After All Things
Focus off phones
[MUSIC] >> You're listening to After All Things, WSHU's daily news and culture update from the Long Island Sound region. Officials in the region look for ways to keep smartphones out of schools. Connecticut Republican leaders address high electric bills in the state. A major update to the LIE is finally complete, plus the latest from WSHU's Off the Path. Those stories and more are ahead, I'm Sabrina Garon. [MUSIC] Democrats in New York are backing Vice President Kamala Harris's choice for her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. WSHU's Desiree Diorio has more. >> Governor Kathy Holkel called Walz an extraordinary pick. The two Democrats serve together in the U.S. House of Representatives. She says he's uniquely qualified to reach across party lines. >> He represented a very Republican district in Minnesota. I represent the most Republican district in the state of New York. So we had this affinity for understanding that we have to reach out to more people, more voters, and that's the asset that he brings to this. He's done that successfully in Minnesota. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York also applauded Harris's decision. He says he's optimistic for November. >> I think Governor Walz is a great addition to the ticket. And I believe that he, the Harris, the Harris Walz ticket will be elected on November 5th and do great things for America, for New York. >> The announcement comes ahead of the Democratic National Convention, scheduled to begin August 19th. Desiree Diorio, WSHU News. Connecticut and New York officials are looking at ways to keep phones out of K-12 classrooms in the upcoming year. They say they want to keep kids focused on learning and off of social media. WSHU's Molly Ingram reports. >> Neither state has a ban on phones in the classroom. But Governor Kathy Hochl is meeting with teachers and parents about how to address cell phone use in schools. And Governor Ned Lamont says his State Department of Education will release guidance for districts later this month. >> The main judge said they've been doing this for six months now. They said it's making a real difference. The kids are connecting more with each other and less just staring into their phone and paying attention in the classroom makes a difference. >> Lamont says he's in favor of letting districts decide whether to allow phones. Hochl says she's leaning toward a statewide solution. Molly Ingram, WSHU News. >> Connecticut Republicans say Governor Ned Lamont should call a special session to address the high cost of electric rates. >> WSHU's Janisse Roman reports. >> Senate and House Republicans say there is a need to offset costs for residents and taxpayers. Senate Republican leader Stephen Harding says Connecticut has the second highest electric rates in the country. >> We're here once again to call on the governor, call us into special session now. This is an emergency. Let's address this issue. Let's stop the bleeding. And let's once again make our electric rates in the state affordable. >> Republicans suggested Lamont use remaining ARPA funds to address the issue. They also suggested using $200 million from the state's $153 million surplus from this year to offset costs. Janisse Roman, WSHU News. [MUSIC] >> The legendary Captain Kidd went from a socialite to a pirate hunter to a pirate in the late 1690s, his story is ahead, first a message from our supporter. [MUSIC] >> 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. [MUSIC] >> First responders will get priority for affordable housing in the town of Huntington, that includes firefighters and EMS workers. Town officials say the goal is to recruit more young volunteers amid cost of living increases. The town is currently weighing new affordable units in Melville. A Ridgefield Connecticut man called the police on himself after police say he killed his 83 year old father in his home. The man was arraigned in Danbury's Superior Court earlier this week and is being held on a $1.5 million bail. It's the first murder in Ridgefield in more than two decades. New York officials say they've completed a $27 million upgrade to exit 53 on Long Island Expressway in Brentwood, WSHU's Shelly Hasman-Caitis reports. >> The Department of Transportation says the nearly two year long project added two exit ramps to create more direct access to business and recreation areas. Part of the project includes extra lanes that officials say will make it easier and safer to merge from the LIE to the Sactico's Parkway. DOT officials say the improvement should help ease congestion around the border of Iceland and Smithtown. New York