$475,000 from the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services will be used by the United Way of Connecticut to support costs related to the complex needs of unsheltered individuals and families during periods of extreme cold weather.
 
The Department of Housing is working with the seven regional Coordinated Access Networks on the development of these hubs, which will be able to accept walk-in appointments and receive direct referrals from 2-1-1 staff for those who indicate they are experiencing homelessness. The hubs will serve to provide support for repeat callers of 2-1-1, while helping to reduce overall call volume at the service.

Connecticut’s Energy Assistance Program provides assistance for winter heating costs for thousands of homeowners and renters who meet state income guidelines. Customers can learn more and apply online at CT.gov/heatinghelp.

Operation Fuel provides year-round emergency energy and utility assistance for customers facing a financial crisis.

The Matching Payment Program can lower a past due balance with monthly payments for electric or gas heating customers receiving public assistance benefits.  The New Start Program subtracts from overdue balances for electric customers as on-time monthly payments are made. Flexible Payment Plans are available to all customers, regardless of income, to pay their past-due balance over a period of time. Residential customers with active service may be eligible for payment plans up to 18 months.

Rudy Meredith, head coach at Yale from 1995 until 2018, pleaded guilty in March 2019 to wire fraud for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to help students get into the elite Ivy League university as soccer recruits. In one case, the recruit did not play competitive soccer, prosecutors have said.

Federal prosecutors and Meredith’s defense lawyers had recommended no additional prison time beyond the one day he had already spent in custody. But U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf said Wednesday that Meredith’s greed and his victims warranted a stiffer sentence.

Wolf described the victims as the members of the Yale team who were “betrayed” by being cheated out of having better teammates, as well as unknown victims — young women who might have gotten into Yale had Meredith not decided to essentially sell slots on the team. Those unknown victims may have included women from disadvantaged backgrounds, the judge said.

The Democrat said he has asked his budget director to review state gas tax revenues and budget reserves to see what can be done before the General Assembly convenes in January.

“I’ve got to see what we can afford and we’re going to model this out,” he said, noting he wants to make sure there’s still enough revenue to fix roads and bridges. “Right now, I think we’re in decent shape, but I’d like to sit down and talk with the legislature about how we can continue a gas tax cut beyond December 1st.”

Inflation and affordability were key issues in the race for governor. Lamont often pointed to the wide-ranging Democratic tax-reduction package he signed into law earlier this year that included about $600 million in cuts, including continuation of a 25-cent-per-gallon gas tax cut until Dec. 1. His Republican challenger Bob Stefanowski argued that more needed to be done, proposing a $2 billion tax relief package.

During a morning radio show on Wednesday, shortly after conceding the race to Lamont, Stefanowski said he urged the governor during a phone call to “take care of both sides of the aisle” and try to help everyone who is struggling with high inflation.

“I think he’s a good guy. He’s probably going to try to do the right thing. But, you know, we’re headed into a 40% increase in utility costs and rolling blackouts. I just hope he puts the people first. I’m sure he’ll try his best.” Stefanowski said.

Lamont, who appeared with fellow Democrats outside the state Capitol for a victory news conference, insisted he understands that residents are facing financial pressures. Besides pledging to enact some kind of immediate relief before the regular legislative session — something Democratic legislative leaders have also discussed — Lamont said he plans to work with lawmakers after January to find other ways to make the state more affordable.

“I’m going to make sure that I do everything that I can to make sure to help the middle class during this incredibly tough time,” he said.

Lamont also stressed Wednesday that he plans to submit legislation to extend spending limitations included in a bipartisan state budget deal reached five years ago and are scheduled to expire in 2025. There have been some suggestions by some lawmakers to scale it back and divert money to other initiatives.

“I think it served us very well, and I am going to be asking the legislature to continue that going forward,” Lamont said. “It gives us a clear sense of direction and how we’re getting our fiscal house in order.”

Blumenthal, the state’s former attorney general, focused much of his campaign on being a backstop for abortion rights in Connecticut and Democratic policies in Washington. Blumenthal vowed to fight any effort in Congress to impose a national abortion ban that would override Connecticut’s current law. Abortion is legal in Connecticut with restrictions.

In a victory speech in Hartford, Blumenthal promised to reach across the aisle and work with Republicans on issues such as fighting inflation, cutting taxes and protecting Social Security and Medicare.

He said the nation needs to find its way back to “the common ground that brings us together,” but said it is also facing a dangerous time because of divisions and threats of violent extremism. He alluded to political clashes ahead.

“When the fight comes, I will be there for you. And the fight will be coming. It will be more difficult now than before. But we need to stand together. And I will stand with you to fight for the people of Connecticut,” Blumenthal said.

