Voice of CT

Melissa in the Morning: Supporting Local Arts

Fairfield County’s Community Foundation is launching a new grants program to support arts organizations throughout the Greater Bridgeport area. We got a snapshot of how much local artists have financially struggled since 2020 and how the Arts in the Service of Equity program can help by offering three-year grants focused on arts innovation to collaborative programs. Julian Pierce, Fairfield County’s Community Foundation’s Director of Economic Opportunity, joined us for more.

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CT Today With Paul Pacelli – Have Some Class On Commencement Day

Host Paul Pacelli kicked off another week on “Connecticut Today” wondering if the current crop of college protesters has enough class to not ruin graduation ceremonies (00:25) across the U.S. Alexis Harrison of “CT169Strong” filled us in on the latest status surrounding various zoning and development issues (12:48)

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The Lisa Wexler Show – What Did You Learn From Your Favorite Teacher?

Award-winning ABC News journalist and author, Deborah Roberts, joins Lisa Wexler to talk about her new book: Lessons Learned and Cherished: The Teacher Who Changed My Life – a collection of essays and musings from celebrity friends and colleagues who share how teachers changed them, imparted life lessons, and helped them get to where they are today.

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Melissa in the Morning: Advocating for Babies

According to reports, 90% of parents in America are fearful of potential Congressional cuts to vital safeguards like child care, special education programs, affordable housing, and even children’s healthcare. That’s why the non-profit Zero to Three created the Thinking Babies initiative, meant to press policymakers to prioritize the needs of infants, toddlers, and their families and to invest in our nation’s future. We spoke with Miriam Calderon, Chief Policy Officer for Zero to Three, about the key policies needed federally, what’s happening at the state level, and get the details on the upcoming annual Strolling Thunder event in Washington DC.

For more information: https://www.thinkbabies.org/take-action-congress/

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Melissa in the Morning: Warming Up a Cold Case

Monroe Police are feeling hopeful they can finally give closure to the family of Renee Freer. The 8-year-old girl was murdered back in June 1977 and 47 years later, a Facebook group has given new life to the case. Erik Hanson is a Monroe native and an author who is pursuing the story for his new book. But what he discovered in his work led him to something much bigger than he expected.

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Melissa in the Morning: Swatting Incidents

In the last month, there were two major swatting incidents in our listening area: Danbury Mall and Notre Dame of Fairfield High School. What are swatting incidents? What’s the point of them? Where are the prank calls coming from? How can we better handle the situation without draining all resources and spending a lot of money to respond? We talked about all of this in Crime on the Mind with Jim Perez.

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CT Today With Paul Pacelli – Where’s The Election Reform Bill?

Host Paul Pacelli wrapped up another big week on “Connecticut Today” with former Bridgeport Democratic State Rep. Chris Caruso’s weekly update and a chat about the progress of election reform legislation at the State Capitol (00:25). New Haven Independent Editor and Publisher Paul Bass gave us his thoughts on the passing of longtime Elm City developer Joel Schiavone (10:31)

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The Lisa Wexler Show – Advocating For Our Seniors

John Erlingheuser, Senior Advocacy Director AARP CT, joins Lisa Wexler to discuss how AARP advocates for seniors to save money, enjoy benefits, and encourage people to stay in CT!

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Melissa in the Morning: Coping with Loss

According to national statistics, about 6-million US children will experience the death of a parent or sibling by the time they are 18 (experiencecamps.org). The average adult is never ready to say goodbye to a loved one, so how can we expect our children to handle loss in a healthy way? We got advice from Catherine Duncan, an integrative spiritual consultant, author and public speaker. For more information: Learning To Live

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Melissa in the Morning: The Irony of Passover 2024

We are in the midst of the Passover this week but it feels a lot different this year with all the unrest across the country. We spoke with Fairfield Rabbi Shlame Landa about the significance of the chaos erupting on college campuses during this holy time for Jews.

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