WICC The Voice of Connecticut

Governor Ned Lamont today announced that Office of Policy and Management (OPM) Secretary Jeffrey Beckham will be stepping down from his position at OPM effective December 5, 2025. We talked to WTNH political reporter, Mike Cerulli, about the significance of this announcement. We also talked about former Mayor Erin Stewart officially running for Governor.

Image Credit: Eric Urbanowicz

The governor just signed a bill into law this week, that strengthens and improves resources in Connecticut for children’s behavioral health (HB 8004). We spoke with Dr. Manisha Juthani, Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health. DPH is involved in a part of this behavioral health bill, including the section regarding school-based health centers.

For the first time in over a decade, Connecticut’s 211 Infoline needs a funding hike. Why and what has happened in the last 15 years prompting this ask? We asked Lisa Tepper Bates, President and CEO, United Way of Connecticut. The United Way of Connecticut contracts with the state to run the 211 service.

Thursday's "Connecticut Today" featured host Paul Pacelli wondering if Connecticut should follow in the steps of some other cities and institute free municipal bus rides (00:45). GOP State Rep. Craig Fishbein joined us to talk about a new state audit on a massive backlog of state gun permit appeals cases (14:26). Former Bridgeport Democratic State Rep. Chris Caruso stopped by with his weekly update (23:13), while CBS News Military Analyst U.S. Army Col. (Ret.) Jeff McCausland offered his thoughts on U.S. military strikes being used against suspected drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean (32:15)

Ultra-processed food like fast food, ready-to-eat meals and protein bars are linked to harm in every major organ of the human body.  That's according to the world's largest review of ultra-processed foods and their impact on global health. We spoke about this with Dr. Fred Browne of Griffin Health. We also talked about a new study linking pregnancy stress with baby teeth, another study linking music as a healer to dementia and the latest access to more prescriptions.

IMAGE CREDIT: Dr. Fred Browne / Griffin Health

From travel to shopping, there’s a lot to prepare for and scams to avoid. We spoke with Commissioner Bryan Cafferelli from the CT Department of Consumer Protection.

Image Credit: Eric Urbanowicz

Senator Richard Blumenthal is advocating for a ban on AI companions for children called The Guard Act. This is a bi-partisan effort in Washington DC on top of the ongoing fight to pass the Kids Online Safety Act. We learned more about it with Senator Blumenthal.

IMAGE CREDIT: Melissa Sheketoff

On Wednesday's "Connecticut Today," host Paul Pacelli wondered if it's time for the State of Connecticut to offer a non-profit "public option" healthcare insurance plan to help folks who are being priced out of the Affordable Care Act - or "Obamacare" (00:53). Fairfield GOP State Sen. Tony Hwang reacted after state regulators voted to block a proposed sale of the Aquarion Water Company (14:56). University of New Haven Associate Professor of Accounting, Finance, and Taxation Dr. Jim Mohs talked about a new report regarding the Trump White House's tariff policies (18:03). Finally, Hearst Connecticut Media Senior Columnist and Editor Dan Haar dropped by...

The Cloudflare outage has been resolved but not before impacting websites, social media sites, ChatGPT, online gaming, Dropbox, Shopify and much more. How did this happen and how can we prevent it in future? We asked our cyber security expert, Dr. Vahid Behzadan, from University of New Haven.

IMAGE CREDIT: Carolyn Meyer / University of New Haven

Coincidence? Connecticut Republicans and Fairfield County residents say “I don’t think so!” The New York Post just released an article questioning the new affordable housing bill passed in the special session last week. Does it effectively create a better housing situation for Connecticut residents, or did it get the green light too soon benefiting our neighboring state of New York? We spoke with Senator Jason Perillo representing Connecticut’s 21st District.

Image Credit: Senator Jason Perillo / CT Senate Republicans

A lot of people are in denial about addiction and substance abuse. And when you think about how common that is, think about this: last year, 80% of people in the U.S. with substance use disorders received no treatment for it. It makes what is already a big problem, even bigger! That’s why local health departments collaborated and launched a public awareness campaign to address misconceptions surrounding opioid addiction and to encourage more residents to access life-saving treatment and services. We spoke with New Haven health director, Maritza Bond, about this.

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

Eversource is set to increase prices in 2026 and PURA’s former chairwoman is still front-page news in Connecticut. We spoke with our energy contributor, Bryson Hull, Deputy Northeast Director for Consumer Energy Alliance.

