After All Things

Harris excitement in Hartford

Connecticut Democrats rally in support of the Harris-Walz presidential ticket. An announcement of New England offshore wind contracts has been postponed. Two towns in our region make a list of the country’s best for families. And the unique way one Long Island town controls its tick population.

Duration:: 14m
Broadcast on:: 07 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

"You're listening to After All Things, WSHU's Daily News and Culture Update from the Long Island Sound region. Connecticut Democrats rally in support of the Harris-Waltz presidential ticket, an announcement of New England offshore wind contracts has been postponed. Two towns in our region make a list of the country's best four families, and the unique way one Long Island town controls its tick population. Those stories and more are ahead. I'm Sabrina Garon. Governor Ned Lamont and other top Connecticut Democrats rallied in support of the Harris-Waltz presidential ticket yesterday. They gathered in front of a mural, and heard that includes Vice President Kamala Harris, WSHU's Ebong Udama reports. Lamont war afreshly minted Harris-Waltz presidential campaign T-shirt. He gave the enthusiastic gathering of party stalwarts a preview of what he plans to say in a couple of weeks as head of the state's delegation to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. So Madam Secretary, on behalf of the Constitution state, we unanimously support with all 74 delegates the team of Harris and Waltz. Go fight wind!" Other speakers say they were also energized by the pick. Fifth District Congresswoman Johanna Hayes is a former teacher. She says she's glad Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is two. "The state of Minnesota has benefited from Tim Walz's love of other people's children, of other people's families, of wanting other people to thrive and not just survive." The speakers all dismiss criticism from Republicans that Walz is too liberal. Ebong Udama, WSHU's. Winners of new regional offshore wind contracts in New England were expected to be announced today, but the announcement has been postponed. Jeanette Barnes reports. Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut are looking to buy up to 6,800 megawatts of power combined. That's more than eight times the size of vineyard wind. Massachusetts officials say they're putting off awarding offshore wind contracts for one month to consider the effect of a recent federal grant. The grant made to New England's states will fund regional, onshore, transmission infrastructure for offshore wind. Susan Mueller, Energy Analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, says the wind power the states are seeking would cut the risk of energy shortfalls during cold New England winters. "We have been paying enormous amounts of money to import oil and gas just to keep the grid secure and to make sure we don't have a blackout in winter." The winning projects will be built south of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. For the New England News Collaborative, I'm Jeanette Barnes. "First-person accounts of alleged sexual misconduct in the U.S. Coast Guard have been released ahead of a hearing in New London tomorrow. WSHU's Shelly Hasman-Cadish has more on the report from the U.S. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. The report includes stories from dozens of whistleblowers who came forward when Congress began its investigation in 2023. It says the stories contain common themes of harassment at the Coast Guard and its academy, followed by threats of retaliation. It includes accounts from cadets, enlisted personnel and officers. Two current and three former members of the Coast Guard will describe the allegations at a field hearing conducted by the subcommittee. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, who chairs the subcommittee, calls for increased accountability and transparency from the Coast Guard. Shelly Hasman-Cadish, WSHU News. "Ticks present a huge problem on Long Island, and one local wildlife expert says we need to look to nature for the solution. More on that is ahead after 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. Two Connecticut and New York municipalities were ranked among the 50 best places to live for families in the U.S. by Fortune magazine. North Hempstead ranked 15 and Stanford, 32. Games were based on health care, education, affordability and resources for seniors. Gaming Commission officers gave Jake's 58 casino in Suffolk 26 state violations for allegedly employing people without proper gaming licenses. The New York State Gaming Commission says 25 employees had expired or incorrect licenses, while nine didn't have a license at all. They issued the casino a $26,000 fine, Jake's 58 has appealed the accusations and the fine. A new state program in Connecticut aims to help home owners make their homes safe from lead-paint hazards. Manisha Jatani is the State Commissioner for Public Health. She says owners of older homes in minority neighborhoods should apply for the free program. "There are more black and brown young children who have been intoxicated with lead overall in our state. That is what we've seen for decades and that is why it is such an important public health problem and one that needs to be addressed." The program is funded with $20 million from the state's Federal American Rescue Plan Act money. The target is to remediate at least 250 homes in the next couple of years. The town of North Hempstead on Long Island has a unique way of controlling its tick population. I spoke with Eric Powers of the Center for Environmental Education and Discovery in Brookhaven. He says ticks are a favorite snack of