WICC The Voice of Connecticut

Over 5 million people worldwide have been trained in the American College of Surgeons Stop the Bleed program. The program aims to make these life-saving skills as common as CPR. Following the Brown University shooting claiming the lives of two students and leaving nine others injured, we talk about the importance of trauma response skills from hospitals to the everyday bystander. We spoke with Dr. Shea Gregg, Chair of Surgery at SVMC and Chair of CT State Trauma Committee.

Ahead of the holidays and entering into the winter months, we checked in with Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter and Fire Chief Lance Edwards.Image Credit: Eric Urbanowicz

Host Paul Pacelli welcomed 16th District GOP State Sen. Rob Sampson to Monday's "Connecticut Today" to chat about proposed safety and security measures for future expanded use of "no excuse" absentee ballots in Connecticut elections (00:42). Retired FBI agent and University of New Haven Senior Criminal Justice Lecturer Ken Gray talked about this past weekend's mass shootings at Brown University and on a beach in Australia (10:40)

What does occupational therapists do? Why are they so important in helping people recover and live their best lives? These questions and more are answered as Melissa welcomed Stefanie Seanor, the Department Chair for Occupational Therapy at Sacred Heart University.Image Credit: Marnie Klebart

Employees at The Walt Disney Company are feeling more uneasy over potential job losses following the company’s reported $1 billion agreement with OpenAI. It’s a decision that also made Disney lovers worried about the quality of the company known for their Imagineers. We got perspective from our cybersecurity and AI expert, Dr. Vahid Behzadon, from University of New Haven.Picture Courtesy of the University of New Haven

Following the deadly shooting on Bondi Beach in Australia, we spoke with crime prevention expert, Jim Perez, about situational awareness and how to feel more empowered in crowded places.

Driver behavior is an increasingly bigger problem in Connecticut, especially when it comes to slowing down and moving over on our highways. In 2020, Corey Iodice, a local tow truck operator, was struck and killed on the Meritt Parkway while helping a driver pulled over. His death sparked the creation of Flagman, a non-profit traffic safety campaign focused on raising awareness about roadside dangers first responders and highway workers face. Cindy Iodice, founder of Flagman and proud sister of Corey, told us about the educational part of Flagman and what’s being presented in Fairfield schools right now. We also spoke with Matt Spencer about his connection to Flagman following the death of his son. For more information: https://flagmansafety.com/ Image Courtesy of Cindy Iodice and the Flagman Campaign

Host Paul Pacelli offered his thoughts on Friday's "Connecticut Today" regarding the next mandatory increase in Connecticut's minimum wage to $16.94 an hour (00:41). Former Bridgeport State Rep. Chris Caruso joined us with his weekly update, including his thoughts on the latest guilty verdict in the Bridgeport absentee ballot scandal (15:31), while CBS News White House reporter Willie James Inman had an update regarding the U.S. seizing a Venezuelan oil tanker and what might be coming next between both nations (25:00)

Melissa Sheketoff and Gary MacNamara discuss the archaic phrase of "stranger danger" and how parents can help kids detect potential predators.

We checked in with Save the Sound to talk about the latest with the lobster cage cleanup and new protections for the river herring. We spoke to Long Island Soundkeeper, Bill Lucey. For more information: https://www.savethesound.org/

TikTok isn’t just about dance trends, music, and influencers, it’s transforming how small businesses connect, grow, and thrive. This was the focus of a recent forum with CBIA and TikTok. Joining us now to discuss this relationship between business growth and the use of social media, we spoke with Danielle Cloud, CBIA policy director and John Moshos from Elm Street Diner.Follow Elm St Diner on social media: @elmstreetdiner Picture Courtesy of John Moshos and Elm Street Diner

We did a check-in with interim superintendent of schools, Dr. Royce Avery, about school building plans in Bridgeport.

