The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Flamin’ Hot Cheetos coming to Stop & Shop in sushi form
A new sushi option at Stop & Shop grocery stores steals inspiration from the chips aisle.
The Flamin’ Hot Cheetos roll features imitation crab, cream cheese, avocado and cucumber rolled in seaweed and rice mixed with Flamin' Hot oil. The entire roll is then topped with Flamin' Hot mayo and crushed Flamin' Hot Cheetos.
The special roll is priced at $7.49.
Bonus? If you use chopsticks, you can avoid the telltale orange-red dust on your fingers.
The Flamin’ Hot roll is available at nearly 50 participating Stop & Shop locations across Connecticut.
In Hartford County, the roll is at stores in Enfield, Glastonbury, Granby, Newington, Simsbury, Southington, South Windsor, Unionville and Windsor. In Tolland County, it’s in Vernon, and in Litchfield County, it’s in Litchfield, Torrington and Watertown.
In Middlesex County: Cromwell,
East Hampton, Old Saybrook
In New London County: Colchester, East Lyme, Groton. In New Haven County: Cheshire, East Haven, Hamden, Madison, Meriden, New Haven, North Haven, Southbury, Wallingford and West Haven.
In Fairfield County: Danbury, Darien, Fairfield, Monroe, Norwalk, Ridgefield, Shelton, Stamford, Trumbull, Westport and Wilton. stopandshop.com.
Thumbs up to more people being eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations in Connecticut. Gov. Ned Lamont’s decision last week to change course on requirements, going to a strictly agebased protocol with carve-outs for teachers, caused plenty of consternation, especially among people with disabilities. But it’s unquestionably a good thing to get more people vaccinated, and as of Monday some 610,000 people in the state are newly eligible for shots, to the point that the system was overwhelmed with applicants. Officials are urging patience, but high demand is an indication that many people are interested in being vaccinated, which is ultimately the only way we will get out of our yearlong COVID shutdown.
Thumbs down to six Connecticut hospitals that are losing 1 percent of their Medicare reimbursements as a penalty for documenting a high rate of hospital-acquired injuries and infections. Thumbs up, though, to a dramatic drop after six state hospitals were penalized for the previous period, and the fewest since the federal program began in 2015. The latest data predates the arrival of COVID-19. The hospitals cited are Bridgeport Hospital, Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London, Midstate Medical Center in Meriden, Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain, Waterbury Hospital and
Windham Community Memorial Hospital in Willimantic.
Thumbs up to a report from Stop Solitary CT that finds ending the practice of isolating inmates in prison could save the state as much as $17 million each year. Connecticut is already going to save money by shuttering Northern Correctional Institution, Connecticut’s only “supermax” prison, on July 1, which will result in $12.6 million in savings. There are good reasons to stop solitary confinement, with few exceptions regarding immediate safety, and the financial justification should be added to that discussion. Even as crime has increased in some Connecticut communities in the past year, we can commit to better practices in our prisons.
Thumbs down to unemployment figures in Connecticut tilting into the wrong direction after four straight weeks of drops. The nearly 6,900 Connecticut workers who filed initial claims for unemployment compensation during the second week of last month marked a rise of 780 claims from the week before. The 780 is not a small figure, given that the only other two Northeast states to see increases — New Hampshire and Maine — only documented a few dozen. It could be a blip, but will surely have Connecticut economic forecasters anxiously anticipating the next round.