic majority, approved a policy allowing Pride flags to be displayed at Town Hall during Pride Month in June. After retaking the majority in 2024, Republicans passed an ordinance banning all non-government flags from government buildings. That should have been the end of it. But it wasn't. After forming a Charter Revision Commission, its chair, Mayor Ken Nelson, sought to include what amounts to a permanent Pride Flag ban in the town charter. Changing the town charter requires voter approval through a referendum. If voters approve the measure, future councils must follow the rule unless a new referendum overturns it. Mayor Nelson has been the strongest advocate for putting this on the ballot. "Can the town buildings be used to push a personal ideology on the residents of Enfield?" he asked at the Commission's final meeting. "It is a political issue—it's not our billboard." Last week, the Charter Commission dead...

How great is the Enfield Public Library? Truly great




I just love the Enfield Public Library. Everything about it. The catalog system is easy to use. You can get books from regional libraries if Enfield doesn’t have it. Its research page is very useful, especially is you need to use newspaper archives. The staff is super, and they have done a great job managing the pandemic. 

I’ve been using the curbside pickup mostly. For those unfamiliar, you put in reserve and when the book is ready, give them a call. You then arrange for a pickup time and the book will be waiting in a paper bag on a table. How great is that?

But a week ago, I went inside the library, the first time since March. Wonderful. The pandemic has taken so much of our old normal away, that any little slice of it seems like gold. 

They have set up plexiglass screens to protect the librarians at the checkout, but otherwise, all seemed unchanged. You can browse books. 

The Pearl Street library is more restricted, it seems, based on this sign out front. Haven’t been in that library since the 1970s. Someday.

If you aren’t a regular user of the public library, give it a try. It’s one of the best things about living in this town.

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