the Bob White quail. He says ticks and tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease are super prevalent here on Long Island. What is it about our region that allows ticks to thrive and how did you come to find that quails could be a good answer to that problem? Sure. So, you know, I first noticed the, for instance, the tick population was increasing. It was about 2000-2001 when part of my job was to lead children out into the wilds of Long Island. And we would basically hike a trail, go look for wildlife or whatever the topic was of the day. And we would come back and I would do the responsible thing with children is you do a tick check. And in 2001 was the first year that I started finding a tick per class as we hike this trail. And the next year, 2002, hiking the same trail with different groups of kids and I started finding four or five ticks per class. So I started pulling together a scientific study trying to study which animal is missing because obviously if the tick population is rising, rising, rising, that means the ecosystem is unable to counterbalance. The thing that was missing were ground dwelling animals and in specifically Bob White quail. And this is an animal that stays pretty small about the size of a robin, lives on the ground, it doesn't migrate, it's native. And basically its main job is to eat small bugs on the ground, including ticks. Furthering the study is why did we lose the Bob White quail? Yes, it's a loss of habitat, but also house cats. And by the simple act of letting a cat at go outside has tremendous negative impacts on our ecosystem. To the point where our Bob White quail population has crashed and the ticks run amok now. They don't have a main predator to keep them back. And this recent release of quail was in North Hempstead. Can you tell me why this location specifically is this like a place where ticks are especially a problem? We actually have five release sites, one of which is in the town of North Hempstead. Town of North Hempstead has been tremendously supportive of our efforts here. The administration there, the town supervisor is very supportive of natural controls for pests. And we've learned our lesson with chemicals, right, back in the 50s and 60s with DDT, spraying those to control mosquitoes, and we ended up, again, crashing our bird populations. We almost, I think we did lose Osprey completely on Long Island because of the use of a pesticide. So we know that hosing down the environment with chemicals is not the right solution. What the right solution is is restoring our ecosystem and letting nature do what nature does best. We also release Brookhaven State Park at the Longwood Estate, which is a town of Brookhaven property, as well as right here at Seed. We're sitting here on about 75 acres, and most of which is native habitat. And also parts of it are being restored into native habitat. And this effort included some help from the local community as well, right? Could you tell me a little bit about that? The first, shall we say, 15 years of this project was just me doing this project, funding it out of my back pocket. And now that I'm now under Seed, they have officially adopted it. And so now it's wonderful to have the support of a nonprofit. So we rely heavily on school teachers and librarians and private individuals to incubate these eggs. They brewed them for a couple of weeks in their location before donating the two-week-old chicks to us. And we have three outdoor pens that we basically raise them up to adulthood before release. We then release them at the age of about 10 to 12 weeks old. They passed flight school, and now they're ready to be released. What does it mean to you, as someone whose job it is to educate the public about wildlife, what does it mean to you to see the state and the town and local groups coming together in this way for this effort? Oh, my God. It just fills my heart with hope for the future and joy to see passion in other people as well. Because for a long time as an environmentalist, we kind of have felt alone in the world. We're the only ones trying to save things and to see our community rallying together to support this. This year we had over 40 people, schools, libraries, individuals, helping to incubate quail eggs, that's tremendous, and we had over 1,700 eggs going into incubators in May. So that was just, it just warms my heart, really. To wrap up, and I know people hear this all the time, but I think it's worth repeating, could you share with us some tips on how we can best protect ourselves from being bit by a tick if we're out walking around in nature? The number one way that I protect myself from ticks is just the awareness that they're out there. That whenever I walk through a grassy meadow or something, I stop and just check myself if there's anything walking on me. And then my best line of defense is actually this clear tape. So whenever I see a tick on me, I just stick the tick, get it stuck on the tape, fold it over itself, and just stick the tick. And it's now sealed in this tape, it'll die there, and it won't bother anybody else ever again. For the latest news from Long Island and Connecticut, you can listen on the radio, stream online at wshu.org or download the WSHU app after all things is supported by Hartford HealthCare. And whether it's news, classical music, or podcasts like this one, they're all made possible with support from our listeners. So if you like what you hear, you've been with us for a long time now, please consider making a donation to WSHU. All the info on how to do that is there for you on our website. I'm Sabrina Garone. Enjoy the rest of your day, and I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye! for now. (gentle music)