Saturday, October 31, 2026

U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson issued an emergency temporary restraining order Friday, four days before the midterms, barring the Justice and Homeland Security departments from threatening election workers with prosecution for counting ballots from registered voters the administration claims are ineligible.

She found the agencies likely violated the Voting Rights Act's ban on voter intimidation and overstepped their constitutional role in elections. The order bars demands that states remove voters, withhold ballots or stop counting based solely on ineligibility claims, forces DOJ to walk back threats already sent, and requires prosecutors to disclose pending search warrants and grand jury subpoenas tied to their voter lists.

The ruling adds to a run of courtroom losses: of 31 DOJ lawsuits seeking voter records since May 2025, 27 have been dismissed. On Friday an appeals court also rejected DOJ's emergency bid to set aside more than 20,000 California ballots, and the 9th Circuit left in place limits on DHS election field operations in nine states through Election Day.

DOJ says its actions enforce the federal ban on noncitizen voting, which research shows is rare. Related fights are under way in Washington, Arizona and Alaska.

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Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee, and Rep. Haley Stevens, whom he narrowly beat in a bitter August primary, have not campaigned together or even spoken in months, CNN reported October 28. El-Sayed has no plans to contact her before Tuesday's election, and CNN later reported he had asked Stevens to stay away from his events.

The two held unity events right after the primary, but contact quickly faded. El-Sayed's campaign blamed Stevens' busy schedule and said the teams remain in close touch; four people familiar with the matter said they have not been in direct contact. Stevens says she will vote for El-Sayed but added she can't say she agrees "with everything that's gone on."

Cracks extend to her circle: her fiancé says he will vote for Republican Mike Rogers, as will David Kramer, who chaired her primary campaign. Stevens has also asked El-Sayed to condemn an outside group's ad attacking her.

The rift matters most in Oakland County, a suburban Detroit bloc of 1.3 million people that Stevens won by seven points in the primary. Rogers is openly courting "Haley Stevens Democrats," and polls show a close race in a seat Democrats had counted as safe.

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Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1, when clocks go back one hour to standard time. If you won't be up at 2 a.m., you can simply set clocks back before bed Saturday or when you wake up Sunday.

This year the change lines up with Halloween, which falls on Saturday, October 31, so trick-or-treaters and partygoers effectively get an extra hour of night.

November 1 is the earliest possible end date under the U.S. rule of ending DST on the first Sunday in November; next year it ends on November 7, the latest possible date. Daylight saving time began this year on March 8.

The Halloween-Saturday overlap won't happen again until 2037, thanks to the leap years in between.

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Civilians leaving Oleshky, a Russian-held town in Ukraine's Kherson region, who want to go to Ukrainian-controlled territory are being routed through Russia and Belarus, according to documents first shown by Fox News and reported by Meduza on October 28.

Under the plan, a Russian Defense Ministry plane takes evacuees first to Anapa in southern Russia and then on to Gomel, Belarus, with the Belarus arrival set for Saturday, October 31. A Ukrainian delegation led by human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets is to travel with them.

The evacuation follows a local ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, brokered with the involvement of U.S. first lady Melania Trump, which took effect October 27 and is expected to last until November 1.

Oleshky has been cut off for months, with constant shelling, mined roads and shortages of food, electricity and medicine. The documents also mention further "repatriation operations" from Kherson-region towns at least once a month.

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The spokesperson for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammad Akraminia, warned on X on Saturday, October 31, that if the U.S. launches another military operation in the region, the conflict could spread across a wider area, and Washington would not control how it ends.

He said Iran's forces are steadily raising their combat readiness and that Tehran is "closely monitoring America's movements in the region." The remarks came a day after the head of U.S. Central Command said he had flown over the Strait of Hormuz and seen no IRGC presence there.

Fox News sources say military movements are under way in the Middle East to give President Trump options to resume strikes. Trump has not decided, though he said Friday the war would end "very soon" and that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. U.S. officials have privately told regional partners to prepare for possible action after the midterms.

