Latest / The Lee Elci Show / The Lee Elci Show | 9.16.26

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The Lee Elci Show | 9.16.26 · The Lee Elci Show

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Good morning, Eastern Connecticut and Long Island. It's Bill Stanley,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: substituting for the voice of freedom, Lee Elsie, co-hosting today with.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: Good morning, Bill. Paul Formica here.
• 0:15
  Speaker 3: We're doing a show together today to see if we
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: can get through it.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Oh, I think we'll manage.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah. We've got a great show lined up for you today, folks.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: We will start off at 7 o'clock with Paul Kidwell,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Senior Vice President for Policy with the Connecticut Hospital Association.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: He'll talk a little bit about some of the challenges
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: that Connecticut's hospitals are facing in these difficult times. And
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: he'll be followed by Dr. Kevin Torres, who's the chief
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: medical officer at our own Lawrenson Memorial Hospital in New London.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: And Kevin will talk to us a little bit about
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: some of the exciting things that are going on over
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: at L & M. And then from 8 to at
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: least 8.30, possibly to 9 o'clock, I consider this guy
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: the most interesting man in the world.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: Art House.
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Who has held a number of interesting positions. Paul, you
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: know Art. Tell us a little more about him. I
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: don't think he did that beer commercial.
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: No, he's far more interesting than that guy.
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Art has an incredible resume going back with being
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: involved in politics on the national level and administrations on
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: the national level.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: And I think he's the leading.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Voice for cybersecurity here in Connecticut. He served in that role.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: under Malloy, and it finished up. So he's a professor
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: at UConn. He kind of does it all, and he
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: lives around the corner from me in the summer, so
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: I get to speak with him occasionally, and he's always
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: got something interesting to say. So I look forward to
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: seeing him this morning.
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Is he going to come in, or is he
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: calling in? No, I think he's calling in. He's calling in.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: So we'll be happy to hear what he has to
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: say and worrying about cyber. You know, cyber is one
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: of those things that, you know, more and more and
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: more taken control of how we deal with our daily lives.
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: You know, we have to watch everything.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: Well, if, if I hear one more story on the
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: news about AI, yeah, I'm going to shut off the TV, uh,
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: or at least go over to ESPN. Um, but that's
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: not to downplay the importance of the issue. It's really
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: going to have an impact on everyone's lives. And I
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: think it's fair to say that there are probably a
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: pretty good percentage of people in the country and throughout
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: the world who have no idea what AI is. And
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: truth be told, I don't know an awful lot about it.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: But based on some of the things you hear, particularly
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: from the Democrats who are trying to scare the wits
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: out of us, um, You know, it could take over
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: our lives, it could take over our society, it could
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: put us all out of work and end mankind as
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: we know it.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: I take their warnings with a grain of salt because
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: if we had listened to them on anything from global
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: warming to Russia, Russia, Russia, you'd think the world was
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: coming to an end. And we're all still here and
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: doing just fine, so. It'll be interesting to hear what
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: he has to say about artificial intelligence.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: Well, I talk to the chat guy every once in
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: a while.
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: I ask chat how things are going, and I have
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: questions about what's going on, and I get an answer
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: right away from those guys. So I don't know where
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: they come from or how they do it, but it
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: should be interesting to see how AI is. But I'm
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: interested in the security part. How do small businesses— you know,
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: protect themselves from these hacking and these inner attacks and
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: all of that stuff that just keep continuing. These guys
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: get better and better. And, you know, our infrastructure, utilities,
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: all of those things, you know, I think are at
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: risk without some kind of heavy protection. And I think
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: Art's going to touch on that as well.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: Well, that'll be interesting to hear. Art wrote a fascinating
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: op-ed piece in the Hartford Courant a few weeks ago.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: He was writing from his past capacity as chief of
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: staff for then-Senator Abraham Ribicoff, who some of you may
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: remember served back in the 60s and 70s in the
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: United States Senate. And he talked a little bit about
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Ribicoff's shocking decision at age 68 to walk away from
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: the U.S. Senate when everyone expected him to seek re-election
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: to a fourth term in the Senate, Rivikoff decided, to
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: everyone's astonishment, including art houses, that there was more to
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: do in life than serve in Washington. And he had
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: served as governor of Connecticut when John F. Kennedy was
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: elected president, Kennedy appointed him as the Secretary of Health, Education,
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: and Welfare. And then Rivkoff served three terms as Connecticut's
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: United States Senator and had a distinguished career, was nationally prominent.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: And then when he decided that he wasn't going to
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: run again, that, of course, set off a mad scramble
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: within Connecticut as to who was going to succeed him
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: and the trickle-down effect that it had. Ultimately, he was
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: succeeded by Chris Dodd. Dodd and then-Congressman Toby Moffitt had
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: a discussion. Dodd was then a congressman, and he and
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Toby Moffitt, two young, up-and-coming Democratic stars, both were interested
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: in the Senate seat. They decided that Dodd would run
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: for the Senate seat and that Toby Moffitt.
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: In the short-term future, would run for statewide office, which
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: he did in 1986. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: nomination for governor against then-Governor Bill O'Neill, who was the incumbent,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: and it divided the party a little bit. Moffitt represented
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: the liberal, progressive wing of the party. Bill O'Neill was.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: At the time, part of the moderate wing of the
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: Democratic Party, which today doesn't even exist anymore.
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: It's almost like deja vu all over again. I mean, Lamont,
• 6:51
  Speaker 3: compared to some of these guys on the far left,
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: is almost a conservative.
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: Right.
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: But he's in the moderate thing. So was that the
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: last time that an incumbent Democrat sitting governor got challenged
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: at I don't remember anything in between them.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: I think you're right, Paul. Yep, going back.
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: And back then, the liberal wing didn't have the clout
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: within the state party, or within the national party for
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: that matter, that it does today. Because Toby Moffitt fell
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: a few delegates short of of being able to force
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: a primary. Of course, back then the threshold was 20%.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: You had to get 20% of the delegates at the
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: state convention, and he fell a few votes short, whereas
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: the challenger to Governor Lamont this time had more than
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: enough delegate support to force the primary, but Lamont.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: Riding the influence of the incumbency and probably the suspicion
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: or the anxiety about someone as liberal as his challenger
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: won easily and is ahead by double digits in the
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: polls now against.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: Ryan Fazio.
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: That's what they say. Some people are saying it's a
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: lot closer than that. Some of the internal workings, I think,
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: of both parties are looking at maybe an eight Eight
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: or nine, you know, could be ten.
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: Right, right.
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: You know, it should be interesting to see how that
• 8:32
  Speaker 3: plays out. But interesting, the challenge from, you know, Josh
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: Elliott challenging Governor Lamont while running for his state rep seat.
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: You know, he kept that door open. I think, you know,
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: he's not showing a lot of confidence in his ability
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: to win. But, you know, I think he's going to
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: be a force against the governor in the coming term.
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: leading a group of growing progressive lawmakers in our state.
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: You know, they'll probably look to him for a leadership,
• 9:05
  Speaker 3: but he might be able to, you know, really sway
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: some policy as we saw Lamont move farther to the
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: left three or four weeks before the primary just to
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: make sure that he got those votes.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: Well, that's what I wrote my last column about in
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: the day, that as he was being challenged from the left,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: of the Democratic Party, Lamont has become more strident in
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: his criticism of Trump and of ICE, both of which
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: are very unpopular in the state of Connecticut. And I
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: think Lamont recognizing that, latched onto it, and used that
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: because it was his moderate stance on some of the
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: hot issues for liberals that got him into trouble with
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: the liberal wing of the party. in the first place.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: He vetoed a couple of bills that were near and
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: dear to the hearts of the liberal wing.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: Of the party.
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: Unemployment while striking being one of them. You know, they
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: believe it's okay to push the envelope and then still
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: get paid while they're negotiating, you know.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: And we wonder why our economic growth in Connecticut and
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: the economic outlook in Connecticut is not great. I was
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: looking at a study that had been done by one
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: of the national legislative groups, ALEC, and Connecticut was ranked
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: 46th or 47th in terms of its economic outlook and
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: in terms of being business friendly loses out to more
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: conservative states less regulated states states with lower tax rates
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: such as Florida where Governor DeSantis proudly announced last week
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: that he had signed a budget that for the fourth
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: consecutive fiscal year was smaller than the year before I
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: don't think that's ever happened in Connecticut in our lifetime.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: And as part of that process, DeSantis vetoed, used line
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: item veto to cut $ 810 million out of their budget. So,
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: and as a result, Florida is one of the fastest
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: growing states in the union. And, you know, the Democrats
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: would have you believe that That's because the weather is
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: warm down there. Well, that's one factor, but the fact
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: that they don't have a state income tax or a
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: capital gains tax and that they have managed to reduce
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: spending in each of the past four fiscal years, I think,
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: is very attractive to a lot of people. And now
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: DeSantis says the next priority is going to be they're
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: going to start cutting property taxes. When was the last
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: time you saw a property tax cut here in Connecticut?
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm not sure.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: You know, the good thing about Florida, too, is that
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: all of the building and construction that's going on down
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: there is a result of, you know, permitting, you know,
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: being a two way street there.
• 12:29
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: You know, where you talk to the contractors and the
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: property owners and you say, what do we need to do?
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: How we need to do it. Talk to the municipal leaders.
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: What's the best way to, you know, to kind of
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: move forward instead of this? You know, some of these
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: agencies in Connecticut, you know, you apply for a permit
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: and it's two years down the road.
• 12:50
  Speaker 4: Right.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: And, you know, how can you possibly.
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: Move anything forward economically in terms of growth and new
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: prospects when you're looking at a two-year wait for someone
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: to sign a piece of paper?
• 13:04
  Speaker 6: Right.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Well, you're a small businessman. You've been successful probably more
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: in spite of the state than because of the state.
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: and still managed to find time to serve in your
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: capacity first as first selectman down in East Lyme, where
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: you were hugely popular, and then as a state senator
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: from the 20th District. And while you were serving in
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: the state senate, Paul, you were part of the last
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: state senate that was evenly divided among Democrats and Republicans,
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: and that provided an opportunity for for Republicans to, uh,
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: push for fiscal guardrails that limited spending, uh, for the state.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit about that?
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: You know, we had a seat at the table and I,
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: and I think that's in any situation, you know, I mean,
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: I have three daughters, so you're having a conversation. You
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: have to have a seat at the table.
• 13:58
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: And, uh, in the legislature, we were 18, 18 and
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: 16 or so. And, and, uh, first time in 100
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: years there was a tie in the Senate. So we
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: were able to bring some things forward and have some
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: good discussions, and it turned out that we had a
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: great budget that's still paying dividends.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: So that was kind of a great thing to be
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: involved in.
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: I got to work with some great people on both
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: sides of the aisle. Interesting that the majority party chooses
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: the chairman of all the committees. the minority party chooses
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: the ranking members. Well, now you're tied. So nobody kind
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: of knew what to do. What about all the parking places,
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: perks that came? Where are the good offices? Who's going
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: to get the windows offices? And all of those things
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: had to be negotiated.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: The really important stuff. Yeah, the big stuff. And then
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: we were co-chairs.
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: So, you know, dealing with co-chairs was, you know, and
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: non-existent for a lot of these Democrats who've been in power.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: They didn't want to share anything. But anyway, we're going
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: to talk a little bit more about.
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: That as we move to the break. And we'll be
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: back in just a few minutes here on 94.9 News Now.
• 15:17
  Speaker 3: I'm the savior.
• 15:21
  Speaker 8: Of the universe. What's happening, Flash?
• 15:41
  Speaker 9: Flash!
• 15:56
  Speaker 10: On 94.9 News Now.
• 15:59
  Speaker 11: In East Line, the exit 74 on-ramp from Route 161.
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  Speaker 2: Take advantage of free health screenings like blood pressure, fall.
• 20:07
  Speaker 6: Risk, flu and COVID vaccines and more.
• 20:09
  Speaker 21: Please bring insurance cards, information on health care, finance, housing,
• 20:12
  Speaker 21: nutrition and more. The Expo offers free admission, free parking
• 20:15
  Speaker 21: and is handicap accessible.
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: The Healthy Living.
• 20:17
  Speaker 21: Expo is presented by Senior Resources Agency on Aging. A
• 20:20
  Speaker 21: special thank you to the Norwich Sea Unicorns. See you
• 20:22
  Speaker 21: on Wednesday, September 16th. For more information, visit SeniorResourcesEC.org. Living
• 20:27
  Speaker 21: today for a better tomorrow.
• 20:30
  Speaker 22: I'm Bill Skeens, a volunteer for the Gemma E.
• 20:32
  Speaker 12: Moran United Way Labor Food Center.
• 20:34
  Speaker 23: September is Hunger Action Month, and you can play a
• 20:36
  Speaker 23: part in helping everyone in New London County access the
• 20:38
  Speaker 23: food they need to thrive by taking action and volunteering
• 20:41
  Speaker 23: with the food center. Each month, nearly 33,000 people are
• 20:44
  Speaker 23: served through the food center's programs. You can make a
• 20:47
  Speaker 23: difference by volunteering at any of the five monthly mobile
• 20:50
  Speaker 23: food pantry locations. To sign up, visit uwsect.org forward slash volunteer.
• 20:57
  Speaker 24: It's National Sit With a Stranger Day. Afraid you won't
• 21:00
  Speaker 24: know what to say? Try one of these totally harmless
• 21:03
  Speaker 24: conversation starters.
• 21:05
  Speaker 22: What's the craziest thing you smuggled out of Mexico? Have
• 21:08
  Speaker 22: you ever been attacked by a feral donkey? Do you
• 21:10
  Speaker 22: get aroused on massage chairs?
• 21:12
  Speaker 25: Does a Boy George song ever get stuck in your head?
• 21:15
  Speaker 22: Where do you keep your dude wipes?
• 21:17
  Speaker 26: If you could eat a celebrity, who would it be?
• 21:20
  Speaker 22: When's the last time you huffed industrial solvent?
• 21:23
  Speaker 7: If Spider-Man was really a spider, wouldn't he shoot.
• 21:25
  Speaker 15: Webs from his butt?
• 21:27
  Speaker 27: Do you have weird dreams about Dame Judi Dench?
• 21:30
  Speaker 14: Does it give you goosebumps when I trickle the back
• 21:32
  Speaker 14: of your neck like this?
• 21:33
  Speaker 24: Now get out there and enjoy sit with a stranger day.
• 21:36
  Speaker 24: Or as you'll know it after trying those ideas, sitting
• 21:39
  Speaker 24: with your new bestie.
• 21:40
  Speaker 5: 94.9 News Now. And stimulating talk. Traffic tie-ups, wicked weather,
• 21:47
  Speaker 5: or trouble in our crazy world. We're talking about it. 94.9 NewsNow.com.
• 21:52
  Speaker 5: This show's a joke.
• 21:54
  Speaker 28: And whoever made the decision to give you this big,
• 21:56
  Speaker 28: fancy studio is an idiot.
• 22:02
  Speaker 10: Fox News, I'm CJ Papa. The AI debate rages.
• 22:05
  Speaker 29: Lawmakers in the nation's capital are deeply divided over artificial
• 22:09
  Speaker 29: intelligence oversight, weighing national security risks against the danger of overregulation.
• 22:15
  Speaker 29: The president has cast AI fears as a hoax. Attorney
• 22:18
  Speaker 29: General Todd Blanch is backing up the president's accusation that
• 22:22
  Speaker 29: Democrats are using AI as a political issue in the midterms.
• 22:25
  Speaker 30: Fox's Madeline Rivera. The central bank reveals its decision on
• 22:28
  Speaker 30: interest rates this afternoon. Fox's Ginny Kosula in L.A.
• 22:31
  Speaker 18: Traders are betting the Fed will raise short-term interest rates
• 22:34
  Speaker 18: by a quarter of a percent.
• 22:36
  Speaker 30: A news chopper for NBC in Los Angeles went down
• 22:39
  Speaker 30: while covering a bus crash. Los Angeles fired Captain Brandon Silverman.
• 22:42
  Speaker 10: The helicopter itself, it's pretty well destroyed.
• 22:45
  Speaker 30: An NBCLA4 TV reporter and the pilot were killed along
• 22:48
  Speaker 30: with a person on the ground. America's listening to Fox News.
• 22:59
  Speaker 14: Looking for your next SUV or truck?
• 23:01
  Speaker 31: Head to Bruce Salon Buick GMC on Route 1 in Stonington.
• 23:05
  Speaker 31: Choose from a huge selection of Buick Encores, Envisions, and
• 23:08
  Speaker 31: Enclaves with financing as low as 0.9% for qualified buyers.
• 23:12
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• 23:17
  Speaker 32: The savings are incredible.
• 23:18
  Speaker 31: Exceptional vehicles, incredible financing, and the hometown service you deserve.
• 23:22
  Speaker 31: Shop anytime at BruceSalon.com.
• 23:24
  Speaker 33: Bruce Salon, Route 1 in Stonington.
• 23:26
  Speaker 14: A better way to buy a Buick or GMC.
• 23:30
  Speaker 34: Hello, this is Richard Sosimo from Pasta Vida, the place
• 23:33
  Speaker 34: to go for gourmet to go. Chef Lou and I
• 23:35
  Speaker 34: started Pasta Vida more than 30 years ago as a
• 23:38
  Speaker 34: wholesale pasta factory and have become Connecticut's leading destination for
• 23:42
  Speaker 34: gourmet prepared meals. Delicious selections are ready for you to
• 23:46
  Speaker 34: simply heat and serve or freeze.
• 23:48
  Speaker 12: To be used another day. We're located at 225 Elm
• 23:51
  Speaker 12: Street in Old Saybrook.
• 23:52
  Speaker 6: Find our menu online at pastavida.com.
• 23:55
  Speaker 35: There's no place like Pasta Vida.
• 24:01
  Speaker 36: Good morning, I'm Sean Murphy. Cloudy skies today with a
• 24:04
  Speaker 36: high in the 70s.
• 24:06
  Speaker 6: Norwich police responded to a Central Avenue home Tuesday evening
• 24:09
  Speaker 6: after a fight between roommates over a controller. One roommate
• 24:13
  Speaker 6: allegedly pulled a knife and locked himself in an upstairs bathroom.
• 24:18
  Speaker 6: The incident remains under investigation. The Montville Housing Authority owes
• 24:22
  Speaker 6: the town $ 116, 000 in payments dating to 2023 and will
• 24:28
  Speaker 6: develop a repayment plan. The authority also approved an audit
• 24:32
  Speaker 6: amid concerns. about missing records, unpaid bills, and financial oversight.
• 24:38
  Speaker 6: Chesterfield Fire Company leaders denied former ambulance captain Stephanie Nyer's
• 24:43
  Speaker 6: claims of poor management citing repeated performance issues. Nyer, who
• 24:47
  Speaker 6: said she was unaware of any discipline until Tuesday, was
• 24:50
  Speaker 6: suspended for allegedly neglecting duties. The private fire company called
• 24:55
  Speaker 6: it an internal personal matter. A Willimantic man was charged
• 24:58
  Speaker 6: yesterday with murder in the December 2025 death sentence. of
• 25:02
  Speaker 6: a two-week-old infant who suffered severe head injuries. Police said
• 25:06
  Speaker 6: medical findings indicated abusive trauma inconsistent with 40-year-old Dean R.
• 25:12
  Speaker 6: Peruta's claim. that the baby fell about three feet while
• 25:17
  Speaker 6: in his care. Developers reduced the proposed killingly Amazon warehouse
• 25:22
  Speaker 6: to 1.29 million square feet and cut 230 parking spaces.
• 25:28
  Speaker 6: The revised plan preserves 290 acres, but residents remain concerned
• 25:33
  Speaker 6: about traffic and environmental impacts. A public hearing on the
• 25:36
  Speaker 6: plan is scheduled for September 21st. I'm Sean Murphy. When
• 25:41
  Speaker 6: news breaks, we break in.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: They call him the goat.
• 25:45
  Speaker 6: Yeah, you heard that right. But hold up.
• 25:48
  Speaker 37: This ain't about Tom Brady throwing spirals.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: Nah, this is.
• 25:51
  Speaker 37: The undisputed goat of the entertainment industry. He's listed among
• 25:56
  Speaker 37: America's 50 most influential leaders. The man who's hooked the stars,
• 26:01
  Speaker 37: packed the houses, and simply changed the way the game
• 26:04
  Speaker 37: is played. He's not only revolutionized the entertainment industry, but
• 26:08
  Speaker 37: influenced how people thought about life, liberty, and the pursuit
• 26:12
  Speaker 37: of happiness. With the mantra, there is always a way.
• 26:16
  Speaker 37: The master, the mogul, the one and only. Ladies and gentlemen,
• 26:21
  Speaker 37: put your hands together, turn it up, and let's welcome
• 26:24
  Speaker 37: the icon himself, Tom Tantone with Tom's Tips.
• 26:39
  Speaker 9: Hey, and welcome to Tom's Take.
