Connecticut

CT plan centers climate change in conservation, development

Published

10 months ago

February 7, 2025

CT plan centers climate change in conservation, development

Over the next five years, as Connecticut officials think broadly about where and how they want to develop housing, encourage economic development and preserve open space, they’ll put climate change at the center of those conversations.

That’s according to the latest draft of the Plan of Conservation and Development, which the Continuing Legislative Committee on State Planning and Development passed with overwhelming support on Thursday. The state updates these plans every five years, and they are meant to provide high-level guidance to state agencies on the policies around land use.

The plan aims to build communities that are healthy, have thriving economies and enough housing, take care of resources and are connected and inclusive — all with a focus on climate change at its core.

“It is based at its foundation, on these guiding principles,” said Rebecca Augur, the state’s responsible growth coordinator, in a presentation to lawmakers last month. “These are really values and value statements that are infused in the targets, policies and implementation measures that are included in the plan.”

The plan, which still needs to be approved by the full legislature, also takes a new approach to determining where to put more resources and development.

Plans in the past have mapped the best places to build based on several factors, including the feasibility of development near public transit and whether building would promote regional cooperation. These were called “priority funding areas,” and were concentrated largely along the shoreline and up the Interstate 91 corridor between New Haven and Hartford.

The new mapping instead focuses on “activity zones,” which are parts of the state where there is already a good deal of housing, community centers and jobs. This shows major hubs around larger cities such as Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport and Stamford.

Augur described the approach as “descriptive not prescriptive,” in that it shows where there is already activity rather than suggesting officials guide funding to certain areas.

For projects that are over $200,000, state law requires that agencies document how they’re following the principles of the plan. The new draft recommends increasing that threshold to $1 million.

The plan calls for leveraging public and private funds to push development, promoting regional cooperation and improving data analysis and collection. It aims to help the state plan for more housing, grow the economy and protect the state from climate change.

Connecticut has long grappled with a lack of housing that’s affordable and available to its lowest-income residents. That crisis has grown more acute over the past few years.

The state plan as drafted would direct agencies to focus on building more diverse types of housing, and help towns increase sewer capacity. It would also reduce cost burden by combining housing, transportation and energy costs where possible.

Erin Boggs, executive director of the Open Communities Alliance, said she feared that focusing on areas of the state that already have growth will increase segregation.

“The big picture is that the plan is basically saying, ‘Let’s invest in further development in places that are already developed,’” Boggs said. “ … And so when you put that together with the history of exclusion in some places, that is kind of a perfect storm for continued and entrenched segregation.”

Pete Harrison, Connecticut director for the Regional Plan Association, said in public testimony that he thinks the plan is a good step toward more growth. He said he thinks Connecticut will likely be a state that sees population growth as other areas of the country become hard to live in because of rising temperatures.

“We are not used to growth in Connecticut, but because of climate change, perhaps counterintuitively, it is coming, and planning for it now is urgently needed,” Harrison said.

The plan also calls for preserving forests, farmland, wetlands and animal habitats as well as architecturally and historically significant sites. It would discourage more development in areas prone to flooding or sea level rise and push for more energy efficient development.

The state’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection submitted public testimony that said officials there “strongly support” the plan.

The draft also proposes regional solutions to many problems associated with climate change.

“We recognize that many of our priorities are best addressed at the regional level, due to the way our economy, our environment, our societies function, and so we want to ensure that agencies, when possible, are seeking regional solutions,” Augur said.

Lawmakers largely praised the plan at Thursday’s short meeting, citing the work that the Office of Policy and Management, which oversees the Office of Responsible Growth, had done conducting meetings and holding opportunities for the public to weigh in on the plan.

The full legislature is required to approve the new plan within 45 days of committee approval.

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Connecticut

Connecticut to erase $63 million in medical debt for 40,000 residents

Published

21 minutes ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Connecticut to erase million in medical debt for 40,000 residents

HARTFORD, Conn. (WFSB) – Nearly 40,000 Connecticut residents will find some good news in their mailboxes this week: their medical debt has been erased.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced Monday that letters are going out to residents informing them that some or all of their medical bills have been eliminated. This third round of the Medical Debt Erasure Initiative is wiping out more than $63 million in medical debt.