IMAGE CREDIT: Eric Urbanowicz

Grieving is a strange feeling. We don’t talk about it enough but it’s a process 100 percent of human beings will go through. We learned about Connecticut-based non-profit, Soulful Sydney, Inc, dedicated to children’s emotional health and offering programs tailored to help kids learn to grieve and prepare properly for loss. The program we focused on in this interview is called The Healing Chickadee. We spoke with Terry Murphy, the founder Chief Enthusiast of Soulful Sydney, Inc.

For more information: www.HealingChickadee.com or call 203-521-6860

IMAGE CREDIT: Laura Soll, CFDA Communications / Terry Murphy...

Host Paul Pacelli opened Tuesday's "Connecticut Today" looking at the campaign launch videos from the two major GOP gubernatorial candidates - former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart and Greenwich State Sen. Ryan Fazio (00:47). Hartford Courant columnist Kevin Rennie discussed the ongoing controversy surrounding PURA - the state's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (14:41). Yankee Institute blogger Meghan Portfolio updated the state's impending purchase of Waterbury Hospital (23:34). CBS News Congressional Correspondent Nikole Killion had the latest from Washington, D.C., on a key U.S. House vote to release the Jeffrey Epstein files (33:11)

Host Paul Pacelli opened a new week on "Connecticut Today" playing two recent statements from CT Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy, implying President Trump's alleged involvement with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein (00:54). CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Nancy Cordes (16:08) and former Time Magazine Senior Reporter Alain Sanders (18:18) gave us their thoughts on an impending U.S. House vote to release the Epstein Files. Finally, we checked in with CTNewsJunkie columnist and Substack.com blogger Terry Cowgill regarding U.S. military attacks on alleged drug running boats in the Caribbean and the state's decision to get into the hospital...

It’s National Crash Responder Safety Week to raise awareness around roadway safety during traffic incidents. We checked in with Josh Morgan from the CT Department of Transportation about the importance of slow down, move over.

We also talked about upcoming public meetings for an I-95 Stamford study. For more information: https://portal.ct.gov/dot/ctdot-press-releases/2025/public-meetings-for-i-95-stamford-planning-and-environment-linkages-study?language=en_US

IMAGE CREDIT: Melissa Sheketoff

According to Bloomberg, more jobseekers appear to be going to where the jobs are, including vying for unglamorous roles. We spoke with career strategist, Julie Bauke about the findings.

IMAGE CREDIT: Julie Bauke / The Bauke Group

We are breaking down some of the legislation that passed during the special session last week. In the “catch all” bill, a section codifies rules for how ICE agents can make arrests and detainments on courthouse grounds. We got perspective on this and what the law can effectively do from Former FBI Agent and UNH professor, Ken Gray.

IMAGE CREDIT: Carolyn Meyer / University of New Haven

Filling in on "Melissa In The Morning," host Paul Pacelli chatted with Dr. Andrew Miller, Associate Professor of Communication, Media & the Arts, and director of the sports communication and media graduate program at Sacred Heart University, about a new national poll capturing how active sports gamblers are reacting to recent arrests and betting scandals

Edgewell Personal Care, which is the parent company of Schick, announced that the manufacturer is closing its doors and laying off nearly 300 employees. The manufacturing plant in Milford will completely close the plant by the end of 2027. We spoke with Attorney Gary Phelan, employment attorney with Hurwitz, Sagarin and Slossberg in Milford.

The Connecticut ACLU is demanding that cities and towns stop using automatic license plate readers. The organization is calling for a pause in the use of these devices by police departments over allegations that personal data is being misused. We spoke with the Connecticut ACLU Executive Director, David McGuire.

IMAGE CREDIT: Ginny Simmons / ACLU Connecticut

Drugmaker Novo Nordisk says it will make the popular weight GLP-1 weight loss medication Wegovy more affordable for those without insurance coverage, dropping the price to $349 a month. The news comes weeks after the Trump Administration announced negotiating weight loss drug prices making them more accessible to consumers. We spoke with Dr. Joseph St. Pierre with Hartford Healthcare’s St. Vincent’s Medical Center about the ongoing news with price cuts on these injectables.

IMAGE CREDIT: Amy Mortenson / Courtesy of Hartford HealthCare

Melissa welcomed Dr. Brent French, Associate Dean of the Welch College of Business & Technology at Sacred Heart University to the program to discuss how artificial intelligence is reshaping the world of business.

Image Courtesy of Sacred Heart University.

All bills passed in the House during the first day of special session yesterday. The one piece of legislation getting most of the attention is the housing legislation. We spoke with House Minority Leader, Rep. Vin Candelora, about day 1 of the session. ((00:00)) We also heard from Democratic State Rep. Steve Stafstrom, for his take on day 1 of the session. (14:36)

Image Credit: Getty Images

We met the newly elected first selectman of Westport, Kevin Christie.