Tensions remain high at sea: Iran said a supertanker hit a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, the fourth tanker explosion that day, and Saudi Arabia intercepted a hostile drone over Riyadh.

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Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Saturday, October 31, that he is "extremely worried" about a renewed escalation of the U.S.-Iran war, speaking at the IISS Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain, as reported by Reuters.

Abdelatty argued that another round of fighting would be more dangerous and more destructive than the first, and would achieve nothing, urging all sides to learn from what has already happened.

His warning comes as U.S. officials prepare options for President Trump should he decide to resume strikes on Iran. Asked whether strikes could come after the midterms, Trump said he couldn't say, but "anything's possible."

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have separately warned that any new U.S. or Israeli attack would cause the war to spread beyond its current bounds.

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France is bracing for another day of mass protests on Saturday, October 31, after a wave of demonstrations that began as student discontent and has grown to include trade unions and "yellow vest" activists angry about the cost of living, public services and fuel prices.

The previous Saturday's protests saw sporadic violence, especially in Paris, Marseille and Lyon, and 1,435 arrests nationwide, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. Some 70,000 police were deployed, and organized far-right groups clashed with far-left activists in cities including Nice and Montpellier.

Nunez said further disturbances are "clearly" expected and that Halloween evening is likely to be complicated again. Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon said calm must be restored before meaningful negotiations can begin.

The unrest is hurting business: a chamber of commerce leader said many retailers closed as a precaution and sales fell by about 80%. President Emmanuel Macron, whose term ends in April, has limited room for costly concessions given strained public finances; the government was expected to announce measures on education and university admissions.

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A proposed power plant and data center campus called Ridgeline, in Tucker County near the Monongahela National Forest, Canaan Valley and Blackwater Falls, has alarmed residents who depend on tourism and outdoor recreation.

Developer Fundamental Data LLC of Purcellville, Va., plans a roughly 785-megawatt natural-gas plant (diesel backup) on a reclaimed coal-mine site. The first phase covers 291 acres but could grow to as much as 10,000 acres reaching into Grant County. Generating its own power may ease worries about electric rates, but not about air and water pollution.

An analysis by the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club found the initial footprint could raise sky glow near Blackwater Falls by 528%, turning a rural night sky into a suburban one — a threat to the park's bid for dark-sky certification. The company says it will use well-designed lighting but that worker safety comes first.

Locals liken the project to the logging and coal booms that once stripped the region, and opponents acknowledge they face an uphill fight.

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Big oil posted another huge quarter: ExxonMobil earned $15.4 billion (more than double a year ago), Shell $10.8 billion (nearly double) and Chevron $9.9 billion (up 180%) — just over $36 billion combined.

The driver is the war with Iran, which has choked Middle East supply, plus Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries. Brent crude is around $113 a barrel versus about $70 before the war. Gasoline is about $1.20 a gallon higher than a year ago, per AAA, and diesel hit a record in September.

Much of the windfall is going to shareholders — Exxon declared its highest-ever quarterly dividend and Shell announced one of its largest buybacks — rather than new drilling, as companies wait to see how long prices stay high. Shell's CEO said falling global inventories mean elevated prices may persist.

Democrats in Congress are pushing windfall-profit taxes with rebates for consumers; Exxon has called such taxes misguided. The Trump administration has loosened dyed-diesel rules and eased some Russia sanctions, but relief at the pump before Tuesday's election is unlikely.

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Apple has announced its first Mac with a touchscreen, a redesigned MacBook Pro unveiled on October 28. It is also the first Mac with an OLED panel, which Apple calls the PROLED XDR Display, and it brings over the iPhone's Dynamic Island at the top of the screen.

macOS has been reworked for touch, so users can tap, scroll and pinch to zoom, and many existing apps work with touch straight away. The laptops are thinner and lighter than before; the 14-inch model is about half a pound lighter than the one it replaces.

