WPKN Local Daily News Podcast · John Iannuzzi, WPKN

January 8, 2026

January 8, 2026·21 min

The broadcast opens with a news rundown for Connecticut and Long Island. It lays out the day's main items right away: January 6th anniversary coverage, Bridgeport School Board capital plan, speed cameras in Fairfield, a proposed ice processing facility in New York State, and a possible explanation for the sailor-burial mystery. The January 6th story centers on Hamden. There, listeners hear about people gathered at a busy intersection to the sound of horn honking in support of democracy, with signs calling for fascism, racism, Trump, and kings to be rejected. Melinda Tuhus reports the scene. Jason Raya, a fourth-grade teacher from Bridgeport, says the government has been completely hijacked. He says he teaches the three branches of government and checks and balances, and he points out that the country's present condition does not match that lesson. The report stays local and immediate. The program then shifts to Bridgeport's police update. Chief Roderick Porter opens with a new-year greeting and thanks the community for its support in 2025. He reviews the department's 2025 crime report. Violent crime is down 37 percent. Property crime is down 24 percent. Student incidents are down 30 percent. Porter reminds listeners that the numbers are only a guide and that public feeling matters most. He says the department will double down on the strategies used in 2025 and improve them in 2026. Training and technology are part of that work. He also asks the community to keep sending ideas and topics to the department, and he gives the contact as bptctpd at Bridgeport ct.gov. The segment keeps its civic-radio texture through the repeated sign-offs and the final thanks to the News team. By the end, the broadcast has moved from protest to police work to a broad local bulletin without trying to smooth out the handmade edges.

As heard by us

A grounded civic news hour that keeps local reporting at the center.

WPKN's news hour works best when it stays close to the ground. It starts on the fifth anniversary of January 6, then moves through Connecticut and Long Island concerns: democracy rallies in Hamden, Bridgeport crime numbers, school planning, Fairfield speed cameras, a New York…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

You want a local news hour from WPKN that moves from democracy protests to Bridgeport civic business and other Connecticut-Long Island updates.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify