Good morning. Parts of Interstate 95 running through Stamford, Connecticut are among the top ten busiest corridors across the country. This is according to mobility data from the INRIX, a Washington-based data analytics firm.
Each section of the road was ranked by the peak minutes lost to traffic delays per day. Among the three I-95 sections in Connecticut, I-95 North in Westport lost the most minutes, 29, and the most hours, 116. Interstate sections in Los Angeles and Orlando lost the most hours nationwide.
Here’s a bite-sized look at what else we’re hearing:
Motorcycle fatalities are increasing on Long Island. According to Newsday, 12 people in Nassau and Suffolk counties have died from motorcycle crashes in May and June this year. This is a 100% increase from motorcycle fatalities in the same period last year. The Long Island-based nonprofit ABATE (American Bikers for Awareness, Training and Education) cited distracted driving as one reason. In 2023, nearly 200 people died from motorcycle crashes in New York statewide.
President Donald Morrissey of the Bridgeport-based Aquarion Water Company will retire by the end of 2024. Morrissey worked for Aquarion for 30 years and has served as president since 2020. Aquarion said he will be succeeded by Lucy Teixeira, the company’s vice president of customer & administrative services. She worked for Aquarion for 34 years and served as vice president since 2012. The public water supply company serves over 70 municipalities across Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
The Town of Babylon will use $90,000 in federal COVID-19 aid to help new, local Hispanic-owned businesses. Through The Hispanic Outreach Initiative, town officials say they will create a database of all local Hispanic-owned businesses and identify those that were hurt financially by the pandemic. They say the initiative will last until January 2026. In addition to helping businesses become economically stable, town officials say they hope the initiative will help improve relations with their Hispanic community.
A swastika and a racial slur were found spray-painted on Stamford’s Academy of Information Technology and Engineering campus on Friday. Officials say the hate speech is currently under investigation by the Stamford Police Department. Mayor Caroline Simmons and Superintendent Dr. Tamu Lucero say they don’t believe it was created by a member of the school community. Officials condemned the act and said hate speech, hate symbols and bullying will not be tolerated. The symbol and slur have since been removed.
A New York real estate impact developer, Kiumarz Geula, purchased the historic Bridgeport Bijou Theatre and other nearby properties for $3.2 million. Geula said none of the tenants will be forced to move out. Bridgeport’s Downtown Special Services District officials say they expect Geula to “transform and revitalize the downtown area.” He previously purchased other historic buildings in Bridgeport in 2021 to build apartments, lofts and restaurants.
