One of every 20 students in Connecticut is being directed to take standardized tests created for children with either severe or moderate disabilities, a significant increase in the past five years. Poor results on these alternative or modified tests will not penalize a school district, unlike weak results on standardized tests that the majority of […]
July 11, 2012 @ 12:00 am
Posted inNews
Feds indict Braddock, claim conspiracy began last year
A federal indictment returned Wednesday against House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan’s former congressional campaign fundraiser describes a conspiracy to kill roll-your-own tobacco legislation that began last fall in a Waterbury smoke shop. The three-count indictment charges Robert Braddock Jr., who was Donovan’s congressional campaign finance director until his arrest by the FBI, with conspiring to […]
Posted inNews
Malloy pickets with striking nursing home workers
Newington — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy walked a picket line Wednesday with striking nursing-home workers, accusing HealthBridge Management of New Jersey of violating labor laws in its battle with employees at its five facilities in Connecticut. “Let’s be honest. What HealthBridge is attempting to do illegally is to break the union. That’s what they want […]
Posted inNews
Health exchange panel struggles to balance need vs. cost in ‘benchmark’ plan
The panel working to create the state’s first health exchange received a crucial recommendation Wednesday: Don’t make the insurance plans so affordable that they don’t cover essential patient needs. A working group of the exchange’s board of directors recommended unanimously Wednesday that it establish a health benefits “benchmark” — the minimum levels of coverage plans […]
Posted inNews
Expectations run high for liquor pricing task force
Legalizing Sunday liquor sales grabbed the headlines last spring, but the Connecticut legislature’s 2012 venture into the complexities of liquor regulation and price controls was judged as much on what it ignored as what it tackled. Not surprisingly, expectations were riding high Wednesday when a new task force began its work on what many believe […]
Posted inNews
To Murphy, Republicans have ‘Fatal Attraction’ to health care act
Washington — The Senate will block it and President Obama will never sign the bill, but House Republicans plan another vote Wednesday to repeal the Affordable Care Act. It would be the 33rd time House Republicans vote to repeal the entire health care law or parts of it. This latest vote was scheduled after the […]
Posted inNews
Greenberg loans campaign $1.5 million
The congressional campaign of Republican Mark Greenberg spent $1 milliion and had nearly $800,000 in available cash as of June 30, with nearly $1.5 million of the $1.8 million raised coming in personal loans from the candidate. In the three-month period ending June 30, Greenberg loaned his campaign $650,000 and raised only $3,825 in outside […]
Posted inHealth
Two state doctors’ networks named to oversee care, cost for Medicare patients
The federal government has designated two Connecticut doctor networks as “accountable care organizations” responsible for controlling costs and providing more coordinated medical care for Medicare patients. PriMed Inc. of Shelton and MPS ACO Physicians LLC of Middletown were among 89 designated as ACOs nationally Monday by the federal government. These ACOs, part of the Affordable […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
One-third of Environment Committee gets failing grade
Nine of 28 members of the legislature’s Environment Committee got failing grades in an environmental scorecard issued today by the Connecticut League of Conservation Voters, and Democrats outscored Republicans by a widening margin. Overall, the legislature got improving grades from 2011 to 2012, when the average score jumped from 76 percent to 91 percent. A […]
Posted inNews
Uncontested legislative races at record low
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said today that the 2012 election will have the fewest uncontested races for the General Assembly since 1998, when the state began tracking how many legislative elections were uncontested by a major party. “I am very encouraged to see so many candidates stepping up and running for office, especially […]
Posted inPolitics
Greenberg goes on air with ad attacking Obama
Republican congressional candidate Mark Greenberg released a television commercial today touting his 35 years as a businessman and attacking President Obama’s economic record. Greenberg, one of four candidates seeking the GOP nomination for the open seat in the 5th Congressional District, ignored his Republican rivals in a 30-second spot called “Dust.” “Because of Barack Obama’s […]