Effective as of Monday, Connecticut residents can now enroll in a newly launched program enabling them to receive a discount card that can be presented at pharmacies to receive savings on certain medication. The discount card is provided through ArrayRx, a multistate consortium Connecticut recently joined that uses the leverage of bulk purchasing to offer up to 80% savings on generic prescription drugs and 20% savings on name-brand prescription drugs. For more information and to receive a discount card, Connecticut residents can apply online at www.arrayrxcard.com.

It now appears that a cyberattack compromised Social Security numbers, financial information, and Eastern Connecticut Health Network patients’ medical records. The attack occurred last August according to an attorney representing Prospect Medical Holdings — ECHN’s parent company. Prospect mailed notification letters to people whose information may have been compromised. It affects more than 24,000 Connecticut residents

A big test of the national emergency alert system is going to be held on Wednesday. FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell explains…

New Fairfield and Ridgefield will receive a combined $975,272 in state Small Town Economic Assistance Program grants for improvements to the New Fairfield Town Green and Mountain Road in Ridgefield. New Fairfield received $475,272 that will be matched by $413,117 in town funds. Ridgefield received $500,000 in state funding that will be matched by $266,100 in town funds. The grants were part of $24.5 million in state grants for 60 small towns across Connecticut.

Town leaders in Newtown have discontinued a Colonial-era road to protect Taunton Pond from a planned development. A local developer plans to build 115 single-family homes on 70 acres near Taunton Pond. Those plans were advanced by a conservation easement that came as town leaders discontinued a paper road from Colonial times that hasn’t seen vehicular traffic in 100 years.

It’s coming back again this year… The Ridgefield Holiday House Tour is returning in December. Tiger Hollow and the Ridgefield Historical Society are joining forces to present a tour of historic homes on Saturday December 2 that will be preceded by an evening gala preview party at the Tuttle-Smith House on Friday December 1. A limited number of tickets are available. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://ridgefieldhistoricalsociety.org

It’s back… On Monday, many folks across Connecticut noticed something in the air. That ‘something’ is smoke once again from Canadian wildfires that is again drifting over our state. In fact, some of that smoke is drifting down the entire eastern seaboard… some as far as Florida! An EPA map showed a plume of wildfire smoke blanketing most of Connecticut on Monday, with slightly less smoky air in the northwestern corner of the state. It can cause health issues for those sensitive to air pollution.

Some cash was stolen from a store in Southbury on Monday, and Southbury Police quickly arrested the man they say is responsible. 41 year old Antonio Burke is accused of taking more than $500 in cash from Piper and Dune on Main Street South on Monday afternoon while the store was closed. Burke now faces charges including burglary and larceny. He was taken into custody, locked behind bars, and is now being held on a $25,000 bond.

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection reminds everyone to take steps to reduce the likelihood of an encounter with a bear this fall… when black bears increase their food intake to add fat reserves needed to help them survive winter. Conflicts with bears have tripled over the last five years in Connecticut and bears have been sighted in all of the state’s 169 cities and towns. Never feed bears… intentionally or unintentionally… by leaving pet food, bird feeders, and other food sources unattended and available. As bears become increasingly food-conditioned, conflicts with humans will continue to increase, and food-conditioned bears pose a greater risk.

Last Thursday, over 200 strike captains and bargaining committee members from three states traveled to their union’s Manhattan headquarters to represent the 10,000 union members who clean commercial properties across New York’s Hudson Valley and Long Island, the state of New Jersey, and here in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The purpose was to open negotiations on the commercial cleaners’ first agreement to cover the entire tristate region under a single contract. Thursday’s opening of bargaining comes three months before the December 31 expiration of the separate agreements that currently cover the tristate region.