Category Archives: News & Events

News and events about Jonah Center and community activities.

A glimmer of good news this Earth Month…

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It’s official! The Middletown Resource Recycling Advisory Commission (RRA) is transitioning to the Middletown Sustainability Commission (MSC).  

How did this happen?  

Through the dedication of the RRA and resident advocacy, this important ordinance change has been discussed publicly and passed through the Public Works & Facilities Commission as well as the General Council before it moved forward to the Middletown Town Council for discussion and approval.  

On April 8th, Middletown Common Council members heard final public comments from the community and unanimously approved this change!  

Middletown Town Hall lawn, springtime tree with no leaves, Town sign and Tree City USA sign
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April Litter Clean-Ups

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The Jonah Center will be hosting two separate litter cleanup events this month, on April 19 and 26 and we’d like to invite you to join us. Litter Cleanups are a fun way to help your community and meet other like-minded folks who care about keeping our towns, cities, and the natural environment clean. Help celebrate Earth Week by pitching in.

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A Tool for Our Times – Middletown Community Participation Guide

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“Act locally” is a mantra we will be hearing often. Some may ask, but how?

Wesleyan staff and students recently hosted an event to share the Middletown Government Participation Guide (available here in English and Spanish). This is an important “tool for our times” that offers a peek behind the curtain of our local government and explains the many ways we all can use our skills and voices to get involved.

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Do You Know A Middle-Schooler Who’s Interested In Art?

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Gla Rose, an artist, educator, and Jonah Center Board Member, is leading a 7 week after school art program starting April 23rd at CNTR in Middletown, CT. Art Station will meet Wednesdays from 3:30-5:30pm, and is geared towards 6th-8th graders. The program will focus on open-ended art-making inspired by the work of a variety of lesser known contemporary artists. A range of media will be explored including collage, drawing, painting, sewing, printmaking, and mixed media. Gla will tailor the program to the interests of participating artists, and support artists to reflect, envision, experiment, build technique, and collaborate. Contact [email protected] to register or find out more. Continue reading →

A Renewed Call for Local Environmental Activism

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Smoke stacks at the Cleveland-Cliffs Northshore Mining Company in Silver Bay, Minnesota. The facility’s pollutants and emissions include CO2, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ammonia, lead, and mercury. Under the EPA’s proposed new environmental policies, pollution from plants such as this may no longer be regulated by the EPA nor will other states be able to appeal to the EPA if their pollutants cross state boundaries. Photo by Tony Webster, Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons license.

Like many Americans who care about the environment, we here at the Jonah Center are deeply concerned about recent proposed changes to America’s environmental laws by the new EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, which were announced earlier this month. These proposals appear to be part of a dramatic shift in the federal government’s approach to environmental regulation by reducing or eliminating regulations restricting pollutants in order to promote the greater use of fossil fuels and limiting the development of clean energy and anything else related to climate change mitigation. Unfortunately, these proposals may have a dramatic impact on our nation’s ability to maintain clean air and water and make it harder to address climate change or support clean energy.

In case you missed it, here are a few of the recent changes proposed by the administration:

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Have You Saved Money on Home Energy?

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Remember our “Power Moves” article, where we shared ways to cut energy costs? Have you tried any of those ideas?  

 If you’ve successfully lowered your energy bills, we want to hear your success story! 

Please send us a message through the Contact Page on our website. Just give us the best way to contact you, and we’ll reach out to hear the full details.  Continue reading →

Winter Bird Video & Quiz

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This excellent video by Phil LeMontagne shows close-ups of some, but not all, of the backyard birds commonly found in northern Middlesex County in the winter. Most are year-round residents, but two of them, the Slate- colored Junco and the White-throated Sparrow, tend to move a little farther north in the summer. How many of these birds can you name? Keep watching until the end of the video to see why they are all constantly looking around nervously!

For a list of birds in order of first appearance, see below. Continue reading →

Traffic Cameras Win Council Approval

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Middletown Chief of Police Eric Costa speaking at the Jan. 27 meeting of the Public Safety Commmission.

After the public showed strong support for Automated Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices at Middletown’s January 27 public information meeting, the Common Council voted unanimously on February 3 to approve the use of traffic cameras. We thank all who signed the Jonah Center petition last February and those who emailed the Common Council to express their support of this step in making our streets safer.

Chief Costa said the department had identified the following 4 locations in the city where ATESDs would make a significant improvement to public safety: Continue reading →

Slow Global Warming and Save Money – Make a Power Move in 2025

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Wild fire on Lamentation Mountain, Berlin Connecticut, summer 2024
Home solar panels installation. Photo by David Illig, Creative Commons License.

What does the clean energy transition have to do with you?

A lot more than you may think. We see “natural” disasters on the news more and more frequently. We know why it’s happening and many of us know the heartbreak of friends and relatives that have been impacted by extreme, sudden events. We all pay a heavy price for this accumulated damage.

The big picture:

  • Costs – “Burning fossil fuels cause[s] around $500 billion in losses every year– from property damage to government spending on recovery, construction-surge inflation, and power outages.”*
  • Solutions – Saving the planet is now more cost effective – “Every $1 invested in resilient infrastructure can yield $4 in benefits. Getting to net zero is a more than $12 trillion business.” *

The local picture:

These costs and solutions trickle down to each of us in our homes.

  • The costs impact our taxes, insurance premiums, and many goods and services.
  • The solutions can help us save money and time while doing what’s right for the planet. According to Energize CT, over 1,000 households in Middletown have participated in the Home Energy Solutions (HES) program (2001-Oct.2024), With over 20,000 households in Middletown and Portland, there is an enormous opportunity to use this program more fully.

While we can’t control what happens at a national level, each of us can make an impact by taking action in our lives for a healthier community.

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