Ahead of the 41st Annual Surfside Hotel Greatest Bluefish Tournament on Earth, we spoke with last year’s winner: Rob Anderson. He shared his story of a dramatic win for last year’s competition. And we learned some fun, personal details about what happens on board his boat.

Connecticut has reported 1,300-1,700 teacher openings across the state. And that doesn’t include hundreds of para professional jobs unfilled as well. We spoke with Fran Rabinowitz about the issue attracting and retaining teachers in our state and how parents should prepare for shortages this school year. ((00:00))

The big talker this summer is the abrupt change to kindergarten age requirements. For the first time, Commissioner Beth Bye, came on the morning show to talk about the trouble with this big change. She also specified what parents may not know about childcare options. ((14:08))

What is school choice and why should Connecticut families be researching K-12 options for their kids? We speak with Krissia from The National School Choice Awareness Foundation about the different choices in Connecticut and resources to help find the best place for your child. ((29:05))

This fall, two early childhood educators at Friends Center for Children will be moving into brand new homes and they will live rent-free. We spoke with the executive director of Friends Center for Children about this program, who qualifies and their housing goal for the near future. ((41:07))

A third intruder break-in was reported since May involving a Yale University student living off campus. Gary MacNamara with Sacred Heart University explains why off-campus students need to change their mindset of security. He also talked about pertinent conversations parents need to have with K-12 students walking to school. ((55:03))

IMAGE CREDIT: iStock / Getty Images Plus

We had an exclusive interview with one of the ten volunteers from our local Red Cross chapter directly helping wildfire victims in Hawaii. Lori Merker-Chapman has been a volunteer with the Red Cross in Connecticut for six years and this is the first time she’s had this role as a virtual volunteer connecting families around the globe with loved ones in Hawaii. ((00:00))

After years of fighting to shut them down, The PETA Foundation is celebrating the permanent closure of SeaQuest in the Trumbull Mall. It’s set to close the only Connecticut location August 20th. Michelle Sinnott has been on the morning show the last four years talking about the issues they’ve seen with the aquarium chain. She came back on just hours after the news broke in Trumbull. ((10:16))

Senator Richard Blumenthal stopped by to discuss the latest on abortion pill regulation, a push to ban flavored vaping products, health concerns surrounding easy access to Ozempic and what can be done about SeaQuest staying in business across the US despite leaving CT. ((21:24))