WPKN Local Daily News Podcast · John Iannuzzi, WPKN

January 23, 2026

January 23, 2026·22 min·1 clip

WPKN News opens as a regional bulletin for Connecticut and Long Island. The hour teases a Connecticut economist sounding alarm on Trump, but the lead story is the major snow event and sustained blast of Arctic air on the way. Governor Ned Lamont has activated Connecticut’s severe cold weather protocol from noon today through noon on Wednesday of next week. The broadcast keeps the warning plain: overnight temperatures will fall into the single digits, and wind chills will dip below zero. The weather report quickly turns practical. By the time listeners wake on Sunday, the significant snow event is expected to already be underway. It should continue through the day and may linger well into Monday. The tone stays direct and urgent, with the station urging listeners to keep it locked in for updates. After the weather block, the broadcast turns to local public safety. Bridgeport Police present their Flock drone program, framed as a step toward 21st century policing. Chief Porter says the drones will give officers eyes in the sky, help them respond more intentionally to crimes and calls for service, provide a visual overview of what is happening on scene, and supply footage for investigations and follow-up investigations. He also says the program can help with missing persons and fires. The segment gives room to the department’s own explanation. The mayor’s support for the project is noted, along with the sense that the city has been working toward this for a while through a public safety task force that wanted more advanced technology. The result comes across as a city moving forward rather than a dramatic break. The broadcast also folds in Long Island’s 94 justice courts, described as generating some serious cash. That item broadens the scope beyond weather and policing and keeps the hour moving across the region. It does not linger, but it does add another civic angle to the mix. Station identification and host resets remain part of the rhythm. News Director John Iannuzzi reintroduces the program more than once, and the hour is stitched together with official remarks, service updates, and short transitions. That gives the broadcast a live, community-radio feel without pretending to be anything else. The pacing is measured and the structure is utilitarian. The hour is built to keep listeners oriented through the weather threat, the Bridgeport announcement, and the courts item. Repetition is part of the format, not a flaw in it. The weather coverage carries the most immediate public value. The cold protocol, the storm timing, and the warning about dangerous overnight conditions are stated plainly. That makes the first segment especially useful for anyone deciding how to move through the weekend. The Bridgeport segment is procedural rather than dramatic, and that is part of its value. It shows how city officials present a new public-safety tool, and it does so in their own words. The explanation reaches across crime response, investigations, missing persons, and fire calls. Overall, the hour is a steady civic briefing. It tells listeners about a serious weather shift, a public-safety technology rollout, and a local courts story without dressing any of it up. The value is in the sequence and the source-driven delivery. It sounds like a station keeping the community informed in real time.

As heard by us

Local news that treats weather, policing, and civic life as same-day essentials.

WPKN's local news hour leans on winter weather and the kind of plain reporting that makes a morning bulletin feel useful. Connecticut's severe cold weather protocol is activated, the forecast points to a major snow event and sustained Arctic air, and the hour keeps circling back…

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Why you'd press play

Cold weather protocol, Bridgeport drones, and a local-news rundown.

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