© 2025 WXXI News
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Connections
A smiling man with short dark hair wearing a blue button-down shirt and a grey blazer. He is holding a pair of eyeglasses. The word "Connections" appears on the left side of the photo in vertical letters.
Connections

Monroe Co. opts out of Airbnb tracking; uptick in flu; toys, toys, toys!

By Evan Dawson,
Megan Mack, Julie Williams
Published December 12, 2025 at 2:56 PM EST
Two men wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio; a man at left has a brown beard and is wearing glasses, a green knit cap and a plaid button-down shirt; a man at right has short dark hair and is wearing a beige sweater with a blue snowflake pattern across the chest and sleeves.
1 of 8  — Gino Fanelli with host Evan Dawson on "Connections"
Gino Fanelli with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Friday, December 12, 2025
Julie Williams / WXXI News
Two people wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a woman at left has short blonde hair and is wearing glasses and a beige and black dress; a man at right has short dark hair and is wearing a beige sweater with a blue and green snowflake pattern across the chest and sleeves.
2 of 8  — Racquel Stephen with host Evan Dawson on "Connections"
Racquel Stephen with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Friday, December 12, 2025
Julie Williams / WXXI News
Two men wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a smiling man at left has short grey hair and is wearing glasses, a plaid button-down shirt and blue sweater while holding up a board game box; a man at right has short dark hair and is wearing a beige sweater with a blue and green snowflake pattern across the chest and sleeves, jeans and sneakers while holding up a blue container with a confused look on his face.
3 of 8  — Christopher Bensch with host Evan Dawson on "Connections"
Christopher Bensch with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Friday, December 12, 2025
Julie Williams / WXXI News
A doll with long blonde pigtails wears a blue dress with a white apron and white shoes.
4 of 8  — Cabbage Patch Kid.tif
Cabbage Patch Kid
The Strong National Museum of Play
A light brown cardboard box with dark brown letters.
5 of 8  — Pet Rock.tif
Pet Rock
The Strong National Museum of Play
A red puppet with big white eyes and an orange nose is in a green and white box with red letters.
6 of 8  — Tickle Me Elmo.tif
Tickle Me Elmo
The Strong National Museum of Play
A card-sized red box has black and beige lettering.
7 of 8  — Uno Deck.jpg
Uno Deck
The Strong National Museum of Play
A black box with white letters has many small photos of people and a video game system.
8 of 8  — Atari 2600 Boxed.jpg
Atari 2600
The Strong National Museum of Play
WXXI News

We're joined by our WXXI News colleagues to discuss a series of stories that have made news this week.

As reported by investigative reporter Gino Fanelli, Monroe County has become the first of the major counties in upstate New York to opt out of creating a registry system for short-term rentals like Airbnb. We discuss the implications.

Then, health, equity, and community reporter Racquel Stephen has the latest on flu and measles cases, which are on the rise in the community.

And finally, what's trending — both currently and historically — when it comes to toys? Chris Bensch of the Strong National Museum of Play stops by the studio with recent additions to the Toy Hall of Fame, and we talk about popular toys from holidays past (think Atari, Tickle Me Elmo, and more!).

In studio:

Connections
Evan Dawson
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
See stories by Evan Dawson
Megan Mack
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.
See stories by Megan Mack
Julie Williams
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.
See stories by Julie Williams