In the Republican primary, Levy defeated the party’s endorsed candidate, former state House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, a social moderate. Levy received a late endorsement in that race from former President Donald Trump, who also held a fundraiser for Levy at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

Levy had hoped to become the first Republican U.S. senator from Connecticut since Lowell P. Weicker Jr., who served from 1971 to 1989.

Appearing with her family on Tuesday night, Levy told her supporters that even though she lost the race, she will not stop fighting for them.

“I will not stop fighting for our state, for our freedom, and for our great country. I feel the weight and the responsibility of the hopes and dreams of so many here in Connecticut who yearn for change,” she said.

Levy tried to make the race more about President Joe Biden than Trump, working to capitalize on voters’ concerns about inflation and financial struggles.

She also took a socially conservative tack that hadn’t been seen much in Connecticut statewide elections, opposing abortion rights except in certain situations and taking a stand against various gun control measures. Levy has also made parents’ rights a major campaign issue, calling for the end of “indoctrination and discrimination” in Connecticut schools after a Greenwich assistant principal was apparently secretly recorded saying he’d prefer not to hire politically conservative staff, including Roman Catholics.

Some moderate Republicans predicted that Blumenthal, 76, would sail to victory after Levy won her party’s primary in August. Party leaders had originally hoped Klarides, who supports abortion rights, would be a strong contender, especially after Blumenthal registered his lowest job approval rating since taking office in 2011 in a Quinnipiac poll conducted in May.

The first-term governor weathered Stefanowski’s accusations that he’s oblivious to the financial toll that inflation and taxes have taken on everyday residents. Lamont instead painted for voters a rosy picture of a state that has successfully emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic, reduced taxes, paid down pension debt and now has a robust savings account.

“Connecticut gets it right. We had a good election, a fair election. Now we all come together, we work together as one. Because that’s what Connecticut always does,” Lamont told supporters in a victory speech in Hartford.

Stefanowski told supporters earlier in the night that he was not ready to concede. A spokesperson said the campaign would not have further comment until Wednesday morning.

The two rivals presented starkly different views of public safety in Connecticut. Stefanowski called crime in Connecticut “out of control,” echoing a message from Republicans across the country, and proposed overhauling parts of the 2020 police accountability law which he said is to blame for challenges recruiting more police officers. Lamont has countered with statistics that show a 3% reduction in overall crime between 2020 and 2021, saying it’s a positive trend despite political “fearmongering.”

Voters have been deluged with TV ads paid for by various political action committees as well as the candidates themselves, who’ve each invested millions of dollars of their own money in the race.

The last Republican governor in Connecticut was M. Jodi Rell, a moderate who served until January 2011.

Democrats focused heavily on the abortion issue, in light of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. They hoped to drive abortion-rights supporters to the polls in a state where abortion is legal with restrictions. Stefanowski calls himself “pro-choice,” but Democrats argued he can’t be trusted to protect Connecticut’s laws.

Former President Donald Trump backed Stefanowski in his 2018 run, but he did not weigh in on this year’s race. Also, Stefanowski didn’t seek a rating from the National Rifle Association. In 2018, he received an A rating. Lamont has received an F for 2022.

Lamont, a former cable TV entrepreneur, spent more than $20 million of his own money, exceeding the $15 million he spent in 2018. The national parties and various political action committees also dumped large sums into negative ads.

A mergers and acquisitions expert, Stefanowski loaned his campaign $12 million, more than triple his investment in the 2018 race.

Lamont was running for reelection with Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, while Stefanowski tapped state Rep. Laura Devlin as a running mate.

Cheshire banker Rob Hotaling and Stewart “Chip” Beckett were running on the Independent Party line.

The breach involved information associated with consumers who had applied for T-Mobile postpaid services and device financing between September 2013 and September 2015, including names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, identification numbers (such as driver’s license and passport numbers), and related information used in T-Mobile’s own credit assessments.

142,789 Connecticut residents were impacted by the 2015 breach. Neither Experian’s consumer credit database, nor T-Mobile’s own systems, were compromised in the breach.

Connecticut co-led a 40-state multistate group which has obtained separate settlements from Experian and T-Mobile in connection with the 2015 data breach. Under a $12.67 million settlement, Experian has agreed to strengthen its due diligence and data security practices going forward.

Anyone who was part of the 2019 class action settlement is eligible to enroll in extended credit monitoring services. Affected consumers can enroll in the 5-year extended credit monitoring services. The enrollment window will remain open for 6 months.

The proposed change would simply remove an outdated provision in the state constitution that the results be delivered “under seal.”