Since the program began in December 2024, nearly 160,000 Connecticut residents have had a total of $198 million in medical debt eliminated.

“Medical debt can delay healing due to stress and anxiety about how to pay these bills,” Lamont said. “This makes a real difference in the lives of our families, reducing fear and concerns.”

The state partners with the nonprofit Undue Medical Debt to buy large bundles of qualifying medical debt for pennies on the dollar. To qualify, residents must have income at or below 400% of the federal poverty level or have medical debt that equals 5% or more of their income.

There’s no application process — the debt erasure happens automatically through purchases from participating hospitals and collection agencies. Residents who qualify will receive letters from Undue Medical Debt over the next several days.

The first round erased about $30 million for roughly 23,000 people, and the second round eliminated more than $100 million for 100,000 people. Lamont plans to continue the program using $6.5 million in federal ARPA funding.

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Connecticut

Child confirmed as Connecticut’s first measles case in 4 years

Published

12 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Child confirmed as Connecticut’s first measles case in 4 years

Health

The child, who is under the age of 10 and unvaccinated, recently traveled internationally, health officials said.

FILE – A measles, mumps and rubella vaccine at the Andrews County Health Department, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, in Andrews, Texas. AP Photo/Annie Rice, File

An unvaccinated child in Connecticut has been diagnosed with measles, public health officials confirmed, the state’s first confirmed case of the highly contagious disease since 2021.

The child, who is under the age of 10, lives in Fairfield County, the Connecticut Department of Public Health announced last week. The child had recently travelled internationally before showing symptoms including cough, runny nose, congestion, fever, and eventually a full-body rash.

“The single best way to protect your children and yourself from measles is to be vaccinated,” Connecticut DPH Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD, said in a statement. “One dose of measles vaccine is about 93 percent effective, while two doses are about 97 percent effective.”

The United States has seen a record high 1,912 measles cases since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000, the CDC reported. As of July 7, this year has also reported the most cases in more than 30 years, according to the International Vaccine Access Center.

Earlier this year, West Texas saw a measles outbreak of hundreds of cases, mostly among unvaccinated children who had to be hospitalized. About one in five unvaccinated people diagnosed with measles are hospitalized, Connecticut DPH said, and the disease can be especially dangerous for children.

“We must ensure we continue to protect those who matter most – children and other vulnerable people – from vaccine preventable illnesses through on-time vaccination,” Juthani said.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., known for his overhaul on the childhood vaccine schedule and doubts on COVID vaccine safety, endorsed the measles vaccine after two children died from measles amid the outbreak in Texas.

“The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine,” Kennedy said in April.

Earlier this year, a Vermont child who had recently traveled internationally was confirmed to have been infected with measles. In March, a man tested positive for measles after traveling on an Amtrak train originating from Boston’s South Station to Washington D.C.

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.

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Connecticut

Final Connecticut High School Football Top 25 Rankings – Dec. 14

Published

1 day ago

December 14, 2025

Press Room

Final Connecticut High School Football Top 25 Rankings – Dec. 14

The Connecticut high school football’s CIAC postseason wrapped up with the state championships this past weekend on Saturday.

Finishing in the No. 1 spot in this week’s final Top 25 rankings out of the Constitution State is Avon Old Farms after they defeated The Williston Northampton School, 35-21, in the Drew Gamere Bowl to end their season a few weeks ago. New Canaan sits right behind as they repeated as Class L champs. Which other teams from around Connecticut high school football deserves to be in the final set of Top 25 rankings for the 2025 campaign?

The Massey Ratings, officially used during the BCS era, is a model that ranks sports teams by analyzing game outcomes, strength of schedule, and margin of victory.

Here are the last Connecticut high school football rankings for 2025, according to Massey as of Dec. 14.

1. Avon Old Farms Beavers

Avon Old Farms (10-0) opened up the Connecticut high school football season by avenging a loss to Brunswick School from last season and have set the tone for the rest of the campaign. The Beavers have a talented offense that’s averaging 40.7 points per game, led by quarterback Matthew Baer, running back Kharon Craig, and offensive tackle Charlie Thom (Notre Dame commitment).

