Eleni Kavros DeGraw

As many of you probably saw on the news this morning, Connecticut Foodshare (www.ctfoodshare.org) continues to collect money and turkeys for the holiday next week. Perhaps if you were doing some early shopping at the Simsbury Stop and Shop, you may have even seen Scott Haney in a turkey suit being pushed by CTFoodshare President and CEO, Jason Jakubowski.
 
Giving is what the season we are in is about. While I share more below about how I spent part of my day today, I want to tell you here, we are in the middle of a homelessness humanitarian crisis in Connecticut. That may sound hyperbolic but to give you some perspective, in the last seven weeks, the number of unhoused individuals across the state has gone from 500 to 1,500, many of them over the age of 55 and disabled, and families with very young children.
 
I bring up giving because I hope that you will consider donating to a local cause that helps alleviate what, for some, will be very difficult holidays. As you do your shopping for family and friends, please consider your neighbors and our neighbors not very far from us in Hartford, where many of our neighbors end up when they are in crisis.
 
As usual, you’ll see more about events and happenings around the district and the state below.

I hope you have a great week and weekend ahead,

Eleni

• Our bond ratings are stellar.
• Job growth numbers keep improving.
• We have cut billions in unfunded pension debts from our balance sheets.
• We paid back the pandemic-era Unemployment Trust Fund loan, which is great news for local businesses.

The Governor's Office has details on the unemployment repayment below:

As I said in the opening letter, in September we had 500 people sleeping outside. Today, that number has tripled to just under 1,500. This number includes veterans (combat and otherwise), a growing number of people over 55, people with disabilities, and families with very young children. Our homeless shelters are at capacity and when people in need call 211, they are not able to receive the help they need in most cases.
 
Today, along with many of my colleagues, I have called on the Department of Housing to release the five million dollars that we allocated in the FY ’24 budget so that our Coordinated Access Networks (CANs) can open the shelters that are normally opened today, November 15 and are held open through early March. That money has to be released because we already know that people will die, and our job is to prevent that.
 
Representative Jay Case, Representative Gary Turco, and I also attended the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness Cold Weather Summit today and while we were not shocked at the information, we are recommitted to work together to get people off the streets and out of the woods this winter.
 
In the coming weeks, I will share more information on how you can also help, but I hope that in the meantime, you consider donating to organizations that are actively addressing this crisis.

A few important points to consider:

1) Internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles won’t be banned: there will still be gas stations and dealers who repair those vehicles and there will also be thousands if not millions of hybrid vehicles on the road.

2) Twelve years is a long time - look at the last twelve years in terms of technology. None of us can guess what our world will look like between now and this future over a decade away (though based on how hot this summer was, if we do nothing to curb emissions, we may be living on a very different and potentially inhospitable planet by then).

3) The cost of EVs will go down and this article is proof of automakers' commitment to EVs. EV charging networks will expand and battery technology will be better as will the disposal process, safety, and capacity of those batteries, but none of that happens if we don’t start planning now for this future.

4) If twelve years isn’t long enough, we can reassess, and I’m confident, as with other legislation, we will revisit and improve what we begin now.

The oil company talking points that have been mainstreamed may sound scary and sometimes convincing, but when we dig deeper, we can see that many of the “concerns” are a ploy to keep us from pursuing a healthier and safer future for ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren.

(You can also read the article by clicking the graphic below)

Topics will include:

• Background of the UI system
• Claims filing in CT
• Eligibility determinations
• Employer charging
• Overview of eligibility regulations
• Employers’ obligations

To register, click HERE. 
 

Apprentices master a trade through a combination of on-the-job training and classroom instruction. Thousands of companies across Connecticut have benefited from a customized Registered Apprenticeship training program. These programs increase workforce recruitment and proficiency, help employers transfer occupational skills to a new generation of workers, and ensure succession planning. Depending upon the trade, apprenticeship programs may last 1-4 years.  

When participants complete their program, the Connecticut Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship Training provides an industry-recognized, portable credential that:

• Certifies completion of the program
• Distinguishes the apprentice as a master of their craft
• Makes the apprentice eligible to take any occupational licensing exams 

To learn more, click HERE. 

• Creates thousands of well-paying jobs
• Saves energy
• Keeps wildlife safe
• Prevents materials and natural resources from being wasted
• Reduces the use of landfills 

How to Recycle and Why You Should Do It: https://shorturl.at/auLRY

The Trolley will be stopping at the following 7 locations approximately every hour between 10 a.m.-2 p.m:

• Riverdale Farms Shopping, in front of Avon Plumbing
• Avon Village Center, 60 Market Street
• The Parking Lot of 302 West Main Street - between the Carr Hardware and Tri-it Taproom parking lots
• Simsbury Commons parking lot, near Club Pilates/Avon
• Canton Village, Dowd Avenue, Canton, in front of Little Oak Cafe
• Village of Collinsville, Main Street, Collinsville, in front of Collinsville Bank
• The Shops at Farmington Valley, in Front of Sur la Table

Admission is FREE (first come, first served) and all are welcome! People needing to return to their cars will have priority. More information on this event can be found on the dedicated Jingle Bell Trolley website.

Avon Public Schools has released a letter explaining the changes, as well as a survey, which APS is requesting be completed by families to assist the district in planning for the 2024-2025 school year. The flyer below also has a QR code for the same survey.