Ahead of the anniversary marking the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, we spoke with Jenny Hubbard. Jenny’s daughter, Catherine, was one of the first graders killed in the shooting. In her honor, Jenny founded the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation and she tells us that the impact in over a decade is overwhelming.For more information: https://www.cvhfoundation.org/Image Credit: Eric Urbanowicz

Host Paul Pacelli ushered in another edition of "Connecticut Today" looking at a new report out of Boston University recommending that Connecticut cities and towns think about abandoning the traditional "last hired, first fired" plan when deciding on teacher layoffs, because of the possible negative effects on retaining teachers of color (00:43). 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing Band Drum Major Gunnery Sgt. Kevin Dalton stopped by to chat about the band's two performances coming up at the Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport (16:30). CBS News reporter Linda Kenyon at the White House briefed us on the U.S. seizing a Venezuelan oil tanker (24:58)

It’s been almost two months, and Marissa Gillett is still staying relevant with PURA despite stepping down as chairwoman. Plus, a top executive with Eversource is calling for the public benefits to be removed from electric bills ASAP. We spoke with Bryson Hull, Deputy Northeast Director for Consumer Energy Alliance about the latest energy news in the state. Image Credit: Eric Urbanowicz

President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” imposes new lifetime borrowing caps of $100,000 for graduate degrees and $200,000 for professional degrees. Some Connecticut nurses say a new plan could make an already tough job even tougher. We spoke with Dr. Karl Minges, Dean of the College of Health Professions at Sacred Heart University about these major changes and the impact on healthcare worker shortages.

From housing, taxes, public benefits and sham marriages, we covered as many state topics as we could with Governor Ned Lamont.Image Credit: Melissa Sheketoff

We are coming up on the 13th anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. We checked in with Nicole Hockley, who lost her son, Dylan, that horrible day. Hockley also is the co-founder of Sandy Hook Promise. She shared successes of the organization nationwide and the ongoing mission still relevant more than a decade later.

There's a case of measles in Connecticut. The Department of Health confirmed the case involved an unvaccinated child in Fairfield County. It's the state's first in more than four years. We talked to Dr. Browne about measles, RSV, flu and covid cases on the rise in Connecticut.Image Courtesy of Griffin Health

On Wednesday's "Connecticut Today," host Paul Pacelli (00:32) and State Senate GOP Leader Steve Harding (16:11) talked about reports of more alleged "sham" marriages happening in Connecticut and a lack of response from majority Democrats in Hartford. Hearst Connecticut Media Senior Editor and Columnist Dan Haar dropped by to chat about the state's finances and a key state Congressional race (23:32)

"Connecticut Today" host Paul Pacelli recently welcomed Epoch Times reporter Joshua Phillipp to discuss the growing tensions between the Trump White House and Venezuela (00:25). We also looked back at the River Restaurant explosion and fire in Derby on December 6th, 1985, with Derby firefighter and Alderman Ron Sill (09:57)

Earlier this year, Representative Josh Elliott announced his run for governor as a Democrat. Since then, Governor Lamont officially announced his plans to run for a third term. Does that change Elliot’s plans or create more fire to force a Democratic primary? We connected with Rep. Elliott to find out and talk about his biggest goal if elected to be the next governor. IMAGE CREDIT: State Representative Josh Elliott / CT House Democrats

The elevator is officially in! A lot of necessary upgrades to Homes for the Brave were revealed last month. We got the latest on this and an update on the annual report from Vince Santilli, CEO & Executive Director of Homes for the Brave.For more information: https://homesforthebrave.org/Image Credit: Eric Urbanowicz

A story by Reuters notes that commercial airline pilots often conceal mental health conditions for fear that disclosing therapy or medication, could mean having their license pulled and putting themselves and their passengers at risk. We spoke with retired commercial airline pilot, Paul Zielinski, about this problem and how the FAA handles it.

The FBI is warning the public of a disturbing scam trend involving fraudsters altering photos on social media and the internet to use as fake proof of life images for ransom schemes. The Stamford Police Department put a warning about this out to residents. We spoke with Sgt. Steve Perrotta from the Stamford Police Department about the scam and how to detect if you’re being duped.

