Voice of CT

Melissa in the Morning: You’re Late for a Very Important Date!

If you are always running late, does that tell a bigger story about you as a worker and can it derail your career? According to new research, the youngest generation of workers believes 10 minutes late is still right on time. The online meeting company, Meeting Canary, asked over 1,000 British adults about their attitudes to punctuality and almost half of those aged 16 to 26 said that being between five and 10 minutes late is just as good as being punctual. However, a staggering 70% of boomers surveyed said they have zero tolerance for any level of tardiness. We asked career strategist, Julie Bauke, about ‘being on time’ and whether it’s an archaic indicator of workers.

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Melissa in the Morning: Deaths on CT Highways

It’s been a horrible stretch of tragedies on Connecticut highways in the last month. And now there are more calls for state worker protections on our state roads. Connecticut State Police Trooper First Class, Aaron Pelletier, was struck and killed by a motor vehicle on May 30, while performing a traffic stop on I-84. And Connecticut Department of Transportation employee, Andrew DiDomenico, was struck and killed by a motor vehicle on June 28, while performing routine maintenance to a greenway is adjacent to an on and off-ramp connecting to I-91 in Wallingford. We asked Josh Morgan of the DOT if laws can really change the problems we are seeing on the roadways or does it come down to education and driver behavior?

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Melissa in the Morning: Handling Vacation Stress

National statistics show almost three quarters of the US population stresses about just planning a vacation. On average, most people deal with pre-vacation, vacation and post-vacation stress. So, if stress is inevitable with vacation, how do we handle it in a healthy way and are there signs that there’s a deeper problem brewing in life outside the vacation expectations? We spoke with counselor, Julius Dudics, about it.

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Melissa in the Morning: Livable Communities Grant Program

The AARP Connecticut Livable Communities Grant Program is now open for applications to help fund community improvement projects across Connecticut. What is the liveable communities grant program? What kind of projects are getting approval over the years? Who can apply and how much money can a town or city get for a project? We got all the details from Nora Duncan, state director of AARP Connecticut.

For the application: www.aarp.org/ct

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Melissa in the Morning: Top Summer Scams

Summer is officially here and it’s not just the temperatures going up. There are three scams we see big upticks in during this time of year: vacation rental scams, utility company imposters and paving scams. Kristen Johnson of the Better Business Bureau outlines the three scams and how to protect yourself from them.

To report a scam or look up a scam visit BBB’s Scam Tracker at bbb.org/scamtracker

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Melissa in the Morning: Men’s Mental Health

According to national statistics, nearly 1 in 10 men experience depression or anxiety but less than half of them seek treatment for it. Men are also at a higher risk of death by suicide compared to women. June is Men’s Mental Health Awareness Month and state leaders wanted to look at how we are tackling mental health needs for residents. Julie Vigil is the Branch Chief for Community, Family Health and Prevention of Connecticut Public Health was at the meeting and shared new ideas to combat the problem for guys.

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Melissa in the Morning: 50 years Later

50 years ago, a deadly fire occurred at a nightclub right on the Greenwich line. The 1974 arson fire at Gulliver’s in Port Chester, New York claimed the lives of 24 people and injured 32 others, including some firefighters. We looked back at the anniversary of the case with Dennis O’Connell. His brother was one of the patrons who died in the blaze. Sandy Clarkson was a first responder the night of that fire and shares what he remembers about the scene and aftermath.

IMAGE CREDIT: Sandy Clarkson

Melissa in the Morning: Identity Theft in Connecticut

A new study from Cloudwards shows Connecticut is one of the most dangerous states in the US for identity theft to occur online. The report shows Connecticut landed in third place despite having some of the toughest identity theft laws on the books. WICC intern, Catherine Welch, did an investigative report on the issue and spoke with detectives about ways to better protect ourselves from identity theft.

IMAGE CREDIT: Melissa Sheketoff

CT Today With Paul Pacelli – Biden-Trump Debate Reaction

Friday’s busy edition of “Connecticut Today” opened with host Paul Pacelli’s thoughts and takeaways from the previous night’s debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump (00:39), and also featured analysis from former Time Magazine Senior Reporter Alain Sanders (13:42). Our author spotlight featured Randall Woods, who talked about his new book, “John Quincy Adams: A Man for the Whole People” (24:56). Quinnipiac University Law Professor Wayne Unger summarized the busy last few days for the U.S. Supreme Court’s current term (36:15), while former Bridgeport Democratic State Rep. Chris Caruso dropped by with his weekly update (45:00)

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CT Today With Paul Pacelli – A Jump In Motor Vehicle Taxes?

Thursday’s edition of “Connecticut Today” with host Paul Pacelli looked at a controversial move at the State Capitol to change the way the state’s motor vehicle property tax is calculated (00:34). Southern Connecticut State University Political Science Professor Dr. Tess Marchant-Shapiro (13:49) and Sacred Heart University Political Science Professor and Scholar in Residence Dr. Gary Rose (25:54) both previewed the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle. Finally, “Only In Bridgeport” blogger Lennie Grimaldi stopped by for his weekly update (40:26)

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