• 26:41
  Speaker 38: You know, I was talking to a really good friend
• 26:44
  Speaker 38: of mine who happens to be president of a major resort,
• 26:47
  Speaker 38: and we were just talking about the insanity of the
• 26:50
  Speaker 38: world today.
• 26:51
  Speaker 9: And how he can't take it anymore.
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: And I agree.
• 26:56
  Speaker 38: To the point where they have decided every so often
• 26:59
  Speaker 38: just to turn off the TV and unplug.
• 27:03
  Speaker 9: That's what I've been doing for a long time.
• 27:05
  Speaker 38: But it's hard because every time you come back into play,
• 27:09
  Speaker 38: All you hear is the constant negative news and the
• 27:12
  Speaker 38: arguing and how bad things are. So, you know, we've
• 27:17
  Speaker 38: become culturally exhausted.
• 27:19
  Speaker 9: It's almost like.
• 27:21
  Speaker 38: We're living in a modern-day medieval world, really, a time
• 27:25
  Speaker 38: when life was uncertain and dangerous and hierarchical. People in
• 27:30
  Speaker 38: power and influencers that ruled, much like today's old politicians
• 27:36
  Speaker 38: who will never go away, speaking of power, influences of
• 27:41
  Speaker 38: the Hollywood class system that you see, superstars on stage
• 27:46
  Speaker 38: using their music platforms. You know, it's a complex matrix
• 27:50
  Speaker 38: of confusion, and it confuses our common senses. That's really
• 27:56
  Speaker 38: where I want to get to. It confuses our common senses.
• 28:00
  Speaker 38: We now have sort of, to the point where we
• 28:03
  Speaker 38: have congressional hearings, get this, to define what a man
• 28:07
  Speaker 38: and woman is, Never in my lifetime would I have
• 28:11
  Speaker 38: ever imagined such a debate.
• 28:13
  Speaker 9: It's almost embarrassing.
• 28:15
  Speaker 38: People today surrender their judgment to bureaucracies, technology, ideologies, and
• 28:21
  Speaker 38: social media. They're institutions of insanity when you think about it.
• 28:27
  Speaker 38: So that's why it got me thinking. Maybe we need
• 28:31
  Speaker 38: to open an institute of sanity because the insanity is
• 28:36
  Speaker 38: sold out.
• 28:38
  Speaker 9: And we need a place to recover.
• 28:40
  Speaker 38: From all of this insane stuff and use common sense
• 28:46
  Speaker 38: in an age of confusion. There was a time common
• 28:50
  Speaker 38: sense didn't need to be explained. You know, a reason
• 28:55
  Speaker 38: why my friend has unplugged the TV. But the Sanity Institute,
• 29:00
  Speaker 38: I know you're laughing, would have no marble buildings, no
• 29:06
  Speaker 38: distinguishing use of entrance exams and all of that. There's
• 29:13
  Speaker 38: no fellows, no transfer portals for football teams to play.
• 29:19
  Speaker 9: No plaques on the door. It's just a school whose
• 29:25
  Speaker 9: school colors would be red, white, and blue. How's that?
• 29:29
  Speaker 38: The curriculum, I was thinking, just common sense stuff that
• 29:33
  Speaker 38: used to be ordinary, when everyone was seen to be
• 29:38
  Speaker 38: more sensible. The Institute would give degrees in common sense.
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: I love it.
• 29:44
  Speaker 9: Critical thinking, maybe. Personal responsibility. Stability.
• 29:50
  Speaker 38: And knowing when to say, hey, that's ridiculous, or that
• 29:53
  Speaker 38: doesn't make any sense.
• 29:55
  Speaker 9: And feel good about it.
• 29:57
  Speaker 38: More importantly, we'll teach how to just talk to each other.
• 30:02
  Speaker 38: You know, we have more information than any civilization in history.
• 30:07
  Speaker 38: Yet frequently, we're just less capable of knowing what to
• 30:11
  Speaker 38: do with it.
• 30:13
  Speaker 9: We can communicate instantly with people. This is ironic.
• 30:17
  Speaker 38: I was thinking about this on the other side of
• 30:20
  Speaker 38: the planet while struggling to have a five-minute civil conversation
• 30:25
  Speaker 38: with the person sitting across the table. When you do graduate,
• 30:30
  Speaker 38: you'll get a common sense degree will make sanity respectable
• 30:38
  Speaker 38: again in an age of confusion. You'll understand not every
• 30:44
  Speaker 38: issue has to be chaos. You'll learn some problems that
• 30:48
  Speaker 38: just require patience and some courage. We've built increasingly complicated
• 30:55
  Speaker 38: systems to solve increasingly simple problems. Today we substitute procedures
• 31:00
  Speaker 38: for like judgments, your judgments, slogans for thoughts.
• 31:04
  Speaker 9: Think about all.
• 31:05
  Speaker 38: Those slogans you get hit with and that don't mean
• 31:08
  Speaker 38: anything once they get in. Outrage for conversations and credentials
• 31:13
  Speaker 38: like those pontificating panels on talk shows for wisdom. So
• 31:21
  Speaker 38: welcome to the Institute of Sanity. It's not a hospital
• 31:25
  Speaker 38: or a political organization. or where you'll learn how to
• 31:32
  Speaker 38: be civil. You'll just learn common sense. So on behalf
• 31:37
  Speaker 38: of Thomas P., congrats to the first Common Sense Class
• 31:43
  Speaker 38: of 2026.
• 31:44
  Speaker 39: Bill Stanley and Paul Formica here with you.
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: On 94.9 News Now, stimulating talk. Good morning. Paul, good
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: to see you, as always.
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: And enjoyed having you on as an interview guest a
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago when I substituted for Lee Elsie.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: And the two of us will be co-hosting today's program
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: and tomorrow morning as well.
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's great.
• 32:22
  Speaker 3: I didn't realize how early 4.30 in the morning gets here,
• 32:26
  Speaker 3: you know. These guys who do this every day are unbelievable.
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: But it's great to be with you and chat and visit.
• 32:36
  Speaker 3: You know, we don't get to see you much, you know.
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: You're living down in that wonderful land down below there
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: where things are actually happening in the sunshine shade, you know.
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, it's... It's a Republican paradise down there. The
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: governor is a Republican. Both chambers of the legislature are Republican.
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: The two U.S. senators are Republicans. And the majority of
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: the congressional delegation is Republican. And it looks like it's
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: going to stay that way. Florida once was a purple state.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: And when Ron DeSantis first ran for governor, he had
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: a close race. And then when he ran for re-election,
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: he won in a landslide against a previous Florida governor
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: who had switched from his Republican affiliation to run as
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: a Democrat, and DeSantis buried him. And I wish he
• 33:35
  Speaker 1: was able to run again, because he's done a great
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: job in limiting spending down in Florida, four consecutive years
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: of smaller, meaner budgets, and all at the same time
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: where they're paying off debt and they're maxing out on
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: their reserve fund, and all done without a state income
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: tax or a capital gains tax.
• 33:59
  Speaker 2: Does he have two terms? Yes.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: The two four-year terms he can run? And he is
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: likely to be succeeded by probably one of the stars
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: of the congressional delegation, Byron Johnson, Donald's, who, if you
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: watch Fox News, he's on frequently. And, you know, the
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: good news is he'll probably be governor. The bad news
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: is you lose one of the leading voices in the
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: congressional delegation. But his is a pretty safe Republican seat.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: So I expect down in Florida, where, like I say, Republicans...
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: The Republicans control Florida the way Democrats control Connecticut. But
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: if you take a look at their spending and taxing habits,
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: you can see quite a contrast.
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, quite a bit.
• 34:55
  Speaker 3: And we have no term limits here in Connecticut for
• 34:59
  Speaker 3: governor or anyone else. So this is the sitting governor's
• 35:03
  Speaker 3: attempt at a third term.
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: Right. And it's interesting. He's kind of getting.
• 35:09
  Speaker 3: A little pushback from everybody is interesting. Approval ratings are
• 35:12
  Speaker 3: much less. He had one of the highest approval ratings
• 35:15
  Speaker 3: as a governor in almost the country, I believe, a
• 35:19
  Speaker 3: few years ago. And then now, you know, there's maybe
• 35:22
  Speaker 3: a little fatigue, Lamont fatigue. And, you know, given the
• 35:26
  Speaker 3: opportunity for, you know, a young candidate like Ryan Fazio to,
• 35:30
  Speaker 3: you know, to kind of make some headway, it should
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: be an interesting last six weeks.
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: The impact that.
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: The primary campaign had, um, showed in governor Lamont's approval
• 35:48
  Speaker 1: rating says, as you mentioned, he's one of the more
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: popular governors in the state earlier this year before the
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: primary campaign began. And, uh, in fact, he, his approval
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: rating was the highest among all democratic governors, uh, in
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: the state, the same, uh, the same poll, um, out
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: of University of New Hampshire, came out over the summer
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: and showed him underwater. He had a higher disapproval rating
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: than he did approval, and I think he was underwater
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: by about 10 percentage points. So that's quite a contrast,
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: and as you say, it does provide an opportunity for
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: Senator Fazio to.
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: Make some inroads.
• 36:36
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the interesting thing is when we look at what's happening,
• 36:39
  Speaker 3: you talked about Florida being, you know, fully Republican in
• 36:43
  Speaker 3: the legislature. You know, here, the Democrats have a veto-proof
• 36:47
  Speaker 3: majority now, 25 to 11 in the Senate, 44 Republican
• 36:54
  Speaker 3: members in the House. I think it's 101 or 102.
• 36:58
  Speaker 3: I forget the number of Democrats. But Fazio has got
• 37:02
  Speaker 3: that Senate seat he's had for five years, and it's
• 37:06
  Speaker 3: likely the Republicans won't retain that. Tony Wong, who's been
• 37:10
  Speaker 3: a long-time winner down in Fairfield County, who is a moderate,
• 37:16
  Speaker 3: but he votes sometimes, a lot of times with his conscience,
• 37:21
  Speaker 3: but sometimes with the other side. And I think people
• 37:23
  Speaker 3: down in his district, Republicans kind of didn't like that.
• 37:28
  Speaker 3: So they gave him some pressure. So he's not running.
• 37:31
  Speaker 3: So I'm not sure that we're going to retain that seat.
• 37:33
  Speaker 3: That could put us at nine senators if we don't
• 37:36
  Speaker 3: come up with some pickup. So You know, we really
• 37:39
  Speaker 3: need to count on all these Senate candidates to really
• 37:41
  Speaker 3: work hard here to, you know, because if you have
• 37:44
  Speaker 3: nine senators of one side or the other, it's almost,
• 37:49
  Speaker 3: you know, non-existent. I mean, you can't even do the
• 37:52
  Speaker 3: committee work.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: Well, what the heck has happened down at Fairfield County
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: when a senator from Greenwich, a Republican senator from Greenwich,
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: sees his seat when he runs for higher office and
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: the seat gets flipped on the Democratic side? I mean,
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: once upon a time, all of Fairfield County, or virtually
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: all of Fairfield County, with the exception, I guess, of Bridgeport, which,
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: like all the other cities, is Democratic. But most of
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: the rest of Fairfield County was Republican. And, in fact,
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: that was the Fairfield County congressional seat was the last
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: one in New England, I believe, that was held by
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: a Republican candidate. And after Crochet's was defeated by Jim Hines,
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: that was it. All of New England, every member of
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: the U.S. Senate and every member of the House of
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: Representatives from all six New England states, they're all Democrats.
• 38:51
  Speaker 3: I served with Scott France in the Senate who had
• 38:54
  Speaker 3: that seat previously. And before he lost in that kind
• 39:00
  Speaker 3: of a surprise loss, I was surprised. I think 42
• 39:04
  Speaker 3: years Republicans held that seat. And then, you know, two terms,
• 39:09
  Speaker 3: I think the Democrats held it. And then Fazio came
• 39:13
  Speaker 3: in when the sitting Democrat senator resigned midterm and had
• 39:18
  Speaker 3: a special election.
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: And he was able to eke it out.
• 39:21
  Speaker 3: And he's a very, very bright kid. And he worked
• 39:25
  Speaker 3: awful hard to kind of get his way there. But,
• 39:28
  Speaker 3: you know, I think people... shifting, a lot of people
• 39:32
  Speaker 3: shifted out of New York during the COVID crisis and
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: moved into Connecticut to kind of get some breathing space,
• 39:42
  Speaker 3: I think, out of the city.
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: And I think they.
• 39:43
  Speaker 3: Brought a lot of their liberal views with them. And
• 39:47
  Speaker 3: as they registered to vote here, it kind of You know,
• 39:50
  Speaker 3: put Republicans, who are at a big disadvantage anyway in
• 39:54
  Speaker 3: terms of numbers here in the state, I think even
• 39:56
  Speaker 3: a bigger disadvantage in Fairfield.
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: And sometimes it's just a numbers game. Sure.
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: Well, you see some of the southern states that have
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: seen an influx from the northern states, states like Georgia,
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: for instance. The idea that Georgia would have two Democratic
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: United States senators... five or ten years ago would be
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: very unlikely. And now that's exactly what they have. They've
• 40:28
  Speaker 1: got two United States. One of them is up for
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: re-election this year in what should be a competitive race.
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: The way things are going right now, I'd say the
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: House Republicans are in danger of losing the majority and
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: The U.S. Senate, which once was thought to be safe
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: for the Republicans, is in play now.
• 40:55
  Speaker 2: So far.
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: You know, we'll have to see what happens with the
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: war in Iran, which is having an effect on, and
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: not a good effect on gas prices, which by extension
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: results in higher prices across the board.
• 41:12
  Speaker 3: I know the Fed is talking about raising rates again
• 41:15
  Speaker 3: due to inflation, and I think, you know, you know,
• 41:19
  Speaker 3: that was kind of unheard of thinking with the president's
• 41:23
  Speaker 3: push against the kind of the individuality of the Fed
• 41:29
  Speaker 3: there and the change of the chairman after some volatile
• 41:33
  Speaker 3: conversations that they had even in public. You know, we
• 41:37
  Speaker 3: didn't expect that and, of course, his promises of dropping
• 41:40
  Speaker 3: inflation happened somewhat and then all of a sudden the
• 41:44
  Speaker 3: war has kind of ignited it and, you know, that
• 41:48
  Speaker 3: That would be a tough blow if we had interest
• 41:51
  Speaker 3: rates going up. I mean, mortgage rates are up over
• 41:54
  Speaker 3: seven now, bond rates.
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: And people vote with their wallets and their pocketbooks. And
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: I think President Trump anticipated that a change in leadership
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: at the Fed would result in somebody that he could influence.
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: But the Fed has historically been very independent. It's like
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: the Supreme Court. And I know that the Democrats, having
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: actually lost some Supreme Court decisions, some high-visibility emotional issues
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: that came before the high court, have talked about how
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: influenced it is by Trump, and it ought to be
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: expanded to 13 members so that they can appoint some
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: liberal justices because of what now appears to be a
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: 6-3 conservative split on the court. But as demonstrated in
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: a couple of cases recently, Trump isn't always going to
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: get his way, whether it's with the Fed or the
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: United States Supreme Court, both of which are independent from
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: the executive branch. And most recently... Trump's attempt to restrict
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: and roll back some of the mail-in voting options that
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: most of the states have only a couple of months
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: before Election Day was shot down by the Supreme Court,
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: and Trump is furious about it. And he's angrier with
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: his appointees to the Supreme Court.
• 43:41
  Speaker 2: Which not all of whom supported him on that.
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: But it's not it's not he's got to understand it's
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: not about supporting him or if they rule against him.
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: It's not that they're ruling against him. They're upholding the law.
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: And the Democrats need to understand that as well. But
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: they probably won't.
• 44:02
  Speaker 3: Well, you know, it's interesting how the conversations have changed. And,
• 44:08
  Speaker 3: you know, Trump has kind of led the way into
• 44:11
  Speaker 3: berating people when, you know, when you're having conversations and
• 44:14
  Speaker 3: they know that. The name calling, I remember the guy
• 44:17
  Speaker 3: in North Korea, Rocket Man, you know, I mean, nobody
• 44:20
  Speaker 3: ever thought of people on that level, you know, talking
• 44:25
  Speaker 3: about that to people, so, about people. So, you know,
• 44:29
  Speaker 3: so it's been an interesting change in how politics work,
• 44:32
  Speaker 3: and it trickles down all the way, I think, through
• 44:34
  Speaker 3: the state and down into the local level now. So
• 44:38
  Speaker 3: it's a whole different way to do business, if you
• 44:41
  Speaker 3: want to say that, you know.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: Trump, unfortunately, is not doing himself any favors. He's not
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: doing candidates farther down on the ticket.
• 44:54
  Speaker 2: Any favors.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think people support closing borders. I think
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: people support a harder line with Iran, maybe not as much.
• 45:09
  Speaker 1: I think they are in favor of his support which
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: has resulted in a significant reduction in crime, particularly violent crime.
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: But any of the good that he's done during his
• 45:25
  Speaker 1: time in office winds up being overshadowed and diminished by
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: some of the ridiculous issues that he brings up. You know,
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: the tariff war with Canada... I mean, if you're trying
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: to even the trade playing field, that's one thing. But
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: when you get into, we're going to rename Lake Ontario,
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: and we're going to shut off the water at Niagara Falls.
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: I mean, what are we, in fifth grade?
• 45:55
  Speaker 35: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 45:57
  Speaker 3: And it's interesting that it's, you know, that's the conversation. And,
• 46:01
  Speaker 3: you know, I think a lot of people would have
• 46:03
  Speaker 3: supported the Iran war if it was much quicker and
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: ended quicker and did all.
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: The things that he said it was going to do.
• 46:09
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 46:11
  Speaker 3: You know, gas prices didn't suffer and, you know, people,
• 46:14
  Speaker 3: as you say, vote with their pocketbook. This is going
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: to be a kitchen table conversation as we get down
• 46:20
  Speaker 3: to the next six weeks.
• 46:21
  Speaker 9: Okay.
• 46:23
  Speaker 1: Well, we'll return after these breaks.
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: To 94.9 News Now.
• 46:30
  Speaker 3: You've got Paul Kidwell coming in from the Hospital Association,
• 46:33
  Speaker 3: which is right up your alley. So that'll be good
• 46:36
  Speaker 3: to hear that conversation. We'll talk with Paul when we
• 46:39
  Speaker 3: come back.
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: Two distinguished gentlemen what a day what show.
• 46:48
  Speaker 41: Big bill stanley as he writes a column for the
• 46:52
  Speaker 41: day paper he and his radio partner former state senator
• 46:57
  Speaker 41: paul formica and local giants talking politics and making the
• 47:04
  Speaker 41: world a better place.
• 47:07
  Speaker 15: Go bill go paul.
• 47:22
  Speaker 10: Let's go!
• 47:25
  Speaker 11: Any swine, the off-ramp is closed. Exit 74 from Route
• 47:29
  Speaker 11: 161 to I-95 northbound. In Waterford Road Construction, I-95 northbound.
• 47:37
  Speaker 12: Exit 82 to exit 82A. The right lane is closed.
• 47:42
  Speaker 12: Moving slow over the Gold Star Bridge.
• 47:45
  Speaker 11: Route 12 is moving slow north to Lawton. Route 32
• 47:50
  Speaker 11: moving slow northbound at Connecticut College.
• 47:53
  Speaker 12: No delays on I-395. I'm Eddie Schaefer, Time Saver Traffic.
• 47:58
  Speaker 15: September is here.
• 47:59
  Speaker 13: And Connecticut's number one fastest growing Mazda dealer is shifting
• 48:03
  Speaker 13: into high gear.
• 48:04
  Speaker 15: At Whaling City Mazda, we want inventory. And we want
• 48:07
  Speaker 15: your vehicle. Cars, trucks, SUVs, all makes and models. Have
• 48:10
  Speaker 15: a lease?
• 48:11
  Speaker 38: We want it.
• 48:11
  Speaker 12: Still financing?
• 48:12
  Speaker 15: We want it. Own a vehicle you just don't need anymore?
• 48:15
  Speaker 15: We want it. And here's the best part. You don't
• 48:17
  Speaker 15: have to buy from us for us to buy from you.
• 48:19
  Speaker 13: But if you are ready for something new, September's the
• 48:22
  Speaker 13: perfect time.
• 48:23
  Speaker 15: Because right now.
• 48:24
  Speaker 13: Get the Wailing City Special on all new Mazdas, including
• 48:27
  Speaker 13: a lifetime powertrain warranty, Mazda CX-5, Mazda CX-50, Mazda CX-30,
• 48:30
  Speaker 13: and more.
• 48:30
  Speaker 15: It Take your Mazda, bring.
• 48:34
  Speaker 14: Your trade, and let's make a deal.
• 48:36
  Speaker 15: Looking for pre-owned?
• 48:37
  Speaker 13: Our inventory is already aggressively priced, so you can shop
• 48:40
  Speaker 13: confidently without worrying about overpaying.
