We’ve heard a lot about the distance learning going on at K-12 schools during this coronavirus pandemic shutdown. But there’s a good number of kids who are not distance learning for a variety of reasons and badly need schools to reopen.

Monday is the day that Connecticut’s two casinos will reopen after weeks of shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Ned Lamont has been open about his feeling that it’s too early to resume gaming at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.

There is nothing like the sight and smell of lavender. I was fortunate enough to travel to the South of France and see the lavender fields. But we don't have to travel to Europe to enjoy this prized herb. There are lavender farms in Connecticut and you can grow it in your own backyard. You just need to select the right varieties and grow them properly. It's the National Garden Bureau's Plant of the Year , so let's grow some lavender.

Gov. Ned Lamont recently signed an executive order that will allow people who are concerned about contracting the coronavirus to use an absentee ballot for the August presidential primary elections. That has some members of the state Republican party upset.

What began as some gastric issues last year has now progressed into painful gallstones and chronic problems for Hannah Gebhard, who lives in Naugatuck. “It was really just a ramping up of the symptoms until I one day landed myself in the emergency room at 2 a.m. because I was in so much pain,” she said.

While certain public places are finding ways to reopen safely, theaters still have a long way to go. Socially distancing the audience is doable but probably not cost-effective. And what about the actors? Keeping 6 feet apart onstage could make for a bizarre evening of theater.

A federal appeals court has reversed a decision by immigration authorities in the case of a Connecticut man facing deportation, ordering the Board of Immigration Appeals to respect the state’s pardons.

On the same day the state partially reopened, Gov. Ned Lamont disbanded the Reopen Connecticut Advisory Group, the task force that had been charged with coming up with a plan to guide the state into a safe, methodical reopening. One of the co-chairs of that group was Dr. Albert Ko of the Yale School of Public Health.

Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport plans to reopen on June 1 after closing to visitors back in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. Connecticut Public Radio’s Morning Edition host, Diane Orson, spoke with zoo director Gregg Dancho.

Less than a month ago, a family member in Olga Gutierrez’s home in Bridgeport tested positive for COVID-19. But because she and her family are undocumented immigrants, Gutierrez said their options are limited. “We were terrified,” she said. “We think we that we might have the virus, too. We have not been able to go to the doctor because we are uninsured and we do not have money to cover this.”