Good afternoon — It’s Valentine's Day! It’s also the deadline for New York voters to change their political party affiliation on their voter registration at their local DMV or online. Only voters registered to a political party can vote in primary elections.
Here’s a bite-sized look at what we are hearing:
An 8-year-old endangered female red wolf named Taylor from North Carolina met her Valentine at the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Taylor was relocated as a part of the Species Survival Program. The goal is to have Taylor breed with a Peanut, a male red wolf at the zoo, to increase their species population. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife census, there are only around 20 red wolves remaining in the wild — 243 red wolves are located at Association of Zoos and Aquariums facilities.
Legislation in Connecticut continues to debate the fate of the Stratford-based Sikorsky Memorial Airport. The Connecticut Airport Authority is vying to purchase the airport from the city of Bridgeport, but local lawmakers have introduced a series of bills to delay the sale in order for the town of Stratford to have more say in what will become of the site. (Check out bill no. 120, no. 121, and no. 177)
Saint Francis Hospital will be allowed to sue Hartford Healthcare for allegedly monopolizing healthcare across Connecticut. U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala ruled in favor of Saint Francis on Monday by denying Hartford Healthcare’s request to dismiss the case because the health system failed to state plausible antitrust claims. St. Francis in Hartford is part of Trinity Health of New England.
The Federal Aviation Administration will move 30 air traffic controllers from Westbury on Long Island to Philadelphia in September. These controllers covered the Newark airspace and will be reassigned to meet rising flight demands from New York and prevent delays expected to appear later this year. Controller union leaders and families are protesting against the relocation.
The Transportation Security Association discovered a record number of 46 firearms in New England airports in 2022. The TSA announced in January that Bradley International Airport in Connecticut discovered five guns, which is the second highest. Boston Logan International discovered the most guns, at 31.
Connecticut lawmakers will consider multiple bills to ban TikTok from government devices. A bill, introduced by Senator Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich), would prohibit the use of TikTok and WeChat apps on state-owned devices. Twenty states have already banned TikTok from government devices. TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.
The Port of Albany in New York will build the first offshore wind turbine manufacturing plant in the U.S. by dredging the Hudson River near Beacon Island. The Environmental Protection Agency approved the plan on Jan. 25 with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Residents are worried about potential contamination from a nearby coal landfill. The turbines will be transported to the south shore of Long Island.
Another dead humpback whale washed up on the New York-New Jersey coastline. The whale was spotted on Monday near Whiting Avenue Beach in Manasquan, New Jersey. This is the ninth dead whale to wash up on New York-New Jersey coastlines in the past two months, according toClean Ocean Action. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is investigating whether offshore wind survey boats have contributed to the whale deaths.
A Long Island legislator has accused Stony Brook University of being the “biggest slumlord on the East End.” State Assemblymember Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor) criticized the maintenance of the university’s Southampton campus last Wednesday. Thiele cites the abandonment of Southampton Hall as a “failure”. Despite the hall scheduled for renovation four years ago, a spokesperson told Newsday that the university is committed to the Southampton campus and community.