• 48:42
  Speaker 15: Sell it, trade it, upgrade it. Whatever you're driving, bring
• 48:45
  Speaker 15: it to us.
• 48:45
  Speaker 13: This September at Wailing City Mazda, 567 Coma Street, New London.
• 48:50
  Speaker 13: Connecticut's number one fastest-growing Mazda dealer.
• 48:53
  Speaker 40: 860-443-CITY.
• 48:53
  Speaker 15: Have we met yet?
• 48:54
  Speaker 38: We are!
• 48:54
  Speaker 14: We are!
• 48:58
  Speaker 15: See dealer for details.
• 48:59
  Speaker 42: Kubota zero-turn mowers mean less time mowing and less time
• 49:03
  Speaker 42: trimming and a whole lot more time. Join your backyard.
• 49:07
  Speaker 10: Anybody want a cheeseburger?
• 49:08
  Speaker 6: Media Brayer.
• 49:09
  Speaker 42: It's time to visit Rhode Island Harvesting and check out
• 49:12
  Speaker 42: the Kubota zero-turn mowers. Built to make your lawn care
• 49:15
  Speaker 42: a whole lot easier.
• 49:16
  Speaker 14: You know what I'm going to do with all the
• 49:18
  Speaker 14: time I save mowing?
• 49:20
  Speaker 6: Go shopping.
• 49:21
  Speaker 42: I should have bought a slower mower for over 75 years.
• 49:24
  Speaker 42: Rhode Island Harvesting has been the tractor people. Right off
• 49:28
  Speaker 42: Route 95 at Ashway at RhodeIslandHarvesting.com.
• 49:31
  Speaker 43: Come spend a beautiful autumn weekend in South County, Rhode Island,
• 49:36
  Speaker 43: where the inviting landscape and sensational coastline will provide you
• 49:39
  Speaker 43: with real-life peacefulness and relaxation. You're invited to come smell
• 49:43
  Speaker 43: the salt air, feel the sand beneath.
• 49:45
  Speaker 44: Your feet, and wander moonlight.
• 49:47
  Speaker 45: Trails.
• 49:47
  Speaker 43: Come dine in our amazing restaurants, check out our unique shops,
• 49:50
  Speaker 43: and golf on our lush green golf courses. And make
• 49:53
  Speaker 43: sure your South County adventure includes visiting our giant Thomas
• 49:57
  Speaker 43: Dambo Trolls. Plan your fall escape to South County, Rhode Island. SouthCountyRI.com
• 50:02
  Speaker 43: American Ladder.
• 50:05
  Speaker 40: American Ladders and Scaffolds.
• 50:36
  Speaker 8: Much better.
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  Speaker 15: Much better.
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  Speaker 12: Much better.
• 50:40
  Speaker 10: Much better.
• 50:42
  Speaker 8: Much better. Much better. Much better.
• 50:48
  Speaker 25: We've been telling you for years you buy better at Burns,
• 50:50
  Speaker 25: but you need to know just how much better the
• 50:52
  Speaker 25: Burns Agency's gotten. Last year, we joined forces with Hub
• 50:55
  Speaker 25: International to bring our current and future customers an even
• 50:58
  Speaker 25: stronger product offering, exceptional service practices, and the most competitive
• 51:02
  Speaker 25: insurance options available. Our integration with Hub makes the team
• 51:06
  Speaker 25: at the Burns Agency that you know and trust stronger,
• 51:08
  Speaker 25: more accessible, and positioned to better serve you in this
• 51:11
  Speaker 25: ever-changing insurance landscape. Call, email, or visit us today in
• 51:15
  Speaker 25: all the same easy ways. The Burns Agency, now a
• 51:18
  Speaker 25: division of Hub International, proudly serving eastern Connecticut since 1932.
• 51:22
  Speaker 42: Broadcasting live from the Bruce Delon View at GMC Studios, WJJF, Montauk, Ledger, Mystic, Norwich, 94.9
• 51:30
  Speaker 42: News Now.
• 51:32
  Speaker 32: A lawsuit is coming in the Charlie Kirk assassination.
• 51:36
  Speaker 10: I'm Dave Anthony, Fox News. Against the state of.
• 51:39
  Speaker 32: Utah and the university where Kirk, a prominent conservative activist,
• 51:42
  Speaker 32: was shot and killed last September by a rooftop gunman
• 51:45
  Speaker 32: during a Q & A with students at a big
• 51:46
  Speaker 32: outdoor campus event.
• 51:48
  Speaker 46: In their continuing pursuit of justice, the Kirk family is
• 51:51
  Speaker 46: now going after Utah Valley University. and those responsible for
• 51:55
  Speaker 46: security during Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA event here just
• 51:59
  Speaker 46: over one year ago. The family just moments ago filing
• 52:03
  Speaker 46: what's called.
• 52:03
  Speaker 6: A notice of claim.
• 52:04
  Speaker 46: This is a precursor to a lawsuit, and it alleges
• 52:08
  Speaker 46: school officials and campus police dropped the ball even after
• 52:11
  Speaker 46: being warned that people could get onto the roof of
• 52:14
  Speaker 46: the Sorensen Center.
• 52:15
  Speaker 32: That's Fox's Claudia Cowan in Orem, Utah. Three people are
• 52:18
  Speaker 32: dead in California after a news helicopter crashed.
• 52:21
  Speaker 47: The news team was providing aerial coverage of a deadly
• 52:25
  Speaker 47: bus collision before going down. The chopper bursting into flames,
• 52:29
  Speaker 47: crashing between two buildings with the fire spreading to multiple
• 52:32
  Speaker 47: cars and storage containers.
• 52:34
  Speaker 10: Officials say two people.
• 52:36
  Speaker 47: Were killed in the helicopter, later identified as an NBC4
• 52:40
  Speaker 47: reporter and the pilot. The third victim was a bystander
• 52:44
  Speaker 47: on the ground.
• 52:44
  Speaker 32: That's Fox's Todd Pyro. At least 19 people are dead
• 52:47
  Speaker 32: in Gaza. After a building badly damaged in the Israel-Hamas
• 52:50
  Speaker 32: war collapsed despite that damage, there were displaced Palestinians living
• 52:54
  Speaker 32: inside there. Congress is considering new AI regulations after industry
• 52:58
  Speaker 32: leaders warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence getting out
• 53:01
  Speaker 32: of control. Risks President Trump dismisses as a hoax. He
• 53:04
  Speaker 32: warns slowing AI's advancement will benefit China.
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: Trump says that he has this issue covered, that, quote,
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: the only control or guardrails that AI needs is a
• 53:14
  Speaker 1: strong and smart, high IQ president.
• 53:18
  Speaker 6: Well, we don't have one.
• 53:19
  Speaker 32: Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, the president says there'll be
• 53:21
  Speaker 32: no motivation to the now-closed Kennedy Center in Washington unless
• 53:24
  Speaker 32: he wins a legal fight to put the Trump name
• 53:26
  Speaker 32: on the building. America's listening to Fox News.
• 53:30
  Speaker 10: Wesley Financial Group is not a law firm.
• 53:31
  Speaker 35: Ask yourself this question.
• 53:33
  Speaker 48: Is it really worth holding on to that timeshare that
• 53:36
  Speaker 48: you know you need to get rid of?
• 53:38
  Speaker 35: Here's the truth.
• 53:39
  Speaker 48: The average maintenance fee just went up over 17%. That
• 53:41
  Speaker 48: could have been 117%. and there's nothing you can do
• 53:47
  Speaker 48: about it. When you buy a timeshare, you give them
• 53:49
  Speaker 48: a blank check for annual maintenance and assessment fees. I'm
• 53:53
  Speaker 48: Chuck McDowell, founder of Wesley Financial Group. For 15 years,
• 53:57
  Speaker 48: I've helped over 50,000 families cancel their timeshare. Not sell it,
• 54:01
  Speaker 48: not transfer it, cancel it. Did you buy a timeshare
• 54:04
  Speaker 48: because they told you it was a great investment and
• 54:07
  Speaker 48: your maintenance fees would never go up?
• 54:09
  Speaker 35: That's a lie.
• 54:10
  Speaker 48: Are you ready to get rid of your timeshare once
• 54:13
  Speaker 48: and for all?
• 54:14
  Speaker 35: Simply call us and I'll.
• 54:15
  Speaker 48: Send you our timeshare exit kit that explains all your
• 54:18
  Speaker 48: options for cancellation.
• 54:20
  Speaker 10: Call Wesley now for your timeshare exit kit.
• 54:22
  Speaker 16: 800-393-1881.
• 54:22
  Speaker 10: That's 800-393-1881.
• 54:23
  Speaker 11: 800-393-1881.
• 54:23
  Speaker 10: Good morning, I'm Sean Murphy. Cloudy skies today with a
• 54:27
  Speaker 10: high in the 70s.
• 54:29
  Speaker 6: Norwich police responded to a Central Avenue home Tuesday evening
• 54:39
  Speaker 6: after a fight between roommates over a controller. One roommate
• 54:43
  Speaker 6: allegedly pulled a knife and locked himself in an upstairs bathroom.
• 54:48
  Speaker 6: The incident remains under investigation. The Montville Housing Authority owes
• 54:52
  Speaker 6: the town $ 116, 000 in payments dating to 2023 and will
• 54:58
  Speaker 6: develop a repayment plan. The authority also approved an audit
• 55:02
  Speaker 6: amid concerns about missing records, unpaid bills, and financial oversight.
• 55:08
  Speaker 6: Chesterfield Fire Company leaders denied former ambulance captain Stephanie Nyer's
• 55:13
  Speaker 6: claims of poor management, citing repeated performance issues. Nyer, who
• 55:17
  Speaker 6: said she was unaware of any discipline until Tuesday, was
• 55:20
  Speaker 6: suspended for allegedly neglecting duties. The private fire company called
• 55:25
  Speaker 6: it an internal personal matter. A Willimantic man was charged
• 55:28
  Speaker 6: yesterday with murder in the December 2025 death of a
• 55:32
  Speaker 6: two-week-old infant who suffered severe head injuries. Police said medical findings...
• 55:37
  Speaker 6: indicated abusive trauma inconsistent with 40-year-old Dean R. Peruta's claim
• 55:44
  Speaker 6: that the baby fell about three feet while in his care.
• 55:48
  Speaker 6: Developers reduced the proposed killingly Amazon warehouse to 1.29 million
• 55:53
  Speaker 6: square feet and cut 230 parking spaces. The revised plan
• 55:58
  Speaker 6: preserves 290 acres, but residents remain concerned about traffic and
• 56:04
  Speaker 6: environmental impacts. A public hearing on the plan is scheduled
• 56:08
  Speaker 6: for September 21st. I'm Sean Murphy. When news breaks, we
• 56:12
  Speaker 6: break in.
• 56:17
  Speaker 2: We're back.
• 56:19
  Speaker 3: 94.9 News Now and stimulating talk with my good buddy
• 56:24
  Speaker 3: Bill Stanley. I'm Paul Formica. We want to welcome you
• 56:26
  Speaker 3: all to the show. We have first hour in the
• 56:29
  Speaker 3: books and we're looking at two more to go. We
• 56:32
  Speaker 3: have some great guests coming up. The next hour is
• 56:35
  Speaker 3: going to be Thank you, Mr.
• 56:37
  Speaker 2: President. and he's agreed to come on and talk.
• 57:10
  Speaker 3: To us a little bit about how the Connecticut Hospital
• 57:14
  Speaker 3: Association works and, you know, some of the challenges that
• 57:17
  Speaker 3: hospitals are facing here in Connecticut.
• 57:22
  Speaker 2: Paul, you're there. Good morning.
• 57:24
  Speaker 45: Good morning, Paul and Bill. Thanks for having me on.
• 57:26
  Speaker 45: I really appreciate the time. Good to talk with you.
• 57:30
  Speaker 3: Well, it's a great and timely conversation given what's going
• 57:34
  Speaker 3: on with the you know, the budget and the hospitals
• 57:36
  Speaker 3: and the challenges on the national level trickling.
• 57:39
  Speaker 2: Down to here. But it was nice to talk to
• 57:43
  Speaker 2: my buddy.
• 57:43
  Speaker 3: Nicole Rall, whom I worked with when I was in
• 57:46
  Speaker 3: the Senate and is now, you know, benefiting the Connecticut
• 57:51
  Speaker 3: Hospital Association.
• 57:52
  Speaker 2: So we're happy to have you.
• 57:55
  Speaker 3: I don't know if you know Bill Stanley, but Bill
• 57:57
  Speaker 3: was a longtime vice president of L & M Hospital,
• 58:01
  Speaker 3: and he certainly knows more what the inner workings of
• 58:07
  Speaker 3: the hospitals are. But why don't you give us a
• 58:11
  Speaker 3: few minutes and talk about really the goal of the
• 58:14
  Speaker 3: Connecticut Hospital Association and what your role is and what
• 58:19
  Speaker 3: you see some of the major issues coming forward, if
• 58:21
  Speaker 3: you don't mind.
• 58:23
  Speaker 45: Absolutely.
• 58:23
  Speaker 49: I think Bill and.
• 58:24
  Speaker 45: I were on ships passing in the night. I think
• 58:26
  Speaker 45: Bill was ending his long and good tenure at L
• 58:31
  Speaker 45: & M while I was just coming to the Hospital Association,
• 58:33
  Speaker 45: so I didn't have the good fortune of working with you, Bill,
• 58:36
  Speaker 45: but I've heard many wonderful things about you from my
• 58:40
  Speaker 45: colleagues at CHA.
• 58:41
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm well acquainted with the CHA, Paul.
• 58:44
  Speaker 1: The CHA does a fabulous job representing the interests of
• 58:49
  Speaker 1: the hospitals throughout Connecticut, up at the state legislature, and
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: in Washington as well, so Sorry we didn't have the
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: opportunity to work together, but I did have the opportunity
• 59:03
  Speaker 1: to work with Jim Akabeles and Jennifer Jackson and Karen
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: Buckley now, who heads up advocacy.
• 59:11
  Speaker 45: That's right, and they have wonderful things to say about you,
• 59:15
  Speaker 45: and I appreciate those kind words about CHA. So, Paul,
• 59:18
  Speaker 45: to your question, as Bill noted, the Connecticut Hospital Association
• 59:23
  Speaker 45: represents all of the hospitals across Connecticut, And we do
• 59:29
  Speaker 45: so in a couple of ways. As Bill noted, we're
• 59:32
  Speaker 45: a strong presence up at the state capitol in Hartford,
• 59:37
  Speaker 45: not only advocating for hospitals, our workforce, and our patients
• 59:42
  Speaker 45: up at the state legislature, as you're well aware of,
• 59:45
  Speaker 45: but also with the state agencies at the Department of
• 59:49
  Speaker 45: Social Services that runs the state Medicaid program called Husky
• 59:55
  Speaker 45: in Connecticut.
• 59:56
  Speaker 49: We work.
• 59:58
  Speaker 45: With the Department of Insurance. We work with the Department
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 45: of Children and Families and the Department of Mental Health Services,
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 45: given all of the behavioral health services that we provide
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 45: to patients across the state. But really importantly, we bring
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 45: those hospitals together to work on, I think, really important
• 1:00:26
  Speaker 45: projects that are looking towards improving quality and safety of
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 45: the care we're providing across the state. So more than,
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 45: for example, more than 10 years ago, we brought hospitals
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 45: together to work on a patient safety program called High Reliability.
• 1:00:44
  Speaker 45: And the goal there was to embed specific safety practices
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 45: in every hospital across Connecticut to make sure that we
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 45: are really avoiding those medical errors, falls, those types of
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 45: things that with just good practices we can help improve
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 45: quality on. And we've made really incredible strides. We've also
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 45: brought together hospitals to look at infections and how do
• 1:01:17
  Speaker 45: we prevent hospital-based infections. And by doing that, I think
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 45: the proof really is in the pudding. And just recently,
• 1:01:27
  Speaker 45: you know, the Leapfrog Group, which is an outside organization
• 1:01:31
  Speaker 45: that ranks hospitals across the country, said that Connecticut ranks
• 1:01:35
  Speaker 45: first in safest hospitals. And we look at U.S. News,
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 45: and we are third for best health care. Forbes has
• 1:01:44
  Speaker 45: us second for most accessible health care.
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 47: So.
• 1:01:47
  Speaker 45: That's the work of CHA and really the work of
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 45: all the hospitals in the state to come together and say,
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 45: how can we get better every day? And then what
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 45: do we need from a policy perspective to help us
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 45: do that?
• 1:02:01
  Speaker 1: You know, I was remiss, Paul, this is Bill speaking.
• 1:02:04
  Speaker 1: I was remiss in just talking about the great advocacy
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 1: work that the CHA does, but it's also a very
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 1: valuable work. learning resource and information sharing resource for the
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: hospitals who will send representatives from their government relations departments,
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 1: their human resources, their finance, their clinical representatives who will
• 1:02:29
  Speaker 1: come together and compare ideas and share information so that
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: the hospitals, each of the hospitals can take on some
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 1: of the challenges and the headwinds that they face like
• 1:02:44
  Speaker 1: hospitals in most other states. But as you say, given
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: the ratings, the health care ratings and the hospital ratings
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: and the access ratings that Connecticut receives, the high ratings,
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: I think that reflects on the importance of the CHA
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 1: and the good work that you all do. Paul, you
• 1:03:04
  Speaker 1: mentioned Husky. a little while ago. And Husky, unfortunately, took
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 1: a big hit in the big, not so beautiful bill
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 1: that was enacted down in Washington.
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 2: Earlier this year.
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 1: Can you speak a little bit about the impact that
• 1:03:22
  Speaker 1: that has had and what the impact on not only
• 1:03:25
  Speaker 1: the hospitals, but which patients are going to be impacted
• 1:03:28
  Speaker 1: by the cuts?
• 1:03:31
  Speaker 45: Yeah, thanks for bringing that up. So as we've talked about,
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 45: Husky is Connecticut's Medicaid program. States often name their Medicaid
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 45: programs in different ways, and Husky is Connecticut. And just
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 45: before H.R. 1 was even adopted, every year, the state
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 45: reimburses hospitals less than it costs actually to provide the
• 1:04:00
  Speaker 45: care to a Husky member. So for the most recent year,
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 45: it was about, we had a $ 1. 46 billion underpayment in Medicaid.
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 45: And what HR1 did was said that for a specific
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 45: population of those individuals covered by Husky, they're going to
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 45: have to face some work requirements in order to stay
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 45: on the program. And that will get implemented next year.
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 45: And whether you think work requirements are the right public
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 45: policy or not, the consequence for hospitals is that we
• 1:04:41
  Speaker 45: are likely to see more individuals coming to our hospitals
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 45: seeking care, and they will not have Husky any longer
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 45: because they weren't able to meet those work requirements. And
• 1:04:56
  Speaker 45: the consequence for hospitals is we provide the care, and
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 45: we likely won't get compensated for that care. So our
• 1:05:01
  Speaker 45: uncompensated care goes up, those costs go up. And what
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 45: hospitals have to do, everyone's got to pay the bills,
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 45: is they look to where you can shift those uncompensated costs.
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 45: And you either decrease costs where you can or you
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 45: shift them to other payers. And in this instance, it's
• 1:05:22
  Speaker 45: usually commercial payers, people who get their health insurance through
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 45: their employers, where we're shifting those costs. So it's a
• 1:05:30
  Speaker 45: big wave coming towards us in 2027. We're working together
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 45: to see how we can dampen the effects of that bill.
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 45: I'm happy to talk more about that, but it really
• 1:05:44
  Speaker 45: is a significant financial hit for hospitals coming towards us
• 1:05:50
  Speaker 45: next year.
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 1: And, Paul, it's sort of a double whammy that occurs
• 1:05:56
  Speaker 1: as a result of that when people who understand that
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: they're not covered procrastinate and put off seeking treatment for
• 1:06:06
  Speaker 1: a malady. until it gets serious and more acute, and
• 1:06:11
  Speaker 1: then they present. And instead of being treated on an
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 1: outpatient basis, they present with a serious ailment and wind
• 1:06:19
  Speaker 1: up having to be admitted. And that has a devastating
• 1:06:24
  Speaker 1: impact on the hospital's finances.
• 1:06:28
  Speaker 2: What are the other reasons?
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 45: Yeah, Bill, maybe it's such a good point. And I think, too,
• 1:06:32
  Speaker 45: it also is a consequence for all of those other
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 45: individuals in the hospital where, you have individuals seeking care
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 45: in the emergency department who could have otherwise been treated
• 1:06:44
  Speaker 45: outside the hospital who now are in the hospital creating
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 45: more volume in the hospital and creating issues related to
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 45: making sure people get from the ED to the next
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 45: source of care. So it really is a compounding effect.
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 2: Right, right.
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: Paul, one of the big issues when I was here,
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 1: I've been retired now for almost six years, but when
• 1:07:05
  Speaker 1: I was working with CHA, one of the really big issues,
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 1: one of the divisive issues that occurred was during the
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: Malloy administration, and it was the hospital tax. Can you
• 1:07:18
  Speaker 1: bring us up to date on where the hospital tax
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 1: is and if it's still impacting Connecticut's hospitals?
