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WEATHER TODAY: It is shaping up to be another nice spring day! Sun will mix with some clouds. Temperatures will quickly rise this morning. Highs will be in the 60s. It’ll be a great afternoon to open the windows and let mild air come in.
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Wednesday evening begins the Passover holiday and our family is planning a virtual Seder. The holiday commemorates the liberation of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. This Jewish tradition reminds us that, when faced with the bitterness of difficult times, brighter days are ahead. If there is ever a moment this tradition resonates, it’s now.
 
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State Says Prison Population Is Declining As Spread Of Coronavirus Grows

The coronavirus has reached Connecticut’s prisons amid ongoing calls for reducing the prison population to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

As of Monday morning, 30 Department of Correction staff and 21 inmates had tested positive for the coronavirus, according to DOC Commissioner Rollin Cook.

Cook said the prison population has dropped below 12,000 for the first time 25 years, but he didn’t characterize the DOC’s efforts as a mass release. “However, the early-focused attention on releases is evident,” he said.

Since March 1 -- the date Cook called “the onset of COVID-19” -- the state’s overall prison population count has dropped by more than 700.

But for some, that’s not enough. Protesters in cars (pictured above) lined up outside Gov. Ned Lamont’s Hartford residence to criticize the state’s management of the virus in its prisons.

The DOC said it is targeting for release older offenders and others considered high risk for medical reasons, noting that all discretionary releases include placing people in halfway houses or returning them to their homes with a sponsor under the supervision of an agency parole officer. MORE »

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FROM OUR MEDIA PARTNERS
  • Weekday traffic on Connecticut’s major roads has dropped 40 percent to 50 percent since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, The Connecticut Mirror reports.
  • The COVID-19 outbreak may speed up a trend toward permanent online learning at Connecticut’s colleges, according to the Hartford Business Journal.
  • The coronavirus crisis has crippled many an industry, but in New Haven, construction workers -- deemed essential in Connecticut -- are chugging along at various construction sites, the New Haven Independent reports.
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The number of U.S. deaths from COVID-19 is rising, and the latest models paint a dire picture of what’s to come. This hour, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut joins us. What should lawmakers be doing to protect public health and prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed? What questions do you have for Sen. Chris Murphy?
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THE COLIN MCENROE SHOW 1:00 pm & 10:00 pm

Today, another chance to hear Colin's conversation with poet and author Ocean Vuong, whose first novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, draws on Vuong's experiences growing up in Hartford, and delves into his family's past in Vietnam.
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