WICC The Voice of Connecticut

A forensic audit of the Blue Hills Civic Association has uncovered $208,000 in unsupported disbursements and widespread financial mismanagement of more than $15 million in state grant funds. This audit was not done by the Comptroller’s office, but Sean Scanlon is a huge supporter of transparency and fiscal responsibility. He spoke with us about this latest audit and recommendations to the legislature to prevent history from repeating itself.

To access Open Connecticut: https://osc.ct.gov/openct/

Governor Lamont ordered his administration to hold off on issuing new valuations for agricultural land following a lot of pressure from farmers across the state. Thousands argued that the changes would lead to huge tax hikes and force some families to sell their land. We spoke with Orange First Selectman Jim Zeoli, who is also a Connecticut farmer, about this potential tax hike disaster.

To see the online petition: https://www.savectland.org/

From a national penny shortage to tax season approaching, what you need to know about trending business changes and potential scams in Connecticut. We spoke with Commissioner Bryan Cafferelli at the CT Department of Consumer Protection.

Earlier this month, a West Hartford elementary school closed for a day due to more than 100 students battling the norovirus. The school took the day to disinfect the property, but it’s another example of how quickly norovirus spreads in places like schools and cruise ships. We discussed it more with infectious disease expert, Dr. Fred Browne.

Image Courtesy Of Griffin Health and Dr. Fred Browne

Power has been restored to downtown Derby after a “major fire” in the area. If you watched the news or have been on social media, you saw this massive blaze unfold yesterday. And we spoke with Derby Fire Chief Tom Biggs to get all the details.

A data breach apparently happened at GE Credit Union with locations based in Bridgeport and Milford, just weeks ago. Admittedly, I have not seen any reports on this and have not spoken to GE Credit Union directly to confirm what happened, but earlier this month a local firefighter and her family found they were financially impacted by this breach and are still fighting to just get answers about what happened. We talked about this with Caitlyn Pereira, a member of the Fairfield Firefighters Association IAFF local 1426.

As we get closer to the legislative session in February, lawmakers are crafting bills to be put forward and recently facial recognition at supermarkets has been flagged as a problem. Norwalk Senator Bob Duff has been quoted saying he wants changes to state law better protecting people’s privacy and nixing the technology. Jim Cameron, author of the "Talking Transportation" column runs in CTMirror, recently highlighted this issue.  

For Jim's full article: https://ctmirror.org/2026/01/18/facial-recognition-at-the-airport-and-beyond/

Host Paul Pacelli opened Wednesday's "Connecticut Today" wondering about the disconnect many Connecticut voters have between local and national politics (00:41). State Republican Party Chairman Ben Proto joined us to chat about the current state of the 2026 Governor's race (17:37). CBS News White House reporter Aaron Navarro talked about the latest administration position on Greenland (29:46), while Hearst Connecticut Media Senior Columnist and Editor Dan Haar discussed a recent "Top-10" list he compiled about President Trump (32:33)

Host Paul Pacelli highlighted another new survey on Tuesday's "Connecticut Today," showing the state's continued difficulty in creating a business-friendly environment (00:37). State House GOP Leader Vin Candelora talked about Gov. Ned Lamont's about-face connected to state farmer property taxes (14:57), while Yankee Institute blogger Meghan Portfolio dropped by with her weekly update (22:48)

There’s a federal court case happening right now surrounding AI-based hiring systems unlawfully screened out qualified applicants. What is the significance of this case and what implications does it have for us here in Connecticut? We asked employment attorney, Gary Phelan, with Hurwitz Sagarin & Slossberg in Milford and is also law professor at Quinnipiac University.

Former state Representative, Harry Arora, is exploring a possible run for the Republican nomination for governor. He could join other prominent state Republicans who have already declared their run for the nomination including former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart, state Senator Ryan Fazio and former New York Lt. Governor Betsy McCaughey. We connected with Mr. Arora to recap his political impact on our state and why he is now exploring a run for governor.

A new report outlined some systemic issues that require attention immediately for the Department of Education’s handling of special education. We spoke about this report and key takeaways with Fran Rabinowitz, Executive Director at the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.

A copy of the original report: https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/sde/board/boardmaterials011426/connecticut_state_department_of_education_special_education_systems_review_wested_final_report.pdf?rev=1d1eee9782054a1fb6d2e086fe5b0b34&hash=18954AA98CDE272B56DBDA9268567DC6

19 states, including Connecticut, have pay transparency laws in place. We asked career strategist, Julie Bauke, about the value of this law and what employers can do beyond upping incomes for good workers. 