The 14-inch version starts at $2,899 and weighs 3 pounds. The 16-inch starts at $3,399 and weighs 4 pounds. Both come with M5 Pro or M5 Max chips, and Apple claims up to 24 hours of battery life. Pre-orders opened on October 28, and deliveries begin November 6.

The launch reverses Apple's long-standing refusal to put touch on Macs; Steve Jobs once called touchscreen laptops "ergonomically terrible." Hardware chief Johny Srouji called the new model a monumental step forward for the Mac. It sits above an M6 MacBook Pro that keeps a standard screen and starts at $1,999.

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Google's first prototype satellite for running AI in space is now working. It is part of a long-term research project called Suncatcher. Planet Labs built the satellite, which carries a single Google TPU chip and generates up to 1 kW of power. It launched earlier in October on a SpaceX Falcon 9 with more than 100 other spacecraft.

After about three weeks of commissioning, engineers sent their first prompt to Google DeepMind's Gemma 4 model on board: a request for a haiku about being in space. Later tests included space-themed limericks and reports on orbital conditions. A spokesperson said the satellite was "operating nominally."

The chip draws so much power that it can run for only about 20 minutes at a time, which makes talking to the ground harder. Engineers will now study how the chips cope with heat stress and radiation. Radiation can flip bits and corrupt data without setting off normal monitoring. Ground tests suggested this would barely affect inference but could matter more for training.

If the test goes well, Google plans to launch two more satellites with more advanced chips in 2027. They would generate more power and test optical links between satellites flying close together. The bigger vision of economical orbital data centers is aimed at the 2030s. It depends on SpaceX's Starship becoming fully reusable; one Suncatcher analysis estimated Starship would need about 1,800 flights to bring costs down enough.

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DeMonica Amerson, now 46, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2001 at age 21 after a spinal tap. Her first symptoms affected her eyes, and doctors had earlier suspected optic neuritis and then lupus. For years she treated MS with daily self-injections and later with monthly infusions through a port in her chest. Doctors put her occasional relapses down to the disease getting worse.

In 2019 a severe flare left her tired, numb in the legs and vomiting, with pressure behind her eyes, and she went to the hospital. An on-call neurologist ran a specialized blood test. A few days after she went home, that doctor called to say she probably had a rare autoimmune disorder. A specialist's follow-up tests showed she had never had MS.

A second opinion confirmed neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), a rare autoimmune disease that attacks the spinal cord and optic nerves. She now takes Uplinza, which she says is working well, although fatigue and pain remain. She has become an advocate for NMOSD awareness. "I didn't know there was another disease that mimics MS at all," she said.

Her case is not unusual. Dr. Robert Bermel of the Cleveland Clinic cited large studies showing that 15% to 20% of people diagnosed with MS turn out not to have it. Experts say many autoimmune conditions can look like MS, and doctors often suspect a misdiagnosis when symptoms don't respond to MS treatment. The story follows actor Christina Applegate's recent disclosure that she was wrongly diagnosed with MS for nearly five years.

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Scientists have named a new dinosaur species, Infernogallus jamesi, a turkey-sized, toothless, beaked creature nicknamed the "hell chicken." It belongs to the caenagnathids, a group of oviraptorosaurs, and was found in Montana's Hell Creek Formation in 2011.

The animal lived in the Late Cretaceous, roughly 72 to 66 million years ago. A team led by Thomas Dudgeon of the Royal Ontario Museum and Gregory Funston of Stony Brook University rebuilt its tiny skull from CT scans and published the results in Nature Communications.

The jaw muscles appear designed to slide the lower jaw back and forth instead of biting hard up and down, which suits mashing soft food. With no stomach stones for grinding, the researchers conclude it probably ate drupes, fruits with a hard pit inside soft flesh. That would make it the earliest known specialist fruit-eating dinosaur.

The finding challenges the idea that these animals ate meat, and it may help explain the roots of today's fruit-eating birds. Its evolution coincided with the spread of flowering plants bearing larger, fleshier fruit. The team suggests these dinosaurs may have spread seeds, but says more evidence is needed.