The Beavers have concluded their season play out of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Counci (NEPSAC) when they defeated The Williston Northampton School last week in the Drew Gamere Bowl, 35-21. Avon Old Farms finishes as the No. 1 team in the Connecticut high school football rankings.

2. New Canaan Rams

The defending Class L state champion New Canaan Rams (13-0) have done it once again as they defeated Cheshire, 34-13.

The Rams have won back to back playoff games versus Darien and Weaver with ease, winning by a combined 85-13. New Canaan won its 16th state championship in head coach Lou Marinelli’s legendary career. With the win, New Canaan clinched their fourth undefeated season in program history for the Rams (1968, 1969, 2008, 2025).

New Canaan has used a high-powered offense to cruise past opponents this fall, with quarterback Maddox Hoffman throwing for 1,936 yards and 21 touchdowns. Running back Henry Stein leads the ground game as he’s rushed for 916 yards and seven touchdowns.

3. Choate Rosemary Hall Wild Boars

Choate Rosemary Hall (8-2) saw its 18-game winning streak snapped back in Week 1 when they lost against New Hampshire’s Phillips Exeter Academy in a battle of top-ranked teams in their respective states.

The Wild Boars will finish likely within the Top 5 of the rankings after they ended their 2025 season in exciting fashion as they avenged that defeat by beating Phillips Exeter Academy in the Leon Modeste Bowl in a 44-42 thriller.

In 2024, the Wild Boars had completed their second consecutive perfect season after defeating Brunswick School. They have lost only four games over the last four Connecticut high school football seasons and only allowed only four opponent to score double digits.

The Wild Boars are another prep school that features multiple future Division I players, including Tanner Raymond (Rutgers) and interior offense lineman Will Tellers.

4. St. Thomas More Chancellors

St. Thomas More (1-3) remain steady as the No. 3 team in our latest set of Connecticut high school football rankings after a 50-21 loss to New Jersey’s No. 3 team, Hun School to end their season.

The Chancellors only losses from the 2024 season came against Maryland’s St. Frances Academy, Hun School, and Florida’s IMG Academy, respectively. St. Thomas More doesn’t have anymore scheduled games left on their 2025 slate.

Among the players the Chancellors feature on their roster are four-star edge rusher Alhassan Iddrissu (UCF), cornerback Terron Johnson, running back Malichi Greaves, and linebacker Christian King.

5. Daniel Hand Tigers

The Daniel Hand Tigers (13-1) has dominated in the Class SS playoffs, dominating all three opponents by a combined score of 122-32, after defeating the Killingly Trailblazers, 37-13, on Saturday.

Fueling the Daniel Hand offensive attack is the strong play of senior signal caller Bobby Reh, who has thrown for 2,194 yards and 29 touchdowns to only three mere picks. Junior running back Lucca Boyce leads the ground game with 1,272 yards and 14 touchdowns.

6. St Joseph (8-2)
7. Cheshire Academy (7-3)
8. Windsor (12-1)
9. Brunswick School (6-4)
10. Greenwich (8-2)

11. Newtown (8-2)
12. Killingly (11-1)
13. Fairfield College Preparatory (8-2)
14. Wilton (10-2)
15. The Taft School (5-4)

16. Bunnell (10-3)
17. Kingswood-Oxford School (8-2)
18. Berlin (12-0)
19. The Loomis Chaffee School (3-6)
20. Darien (6-5)

21. Brookfield (8-3)
22. Staples (5-5)
23. Cheshire (8-3)
24. Southington (7-3)
25. Mark T. Sheehan (10-3)

For Connecticut high school football fans looking to keep up with scores around the nation, staying updated on the action is now easier than ever with the Rivals High School Scoreboard. This comprehensive resource provides real-time updates and final scores from across the Constitution State, ensuring you never miss a moment of the Friday night frenzy. From nail-biting finishes to dominant performances, the Rivals High School Scoreboard is your one-stop destination for tracking all the Connecticut high school scores and football rankings.

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