Milford could see armed officers added to every elementary school under a proposed 2026-27 school budget. We got the details on this from superintendent of schools, Dr. Anna Cutaia.
To go back and see a recent BOE meeting on this topic: youtube.com/live/96BN0c1TFqY?si=5wIyUGG6aOKvzaHE&t=327

The Bridgeport city council recently nixed the city’s plan to have Flock drones used for police and fire. The council noted they had concerns about troubling headlines tied to Flock. So, we spoke with Holly Beilin, spokesperson for Flock, and Joe Rosenberg, Connecticut Account Lead from Flock, to get the truth about their technology programs and whether they actually aid agencies like ICE.

Stamford police say a pair of armed men posed as Amazon workers and invaded a home, assaulting a couple living there. We got more details about the case from Lt. Doug Deiso and shared advice to residents how to avoid this type of crime. 

Host Paul Pacelli opened Thursday's "Connecticut Today" talking about former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey's entrance into the 2026 Connecticut Governor's race on the Republican side (00:42). Former Bridgeport Democratic State Rep. Chris Caruso dropped by with his reaction to a controversy about a proposed drone contract with the City of Bridgeport (14:44). CBS News White House reporter Olivia Rinaldi updated us on a meeting with Venezuela's opposition leader (20:56), while columnist and blogger Chris Powell weighed in on recent anti-ICE unrest here in Connecticut and across the country (24:23)

January is National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. We spoke with Jamie Manirakiza, Executive Director of Partnership to End Human Trafficking, about the reality of this problem in our state and how to spot the signs of a potential trafficking situation.

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

If you use Verizon, good news, the outage impacting thousands of people yesterday has been resolved. Downdetector, a site that tracks outages, showed a large spike in issues affecting Verizon, starting just before noon Eastern Time. Users reported their phones were in “SOS” mode, meaning they couldn’t connect to the network and make calls, unless for 9-1-1 calls. According to X, it wasn’t just Verizon dealing with nationwide outages. T-Mobile, AT&T, U.S. Cellular, Xfinity and other entities were all facing outages throughout the day yesterday. We talked about the outage drama with cybersecurity expert, Dr. Vahi...

Former New York Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey is planning to run for governor of Connecticut. She joins State Senator Ryan Fazio and former New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart who already declared they are running for the Republican nomination for governor. We also know former state Representative Harry Arora is exploring a run for governor as a Republican candidate. For the latest on the 2026 gubernatorial race in Connecticut, we spoke with News 8 political reporter, Mike Cerulli.

Image Credit: Eric Urbanowicz

Host Paul Pacelli used Wednesday's "Connecticut Today" to weigh in on the latest political twist in Bridgeport, involving a controversial drone contract (00:34). Hearst Connecticut Media Senior Editor and Columnist Dan Haar dropped by to chat about the Governor's race and the sale of a state utility (15:27). University of New Haven Associate Professor of Homeland and National Security and International Affairs Dr. Matthew Schmidt analyzed the current situation in Iran (25:52)

Host Paul Pacelli jump-started Tuesday's "Connecticut Today" wondering if the Trump Administration would get the U.S. further involved in growing unrest in Iran (00:47). CBS News Washington reporter Linda Kenyon had the latest on White House statements regarding Iran (15:21). Landmark Legal Foundation Vice-President of Legal Affairs Mike O'Neill broke down oral arguments in a big U.S. Supreme Court case regarding transgender athletes (16:58). GOP State Sen. Dr. Jeff Gordon talked about some possible tax increases facing state farmers (22:33). Yankee Institute blogger Meghan Portfolio looked ahead to a coming "short session" of the General Assembly (27:50)

Host Paul Pacelli started off a new week on Monday's "Connecticut Today" with his thoughts (00:35) on the previous week's ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis. On that topic, we also heard from CBS News White House reporter Willie James Inman (15:08), University of New Haven Senior Criminal Justice Lecturer Ken Gray (18:56), and  CTNewJunkie columnist and Substack.com blogger Terry Cowgill (29:19)

Host Paul Pacelli opened another edition of "Connecticut Today" urging protesters to use a bit of common sense, in light of reported injuries the night before during an anti-ICE demonstration in Hartford (00:51) Connecticut Inside Investigator reporter Marc Fitch dropped by to talk about the latest state payroll numbers and the continuing investigation into the state's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (17:35). Former Bridgeport State Rep. Chris Caruso had his weekly update (22:17), while we ended the week welcoming New York Times writer Ken Belson, author of, "Every Day Is Sunday: How Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft, and Roger Goodell Turned the NFL into a...