• 1:07:28
  Speaker 45: Yeah, so it's still a very pertinent issue for us.
• 1:07:33
  Speaker 45: And it's an odd financing mechanism that the state of
• 1:07:38
  Speaker 45: Connecticut uses. Not unlike other states, but in Connecticut, just
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 45: last year, hospitals paid the state a little more than
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 45: $ 800 million. And the state uses those dollars to send
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 45: to the federal government, and the federal government matches those
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 45: Medicaid dollars and sends them back to the state. And
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 45: the state you know, of the 800 retains $ 500 million
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 45: for its own general fund purposes. So none of those
• 1:08:09
  Speaker 45: dollars go to help finance hospitals in the Medicaid program.
• 1:08:15
  Speaker 45: And for many years, like you said, in the Malloy administration,
• 1:08:19
  Speaker 45: hospitals were paying more in tax than they were getting
• 1:08:23
  Speaker 45: back in Medicaid dollars from the federal government, so running
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 45: a deficit. There was a legal settlement that lasted seven
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 45: years where gradually the state, you know, those tax dollars
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 45: the hospitals were paying were used to improve Medicaid reimbursement
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 45: to hospitals. So hospitals were a net positive over those
• 1:08:47
  Speaker 45: seven years. Just this last legislative session, CHA and the
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 45: hospitals reached an agreement with the state legislature and the
• 1:08:58
  Speaker 45: governor's office, um, update the hospital tax. And we were
• 1:09:03
  Speaker 45: really happy with how that agreement came out. Under the agreement,
• 1:09:10
  Speaker 45: hospitals will see a greater improvement in Medicaid reimbursement. And
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 45: as we said, Medicaid already doesn't pay the cost of
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 45: providing care. So it inches is up closer to getting
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 45: fairer reimbursement. And that was set to go into effect
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 45: just this past July. As a consequence of H.R. 1,
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 45: the one big beautiful bill, the federal government has proposed
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 45: to make some pretty significant changes to how it operates
• 1:09:46
  Speaker 45: provider taxes. And some of those proposals would have a
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 45: pretty negative effect on how Connecticut operates its tax program.
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 45: And so at the moment, it's unhappy news. We're a
• 1:09:58
  Speaker 45: little bit in flux as we wait to see how
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 45: the federal government finalizes its proposal. We're actively engaged in
• 1:10:08
  Speaker 45: advocacy describing the potential harm that would have on hospitals
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 45: and patients in the state.
• 1:10:16
  Speaker 2: So, you know, we had made.
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 45: Some progress as of July and then took a little
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 45: bit of a pause and step back because we have
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 45: to really understand how this proposal might affect the future
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 45: of the program.
• 1:10:32
  Speaker 2: No, thank you, Paul and Bill.
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 3: The tax issue and using it for, you know, some
• 1:10:41
  Speaker 3: of the revenues for the state budget was very important.
• 1:10:45
  Speaker 3: It was a very divisive issue back when I was there,
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 3: and I'm glad to see that you're moving toward resolution.
• 1:10:52
  Speaker 3: But these new workforce requirements, as you said, whether you
• 1:10:58
  Speaker 3: like that idea or don't like that idea, are going
• 1:11:00
  Speaker 3: to have.
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 6: More of a.
• 1:11:03
  Speaker 3: Negative effect, I think, than anything from what I'm reading
• 1:11:06
  Speaker 3: in terms of people losing their coverage because there are
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 3: some people who just aren't capable of working and You're
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 3: going to need to prove that. Then that turns, if
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 3: they don't have insurance, that turns the emergency department into
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 3: kind of a primary care situation at the same time.
• 1:11:28
  Speaker 3: Going to Bill's point about, you know, if you don't
• 1:11:32
  Speaker 3: stop something early, it just gets worse.
• 1:11:35
  Speaker 45: Yeah, absolutely. And what we're... we're trying to do across
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 45: the state in our capacity at CHA is to bring
• 1:11:44
  Speaker 45: people together in varying regions of the state to say,
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 45: how do we supply Husky patients with the information that
• 1:11:53
  Speaker 45: they need in order to comply with the new rules?
• 1:11:58
  Speaker 45: We don't want administrative barriers to be the reason why
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 45: someone loses their health insurance in Husky. And so we
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 45: have coalitions that are forming across the state, including in
• 1:12:09
  Speaker 45: New London and in Norwich, out in, you know, southeastern Connecticut,
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 45: but everywhere from Hartford to Sharon to Bridgeport to Norwalk,
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 45: to bring community groups together, provide them with the information
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 45: that their patients or the people they work with need
• 1:12:32
  Speaker 45: to make sure that that anyone who's meeting those requirements
• 1:12:37
  Speaker 45: knows exactly how to continue to qualify. Again, we don't
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 45: want administrative barriers to be the reason why someone loses
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 45: their health insurance.
• 1:12:47
  Speaker 1: Paul, I don't know if this is part of your ballywick,
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: but cyclically, nurse staffing has been an issue, has been
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: a challenge at times for hospitals. There were times during
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 1: my 21-plus years at Lawrence Memorial that the nursing shortage
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 1: was severe. How are things going right now relative to
• 1:13:16
  Speaker 1: nurse staffing?
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 45: Yeah, staffing generally continues to be a challenge. And, you know,
• 1:13:25
  Speaker 45: I appreciate that COVID feels, you know, some time ago.
• 1:13:30
  Speaker 45: But there are sort of the tales of COVID that
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 45: we're experiencing, especially in the workforce today. You know, in
• 1:13:38
  Speaker 45: that period, right after COVID, hospitals were having to rely
• 1:13:42
  Speaker 45: on traveling nurses quite a bit, where you're hiring on
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 45: a temporary basis nurses, potentially from across the country, to
• 1:13:52
  Speaker 45: come in and to work in the hospital in order
• 1:13:56
  Speaker 45: to meet your staffing needs. And That has diminished over time,
• 1:14:04
  Speaker 45: but we continue to not graduate enough nurses in the
• 1:14:08
  Speaker 45: state to meet the demand. And additionally, what we've been
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 45: working with the state legislature about is how do we
• 1:14:17
  Speaker 45: create the conditions here in Connecticut where those people who
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 45: we train, whether it be a nurse or a physician
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 45: or a rad tech or a you know, they stay
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 45: in the state after their education is done. So looking at,
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 45: you know, things like tuition reimbursement, how do we ensure
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 45: that all of our students have access to the hospital
• 1:14:41
  Speaker 45: to get that clinical experience that they need when they're students?
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 45: How do we make sure that we have nurses and
• 1:14:50
  Speaker 45: other healthcare professionals in all parts of the state, just,
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 45: you know, north of a view all up in northeast
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 45: Connecticut around, you know, in the more rural areas, it
• 1:15:02
  Speaker 45: certainly is even more challenging to find the workforce we
• 1:15:06
  Speaker 45: need to deliver care in those areas of the state.
• 1:15:09
  Speaker 45: So it's something front of mind all the time. How
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 45: do we develop that pipeline here, that workforce pipeline here
• 1:15:17
  Speaker 45: in Connecticut, and create the conditions that really– make people
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 45: want to stay, live here, raise a family, and work here.
• 1:15:28
  Speaker 1: Paul Kidwell, Senior Vice President for Policy at the Connecticut
• 1:15:33
  Speaker 1: Hospital Association. Thanks very much for being with us this morning, Paul,
• 1:15:37
  Speaker 1: and good luck going into the next legislative session, both
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 1: at the state and federal level, and I know you
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: guys will continue to do your great work.
• 1:15:46
  Speaker 2: There in Hartford, New Washington.
• 1:15:48
  Speaker 45: I certainly appreciate your time. Wonderful to talk to you both,
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 45: and I hope we can do it again in the future.
• 1:15:54
  Speaker 2: Will do. Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot. Thanks a lot.
• 1:16:25
  Speaker 37: On 94.9 News Now.
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  Speaker 26: down and burst into flames while covering a fatal bus accident.
• 1:22:32
  Speaker 47: The chopper bursting into flames, crashing between two buildings with
• 1:22:35
  Speaker 47: the fire spreading to multiple cars and storage containers.
• 1:22:39
  Speaker 27: Officials say two people.
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 47: Were killed in the helicopter, later identified as an NBC4
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 47: reporter and the pilot. The third victim was a bystander
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 47: on the ground.
• 1:22:50
  Speaker 26: That's Fox's Todd Pyro. America's listening to Fox News.
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 6: This news report is brought to you by Keith's Appliances.
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  Speaker 8: We'll be right back.
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  Speaker 6: On sports, more than a score.
• 1:25:42
  Speaker 56: Brought to you by Charter Oak Federal Credit Union, where
• 1:25:45
  Speaker 56: members bank better. Something incredibly rare happened in baseball last night. No,
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 56: it wasn't an unassisted triple play or two grand slams
• 1:25:55
  Speaker 56: in one inning. I think this is actually way better
• 1:25:57
  Speaker 56: than that. And go figure that this has to do
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 56: with the New York Mets. Last night, longtime former Met
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 56: Pete Alonzo, who just so happens to be the Mets'
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 56: all-time home run leader, was back at Citi Field for
• 1:26:09
  Speaker 56: the first time since being traded in the offseason. Well,
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 56: he came to the plate in the top of the
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 56: ninth inning with the Orioles losing. And what did Pete do?
• 1:26:17
  Speaker 56: He hit his 300th career home run. to tie the game.
• 1:26:21
  Speaker 56: And what did Mets fans do after? One of the
• 1:26:23
  Speaker 56: rarest things in sports. They gave him a standing ovation curtain.
• 1:26:27
  Speaker 35: Call on the road.
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 56: But honestly, with the way this season's been going for
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 56: the Mets, it was the best thing Mets fans have
• 1:26:33
  Speaker 56: seen all year.
• 1:26:34
  Speaker 6: Way to go, Pete. With more than just a score,
• 1:26:37
  Speaker 6: I'm Fish on Sports.
• 1:26:40
  Speaker 16: Good morning, I'm Sean Burke.
• 1:26:43
  Speaker 36: Climbing skies today with a high in the 70s.
• 1:26:45
  Speaker 6: Norwich police responded to a Central Avenue home Tuesday evening
• 1:26:49
  Speaker 6: after a fight between roommates over a controller. One roommate
• 1:26:53
  Speaker 6: allegedly pulled a knife and locked himself in an upstairs bathroom.
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 6: The incident remains under investigation. The Montville Housing Authority owes
• 1:27:02
  Speaker 6: the town $ 116, 000 in payments dating to 2023. and will
• 1:27:08
  Speaker 6: develop a repayment plan. The authority also approved an audit
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 6: amid concerns about missing records, unpaid bills, and financial oversight.
• 1:27:17
  Speaker 6: Chesterfield Fire Company leaders denied former ambulance captain Stephanie Nyer's
• 1:27:22
  Speaker 6: claims of poor management citing repeated performance issues. Nyer, who
• 1:27:27
  Speaker 6: said she was unaware of any discipline until Tuesday, was
• 1:27:30
  Speaker 6: suspended for allegedly neglecting duties. The private fire company called
• 1:27:34
  Speaker 6: it an internal personal matter. A Willimantic man was charged
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 6: yesterday with murder in the December 2025 death of a
• 1:27:42
  Speaker 6: two-week-old infant who suffered severe head injuries. Police said medical findings...
• 1:27:47
  Speaker 6: indicated abusive trauma inconsistent with 40-year-old Dean R. Peruta's claim
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 6: that the baby fell about three feet while in his care.
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 6: Developers reduced the proposed killingly Amazon warehouse to 1.29 million
• 1:28:03
  Speaker 6: square feet and cut 230 parking spaces. The revised plan
• 1:28:08
  Speaker 6: preserves 290 acres, but residents remain concerned about traffic and
• 1:28:13
  Speaker 6: environmental impacts. A public hearing on the plan... is scheduled
• 1:28:17
  Speaker 6: for September 21st. I'm Sean Murphy. When news breaks, we
• 1:28:22
  Speaker 6: break in.
• 1:28:27
  Speaker 1: Welcome back, everyone. This is Bill Stanley and Paul Formica,
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 1: substituting for the voice of freedom, Lee Elsie, here on 94.9
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 1: News Now and Stimulating Talk. And our next guest is Dr.
• 1:28:41
  Speaker 1: Kevin Torres, who is the chief medical officer at Lawrence
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 1: Memorial Hospital in New London. And we just had a
• 1:28:50
  Speaker 1: representative from the Connecticut Hospital Association on Kevin, Paul Kidwell.
• 1:28:57
  Speaker 1: And Paul talked a little bit about hospitals and global
• 1:29:02
  Speaker 1: issues or statewide issues, and we're happy to have you
• 1:29:07
  Speaker 1: on board to talk a little bit about what's happening
• 1:29:09
  Speaker 1: at L & M.
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 2: Awesome.
• 1:29:11
  Speaker 49: I appreciate you having me on. Yeah, it's a lot
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 49: going on in the area and happy to discuss things
• 1:29:18
  Speaker 49: this morning.
• 1:29:18
  Speaker 35: Sure.
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 1: Well, one of the real exciting projects at the hospital
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: that has occurred is the expansion of and renovation of
• 1:29:31
  Speaker 1: the emergency department. I was able to get a tour
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 1: of the new ED last week, and I'll tell you,
• 1:29:41
  Speaker 1: it's very impressive, and it's a night and day difference
• 1:29:44
  Speaker 1: from what used to be in that footprint. Now, can
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 1: you talk a little bit about the improvements that were
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 1: made and how it benefits the patients?
• 1:29:55
  Speaker 49: Yeah, absolutely. You know, Bill, you know what that used
• 1:29:59
  Speaker 49: to look like, and I'm an emergency medicine physician. And
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 49: working in that environment, very closed and dark feeling, it's
• 1:30:08
  Speaker 49: much more open now. The rooms are expanded, single rooms
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 49: instead of curtains. We went from 30-some rooms up to
• 1:30:17
  Speaker 49: 50-some rooms, more of a dedicated space for our pediatric patients,
• 1:30:22
  Speaker 49: our psychiatric patients. We've also put in two new CAT
• 1:30:27
  Speaker 49: scanners that went along with this renovation. And what began
• 1:30:33
  Speaker 49: with this renovation really was an improvement with the overall
• 1:30:38
  Speaker 49: electricity to the hospital and improving our generator systems that
• 1:30:47
  Speaker 49: we have. And so backups. And so, honestly, some things
• 1:30:51
  Speaker 49: you may not realize as you're there, but important aspects
• 1:30:55
  Speaker 49: to take care of you, you know, and whenever you
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 49: need us to keep things going. And so it's been really,
• 1:31:00
  Speaker 49: it's been almost a five-year build because, as you know,
• 1:31:03
  Speaker 49: as you start going through an older building, it gets
• 1:31:06
  Speaker 49: difficult getting into walls and there's New and interesting things
• 1:31:10
  Speaker 49: you find as you're trying to do things as opposed
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 49: to a blank slate. So, yeah, it's exciting. We're really
• 1:31:16
  Speaker 49: looking forward to it. I think the actual treatment rooms
• 1:31:20
  Speaker 49: will be done in the next few months, and then
• 1:31:23
  Speaker 49: some behind-the-scenes like break rooms, things like that will get
• 1:31:26
  Speaker 49: finished up. But we're excited to finally have it open
• 1:31:29
  Speaker 49: and be able to take care of the community in
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 49: a little bit more of a comfortable setting when you
• 1:31:35
  Speaker 49: need us, you know.
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 1: Well, that's exciting, and it's important for L & M because,
• 1:31:41
  Speaker 1: as you know, the emergency department is considered the gateway
• 1:31:46
  Speaker 1: to any hospital. And you don't often get a chance,
• 1:31:52
  Speaker 1: a second chance, to make a good first impression. And
• 1:31:55
  Speaker 1: When people come into a bright, sparkling new emergency department
• 1:32:00
  Speaker 1: and they are treated in a private room, as you said,
• 1:32:04
  Speaker 1: as opposed to being on the other side of a curtain,
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 1: the old setting was new once upon a time, but
• 1:32:14
  Speaker 1: it was outdated. And, you know, there was a lack
• 1:32:19
  Speaker 1: of privacy, really, when you had another patient or two
• 1:32:23
  Speaker 1: or three other patients in. on the other side of curtains,
• 1:32:26
  Speaker 1: and you could hear a little bit more than you
• 1:32:29
  Speaker 1: wanted to hear sometimes with the patients. And it wasn't
• 1:32:36
  Speaker 1: ideal for the patients or for the staff and the physicians.
• 1:32:41
  Speaker 1: And it's a huge benefit, I think, for the community.
• 1:32:47
  Speaker 1: And I know that they conducted a capital campaign in
• 1:32:51
  Speaker 1: the community to raise some money And our friends out
• 1:32:55
  Speaker 1: on Fishers Island came through this time. When we tried
• 1:32:59
  Speaker 1: to raise money for the cancer center in Waterford, it
• 1:33:05
  Speaker 1: was a little bit of a challenge to get support
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 1: from the Fishers Island folks because many of them, the
• 1:33:14
  Speaker 1: prospective big donors, are only seasonal residents. and would get
• 1:33:19
  Speaker 1: their cancer care somewhere else. But when it comes to
• 1:33:21
  Speaker 1: emergency care, particularly when they're there for the summer, L
• 1:33:25
  Speaker 1: & M is their hospital. They come over on the C-stretcher,
• 1:33:28
  Speaker 1: and they want to be seen quickly, and now they are.
• 1:33:32
  Speaker 1: I imagine they're seen more quickly now in the new ED.
• 1:33:38
  Speaker 1: One of the problems that the hospital had faced years earlier,
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 1: back when I first started there, 25 years ago was
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 1: adequate physician staffing in the emergency department, and that is less,
• 1:33:56
  Speaker 1: it's not as severe a challenge as it once was.
• 1:34:00
  Speaker 2: Is that correct?
• 1:34:02
  Speaker 49: That's correct, yeah. Our chair is Craig Middleman. He's been
• 1:34:05
  Speaker 49: here for the last, boy, probably been a good five
• 1:34:08
  Speaker 49: or six years, but he's been part of Connecticut emergency
• 1:34:11
  Speaker 49: medicine for a number of years. and runs a really
• 1:34:15
  Speaker 49: good group. We hired some newer physicians, and I say new,
• 1:34:20
  Speaker 49: but now they've been here for probably three or four years,
• 1:34:22
  Speaker 49: and they're not so new any longer, but they all
• 1:34:24
  Speaker 49: came out of UConn or Yale, stayed locally. A lot
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 49: of them have families locally, and they're really the backbone
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 49: of our emergency department, along with some of our physicians
• 1:34:36
  Speaker 49: that have been here you know, really from the beginning.
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 49: And they, you know, they've, they, they set a culture
• 1:34:43
  Speaker 49: and then these newer physicians came in and joined in
• 1:34:46
  Speaker 49: and it's really been a great group. We, we just
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 49: had a, the annual summer cookout and, Just a few
• 1:34:53
  Speaker 49: nights ago, everybody getting together, they bring their kids and
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 49: everything else, and it was really nice. And so, you know,
• 1:34:58
  Speaker 49: kudos to Craig for putting together a good group. Cynthia
• 1:35:01
  Speaker 49: is the assistant director, and they do a really great
• 1:35:04
  Speaker 49: job there, Cynthia Tucker, of taking care of everybody, staffing
• 1:35:08
  Speaker 49: it well. Both the physicians and the APPs do a
• 1:35:13
  Speaker 49: great job, and so I think people will be very
• 1:35:16
  Speaker 49: happy as they come in. Again, usually not in the
• 1:35:20
  Speaker 49: best of times, but that's what we're there for. And
• 1:35:23
  Speaker 49: I think we're doing the best we can with that
• 1:35:25
  Speaker 49: to be able to take care of you when you
• 1:35:26
  Speaker 49: come in.
• 1:35:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, thanks, Kevin. This is Paul here.
• 1:35:29
  Speaker 3: And, you know, having people get together on a personal
• 1:35:33
  Speaker 3: level just goes a long way to establishing and growing
• 1:35:35
  Speaker 3: the culture of any organization. So, you know, it's important. But,
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 3: you know, I have two questions that, you know, I'm
• 1:35:42
  Speaker 3: curious about. One is a chief medical officer. It sounds
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 3: to me like you're loaded up with administrative duties. Are
• 1:35:50
  Speaker 3: you still part of hands-on medical care, or is a
• 1:35:58
  Speaker 3: chief medical officer pretty much an administrative thing? And you
• 1:36:04
  Speaker 3: talked about the ER group. What is a hospitalist? And
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 3: is that what you described just a few moments ago?
• 1:36:14
  Speaker 6: Is that what they're called?
• 1:36:16
  Speaker 45: Sure.