Governor Kathy Hochl says this is one of the most significant upgrades to the LIE since high occupancy vehicle lanes were installed in the 1990s. Shelly Hasman-Caitis, WSHU News. The legendary Captain Kidd went from a socialite to a pirate hunter to a pirate himself in the late 1690s. WSHU's Davis Donovan tells us how Kidd became a celebrity. After a global manhunt and rumors of buried treasure, here's Davis's latest installment of Off the Path. >> This recording was made almost five years ago on a very windy day on the Long Island sound. It's when I learned about Gardener's Island just northeast of the Hamptons. >> My name is John Edgerton, the captain of the schooner Mystic Whaler. >> Captain Edgerton pointed out the outline of the island as we sailed by on the schooner. There's a lot of lore around it, including some about Captain William Kidd. >> There are quite a few places claimed to be spots where Kidd buried his treasure. Gardener's Island is one place I know of that Kidd actually acknowledged burying him. >> Kidd was hired as a privateer by Governor Belomond who oversaw a large portion of the northeast colonies. That meant Kidd was sanctioned to rob ships for England. But he was accused of going rogue on a spree of piracy in the Indian Ocean. The governor told him if he turned himself in, he'd have a fair trial. Kidd clung to his innocence, but first he needed to offload the gold he confiscated. >> He knew better, I believe, than to sail into Boston Harbor with a boatload of treasure. He wanted a bargaining chip, and so he buried his treasure on Gardener's Island. With that, he sailed to Boston. >> Captain Kidd didn't bury it in the secret. He told the island's owner, John Gardener, historian Eric J. Dolan says when Kidd left his treasure on Gardener's Island, it wasn't the kind of thing you might see in a pirate movie. >> That's not the same as sort of leaving buried treasure and coming back for it. He didn't know what kind of reception he would get in Boston from the governor. He was a labeled pirate. >> Captain Kidd got to Boston, and Governor Belomond placed him under arrest. Kidd continued to plead his innocence, saying yes, he robbed ships, but he had permission to rob them. He was a privateer. >> But it didn't matter, because by that time, the King of England had said, William Kidd is a pirate. He needs to be sent back to London so he can be put on trial. >> So Belomond sends Kidd across the Atlantic, the wheels of British justice grind slowly on, and about a year later, he's put on trial. >> And the trial is just, it's so nonsensical. You can read it online, and it's just absolutely, it's just all over the place. >> That's historian Rebecca Simon. >> Kidd maintains his innocence throughout, and his crew speaks out against him. >> No friends would come forward, like Kidd had hoped, so there were no character witnesses. Everybody abandons him, and basically kind of throws him to the walls. >> Rebecca says, Kidd's execution is basically public theater. He's led in a procession through the streets of London. >> The head of the Admiralty is at the front of the procession carrying a silver oar. >> That was the symbol of Britain's maritime court. They take him to the public gallows, and they lead him up onto the scaffolding. It is so drunk, he can't even really stand on the scaffold or speak. They hang him, and what's interesting is the rope breaks when they release the scaffold, and he survives it, so then they have to do it again. >> Kidd's body was coated in tar and hung in full view from a pole over the Tim's River as a warning to other pirates. And as for Kidd's treasure on Gardeners Island, Governor Belomond recovered it, but the rumors of buried treasure had already spread. >> Of course, the idea that someone had buried or hid in a huge cache of coins and gold and jewels. This, of course, hits the newspapers, spreads like wildfire, and people immediately try to start searching for it. >> On the next episode of Off the Path, why Fortune Seekers still believe Captain Kidd's treasures are out there? I'm Davis Donovan. Thank you for listening to After All Things, supported by Hartford HealthCare. For more stories from the Long Island Sound region, listen on the radio, stream online at WSHU.org, or download the WSHU app. That's also where you can get more great podcasts from WSHU, like Off the Path, which you just heard a bit from there, or listen wherever you get your podcasts. And as always, reach out with any thoughts or story ideas. Our email is news@wshu.org. I'm Sabrina Giron. Enjoy the rest of your day. I'll talk to you tomorrow. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]