Melissa in the Morning: A Child’s Garden Part II

Melissa in the Morning: A Child’s Garden Part II

Last week, The Fairfield Board of Education reportedly announced the news about not renewing the lease for A Child’s Garden after one more academic year. The childcare center has been operating on town-owned property for over 40 years and the owners say THEY weren’t even told about the decision. We spoke with Mike Miklus, the…

Melissa in the Morning: Trumbull Playground Project

Melissa in the Morning: Trumbull Playground Project

The Trumbull Early Childhood Education Center Parent Teacher Organization announced a major funding award of $10,000 from the Rotary Club of Trumbull to the TECEC PTO in support of their multi-year initiative to fund and replace the playground at the school. We spoke with Kayla Seeley, president of the TECEC PTO and Rotary Club of…

Melissa in the Morning: Olympians in CT

Melissa in the Morning: Olympians in CT

For the first time in American history, an American gymnastics competition is expected to see three U.S. Olympic All-Around Gold medalists (Gabby Douglas, Simone Biles and Sunisa Lee) compete head-to-head. Two sessions will be held in Hartford. We spoke with General Manager of the XL Center, Ben Weiss, about the event, what went into bringing…

Melissa in the Morning: A Child’s Garden

Melissa in the Morning: A Child’s Garden

I think we hit a record high for listener inquiries regarding the same topic: no lease renewal for a longstanding early childcare center in Fairfield. We learned the lease for A Child’s Garden is being extended one more year before closing after 43 years in the Mona Terrace space. We asked First Selectman Bill Gerber…

Melissa in the Morning: “Not Very Nice to K-12”

Melissa in the Morning: “Not Very Nice to K-12”

We continue addressing the early childcare crisis in Connecticut. According to state data, we still have about 4,000 staffing vacancies for early childhood, a waitlist of more than 1,500 kids needing Care 4 Kids and school districts are juggling families trying to test their kids into Kindergarten despite not being five years old by September…

Melissa in the Morning: Childcare Crisis

Melissa in the Morning: Childcare Crisis

We are living in a childcare crisis in Connecticut and across the country. There are not enough reputable, affordable centers and our staffing levels are too low, mostly because we can’t pay them. Compound that with a new state law changing the kindergarten age requirement in the fall; families and school districts are scrambling! Does…

Melissa in the Morning: Healthcare Takeaways

Melissa in the Morning: Healthcare Takeaways

We continue to look at the aftermath of the 2024 legislative session; this time we focused on healthcare legislation. Senator Jeff Gordon talked about the ongoing drama surrounding Prospect Medical Holdings impacting three Connecticut hospitals and a call from the governor for lawmakers to return to the table. We also discussed the big winner: Senate…

Melissa in the Morning: Online Crime Map

Melissa in the Morning: Online Crime Map

Bridgeport has officially rolled out a new interactive crime map for residents to keep track of crime statistics in and around their neighborhoods. We spoke with Police Chief Roderick Porter about the LexisNexis technology, how it works, and why he feels it needed to be a priority for city residents. To view that map, click…

Melissa in the Morning: Consumer Protection Legislation

Melissa in the Morning: Consumer Protection Legislation

We had our monthly check-in with the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection. Commissioner Bryan Cafferelli gave us some legislative updates impacting businesses and consumers in the state following the 2024 legislative session. He spoke about THC-infused beverages, House Bill 5236 concerning professional licensing, and improvements on the “pharmacy experience.” PHOTO CREDIT: Kaitlyn Krasselt / CT…

Melissa in the Morning: The Northern Lights in Connecticut

Melissa in the Morning: The Northern Lights in Connecticut

Earlier this month, a super rare geomagnetic storm happened making the Aurora visible even here in Connecticut! David Mestre of Science You May Not Know talked about the May 10th Northern Lights event seen across the northeast. We also compared it to the “Carrington Event” of September 1 to 2, 1859 when the Aurora was…