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NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has ended its science mission and is falling back toward Earth. It made its final observation on Oct. 20, 2026, after sinking below about 171 miles (275 km), too low to hold its telescopes steady. NASA announced the end of operations on Oct. 23.

A rescue attempt fell through over the summer. Katalyst Space Technologies won a $30 million NASA contract and launched its robotic LINK spacecraft on July 3 to boost Swift's orbit. LINK developed attitude-control problems, and the effort was called off in August without attempting the boost. Strong solar activity has heated and swelled the upper atmosphere, increasing drag and speeding Swift's descent.

NASA expects an uncontrolled reentry within the next few weeks, and the exact time and place will become clear only in the final days. Most of the spacecraft should burn up, though some parts could survive. A NASA spokesperson said harm to anyone on Earth is unlikely, and people who find suspected debris should report it to local police and not touch it.

Swift launched in 2004 on a planned two-year mission and ran for nearly 22 years. It observed more than 2,000 gamma-ray bursts and over 1,400 supernovae, and its data appear in about 7,000 published papers.

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A meteorite called Teghaza 001, found by prospectors in the Sahara in September 2022, is at least 4.1 billion years old. That makes it the oldest known meteorite from Mars, and the true age may be even greater.

A Caltech-led team, with lead author Yang Liu, announced the findings in July 2026. The work has been posted as a preprint and is not yet peer-reviewed. Teghaza 001 is only the second known meteorite from Mars's earliest crust, after Allan Hills 84001.

The rock is rich in zircon and silicon, which points to a granite-like early crust. That is surprising because granite on Earth usually forms through plate tectonics, which Mars lacks. Its hydrogen isotopes suggest Mars began losing its water very early, around the time its magnetic field disappeared and its atmosphere thinned and cooled.

NASA JPL's Lee Saper said the meteorite "will revolutionize the way that we think about early Mars." The results fit with Perseverance rover finds of granite-like rocks that hint at complex magma systems on the young planet.

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SpaceX scheduled its final launch of October for Friday night, Oct. 30, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The Starlink 15-18 mission was set to lift off at about 9:02 p.m. PDT (0402 UTC Oct. 31) from Space Launch Complex 4 East. Spaceflight Now bills it as the 700th Falcon 9 launch to date.

The rocket carried 27 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites. Booster B1093 was flying for the 18th time and was due to land on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You about 8.5 minutes after liftoff. That would be the ship's 231st landing and the 675th Falcon booster landing overall.

It was SpaceX's 11th orbital launch of October. The pace has slowed: SpaceX recently dropped below 150 orbital launches in a 365-day span for the first time since July 2025, down from a peak of 171. It also stopped flying Starlink missions from Florida in August.

SpaceX is winding down Falcon 9 as Starship nears regular service. Elon Musk said Starship should fly weekly in the first half of 2027, and Starship Flight 15, which will include an attempt to catch the upper stage, is expected from Texas in mid-November.

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NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks picks eight players who could be moved before the trade deadline, 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 10, and suggests three possible teams for each.

The headliner is Colts running back Jonathan Taylor. Indianapolis is rebuilding after firing GM Chris Ballard and trading Quenton Nelson and DeForest Buckner. Taylor, 27, has four 1,000-yard seasons and is tied for the league lead with eight rushing touchdowns this year. Brooks names the Vikings, Giants and Broncos as fits.

Cardinals safety Budda Baker, 30, an eight-time Pro Bowler, could suit the Bills, Jaguars or Eagles, though his large contract may require creative salary work. Chargers edge rusher Khalil Mack, 35, is on a one-year deal with a winless team and could help the Lions, Bears or Bills.

The rest of the list is Jaguars WR Brian Thomas Jr., Jets edge Will McDonald IV, Dolphins LB Jordyn Brooks (a 2025 first-team All-Pro), Colts WR Josh Downs (who recently asked for a trade) and Eagles CB Tariq Woolen.