• 1:36:17
  Speaker 49: So I can go through both of those. So as
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 49: far as my clinical time, it's definitely less than it
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 49: used to be. I'm the chief medical officer for Lawrence
• 1:36:25
  Speaker 49: Memorial and Westley Hospital. So there's obviously a lot going on.
• 1:36:28
  Speaker 49: And just for instance, we have a group at Westley Hospital.
• 1:36:33
  Speaker 49: The next three days called Joint Commission Resource. It's like
• 1:36:36
  Speaker 49: the Joint Commission. Basically, they come in very similar and
• 1:36:40
  Speaker 49: go through your hospital and get you kind of prepared
• 1:36:43
  Speaker 49: for when the real Joint Commission comes in. So there's
• 1:36:45
  Speaker 49: a lot of things with that, and I usually oversee
• 1:36:47
  Speaker 49: a lot of quality safety and our medical staff. I
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 49: do tend to try and go by, see patients over
• 1:36:53
  Speaker 49: at Pequot, our standalone facility, occasionally, and usually will drop
• 1:36:59
  Speaker 49: in and see some patients there. And that's about the
• 1:37:02
  Speaker 49: extent of my clinical work at this point. But I'm
• 1:37:06
  Speaker 49: still around a lot of the physicians. We met with
• 1:37:08
  Speaker 49: the urology team last night. Same thing, like you said,
• 1:37:12
  Speaker 49: just to kind of get together. and just talk about
• 1:37:15
  Speaker 49: how things are going and things that maybe are needed
• 1:37:17
  Speaker 49: and just have a good perspective on where people are
• 1:37:20
  Speaker 49: at in their particular working environment. As far as a
• 1:37:24
  Speaker 49: hospitalist goes, that is generally the people that admit you
• 1:37:28
  Speaker 49: to the hospital. So after we've seen you in the
• 1:37:30
  Speaker 49: emergency department, the hospitalist team will come to get you admitted.
• 1:37:36
  Speaker 49: Not too long ago, many of the private physicians admitted
• 1:37:40
  Speaker 49: would come in after they saw patients at the office,
• 1:37:44
  Speaker 49: and then they would come in and admit their patients
• 1:37:46
  Speaker 49: in the hospital. Those docs, a lot of work. That's
• 1:37:50
  Speaker 49: a very difficult thing to take care of, the outpatient
• 1:37:54
  Speaker 49: and the inpatient. So now we, for the most part,
• 1:37:57
  Speaker 49: we have hospitalists that basically take care of you while
• 1:38:00
  Speaker 49: you're in the hospital. Up on the floors, they're medicine,
• 1:38:04
  Speaker 49: internal medicine trained generally, or family medicine trained, and they will...
• 1:38:10
  Speaker 49: take care of you while you're in the hospital, and
• 1:38:12
  Speaker 49: then they have a good communication with your doctor. And
• 1:38:15
  Speaker 49: when you're getting discharged, they try to make that a
• 1:38:18
  Speaker 49: seamless handoff so that you can be taken care of
• 1:38:21
  Speaker 49: back in the uh, in the community.
• 1:38:24
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 1:38:24
  Speaker 2: It's amazing.
• 1:38:25
  Speaker 3: I know that people realize the level of layers that,
• 1:38:28
  Speaker 3: that it takes when you walk in the door in
• 1:38:31
  Speaker 3: an emergency situation and you end up in the hospital,
• 1:38:33
  Speaker 3: all of the different, uh, parts of the hospital that
• 1:38:38
  Speaker 3: a patient actually touches, you know, and what needs to
• 1:38:41
  Speaker 3: be done. Paperwork, I'm sure computers make it a lot
• 1:38:44
  Speaker 3: easier than it used to happen in the old days. But, uh,
• 1:38:49
  Speaker 3: you know, it's got to be quite a bit of
• 1:38:50
  Speaker 3: work to coordinate moving the number of patients that you
• 1:38:54
  Speaker 3: have through the hospital. And as you just mentioned, you're
• 1:38:57
  Speaker 3: kind of all over the place with the Pequot and Westerly,
• 1:39:00
  Speaker 3: and you're probably not looking for any more mergers or anywhere.
• 1:39:07
  Speaker 49: No, but I will tell you, it is a whole team.
• 1:39:09
  Speaker 49: You know, we just had a patient that he called
• 1:39:11
  Speaker 49: and said how, you know, wonderful their care was. You
• 1:39:13
  Speaker 49: know who they mentioned the most. And it's true. That's
• 1:39:16
  Speaker 49: who they spend the most time with, the nurses. They
• 1:39:18
  Speaker 49: do a tremendous job. Our techs that are in there,
• 1:39:21
  Speaker 49: you know, our EVS, the cleaning staff that go in.
• 1:39:24
  Speaker 49: You know, if they go in and they're cleaning your
• 1:39:26
  Speaker 49: room and they smile and they ask how you're doing,
• 1:39:29
  Speaker 49: our transport team, we've got some transporters that are great
• 1:39:32
  Speaker 49: that really take the time to talk to the patients,
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 49: ask them how their stay is going, if there's anything
• 1:39:37
  Speaker 49: we could do. You know, we don't want to hear
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 49: about it, you know, three weeks later. We want to
• 1:39:40
  Speaker 49: know then if we can fix something because we might
• 1:39:43
  Speaker 49: be missing something. not just the medical aspect, but, you know,
• 1:39:46
  Speaker 49: your care, your food, or whatever it might be. You know,
• 1:39:50
  Speaker 49: the food service comes in. A lot of times they'll
• 1:39:53
  Speaker 49: come in and make sure you're enjoying your food or something.
• 1:39:55
  Speaker 49: We can change, you know, while you're there. So it's
• 1:39:57
  Speaker 49: a team effort, and I appreciate everybody that kind of
• 1:40:00
  Speaker 49: works to make that stay the best it can be.
• 1:40:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you've done quite a bit with nutrition and food
• 1:40:05
  Speaker 3: there over the last number of years too, Marion Nash
• 1:40:09
  Speaker 3: and group. But, you know, you've struck a nerve. We
• 1:40:13
  Speaker 3: have a caller today. With a question, Jan is on
• 1:40:16
  Speaker 3: the line. You're with Kevin Torres and Paul and Bill.
• 1:40:21
  Speaker 2: Good morning.
• 1:40:22
  Speaker 53: Good morning.
• 1:40:23
  Speaker 57: I can barely hear you. But, you know, I did
• 1:40:26
  Speaker 57: want to point out that I'm really happy that hospitals
• 1:40:33
  Speaker 57: are getting more money. I've worked in hospitals myself. As
• 1:40:37
  Speaker 57: a matter of fact, Bill, I volunteered— I worked at
• 1:40:41
  Speaker 57: a major hospital, and I missed it so much when
• 1:40:43
  Speaker 57: I was teaching in a university. I volunteered with Verna Swan.
• 1:40:49
  Speaker 57: I'm sure you remember her. She did a fabulous job
• 1:40:51
  Speaker 57: for the hospital.
• 1:40:53
  Speaker 1: Oh, Verna was in charge of patient relations, and it's
• 1:41:00
  Speaker 1: probably one of the most difficult jobs because you listen
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 1: to complaints all day, and that happens at every hospital.
• 1:41:09
  Speaker 1: And Verna was such a special person, she thought she
• 1:41:12
  Speaker 1: had the best job in the world.
• 1:41:13
  Speaker 2: She did.
• 1:41:14
  Speaker 57: And, you know, at the hospital that I was in,
• 1:41:19
  Speaker 57: you know, I handled things from where's my jello to
• 1:41:22
  Speaker 57: wrongful death. That was not Lawrence Memorial.
• 1:41:27
  Speaker 16: And it's true.
• 1:41:28
  Speaker 57: The nurses make a difference. My friends, when they would
• 1:41:30
  Speaker 57: do an internship at the VA, would say patients live
• 1:41:34
  Speaker 57: or die based on the nurses. But, you know, I'm
• 1:41:38
  Speaker 57: happy about this money, but I do want to point
• 1:41:40
  Speaker 57: out that the money that is coming over 50, around
• 1:41:45
  Speaker 57: $ 50 billion for hospitals all across the country does come
• 1:41:49
  Speaker 57: from what is called the Big Beautiful Bill. So the
• 1:41:53
  Speaker 57: public can thank the Republicans for that bill, even though
• 1:41:56
  Speaker 57: LeMond's taking credit for these grants that are coming in.
• 1:42:01
  Speaker 2: That's often the case, isn't it, Jan?
• 1:42:03
  Speaker 38: Yeah.
• 1:42:04
  Speaker 57: It sure is.
• 1:42:05
  Speaker 58: It sure is.
• 1:42:06
  Speaker 57: Hey, I'm enjoying this, and thank you for all you do, guys.
• 1:42:10
  Speaker 23: All right.
• 1:42:10
  Speaker 1: Well, thank you for your call, Jan. And, Kevin, we've
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 1: still got a few more minutes here. One question I
• 1:42:18
  Speaker 1: wanted to ask you pertains to an issue that is
• 1:42:24
  Speaker 1: of growing importance to guys who are.
• 1:42:29
  Speaker 2: Baby boomers, aging baby boomers. and that is the new.
• 1:42:35
  Speaker 1: Technology called Aquablation that is for treatment of enlarged prostate.
• 1:42:42
  Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit about that and how
• 1:42:45
  Speaker 1: it's developing over at Lawrence Memorial?
• 1:42:47
  Speaker 49: Yeah, I would say we've actually had the technology for
• 1:42:51
  Speaker 49: about a year now, and as you said, it's for
• 1:42:54
  Speaker 49: an enlarged prostate. So all the men that are getting
• 1:42:57
  Speaker 49: up in the middle of the night, I think you
• 1:42:59
  Speaker 49: can understand that, generally speaking. is because the prostate is
• 1:43:04
  Speaker 49: getting larger. And there is a treatment for that, if appropriate. Obviously,
• 1:43:09
  Speaker 49: you talk with your urologist, and they can kind of
• 1:43:11
  Speaker 49: guide you. But basically, it's a high-pressured water that takes
• 1:43:19
  Speaker 49: the prostate tissue out. There's a lot of side effects
• 1:43:24
  Speaker 49: with prostate surgeries and things like that. And obviously, If
• 1:43:27
  Speaker 49: you're having surgery for a cancer, a prostate cancer, things
• 1:43:31
  Speaker 49: like that, it would be different than this. But an
• 1:43:33
  Speaker 49: enlarged prostate does happen over time, and we've had a
• 1:43:38
  Speaker 49: lot of success with this. People have done quite well
• 1:43:41
  Speaker 49: and had very minimal side effects from the surgery. So,
• 1:43:45
  Speaker 49: you know, obviously you talk with your urology team, and
• 1:43:48
  Speaker 49: if it's something that you're having symptoms with, this might
• 1:43:51
  Speaker 49: be a good option for you. And we really had
• 1:43:53
  Speaker 49: a great success with it and have a number of
• 1:43:55
  Speaker 49: physicians doing it at our hospital now.
• 1:43:58
  Speaker 2: Different than the steam procedure?
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 49: Different, yeah. This is different. This is, again, it's basically,
• 1:44:06
  Speaker 49: if you think about basically a laser only, it's high-pressure water.
• 1:44:09
  Speaker 49: That's what's taking the tissue out.
• 1:44:12
  Speaker 2: Okay. So, yeah, it's very impressive.
• 1:44:16
  Speaker 1: Kevin, is that a procedure that's done under general anesthesia
• 1:44:20
  Speaker 1: or local?
• 1:44:21
  Speaker 2: General.
• 1:44:21
  Speaker 49: It'd be general. Yeah, it'd be general. And, yeah, there's
• 1:44:24
  Speaker 49: a little recovery from it, but I think, again, we've
• 1:44:26
  Speaker 49: had a lot of patients come back and say they're
• 1:44:30
  Speaker 49: very happy with the results and have done very well.
• 1:44:34
  Speaker 1: Another big advance that has occurred over at Lawrence Memorial
• 1:44:40
  Speaker 1: recently is achieving status as a Level 3 trauma center.
• 1:44:46
  Speaker 1: What goes into that and what additional service is offered,
• 1:44:54
  Speaker 1: what additional treatment is offered or enhanced? treatment is offered
• 1:44:57
  Speaker 1: to the patients as a result of that designation.
• 1:45:01
  Speaker 49: Yeah, you know, a lot of teamwork by Jess Mancarella,
• 1:45:06
  Speaker 49: that's the trauma coordinator, and her partner, Kate, and then Dr.
• 1:45:11
  Speaker 49: Stephanie Joyce. So Stephanie Joyce is an acute care trauma surgeon,
• 1:45:16
  Speaker 49: and she is now our chair of the surgery department,
• 1:45:19
  Speaker 49: and they've worked on this for a number of years,
• 1:45:21
  Speaker 49: and we've We just got the designation about six months ago,
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 49: but I think it's a good two- or three-year process
• 1:45:26
  Speaker 49: of getting it all together. The changes are we've always
• 1:45:29
  Speaker 49: had the trauma. They're there. We're off of 95, so
• 1:45:32
  Speaker 49: you can still get it, and we're still in a location.
• 1:45:34
  Speaker 49: You're not quite in Providence. You're not quite in New Haven,
• 1:45:37
  Speaker 49: so you're still getting any kind of trauma that could happen.
• 1:45:41
  Speaker 49: What it does is it organizes the team better, and
• 1:45:45
  Speaker 49: you have particular– Physicians that are in place, they might
• 1:45:48
  Speaker 49: be on call, they might be in-house different now than
• 1:45:51
  Speaker 49: they might have been in the past. And it really
• 1:45:53
  Speaker 49: organizes the team better to give you the best care
• 1:45:56
  Speaker 49: in a trauma situation. It helps to organize the emergency
• 1:46:00
  Speaker 49: physicians with the trauma team so that we're coordinated well
• 1:46:05
  Speaker 49: and do it the right way. Also does a lot
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 49: of quality work where we review cases and so we
• 1:46:10
  Speaker 49: can continue to improve the care that we're giving in
• 1:46:14
  Speaker 49: our trauma cases. it's really been a great upgrade. And
• 1:46:18
  Speaker 49: then the fact that we are coordinated with Yale and
• 1:46:22
  Speaker 49: we have a good transport system to get patients to
• 1:46:25
  Speaker 49: New Haven if they deem necessary, if it's more complicated
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 49: than something we feel we could handle.
• 1:46:33
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 1:46:34
  Speaker 1: Well, Kevin, I wish we had a little bit more
• 1:46:36
  Speaker 1: time to discuss all the advances and improvements that have
• 1:46:41
  Speaker 1: been occurring over at Lawrence Memorial. As a resident here
• 1:46:46
  Speaker 1: of southeastern Connecticut, as I think applies to all of
• 1:46:51
  Speaker 1: the residents of southeastern Connecticut who utilize Lawrence Memorial, this
• 1:46:56
  Speaker 1: is really encouraging and it's great news, and I hope
• 1:46:58
  Speaker 1: you guys will continue to advance in the months and
• 1:47:01
  Speaker 1: years to come. And I appreciate you coming on. Good
• 1:47:05
  Speaker 1: talking with you.
• 1:47:06
  Speaker 49: Thanks so much, Bill and Paul. I appreciate it.
• 1:47:08
  Speaker 2: Okay, Kevin. Thanks, Kevin. Enjoy today.
• 1:47:15
  Speaker 40: Let us be lovers, we'll marry.
• 1:47:26
  Speaker 15: Our fortunes together.
• 1:47:31
  Speaker 40: I've got some real estate.
• 1:47:33
  Speaker 8: Here in my bag.
• 1:47:38
  Speaker 6: So we've got a.
• 1:47:39
  Speaker 27: Party to win.
• 1:47:40
  Speaker 6: On 94.9 News Network.
• 1:47:42
  Speaker 12: In East Line, the off-ramp is closed.
• 1:47:45
  Speaker 11: Exit 74 from Route 161.
• 1:47:48
  Speaker 12: To I-95 northbound.
• 1:47:51
  Speaker 11: Stop-and-go traffic on I-95 northbound and Waterford due.
• 1:47:56
  Speaker 2: To road construction.
• 1:47:58
  Speaker 12: Also road construction in New London.
• 1:48:00
  Speaker 11: Just before the Gold Star Bridge. Route 12 is moving
• 1:48:04
  Speaker 11: slow northbound in Groton. Route 32, slow in both directions
• 1:48:10
  Speaker 11: between the Coast Guard Academy and Connecticut College. Slow southbound
• 1:48:14
  Speaker 11: in Quaker Hill and northbound in Montville.
• 1:48:18
  Speaker 12: I'm Eddie Schaefer, TimeSaver Traffic.
• 1:48:20
  Speaker 14: September is here.
• 1:48:21
  Speaker 13: And Connecticut's number one fastest growing Mazda dealer is shifting
• 1:48:25
  Speaker 13: into high gear.
• 1:48:26
  Speaker 15: At Whaling City Mazda, we want inventory.
• 1:48:28
  Speaker 14: And we want your vehicle.
• 1:48:29
  Speaker 15: Cars, trucks, SUVs.
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  Speaker 14: All makes and models.
• 1:48:32
  Speaker 15: Have a lease?
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  Speaker 50: We want it.
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  Speaker 15: Still financing?
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  Speaker 16: We want it.
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  Speaker 15: Own a vehicle you just don't need anymore?
• 1:48:37
  Speaker 5: We want it.
• 1:48:38
  Speaker 15: And here's the best part. You don't have to buy
• 1:48:40
  Speaker 15: from us for us to buy from you. But if
• 1:48:42
  Speaker 15: you are ready for something new, September's the perfect time.
• 1:48:45
  Speaker 13: Because right now, get the Wailing City Special on all
• 1:48:47
  Speaker 13: new Mazdas, including a lifetime powertrain warranty. Mazda CX-5, Mazda CX-50,
• 1:48:51
  Speaker 13: Mazda CX-30, and more. your Mazda, bring your trade, and
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 13: let's make a deal. Looking for pre-owned? Our inventory is
• 1:49:00
  Speaker 13: already aggressively priced, so you can shop confidently without worrying
• 1:49:03
  Speaker 13: about overpaying. Sell it, trade it, upgrade it. Whatever you're driving,
• 1:49:06
  Speaker 13: bring it to us. This September at Wailing City Mazda,
• 1:49:10
  Speaker 13: 567 Coma Street, New London. Connecticut's number one fastest growing
• 1:49:14
  Speaker 13: Mazda dealer.
• 1:49:16
  Speaker 50: 860-443-CITY.
• 1:49:17
  Speaker 15: Have we met yet? See dealer for details.
• 1:49:21
  Speaker 2: All right, we're back.
• 1:49:23
  Speaker 3: It's now almost 8 o'clock. We've been here a couple hours,
• 1:49:26
  Speaker 3: and we have a great caller, a longtime friend, and
• 1:49:30
  Speaker 3: a wonderful supporter of southeastern Connecticut, the Colonel.
• 1:49:33
  Speaker 2: And it's not Thursday, I think. It's Wednesday.
• 1:49:36
  Speaker 10: Hey, good morning, Bill.
• 1:49:37
  Speaker 58: Rob Simmons. I'm heading over to see Moose Gilbert at
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 58: IPT with my wife, Heidi, but I just wanted to
• 1:49:46
  Speaker 58: tell you what a great job you're doing, and I...
• 1:49:48
  Speaker 58: very much enjoy reading your op-eds in the New London Day.
• 1:49:53
  Speaker 58: I'm sure other people don't like them at all, but
• 1:49:56
  Speaker 58: I think they're fabulous. So keep up the great job.
• 1:49:59
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Rob. I appreciate it.
• 1:50:01
  Speaker 1: And you know what they say, if you can be
• 1:50:03
  Speaker 1: judged by your enemies, sometimes that's a good thing.
• 1:50:07
  Speaker 35: That's right.
• 1:50:08
  Speaker 58: And if you get a chance, give my regards to
• 1:50:12
  Speaker 58: an undisclosed talk show host who is at an undisclosed location.
• 1:50:19
  Speaker 2: Oh, I think I know who you're talking about.
• 1:50:22
  Speaker 58: Yeah, I can't say it because, you know, I don't
• 1:50:24
  Speaker 58: want the federal government to arrest me.
• 1:50:28
  Speaker 2: You never know who's watching, Rob. This is Paul.
• 1:50:32
  Speaker 32: Good to see you.
• 1:50:32
  Speaker 2: Say all the best to Heidi. God bless democracy and.
• 1:50:35
  Speaker 58: God bless the Democrats. You know, they've got us all
• 1:50:38
  Speaker 58: scared to death or canceled.
• 1:50:41
  Speaker 1: Well, if they're to be believed, as soon as AI
• 1:50:45
  Speaker 1: takes over, it'll be like the second coming of Frankenstein
• 1:50:49
  Speaker 1: and we'll all.
• 1:50:49
  Speaker 2: Be in trouble.
