Juan R. Candelaria

Electricity costs tend to be at their highest during the summer months - so families struggle to pay their utility bills during this time.

This is a great opportunity to save while preparing students for going back to school.

This week, more than $16 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief II (ESSER II) funds was made available to 170 school districts across Connecticut. This relief money will allow schools throughout our state to provide special education services to more than 80,000 students during the upcoming school year.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation is announcing that bridge maintenance will be performed on various bridges on I-91 northbound and southbound in New Haven and North Haven.

I want to share that ARTE, Inc. is announcing their 2021 Scholarship Awards and application guidelines. Applicants must be of Hispanic/Latino descent and must be a registered resident of Connecticut for a minimum of one year. Citizenship is not required to apply. All awards are based on funding and are limited.

With more than 600,000 lives lost across America (including over 8,000 here in Connecticut) since the start of the pandemic, we've known for some time how terrible a disease COVID-19 has become.

Last Friday, over 57,800 students enrolled in the free or reduced-price meals program received the last round of the Pandemic EBT funding. This Friday, over 218,500 qualifying families will receive additional emergency food benefits through SNAP. Please find more information below on these latest rounds of food support and how to access assistance.