After a major announcement that the Bridgeport Police and Fire Departments would begin using drones for emergency responses, the city council shut down the plan. Two City Council committees rejected a contract with Flock to equip the departments with two drones to be flown over crime scenes and fires. We spoke with Council President Jeanette Herron about the special meeting last night and what happens next.

Connecticut is releasing millions in state funding to improve 2-1-1 services and support homelessness prevention efforts.  Governor Ned Lamont announced two-point-six million dollars will increase call capacity for the state's 2-1-1 helpline.  Additionally, the governor said six-point-eight million dollars will go to support homeless services, including responding to homelessness. We welcome back to the show Lisa Tepper Bates, President and CEO, United Way of Connecticut, which operates 2-1-1.

To learn more and apply for a 2-1-1 job: https://www.ctunitedway.org/

The Stamford Board of Education voted to reverse course on using block scheduling for high schoolers. It was a controversial plan put forward by the outgoing superintendent of schools. We spoke with Stamford Education Association President, John Corcoran,
about the abrupt change coming for the 2026-27 school year.

The next mayoral election for Bridgeport is in 2027. But a city councilman has already filed the paperwork to run. We spoke with Councilman Jorge Cruz about his career serving the park city and why his sights are now on becoming the next mayor.

Image Credit: Jon Kamal

Caring for a hospitalized child with a critical illness is very challenging for parents to say the least. Did you know that when a child is in the hospital for a critical illness, the child (as the patient) is provided food but the parents are not? Parents must pay for food or go without. That’s where Feeding Families Foundation comes in to help. We spoke with Jeff Dorman, co-founder of FFF, and one of the foundation partners, Ernie Santoro of Revive Physical Therapy.

To register for the January 31st Winter Virtual Golf Classic: https://www.golfcovect.co...

Melissa welcomed Dr. Lori Bindig-Yousman, Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences and Professor in the School of Communication, Media & the Arts at Sacred Heart University to discuss how new technologies are driving innovation in how stories are told, including VR/AR, data storytelling for clear communication of complex information, and transmedia storytelling across multiple platforms.  

The woman convicted in connection with the disappearance and death of Jennifer Farber Dulos, Michelle Troconis, has one more day for a habeas corpus hearing. Day two of the three-day hearing was last Friday and once again, News 8 investigative reporter, Jeff Derderian, was in the courtroom. We got the latest on this case and what to expect in day three later this week.

The cost of healthcare is too high, and state lawmakers say they need action on a federal level to bring these costs down nationwide. However, year after year, efforts to pass Association Health Plans, which Democrats and Republicans and nonprofits and the private sector all support. We spoke with Senator Tony Hwang, Ranking Senator on the Insurance Committee, about the upcoming session and ways to make health insurance more affordable in Connecticut.

The President recently reaffirmed his support for the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act. In Washington, there’s apparently an effort to pair this legislation, which mandates AM radio access in all new vehicles, with other bipartisan measures as part of a broader legislative package. We spoke about the importance of AM radio with Ben Bogardus, professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University.

Image Credit: Eric Urbanowicz

It may be cold in Connecticut, but water safety should still be top of mind for you. We spoke with Karen Cohn, co-founder of Greenwich-based national water safety nonprofit, The ZAC Foundation, about winter water and ice safety.

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

Today is Law Enforcement Appreciation Day but in today’s world, cops aren’t always feeling the love. We spoke with State Senator Paul Cicarella about the climate officers are in and the impact of the police accountability law in Connecticut on recruitment and retention.

The Fairfield Superintendent of Schools unveiled a proposed operating budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year. It represents a nearly 6% increase over the current budget. We asked Michael Testani about the need for an increase and if it included any reductions.

Image Credit: Dee Ortiz

There was plenty of discussion on Thursday's "Connecticut Today" with host Paul Pacelli (00:40), CBS News White House reporter Aaron Navarro (15:03), and Quinnipiac University Associate Professor of Law Wayne Unger (17:51) all talking about the previous day's deadly ICE-involved shooting in Minnesota. We also welcomed GOP State Sen. Rob Sampson to talk about a request from the Department of Justice to examine Connecticut's voter registration lists (26:05)

Some major health news has come out of Washington DC this week that has a direct impact on Connecticut. We spoke with Dr. Fred Browne about the new food pyramid and the CDC’s new list of recommended childhood vaccines.

Image Courtesy of Griffin Health System