cheshirecitizen.com
Volume 14, Number 33
Thursday, August 17, 2023
‘Where are the monarchs?’ It’s complicated By Joy VanderLek The Cheshire Citizen
“Where are the monarchs?” It’s been a hot topic of discussion for gardeners and others this summer. A Meriden Food & Nutrition Services sign is seen on July 19, 2018, during the Meriden Summer Meals Program at the Meriden Green. Dave Zajac, Record-Journal
Schools to offer free breakfast By Rachel Wachman Record-Journal staff
sachusetts joining the ranks as number eight on Aug. 10.
distracted mind,” RussellTucker said at a press conference. “Our students’ physical, mental, social and emotional health and wellness are foundational to learning. Therefore, providing healthy meals without financial stigmas is a strategic investment in fueling students’ growth and educational outcomes.”
To make the program possible, Connecticut allocated $16 million from funding the state received under the America Rescue Plan Act. During the pandemic, both breakfast and lunch were free for students in Connecticut thanks to federal funding, but this ended when the pandemic program This expansion means the expired. participation of approxiWith this announcement, mately 114 districts and the Connecticut became the sev- “There is no curriculum bril- eligibility of an estimated liant enough to compensate enth state to institute free for a hungry stomach or a school meals, with MasREGIONAL — Gov. Ned Lamont and state Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker announced last week that Connecticut will offer free breakfast to all schoolchildren in Connecticut and make lunch free for students who previously qualified for reducedprice lunches.
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See Breakfast, A10
Come see what’!s new
For this reporter, it was late June last year when I found my first monarch caterpillar of the season on a milkweed leaf at my home. This year, I encountered no monarch caterpillars, up until recently. On Aug. 10, I finally saw a monarch butterfly. Ron Gagliardi, CT Butterfly Association’s Outreach Educator, saw a monarch in West Haven on Aug. 3, but had not noticed any in Cheshire, where he lives, as of the first week in August. “That was my first one this season,” he said. Monarch populations have been hard hit on both coasts. Myriad sources are responsible, including pesticide use, said Gagliardi. Fragmentation and the re-
sulting lack of host plants and nectar sites normally found in open areas and meadows are also contributing factors. Gagliardi recalls Xerces Society’s Executive Director Scott Black’s comment on the monarch population's decline, as “death by a thousand cuts.” “From what I’ve seen, we’re seeing a decline in all butterfly populations,” said Gagliardi. He also points to annual studies done by Connecticut lepidopterist Victor Masi in his hometown of Redding. Gagliardi said there was a year when Masi did not record a single monarch. “They’re being seen – not in big numbers, but both caterpillars and adults are being reported,” said CT Butterfly Association founder John Himmelman. That was back on July 10. Is it possible that not seeing monarchs locally at See Butterfly, A8
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