Winter Warm-Up Deadline Close, Sandy Hook Tragedy Anniversary Thursday

December 13, 2023

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Dear Neighbor,

Tomorrow will mark the 11^th anniversary of the tragedy at Sandy Hook. In the wake of the tragedy, people have often marked the day by committing random acts of kindness and perhaps that’s something you might consider doing as you go about your daily life tomorrow.

As you know, I’ve enlisted local establishments to act as drop-off locations for the Winter Warm-Up collection. Tomorrow, December 14, is the deadline for you to drop off new items for people experiencing homelessness in the Hartford metro area.

Save the date for an event next week at the Senior Center with me and an Eversource representative to educate consumers on how to lower their electric bills.

If you need health insurance, please look to the Access Health section below and if you ever have insurance issues, we can connect you to the Office of the Healthcare Advocate.

And, finally, Happy Birthday to our National Guard!

Wishing you a wonderful week,

Eleni

One Day Left: Support Winter Warm-Up

The "Winter Warm-Up" collection, which I sponsored at the request of homeless advocates ends tomorrow! We are requesting new items that will then be distributed to Hands on Hartford and, potentially, other local organizations.

Thank you to

Liquid Nirvana in Avon and Blue House Bagel, Co. in Canton for joining Beanz & Co., Imagine Float, and Little Oak Café as our drop-off locations.

The locations will have drop-off boxes to collect new winter clothing and accessories through Thursday so that the providers can hand them out before the holidays.

If you prefer to donate to keep families in their homes this winter, you can give to the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness "be homeful for the holidays" campaign. For every $25 donation, the CT Realtors Foundation will donate a Paddington bear, book, or backpack to a child in a shelter. To donate, please click HERE.

How to Lower Your Energy Bill Event Thursday 12/21

Want to learn how you can save money on your energy bill this winter? Please join me and Joanne Whistnant from Eversource at the Avon Senior Center on Thursday, December 21, 2023, at 12:45 p.m. to learn how you can lower your bill.

CT Water Company Public Comment Hearing Thursday

The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) will hold its third and final public hearing on Thursday at noon via Zoom to receive ratepayer feedback on The Connecticut Water Company’s (CWC) application to amend its rate schedule.

Note, this is in addition to evidentiary hearings that will be held with CWC and other interested parties in January 2024.

To join via Zoom, please click on the image below.

For those unable to attend one of the hearings, ratepayers and other stakeholders always have the option of submitting comments into the public record and are urged to include the docket number (Docket No. 23-08-32), name, and home address.

Under the proposed rate application, CWC has requested that PURA increase the company’s annual revenues above current levels by approximately $21 million, or 18.1%, for rates effective July 1, 2024. Depending upon where a customer is located, the requested increase would add between $18.80 and $58.69 on a quarterly basis to the typical residential water bill (approximately 15,000 gallons per quarter).

CWC’s last distribution rate case was completed in

July 2021. The Clinton-based utility, which is owned by SJW Group, provides water and fire protection service to over 107,000 customers, or 360,000 people, across 60 towns and cities across Connecticut.

Access Health CT Enrollment Fair in Bristol Friday

Access Health CT will host an enrollment fair in Bristol on Friday, Dec. 15 at Bristol Public Library, located at 5 High Street, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Enrollment fairs are one-day events offering customers free, one-on-one help from enrollment specialists. Connecticut residents can shop, compare, and enroll or renew their health coverage during the current Open Enrollment period. Register here.

Open Enrollment began Nov. 1, 2023, and runs through Jan. 15, 2024. Customers must enroll on or before Dec. 15, 2023, for coverage to begin on Jan. 1, 2024. Customers who enroll between Dec. 16, 2023, and Jan. 15, 2024, will have coverage starting Feb. 1, 2024.

New Report on Women and Girls in CT Released

CTData has been partnering with the CT Department of Public Health to increase understanding of when to use which population statistics. I wasn't surprised by what I learned from the recent release of a particular study entitled: Elusive Equity: Continuing Effects of the Pandemic on Women’s Economic Security

For women, particularly those of color, the study found that many of the gaps and inequities that existed pre-Covid are still persistent.

You can read the report by clicking on the image below.

CT Examiner: A Good Read Regarding e-Books

Last week, I attended a legislative listening session with librarians across the state who brought up many concerns, including high licensing costs being a potential threat to e-book library collections state-wide, the essence of which was captured in the following CT Examiner article tagged "High Licensing Costs Threaten E-Book Library Collections Across State." You can read it HERE.

You may recall that I championed a bill last year with Representative Matt Blumenthal and others that would change the egregious policies of publishers who charge public libraries four to five times what an average consumer would pay for an e-book while limiting severely the number of times the book can be loaned.

photo credit Owlcation

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Our local food pantries in Avon and Canton as well as CT Foodshare, could use your help right now. Please consider donating food during this holiday season. Please see the flyer below for more details.