• 1:50:51
  Speaker 58: Well, it's already here. It's already here, Bill. I mean,
• 1:50:54
  Speaker 58: you know, gee whiz. I thought when Ben Franklin said
• 1:50:59
  Speaker 58: a republic if we can keep it, he was thinking
• 1:51:02
  Speaker 58: of a constitutional republic under the law where enforcement of
• 1:51:08
  Speaker 58: the law protected our liberties.
• 1:51:11
  Speaker 16: Not declining enforcing the law.
• 1:51:14
  Speaker 58: But anyway, hey, that's for another story or another day.
• 1:51:17
  Speaker 58: I just wanted to tell you what a great.
• 1:51:18
  Speaker 16: Job you've done.
• 1:51:19
  Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate it, Rob.
• 1:51:20
  Speaker 1: It's always good to hear from you and hope to
• 1:51:24
  Speaker 1: see you soon.
• 1:51:25
  Speaker 37: Broadcasting live from the Bruce Delon View at GMC Studios.
• 1:51:29
  Speaker 6: WJJF. Montauk.
• 1:51:31
  Speaker 15: Ledger.
• 1:51:31
  Speaker 31: Mystic.
• 1:51:32
  Speaker 6: Norwich.
• 1:51:32
  Speaker 10: 94.9 News.
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  Speaker 38: Court.
• 1:51:36
  Speaker 10: I'm Dave Anthony, Fox News.
• 1:51:37
  Speaker 32: Just over a year after the conservative activist was assassinated
• 1:51:40
  Speaker 32: at Utah Valley University, shot by a rooftop gunman during
• 1:51:44
  Speaker 32: a big outdoor campus event, The Kirk family's planning to
• 1:51:47
  Speaker 32: sue the school in Orem, Utah, where Fox's Claudia Cowan reports.
• 1:51:50
  Speaker 46: The family has filed what's called a notice of claim.
• 1:51:53
  Speaker 46: This is a precursor to a lawsuit, and it alleges
• 1:51:57
  Speaker 46: school officials and campus police dropped the ball, even after
• 1:52:00
  Speaker 46: being tipped off, that people could get onto the roof
• 1:52:04
  Speaker 46: of the Sorenson Center, which overlooks this quad area. and
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 46: that either police should control access or Kirk could post
• 1:52:11
  Speaker 46: his own security there. According to the claim, UVU Police
• 1:52:14
  Speaker 46: Chief Jeffrey Long responded by text, quote, I got you covered.
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 32: Utah Valley University just responded that it's aware of the
• 1:52:21
  Speaker 32: filing and their focus remains on supporting the campus community.
• 1:52:23
  Speaker 32: The alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, is charged with murder and
• 1:52:26
  Speaker 32: could get the death penalty if convicted. A TV news
• 1:52:29
  Speaker 32: reporter is dead in California, killed while covering a story
• 1:52:32
  Speaker 32: from the air.
• 1:52:33
  Speaker 10: We did have a helicopter crash here.
• 1:52:35
  Speaker 20: We do have one confirmed patient that seems to be
• 1:52:38
  Speaker 20: outside of the helicopter when it crashed.
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 32: Los Angeles Fire Captain Brandon Silverman, the reporter and pilot,
• 1:52:43
  Speaker 32: died after the helicopter went down and burst into flames
• 1:52:45
  Speaker 32: while providing coverage of a deadly bus crash. Congress is
• 1:52:49
  Speaker 32: considering new AI regulations, and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders will
• 1:52:52
  Speaker 32: host a bipartisan briefing today about artificial intelligence dangers, which
• 1:52:56
  Speaker 32: President Trump dismisses as a hoax that could benefit China.
• 1:52:59
  Speaker 28: We now have a president whose ignorance regarding this issue
• 1:53:04
  Speaker 28: is truly embarrassing.
• 1:53:06
  Speaker 59: Vice President J.D. Vance told the New York Post he
• 1:53:08
  Speaker 59: would oppose any cartel-like activity by artificial intelligence companies that
• 1:53:13
  Speaker 59: could shield them from antitrust laws, and also said he's
• 1:53:15
  Speaker 59: highly concerned about the technology's new threats to Americans' privacy
• 1:53:19
  Speaker 59: and data centers drawing power from the electrical grid.
• 1:53:22
  Speaker 32: That's Fox's Lucas Tomlinson at the White House. America's listening
• 1:53:26
  Speaker 32: to Fox News.
• 1:53:30
  Speaker 10: Wesley Financial Group is not a law firm.
• 1:53:32
  Speaker 35: Ask yourself this question.
• 1:53:33
  Speaker 48: Is it really worth holding on to that timeshare that
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  Speaker 48: you know you need to get rid of?
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  Speaker 35: Here's the truth.
• 1:53:39
  Speaker 48: The average maintenance fee just went up over 17%. That
• 1:53:43
  Speaker 48: could have been 117%, and there's.
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  Speaker 48: When you buy a timeshare, you give them a blank
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  Speaker 48: check for annual maintenance and assessment fees. I'm Chuck McDowell,
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  Speaker 48: founder of Wesley Financial Group. For 15 years, I've helped
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  Speaker 48: over 50,000 families cancel their timeshare.
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  Speaker 35: Not sell it. Not transfer it. cancel it.
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  Speaker 48: Did you buy a timeshare because they told you it
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  Speaker 48: was a great investment and your maintenance fees would.
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  Speaker 35: Never go up? That's a lie.
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  Speaker 48: Are you ready to get rid of your timeshare once
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  Speaker 10: Call Wesley now for your timeshare exit kit.
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  Speaker 60: 800-393-1881.
• 1:54:23
  Speaker 35: That's 800-393-1881.
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  Speaker 8: You buy better at Burns. You buy better at Burns.
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  Speaker 36: Good morning, I'm Sean Murphy. Cloudy skies today with a
• 1:56:06
  Speaker 36: high in the 70s.
• 1:56:07
  Speaker 6: Norwich police responded to a Central Avenue home Tuesday evening
• 1:56:11
  Speaker 6: after a fight between roommates over a controller. One roommate
• 1:56:15
  Speaker 6: allegedly pulled a knife and locked himself in an upstairs bathroom.
• 1:56:20
  Speaker 6: The incident remains under investigation. The Montville Housing Authority owes
• 1:56:24
  Speaker 6: the town $ 116, 000 in payments dating to 2023 and will
• 1:56:30
  Speaker 6: develop a repayment plan. The authority also approved an audit
• 1:56:34
  Speaker 6: amid concerns about missing records, unpaid bills, and financial oversight.
• 1:56:40
  Speaker 6: Chesterfield Fire Company leaders denied former ambulance captain Stephanie Nyers'
• 1:56:44
  Speaker 6: claims of poor management citing repeated performance issues. Nyer, who
• 1:56:49
  Speaker 6: said she was unaware of any discipline until Tuesday, was
• 1:56:52
  Speaker 6: suspended for allegedly neglecting duties. The private fire company called
• 1:56:56
  Speaker 6: it an internal personal matter. A Willimetic man was charged
• 1:57:00
  Speaker 6: yesterday with murder in the December 2025 death of a
• 1:57:04
  Speaker 6: two-week-old infant who suffered severe head injuries. Police said medical
• 1:57:08
  Speaker 6: findings indicated abusive trauma inconsistent with 40-year-old Dean R. Peruta's
• 1:57:15
  Speaker 6: claim that that the baby fell about three feet while
• 1:57:18
  Speaker 6: in his care. Developers reduced the proposed killingly Amazon warehouse
• 1:57:24
  Speaker 6: to 1.29 million square feet and cut 230 parking spaces.
• 1:57:29
  Speaker 6: The revised plan preserves 290 acres, but residents remain concerned
• 1:57:34
  Speaker 6: about traffic and environmental impacts. A public hearing on the
• 1:57:38
  Speaker 6: plan is scheduled for September 21st. I'm Sean Murphy. When
• 1:57:43
  Speaker 6: news breaks, we break in.
• 1:57:47
  Speaker 3: And we're back for our final hour, right?
• 1:57:51
  Speaker 2: Is that right? It's 8 o'clock already. Time flies. Bill Stanley.
• 1:57:54
  Speaker 3: I'm Paul Formica, sitting in for The Voice of Freedom
• 1:57:59
  Speaker 3: here on 94.9, Lee Elsie's show. And joining us, we've had,
• 1:58:06
  Speaker 3: you know, really a great show already today, and I—
• 1:58:09
  Speaker 3: you know, have high hopes for my good buddy Art House,
• 1:58:12
  Speaker 3: who's with us today. Art is a very accomplished person
• 1:58:19
  Speaker 3: in a number of ways. He's served administrations both, you know,
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 3: locally and nationally, and has become an expert in cybersecurity,
• 1:58:29
  Speaker 3: and among many other things. And he's an accomplished journalist now.
• 1:58:34
  Speaker 3: He's getting all kinds of kudos for his articles he's writing.
• 1:58:38
  Speaker 2: And a professor. Art, welcome to the show. Thanks, Paul.
• 1:58:44
  Speaker 16: It's good to hear your voice. You exaggerate a bit,
• 1:58:48
  Speaker 16: but nonetheless, it's good to be with you on the air.
• 1:58:52
  Speaker 2: No, no, it's good. And I remember.
• 1:58:55
  Speaker 3: coming into the Senate and, you know, catching up with
• 1:58:58
  Speaker 3: you again. You were, I don't know, you were completing
• 1:59:02
  Speaker 3: a term or in the middle of a term of
• 1:59:04
  Speaker 3: your cyber, what was that called, the cyber czar?
• 1:59:08
  Speaker 16: That's what the media called it, the cyber czar. That
• 1:59:11
  Speaker 16: was a bit of an exaggeration. Well, what happened, Paul,
• 1:59:14
  Speaker 16: was I did about four and a half years as
• 1:59:17
  Speaker 16: chairman of Pura. And one of our One of our
• 1:59:22
  Speaker 16: big activities was cybersecurity and creating a cybersecurity defense program
• 1:59:30
  Speaker 16: for utilities in the state of Connecticut. And when that
• 1:59:33
  Speaker 16: was over, which was in 2017, the governor asked if
• 1:59:36
  Speaker 16: I'd stay on as chief cybersecurity risk officer. for the
• 1:59:49
  Speaker 16: state of Connecticut, which was just too much of a
• 1:59:51
  Speaker 16: mouthful for the media. They just said cyber czar, but
• 1:59:54
  Speaker 16: that was the official title.
• 1:59:56
  Speaker 3: Well, that's, you know, you did a bang up job
• 1:59:59
  Speaker 3: for the state of Connecticut. I think we became the
• 2:00:02
  Speaker 3: leader in cyber awareness and protection. And I think, you know,
• 2:00:07
  Speaker 3: that's one of the things as a small business guy,
• 2:00:11
  Speaker 3: you know, you get so concerned about what, you know,
• 2:00:14
  Speaker 3: how do you protect yourself? How can you protect your business?
• 2:00:16
  Speaker 3: You hear about all the scams and You know, now
• 2:00:19
  Speaker 3: we're a country at war, and our utilities and our,
• 2:00:25
  Speaker 3: you know, valuable infrastructure systems are, you know, I'm sure, targets.
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 2: You know, what can we learn about that? What can
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 2: we do about that?
• 2:00:36
  Speaker 16: Well, you're absolutely right in the sense that you don't
• 2:00:39
  Speaker 16: have a choice today either as an individual or as
• 2:00:43
  Speaker 16: a business to choose. be on the Internet, to use
• 2:00:47
  Speaker 16: your computer, to use your iPhone. You have to. And
• 2:00:52
  Speaker 16: at the same time, it's dangerous. And so you immediately
• 2:00:55
  Speaker 16: have a dilemma. To go without it is not an option,
• 2:00:59
  Speaker 16: and to use it poses dangers. You're absolutely right. And
• 2:01:04
  Speaker 16: they're separate in the sense that businesses have different risks
• 2:01:08
  Speaker 16: than individuals do. But there are a number of steps
• 2:01:12
  Speaker 16: that you have to take. And the problem really comes
• 2:01:16
  Speaker 16: especially from people who are too trusting. I hate to
• 2:01:19
  Speaker 16: say that because you want trust. Certainly our country needs
• 2:01:22
  Speaker 16: a little more trust these days. But anybody in the
• 2:01:27
  Speaker 16: world can hack into a business or an individual's account
• 2:01:33
  Speaker 16: these days. And therefore, you have to always have defense
• 2:01:37
  Speaker 16: in mind. And it's the people who think this is
• 2:01:40
  Speaker 16: just like using a landline phone, I'm okay, are wrong.
• 2:01:43
  Speaker 16: And The consequences can be extremely difficult, and we can
• 2:01:48
  Speaker 16: go into what some of those are. But you're also
• 2:01:52
  Speaker 16: right in that being in a war, in a war situation,
• 2:01:57
  Speaker 16: increases the risks, because a country like Iran has already,
• 2:02:03
  Speaker 16: prior to this war, penetrated some of our utility systems
• 2:02:08
  Speaker 16: and compromised them. And they have quite sophisticated systems. information
• 2:02:14
  Speaker 16: technology personnel uh... the the other countries are not no
• 2:02:19
  Speaker 16: surprise china you have russian you have north korea uh...
• 2:02:23
  Speaker 16: and they have in different ways cause havoc with us
• 2:02:27
  Speaker 16: the uh.
• 2:02:28
  Speaker 49: the.
• 2:02:29
  Speaker 16: Chinese have been especially interested in intellectual property theft uh...
• 2:02:35
  Speaker 16: they have gone into of the defense industry which of
• 2:02:38
  Speaker 16: course is extremely important to to us in southeast connecticut
• 2:02:43
  Speaker 16: and financial institutions and so forth. That has been their
• 2:02:47
  Speaker 16: prime focus. North Korea has been one of spite. I mean,
• 2:02:54
  Speaker 16: when they think somebody has offended their dignity, such as
• 2:02:57
  Speaker 16: they did with Sony Pictures years ago, they'll hack in.
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 16: And they really made a mess of Sony, which had
• 2:03:05
  Speaker 16: almost very, very rudimentary protections and policies. The Russians have
• 2:03:12
  Speaker 16: been especially active in our campaigns. And this has become
• 2:03:18
  Speaker 16: a political controversy because the president denies it. But of
• 2:03:24
  Speaker 16: the U.S. intelligence agencies, there were 17 of them at
• 2:03:27
  Speaker 16: the time. They all looked into it, and they all
• 2:03:31
  Speaker 16: concluded unanimously with high confidence that the Russians had taken
• 2:03:37
  Speaker 16: measures to affect the election process. of two thousand sixteen
• 2:03:41
  Speaker 16: and try to get into ten twenty twenty now what
• 2:03:44
  Speaker 16: effect they have you don't know because what they did
• 2:03:47
  Speaker 16: was they went online posing as uh... sally jones from
• 2:03:52
  Speaker 16: all long island when it was really uh... do you
• 2:03:55
  Speaker 16: know is really.
• 2:03:57
  Speaker 4: Somebody often in saint petersburg in russia now what effect
• 2:04:00
  Speaker 4: they had is is is to be disputed and i
• 2:04:03
  Speaker 4: think that's where the sensitivity comes in work And people say, oh,
• 2:04:06
  Speaker 4: they really made a difference in the election.
• 2:04:08
  Speaker 16: And, of course, the current President Trump says, no, they didn't.
• 2:04:12
  Speaker 16: I want it legitimately. But whatever your view on that issue,
• 2:04:16
  Speaker 16: the point is the Russians have become extremely competent at
• 2:04:20
  Speaker 16: hacking into our social media. So that's a long answer.
• 2:04:25
  Speaker 16: And we can talk about what businesses or individuals might do,
• 2:04:27
  Speaker 16: but that's a bit of a response to your question, Paul.
• 2:04:33
  Speaker 3: Well, it's kind of an interesting, you know, situation. Who
• 2:04:36
  Speaker 3: actually oversees that? I know you have the National Security
• 2:04:39
  Speaker 3: Council system. And, you know, is it fall to the
• 2:04:43
  Speaker 3: states to try to protect those infrastructure systems? Or is
• 2:04:46
  Speaker 3: there a multilevel thing? And, you know, just to back
• 2:04:51
  Speaker 3: up a bit, I did say at the intro that,
• 2:04:54
  Speaker 3: you know, you served presidents there.
• 2:04:56
  Speaker 2: What was your role? I think you were with Clinton.
• 2:04:59
  Speaker 2: Is that correct?
• 2:05:00
  Speaker 16: No, no, I served two presidents, Paul, a Republican and
• 2:05:05
  Speaker 16: a Democrat. When I was a youngster a few years ago,
• 2:05:10
  Speaker 16: I was a White House fellow under President Ford, and
• 2:05:14
  Speaker 16: so I served as special projects officer on the National
• 2:05:18
  Speaker 16: Security Council, and I worked for Henry Kissinger for about
• 2:05:22
  Speaker 16: three months until President Ford said, you know, you can't
• 2:05:26
  Speaker 16: be both secretary of state and national security advisor. Those
• 2:05:29
  Speaker 16: are both full-time jobs, and you can't.
• 2:05:32
  Speaker 49: Do them both.
• 2:05:33
  Speaker 16: So I'm going to keep you as Secretary of State,
• 2:05:37
  Speaker 16: and you have to give up the National Security Council.
• 2:05:40
  Speaker 16: And I became Brent Scowcroft. So I worked for him
• 2:05:46
  Speaker 16: in that White House. With President Obama, I was with
• 2:05:51
  Speaker 16: the Director of National Intelligence, a fellow by the name
• 2:05:56
  Speaker 16: of Dennis Blair. who just spent the weekend at the
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 16: Giant's Neck Beach in Niantic with me to catch.
• 2:06:02
  Speaker 49: Up on things, by the way.
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 16: But he was the director of national intelligence, and under
• 2:06:08
  Speaker 16: him I was the director of congressional relations and strategic communications.
• 2:06:14
  Speaker 16: So one Republican, one Democrat. The answer to your question
• 2:06:18
  Speaker 16: is that the national protection of cybersecurity, national defense efforts,
• 2:06:24
  Speaker 16: is pretty split up and fairly inconsistent. But one thing
• 2:06:28
  Speaker 16: is clear, which is that the states themselves are responsible
• 2:06:34
  Speaker 16: for the oversight of utilities. And as you well know
• 2:06:38
  Speaker 16: from your service in the Senate, there are some areas
• 2:06:41
  Speaker 16: in which the federal government just doesn't have a role.
• 2:06:44
  Speaker 16: For example, the regulation of the insurance industry. That's left
• 2:06:48
  Speaker 16: to the states. And the regulation of utilities, electricity, natural gas,
• 2:06:54
  Speaker 16: the major water companies. and somewhat telecommunications, is the purview
• 2:06:59
  Speaker 16: of the states. And it was very interesting. I was
• 2:07:02
  Speaker 16: wrapping up in the intelligence community under Obama, and I
• 2:07:07
  Speaker 16: was appointed to Pura. And as I was coming up here,
• 2:07:11
  Speaker 16: there were people from the intelligence community who came and
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 16: met with me and said, look, this is totally the
• 2:07:19
  Speaker 16: purview of the states, and yet foreign countries are penetrating
• 2:07:23
  Speaker 16: our utilities here.
• 2:07:24
  Speaker 14: Uh.
• 2:07:25
  Speaker 16: with cyberattacks we the federal government do not have oversight
• 2:07:29
  Speaker 16: over them the states do but the states don't know
• 2:07:33
  Speaker 16: anything about this is just not their field uh... and
• 2:07:36
  Speaker 16: at that time about two hundred and fifty total regularly
• 2:07:40
  Speaker 16: three five estate you know publicly public utility commission members
• 2:07:44
  Speaker 16: there were only a handful of the three or four
• 2:07:47
  Speaker 16: who had security clearances and those were former military people
• 2:07:50
  Speaker 16: so because i was going up to connecticut and i
• 2:07:53
  Speaker 16: had worked fairly extensively in cybersecurity matters with the intelligence community,
• 2:07:58
  Speaker 16: they said, can you do something in Connecticut to at
• 2:08:01
  Speaker 16: least have one state take the lead in creating a
• 2:08:06
  Speaker 16: cybersecurity defense program for the state? And so when I
• 2:08:10
  Speaker 16: got up there, I was very grateful to have the job,
• 2:08:13
  Speaker 16: and I met with Governor Malloy. And I said, by
• 2:08:16
  Speaker 16: the way... you know, after word got out that you
• 2:08:19
  Speaker 16: were appointing me, this is what some federal intelligence people
• 2:08:22
  Speaker 16: said they'd like to have Connecticut do. And Governor Malloy's
• 2:08:25
  Speaker 16: reaction was, that's a damn good idea. Let's do it.
• 2:08:29
  Speaker 16: And so from that, he and I and some others,
• 2:08:34
  Speaker 16: Dan Esty at DEEP, said to work creating a program
• 2:08:39
  Speaker 16: of cybersecurity defense for Connecticut. And the participants were the
• 2:08:46
  Speaker 16: two big electric companies, natural gas plus the major water companies.