Local officials in the late 1700s and early 1800s delivered election results — not ballots — to state officials in a package sealed by hot wax. The practice has long been discontinued, but the constitutional requirement can only be removed with an amendment approved by voters.

If the measure is approved, voters will still return their ballots sealed in two envelopes. Local officials will also still be required to deliver election results to the secretary of state’s office, both electronically and by mail in a sealed envelope.

The referendum, as it appears on the ballot, reads: “Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to provide for early voting?”

The task force is seeking a court order to enforce compliance as they have stopped responding to the task force in the investigation and to hold them accountable.

The Anti-Robocall Litigation Task Force on August 2nd issued 20 civil investigative demands seeking answers from 20 gateway providers and other entities allegedly responsible for a majority of foreign robocall traffic. Gateway providers that bring foreign traffic into the U-S telephone network have a responsibility to ensure the traffic is legal, but these providers are not taking sufficient action to stop robocall traffic.

51 attorneys general participate in the national task force. Connecticut is among 16 states on the Executive Committee leading this task force. They say robocalls responsible for $29.8 billion in fraud last year alone. The task force is focused on shutting down the gateways that profit off this illegal scam traffic.

According to the National Consumer Law Center and Electronic Privacy Information Center, more than 33 million scam robocalls are made to Americans every day.

Levy, a first-time candidate and Republican National Committee member, thanked Trump for “having my back” after winning the August primary in an upset, promising “I will not let you down.” But she has often deflected questions about the controversial former president in the months that have followed.

“Trump is not on the ballot,” she recently told a reporter. “And if there’s any president’s name on the ballot, it’s Joe Biden, because of his failed policies.”

Like many GOP candidates this year, Levy has instead focused her campaign heavily on affordability, crime and parents’ rights issues. And she contends her message resonates with voters in this politically blue state, despite conventional wisdom that Trump’s endorsement, coupled with her opposition to abortion rights and other conservative stances, will hurt her in the general election.

“The failed economic policies of the Biden administration, rubber stamped by Dick Blumenthal, have made life unaffordable for everybody,” she said in a recent interview with The Associated Press, when asked why she thinks she can win this year.

National Republican optimism has grown in recent weeks that anti-Democratic political headwinds will help underdog candidates initially considered a risky choice for the GOP. However, it’s questionable whether those winds will be strong enough to help Levy defeat Blumenthal, a well-known two-term U.S. senator, former state attorney general and U.S. attorney. A recent Quinnipiac Poll showed likely voters preferred Blumenthal over Levy by a 15 point margin.

Levy believes the race is much closer.

“Democrats will come up to me they’ll whisper, ‘Don’t tell anybody, but I’m voting for you,’” Levy said. Her campaign was buoyed by news that the National Republican Senatorial Committee was spending money for the first time on TV ads in the race, though the amount was small: $100,000.

Blumenthal has maintained a huge lead when it comes to campaign funds. As of Oct. 19, he still had more than $3 million in cash on hand while Levy, who loaned her campaign $1.7 million, had $432,156 left to spend.

The two-term Democratic senator’s campaign has focused much of its spending on TV ads, often reminding voters that Levy is Trump’s favored candidate. Blumenthal is hoping the message will resonate in a state where the same Quinnipiac Poll showed 62% of likely voters have an unfavorable opinion of the former president.

On Wednesday night, during the only debate in the race, Blumenthal doubled-down on Levy’s ties to Trump. He said that his opponent told the former president that “I will always have your back” means she’s out of sync with Connecticut voters.

“If you always have President Trump’s back, you can’t have Connecticut’s back,” he said. “If you’re 100% Trump, that’s 100% wrong for Connecticut.”

Levy portrayed Trump’s endorsement like any other she has received.

“I’m a uniter,” she said. “I’ve been endorsed by a lot of people in our party.”

Blumenthal has used Trump’s endorsement of Levy as a fundraising tool, often referring to her as his “Trump-backed opponent” in messages to donors. His campaign recently sent out an email with a photo of Levy appearing last month with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida for a Levy campaign fundraiser. Trump has not visited Connecticut to campaign for her.

“When speaking to the voters of our state, my GOP opponent has been trying to pretend she’s not a puppet of Donald Trump — but her extremist record and recent pilgrimage to genuflect before him tell a very different story,” Blumenthal says in the fundraising email to supporters.

A former commodities trader who immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba as a young girl, Levy was Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Chile but was never confirmed. She’s known in national Republican circles for her fundraising abilities.

Levy wasn’t the first choice for state Republican leaders to run for the U.S. Senate. At the party’s convention this spring, delegates endorsed former state House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, a socially moderate Republican who supports abortion rights and some gun control measures.

