After All Things

Flooding in the forecast

Connecticut and Long Island prepare for remnants of Hurricane Beryl. A dozen Long Island school districts join a lawsuit against social media companies. Senator Blumenthal says Democrats may need a new nominee for president. Connecticut Lottery sales were down $44 million this year. And the Stony Brook Film Festival begins next week.

Duration:: 11m
Broadcast on:: 10 Jul 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

Connecticut and Long Island are preparing for heavy rains as the remnants of Hurricane barrel head toward the Northeast. Officials are warning residents that torrential downpours could cause flash floods through tomorrow. Governor Holkel spoke to Spectrum News this morning. "We're prepared for this, but we really need New Yorkers to be paying close attention, especially if you're in one of those flash flood risk areas." The National Weather Service says tornadoes are possible in central New York. Heavy rainfall is expected to soak both states through the weekend. You're listening to After All Things, WSHU's Daily News and Culture Update from the Long Island Sound region. A dozen Long Island school districts join a lawsuit against social media companies. Senator Blumenthal says Democrats may need a new nominee for president. Connecticut lottery sales were down $44 million this year. And the Stony Brook Film Festival begins next week. Those stories more are ahead. I'm Sabrina Garon. A dozen school districts on Long Island have joined a nationwide lawsuit against social media companies. They claim platforms like TikTok have caused a mental health crisis among students. WSHU's Desiree Diorio has more. The 12 Long Island districts join hundreds of others in the federal lawsuit against Snapchat, YouTube and other companies. They say social media platforms are addictive and dangerous for kids. In court documents, the schools say more students have mental health problems like depression and anxiety due to social media. They say the companies should bear the cost of the crisis, hiring counselors, investigating online threats and paying to teach students about online safety. A YouTube spokesperson told Newsday the allegations are simply not true. Desiree Diorio, WSHU News. Until now, a staunch supporter of President Joe Biden, Connecticut U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal is echoing comments by former speaker Nancy Pelosi, suggesting that the Democratic Party may need a new nominee for the White House. Blumenthal spoke with reporters in Washington today, offering conditional support. I am deeply concerned about Joe Biden winning this November because it is an existential threat to the country of Donald Trump winning. So I think that we have to reach a conclusion as soon as possible. And I think Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee has my support. A growing number of Democrats are calling for Biden to step aside while others are urging the president's reelection campaign to quickly refocus and write the ship. Biden's poll numbers have slipped since last month's shaky debate performance, but the president has rebuffed calls from inside and outside of Congress to step aside. More young black men in Connecticut have been dying in gun-related homicides since the COVID-19 pandemic. That's according to data released by the state's public health department. WSHU's Ebon Udama reports. The data shows that the state averaged about 51 homicides a year among non-Hispanic black men between 2015 and 2019. That spiked to 81 homicides per year post-pandemic starting in 2021. Susan Logan is with the public health department unit that compiled the data. This was a significant increase, about 50% higher between before COVID and after COVID. She says the average number of homicides among white men has not increased. Among Hispanic men pre-COVID, there were about 27 gun-related homicides a year. Post-COVID homicides increased to about 33 a year. Logan spoke at the meeting of the state's commission on gun violence intervention and prevention. The commission has awarded seven grants to community-based gun violence prevention organizations to tackle the problem. Ebon Udama, WSHU's. The Stony Brook Film Festival begins at the end of next week. A conversation with one of the featured filmmakers is ahead. First, a message from our supporter. Local support comes from Hartford HealthCare, the only health system in the Northeast, with all its hospitals receiving A grades for safety from the LeapFrog group, the nation's leading independent safety watchdog group, HartfordHealthCare.org. A former New Canaan police officer was sentenced to two years in prison this week for fatally shooting several dogs. David Rivera was arrested two years ago for reckless endangerment and the malicious killing of a canine. Police found Rivera shot and killed over a dozen adult dogs at his business, Black Rock Canines of Nagatuk. Police later also found he had a legal possession of explosives used to train dogs to sniff out bombs. A stabbing at Long Island's Adventureland amusement park over the weekend led to one man being hospitalized and another arrested. Suffolk County police say one man stabbed another after their two families got into an argument. One was taken to a nearby hospital while the other was charged with assault and criminal possession of a weapon. The suspect was arraigned at the First District Court in Central Islip on Monday. Connecticut lottery sales were just over $1.3 billion for the last fiscal year. That's $44 million less than the previous year, according to Hearst Connecticut Media. The state switched its sports betting contractor from Rush Street to Fanatics in December. Lottery officials say that resulted in limited wagering options during the transition, including bets on future events. The State Department of Consumer Protections, which oversees the lottery, is actively investigating the new systems' prolonged rollout. This year's Stony Brook Film Festival will feature 36 films from the U.S. and beyond. W.S.H.U.'s Ada Usenlar spoke with Fausia Mirza. She wrote and directed "The Queen of My Dreams" set in Canada and Pakistan. So, Fausia, I know "The Queen of My Dreams" follows a young woman and her mother's past. And I also know that it's semi-autobiographical. Tell me more about those parts that come from your own experiences. So the film It's a Dromedy. It centers the story of a girl named Audra who is queer and Muslim and Pakistani. There's going to be a lot of times in your life where you are going to like things that other people don't like. And she and her mother are awed. When a tragedy occurs, Audra has to go to Pakistan and it's through being in Pakistan that we are sent into a series of flashbacks and the flashback center, important moments in her and her mother's life. The film is definitely inspired by real moments in my life. You know, the character is queer and Muslim and Pakistani. But I think with this film, when I was writing it, I really found the story when I allowed the characters to kind of do what they wanted. You know, there's also collective history and collective memory that's in this movie. And I spoke to some elders about their experiences. I did research on what Pakistan was like in the 60s. In 1969, I should be able to do whatever I want. That really allowed me to tell a more romantic story. And I want to ask you about the decision to have the actress who plays Azra, the daughter, also play her own mother in those flashbacks. What's the meaning behind that? Yeah, you know, the Queen of My Dreams is such a reflection of love for who we are and where we've been and how we got there. I think I realized as a person that I am an individual and also I am part of a legacy of other people, many, many other people who came before me. And I am me and I am my mother and I am my grandmother and that is beautiful. I just wanted people to the love that they have for the protagonist. I wanted them to carry that into the love they have for the mother. You do look just like your mother. And finally, this film has been a selection at some major festivals. Tell me more about its path to the Stony Brook Film Festival and what folks might expect. The Film Festival circuit has been very important to me and it's really how I came up. And so when I think about, you know, where I want my movies and my work to play, all of my work has played at film festivals. And I think they matter because not everyone can get to the cinema, you know, the big huge movies. And also small independent film doesn't make it to big cinemas. I make movies for people to watch them. I don't make them in a vacuum. I make them for us. You going to the movies matters to me. You watching my work matters to me. You being with others and having an experience or laughing and crying at the same time matters to me. Thanks so much for your time, Fazia. Thank you so much for the pleasure. That was WSHU's Ada Usenlar speaking with writer and director Fazia Mirza. The queen of my dreams screens at the Stony Brook Film Festival on July 19th at 7 p.m. For all the latest news from Long Island and Connecticut, you can listen on the radio stream online at wshu.org or download the WSHU app. That's also where you can find more great podcasts from WSHU, like Off the Path, Higher Ground, Sunday Baroque Conversations and more. They're also available wherever you listen to podcasts. And as always, reach out with any thoughts or story ideas you might have for us. Our email is news@wshu.org. I'm Sabrina Garone. Enjoy the rest of your day. I'll talk to you tomorrow. [Music] [BLANK_AUDIO]