The Bethel Police Department finally had power restored yesterday, six days after the Tropical Storm. The department ran on a generator and First Selectman Matthew Knickerbocker said the delay is unacceptable.  There were up to 10 times last week that the phones went out altogether.

Wilton First Selectman Lynne Vanderslice says there was minimal power restoration and she was in contact with the governor's office to get more crews into Wilton.  She says it's appalling that six days in, municipal leaders are still asking what the plan is, and where the crews are.  Vanderslice says as of Monday, Eversource messaging continued to be of little to no value.

In the aftermath of a major storm, Kent First Selectman Jean Speck says being neighborly takes on a new meaning and sense of urgency. She asked that residents continue to check on neighbors.  She has been in communication with representatives from both Charter and Frontier, and heard resident's frustration that their customer service has been less than satisfactory.

Charging stations in Redding have move to Town Hall today, until 6pm, because voting is taking place at the Redding Community Center in the primaries.  Drinking water is available at Joel Barlow High School on the back patio at cafeteria entrance. Enter via Turney Road. Bring your own jugs.  Water is also available at the West Redding Firehouse.  Outdoor hoses at town hall and the community center are available for general purpose water. Bring your own jugs.  Masks and social distancing requirements must be followed in order to gain access to town facilities.

Despite the continued power outage in Kent, the Connecticut Siting Council's evidentiary hearing for the cell tower application before them is taking place via Zoom at 1pm this afternoon. Members of the public interested in listening in on the hearing are encouraged to visit the CT Siting Council website for instructions to login to view the proceeding.

Just after 3am yesterday, Stony Hill Volunteer Fire Company responded to a carbon monoxide alarm in a residential home. Levels over 1,000 parts per million were found in the garage, a level that could be fatal if exposed to for as little as 1 hour.  It was determined that the cause was a generator operating too closely to the home.

Newtown Police have identified the man killed in a construction accident on Friday.  Police identified the victim as 57-year-old Winstead resident Ralph Ehrhardt.  Emergency responders were dispatched to Lakeview Terrace on a report of a man falling off a building platform down a steep embankment by the home, which was under construction.  The man was found unresponsive and in very serious condition.  Medical personal attempts to revive the male were unsuccessful. This incident is currently being investigated by both Newtown Officers with the assistance by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 

Ridgefield State Representative John Frey called on his colleagues to break up Eversource.  He believes the state’s biggest utility has grown too big to effectively manage large scale response and restoration efforts.  Frey says Eversource has failed to communicate properly with local officials, keeping municipal public works crews sidelined too long while the company scrambled, and failed, to get inspection and restoration teams deployed in an orderly fashion.  A 2011 report from the Office of Legislative Research tackled the topic of splitting up the territory of the former Connecticut Light & Power, reporting that a service territory break-up and transfer, though possible, would require “extensive” legislation.  DEEP would ensure that the utilities that took over from CL&P were technically managerially, and financially qualified to provide the services, CL&P would be compensated for its investments that were not covered by the price paid by the successor utilities; and- to coordinate the successor utilities to ensure reliable service.

Half of the Glen Apartments complex for seniors in Danbury now has power. Over the weekend Mayor Mark Boughton called it a dire situation for the elderly, many of whom rely on power for medical equipment and to keep medication chilled.  The United Way is assisting with ice and water.  Boehringer Ingleheim supplied lunch yesterday and the New American Dream Foundation, along with the Amber Room, helped out with dinner.  Boughton says despite senior living facilities being on the City's priority one list for restoration, Eversource hasn't been keeping up with the priorities.

Brookfield First Selectman Steve Dunn is joining in the voices saying that Eversource was not prepared for the severity of last week's storm, and unable to handle the number of outages.  When they finally started work late Thursday, Dunn says they were unable to efficiently direct crews to work sites, so many crews sat idle waiting for instructions on where to go. 

He acknowledged the frustration of residents unable to receive calls and messages.  Brookfield Town Hall lost power Tuesday afternoon and was not restored until Friday. They lost the phone system and could not pick up messages, so employees are still returning calls to residents from last week. 

Dunn plans to ask the Selectmen and the Board of Finance to provide funding for a new emergency generator to replace the one supplying power to the Police Department, which was installed in 1983.  That one can then be used as an emergency backup. 

Dunn says the new generator installed at Center Fire in the past year has worked very well in this outage. 

Showers are available in the main YMCA building from noon to 3PM. Masks are required and they will take your temperature when you check in. Water, charging stations and wi-fi are available outside at Brookfield Town Hall and Brookfield Senior Center.  Water is also available at Brookfield Fire HQ and at Brookfield Police Department.