But Levy, who supported former Republican Florida Gov. Jeb Bush in the 2016 presidential election and wrote at the time in an op-ed that Trump was “vulgar, ill-mannered and disparages those whom he cannot intimidate,” surprised many by winning the primary. It came days after receiving Trump’s endorsement, which was announced over speaker phone at a GOP picnic. Moderate Republicans quickly took to social media, predicting they had lost their chance to finally defeat Blumenthal.

Levy declined to discuss what she acknowledged was a “contentious primary,” maintaining the state’s Republican Party is now united behind her candidacy.

“I’m looking forward. Let’s talk about the future and why I’m going to win this election,” she said. “I’m going to win this election because Connecticut voters don’t want to live like this anymore.”

Consumer Counsel Claire Coleman says UI should have been seeking to assist low-income customers during the unprecedented financial challenges that Covid-19 inflicted upon them, not placing greater pressure on those already overburdened customers and their families.  Coleman says Avangrid was fined for the harmful pursuit of wage garnishments and failure to inform some of Connecticut’s most vulnerable customers about the payment plan specifically designed to assist struggling customers during the pandemic.

An investigation also found that Avangrid referred inactive accounts to collection agencies without giving customers adequate notice that their information would be shared.
The majority of the fine will go to Operation Fuel, a nonprofit that helps those struggling with energy bills.  Avangrid has until the 19th to request a hearing before the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, and until the 14th to file written exceptions to the Proposed Final Decision.  

The claim sparked a sharp rebuke from Lamont, who accused his opponent of politicizing the tragedy, calling it the “cheapest grandstanding imagined.”

Besides the economy and inflation, crime has been a key issue in the rematch race between Lamont and Stefanowski. It has become more heated since three Bristol Police officers were shot Oct. 12 in what police believe was an ambush set up by a 911 call made by the shooter. Two Bristol officers died.

Stefanowski recently began running a TV ad that features the wife of a police officer from another department who was seriously injured after being run down by repeat criminal. In the ad, the woman, whom Stefanowski pointed out in the debate audience, says she blames Lamont for the crime.

Two years ago, Lamont signed into law a wide-ranging bill, proposed in the wake of the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd, that made numerous changes to policing in Connecticut. It created a new inspector general to investigate police use-of-force cases, limited circumstances in which deadly force is justified, and allowed more civilian oversight of police departments.

The most contentious part of the new law, which sparked a protest at the state Capitol, allowed civil lawsuits against officers by individuals who have had their constitutional rights violated by police if those actions were deemed “malicious, wanton or willful,” among other things.

Following Tuesday’s debate, Stefanowski called it “unconscionable” for Lamont not to consider revamping the law after the two officers were killed.

“For him to not even consider, not even consider changing it, is crazy,” said Stefanowski, who said he has heard from police officers who believe the legislation helped to create a culture of “tolerance” for criminals and a lack of respect for police officers. Stefanowski, who has been endorsed by multiple police unions in the state, accused Lamont of showing a “lack of respect” for law enforcement.

Lamont said it was a “horrible accusation” for Stefanowski to say he doesn’t care about officers.

“That’s shocking. You know, I was there at Rentschler Field,” he said referring to the stadium where a massive funeral was held for Bristol officers Dustin DeMonte and Alex Hamzy. “I was there with 15,000 men and women in blue. I know exactly what that means. I just think you can’t make those accusations. It’s false and unfair and they’re wrong.”

Rob Hotaling, the governor candidate on the Connecticut Independent Party ticket and the only biracial contender in the race, said he understands the safety concerns of police officers but also the safety concerns of people like him who have been racially profiled for crimes they didn’t commit.

“When you go through that experience, you realize you take a different perspective on the police accountability bill,” said Hotaling. He said he agreed with Lamont that Stefanowski was “politicizing” the issue.

“Police officers lost their lives. We need to respect that. But then you look at, OK, how do we make sure our communities are safe? Our police are safe? We should leave the politicization out of the way,” he said. “There’s no room for that in a civil society.”

Connecticut’s average price of $3.48 for a gallon of self-serve regular is the same as last week. Prices are 3 cents lower than last year.  On the National level, the average of $3.79 is 10 cents lower than last week and 40 cents higher than last year.

Connecticut is now in 37th place on the list of highest gas prices in the nation. Georgia registers the lowest price in the nation at $3.20 and California has the highest prices in the nation at $5.75.

RSV cases fell dramatically two years ago as the pandemic shut down schools, day cares and businesses. With restrictions easing in the summer of 2021, doctors saw an alarming increase in what is normally a fall and winter virus.

