New Staff, Traffic Cameras, Bird Video & More!

Meet Our New Staff!

We enthusiastically welcome John Shafer and Kristen Colombo to the staff of the Jonah Center. Both bring a wealth of experience and skills to our mission. Jonah Center President Krishna Winston tells the story that led to this significant milestone in our organization, along with an introduction to our new team members. Read more here.

Slow Global Warming And Save Money

Kristen Colombo will be leading our Jonah Center Home Energy Initiative to help Connecticut residents take advantage of subsidized home energy programs. Future newsletters will feature ways you can help others and ways to make your home more efficient and save money. Read Kristen’s introduction to this initiative here.

Traffic Cameras Win Council Approval!

We thank all who signed our petition last February in favor of Automated Traffic Enforcement Safety Devices and all who recently attended hearings or sent emails in support of our campaign to make our streets safer. The Common Council vote on Feb. 3 was unanimous! Read more, including Chief of Police Costa’s presentation here.

Field Workers Needed!

The Jonah Center is planning to hire summer field workers to remove invasive water chestnut plants and assist volunteer work parties. More information, including job descriptions and compensation, may be found here. Foldable kayaks will be provided to field workers who don’t own one.

Field Workers Needed:

The Jonah Center is planning to hire summer field workers to remove invasive water chestnut plants and assist volunteer work parties. More information, including job descriptions and compensation, may be found here. Foldable kayaks will be provided to field workers who don’t own one.

Winter Bird Video & Quiz:

This excellent video by Phil LeMontagne (1 minute, 48 seconds) shows 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! Click on the image above to watch the video. For a list of birds included, see the post on our website here.

Connecticut’s 2025 Legislative Session:

Connecticut’s General Assembly is in session and hearings are being scheduled. If you are interested in supporting legislation to protect wildlife, mitigate climate change, and make our state better for all residents (human and non-human), send us a message including your special interests.

Thank You For Your Support!

We thank everyone who has generously contributed to the Jonah Center’s work in 2025. We still have a ways to go before reaching our goal. If you appreciate our work and have not yet given to our 2025 Annual Appeal, you may donate by credit card here, or you may send a check to: The Jonah Center, Box 854, Middletown CT 06457. Your support is very important.