I was off last week but hardly oblivious to the heat and anguish coming out of Brewster, where the lives of Lori and Kayla Donohue — 37-year-old mother and 8-year-old daughter, respectively — were snuffed out in the most violent, preventable and gut-wrenching fashion; they were struck and killed by a vehicle driven by a man who police said was drunk, unlicensed to drive, and shouldn’t even have been in the country. Any one of those facts would be damning; the combination of all three has many people seething.

As staff writer Theresa Juva reported in a Sunday article about the Donohue funeral, the Rev. Kathleen Koran, pastor of Trinity Lutheran, acknowledged the community’s anger and the sorrow. Koran said, “We have to figure out what to do next. Who are we? How do we go on being? There are times when words fail us.”

We certainly couldn’t put it any better, but we’re going to try as best we can — with the words — in a community discussion noon Thursday that you can watch LIVE at LoHud.com/editorialspotlight. The Editorial Board has invited community leaders to talk about the issues raised by the tragedy, including drunken driving, illegal immigration and community healing. We’ll let you know more tomorrow (Wednesday) about who is participating. You’ll also be able to ask questions using our interactive blogging feature.

Also these Editorial Spotlight conversations are on tap for Wednesday — also available via  www.LoHud.com/editorialspotlight:

• At 11 a.m.: COLLEGE LIFE — With more than 427,000 students, the State University of New York is the largest university system, under a single board, in the nation. Nancy L. Zimpher, SUNY’s new chancellor, will share her vision for its future and the challenges ahead. Former president of the University of Cincinnati, Zimpher became SUNY’s ninth chancellor and its first woman chancellor June 1. Joining her will be Purchase College President Thomas Schwarz.

• At 3 p.m.: YOUR TAX BILL — State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has huge responsibilities, including managing the state’s pension fund, auditing all state agencies and local governments, and overseeing the state and local retirement system, which serves more than 1 million members and retirees. He recently shared the gloomy news that the state pension fund lost 26 percent of its assets as of March 31. The implications: By 2011, state and local governments will have to greatly increase their contribution rate to the fund to make up the difference.