ELECTION 2020
As emotions run high, party leaders urge civility By Nadya Korytnikova Special to The Citizen
And both sides deal with it. Durham resident Tracy Ogrodnik – a supporter of President Trump – said she
By Mary Ellen Godin Record-Journal staff
“Yes, we’ve been really busy,” a worker said as she directed the cars into two lanes.
While theft and defacement of political yard signs is nothing out of the ordinary, both Democrats and Republicans say the political divisiveness feels more charged than in years past.
Sign theft has become a “consistent, ongoing problem,” she said.
Demand for testing increases with a rise in COVID cases MERIDEN — The line of cars carrying people waiting for COVID-19 tests at MidState Medical Center ran all the way to Lewis Avenue Friday afternoon.
The election is less than two weeks away, and political tensions are running high. Sometimes too high.
“We didn’t have this problem four years ago, not to that extent,” said Jennie Caldwell, vice-chair of the North Haven Democratic Town Committee. “In the past, few people would occasionally call us and ask for a new sign because theirs had been stolen. But now they call us on a regular basis.”
Friday, October 23, 2020
www.northhavencitizen.com
Volume 15, Number 31
Throughout our area, politcal yard signs touting both Republican and Democratic candidates have been stolen, and sometimes destroyed. Pictured: Durham resident Tracy Ogrodnik said two of her Donald Trump signs have been vandalized. Submitted by Tracy Ogrodnik
is used to trespassers stealing her yard signs. But this year, Ogrodnik said her signs have been destroyed. “Two days in a row someone slashed my sign,” she said. “I think a person was walking, he didn’t want other people to see him strolling with a sign, so he had to destroy it.”
Another Durham resident, Melinda Hemson, felt it necessary to place her Trump sign in a window, away from foot traffic. “I was warned that someone will either take it or destroy it if I put it in my yard,” she said. See Election, A13
Hartford HealthCare, the parent company of MidState, has seen a recent spike in COVID-19 testing across all its facilities, according to a Hartford HealthCare spokeswoman. The increased demand for testing follows a recent uptick in positive COVID-19 cases statewide. After months of positive cases at less than 1 percent, Connecticut saw it’s infection rate climb to 2.4 percent Tuesday, Oct. 13 before dipping to 2 percent the following day and 1.3 percent Thursday, Oct. 15. Statewide cases increased 36 percent in one week with towns in
the eastern part of the state seeing the highest rates of infection. More than 15,000 tests were performed last Thursday, according to records from Gov. Ned Lamont’s office. More than 62,000 people in the state have contracted the virus and more than 4,500 have died since the pandemic began. More than 190 people were hospitalized Oct. 15, the highest number in several months. “The upward trend of positives in Connecticut appears to be motivating people to get tested,” said Leslie Gianelli, a spokeswoman for the Community Health Center Inc. “Our testing numbers have increased this week.” CHC, which is based in Middletown but has sites in Meriden and 10 other towns, is extending its COVID testing hours to 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and weekends at fixed sites, See Testing, A11
235033