Connecticut

Venture Smith was enslaved when he was just a boy. He was eventually able to buy his freedom and the freedom of his family. His iconic story of will, perseverance and strength, is central to Connecticut’s history.

This hour, we dive into to the biography of Venture Smith and the history of slavery here in Connecticut.  

Nearly 1 million people in Connecticut chose health insurance plans for 2021 through Access Health CT, the state’s Affordable Care Act marketplace, new data show.

That includes a year-over-year uptick in the number of people eligible for low-income insurance programs under HUSKY Health. Experts say some of that was likely driven by the pandemic. 

Connecticut’s tax fairness debate took another leap forward recently when the Senate’s highest-ranking Democrat proposed new taxes on high-value homes and on the capital gains of the state’s highest earners.

From living rooms and Zoom rooms, Connecticut watched as Joe Biden was sworn in Wednesday as America’s 46th president.

As dignitaries filed into their seats for President Joe Biden’s inauguration in Washington, D.C., roughly a dozen people affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement in Connecticut marched to the front of the state Capitol in Hartford.

Some are looking at the 2021 legislative session in Connecticut as an opportunity to turn back major police reform adopted last year in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by a Minneapolis police officer.

In the immediate aftermath of the Nov. 3 election, an intelligence analyst named Hannah Glidden was working for the Connecticut Secretary of the State’s office under a novel contract. Her job was to flag any social media talk of voter fraud or disinformation about the election in Connecticut.

It didn’t take long to find some.

Martin Luther King Jr. in Connecticut, a nonprofit organization led by Simsbury High School students, unveiled the town’s newest memorial in honor of the civil rights icon on Monday. 

State and local law enforcement agencies blocked off and locked down the Connecticut State Capitol complex Sunday in anticipation of pro-Trump protests that never came to pass.

A Hartford Superior Court judge granted a sentence modification on Friday to Clyde Meikle, a man serving a 50-year prison sentence for killing his cousin in 1994.

Connecticut student-athletes have gotten the OK to play again.

A board of control for the governing body of state public high school sports, the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, approved a return to play that’ll allow students to practice January 19 with games beginning February 8.

Police plan to have a massive presence at a demonstration possibly taking place Sunday at the state Capitol in Hartford, anticipating it could be much larger than a typical protest there.

Getting Connecticut to a zero-carbon electric supply is attainable by 2040, but it will require significant regional reforms, according to a new assessment of the state’s future energy needs. 

The youth sports shutdown in Connecticut -- one caused by the coronavirus pandemic -- may soon end.

Transportation workers, mail carriers, teachers, first responders, grocery store employees and others are positioned to be the next groups of people eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine in Connecticut.

State officials said during a public meeting Tuesday that the state’s Phase 1B vaccination distribution could begin as early as this month and include up to 800,000 workers and residents. 

Out of the $6 billion in federal coronavirus relief heading to Connecticut, $41 million will be set aside to help families with funeral costs.

Tax filers who qualify for free tax prep may not be able to get in-person help this filing season because of pandemic restrictions.

What has your year looked like? What are you grateful for? In the last days of 2020 we reflect on our most memorable shows of the year. It’s been a hard one for so many and that’s why we took some time to ask you--what you’re thankful for this year. Despite this difficult, hard year, it’s important to stay grateful for what we have.

GUESTS:

Jackie Carroll wanted to bring a little Christmas cheer to the town of Prospect. So she went to a dollar store for supplies and decorated the stop sign at the end of her street. Then she posted a photo on the town’s Facebook group. 

What a year! The Where We Live team has been working remotely since March but we haven't stopped bringing you live conversations.