Connecticut
‘I don’t think we have balance’: Gov. Lamont tours solar facilities in East Windsor
About a third of the state’s solar energy is collected in East Windsor, and another facility could be coming.
Neighbors have been airing their concerns about more solar in town. Gov. Ned Lamont toured a facility on East Road with lawmakers and people who live in the neighborhood across the street to hear some of those concerns on Tuesday.
“I love clean, renewable power that’s also affordable, but I also love open space, protecting open space, and I don’t think we have that balance right now,” Lamont said. “We’re taking open space, we’re taking fields and commercializing them. In this case with solar, I think that’s going the wrong direction.”
Neighbor Amanda Berube described a constant humming coming from the facility.
“We built our home prior to the solar array going in, and we had built it for the peace and quiet that the area offered up, surrounded by farmland,” she said. “We deal with a ringing noise that comes from this facility from sunup to sundown. And it’s extremely loud, and it just permeates through our home if we have our windows open.”
Berube also told the governor about a fire that started from one of the transformers on the facility’s property last March.
“If the wind had been blowing in a different direction that day into the panels, we don’t have the support apparatus to put that out,” East Windsor First Selectman Jason Bowsza (D) said. “We can’t use PFAS. We don’t have fire hydrants out here.”
East Windsor and Ellington State Representative Jamie Foster backs a bill that would upgrade fire reporting. She said she’s confident it will pass.
“There’s no plan for when there’s been an incident on a solar field, and there’s a fire,” she said. “Who determines the point of safety? It certainly shouldn’t be just the developer on their own who gets to say, ‘yep, safe. I’m turning it back on.’ They obviously have a financial incentive to turn it back on.”
Plans for a proposed solar project called Saltbox Solar would build arrays across from Berube’s neighborhood, throughout East Windsor, and in Ellington. It would produce 160,000 megawatts of energy annually, according to the project’s website.
John Hoffman, the owner of Hockanum Valley Farm, said the proposed site for Saltbox Solar is prime, meaning it can produce food year-round.
“It drains well, and we are in a 45-inch rainfall zone in this state,” he said. “And you can grow, especially food. So, vegetables and corn silage or hay for dairy cows. And we have a big concentration of dairy cattle to be fed right in this area.”
Flat land near transmission lines is ideal infrastructure to build solar arrays, which is why companies drift towards East Windsor.
Saltbox Solar has not yet been considered by the state siting council, which approves solar projects, such as the recently approved 150-acre expansion of Gravel Pit Solar in East Windsor.
Currently, municipalities lack representation on the siting council. The governor said it was too early to announce his support for a bill that would implement local representation, but he admitted there needs to be a change.
“I will say we ought to make sure we have legislation in place that guides the Siting Council and DEEP towards what we think are our broad interests,” he said.
DESRI, the parent company of Saltbox Solar and Gravel Pit, was unavailable for comment.
Connecticut
Canadian aerospace company Bombardier launching new ‘fast track’ training program in Connecticut
WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. (WTNH) — Bombardier, a Canadian company, is launching a new “fast track” training program in Connecticut.
The new program will expand Connecticut’s aerospace industry by creating an accelerated pathway for experienced aircraft maintenance technicians to receive new certifications and enter high-demand careers quickly.
“We know the demand for aviation technicians far exceeds the number of students we can currently prepare throughout our traditional programing alone,” Dr. Alice Pritchard, executive director of Connecticut technical education and career system, said. “Our goal is to create a sustainable workforce solution that can continue producing skilled aviation technicians for years to come.”
The program is set to start soon at the company’s service center at Bradley International Airport.
Injuries were reported in a multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 91 South in Hartford on Wednesday morning.
State police said the four-vehicle crash happened around 5:55 a.m.
The highway was briefly closed between exits 30 and 29A. It has since reopened.
According to state police, injuries were reported, but the extent is unknown.
The crash remains under investigation.
Connecticut
Avon daycare releases dates, times that former employee accused of sex assault worked at other Connecticut locations
AVON, Conn. (WTNH) — In light of recent information that a now-former Avon daycare employee accused of sexually assaulting children had filled in at multiple Connecticut locations, the company has released a timeline of when and where he had worked.
Jan Carlos Berrios Otero’s employment with BrightPath Early Learning began in January 2022, according to a letter sent out to families. Within the last four years, he had filled in at daycare locations in Simsbury, Windsor and West Hartford.
According to BrightPath, Berrios Otero had covered partial shifts at the following locations on the following days:
- Simsbury, Jan. 20, 2026: Berrios Otero covered a shift for about four hours and 20 minutes
- Windsor, Sept. 16, 2025: Berrios Otero covered a shift for about six hours at the 555 Day Hill Road location.
- West Hartford, Sept. 24, 2025: Berrios Otero covered a shift for about three hours at the Park Road location
BrightPath stated that to its knowledge, there are no known allegations, complaints or incidents that occurred during these time frames.
Berrios Otero, 29, is facing six counts of risk of injury to a minor, six counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, and two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a minor for allegedly sexually assaulting five boys ages 3 to 5 during the month of March.
BrightPath is working to identify all students who were in attendance in Berrios Otero’s classroom during the partial shifts that he had covered, and will communicate with the families directly as soon as possible, the letter stated.
“Please know, we also understand our review is taking a considerable amount of time; however, the time we take to ensure we are supplying the most accurate information is critical,” the letter said. “We are working diligently to get information to law enforcement and the appropriate governing agencies to support their investigations, and of course to all our families.”
According to BrightPath, Berrios Otero underwent a state and federal background check, which includes state and national criminal records searches and a review of the sex offender registry.
During the background check, which is renewed every five years, Berrios Otero had no prior convictions and was thoroughly vetted through the company’s hiring requirements. He additionally complied with staff qualifications and training.
The daycare says it is conducting a review of all of its records for the past four years across all of its Connecticut centers.
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