WICC The Voice of Connecticut

We are in the midst of the legislative session and several road safety bills have been voted out of committee and could see the light of day by May. We get the details from Alec Slatky from AAA about these pieces of legislation including work zone speed cameras and lowering the blood alcohol limit to .05.

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For the first time in Connecticut history, we have rolled out early voting starting today ahead of the primaries April second. Secretary of the State, Stephanie Thomas, joined us for everything you need to know ahead of casting your vote at the polls. Plus, we touched on legislation surrounding elections being debated in Hartford including absentee ballot reform, election monitoring and potentially rebranding Connecticut’s Independent Party.

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Host Paul Pacelli started a new week on "Connecticut Today" wondering why Connecticut allows EV drivers to get away with not contributing to the state's transportation fund (00:33). Sacred Heart University Political Science Professor/Scholar in Residence Dr. Gary Rose commented on the current news surrounding former President Donald Trump (12:54), while CT NewsJunkie columnist and Substack.com blogger Terry Cowgill dropped by for his weekly check-in (27:38)

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A new CNN report revealed that marriage rates have been up, and divorce rates are down. Why is that the case and are we seeing that locally with couples in Connecticut? We got perspective from our marriage coach, Bob Donovan.

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There is a new warning for travelers after researchers, posed as hackers, expose a security flaw that could open millions of hotel-room doors. Wired Magazine shared the findings this month outlining the impact on people here and across the globe checking into a hotel. What can we do to better protect ourselves from intruders when we are staying in a hotel? We got advice from our crime prevention expert, Jim Perez.

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Connecticut’s license renewal fees are insanely high, and a new proposal is looking to cap costs. According to a recent report, physicians in New York and Massachusetts must pay $600 every two years to renew their licenses. However, here in Connecticut, physicians and surgeons pay $575 annually or $1,150 every two years. Right now, 83 professions in our state require these astronomical costs and one Senator is looking to fix it permanently. Senator Ryan Fazio of the 36th District (Greenwich, Stamford, parts of New Canaan) shares the three bills he has presented this session, why there is bi-partisan support and why he’s hopeful something will pass!

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Grab the tissues; you’re going to need them! A new report is sounding the alarm about allergy season. Several national studies revealed as a result of weather patterns and trends, AccuWeather meteorologists anticipate three different peaks in pollen levels that should make allergy season last longer in 2024. We learned about ways to best cope with allergies and remedies we can use to battle a longer season from Dr. Andrew Wong. Dr. Wong is a primary care physician and the Medical Director of Hartford HealthCare Medical group in the Fairfield region.

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For the first time, we had the Commissioner for Connecticut’s Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Nancy Navarretta. After last week’s conversation on the show about alcohol expectations in today’s society and many listeners joining the conversation, we talked about it further with Commissioner Navarretta. We did a deeper dive into the broken societal norms around drinking, how the state is addressing peer pressure and whether venues will begin incentivizing people to have dry events in future.

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Host Paul Pacelli wrapped up another busy week on "Connecticut Today" looking at a proposed ballot change that could affect a major third party (00:28) and we also heard from former Bridgeport State Rep. Chris Caruso on those possible changes (12:55). Glastonbury GOP State Rep. Steve Weir stopped by to chat about a possible expansion of the state's paid medical leave program (26:00)

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State Street Debating Society has named the 2024 high school scholarship award winners. Seven Stamford high school seniors will receive $70K in college scholarship money. State Street Debating Society has offered scholarships to high school students for nearly 60 years awarding more than $1.1 million during that time. Additionally, State Street supports all Stamford High School Debating programs year-round. 

We had the opportunity to talk to the Scholarship Committee Chair State Street Debating Society, Ed Tatro and one of the scholarship recipients, Emily Jean Urda, a senior at Westhill High School.

For more information: https://statestreetdebating.org/

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