Christine Palm

As chaotic weather patterns wrought by climate change continue to worsen, hurricanes are becoming more common - even here in the Northeast. As we are at the height of hurricane season, it's important to make sure you're prepared to respond.

Last month, I stood at the Chester Boat Basin with marina owner Bob Petzold, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, State Rep. Devin Carney, Connecticut River Steward Rhea Drozdenko, Margo Burns of RiverCOG, Matt Goclowski and Wendy Flynn of DEEP, and biologist Greg Bugbee from the CT Agriculture Experiment Station (CAES), to address the scourge of hydrilla.

I want to let you know about two important upcoming meetings concerning the future of affordable housing in Chester.

Effective September 1, applications are now being accepted for the CT Energy Assistance Program (CEAP). CEAP provides vulnerable state homeowners and renters with crucial support for the associated costs of heating their homes.

You may have seen on the news that the Apple Rehab facility on Main Street in Chester, known as Chesterfields, will likely be closing. While by law, the State of Connecticut has 30 days to accept or reject the owners' request for closure, it seems unlikely the State will deny the request.

In light of the latest killings this week - three Black individuals were murdered by a racist in Florida, and eight people shot in an urban melee outside Boston - it’s time to talk, once again, about gun violence. More than 25,000 people have been killed by guns in America so far this year. At least 170 of them were children. Death by suicide made up the majority of gun deaths. 

So, I am proud that once again Connecticut is a leader in gun violence prevention. 

On Wednesday in Chester, state and federal legislators, federal agencies, and stewards of the Connecticut River, met in Chester to educate the public about testing and remediation of invasive aquatic species in the Connecticut River, focusing on hydrilla (hydrilla verticillata), a highly problematic invasive rapidly spreading throughout the lower River Valley.

The Connecticut Department of Social Services (DSS), in consultation with the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE), has announced that $8.8 million in special food assistance benefits is scheduled to be distributed Sunday, August 13, 2023, to the families of 57,313 children under age 6 who are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).