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The WNBA Finals between the Atlanta Dream and the Golden State Valkyries will go the distance. It is the first Game 7 in Finals history, and either team would win its first championship.

Atlanta forced the deciding game with an 80-69 home win in Game 6 on Thursday afternoon at a sold-out State Farm Arena. The Dream led 32-15 after the first quarter and never gave up the lead.

Allisha Gray led Atlanta with 23 points and 6 rebounds, Rhyne Howard added 21 points, and Angel Reese had 15 points, 14 rebounds and 6 assists.

Game 7 tips off Saturday, Oct. 31, at 8 p.m. Eastern at Chase Center in San Francisco.

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Canelo Alvarez will reportedly earn a $47 million base purse when he fights Christian Mbilli on Saturday, Oct. 31, at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The card streams on DAZN pay-per-view, and it is Alvarez's first fight in more than a year.

According to Boxing Scene, the figure does not include his share of pay-per-view and sponsorship revenue. Mbilli, the WBC interim super middleweight titleholder, is expected to make about $9 million.

The purse is roughly half the reported $94 million Alvarez made for last year's fight with Terence Crawford. He lost that fight, along with his WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO and Ring titles at 168 pounds.

Alvarez's net worth is estimated at about $300 million. The article notes that it was generated automatically from published reports and may contain errors.

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Michael Douglas has given a rare update on his old friend Jack Nicholson. He was speaking at the Swansea Building Society Arena in Wales while promoting his memoir, One Helluva Ride.

Douglas, 82, said Nicholson, 89, is no longer working but is doing well and has largely "disappeared" from public life. He said he still sees Nicholson around his home, walking about in his slippers, and added that his friend has earned the rest.

The two go back to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), which Douglas produced and which won Nicholson the first of his three Oscars. Nicholson's last film was How Do You Know in 2010, and his last public on-screen appearance was the SNL50 special in early 2025.

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The U.S. Justice Department told New Haven last week that it plans to send Civil Rights Division election monitors to the city on Election Day, Nov. 3. According to the Secretary of the State's office, the plan is two teams of two people. New Haven is covered by federal language-assistance requirements. Nationwide, the DOJ says it will have about 1,000 monitors in counties.

The DOJ says the monitors only observe and will not interfere with voting. Mayor Justin Elicker said they cannot arrest, detain or search anyone and must stay outside the 75-foot zone around polling places. City registrars Shannel Evans (D) and Lisa Milone (R) cited state law in saying the federal monitors may not enter New Haven polling places. In a joint letter, they warned that the monitors' presence could make voters feel less welcome.

Elicker called the deployment "counterproductive," given President Trump's efforts to cast doubt on elections. City officials also notified Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas and Attorney General William Tong. Voters do not have to answer questions from people outside polling places, and they do not have to show ID.

In a separate move on Oct. 30, Thomas responded to an Oct. 29 letter from the U.S. Deputy Attorney General's office about federal rules on preserving election records. The letter stressed criminal penalties. Thomas said she hoped it was only meant as a reminder of the law, but that "it could have been handled differently." She added that her office already takes those record-keeping duties seriously.

Suspected irregularities can be reported to the State Elections Enforcement Commission at 1-866-SEEC-INFO.

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Gov. Ned Lamont (D) and state Sen. Ryan Fazio (R-Greenwich) held their second and final debate on Tuesday, Oct. 27, at Mohegan Sun. WTNH News 8 aired it live during the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities convention, with anchors Dennis House and Kathryn Hauser moderating. It was mostly cordial, and it came during the first early-voting period ever held for a Connecticut governor's race.

The debate opened on affordability. Lamont defended his record on cutting the income tax: "We're the ones who have stepped forward, kept our promise, and cut the income tax." Fazio listed taxes and fees that he says went up under Lamont. He said the governor broke his promise of property tax relief and claimed property taxes rose 30% on Lamont's watch.

