After too much drama last week, this week returned to normal with a mix of family responsibilities and work. I’m meeting an old buddy for a nice Italian dinner in the Village tomorrow night and then having dinner with family friends on Saturday. As I’m finishing this newsletter, Obama and Harris are rallying on my TV in the next room.
Local Politics
While I’m not running for local office this year, I am still very involved. I go to town debates and show up at events. I know the issues and individuals in this year’s election. It’s super fun, especially since I’m sitting on the sidelines this year. But apparently, I’m a weirdo. One friend estimated that of the 25,000 town residents, only 250 know what’s going on.
The demise of local independent press is a tragedy. Active people can get semi-true information on Facebook, but even that’s inaccessible for technophobe older folks. Everybody else is super busy but in the past, the super busy people might have glanced at the headlines in a newspaper. Today, no reporters ever attend our school board meetings or town council meetings.
Look, this national election is huge. I’m not entirely confident that Harris will win, and that Trump will walk away without a big fight. But there’s something silently corrosive about the decline in local government and the local press. If there’s crap at the top, it’s because there’s crap at the bottom.
Read more at Apt. 11D, the newsletter
Apt. 11d 
I have to say, I don’t feel sanguine about the College Board trying to muscle in on vocational education.
There’s been a trend in these parts of students attending voc/tech schools, but continuing on to college, rather than the trades. In effect, one could argue that the voc/tech schools are used to make the applicants more appealing to colleges. I don’t object to students following their interests, but in the larger picture, the trend crowds out students who actually do want to enter the trades. Especially if admission is based upon grades and test scores, the students who would benefit the most from voc/tech training are left out.
For the taxpayer, in general voc/tech training costs more, due to the need for specialized equipment. It makes no sense to pay more to prepare college-bound students, while denying students who would go into the trades, who are not suited for college, the opportunity for free vocational training.
Adding an AP in vocational training would align with encouraging vocational students to go to college. After all, College Board test scores are intended to discriminate between college applicants.
Cranberry
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Again off topic, but have you seen the news about Spain? Think you were in Teruel?
https://www.cbsnews.com/live/
selfanalyst
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The link is vague. I assume you’re talking about the flooding?
https://www.npr.org/sections/the-picture-show/2024/10/30/g-s1-30937/valencia-spain-flooding-photos
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Just awful. Thanks for letting me know, selfanalyst. I had missed it.
We were in Teruel and Valencia this summer.
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