January 20, 2011 @ 12:00 am

CHESHIRE — U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th, District opened his campaign for U.S. Senate on Thursday with a conference call with reporters, an online video addressed to voters and a hastily-arranged kickoff party at a tavern here in his hometown. Murphy arrived at the Waverly Tavern after 5 p.m. with his wife, Cathy, and son, […]

A hotly contested proposal to tighten state regulation of health insurance rate hikes didn’t make it through the legislature last year. But in the wake of recent fights over premium increases, several lawmakers are eager to revisit the issue. So far, 10 bills have been introduced that call for public hearings or increased state oversight […]

State legislators have an opportunity to slash about 40 percent off of a controversial surcharge on consumer electricity bills or to eliminate a planned raid on a popular energy conservation program–but not both. And given the controversy the two fiscal maneuvers have sparked since their adoption last May, it’s not surprising officials are feeling pressure from […]

The Federal Trade Commission has approved an affiliation between the parent companies of Hartford Hospital and The Hospital of Central Connecticut, allowing one of the largest health care chains in the state to get bigger. The affiliation will put The Hospital of Central Connecticut, which has campuses in Southington and New Britain, into the network […]

Some old names have popped up in new places at the LOB. Robert Heagney, a former state representative from Simsbury, lost out on the state auditor’s job, but his consolation prize is a legal job in the House Republican office. Heagney was backed by House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero for the Republican auditor’s spot, which […]

Connecticut politics has put Washington’s spin machine into overdrive. First, the National Republican Congressional Committee blasted out a news release this morning, handicapping the GOP’s chances of picking up the 5th District congressional seat now that Rep. Chris Murphy has decided to run for Senate. “Connecticut’s Fifth District was already one of more than a […]

A University of Connecticut task force is recommending a series of changes be made to reduce the number of people participating in Spring Weekend and is encouraging students not to attend. “If there were any realistic, practical way for the university to end Spring Weekend outright, then it would have done so many years ago,” […]

Democrats expected House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan, D-Meriden, to give a serious look to running for the 5th Congressional District seat, now that Chris Murphy is running for U.S. Senate. Sam Caliguiri, the Republican who lost to Murphy last year, is widely expected to jump in. He, of course, faced a crowded field, which is […]

U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy posted a video addressed to supporters announcing his candidacy for U.S. Senate. In an email to reporters, he issued a statement: “I’ve decided to run for the United States Senate in 2012 because I believe that I can be a stronger voice for the issues that matter to Connecticut, like creating […]

Everybody seems to be in a hurry to get going on 2012. U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy will discuss his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat held by the retiring Joe Lieberman in a conference call today after he arrives from Washington D.C., then follow up at 5 p.m. with a public event at restaurant in […]

Few politicians have had a career as tumultuous and unpredictable as Joe Lieberman’s, particularly in later years as he went from Democratic vice presidential nominee to an outcast from the Connecticut Democratic Party to a campaigner for a Republican presidential candidate. So it’s not surprising that reaction to the announcement of his retirement from the […]