Education produced one of the sharpest exchanges. Fazio said reading and math scores have dropped and the state has no plan to fix them, especially in lower-income districts. Lamont said scores are improving. The candidates also argued over federal health subsidies, Fazio's proposed gas tax holiday (which Lamont rejected) and how much each would stand up to Trump administration policies.

Both candidates had reservations about expanding license plate-reading cameras. Lamont said towns should decide, within state guardrails that would include destroying the data collected. Election Day is Nov. 3.

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Republican gubernatorial nominee Ryan Fazio wants to cap how much towns can raise property taxes each year. The limit would be 2% or the inflation rate, whichever is higher. A town could go over the cap only if at least 60% of its voters approved in a referendum. (CT Insider's analysis of the plan could not be accessed, so this summary relies on CT Mirror's reporting.)

The cap is one part of a broader package. Fazio would tie the state's main school grant (Education Cost Sharing, about $2.5 billion) to inflation, which would add roughly $66 million at 2025's 2.7% inflation rate. He would also curb property tax exemptions for private universities and hospitals, which he estimates could bring in up to $100 million a year, and he would bar new unfunded state mandates on towns.

The big question is how to pay for it. The state budget is already at its spending cap. Fazio says the money could come from holding down state employee raises and other spending. Lamont's campaign called the plan "as outrageous as it is unachievable," and hospital and college groups oppose losing their exemptions.

The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities likes the mandate relief and the inflation-linked school aid. However, its CEO, Joe DeLong, warned that a cap must not block local investments. In the Oct. 27 debate, DeLong asked Fazio how towns would cover rising costs under the cap, and Fazio did not answer directly.

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All six statewide constitutional offices are on the ballot, along with all five U.S. House seats, 151 state House seats and 36 state Senate seats. Gov. Ned Lamont (D) is seeking a third term against state Sen. Ryan Fazio (R). The 1st District seat is open because Rep. John Larson lost his primary to Luke Bronin, who now faces Republican Amy Chai.

The other House races are Courtney vs. Austin in the 2nd District, DeLauro vs. Lancia in the 3rd, Himes vs. Goldstein in the 4th and Hayes vs. Shea in the 5th. Cook Political Report rates all five districts as safely Democratic. In the down-ballot statewide races, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas faces Peter Lumaj and Attorney General William Tong faces John Bolton.

As of Thursday, 394,407 people had voted, or about 17% of roughly 2.2 million active voters. About 347,000 voted early in person and more than 47,000 by absentee ballot. Democrats have voted at about twice the rate of unaffiliated voters (22% vs. 11%), and 14% of Republicans have voted.

Early voting ends Sunday, Nov. 1, with polls open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, is the last day to request an absentee ballot, and ballots must arrive by 8 p.m. on Election Day. On Tuesday, polls are open 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., and same-day registration is available.

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The Connecticut DMV announced on Oct. 30 that its free Connecticut Mobile ID app will launch Nov. 18. Residents will be able to verify their identity and age on their phones. Setup requires an existing physical driver's license or state ID.

At launch, TSA will accept the mobile ID at participating checkpoints nationwide, including Bradley International and Tweed New Haven airports.

There is a catch: the mobile ID supplements the physical card and does not replace it. Businesses do not have to accept it, and those that do need a compatible verification app. Police will not accept it in place of a license, and it cannot be used for voting.

The Department of Consumer Protection will share information with businesses over the coming month. DMV Commissioner Tony Guerrera said he expects acceptance to grow as more businesses and organizations sign on.

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General Motors will pay $220 million in a multistate settlement over claims that it sold drivers' private driving and location data without their consent. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong announced the deal on Thursday, Oct. 29. Connecticut's share is more than $6 million.

The data came from GM's Smart Driver program, which ran from 2016 to 2024. GM allegedly sold the data to brokers, who sold it to insurers that used it partly to set rates, raising premiums for many drivers. GM had told customers it would not share data with insurers without their express consent. Tong said an OnStar app error also told more than 370,000 drivers they were not enrolled when they actually were.

