WICC The Voice of Connecticut

The Connecticut Public Safety Committee outlined their top priorities at the committee’s first meeting of the year and at the top of the list: street takeovers. We spoke with Senator Paul Cicarella, leading Republican on the legislature’s General Law and Public Safety and Security Committees.

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The candidates are set for next month's special election in the state Senate's 21st district filling the seat for former Senator Kevin Kelly. Republicans have selected Shelton state Representative Jason Perillo. We spoke with Rep. Perillo ahead of the February 25th special election to learn more about his platform.

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Tuesday's "Connecticut Today" with host Paul Pacelli opened with Paul talking about a proposal to lower the state's blood-alcohol DUI threshold from .08 to .05 percent (00:38). State House Republican Leader Vin Candelora talked about a push to possibly reign in Connecticut's "Trust Act" for illegal aliens (16:01). Yankee Institute blogger Meghan Portfolio joined us to chat about more early legislation being introduced in the General Assembly (22:26). CBS News correspondent Chris Fox joined us from Austin, Texas, on the Trump White House immigration enforcement push (32:56)

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In August of 2024, Connecticut news outlets were buzzing about Budderfly; a Connecticut company bringing renewable energy to UConn Health’s Farmington campus. Then, the governor name-dropped the Shelton-based company during his 2025 state of the state address. We connected with Budderfly CEO Al Subbloie to understand their business model and how it’s lowering Connecticut’s carbon footprint.

For more information: https://www.budderfly.com/

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Right on The White House government website, it’s outlined President Trump’s immediate priorities upon entering office. Some of his key executive orders impacting Connecticut residents include immigration and gender identification on documents. We got a breakdown of these orders from Dr. Patricia Crouse, a practitioner in residence in public administration and political science at University of New Haven.

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In the final minutes of his presidency, Joe Biden pre-emptively pardoned several family members, Covid response chief Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of the House for the January 6th riot investigation. We spoke with Attorney Bill Bloss, our legal expert, to get a better understanding on how preemptive pardons work.

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Governor Lamont is set to present his first proposal during the 2025 legislative session. We asked political reported, Mike Cerruli, what could be in the severe weather bill proposal. We also got more insight about the Ratepayers First Act.

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"Connecticut Today" host Paul Pacelli kicked off Inauguration Day wondering how President Trump was able to return to the White House after a few tumultuous years (00:30). We also received analysis from Sacred Heart University Political Science Professor and Scholar in Residence Dr. Gary Rose (14:44) and Southern Connecticut State University Political Science and Urban Affairs Professor Dr. Jonathan Wharton (25:14)

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According to national statistics, 1 in 36 people are diagnosed with autism. Ahead of a traffic stop or interaction with police, one Connecticut family created a non-profit to help make those interactions between people with disabilities and law enforcement better. We spoke with Ashley McClain, director of Linked--Autism Safety Project.

For more information: https://linkedasp.com/

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This week, Bill is joined for the hour by Monte Frank, along with Brett Broesder and Astra Finch, to discuss ranked choice voting in Connecticut.