Host Paul Pacelli welcomed GOP State Sen. Rob Sampson to Tuesday's "Connecticut Today" on what might be coming up next in the General Assembly after the signing of a revised housing bill by Gov. Ned Lamont (00:28). Yankee Institute blogger Meghan Portfolio joined us to chat about stability and funding for the state's Affordable Care Act exchange (11:27)

Have you ever heard of the term "job hugging?" We asked career strategist, Julie Bauke, about how relevant this is in today's job market and how to make sure you are prepared at work even if you are hugging as tightly as possible.

More than half of drivers (54%) feel safer operating a gas-powered car than an electric vehicle, according to a survey from AAA Northeast. The report highlights some of the biggest concerns people have with committing to an electric vehicle. We got perspective from our auto expert, Paul Miller, of Miller Nissan in Fairfield.The original AAA report: https://magazine.northeast.aaa.com/daily/newsroom/aaa-northeast-survey-cost-road-trip-concerns-and-safety-fears-lower-ev-interest/Picture Credit: Dee Ortiz

Recently, Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons vetoed an ordinance passed by the Board of Representatives that would have banned the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores. There’s controversy surrounding that decision but also more discussion on whether to pass a statewide law banning the sale of cats and dogs in pet stores.Should this continue to be a municipality decision or should Connecticut join states like New York, Vermont, and Maine banning the sales at all pet stores.We got perspective from former State Representative Brenda Kupchick. She served from 2011 to 2019 where she worked hard to try and pass animal welfare laws.

Now that the new housing bill was signed into law, what do organizations that helped contribute to the legislation conversations think? We spoke to Joe Delong, Executive Director & CEO of CCM, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities.

Host Paul Pacelli jump-started a new week on "Connecticut Today" by looking at a DOT proposal to add another lane to I-95 in Stamford as a way to ease traffic congestion (00:45). Blogger Chris Powell joined us to chat about several issues, including the upcoming 2026 Connecticut Governor's race (15:12). We also featured an analysis of weekend comments from Fourth District Democratic Congressman Jim Himes on CBS, regarding a recent controversial U.S. military strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat (25:00)

Manresa Island Corporation, the nonprofit leading the transformation of Manresa Wilds, unveiled the concept plan for the Northern Forest: a 28-acre landscape that will welcome visitors back to the site for the first time in nearly 75 years. What does it mean for the Manresa property in Norwalk? We asked Jessica Vonashek, Executive Director of Manresa Island Corp.For the latest on Manresa Wilds: https://www.manresawilds.org/

Connecticut law enforcement rolled out a questionnaire required to be used by all agencies, which they say is saving lives and helping victims of domestic violence. We spoke with White Ribbon Committee Chairman, Gary McNamara, at the Center for Family Justice about this.To contact The Center for Family Justice: https://centerforfamilyjustice.org/Image Credit: Sacred Heart University/Gary Macnamara

One day we’re an ‘F’ and a few days later, an ‘A.’ A recent article looked at all the states in the US with legalized marijuana laws on the books, which includes Connecticut. The article specifically looked at warning labels on cannabis products and originally gave our state a failing grade. But the article has since been corrected. What happened? We asked Commissioner Bryan Cafferelli of the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection.For the original article: https://www.statnews.com/2025/12/02/cannabis-product-safety-warnings-states-analysis/vImage Credit: Melissa Sheketoff

Recently, the Trump Administration decided to make drastic changes to the fuel-economy standards for new cars. What exactly does that mean and why does it matter for drivers, specifically in Connecticut where we pay high gas prices, have incredibly long commutes and still deal with some of the oldest highways in the Northeast? Jim Cameron of the weekly opinion column Talking Transportation weighed in on this.For Jim’s full article: https://ctmirror.org/2025/12/07/the-hidden-cost-of-fuel-economy/

Hartford is considering an ordinance to limit the number of pets a family can have. It’s an effort to crack down on animal cruelty and hoarding cases. But is it ethical? We asked Susan Linker, CEO and Founder at Our Companions Animal Rescue, about this.

Should the public benefits charge on your utility bill go away? Eversource and UI customers have been demanding that in recent years, and now a top executive at Eversource is echoing that message. We spoke with Digaunto Chatterjee, Senior Vice President of Engineering at Eversource.

