Published March 10. 2021 7:17PM | Updated March 10. 2021 10:35PM
Jessika Harkay, The Hartford Courant
The seven-month long lawsuit concerning the constitutionality of Connecticut’s requirement students wear masks in school to slow the spread of coronavirus will continue after the Hartford judge presiding over the case denied a summary judgment Monday.
The Connecticut Freedom Alliance first filed the lawsuit in late August after former state education commissioner, and now newly appointed U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, ordered a school mask mandate in the state.
After losing an injunction in November and awaiting an appeal, the group asked Superior Court Judge Thomas Moukawsher for a decision in their favor without a full trial, to which he declined.
They’re giving it more than the old college try.
College students throughout the country have in many ways been robbed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students returned home and avoided campus, either taking a gap year or continuing their degree from home. Students who remained on campus had to be rather isolated. All students missed the one-on-one instruction with professors and the feeling of finding a new friend in class. And for the time being, bar nights are rare, and dancing in crowded, sweaty basements, along with other kinds of larger gatherings, is a fantasy from yesteryear.
Researchers have found that COVID-19 has increased the depression rate among college students. That’s not to mention the physical health threat of the coronavirus. According to Connecticut College’s COVID-19 dashboard, a website that tracks coronavirus statistics at the college, 48,753 tests were performed on students and employees between Aug. 17, 2020, and Jan. 31 of this year. There were 67 pos
Citing constituents’ concerns, members of the legislature’s Bipartisan Commission on Intellectual Disabilities and the Impact of COVID-19 have urged Gov. Ned Lamont to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Sens. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, and Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, are among the six members of the commission, which was created under the Joint Rules of the Senate at the start of the legislative session.
“We believe that this vulnerable population should have been prioritized to receive the vaccine as soon as possible or as originally planned under Phase 1B due to elevated health concerns and not based on the new age-based plan that was announced recently,” the commission wrote in a March 3 letter to Lamont and Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz.
Groton Samantha Clark of Ashaway, R.I., and Wendy Rein and Lisa Kideckel of Mystic were taking advantage of the warm weather Tuesday to spend time knitting at Esker Point Beach.
The women are part of a knitting group at Driftwood Yarns in Groton, but since the COVID-19 pandemic started last year, they have not been able to meet inside the shop. Early on, the group originally had 12 to 16 members but quickly dropped to a smaller number for their weekly gathering outside the shop.
When the weather turned cold, they were down to four members and moved indoors, alternating between Kideckel s and another member s heated garages. The garages were large enough that members could socially distance and they have been very cautious.
Preston Preston schools will return to five-day in-person learning starting Monday after parents successfully petitioned the Board of Education on Monday.
The Board of Education voted 4-3 to approve the change following the lengthy public comment period and discussion Monday night.
Parent Courtney Ennis submitted a petition with 129 names asking the school system to eliminate remote learning on Wednesdays. Ennis said the district’s plan to return to full in-person school after April vacation is “too late.” She called the Wednesday remote learning days, adopted due to the coronavirus pandemic, disruptive and confusing to children.
“Surrounding towns including Norwich have moved to a five day a week schedule, Ennis wrote in an email to the board. There is no reason Preston cannot accomplish this if they make the students the priority.”