3 June—Today’s big news is that the Borough of Litchfield’s 2026-2027 budget passed unanimously at the borough’s annual meeting late yesterday afternoon, with the slightly reduced presence of the Board of Warden and Burgesses joined by the three plain old residents who bothered to attend, whom the reduced BOWAB still outnumbered. This budget, like last year’s, was moved, seconded, and passed in something like 30 seconds.

The borough is now off the hook for the fees Chabad’s predatory shysters didn’t really earn but had to be paid anyway (thanks to the goddamned Second Circuit) in litigating Chabad Lubavitch of Litchfield County Inc’s vexatious SLAPP suit against the Historic District Commission, so the 2026-2027 budget is about $100,000 lower than last year’s and consequently the mill rate has been reduced by about five percent to 1.7. Count our blessings. Amen.

In other news, we return to the alleged sexual abuse of which the late Dave Driscoll was accused (while he was alive and running, of course, over three decades ago; he died only last year at 81 and was buried with full military honors) but never prosecuted nor even formally charged, but for which the Town of Litchfield with its relatively deep pockets is now being stalked by alleged victims (who had refused to testify when Driscoll was alive) and predatory ambulance chasers. Sorry, make that predatory personal injury shysters.

So the Monitor has learned through an invariably and incredibly reliable branch of the grapevine that the Litchfield Hills Road Race Board of Directors had intended to acknowledge Dave Driscoll’s considerable involvement with and contributions to the LHRR from its earliest days—i.e., they were prepared to give the guy at least some of the credit due him—but were warned off. It must be noted—even emphasized—that we haven’t bothered to dig up details or otherwise confirm the hearsay.

All we can say, then, is follow the money . . .