Earlier this month, Stamford dealt with a scary standoff situation that ended with a person dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The case remains under investigation by the Inspector General’s Office. In the meantime, we wanted to get insight into how standoffs are handled and what responses look like on average. For perspective, we spoke to Sgt. Craig Brezniak with the Emergency Services Unit for Connecticut State Police.

New research suggests that the two-dose shingles vaccine may slow the progression of dementia. We spoke with Dr. Browne about this. Plus, Australian scientists have developed a needle-free vaccine patch technology that could make traditional injections a thing of the past. We got Dr. Browne’s take on this.Image Courtesy of Griffin Health

Some think it’s a disastrous bill; others think it does basically nothing new. No matter what people think about the latest housing bill signed into law for Connecticut, most agree that having no public comment options ahead of voting is a real problem for residents. We spoke about this more with Renee Dobos of Connecticut Housing Partners.

Congressman John Larson is calling for the resignation of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. And apparently, in Washington DC, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have their reservations about Hegseth. We spoke with Senator Richard Blumenthal about this, who has already publicly called for Hegseth to resign or be fired.Image Credit: Reuters

Wednesday's mid-week "Connecticut Today" kicked off with host Paul Pacelli wondering if it would be wise for a cable T.V. news host and policy pundit to enter the race for the 2026 Republican gubernatorial nomination (00:38). Hearst Connecticut Media Senior Editor and Columnist Dan Haar weighed in on that possible candidacy, as well as his conversations with Afghans in the state (15:24). Landmark Legal Foundation Vice-President of Legal Affairs Mike O'Neill detailed a big U.S. Supreme Court case coming up in a few days (23:48)

Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro addressed the House Floor in Washington name dropping local artist, Michael Pollack, and local nonprofit, Feeding Families Foundation. In less than three years, this pair has done so much to feed families with children battling health issues in the hospital but also needing to eat. We spoke with Michael Pollack (New Haven Pizza Club) and Jeff Dorman (FFF) about this announcement and what has been accomplished so far.For more information: https://feedingfamiliesfoundation.org/Image Credit: Eric Urbanowicz

Eversource is appealing the decision by state regulators to reject the sale of its Aquarion Water subsidiary. The Public Utility Regulatory Authority rejected the request by Eversource to sell Aquarion to the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority. Eversource's appeal argues that state regulators did not have jurisdiction to reject the agreement. We talk about the irony of that claim with Senator Tony Hwang. Image Courtesy of Melissa Sheketoff

Jim Mora left UConn for the top football coaching job at Colorado State University last week. But it’s not just sports reporters digging into this; political reporter, Mike Cerulli, has been doing some digging to see how state officials are responding to the news with potential taxpayer dollars.Image Courtesy of Melissa Sheketoff

Host Paul Pacelli ushered in Tuesday's "Connecticut Today" looking at the national and world debate over U.S. military strikes targeting alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific (00:45). Greenwich GOP State Sen. Ryan Fazio - a declared candidate for Governor - talked about a recent suggestion to remove the controversial "public benefits" charge from Connecticut utility bills (16:04). Yankee Institute blogger Meghan Portfolio discussed her reading of an affordable housing bill recently signed by Gov. Ned Lamont (22:55)

We are gearing up for the winter weather in Connecticut over the next few months. We checked in with Josh Morgan of the CT Department of Transportation to find out how the state preps the roads and the latest on a snowplow driver shortage in the state.For more information: https://portal.ct.gov/dot/ct-careers?language=en_USImage Credit: Melissa Sheketoff

The latest reported street takeover in Connecticut is being called a targeted attack on police. It happened in East Haven and several people reportedly attacked the first responding officer to the takeover. It begs the question: are there enough penalties to combat this or does the police accountability law need to be tweaked? We asked State Senator Jason Perillo represents Connecticut’s 21st District, which includes Stratford, Seymour, Shelton, and Monroe where street takeovers have happened in the past. He also is a member of Connecticut’s Judiciary Committee. Picture Credit: Eric Urbanowicz