WSHU • 15th July 2019

Connecticut Lights For Liberty Vigils Spotlight Immigration Detention Policies

Nearly 100 residents, activists and elected officials gathered in Milford, Connecticut, on Friday to protest what they call the inhumane treatment of undocumented immigrants at the U.S. southern border.Nabila Amrani is from Morocco and migrated to Milford a decade ago. Amrani says she wants the federal government to allow migrants to enter and settle here like she did. “America is a country of freedom and allows immigrants. This is the great thing we have here. And why we come here? We want the...

WSHU • 27th June 2019

Bridgeport Students Meditate On Actions

If a student gets in trouble at the Curiale School in Bridgeport, the person they would have to answer to is Eric Sigman, the vice principal who handles disciplinary action. In April Sigman introduced Come and Learn Mindfulness, or CALM, program, a meditation and yoga curriculum. He created it to change the school’s standard disciplinary model that involved sending students to his office if they misbehave.Sigman arrived at Curiale in November. He wanted to make an instant impact, so he put a des...

WSHU • 16th May 2019

Garden To Heal New Haven Gun Wounds

Gary Kyshon Miller was shot twenty years ago in New Haven. His mother, Marlene Miller-Pratt, moved from North Carolina to Connecticut to find his killer.On a recent stormy spring day, Miller-Pratt flipped through a scrapbook dedicated to her late child.She came to a black and white flier that says, “Who killed my son?”“These were some of the pictures that I posted in the area,” Pratt said.  A young woman responded with a tip – days later. She identified the shooter because she didn’t want her ow...

WSHU • 2nd April 2019

5 Years On, Escalator At Stamford Train Station Still Incomplete

Connecticut Department of Transportation officials say construction of an escalator at the Stamford train station has taken almost five years to complete because of complications.The escalator that would provide another link between the north and south sides of the station was supposed to be completed in 2016.Jim Cameron, founder of Connecticut’s Commuter Action Group, says the project is 99 percent done, and the state DOT says it will be completed this month.“The cynics among us, including my f...

WSHU • 7th February 2019

Alleged Priest Abuse Victims Call On Norwich Diocese For Compensation

A group of Connecticut residents who allege they were sexually assaulted by priests in the Diocese of Norwich has sent an open letter to The Day of New London with a request for monetary compensation for the abuse.The letter comes as the Diocese says it’s finalizing a public list of clergy members who stand accused of sexual assault.John McGuire, the author of the letter, told the paper he was assaulted four times when he was 8-years-old by the late Rev. James Curry at St. Joseph’s Church in Noa...

WSHU • 8th November 2018

New Gender Definition Could Mean Harm For Transgender Americans

This week Massachusetts voted to protect the rights of transgender people in their state. This comes after a leaked memo from the Department of Health and Human Services said the Trump administration wants to narrow the definition of sex. Raven Matherne, Connecticut’s first openly transgender elected official, explained how this would deny rights to healthcare for millions like her.     Matherne pulled out a chair at her parents’ dining room table. She made sure her donut cushion was in place be...

WSHU • 2nd July 2018

New Haven School Board Rescinds Layoffs Of Hundreds Of Employees

The New Haven Board of Education says it will direct the superintendent to reverse the layoff of hundreds of part-time employees, which was announced last week in an effort to cover a budget deficit.Board President Darnell Goldson says they should have been notified before Superintendent Carol Birks' decision to send the layoff notices.“The Board was not aware of those notices, nor who those people were, or what effect they have on the Board of Education and how they affect student outcome…We ce...

WSHU • 23rd May 2018

Gas Prices Climb Across The Region

Gas prices in Connecticut and New York are on the rise and they’re expected to increase throughout the Memorial Day weekend.Patrick DeHaan, spokesperson for GasBuddy, says the Trump’s administration decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and the subsequent rise in crude oil prices has contributed somewhat to the increase.“So far it’s not had a major effect. I would say perhaps a few cents per gallon as a result. There certainly could be more of an impact in the weeks ahead.”    Fran Mayko...

WSHU • 10th April 2018

Bridgeport Demolishes Blighted Properties

Bridgeport mayor Joe Ganim climbed into the cab of a construction claw Tuesday and joined city leaders to demolish an abandoned property on the east side of the city.Ganim said this demolition has been in the works for a long time. It was an eyesore to the community.“This has been [here] I think over a decade from what I’ve been told, over a decade just sitting here,” said Ganim. “So if you live in this neighborhood, it’s just not fair.”Max Perez, the city’s Senior Economic Developer, said this...

WSHU • 12th August 2019

Connecticut Hospitals Required To Disclose Trauma Costs

In 2020, a new law will require Connecticut hospitals to tell the state how much they much they charge for health emergencies. The measure is part of a bipartisan package of consumer protections that aim to lower health care costs. It would establish a standard for insurance coverage of emergency department visits. So if a person believes they are having a health emergency, like a heart attack, insurers cannot deny coverage -- even if doctors diagnose the person’s condition as not serious.  The...

WSHU • 11th July 2019

25 Alleged Gang Members Indicted In New Haven

New Haven Police announced this week that 25 members of the Island Brothers Gang were indicted. Local police linked shootings and homicides around the city to the gang.New Haven Interim Police Chief Ontoniel Reyes says his department will not tolerate further gang-related crimes.  “We want to send a message that if you engage in gun violence, we’re going to come after you with every resource that we have available to us.” New Haven authorities say they arrested the gang members through a months-...

