Good News for Summer: 13% Increase in the Number of Long Island Sound Beaches Recording Excellent Water Quality

Good News for Summer: 13% Increase in the Number of Long Island Sound Beaches Recording Excellent Water Quality

As we head into the summer season, the number of Long Island beaches reporting excellent water quality is 13% higher than previous years, based on data released this month by nonprofit Save the Sound in the organization’s 2021 Long Island Sound Beach Report.

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U.S. Safesport Centralized Disciplinary Database Includes 17 From Connecticut

U.S. Safesport Centralized Disciplinary Database Includes 17 From Connecticut

The U.S. Center for SafeSport maintains a Centralized Disciplinary Database to keep the public informed when individuals connected with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Movements, are either subject to temporary restrictions or are subject to sanctions. That database includes the names of 17 individuals who are, or were, Connecticut residents when incidents occurred or disciplinary action was taken.

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Himes to Lead Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth

Himes to Lead Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth

Connecticut Congressman Jim Himes’s past, it turns out, is prologue for a new, high-profile, assignment. Himes was selected by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve as Chairman of a newly created Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth, leading the Congressional effort to respond to a growing disparity that has been exacerbated - and more blatantly exposed - by the pandemic.

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Fauci: COVID Booster Shot Likely Needed, More Needs to be Done to Build Adult Vaccine Infrastructure

Fauci:  COVID Booster Shot Likely Needed, More Needs to be Done to Build Adult Vaccine Infrastructure

“We will likely need a booster shot for durability of protection,” explained Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on a Connecticut-based podcast this week, adding that unlike vaccines for some other diseases – such as measles - that essentially offer lifelong projection, “we are not likely to see that.”

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Perhaps a Second Bite at the Apple for Transportation and Climate Initiative Program

Perhaps a Second Bite at the Apple for Transportation and Climate Initiative Program

with the legislature promising to return to the State Capitol later this month to convene a Special Session to take care of some unfinished business from the regular 2021 session that concluded on June 9, efforts are intensifying to put back on the agenda an item that didn’t make the cut in the final days earlier this month - the Transportation and Climate Initiative.

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State Receives Grant to Support Planning for Transition to 9-8-8 Mental Health Crisis Call Line

State Receives Grant to Support Planning for Transition to 9-8-8 Mental Health Crisis Call Line

The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) has received the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s (Lifeline) 9-8-8 State Planning Grant to develop a strategic plan for Connecticut in preparation for the nationwide rollout of the new 9-8-8 mental health emergency number next summer.

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Racism is a Public Health Crises, CT Senate Declares

Racism is a Public Health Crises, CT Senate Declares

The Connecticut State Senate – with bipartisan support - has passed Senate Bill 1, which takes several key steps to address systemic racism in Connecticut. This bill declares racism a public health crisis; creates a cross-sector commission to set goals and create a strategic plan for dismantling systemic racism as it impacts public health; defines the doula profession; standardizes how race, ethnicity, and language data are collected; and takes other steps to address the impacts of racism on health in our state.

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UConn to Offer New Online Graduate Certificate in Dementia Care, First in State

UConn to Offer New Online Graduate Certificate in Dementia Care, First in State

More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s dementia and the number of people living with dementia of all types is expected to increase to approximately 14 million by the year 2060. Experts describe it as an ongoing public health crisis for which treatment is limited – there remains no cure, and as the number of Alzheimer’s patients grows, so does the shortage of skilled professionals to care for those in need.

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