Image Credit: Getty Images

All five Connecticut members of the U.S. House voted against the bill to end the federal government shutdown.  The five Democratic lawmakers were on the losing side, as the Republican led House approved the bill last night and sent it to President Trump's desk for his signature. We spoke with Congressman Jim Himes following the news overnight.

Image Courtesy of Congressman Jim Himes

The government shutdown may be over, but the issues at airports across the country will linger at least for a few weeks. We spoke with retired commercial airline pilot, Paul Zielinski, who gave us some perspective.  

Image Credit: Getty Images

Apparently, Connecticut is filled with people opening their hearts and their wallets to neighbors in need. According to a recent report from WalletHub, Connecticut was ranked the 13th most charitable state in the country, and the second in New England. We spoke with Karla Fortunato, President of the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy, about the news and how people can get into volunteering.

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

Image Credit: Getty Images

Jaqueline Torres-Garcia was a 12-year-old girl whose body was found outside an abandoned New Britain home earlier this fall. Police shared that the little girl was murdered last year. Investigative reporter, Jeff Derderian, has been digging into this story and combing through videos and documents on the case. We spoke with him about the latest on the case.

Image Courtesy of Jeff Derderian and WTNH

November is Veterans Month, and we know Connecticut is home to some incredible non-profits dedicated to supporting veterans. But did you know the American Red Cross isn’t just an organization about blood donations and responding in natural disasters?  Apparently, the Red Cross specifically serves hundreds of thousands of military and veteran families through the Hero Care Network. We spoke with Steve Branch, Senior Director of Military and International Services for the Red Cross Connecticut and Rhode Island Region.

For more information: www.redcross.org

Image Credit: Getty Images

The Connecticut ACLU is demanding that cities and towns stop using automatic license plate readers. The organization is calling for a pause of the use of these devices by police departments over allegations that personal data is being misused. We asked former chief of police in Fairfield, Gary MacNamara, who also sits on law enforcement committees at the state level.

Image Credit: Getty Images

"Connecticut Today" host Paul Pacelli started Tuesday's show looking at a demand from the Connecticut ACLU that local license plate scanners be turned off until legal safeguards are put in place regarding the use of any data collected by those units (00:46). Alexis Harrison joined us from CT169Strong to chat about latest "affordable housing" bill from the General Assembly (14:54). Yankee Institute blogger Meghan Portfolio briefed us on the State of Connecticut's bid to possibly buy some failing hospitals (21:22). Finally, CBS News reporter Taurean Small joined us from Washington, D.C. to talk about progress in Congress to end the government...

A new survey from Retirement Living shows Connecticut is considered one of the worst states to retire in. The report sites cost of living, healthcare disparity, taxation and quality of life. We spoke with Senator Tony Hwang, ranking senator on the Aging Committee.

Image Credit: Getty Images

A state auditors’ report just revealed more purchasing card (P-Card) noncompliance instances in the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system. What can be done to fix this ongoing problem? We asked Ranking Member on the Higher Education Committee, Senator Henri Martin.

To read the full report: https://wp.cga.ct.gov/apa/wp-content/cgacustom/reports/Southern%20Connecticut%20State%20University_20251105_FY2021,2022.pdf

Image Credit: Getty Images

Since House Bill 5002 was vetoed by the governor, a new housing bill has been crafted and will be voted on during the special session this week. What are the key differences between the two pieces of legislation and why is there more support this time around? We spoke with Joe DeLong, Executive Director and CEO of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities.

Image Credit: Getty Images

Maybe the workplace isn’t on fire all the time, but it is sometimes…
Not according to Gen-Z workers, according to a recent Washington Post article. We talked about it with career strategist, Julie Bauke.

For information on new tech internships for college students in the tristate: https://starteryou.com/

Image Credit: Getty Images

Melissa Sheketoff and Gary MacNamara demo podcast series on crime prevention

"Connecticut Today" host Paul Pacelli kicked off a new week with news of a tentative agreement to end an ongoing federal government shutdown that, essentially, gives some angry Democrats very little back in legislative leverage (00:42). CBS News reporter Olivia Rinaldi joined us from D.C. to talk about that tentative deal (14:56), while CTNewsJunkie.com columnist and Substack.com blogger Terry Cowgill weighed in on this year's municipal elections (19:16)

Image Credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus

There’s a lot of drama in the beach area of Fairfield for university students and police are dumping a lot of resources into supporting the community and investigate claims of break-in’s. We spoke with former Fairfield Police Chief Gary MacNamara about the importance of being a “good witness” and reporting effectively.

Image Credit: Melissa Sheketoff