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State Representative David Rutigliano (R-Trumbull) tweeted Governor Ned Lamont that “its time to open up, this is crazy” Thursday afternoon after the Greenwich Democrat announced the state’s schools would remain closed until May 20th due to the global virus pandemic.

Rutigliano, a four-term legislator, according to his legislative website,  “is a partner in the local SBC Restaurant Group, which owns and operates Southport Brewing Company, Local Kitchen & Beer Bar, and the Sitting Duck Tavern.  David has created over 300 jobs in Connecticut.”

The SBC Restaurant Group has been offering takeout, delivery and curbside pickup at their restaurants in Fairfield and New Haven counties. As of April 8th, Trumbull had 71 laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to newsbreak.com.

Some generous Connecticut residents are making good use of their time at home. The anonymous donors are working their connections to locate and purchase personal protection equipment for state hospitals, first responders, and senior centers. So far, Daily Ructions understands, they have purchased and distributed 300,000 protective masks this week.

As word spreads, more donors have stepped forward and others have volunteered to try to locate additional sources of supplies. Success is a good contagion and it’s inspiring others to join in the effort to help our brave neighbors on the frontlines.

State Senator Len Fasano (R-North Haven) will not seek a 10th term in November. The Senate Republican leader announced his decision in teleconferences with local party activists in his four-town district that includes Durham, East Haven, North Haven and Wallingford on Tuesday evening. Fasano also shared the news with his fellow Senate Republicans in a conference call.

Fasano defeated a Democratic incumbent in a 2002 upset. In his first term, Fasano witnessed the decline, fall, resignation, and criminal conviction of John G. Rowland, the disgraced Republican governor. Democrats struggled to mount serious challenges to Fasano every two years.

The Yale graduate made his mark as a student of public policy and state spending. He became leader of the Senate Republicans in 2015. In 2016, Senate Republicans won 18 seats, tying the Senate Democrats and leading to a historic bipartisan budget, sidelining departing unpopular incumbent Democratic Governor Daniel P. Malloy. Fasano’s intellectual heft and unusual network of allies often confounded the surly Malloy.

The New Haven lawyer’s interest in public policy and his ability to grasp and translate complex issues caused legislators of both parties to seek his support asa a partner in legislating. A longtime champion of children’s issues, Fasano was a critical legislator in exposing the dangerous shamble that the Department of Children and Families (DCF) became under then-Commissioner Joette Katz’s eight years of failure.

In 2015, Fasano emerged as a rare Republican with a comprehensive interest in urban issues. His persistence in attempting to create ties between the state’s cities and Republicans irritated some of his fellow party members. One prominent, malignant House Republican began referring to Fasano as “Leon” behind his back, though word of the racist taunt quickly circulated. Fasano’s influence was magnified by having allies in each caucus, unusual in age of political tribalism.

Fasano, a prodigious fundraiser, considered a bid for governor in 2018 but declined to make the race. Fasano is expected to remain active in public affairs after his term ends in January.

COVID-19 continues to spread at a state-operated Torrington group home where a 54 year old resident died last week from the pathogen. Seven residents have tested positive, three more were awaiting test results on Monday.

Torrington Mayor Elinor Carbone has been consulting with DDS, the regional health District, and local hospital officials. “DDS’s concern for the residents and staff is palpable,” Carbone told Daily Ructions Monday night. “There is a strong desire to work together to ensure the health and well-being of this community and we admire and appreciate that.”

There is disquiet among some group home workers that managers did not take appropriate measures to provide them with sufficient PPE as the virus threat grew.

S: 3.28.20 JB ALERT  – Judges, Employees and Public Defenders – COVID 19 OCCA Message

Dear Judges, Judicial Branch employees, and Public Defender Staff

In light of the need for us to do our part to reduce the spread of COVID-19, I am issuing the following directives immediately:

1. DO NOT COME TO WORK IF YOU ARE SICK OR HAVE ANY COVID-19 SYMPTOMS.

2. Do not come to work if anyone in your household is under quarantine, is sick or has COVID-19 symptoms.

3. If you are healthy and come to work, please remain in your confined, limited workspace only.  

4. Complete your work in a way that will limit physical and interpersonal interaction with others in the courthouse, as much as possible.  For instance: deliver reports, evaluations and risk assessments by email or telephone report.

