Connect with us

Connecticut

These Are The Safest Towns In Connecticut: New Report

Published

on

These Are The Safest Towns In Connecticut: New Report


CONNECTICUT — Many residents raise their families in Connecticut on the perception the towns here are “safe.” A new report provides some stats to support the feels.

SafeWise, a security product review platform, looked at FBI crime statistics for municipalities in Connecticut to compile its 11th annual Safest Cities report. A total of 47 towns met the criteria to be considered for ranking.

The company named Ridgefield the safest city in Connecticut for the third straight year. There hasn’t been a lot of motion among the other high achievers, either — the remaining nine cities all previously appeared on the Top 10 list over the last couple of years.

All 10 towns reported a combined total of just two murders.

Advertisement

Ridgefield, Wallingford, Cheshire, and Westport reported zero murders and zero rapes, and Ridgefield was the only town to report fewer than 100 property crimes, coming in with 49. Wallingford and Shelton are the only two cities that saw a decrease in both property and violent crime year over year.

Five of Connecticut’s 10 safest cities — Newtown, Simsbury, Greenwich, Westport, and Vernon — saw a drop in violent crime but a rise in property crime, according to the report.

Cheshire was the only city with a decrease in property crime but a rise in violent crime. Two of the state’s safest cities reported fewer than 10 burglaries: Ridgefield with zero, and Wallingford with eight.

In most of these cities, violent crime rates declined year over year, while property crime rates increased.

SafeWise analysts say they did not have enough data to calculate statewide crime rates for this year’s report, but the annual State of Safety survey suggests violent crime and gun violence have increased in Connecticut. That broke out as 70 percent of Connecticut’s 10 safest cities seeing a year-over-year decline in violent crime incidents per 1,000 people, while 70 percent of the safest cities saw an increase in property crime, with survey respondents experiencing fewer incidents.

Advertisement

The report is based upon voluntary, self-reported information that cities and jurisdictions across the country report through the FBI Summary Reporting System (SRS) and National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). For the 2025 reporting year, the most recent FBI data was released in October 2024 for crimes reported in 2023. Read more about the methodology here.



Source link

Connecticut

Watch New Canaan vs. Cheshire in Connecticut Class L football championship: Live stream

Published

on

Watch New Canaan vs. Cheshire in Connecticut Class L football championship: Live stream


New Canaan faces Cheshire in the 2025 Connecticut high school Class L football state championship on Saturday afternoon.

The game begins at 4 p.m. EST on Saturday, Dec. 13, at Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Connecticut.

The game will stream live on the NFHS Network.

High school football championships on NFHS Network

Advertisement

Watch high school sports anywhere from wherever you are.

WATCH NOW

What: Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) Class L football championship

Who: New Canaan vs. Cheshire

When: Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025

Advertisement

Where: Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Connecticut

Time: 4 p.m. EST

Stream: NFHS Network

Tickets: $11,50

Record, MaxPrep state rankings: New Canaan 12-0, No. 1; Cheshire 9-3, No. 11

Advertisement

Here’s more information about the game from the Hartford Courant, via the Tribune News Service:

New Canaan is going for its 16th state title and fourth straight under veteran coach Lou Marinelli and New Canaan outscored its playoff opponents, 85-13. Cheshire’s last finals appearance was 2009, when coach Don Drust was an assistant for the Rams’ team, which beat Staples in overtime to win a Class LL title. Cheshire rallied from a 19-point deficit against Fairfield Ludlowe to win the Class L quarterfinal game and beat Ridgefield 21-0 in the semifinals. QB Aiden Gregorich’s pass to Liam Suomala proved to be the game-winning touchdown with 10 seconds left in the quarterfinal.

What is the NFHS Network?

The NFHS Network covers more than 30 sports across the country. NFHS Network costs $13.99 per month or $79.99 per year.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Connecticut

Could mini-liquor bottles be banned in Connecticut?

Published

on

Could mini-liquor bottles be banned in Connecticut?


Have you still seen a lot of mini-liquor bottles, littering the streets in Connecticut?

Members of one environmental group said they still see them, and believe a ban is the best way to solve a multi-tiered problem.

State data shows in the past 12 months, ending September 30, there were more than 93 million mini-liquor bottles sold in our state.

The group supporting local bans says it’s not just the litter, but also the fact mini-liquor bottles are easy to conceal and consume on the job, in the car, or at school.

Advertisement

The group “Connecticut Towns Nixing the Nip” met this week, working on strategies to get a legislative hearing on the issue in the upcoming 2026 session.

Right now, stores collect a 5-cent surcharge for every mini-liquor bottle sold, resulting in about $5 million annually for town and city environmental cleanup efforts.

Town funding from nip sales

Average revenue per year 2021 to 2025.

Advertisement

“Having talked to a number of towns, well a few towns, they like the money, said Tom Metzner, a member of the group. “It’s fairly broad in how it can be used. It’s environmental. It doesn’t have to be used for cleaning up nips. And so the towns have become somewhat silent on the issue of banning nips.”

The group cited Chelsea, Massachusetts, where minis are banned, both litter and alcohol related EMS calls decreased.

The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut, which devised the “nickel per nip” program, said banning the mini-liquor bottles would be unprecedented.

Instead, it said the environmental group should be challenging municipalities to prove they actually use the money for cleanup.

Legislative leaders suggested several years ago the way to really do this is to have a redemption program for mini liquor bottles, and now, that could be possible.

Advertisement

At least one state with the Clynk bottle collection program has redeemed mini-liquor bottles for cash.

The company just announced a major expansion in our state, but it told us it is not aware of a redemption program for mini-liquor bottles here any time soon.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Connecticut

National trust in the federal government is low. CT residents agree

Published

on

National trust in the federal government is low. CT residents agree


National trust in the federal government is at some of its lowest levels in nearly seven decades, and many Connecticut residents fall in line with that belief, a survey found.

New data from the Pew Research Center found only 17% of Americans believe that what the government does is right either “just about always” or “most of the time,” hitting one of the lowest points Pew has seen since first asking this question in 1958. And according to a DataHaven survey, Connecticut residents trust the federal government less than state or local institutions.

While these are some of the lowest polling numbers seen in American history, national trust in the federal government has been on the decline for decades. Public trust initially dropped in the 1960s and ’70s during the Vietnam War from a near 80% but began rising again in the 1980s into the early ’90s. Trust peaked again after 9/11 before falling.

Advertisement

The DataHaven survey found that of all Connecticut residents surveyed, only 9% trust the federal government “a great deal” to look out for the best interests of them and their family. About 28% trust the federal government “a fair amount.”

Federal government trust among Connecticut residents was at its highest in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the federal stimulus programs and child tax credit were active.

The DataHaven survey also asked about trust in local and state government. Connecticut residents generally trust these institutions more than they trust the federal government, the survey found.

Trust in the local governments was higher than trust in both state and federal, with 67% of residents surveyed trusting their local government “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”

Advertisement

And when it came to state government, 61% of residents trust the state “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending