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Melissa in the Morning is hosted by Melissa Sheketoff who gathers top news headlines locally and nationally to keep WICC listeners in the know, delivering the information that matters most to you.
Every week, enjoy live interviews from state leaders, business owners and local experts. Melissa has frequent talks with Governor Ned Lamont, Attorney General William Tong, Comptroller Sean Scanlon and other state department leaders. She also has consistent check-in’s with leaders in Washington, including U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal and U.S. Congressman Jim Himes. At the hyper local level, Melissa also talks to local leaders, including state senators, representative, mayors and first selectmen.
Outside of politics, local experts featured on the show weekly include infectious disease expert, Dr. Fred Browne of Griffin Health, career strategist, Julie Bauke, and law enforcement officials including crime prevention expert, Jim Perez.
And as a news reporter, Melissa does investigative reporting on local stories. In 2024, Melissa was the first and only Connecticut reporter for weeks to tackle a hot water and heating issue at Success Village in Bridgeport and Stratford, impacting thousands of residents. She also exposed severe issues with Bridgeport’s education system, including issues with the Board of Education and superintendent. She also answered dozens of calls from Fairfield residents about a childcare center abruptly set to shut down and her work led to a delay in that decision helping dozens of families find care.
Plus, traffic every ten minutes and weather from our Chief Meteorologist Paul Piorek.
Recent posts
Melissa in the Morning: Is Gatorade Good for You?
For decades, Gatorade has been the go-to drink to fuel athletes and gym-goers by restoring lost electrolytes. But does a troubling ingredient list outweigh the benefits of drinking it? Dr. Andrew Wong with Hartford Healthcare weighs in on the discussion around these sports drinks. Image Credit: Getty Images… Continue Reading
Melissa in the Morning: CT Tourism Dollars
There’s a push to invest much more money into our Connecticut tourism budget. According to the Office of Tourism, the tourism budget was cut and in the budget address this week, I didn’t hear anything about new state dollars going to tourism. That means the tourism budget could be cut even more, even though tourism…… Continue Reading
Melissa in the Morning: Creating ACTUAL Workforce Housing
In the governor’s budget address, he said the state will continue a $400 million investment per year in housing. But are the housing priorities that were presented enough to create more workforce, affordable housing? We asked our housing expert, Renee Dobos, CEO of CT Housing Partners. IMAGE CREDIT: Melissa Sheketoff… Continue Reading
Melissa in the Morning: Protecting Referees
There’s a proposed bill in Hartford that addresses unsportsmanlike behavior toward referees in youth sports. According to reports, many referees in Connecticut leave due to aggressive and over involved parents. Glenn Lungarini, executive director of the CIAC, talked about the bill and why it’s necessary to pass. Image Credit: Getty Images… Continue Reading
Melissa in the Morning: Lowering BAC Levels
There’s a renewed push in Hartford to lower Connecticut’s legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limit in this year’s legislative session. The bigger push for it comes following an increase in highway fatalities, including wrong way crashes done at the hands of impaired drivers. But does lowering the BAC do more harm than good for our…… Continue Reading
Melissa in the Morning: Intervening Bridgeport Schools
Last month, we saw the measures being taken to clean up the issues facing the Bridgeport school district. Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker of the CT Dept. of Education shared more detail about the actions taking place, including a technical assistance team and training for the local school board. Image Credit: Getty Images… Continue Reading
Melissa in the Morning: Tuberculosis in America
Cases of Tuberculosis seem to be on the rise in parts of the US, including North Carolina and Kansas. What’s happening with these outbreaks and how is Connecticut protecting residents from the infectious disease? We spoke in depth with Dr. Fred Browne of Griffin Health. Image Courtesy of Dr. Fred Browne … Continue Reading
Melissa in the Morning: Opening Pandora’s Box?
Following the governor’s budget address, his call to loosen the fiscal guardrails slightly for childcare was a big sticking point for lawmakers. We spoke about it with Comptroller Sean Scanlon, our state fiscal watchdog and someone who has pushed to never touch the guardrails. IMAGE CREDIT: Melissa Sheketoff… Continue Reading
Melissa in the Morning: State Involvement
It’s not a state takeover but it is possibly the first time the state board of education has needed to get involved helping out the Bridgeport school district. We spoke with interim superintendent of schools, Dr. Royce Avery, about the measures being taken right now. Image Credit: Getty Images… Continue Reading
Melissa in the Morning: Special Education Funding
The governor has said he plans to prioritize special education funding during his budget address today. Ahead of that speech, we spoke with Kate Dias, President of the Connecticut Education Association (CEA) about the need for funding sooner rather than later. Image Credit: Getty Images… Continue Reading