Bristol TEC SkillsUSA team woke up early Friday, March 27th to participate in the 2015 Connecticut Skills USA competition. The all-day event started at Wilcox Technical High School in Meriden and ended at Southern Connecticut State University for the Awards Ceremony.

As college degrees are advertised to high school students as a prerequisite for entering Connecticut’s changing, knowledge-based workforce, proponents of technical education worry jobs requiring labor-intensive skills and knowledge are being neglected.

As air conditioning season fast approaches, Fontaine Mechanical promises same-day service, repair and installation of cooling units to help beat the heat. Bill Fontaine, owner of Fontaine Mechanical at 75 Pleasant Ave., said customers don’t have to wait until their “golden years” to afford the comfort of central air conditioning. With Fontaine Mechanical, they can expect “value and integrity.”