Newtown First Selectman Dan Rosenthal says this storm response has been more chaotic and taken much longer than it needed to.  He drives around town every day and sees the destruction remaining and knows man people are wondering if Eversource even knows about the outages.  He voiced that skepticism on a conference call with Eversource yesterday and the utility confirmed that they are aware of all issues in Newtown and standing by their commitment of substantial restoration by noon.  The Presidential Primary is being held from 6a to 8p at Newtown High School. Only voters may enter the polling place and face coverings must be worn. Voters may also bring a pen.

Due to the heat advisory in effect, Bethel Middle School will be used as a cooling center  today, Noon to 8pm. Masks are required. Social distancing rules apply. Custodians will disinfect at regular intervals.  Showers are also available at Bethel Middle School today 6am to 9am and 3pm to 7pm.  Bethel municipal center charging station is being moved downstairs to the Senior Center cafeteria to allow the General Purpose room to be used for today's presidential primary vote.  Residents are asked to use the Senior Center entrance off Durant Street.  Clean water is also available at town hall.

A motorcyclist was seriously injured in an accident in Brookfield this weekend.  Emergency responders were dispatched to Candlewood Lake Road between Federal and Nabby Roads Saturday night on a report of a collision.  Police said the road was closed for an extended period of time as the investigation continued.  Initial reports were that the motorcyclist was unconscious and struggling to breath.

Newtown Police Officers have been bringing food and bottled water to residents who've been without power since Tuesday's storm.  The Emergency Operations Center identified impacted neighborhoods where there were elderly residents, those with medical conditions or those unable to reach out for help.  Newtown Police urged residents who are concerned about a family member, friend, neighbor to reach out and they'll do what they can to help.

The Ridgefield Transfer Station is accepting storm related debris at no cost to Ridgefield residents. All commercial haulers will be charged unless accompanied by the resident.  Ridgefield officials are asking that residents not pile brush on the street as there is no town brush removal program. 

Bethel Emergency Management has received a donation from Duracell of a limited supply of mostly AA batteries and some C and D size batteries. They are available at the Bethel Public Schools Middle School shower station as well as at the Municipal Center.  The Stony Hill Fire Department charging station was closed today as the building will be used for voting tomorrow.

Danbury Police say several members took action to help a man who was trapped in his house by a fallen tree.  Sgt. Krupinsky and Officers Hildebrand and Geanuracos cut the tree during the start of the storm and helped rescue the man.  The tree pinned the door closed.  The resident was uninjured.

A man has been killed in a construction accident in Newtown on Friday.  Police, firefighters and Newtown Ambulance responded to Lakeview Terrace on a report of a man falling off a building platform down a steep embankment.  Police say the home was under construction.  The 60-year old was found unresponsive and in very serious condition.  Medical personal attempts to revive the male were unsuccessful. This incident is currently being investigated by both Newtown Officers with the assistance by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.  Police say they will not be releasing a name at this time.

A Back the Blue rally has been held in Danbury.  Sgt. John Krupinsky, president of the Connecticut State Fraternal Order of Police, has been outspoken against the police accountability bill signed by Governor Lamont last month.  Speakers included Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton and  Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour.  The Newstimes reports that the organization called Back the Blue CT promoted Saturday's event, including with a batter from Act for America, considered by the Southern Poverty Law Center to be an anti-Muslim hate group.  Back the Blue says their organization is not affiliated with Act for America and that it was an independent, community-led event.  According to Act for America’s website, Back the Blue is an Act for America activism campaign to build support for officers.  

Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton says a serious situation is developing at the Glen Apartments on Memorial Drive.  There is still no power at the facility for elderly and disabled residents.  Boughton says so far Eversource has not responded to pleas to restore service and there are no trucks on scene. 

HART buses were brought in for cooling overnight, and should there not be any results soon--any resident who wants a shelter the City will figure out a way to pay for their housing. 

Boughton says these situations around Danbury are now becoming life threatening.  He may put out a call for food and ice today if the situation doesn't improve. 

Boughton has been highly critical of Eversource’s response. He said the first Eversource crews arrived in Danbury on Thursday, two days after the storm. Boughton joined state and federal officials in expressing frustration that the utilities didn’t appear to be prepared for the storms, despite having nine years to upgrade their systems and response plans following two storms in 2011 that both knocked out power to 800,000 customers. 

Some state lawmakers are doubtful the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority would rubber stamp a request from Eversource to put the tab for storm response on customer's bills; something President of Regional Electric Operation Craig Hallstrom has said the utility will likely do. Danbury State Representative David Arconti, chair of the legislature's Energy Committee, says he wants to look into whether to require a utility's profits be used for storm management, or a percentage of profits for storm response.  Arconti hopes that would force Eversource and United Illuminating to properly build resiliency into the grid. State regulators have launched an investigation into both utilities’ preparation and response to Tuesday’s storm, which cut power to more than 700,000 customers.