Now, it’s back again. And doctors are bracing for the possibility that RSV, flu and COVID-19 could combine to stress hospitals.

“I’m calling it an emergency,” said Dr. Juan Salazar of Connecticut Children’s Hospital, where RSV has caused a shuffling of patients into playrooms and other spaces not normally used for beds. The institution explored using a National Guard field hospital, but has set aside that option for now.

A look at RSV and what the recent surge may mean:

WHAT IS RSV?

It stands for respiratory syncytial virus, a common cause of mild cold-like symptoms such as runny nose, cough and fever. Nearly all U.S. children normally catch an RSV infection by age 2.

People infected are usually contagious for three to eight days. Babies and people with weakened immune systems can spread RSV for up to four weeks. There is no vaccine for it, though several candidates are in testing.

WHO DOES IT AFFECT?

Everyone can get RSV. But it causes the most threat to infants, older adults and other vulnerable people, who can get serious airway and lung infections.

Among U.S. kids under age 5, RSV typically leads to 58,000 hospitalizations and up to 500 deaths in a year.

For adults 65 and older, RSV causes 177,000 hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths yearly.

For babies, the struggle to breathe can interfere with eating. “And that’s really when we start to worry,” said Dr. Melanie Kitagawa of Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, where more than 40 children have RSV.

“They’re breathing fast, breathing deep. We see them using muscles in their chest to help them breathe,” Kitagawa said. “These are kids who are having difficulty taking a bottle because their breathing is being impacted and they can’t coordinate both at once.”

Connecticut will receive approximately $300 million over the next 18 years through the settlement, which explicitly states that no less than 85 percent of those funds must be used exclusively for opioid remediation, including expanding access to opioid use disorder prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery.

15-percent of the settlement funds are going directly to cities and towns, with the remaining 85 percent going to the state. Earlier this year, a measure was signed into law which establishes an Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee of state and local government experts, health care professionals, individuals and families with lived experiences, and a leader in racial equity in public health. The committee, in consultation with the Attorney General and relevant state agencies and stakeholders, will develop an investment plan and maintain transparency in the use of all settlement funds. Work is underway to form that committee.

Over the past two years, Connecticut has been a leader in ongoing multistate efforts to hold the entire addiction industry accountable. Those efforts to date have secured more than $40 billion for states nationwide to fight the opioid epidemic.

The Connecticut Department of Education is using its state and federal resources to invest in a range of projects.  The Department will be continuing its investment in the Learner Engagement and Attendance Program that increases direct engagement and support to families and students through targeted home visits. 

More than $7 million will be distributed to districts and schools to identify children and youth experiencing homelessness and provide academic, social-emotional, and mental and behavioral health supports to ensure that they can attend school and participate fully in school activities. 

Federal funding will be allocated to support special education recovery activities, dyslexia tutoring, special education evaluations, assistive technology, a special education jobs portal, and home supports/partnerships.

Asked to choose the most urgent issue facing Connecticut today, at 37-percent inflation ranks by far as the top issue among likely voters followed by taxes at 13 percent.

It marks a big increase in income when compared to Lamont’s previous tax documents, released in April by his reelection campaign. Those showed his adjusted gross income for the first three of his four years in office had totaled nearly $26 million. The governor is not accepting the $150,000 state salary for governors.

Lamont, who files his taxes separately from his wife Annie, a successful venture capital consultant, had sought a filing extension from the IRS and didn’t release his 2021 returns until Friday. His reelection campaign allowed reporters to review cover sheets of Lamont’s federal and state tax returns, which showed the Democrat paid $12.8 million in federal taxes and $3.7 million in state taxes for the 2021 tax year.

The campaign also included a list of organizations that benefited from $1.6 million in charitable contributions distributed by the governor’s philanthropy fund. The list of groups includes the Boy Scouts of America, Council on Foreign Relations, Yale University and 4-CT, the independent, nonprofit charity Lamont helped to create during the early days of the pandemic.

Taxes and personal income have been a major issue in this year’s governor’s race. Lamont’s Republican challenger, Bob Stefanowski, has called on the first-term governor to release Annie Lamont’s tax documents, noting how her venture capital firm had invested in a health care company that was contracted by the state of Connecticut to provide COVID-19 testing.

Meanwhile, Democrats took issue with Stefanowski for not releasing his taxes until September and for not providing a list of his business consulting clients. Stefanowski, who specializes in mergers and acquisitions, ended up acknowledging earlier this month he has done consulting work related to a proposed futuristic, green-energy city in Saudi Arabia, proposed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.