5. MAINTAIN A DAILY LOG TO IDENTIFY EVERY SINGLE INDIVIDUAL WITH WHOM YOU HAVE HAD CONTACT FOR A PERIOD OF GREATER THAN 15 MINUTES AND AT A DISTANCE OF LESS THAN 6 FEET.

6. MAINTAIN APPROPRIATE SOCIAL DISTANCING (REMAIN 6 FEET APART FROM PEOPLE) TO THE EXTENT POSSIBLE

7. WASH YOUR HANDS OFTEN AND FOR AT LEAST 20 SECONDS

8. MAINTAIN AWARENESS OF THE HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS NATURE OF COVID-19

In the interest of your own health and safety, it is critically important that every Judge and every Judicial Branch employee who is reporting to work maintain a daily log to identify every single individual with whom you have contact for a period of greater than 15 minutes and at a distance of less than 6 feet.  Please have access to this log at all times, so that you will be able to report this information, if necessary. (Emphasis added.)

Please note that judicial marshals will be receiving additional, separate, guidance on Monday.

Thank you for the incredible work that you do, even during this unprecedented health crisis. We will continue to keep you posted.

Judge Patrick L. Carroll III

Mark Scheinberg did not hesitate. When Goodwin University’s founder and president knew that the school’s medical programs would be closed for the rest of the semester, he donated the school’s supplies to two local hospitals.

Goodwin has sent to St. Francis 498 boxes of gloves, 2100 masks, 36 boxes of wipes, 100 pairs of booties, 64 towns, 18 pairs of safety glasses, and a respirator. The school has also made donations of critical medical supplies to Eastern Connecticut Health Network.

Goodwin has moved its mobile manufacturing lab to St. Francis to convert for testing. The school is offering its excess student housing to area nurses who are concerned about exposing their families to the virus if they return home from work.

“It was amazing to watch our many programs come together like that,” said Paula Dowd, Goodwin’s Dean of the School of Nursing and Heath Professions. “Nursing, respiratory care, the science labs, histology, dental hygiene — even manufacturing — everyone wanted to contribute supplies.”

In a message to the Goodwin University community last week, Scheinberg looked to Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky for the way forward. “Every hand that we don’t shake, must become a phone call that we place. Every embrace that we avoid, must become a verbal expression of warmth and concern. Every inch and every foot that we physically place between ourselves and another, must become a thought as to how we might be of help to that other, should the need arise.” 

Scheinberg is donating half his salary to the student emergency fund at Goodwin.

State Senator Marilyn Moore wants a chunk of your stimulus check for her re-election campaign. The Bridgeport Democrat is using the pandemic crisis to plant fundraising seeds as she faces an August primary challenge. Moore’s request, above, has a high cringe factor as thousands of Connecticut workers have lost their jobs in the past two weeks.

Moore narrowly lost the Democratic primary for mayor of Bridgeport last September. Her strong showing was squandered by her campaigns failure to collect enough signatures to advance to the fall contest on the Working Families Party ballot line.

Not very neighborly. Officials on the summer getaway island of North Haven, Maine, have told tony homeowners to stay away. And that includes Governor Ned Lamont. The remote island, long a Lamont retreat, does not have medical services to cope with visitors or residents who might be struck by the deadly coronavirus.

Lamont has been leading Connecticut’s response to the pathogen and is unlikely to get a break soon.

Politico has the story.

Ongoing financial troubles have caused the Business Council of Fairfield County to be no more. The organization cited the recent coronavirus as one obstacle too many. Its finances have been perilous for some time.

“For decades, The Business Council has played an important role in both Fairfield County and the State of Connecticut,” said James Fitzgerald, Business Council Chair of the Board of Directors, according to Westfaironline.com, “The significant changes in our local economy, the changing business landscape and the financial and operational issues recently caused by the COVID-19 virus have dramatically impacted our long-term financial sustainability.

The Council was an enthusiastic supporter of imposing tolls on Connecticut’s working people. The organization had a long history of supporting tax increases. One might chart the decline of Connecticut’s economy by the public policies the Council and its predecessor supported.

There are a lot of moving parts to the fight against a pandemic. Truth can often become a casualty with serious consequence for an anxious public. Governor Ned Lamont gave Connecticut’s Online rumor control center some unwelcome business this week.

Lamont startled listeners when he declared on New York’s popular WCBS-880 news radio station that the state’s public schools will not open again until September. Rumor Control swung into action to correct the voluble Lamont’s spontaneous announcement.