The Full Story

Marijuana, highway tolls, teacher pensions and taxes. These are the bills that have grabbed all the headlines during the 2019 legislative sessions in our region. But there’s a lot of legislation that rarely gets any press. Stopping revenge porn in New York and expanding access to EpiPens in Connecticut, to name a couple. We'll discuss "under the radar" legislation today with guests: Davis Dunavin, reporter, WSHU Matt Lesser, Connecticut state senator, D-Middletown Rodrick Marriott, drug control

The trade war with China has already taken a toll on Connecticut companies. The dairy, seafood, and even the aerospace industry, are all feeling the pinch. And rising costs often get passed on to consumers. How the trade war with China is hurting Connecticut, with our guests: Ana Radelat, reporter, Connecticut Mirror Joe Courtney, U.S. representative, D-CT-02 Mohammad Elahee, Ph.D., professor, international business, Quinnipiac University Ben Freund, dairy farmer, Fruend's Farm , and co-chair,

Republican lawmakers in New York say criminal justice changes proposed by Democrats forget about the victims, so Republicans have introduced their own Victims’ Justice Agenda . Meanwhile, Connecticut moves forward with its own criminal justice reform bills. Our guests: Elizabeth Nevins, clinical professor of law and attorney-in-charge, Criminal Justice Clinic, Hofstra University John Flanagan, minority leader, New York State Senate, R-Smithtown David McGuire, executive director, and Gus Marks

Bills to improve safety on roads and school buses in New York move forward in the State Senate, while regulators say no to a natural gas pipeline. In Connecticut a whole bunch of bills move slowly through the legislature. And a reporter gets detained by police in Bridgeport. Our guests: Karen DeWitt, capitol bureau chief, New York State Public Radio Mark Harrington, reporter, Newsday Emilie Munson, state capitol reporter, Hearst Connecticut Media Ebong Udoma, senior political reporter, WSHU

More than 100 schools in Connecticut fall below the 95% measles vaccination rate recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. High vaccination rates protect vaccinated and unvaccinated children. Yet there are parents protesting in Hartford to prevent their kids from inoculations against measles, flu, and in some cases, any illness. What’s being done about it? Our guests: Mick Bolduc, epidemiologist and vaccine coordinator, Connecticut Immunization Program Jack Hennessy, deputy

The tolls debate is coming to a head in Connecticut. Democrats support tolls to fund highway and railroad projects. Republicans oppose tolls and want to borrow money for the Special Transportation Fund to pay for those projects. Meanwhile, unions, homebuilders and truckers are fiercely lobbying to swing their vote. To toll or not to toll…with our guests: Neil Vigdor, political reporter, Hartford Courant Patrick Sasser, founder, NoTollsCT Joe Sculley, president, Motor Transport Association of

Billions of cubic yards of sand on Connecticut and Long Island beaches have been washed out to sea from erosion and rising tides. Beaches are vital to recreation and the economy of our region. How are the beaches changing and what’s being done to protect them? Our guests: Alexander Felson, Ph.D., deputy executive director and director of design for resilience, Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation ; associate research scientist, University of Connecticut Juliana Barrett, Ph

In the late 1960s Ned Coll sparked a movement against private ownership of beaches in Connecticut. It was his mission to open the beaches to minorities and poor people from the cities. Did it work? How accessible are private and public Long Island and Connecticut beaches today? Our guests: Andrew Kahrl, author, "Free the Beaches: The Story of Ned Coll and the Battle for America's Most Exclusive Shoreline" and associate professor, University of Virginia * Carl Andrew Irace, attorney and former

A high school principal on Long Island gets sued by a student who says he sexually assaulted her. In Connecticut court documents show the former head of Purdue Pharma blamed the victims of the opioid epidemic, lawmakers have an epic debate over the minimum wage , and a health care bill gets push back from insurance companies. Our guests: Joe Werkmeister, editor, and Kate Nalepinski, Times Review Davis Dunavin, reporter, WSHU Ebong Udoma, senior political reporter, WSHU Ken Dixon, state capitol

Connecticut’s pension fund for public school teachers is short by about $13 billion. Governor Ned Lamont says cities and towns should contribute to the fund to close the gap. But not all municipalities can shoulder that financial burden. Should cities and towns help pay for teachers’ pensions? Our guests: Chris Keating, capitol bureau chief, Hartford Courant Bob Patricelli, co-chair, Connecticut Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth Will Haskell, state senator, D-Westport, and chair

Proposals to regionalize school districts in Connecticut have been met with fierce opposition. Now, new and more moderate proposals to share resources have been introduced. But will residents and lawmakers approve? Today's guests: Bob Duff, majority leader, Connecticut State Senate, D-Norwalk Norm Needleman, Connecticut state senator, D-Essex Lon Seidman, chair, Board of Education, Region 4 Patrice McCarthy, deputy director and general counsel, Connecticut Association of Boards of Education Bill

Congress is poised to consider a $2 trillion infrastructure proposal. That could be good news for Connecticut and New York if the bill gets approved. Crumbling foundations, bad roads and dodgy bridges are just some projects that need funding. What the infrastructure bill could do for our region...with guests: Larry Levy, executive dean of the National Center for Suburban Studies, Hofstra University James Gaughran, New York state senator, D-Northport Rocky Moretti, director of policy and research

Many Democrats in the Connecticut General Assembly are pushing for recreational marijuana. But Republicans are against it. They don’t want tax revenue from pot sales going to fund community projects. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo says he is confident the pot bill will pass this June, even though lawmakers in the state, and especially on Long Island, are divided on the issue. What’s happening with the marijuana bills in our region? Our guests: Yancey Roy, Albany bureau chief, Newsday Dan

Experts say humans need to change their diets to save the planet (That's a tall order.) We talk with futurists, nutritionists and scientists about how we can make better food choices that will improve our bodies and our planet. Our guests: Lorraine Laccetti Mongiello, associate professor, interdisciplinary health science and clinical nutrition, New York Institute of Technology Katie Andrews, registered dietician and owner, Wellness by Katie Chris Gobler, Ph.D., endowed chair, coastal ecology and

This week is all about economics and the environment. In Connecticut the battle over budget items rages on. Meanwhile a Connecticut teen joins students on Long Island in a school walkout to stop global warming. Our guests: Dan Haar, columnist and associate editor, Hearst Connecticut Media Ebong Udoma, senior political reporter, WSHU Susan Haigh, state capitol and political reporter, Associated Press Ken Dixon, state capitol reporter and columnist, Hearst Connecticut Media Alejandro Vasquez,