WICC The Voice of Connecticut

Monday's busy "Connecticut Today" started a new week with host Paul Pacelli's thoughts on turning down the heated rhetoric of the current campaign season (00:51). Quinnipiac University Law Professor John Pavia explained a judge's decision to drop - for now - the federal classified documents case facing former President Donald Trump (11:49). University of New Haven Senior Criminal Justice Lecturer Ken Gray talked about Saturday's assassination attempt against former President Donand Trump (21:48). Southern Connecticut State University associate professor of political science and urban affairs Dr. Jonathan Wharton discussed the prospect of "toning down" political rhetoric in the U.S. (33:04)

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Former President Trump is the luckiest man alive following an assassination attempt during a rally this past weekend. A bullet grazed Trump's ear when a gunman opened fire at the event in Butler, Pennsylvania.  One rally goer lost his life and two others were injured. The 20-year-old shooter was killed by Secret Service. But the biggest question remains: how did someone with a gun end up on a rooftop within range of Trump?

We got perspective from former Fairfield Police Chief, Gary MacNamara. ((00:00))

We also spoke with former S.W.A.T. Team member, Jim Perez. ((18:33))

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There are a lot of bird lovers in Connecticut and today, we learned about the latest bird success story. Purple Martins are thriving this summer at 5 Connecticut Audubon locations; approximately 140 pairs are raising as many as 500 hatchlings! Tom Anderson, Director of Communications at CT Audubon, says it’s been an unusually great year for hatchling numbers. We found out why.

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Earlier this month, we learned Connecticut preserved a record number of farmland parcels in 2023. Commissioner of Department of Agriculture, Bryan Hurlburt, defined preserved land and how we protected so many acres despite many challenges facing local farms today.

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On today's show, Mike Cerulli chats with Stamford State Representative and DNC delegate Corey Paris (0:00), Anthony Anthony from Connecticut tourism (45:25), and former Connecticut State Senator John McKinney (1:30:09).

According to national statistics, 92,000 out of 500,000 US children are in special education, which is on the rise. We are facing a critical shortfall of $79-million-dollars in funding for special education. Fran Rabinowitz is the co-chair of the statewide task force for special education. She highlighted the widening achievement gap between special education and standard children, the struggle to improve children’s reading skills and the lack investment locally and federally for special education.  

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In 2019, a significant change happened in scouting organizations: girls now allowed to join Boy Scouts. Now, five years later, Milford is founding its first Cub Scouts troop, which will be the sister troop to the Boy Scouts. We talked with Jessica Zamachaj, a local troop leader, about the new sister troop and the rebranding of Boys Scouts.

To contact Jess: [email protected]

For more information: https://www.scouting.org/

IMAGE CREDIT: Melissa Sheketoff

Just two years out of college, Larissa Salazar, a young filmmaker from Fairfield, recently won the NFFTY Award for her screenplay Mad Summer. Salazar told us about filming her new short film in September and how you can play a part in her vision come to life. 

For more information: https://www.gofundme.com/f/mad-summer-a-short-film

IMAGE CREDIT: Melissa Sheketoff

In 2015, Quinnipiac University became the first and only institution of higher education in the country to host Camp No Limits. The overnight camp aims to increase the functional independence of children and adolescents living with limb loss or limb differences. We spoke with Val Strange, Clinical Professor of Occupational Therapy at Quinnipiac University, about the impact of this camp for kids with limb differences and their families. 

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Allison Wysota, the Founder and Executive Director of Adam's House stopped by the Attorney Tom Ganim Melissa In The Morning Diner Tour to talk about the latest at their non-profit.

Image Credit: Dee Ortiz