Cassandra Basler
Editor of Local News Programs and PodcastsCassandra Basler oversees Connecticut Public’s flagship daily news programs, Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and coordinates breaking news coverage on the air, online and in your morning email inbox. She also edited the seven-part podcast series "Generation Barney" about the media we loved as kids and how it shapes us. She's an editor of the station’s limited series investigative podcast, "In Absentia" and producer of the five-part podcast "Unforgotten: Connecticut’s Hidden History of Slavery". Her reporting has aired nationally on NPR’s All Things Considered, Morning Edition and Here & Now.
Basler came to Connecticut by way of Columbia Journalism School in New York City, where she graduated with a Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship and used it to cover the integration of Syrian refugees in Germany during the height of the world migrant crisis.
Previously, Basler worked at WSHU Public Radio in Fairfield, Connecticut as a Morning Edition producer/reporter, a local correspondent for The New England News Collaborative, and a midday newscast anchor. She later served as senior editor, helping to produce everything from newscasts, to features and a biweekly travel podcast.
Basler grew up just north of Detroit, Michigan. There, she worked on a live morning talk show and in the newsroom at the local public radio affiliate during Detroit’s historic municipal bankruptcy filing. Her favorite freelance job was working as a researcher and contributing writer for the first Detroit guidebook to be published in three decades, “Belle Isle to 8 Mile: An Insider's Guide to Detroit.” Before that, she studied English, German and Urban Studies at the University of Michigan.
On the weekends, you can find her mapping out New England’s best dupes for the iconic Detroit Coney Dog.
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Emily Wang is a practicing physician and Yale professor who works to improve the health of people leaving prison, who are at higher risk for certain conditions. -
Connecticut hardened its legal protections this year to protect abortion access and the right of people seeking reproductive healthcare from out of state. -
Four people accused of misusing COVID-relief dollars meant for the City of West Haven were indicted today. A federal grand jury in Hartford indicted former State Rep. Michael DiMassa and three others, charged in the theft of more than $1 million in federal COVID-relief funds.
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Gov. Ned Lamont is issuing an executive order that will require staff at nursing homes and long-term care facilities to get coronavirus booster shots. The order came as the state announced the daily COVID-19 case rate held steady at about 23%, after climbing to a record high of nearly 24% early in the week. -
The first phase of Gov. Ned Lamont's promised 3 million at-home COVID-19 test kits will not make its way to Connecticut as expected. State officials had said Wednesday night that supply chain issues grounded the shipment of tests, but they later confirmed on Thursday evening that a purchase deal fell through.
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New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said this week the city is doing all it can to ensure that schools will remain open through a class-by-class quarantine strategy. Still, he warned parents to prepare for remote learning at a moment's notice. The guidance comes as students are set to return from holiday break next week, soon after Connecticut continues to chart record COVID-19 positivity rates. -
The State Employees Bargaining Agent Coalition (SEBAC) told its members this week that an arbitrator won them the right to negotiate telework on the job. The news came as an early pandemic-era agreement, which allowed many unionized state employees to work remotely 100% of the time, was set to expire at the end of the year. -
Connecticut’s daily COVID-19 testing rate has continued to climb since the spread of the omicron variant hit the state, with a record 14.98% positivity rate reported Tuesday afternoon. -
The U.S. Justice Department issued a report on Tuesday that found the Manson Youth Institution in Cheshire, Conn., is violating the rights of young people confined there. Manson is a high-security prison for teenagers and young adults up to the age of 21. -
New Haven Acting Police Chief Renee Dominguez has withdrawn her nomination to take the job on a permanent basis. Dominguez would have been the city’s first official female chief, but was rejected by the city’s Board of Alders on Monday.
