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Connecticut Today - September 22, 2026 · Connecticut Today

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  P>Good morning. It's Monday, September 21st and this is Connecticut Today, CT
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  Insider's daily audio briefing. Catch up on Connecticut, all news, no noise
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  in under five minutes.
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  We're starting off with a quick look at the weather. Connecticut is
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  under a thick cloud cover today, with cool temperatures and scattered showers
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  expected throughout the day. We'll have the full weather update at the
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  end of the briefing.
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  State lawmakers have passed several new laws aimed at curbing dangerous and
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  disruptive driving behaviors. Starting October 1, drivers who are caught passing a
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  stopped school bus for the third time will face a six-month license
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  suspension, in addition to existing fines and possible jail time. The fine
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  for violating travel bans during extreme weather will increase to 250 and
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  the penalty for unnecessary vehicle noise will double to 300 with an
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  added surcharge. Updates to distracted driving laws will now prohibit holding a
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  phone for any reason while driving, and watching videos on devices within
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  view is also banned, except for navigation maps that are properly mounted.
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  Distracted driving in highway work zones will now be considered reckless driving,
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  a misdemeanor offense. Accessible parking placards will also be redesigned to make
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  expiration dates more visible, with new forms and educational materials available starting
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  January 1st. Plans to open a private school in central Greenwich that
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  uses artificial intelligence as a teaching tool are facing skepticism from the
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  local Planning and Zoning Commission. Alpha School, co-founded by tech billionaire Joe
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  Lehman, wants to open a location on East Elm Street, but commissioners
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  are concerned about parking and traffic in the busy area. The school
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  proposes using nearby municipal lots for drop-off and staff parking, but some
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  commission members called the location, quote, impractical and potentially unsafe. The commission
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  is open to considering the plan if parking issues can be resolved,
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  but a formal application has not yet been filed. Alpha School already
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  operates a facility near the Greenwich border in Armonk, New York.
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  state working group has begun efforts to boost voter turnout in Connecticut,
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  aiming for 100 participation by 2030. The nine-member Voter Participation Task Force
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  is reviewing strategies from other states and countries and will submit recommendations
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  to lawmakers by February 1st. Connecticut’s voter turnout in the 2024 presidential
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  election was 67 ranking 21st nationally, while turnout for municipal elections in
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  2025 was 36.4 Taskforce members are considering ideas such as automatic voter
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  registration, more civic education, and pre-registering 16-year-olds in high schools. The group
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  also is discussing ways to set benchmarks and measure progress toward its
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  goal.
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  Former state school construction official Konstantinos Diamantis made several attempts to get
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  court approval to travel to Greece before his trial on public corruption
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  charges. Court records show Diamantis requested permission for multiple trips in 2024
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  and 2025, but a judge denied each request due to concerns about
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  flight risk and extradition difficulties. Prosecutors noted that Diamantis had surrendered his
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  U.S. Passport but was believed to have fled using a Greek passport,
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  which was not allowed under his bond conditions. Diamantis was convicted in
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  October 2025 of extortion, bribery, conspiracy, and lying to federal investigators. He
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  failed to appear for sentencing after fleeing to Greece.
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  In Middletown, tenants at an elderly housing complex on South Main Street
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  say many quality of life issues remain unresolved a month after complaints
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  were first raised. City officials report that some problems, such as hot
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  water and door repairs, have been addressed, but others, including flooding and
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  a broken elevator, persist. The elevator, built in 1967, was decommissioned after
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  a state inspection, and officials say the building is not required by
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  law to maintain an operating elevator. The property owner has offered relocation
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  options to affected residents, but tenant advocates say support for those with
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  mobility issues is lacking. City inspections are ongoing, and repairs to the
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  roof and other maintenance are in progress. And now for the full
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  weather forecast. Monday will stay cool and cloudy across Connecticut, with scattered
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  showers and drizzle likely throughout the day. Highs will range from the
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  upper 50s in the Lichfield Hills to the upper 60s along the
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  shoreline. The unsettled pattern continues into Tuesday, but some sunshine is expected
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  to return by midweek, with temperatures gradually warming up later in the
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  week. Thanks for listening. For more local news, visit ctinsider.com. This digest
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  was partially generated by AI and then reviewed and edited by our
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  newsroom staff.