Good morning. Pfizer has yet to announce if they will be making layoffs in Groton, Conn., which is home to one of its largest research and development centers.
Last week, the pharmaceutical giant concluded the acquisition of cancer drug company Seagen for $43 billion. Pfizer already signaled layoffs to staff at facilities in the U.S. and abroad and have filed redundancy notices in the states of California, Illinois, Colorado and New Jersey but have refused to state how many layoffs will occur in Connecticut, according to a Pfizer spokesperson.
They did confirm Groton will be affected by the company realignment over the next year.
Pfizer also announced that its board of directors had agreed an increase in the quarterly cash dividend on the company’s common stock of 42 cents for the first quarter of 2024 to be paid to stockholders in early next year, which equates to around $2.4 billion. The company is also planning a worldwide $4 billion cost cuttingcost-cutting effort due to a decrease in sales of certain COVID-19-related drugs.
Here’s a bite-sized look at what else we’re hearing:
Connecticut’s false ticket scandal will rack up $250,000 in legal fees for the state. Attorney General William Tong has entered into a contract to hire a five-person team of outside attorneys — Hartford-based law firm Shipman & Goodwin — to represent the governor’s office and the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection respond to subpoenas, do research and provide legal advice. The union representing state troopers will offer legal services for dozens of officers who allegedly wrote thousands of false tickets, likely skewing the racial profiling data of traffic stops.
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison has finished his two-year service. His last day was Friday. Harrison announced he would be retiring earlier this year. His tenure leading the department was marked by being Suffolk’s first Black top cop, implementing a body camera program and the arrest of the suspected Long Island serial killer. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney is investigating allegations that Harrison falsified time sheets to receive a larger payout from unused vacation time. County Executive-elect Edward Romaine is expected to name a successor soon.
Two families have filed separate federal civil rights lawsuits against Bridgeport. They are relatives of two residents, Brenda Lee Rawls and Lauren Smith-Fields, who died in separate incidents on the same day two years ago. The lawsuits claim that Bridgeport police failed to properly notify them of their loved ones’ deaths because they were Black women. They are each seeking more than $30 million in damages.
New York has released long-delayed school test scores: 52% of New Yorkers in grades 3-8 were proficient in math. In English Language Arts, 48% of students were proficient statewide. This is the third year the state Education Department cautioned that “an accurate comparison cannot be made to prior year’s results” because of changes to new learning standards implemented in spring 2023. Tests in 2021 were optional, and no tests were given in 2020.
Advocates are worried about a plan to reopen the Connecticut Juvenile Training School. A Judicial Branch working group recommended relocating minors from adult facilities to the shuttered Middletown facility. The juvenile center closed in 2018 after years of alleged staff abuse and violence. The working group advised the 65-bed facility undergo a decade-long renovation, estimated at $24 million and eventually require an operating budget of $33 million annually. The recommendations move to the state legislature for review.
A law that goes into effect next year requires Connecticut students to be taught cursive. The skill has largely been de-emphasized in recent years with the rise of computers. The law mandates writing cursive will be added to the state’s model curriculum for students in grades K-8. School districts can follow the model curriculum but are not required to. Schools were also asked to gauge how well students can already print or write cursive to improve the state guidance to districts.
A rare species of sea slug was discovered in Long Island Sound. The Doris pseudoargus — known as a sea lemon — was spotted when the Maritime Aquarium pulled up abandoned lobster traps near Groton. The tiny, brightly colored sea creature is commonly found in European waters. According to the Maritime Aquarium, this is the most southern discovery of the species in North America.
