Happy Saturday! The Norwalk Oyster Festival is this weekend, despite a recent recall of oysters from water in Groton. The state agriculture department notified retailers that the shellfish is under investigation until the source of the contamination of waters is located and repaired.
No cases have been reported of illness from the oysters. The Seaport Association is hosting its 45th annual oyster festival, serving about 100,000 donated oysters from Copps Island Oysters.
Here’s a bite-sized look at what we’re hearing:
Changes to Stamford’s city charter are on the ballot this November. A few members of the Board of Representatives wanted to wait until the 2024 presidential election, when turnout is higher, for voters to consider the changes. Proponents for holding the referendum said the charter is relevant for city residents and should be detached from national politics.
Loud speakers attached to cars? New Haven will seize them. The city Board of Alders passed the legislation on Tuesday, and Mayor Justin Elicker signed the bill into law Thursday, allowing the police department to issue fines and seize external speakers attached to motor vehicles. If the noise from external speakers is audible at a distance of 100 feet, a $1,000 fine could be issued for the first violation. The goal is to limit excessive noise that city residents complained is negatively impacting their quality of life.
An election complaint was filed against Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett. Republican mayoral candidate Crystal Dailey and Democratic challenger Walter L. Morton IV went to the State Elections Enforcement Commission over Garrett allegedly using the town’s Facebook page to promote her reelection campaign. Her opponents said using the municipally run page to promote campaign postings, documents, and work is unfair to other candidates. It could take up to a year to resolve the case under law. A violation carries up to a $2,000 fine.
More than 25,000 Connecticut insurance customers impacted by data breach. Three dozen insurers in Connecticut had personal information exposed. A spokesperson from TIAA said there is continuous monitoring, and customer service is a top priority. Genworth and TIAA were among the 10 largest companies and organizations involved in the data breach. The creator of the company’s file transfer software, MOVEit, has deployed multiple "patches" to address the breach.
The auction of the former Coast Guard property in Westhampton is delayed — again. The U.S. General Services Administration said the auction was put off to give the agency and the Town of Southampton time to negotiate an agreed price to purchase the property. The asking price is $15 million for the 14-acre site, which was used as Coast Guard housing. The town’s plan is to dedicate half of the 52 housing units as rentals and sell the other half.
The handling of a New Haven City Alder’s hit-and-run case is under investigation. Alder Sal Decola crashed into resident Julie Ferrucci's parked car in late February and drove away. Ferrucci wrote in a series of public posts that Decola was not on record for this incident because of his connection to the city. Internal affairs at New Haven Police Department is reviewing the case.