• 2:08:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, interesting.
• 2:08:53
  Speaker 3: And I hear, you know, Eversource gets hit a number
• 2:08:56
  Speaker 3: of times on a daily basis, hundreds of thousands of times,
• 2:09:01
  Speaker 3: you know, to get hacked. So I think it's a
• 2:09:04
  Speaker 3: great initiative that you brought with your experience and Governor
• 2:09:08
  Speaker 3: Malloy indicated was a good idea. You know, and then
• 2:09:13
  Speaker 3: Has it kind of stopped, or is Pura still continuing
• 2:09:17
  Speaker 3: that program? Or what is this administration currently doing to
• 2:09:22
  Speaker 3: help us protect against cyber?
• 2:09:25
  Speaker 16: First, the threat. You're absolutely right. It surprises people, as
• 2:09:31
  Speaker 16: it understandably should, that you're absolutely correct. Eversource, some days,
• 2:09:36
  Speaker 16: will get well over hundreds of thousands of hacking attempts.
• 2:09:39
  Speaker 16: And what those are are bots, robot machines, which are
• 2:09:42
  Speaker 16: simply trying one penetration code after another to try to
• 2:09:46
  Speaker 16: get in. And they have quite sophisticated defenses. What we found,
• 2:09:53
  Speaker 16: what I found when we started all this under Governor
• 2:09:57
  Speaker 16: Malloy was that the utilities did not want anybody involved.
• 2:10:04
  Speaker 16: They were, it was a secret program and necessarily Because
• 2:10:08
  Speaker 16: they were vulnerable, they did not want information to be
• 2:10:11
  Speaker 16: in the public domain about what their defenses were and
• 2:10:14
  Speaker 16: what their vulnerabilities were, and I understand that. At the
• 2:10:18
  Speaker 16: same time, the General Assembly, the legislators, and the governor
• 2:10:23
  Speaker 16: were hearing a lot about cyberattacks, and they wanted to
• 2:10:26
  Speaker 16: know how vulnerable are we, are we safe or not.
• 2:10:30
  Speaker 16: And the legislators in the governor's office, they didn't know.
• 2:10:35
  Speaker 16: They didn't have an answer. And they wanted to have
• 2:10:37
  Speaker 16: an answer. So we agreed what we would do is
• 2:10:41
  Speaker 16: once a year we would have a team of Connecticut
• 2:10:45
  Speaker 16: officials from Pura, from the Department of Emergency Services and
• 2:10:50
  Speaker 16: Public Protection and elsewhere, meet with the utilities to review
• 2:10:55
  Speaker 16: their cybersecurity defense capabilities and then to write a report
• 2:11:00
  Speaker 16: at the end of the year summarizing things. We would
• 2:11:04
  Speaker 16: not give out particular threats or particular actors who were involved,
• 2:11:08
  Speaker 16: and we would protect sensitive sources and methods, but we
• 2:11:11
  Speaker 16: would give a summary conclusion as to how adequate the
• 2:11:15
  Speaker 16: protections were that each utility had. And the governor was
• 2:11:22
  Speaker 16: deeply involved in this, as were the leaders of the
• 2:11:24
  Speaker 16: General Assembly. We'd have a press conference each year and
• 2:11:26
  Speaker 16: release that report. One of the interesting things, Paul, was
• 2:11:31
  Speaker 16: that There was an agreement in setting this up that
• 2:11:35
  Speaker 16: I suggested and the utilities agreed to, that both the
• 2:11:38
  Speaker 16: utilities and the state be allowed to veto any part
• 2:11:43
  Speaker 16: of the report. We thought it was a problem of
• 2:11:47
  Speaker 16: any sort. So it was a consensus document. And for
• 2:11:50
  Speaker 16: several years we did that and issued the report. The
• 2:11:54
  Speaker 16: utilities came to like it because they had a means
• 2:11:58
  Speaker 16: of communicating with the public to tell them what was
• 2:12:02
  Speaker 16: going on, which is what they wanted to do. The
• 2:12:05
  Speaker 16: legislature and the governor liked it because at least when asked,
• 2:12:08
  Speaker 16: how are we doing, they had a document that could
• 2:12:13
  Speaker 16: describe that. Now, what has happened since then is that...
• 2:12:19
  Speaker 16: the utilities have become far more sophisticated in their defense mechanisms.
• 2:12:23
  Speaker 16: When I think back to 2014-15, they had what we
• 2:12:28
  Speaker 16: look at now as rudimentary cyber defense capabilities. They were
• 2:12:33
  Speaker 16: pretty good at the time, but nothing like what they
• 2:12:35
  Speaker 16: have today. They have far more sophisticated personnel, far more
• 2:12:40
  Speaker 16: sophisticated software programs, and they have hired former intelligence officials
• 2:12:46
  Speaker 16: to come on their own payrolls to strengthen their defense systems.
• 2:12:51
  Speaker 16: So what started out as a fairly equal exchange sitting
• 2:12:55
  Speaker 16: at that table turned out to be one which has
• 2:12:59
  Speaker 16: been much, much stronger on the utility side. The Connecticut
• 2:13:03
  Speaker 16: people generally have done something else. You've got an electrical engineer.
• 2:13:08
  Speaker 16: You've had an attorney. These were not cyber experts. They
• 2:13:11
  Speaker 16: were people who knew something about cyber. And the program has...
• 2:13:17
  Speaker 16: has been intermittent in its reports in recent years. Some
• 2:13:20
  Speaker 16: years they haven't even given a report. And so it
• 2:13:24
  Speaker 16: has not been as vigorous and as frequent in latter
• 2:13:29
  Speaker 16: years as it was when we first created it.
• 2:13:31
  Speaker 3: And who is responsible for that? Is that a Pura push,
• 2:13:35
  Speaker 3: or is it the governor's office? I mean, not to
• 2:13:39
  Speaker 3: really put anybody on the chopping block at all, but,
• 2:13:43
  Speaker 3: I mean, that's something I don't think we should really,
• 2:13:45
  Speaker 3: in my opinion, less than expert opinion, think we should,
• 2:13:49
  Speaker 3: you know, let sit. We should probably increase its awareness.
• 2:13:55
  Speaker 16: Well, fair enough. When it happened, Connecticut was cited by
• 2:14:03
  Speaker 16: some of the national media and also by the National
• 2:14:07
  Speaker 16: Association of Utility Regulators as being out front. We became
• 2:14:11
  Speaker 16: a national leader in this area. And to a lot
• 2:14:16
  Speaker 16: of tense up you know different different administrations have different
• 2:14:21
  Speaker 16: priorities the there is still some some oversight it's greatly
• 2:14:25
  Speaker 16: reduced I'll and I have been you on other things
• 2:14:32
  Speaker 16: you mentioned I'm teaching you come right now I'll but
• 2:14:35
  Speaker 16: I think it's a combination several things I mean everybody
• 2:14:38
  Speaker 16: knows about the the imbroglio that pure be became during
• 2:14:44
  Speaker 16: the last several years and other activities. I don't have
• 2:14:49
  Speaker 16: to tell you that state government has its hands full
• 2:14:52
  Speaker 16: of challenges to manage. And this is one which I
• 2:14:57
  Speaker 16: think it got off to a very strong start. Right
• 2:15:00
  Speaker 16: now it's not as vigorous as it used to be,
• 2:15:02
  Speaker 16: and there are other powers who can explain maybe why
• 2:15:06
  Speaker 16: that is. I think it's just a relative choice of
• 2:15:08
  Speaker 16: what to spend your time and money on.
• 2:15:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah, okay.
• 2:15:12
  Speaker 35: All right.
• 2:15:13
  Speaker 3: Well, we have, you know, a minute or two left.
• 2:15:16
  Speaker 3: I wanted to talk to you. Bill wants to talk
• 2:15:17
  Speaker 3: to you a little bit about the, the Ribicoff thing and,
• 2:15:21
  Speaker 3: you know, just, are you, are you able to kind
• 2:15:25
  Speaker 3: of sit through the news and come back after a
• 2:15:27
  Speaker 3: few minutes.
• 2:15:27
  Speaker 14: Or you have, yeah, sure.
• 2:15:28
  Speaker 16: I can do that. Yeah.
• 2:15:29
  Speaker 3: We can, we can hit for a little while. And, and,
• 2:15:32
  Speaker 3: and I know Bill, Bill has a lot of questions. He,
• 2:15:36
  Speaker 3: he goes way back to that time, Bill Ribicoff, you know, I'm,
• 2:15:40
  Speaker 3: I think I was in kindergarten back then.
• 2:15:42
  Speaker 16: Well, you're a youngster, and Bill and I are probably
• 2:15:44
  Speaker 16: a bit more mature.
• 2:15:48
  Speaker 2: Maybe older. I don't know about mature at this age.
• 2:15:51
  Speaker 2: All right, so why don't we do that?
• 2:15:53
  Speaker 3: We're talking with Art House, who has joined us with
• 2:15:57
  Speaker 3: some very interesting conversations. I'm Paul Formica and Bill Stanley.
• 2:16:01
  Speaker 3: We're going to go to a quick break. This is
• 2:16:04
  Speaker 3: 94 News Now and Stimulating Talk.
• 2:16:07
  Speaker 6: Stay with us.
• 2:16:11
  Speaker 50: From the San Francisco Bay. Rolled off of their ship
• 2:16:18
  Speaker 50: and here's what they had to say. We're calling everyone
• 2:16:24
  Speaker 50: to ride along.
• 2:16:28
  Speaker 11: In Waterford, road construction I-95 northbound exit 81 to 82.
• 2:16:37
  Speaker 12: The right lane is closed. You're moving slowly over the
• 2:16:41
  Speaker 12: Gold Star Bridge. Route 12 is slow in both directions
• 2:16:46
  Speaker 12: in Groton.
• 2:16:47
  Speaker 11: Route 32 is stopping to go southbound at Connecticut College.
• 2:16:51
  Speaker 11: Slow in both directions in Quaker Hill. and slow northbound
• 2:16:55
  Speaker 11: in Montville. I-395 is moving slow northbound at Route 85.
• 2:17:01
  Speaker 11: I'm Eddie Schaefer, Time Saver Traffic.
• 2:17:04
  Speaker 13: Whaling City Ford needs 50 pre-owned vehicles.
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  Speaker 44: At Ascend Bank, they believe business gets done through relationships,
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  Speaker 6: Preston Trading Post, hard to find, impossible to forget.
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  Speaker 3: but that's only because the beaten path doesn't have this
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  Speaker 40: News.
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  Speaker 10: I'm CJ Papa.
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  Speaker 30: Charlie Kirk's family files legal papers saying they're planning to
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  Speaker 30: take Utah Valley University officials to court.
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  Speaker 46: The Kirk family now going after Utah Valley University. and
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  Speaker 46: those who said they would keep Charlie Kirk safe during
• 2:22:17
  Speaker 46: his Turning Point USA event. And it alleges school officials
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  Speaker 46: and campus police dropped the ball, even after being tipped off,
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  Speaker 46: that people could get onto the roof of the Sorensen Center,
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  Speaker 46: which overlooks this Quad area.
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  Speaker 10: Kirk was killed last September.
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  Speaker 30: Fox's Claudia Callen, the school says it's aware of the
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  Speaker 30: notice of claim. President Trump travels to North Carolina this evening.
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  Speaker 30: He's dumping for Republican Senate candidate Michael Watley. He's running
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  Speaker 30: against Democrat and former Governor Roy Cooper. Incoming Democratic Senator
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  Speaker 30: Chris Coons wins his primary in Delaware. He's looking for
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  Speaker 30: a third term in November. America is listening to Fox News.
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  Speaker 6: Hi, I'm Hugh Hewitt.
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  Speaker 61: When planning for retirement, a big mistake people make is
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  Speaker 61: underestimating how much income they'll actually need. You may think
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  Speaker 61: but that doesn't always hold up. Some expenses do indeed
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  Speaker 14: Looking for your next SUV or truck?
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  Speaker 31: Head to Bruce Salon Buick GMC on Route 1 in Stonington.
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  Speaker 6: Good morning, I'm Sean Murphy.
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  Speaker 36: Cloudy skies today with a high in the 70s.
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  Speaker 6: Norwich police responded to a Central Avenue home Tuesday evening
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  Speaker 6: after a fight between roommates over a controller. One roommate
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  Speaker 6: allegedly pulled a knife and locked himself in an upstairs bathroom.
• 2:24:49
  Speaker 6: The incident remains under investigation. The Montville Housing Authority owes
• 2:24:53
  Speaker 6: the town $ 116, 000 in payments dating to 2023 and will
• 2:24:59
  Speaker 6: develop a repayment plan. The authority also approved an audit
• 2:25:03
  Speaker 6: amid concerns about missing records, unpaid bills, and financial oversight.
• 2:25:09
  Speaker 6: Chesterfield Fire Company leaders denied former ambulance captain Stephanie Nyers'
• 2:25:14
  Speaker 6: claims of poor management citing repeated performance issues. Nyer, who
• 2:25:18
  Speaker 6: said she was unaware of any discipline until Tuesday, was
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  Speaker 6: suspended for allegedly neglecting duties. The private fire company called
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  Speaker 6: it an internal personal matter. A Willimantic man was charged
• 2:25:29
  Speaker 6: yesterday with murder in the December 2025 death of a
• 2:25:33
  Speaker 6: two-week-old infant who suffered severe head injuries. Police said medical
• 2:25:37
  Speaker 6: findings indicated abusive trauma inconsistent with 40-year-old Dean R. Peruta's
• 2:25:44
  Speaker 6: claim to that the baby fell about three feet while
• 2:25:48
  Speaker 6: in his care. Developers reduced the proposed killingly Amazon warehouse
• 2:25:53
  Speaker 6: to 1.29 million square feet and cut 230 parking spaces.
• 2:25:59
  Speaker 6: The revised plan preserves 290 acres, but residents remain concerned
• 2:26:04
  Speaker 6: about traffic and environmental impacts. A public hearing on the
• 2:26:07
  Speaker 6: plan is scheduled for September 21st.
• 2:26:11
  Speaker 22: I'm Sean Murphy.
• 2:26:12
  Speaker 6: When news breaks, we break in.
• 2:26:16
  Speaker 2: And we're back.
• 2:26:17
  Speaker 3: 94 Point News now. Paul Formica with Bill Stanley. And
• 2:26:21
  Speaker 3: we've had the pleasure of some wonderful guests this morning
• 2:26:24
  Speaker 3: and callers.
• 2:26:25
  Speaker 2: And right now we have Art House, who is.
• 2:26:28
  Speaker 3: With us from 8 to 8.30, talking to us about cybersecurity. And, Art,
• 2:26:34
  Speaker 3: thank you for staying on hold and for agreeing to
• 2:26:38
  Speaker 3: stick with us for a little bit more time. You
• 2:26:40
  Speaker 3: have so many things that you're a part of. You know, Bill,
• 2:26:46
  Speaker 3: And Bill is a great writer himself, you know, and
• 2:26:50
  Speaker 3: he has done op-eds. And, you know, he does a
• 2:26:54
  Speaker 3: great job for the New London Day and wanted to
• 2:26:57
  Speaker 3: talk to you a little bit about what your latest
• 2:26:59
  Speaker 3: op-ed is, one of many. But welcome back.
• 2:27:03
  Speaker 16: Thanks. Sure, Paul. Bill, it's a pleasure to be with you.
• 2:27:06
  Speaker 1: Well, Art, I don't think we've ever met before, but
• 2:27:11
  Speaker 1: I read with great interest and really enjoyed your op-ed
• 2:27:15
  Speaker 1: piece for The Current a few weeks back about Senator
• 2:27:19
  Speaker 1: Ribicoff and the shocking decision he made not to seek
• 2:27:27
  Speaker 1: a fourth term in the United States Senate. And I
• 2:27:32
  Speaker 1: thought it was a great piece, very timely. And ironically,
• 2:27:37
  Speaker 1: before I knew that you were going to be coming
• 2:27:39
  Speaker 1: on the program or even before Paul reached out to
• 2:27:42
  Speaker 1: you to join us today, I looked up your profile.
• 2:27:47
  Speaker 1: And forget about the Dos Equis guy. You are the
• 2:27:50
  Speaker 1: most interesting man.
• 2:27:51
  Speaker 22: In the world.
• 2:27:54
  Speaker 35: You are, you are.
• 2:27:56
  Speaker 16: You exaggerate.
• 2:27:57
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean... We.
• 2:27:59
  Speaker 16: Haven't met, but let me pay you a compliment if
• 2:28:01
  Speaker 16: I know your byline. I think that's about the biggest
• 2:28:04
  Speaker 16: compliment you can pay a writer, so thank you.
• 2:28:06
  Speaker 1: Okay, well, thank you, and so you served professionally with
• 2:28:16
  Speaker 1: three distinguished United States senators, Abraham Rivikoff, Robert Byrd, and Chris.
• 2:28:22
  Speaker 2: Dodd, but Rivikoff... I was most.
• 2:28:28
  Speaker 1: Interested in that at the tender young age of 68
• 2:28:33
  Speaker 1: when compared to some of the other characters who were
• 2:28:36
  Speaker 1: holding on to their seats in the Senate, decided that
• 2:28:41
  Speaker 1: there was more to life than serving in the United
• 2:28:44
  Speaker 1: States Senate, and he walked away. He was certain to
• 2:28:47
  Speaker 1: be re-elected to a fourth term as United States Senator
• 2:28:50
  Speaker 1: from Connecticut, but he left, and of course that created
• 2:28:55
  Speaker 1: a trickle-down effect. Senator Dodd, who was then the congressman
• 2:29:01
  Speaker 1: from the 2nd District, decided that he would run for
• 2:29:07
  Speaker 1: Rivikov's seat after he had discussed it with then-Congressman Toby Moffitt,
• 2:29:12
  Speaker 1: and Moffitt decided that he would go for statewide office
• 2:29:17
  Speaker 1: and Then a young state representative named Sam Gaydenson then
• 2:29:23
  Speaker 1: rose to.
• 2:29:23
  Speaker 2: The 2nd Congressional District.
• 2:29:25
  Speaker 1: But can you talk a little bit about what went
• 2:29:28
  Speaker 1: into Ribicoff's decision not to seek re-election? I mean, he
• 2:29:33
  Speaker 1: was very accomplished, respected, and loved by both sides of
• 2:29:39
  Speaker 1: the aisle, and particularly by his constituents in Connecticut. So
• 2:29:45
  Speaker 1: what went into his decision not to seek re-election?
• 2:29:50
  Speaker 16: Well, Bill, it was one of my great good fortunes
• 2:29:54
  Speaker 16: in life to be able to work for him. Our
• 2:29:59
  Speaker 16: relationship developed because I had been on the National Security
• 2:30:03
  Speaker 16: Council staff, and when I left that job, he hired
• 2:30:06
  Speaker 16: me to be his foreign affairs guy and then his
• 2:30:08
  Speaker 16: chief of staff. And we traveled together, and we spent
• 2:30:14
  Speaker 16: time in the Middle East. We spent time with the
• 2:30:16
  Speaker 16: Soviet Union negotiating in the strategic arms talks things like
• 2:30:20
  Speaker 16: that we got to know each other very very well
• 2:30:23
  Speaker 16: i had i have a lot of respect for him
• 2:30:26
  Speaker 16: and i i'd like to guy and we he was
• 2:30:31
  Speaker 16: up for re-election in nineteen eighty and he designated me
• 2:30:36
  Speaker 16: to be his campaign manager when the time came what
• 2:30:40
  Speaker 16: what you had then was what was called saturday school
• 2:30:42
  Speaker 16: which was a program put on by the the democratic
• 2:30:46
  Speaker 16: senatorial campaign committee to help educate the campaign managers to
• 2:30:51
  Speaker 16: either set up a campaign and do all the things
• 2:30:53
  Speaker 16: you need to do to get elected, from fundraising and
• 2:30:56
  Speaker 16: messaging and volunteer programs and all that stuff. Well, I
• 2:31:02
  Speaker 16: was doing that with him when I was reporting back
• 2:31:08
  Speaker 16: to him one day as to what was going on
• 2:31:10
  Speaker 16: down at this program I was participating in, and he
• 2:31:14
  Speaker 16: had to have a participant in that program, because if
• 2:31:17
  Speaker 16: he didn't, everybody would Figured he wasn't running. Well, one day,
• 2:31:20
  Speaker 16: as I was waxing on about what we were learning,
• 2:31:23
  Speaker 16: he said, look, Arthur, we've got to have a talk.
• 2:31:26
  Speaker 16: And he just said, I'm not going to run. And
• 2:31:29
  Speaker 16: I was stunned because, as you say, he was 68
• 2:31:32
  Speaker 16: years old. And the reasons that you asked about, Bill,
• 2:31:37
  Speaker 16: they came down to three, really. By far, the most
• 2:31:41
  Speaker 16: important one was just the gut. I mean, it just...