Tong said more than 10.2 million Americans were affected, including at least 123,143 Connecticut residents. He said GM "turned private vehicles into mobile insurance surveillance machines." Connecticut began investigating in 2024 under the Connecticut Data Privacy Act, one of the first enforcement actions under that law.

Under the settlement, GM must get consumers' consent before collecting or sharing driving and location data. GM said it ended the program in 2024 and that the deal is consistent with its earlier settlements with the FTC and California.

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The state Department of Public Health reported on Oct. 28 that six Connecticut residents have died of influenza since late September. All of them were adults aged 55 or older. One death was in the week ending Sept. 26, three in the week ending Oct. 17 and two in the week ending Oct. 24.

The first death came about a month earlier than last season's. Since September, the state has also recorded nine COVID-19 deaths and no RSV deaths.

Public Health Commissioner Dr. Manisha Juthani urged anyone who has not had a flu shot to get one now, since protection takes about two weeks to build. The flu vaccine is recommended for everyone 6 months and older.

Adults 65 and older, young children, pregnant people and those with chronic conditions face the highest risk. Free flu shots are available to uninsured and underinsured adults through the Connecticut Vaccines for Adults program.

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The Department of Homeland Security said on Friday, Oct. 30, that the driver in a fatal wrong-way crash on I-91 South in North Haven was in the country illegally. DHS identified him as Guillermo Carmona-Lopez, 31, of Bridgeport, a Mexican national.

According to DHS, Border Patrol arrested him after an illegal entry in May 2013, and he was ordered removed on May 30, 2013. He later re-entered the country at an unknown time and place. DHS called him a "criminal illegal alien."

The crash happened just before midnight on Oct. 16 near Exit 9. Ryan O'Shea, 21, a University of New Haven senior, was driving back to campus after a club hockey game when he was hit head-on. O'Shea had interned with the NYPD and planned to join the department after graduating.

Carmona-Lopez was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital with serious injuries. As of the last reports, he had not been charged, and state police were still investigating. O'Shea's club hockey team planned to retire his jersey at its first game since the crash.

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The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection marked International Bat Week (Oct. 24–31) with a reminder that most of Connecticut's bat species are in serious trouble. (The CT Insider story could not be accessed, so this summary uses DEEP's release.)

White-nose syndrome, a disease caused by an invasive fungus, has killed millions of bats in North America since 2006. In the Northeast, it wiped out more than 90% of northern long-eared, little brown and tricolored bats in less than 10 years, and it is still spreading.

Five of the six Connecticut species hit by the disease are now listed as state-endangered: the little brown, northern long-eared, tricolored, eastern small-footed and Indiana bats. Only the big brown bat is not.

Bats are valuable pest control. A colony of 150 big brown bats eats about 1.3 million insects a year. Nationally, bats are estimated to be worth at least $3 billion a year to agriculture.

DEEP asks residents to cut back on pesticides, plant native gardens, reduce outdoor lighting and consider putting up bat houses. Bats seen outdoors in winter can be reported to DEEP.BatProgram@ct.gov.

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Volunteers working with the environmental group Save the Sound are using live clams to replant eelgrass in Long Island Sound. The latest seed-gluing sessions took place the week of Oct. 19.

Each clam carries 10 to 20 eelgrass seeds in a small pocket held in place by glue and a dampened rice-paper wrapper. When the clams are released, they burrow into the sediment and take the seeds with them. The wrapper dissolves, leaving the seeds to sprout. Connecticut College biologist Maria Rosa refined the technique after finding that rice paper worked better than the adhesive used in 2025.

Eelgrass meadows around the Sound have shrunk by more than 90% since the 1930s. The meadows shelter young fish, filter water, absorb excess nutrients and reduce coastal erosion. Drone images showed eelgrass coverage up 178% after last year's planting.

This season's goal is to release 10,000 clams carrying 300,000 seeds. Long Island Soundkeeper Bill Lucey said the seedlings must survive about three years before the project can be called a success.

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