Good morning! Long Island native Jasmin Moghbeli made her first trip to space over the weekend.
Moghbeli piloted her crew of three astronauts during the launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. After a 30-hour long flight, the crew boarded the International Space Station for the first time on Sunday from SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft.
Her crew joined seven other astronauts from Europe, Japan, United Arab Emirates and Russia who were already on the station. Together, they’ll work on a six-month long mission called Expedition 69 to conduct over 200 technological experiments to prepare for missions to the Moon and Mars.
Here’s a bite-sized look at what else we are hearing:
Over half of Nassau County’s school districts won’t implement stop-arm cameras on school buses by the time the next school year begins. The cameras are designed to record drivers who illegally pass a bus while its stop sign is out and lights are flashing. Towns can charge drivers with $250 tickets for their first violation. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman declined to participate in the program, causing the delay for the camera installations The towns of Oyster Bay and North Hempstead needed to install the cameras themselves.
Suffolk County has purchased the historical Avery Homestead in East Patchogue. The property has been with the Avery family since the 17th century when Humphrey Avery acquired the land from the Unkechaug Tribe. The homestead was at risk of demolition since the passing of his descendant Barbara Avery in 2017, but will now be preserved as a historical site.
An investigation is underway into a gang fight at Corrigan-Radgowski Correctional Center in Montville. The fight occurred on Friday during the inmates mandated recreational time. No inmates suffered serious injuries from the altercation. Correction Officer Union Local 1565 is calling for increased staff and inmate safety measures as inmate and officer conflicts increasingly occur throughout the state. Three officers were injured in attacks last week.
There are more calls to Connecticut’s suicide prevention hotline. Since July 2022, the hotline has received over 36,000 hotline calls, a near 62% increase compared to the year prior. Officials believe the increase in calls is due to the hotline changing its 10-digit phone number to the simpler three-digit number: 988.
A Trumbull resident is facing charges for stealing $5,000 worth of town tax funds. A bag containing the funds was accidentally dropped outside a bank in May when the resident found and took the money. The resident claimed he did nothing wrong and that the money was “finders keepers,” according to Hearst Connecticut Media. He will appear in state Superior Court in Bridgeport on Tuesday, Sept. 5.
Connecticut received two federal grants to improve aquaculture industries. NOAA provided nearly $400,000 to the Connecticut Sea Grant for a two-year project to assess workforce development needs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture provided a $200,000 grant to purchase a trailer that will be used as a mobile lab for the emerging kelp aquaculture industry.
UConn opened a new climate facility to protect the energy grid from extreme weather. The Center for Weather Innovation and Smart Energy and Resilience, known as WISER, will develop new technology to improve power grid efficiency and create advanced climate-based solutions for the energy industry. Fourteen companies, including Eversource, IBM and National Grid, have already joined WISER as industry partners to collaborate on renewable energy projects.
Over 50 Indigenous tribes took part in the Mashantucket's annual Schemitzun Feast of Green Corn and Dance festival last weekend. Located at the Mashantucket Pequot Cultural Grounds, native people celebrated the harvest of green corn by honoring the families and ancestors through traditional tribal dances, live music performances, craft making, and food preparation. The Pequot have hosted the festival for over 400 years.
