Business

COVID has changed the way we live, work, even move. This hour, we talk about the future of public transportation in Connecticut, with commuter advocate Jim Cameron. We also hear from the State Department of Transportation (DOT) public transit bureau chief.

Ridership has plummeted on rains and buses as many residents continue to work from home. This, even as Connecticut’s often-overlooked bus systems have been critical for many of the state’s essential workers to get to their jobs.

Will Connecticut’s mass transit system be able to recover from the economic toll of COVID?

Starting in January a new deduction will come out of your paycheck. The Connecticut Paid Leave program will go into effect in 2022 and can help workers get paid time off for a variety of situations.

The Westport community will lose its online newspaper at the end of the month due to the death of its founder. 

Broadcast sports giant ESPN is telling employees that pandemic-related layoffs are coming. In a company memo sent to NPR, Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, ESPN and sports content, revealed that 300 people would lose their jobs. He also said 200 open positions will be eliminated.

Thursday marked Phase 3 of reopening in Connecticut, allowing restaurants to increase indoor dining capacity to 75% and permitting venues -- for the first time since March -- to host indoor events, like weddings, of up to 100 people. 

How often do you buy new clothing?

Stores like H&M and Forever 21 sell new styles at low prices, making it easy to constantly update your wardrobe. But, this hour, we listen back to a conversation about the environmental and social costs of "fast fashion". 

First July electric bills went through the roof. Then, hundreds of thousands of Connecticut residents lost power for days after a tropical storm. Today, ratepayer frustration with Connecticut’s largest electric utility, Eversource, are higher than ever.

After years of paying more for electricity with the promise that some would be used to “harden the grid”, many residents are wondering--where did that money go?

This hour, we talk with lawmakers and the state’s utility regulator about how Eversource responded after the recent tropical storm and what needs to change.

Are you an Eversource customer? How do you want to see the utility respond?

When your home becomes your new office, it can be hard to set boundaries between work and personal life. This hour, we continue our series on The Future of Work by discussing the benefits, and drawbacks of working from home full time. 

The pandemic has caused major disruptions for workers' careers, but the latest numbers show women have been hit particularly hard.

Women, and especially women of color, are bearing some of the largest economic impacts of the pandemic, from facing higher rates of unemployment to holding the majority of frontline essential jobs.

Many Connecticut residents are used to spending a lot of time commuting, whether driving on a highway, riding on a train to the city or taking the bus across town. But the number of drivers and ridership across all modes of transportation have dropped dramatically with stay-at-home orders and the closing of non-essential businesses.

This pandemic has caused a lot of interruptions in our lives. It has put people out of work, and it is also keeping some people from starting a career. This hour, we hear how recent law school graduates are preparing for the Connecticut Bar Exam amongst the pandemic. 

Sabrina Buehler didn’t expect to make much from her Airbnb rental in North Stonington this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Is it safe to say that we're not yet ready to kiss and make up with the banks whose reckless behavior led to the 2008 financial crisis? A little contrition would go a long way to helping us forgive and forget. That's not happening, at least not with Deutsche Bank, the preferred bank of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein.

Protests against police brutality have put systemic racism in the spotlight. But how do the written and unwritten rules in communities perpetuate racial inequality?

1.5 million people filed for unemployment last week according to the US Department of Labor, despite states re-opening in the last month. 

This hour, we look at unemployment insurance during the pandemic. Many Connecticut residents who have been laid off have been getting by with a combination of money from state unemployment insurance and a $600 weekly benefit from the federal government.

But that money is set to expire next month.

Governor Lamont has said he doesn’t support extending that benefit because he believes it “discourages work”.  Coming up we find out the impact of unemployment insurance on both workers and employers.

And we want to hear from you, too. Have you been receiving unemployment?