WSHU • 1st July 2019

Tree Limb Falls, Kills Connecticut Man After Violent Weekend Weather

A Fairfield, Connecticut, resident was killed after a tree limb fell on his car during a powerful thunderstorm on Sunday. Fairfield police say David Schmerzler was pulling into the driveway of his home when the tree limb split and fell. Schmerzler was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.His wife was in the passenger seat and sustained minor injuries. Their daughter was in the rear seat but was not injured.Connecticut’s largest utility provider, United Illuminating, repo...

WSHU • 9th April 2019

Ridgefield Baseball Field Set On Fire To Dry It Out

A group of residents poured 25 gallons of gasoline onto the baseball field of Ridgefield High School on Saturday in a misguided effort to dry out the field.  The town of Ridgefield could pay more than $50,000 to repair the damaged baseball diamond.  Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi said he isn’t sure why no one tried to prevent the fire.“We’re all aware of the ad that says, ‘See something, say something.’ Well they literally saw something quite spectacular right in front of them, and I do...

WSHU • 31st January 2019

Rep. Hayes Co-Sponsors 'Social Security 2100' Bill

U.S. Rep. Jahana Hayes, D-CT-5, is co-sponsoring a bicameral bill that would strengthen Social Security benefits for all Americans.Hayes said the bill, the Social Security 2100 Act, would keep financial insurance intact for families and millennials that pay into the program.“Social Security is a family plan. It covers disability, it covers survivors’ benefits. We have more than six million families that are taking care of children that receive Social Security benefits.”Hayes said three million o...

WSHU • 10th January 2019

Coast Guard Academy Feeling Effects Of Government Shutdown

The federal government’s partial shutdown has left some at the Coast Guard Academy in New London worried about when they’ll get their next paycheck.A spokesperson for the Coast Guard Academy says most of their 260 employees have been furloughed, and others – mostly faculty – are working without pay right now.U.S. Representative Joe Courtney’s district includes the Academy, along with two Coast Guard stations and a research and development center.“Because Coast Guard’s housed in the Department of...

WSHU • 13th November 2018

Connecticut Marks 10 Years Of Marriage Equality

Monday was the 10-year anniversary of the court ruling which legalized same-sex marriage in Connecticut.Beth Kerrigan decided to sue the state after she and her now-wife tried to apply for a marriage license, and were denied.   Kerrigan said before the case was filed, volunteers fought to change the public’s impression of the LGBTQ community.“We would have in every town throughout all of Connecticut meetings with our local officials, our state reps, our senators, inviting them into our homes and...

WSHU • 28th August 2018

Eversource Cable Route Draws Criticism In Norwalk

Norwalk Harbor officials say they want to stop Eversource Energy from running two 115-kilovolt transmission cables under the newly rebuilt boat docks at Veterans Memorial Park.  John Pinto, chairman of the Harbor Management Commission’s Application Review Committee, says the commission will not agree to Eversource’s relocation plan if it adversely impacts the boating facility.“They had indicated that they would go deeper under the piles and then come up in a far distant location in the parking a...

WSHU • 11th July 2018

Lawyers Seek To Reunify Immigrant Children Held In Connecticut With Parents In Texas

Attorneys for two children detained in Connecticut after being separated from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border have asked a judge to order that they be reunited with their families immediately. Dozens of people rallied outside a district courthouse in Bridgeport today in support of the children.“The incarceration of migrant families, end it now...end it now. The mass trials, unjust trials, end it now...end it now.”Protesters chanted and waved signs outside the courthouse calling for the r...

WSHU • 24th May 2018

16 Connecticut Companies Make Forbes 500 List

Connecticut ranks first among six New England states on this year’s Fortune 500 list. The state has sixteen companies on Forbes magazine’s annual list.Connecticut’s place on the Fortune list ties it with Michigan’s rank for 12th in the country overall.Four Connecticut-based companies are in the top 100: Aetna, United Technologies, Cigna and Charter Communications.Norwalk-based Xerox fell more than a hundred spots on the list this year. They were set to acquire the Japanese company, Fujifilm, but...

WSHU • 14th February 2018

Westport Country Playhouse To Rename Campus After Philanthropist Howard Aibel

The Westport Country Playhouse will be renaming its theater complex after Playhouse Trustee Howard J. Aibel, who donated $3 million to the not-for-profit this week.The Playhouse says $500,000 will be designated for current operations, another half a million for working capital reserve, and $2 million as a bequest to establish an endowment.The campus will soon be renamed the Howard J. Aibel Theater Center at the Westport Country Playhouse.Aibel told WSHU that he remembers the first time he visite...

Connecticut Public • 4th December 2017

Therapy Dogs Ease Flying Jitters At Bradley Airport

Bradley International Airport is giving stressed travelers the chance to hug a therapy dog during the holiday season.

Officials at the Windsor Locks airport say their six-month pilot program with the dogs was so popular among passengers that now people can pat and spend some time with the dogs in the airport concourse two days a week.

Kevin Dillon, executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority, says, “As I walk the airport and see the canines interact with our passengers. It’s amazin...

WSHU • 22nd August 2017

North Stonington Flies CT Flag Upside Down In Protest of Budget

The town of North Stonington is flying the Connecticut State flag upside down at its town hall. The town’s Republican leaders are protesting Democratic Governor Dannel Malloy’s proposed cuts to cities and towns.Sean Murphy is First Selectman of North Stonington, one of the many cities and towns facing big cuts in the money it gets from the state.“The flag flying upside down on the pole indicates being in distress and I think that is a mild term for the current situation that we have at the Capit...