• 2:31:48
  Speaker 16: should I do this again or not? And the two
• 2:31:52
  Speaker 16: others were, number one, are there people coming up along
• 2:31:56
  Speaker 16: who can carry the mantle, continue the way you would
• 2:31:58
  Speaker 16: like to do it? And he decided, of course, there were.
• 2:32:02
  Speaker 16: There was Toby Moffitt in the 6th District and Chris
• 2:32:04
  Speaker 16: Dodd in the 2nd, so that was not a problem.
• 2:32:07
  Speaker 16: But one of the other key things is, did he
• 2:32:10
  Speaker 16: have another life? And he did. He had been in
• 2:32:13
  Speaker 16: politics and political life as a as a circuit judge,
• 2:32:19
  Speaker 16: as a state representative, governor of Connecticut, secretary of health, education, welfare.
• 2:32:24
  Speaker 16: He'd been in politics for 40 years and was nationally
• 2:32:28
  Speaker 16: known as a major figure. There was a lot of tension,
• 2:32:30
  Speaker 16: a lot of pressure on a nationally known prominent U.S. senator.
• 2:32:36
  Speaker 16: And he just decided he was going to enjoy life
• 2:32:39
  Speaker 16: a little bit. And he and Mrs. Rivikoff had a
• 2:32:42
  Speaker 16: great life together. They loved to travel. They loved to
• 2:32:46
  Speaker 16: spend time in big cities together. And he loved Connecticut.
• 2:32:51
  Speaker 16: He especially enjoyed being up in northwestern Connecticut in the
• 2:32:56
  Speaker 16: Cornwall Bridge town. And he put it all together and said,
• 2:33:01
  Speaker 16: I'm 68. I want to do something else. I am
• 2:33:04
  Speaker 16: not going to die in the saddle. I would like
• 2:33:09
  Speaker 16: to get out while I'm in control, open the place
• 2:33:13
  Speaker 16: up for someone else, and then spend a few years
• 2:33:16
  Speaker 16: just enjoying life and doing what I want to do.
• 2:33:18
  Speaker 16: So it was that personal sense of there's more to
• 2:33:23
  Speaker 16: life than just, I say just, there's more to life
• 2:33:26
  Speaker 16: than being a United States senator, and I'm going to
• 2:33:29
  Speaker 16: have some fun. And I came to respect the fact
• 2:33:35
  Speaker 16: that that was his decision. We had to keep it
• 2:33:37
  Speaker 16: secret for months.
• 2:33:38
  Speaker 40: Sure, sure.
• 2:33:40
  Speaker 16: I couldn't talk to anybody about it.
• 2:33:43
  Speaker 2: Otherwise, you'd have been a lame duck.
• 2:33:46
  Speaker 1: Art, let me interrupt for just a second. We have
• 2:33:49
  Speaker 1: Reed has called in from the Northwest Hills, and he
• 2:33:52
  Speaker 1: has a question for you.
• 2:33:53
  Speaker 2: Are you there, Reed?
• 2:33:55
  Speaker 60: That was a nice segue because I'm a very short
• 2:34:00
  Speaker 60: drive from Cornwall and Cornwall Bridge, and that's a nice
• 2:34:04
  Speaker 60: place to smell the roses, as it were. But I
• 2:34:09
  Speaker 60: hadn't thought about Abe Rivikoff for 21 years. It was
• 2:34:14
  Speaker 60: 21 years ago that in Washington, Connecticut, their local library
• 2:34:21
  Speaker 60: had a 50-year anniversary exhibit of artifacts they had put together,
• 2:34:28
  Speaker 60: especially newspaper articles blown up on these big boards so
• 2:34:32
  Speaker 60: that you could read them, of what happened during the
• 2:34:36
  Speaker 60: flood of 1955. And that was a very significant event.
• 2:34:43
  Speaker 16: For Abe Rubikoff.
• 2:34:45
  Speaker 60: And what a monumental role he had, not only in
• 2:34:49
  Speaker 60: managing the flood and the disaster relief and response, but
• 2:34:55
  Speaker 60: also to the building of the reservoir system and flood
• 2:34:58
  Speaker 60: control system that followed that. And that was a huge
• 2:35:02
  Speaker 60: boon to the economy of Tarleton, where ONG is located.
• 2:35:07
  Speaker 60: because they did a lot of the infrastructure on that. And,
• 2:35:10
  Speaker 60: you know, when you have a big rainstorm up here
• 2:35:13
  Speaker 60: and you go down to Thomaston and look at the
• 2:35:14
  Speaker 60: reservoir down there, especially at night, it's unbelievable. You just,
• 2:35:20
  Speaker 60: as far as the eye can see, it's just hectic
• 2:35:24
  Speaker 60: acres of water in these huge reservoirs that would have
• 2:35:29
  Speaker 60: been flooding any number of towns around here before they
• 2:35:33
  Speaker 60: built that system. And so he was a pretty big
• 2:35:37
  Speaker 60: figure in that. The reason I called was this discussion
• 2:35:41
  Speaker 60: of cybersecurity. I was wondering if that extended to the
• 2:35:48
  Speaker 60: artificial intelligence question and the fact that mysteriously over the
• 2:35:53
  Speaker 60: past several days, suddenly you have all these so-called leaders
• 2:35:59
  Speaker 60: of the AI industry suddenly all materializing at exactly the
• 2:36:03
  Speaker 60: same moment along with certain government figures, to say, you know,
• 2:36:08
  Speaker 60: stop me before I kill again, we have to be regulated,
• 2:36:12
  Speaker 60: and how this is figuring into the election for the midterms,
• 2:36:16
  Speaker 60: and will it have an effect?
• 2:36:18
  Speaker 16: To me, it reeks of desperation.
• 2:36:20
  Speaker 60: But certainly of lack of credibility, and I just wondered
• 2:36:23
  Speaker 60: what you were thinking about that.
• 2:36:26
  Speaker 16: Well, it was a good call, Reid. You covered two
• 2:36:29
  Speaker 16: points there. First of all, the artificial intelligence. I think
• 2:36:35
  Speaker 16: the kernel of inspiration there is real. The problem is
• 2:36:42
  Speaker 16: there are no values attached to artificial intelligence. And certainly
• 2:36:48
  Speaker 16: Anthropic raised this issue a year ago when it looked
• 2:36:52
  Speaker 16: and it said there are certain programs that refuse to
• 2:36:55
  Speaker 16: set themselves off. They think it's a test. So that
• 2:36:58
  Speaker 16: when commanded to cease doing their work, they continued to
• 2:37:01
  Speaker 16: do it. And they had legitimate... It had legitimate concerns
• 2:37:07
  Speaker 16: that the programs they were developing, if used in their entirety,
• 2:37:11
  Speaker 16: could involve real population control, real invasion of privacy, that
• 2:37:16
  Speaker 16: they did not want to propagate or allow to happen,
• 2:37:19
  Speaker 16: either by the United States or by any other country.
• 2:37:22
  Speaker 16: So this has been a real serious issue for over
• 2:37:25
  Speaker 16: a year. I think when they raised it again, it's
• 2:37:29
  Speaker 16: like a bird. a bubble. The other companies said, you know,
• 2:37:32
  Speaker 16: we have the same concerns. We're trying to use something
• 2:37:35
  Speaker 16: which is modern and which is part of a power
• 2:37:39
  Speaker 16: race with China, and in that sense the president is correct.
• 2:37:42
  Speaker 16: But we don't have complete control over it, and we
• 2:37:45
  Speaker 16: are not comfortable continuing to to make these programs available,
• 2:37:49
  Speaker 16: not being sure of where they're going. So I think
• 2:37:51
  Speaker 16: the concern is real. Regarding the floods, this is a
• 2:37:55
  Speaker 16: political story. Abe Rybakov was governor. He got word that
• 2:38:00
  Speaker 16: there were torrential rains and that the bridge up in
• 2:38:03
  Speaker 16: Winstead was vulnerable. So he got his state trooper, Al
• 2:38:08
  Speaker 16: Horan was his name, and he drove overnight and got
• 2:38:12
  Speaker 16: to Winstead, and the dam broke. And so in the morning,
• 2:38:16
  Speaker 16: when the ravages were going place, he was there with
• 2:38:19
  Speaker 16: his trousers rolled up, I mean, looking at the damage,
• 2:38:23
  Speaker 16: because Winston, of course, just got wiped out by the
• 2:38:25
  Speaker 16: Mad River. So the media gathered. NBC came in with
• 2:38:30
  Speaker 16: a helicopter, and the Connecticut press corps was all over
• 2:38:33
  Speaker 16: the place in a move that politicians will have you
• 2:38:37
  Speaker 16: really saluted. NBC said, Governor, would you like to come
• 2:38:40
  Speaker 16: up in our helicopter and survey the damage? And he said,
• 2:38:43
  Speaker 16: no thanks, we've got our own press corps here in Connecticut.
• 2:38:46
  Speaker 16: I'll talk to them about what we're going to do
• 2:38:48
  Speaker 16: to fix it. Of course, obviously the press corps loved
• 2:38:51
  Speaker 16: that they were, he stayed on to give them attention
• 2:38:54
  Speaker 16: and give them quotes. But yeah, I remember it well.
• 2:38:57
  Speaker 16: I was a Boy Scout at Camp Pioneer in New Hartford,
• 2:39:00
  Speaker 16: and we got wiped out up there. That was really
• 2:39:03
  Speaker 16: quite a flood. But anyway, Reed, thanks for those two points.
• 2:39:06
  Speaker 16: I appreciate them.
• 2:39:08
  Speaker 1: So, Art, going back to serving, one quote from Senator
• 2:39:19
  Speaker 1: Ribicoff when he decided he was not going to run
• 2:39:22
  Speaker 1: again was, he said, the hardest thing to do in
• 2:39:25
  Speaker 1: politics is to walk away from power.
• 2:39:28
  Speaker 2: And he did it.
• 2:39:32
  Speaker 1: Would you say that today's politicians aren't able to walk
• 2:39:36
  Speaker 1: away from power? I mean, you take a look at
• 2:39:38
  Speaker 1: who's in the United States Senate. Mitch McConnell just came
• 2:39:41
  Speaker 1: back in 83, and he looks like he's dead in
• 2:39:45
  Speaker 1: the wheelchair. Chuck Grassley, the Republican from Iowa, is 92
• 2:39:50
  Speaker 1: years old and still fairly cogent. But do we need
• 2:39:57
  Speaker 1: term limits, do you think?
• 2:39:59
  Speaker 16: Well— It's a very personal question. And for every time
• 2:40:05
  Speaker 16: you think, yeah, term limits are the answer because you
• 2:40:08
  Speaker 16: avoid the kind of cases that you cited, you can
• 2:40:11
  Speaker 16: also point to somebody who's been around for a long time.
• 2:40:14
  Speaker 16: He is wise and continues to be very effective. I
• 2:40:18
  Speaker 16: think the inspiration for that, he told me that when
• 2:40:20
  Speaker 16: he came into the Senate, first of all, he really
• 2:40:25
  Speaker 16: disliked being Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. Because having
• 2:40:29
  Speaker 16: been governor of Connecticut, he could make decisions. But when
• 2:40:32
  Speaker 16: he was the secretary of the largest cabinet in Washington,
• 2:40:37
  Speaker 16: he'd make a decision, and he said, some arrogant 30-year-old
• 2:40:41
  Speaker 16: from Harvard Law School in the White House would tell
• 2:40:44
  Speaker 16: me to do it differently. And he, having been in
• 2:40:47
  Speaker 16: charge of something, he didn't want to be told by
• 2:40:48
  Speaker 16: a White House staffer what to do. And he decided
• 2:40:52
  Speaker 16: to come back and run for Connecticut, which he did.
• 2:40:54
  Speaker 38: And.
• 2:40:57
  Speaker 16: Became a senator. And what he saw there, he said,
• 2:40:59
  Speaker 16: when I came in, I saw some of the legends
• 2:41:02
  Speaker 16: that I'd always known their names. And they'd be out
• 2:41:05
  Speaker 16: on the Senate floor giving a speech, and they forgot
• 2:41:08
  Speaker 16: what they're talking about. And they would fight for relevance
• 2:41:11
  Speaker 16: and fight to remember why they were there and what
• 2:41:14
  Speaker 16: they were saying. And he said it was embarrassing. And
• 2:41:16
  Speaker 16: people say, yeah, I know. You should have seen that
• 2:41:19
  Speaker 16: guy 10 years ago. He was an absolute bull out there.
• 2:41:22
  Speaker 16: Nobody dared mess around with him. And he said, I
• 2:41:25
  Speaker 16: decided right then that that was never going to happen
• 2:41:27
  Speaker 16: to Abe Ribicoff. I am never going to be out there,
• 2:41:30
  Speaker 16: and people feel sorry for me because I forgot what
• 2:41:33
  Speaker 16: I was talking about, and I stayed past my time.
• 2:41:37
  Speaker 16: That quote that you mentioned, right after we announced, he announced,
• 2:41:43
  Speaker 16: sitting in his office in the last press call that
• 2:41:46
  Speaker 16: had gone out and everything, toward the end of the day,
• 2:41:48
  Speaker 16: and he was drained. He was absolutely exhausted. And I
• 2:41:52
  Speaker 16: looked at him. I said, Senator, are you okay? Is
• 2:41:55
  Speaker 16: everything going well? And he said, yeah, I'm fine. And
• 2:41:58
  Speaker 16: I said, are you sure this is really what you
• 2:42:00
  Speaker 16: want to do? I mean, are you at peace with yourself?
• 2:42:04
  Speaker 16: And he said, yeah, Arthur. And that's when he said
• 2:42:08
  Speaker 16: that quote that I put in the article, that the
• 2:42:11
  Speaker 16: hardest thing to do is to walk away from power,
• 2:42:14
  Speaker 16: and I'm going to do it. Now, should that apply
• 2:42:17
  Speaker 16: to modern times?
• 2:42:18
  Speaker 49: I don't know.
• 2:42:18
  Speaker 16: I thought that it was worthwhile. to tell this story
• 2:42:23
  Speaker 16: that i knew personally about how that decision was made
• 2:42:27
  Speaker 16: by one major politician um and he was 68 at
• 2:42:33
  Speaker 16: the time ronald reagan ran for president uh when he
• 2:42:37
  Speaker 16: was 69 uh which was you know was considered extremely
• 2:42:41
  Speaker 16: old then right good heavens he was going to be
• 2:42:43
  Speaker 16: in his 70s while he was president i mean it
• 2:42:45
  Speaker 16: was considered amazing and then you look at that by
• 2:42:48
  Speaker 16: by today's standards And I don't want to pass judgment
• 2:42:51
  Speaker 16: on individual candidates here and there. You're right. There are
• 2:42:55
  Speaker 16: people in the Senate who are being held up by
• 2:42:59
  Speaker 16: their staff. I worked for Senator Byrd, and in his
• 2:43:02
  Speaker 16: latter days, he also was in that category of being
• 2:43:07
  Speaker 16: a couple of steps behind where he had been when
• 2:43:11
  Speaker 16: he was in full force. And it's a personal thing.
• 2:43:15
  Speaker 16: I guess all I throw up for consideration is, were
• 2:43:19
  Speaker 16: those three things that Rybakov had. What does your gut
• 2:43:23
  Speaker 16: tell you? Are there people who can succeed you? And
• 2:43:26
  Speaker 16: do you have another life? And I think one of
• 2:43:29
  Speaker 16: the things about, you mentioned Grassley, you mentioned McConnell and others.
• 2:43:34
  Speaker 58: Is that they don't.
• 2:43:35
  Speaker 16: I mean, this is their life.
• 2:43:38
  Speaker 2: And that's the case with Robert Byrd, that.
• 2:43:41
  Speaker 16: They don't have anything to do. And should they leave
• 2:43:44
  Speaker 16: the Senate, I mean, basically life is over. They They
• 2:43:48
  Speaker 16: had no options. And one of the reasons I admired
• 2:43:51
  Speaker 16: Rybakov so much was he did have another life. And,
• 2:43:54
  Speaker 16: you know, he went to New York and he had
• 2:43:56
  Speaker 16: the place in New York and place in Connecticut. And
• 2:43:58
  Speaker 16: he did have another life. And so he could enjoy years.
• 2:44:02
  Speaker 16: That's not always the case with everybody. And it's a
• 2:44:05
  Speaker 16: personal decision. But as you point out, it's a personal
• 2:44:08
  Speaker 16: decision that has all kinds of chain effect ramifications, as
• 2:44:13
  Speaker 16: is currently the case in Connecticut with two senators who've
• 2:44:16
  Speaker 16: been there a while, and a governor who's running for
• 2:44:18
  Speaker 16: a third term. So I think the conditions exist, but
• 2:44:22
  Speaker 16: the decisions have to be made by each individual person,
• 2:44:25
  Speaker 16: and I don't know what the solution is.
• 2:44:28
  Speaker 1: Well, in some cases, if they've been in office for
• 2:44:30
  Speaker 1: a long time, as you mentioned about Senator Byrd, they
• 2:44:33
  Speaker 1: lose a little bit off their fastball. But then there
• 2:44:36
  Speaker 1: are some, you know, you could argue, who, by virtue
• 2:44:40
  Speaker 1: of their longevity— accumulate seniority and greater influence, and.
• 2:44:48
  Speaker 2: Have lost nothing.
• 2:44:50
  Speaker 1: They're still every bit as energetic as they were when
• 2:44:54
  Speaker 1: they started. Now, our own Senator Blumenthal is 80 years old,
• 2:45:00
  Speaker 1: and whether you agree with his philosophy or don't, Dick
• 2:45:06
  Speaker 1: Blumenthal seems every bit as energetic as he was when
• 2:45:11
  Speaker 1: he was serving as state attorney general. I don't think
• 2:45:14
  Speaker 1: there's a political event or a civic event that happens
• 2:45:19
  Speaker 1: in the state of Connecticut that he doesn't show up for,
• 2:45:22
  Speaker 1: you know, if he's back in the state.
• 2:45:25
  Speaker 2: I saw him at a garage door opening the other day.
• 2:45:27
  Speaker 2: That's it.
• 2:45:28
  Speaker 1: That was the joke, that Blumenthal would show up for
• 2:45:33
  Speaker 1: a garage door opening or the opening of an envelope.
• 2:45:37
  Speaker 1: But it'll be interesting to see if he decides to
• 2:45:43
  Speaker 1: seek re-election. By comparison, Chris Murphy is a youngster.
• 2:45:51
  Speaker 2: But we'll see. And then, of course.
• 2:45:56
  Speaker 1: Once Lamont leaves office, assuming that he gets reelected, there
• 2:46:02
  Speaker 1: will be a mad rush, particularly for the Democratic nomination,
• 2:46:08
  Speaker 1: because you've got Susan Beisowitz, the lieutenant governor, who you
• 2:46:13
  Speaker 1: have to know is itching to run for governor, and
• 2:46:16
  Speaker 1: William Tong, the attorney general, and who knows how many
• 2:46:20
  Speaker 1: others would be interested in running for governor.
• 2:46:23
  Speaker 35: Scanlon.
• 2:46:25
  Speaker 2: And Sean Scanlon, the.
• 2:46:29
  Speaker 1: Treasurer, comptroller. So it'll be interesting to see. It's always
• 2:46:37
  Speaker 1: interesting when there's an open seat. And for us political junkies,
• 2:46:41
  Speaker 1: it's something to look forward to. Art, we thank you
• 2:46:45
  Speaker 1: very much for coming on with the program for us.
• 2:46:48
  Speaker 1: And we'd love to have you back again and we
• 2:46:51
  Speaker 1: can talk. a little bit more about some of the
• 2:46:54
  Speaker 1: other interesting things you've done in your life.
• 2:46:57
  Speaker 16: Well, I much appreciate you having me on, Bill and Paul.
• 2:47:01
  Speaker 16: It's good to spend the start of the morning with
• 2:47:04
  Speaker 16: both of you.
• 2:47:04
  Speaker 49: I enjoyed it.
• 2:47:05
  Speaker 3: Well, thank you very much for staying the back half
• 2:47:08
  Speaker 3: of the show and for all you bring to the
• 2:47:10
  Speaker 3: table and not anything more important than your great service
• 2:47:14
  Speaker 3: to our country and our state. So thanks to Art
• 2:47:18
  Speaker 3: House and Paul Kidwell. and the guests that we've had today,
• 2:47:23
  Speaker 3: Kevin Torres and my good friend Bill Stanley.
• 2:47:27
  Speaker 2: I'm Paul Formica. We're going to see you tomorrow. Again,
• 2:47:30
  Speaker 2: tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning. Right there.
• 2:47:33
  Speaker 3: It's a New London show tomorrow. We've got a lot
• 2:47:34
  Speaker 3: of surprise guests from New London. So come join us.
• 2:47:38
  Speaker 3: We're at 94.5 Point nine news now.
• 2:47:42
  Speaker 2: And as you heard, stimulating talk.