The state’s first microgrid projects have been announced. Nine projects in eight communities have been approved as part of a microgrid pilot project – the first in the nation – conceived after Tropical Storm Irene and the October snowstorm in 2011 left large swaths of the state without power for more than a week. State officials were particularly concerned that services such as food providers, gas stations and pharmacies could not operate and part of the goal had been projects to help communities keep essential services running during future power outages. Another part of the goal was systems that use cleaner energy sources.
July 24, 2013
Posted inHealth
Backus becomes latest hospital to join Hartford HealthCare network
State regulators have approved plans for Backus Hospital to affiliate with Hartford HealthCare, bringing the small Norwich hospital into a growing chain of health care facilities that cover a wide swath of the state. The move makes Backus the fifth hospital in Hartford’s network. Hartford HealthCare is also the parent company of Hartford and Windham […]
Posted inEducation, Politics
Meotti opens consulting business
Michael Meotti, the former vice president of the state’s largest public college system, who resigned last October amid a pay-raise scandal, has opened his own consulting business. “We can help you identify and carry out a strategy to better connect with the governmental, business, philanthropic and community leaders that matter to your organization,” reads the […]
Posted inNews
DeLauro strips Pentagon of money to train helicopter pilots
Washington — Rep. Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat whose district is home to Sikorsky, won approval for a provision in the 2014 defense appropriations bill that would prohibit the Pentagon from spending any money training Afghan pilots on Russian-made helicopters. DeLauro was successful last year in putting a ban on the Defense Department’s purchase of those helicopters, […]
Posted inEducation
Do school bus drivers have collective bargaining rights?
A state board has ruled that the school bus drivers hired by Newtown Public Schools are not part of a labor organization because they are independent contractors, a decision that could have an impact on districts across the state. The State Board of Labor Relations wrote in a 14-page decision that the drivers are not […]
Posted inNews
Senate approves student loan bill, without support of Blumenthal or Murphy
Washington — The Senate voted 81-18 to approve a bipartisan compromise that would reverse a sharp hike in the interest rates of Stafford college loans, but allow them to rise in the future. Connecticut Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, both Democrats, strongly opposed the deal and were among the 17 Democrats and one Republican who […]
Posted inNews
Connecticut takes on abuse of prescription painkillers
Connecticut is one of 17 states whose residents are more likely to die from unintentional drug overdoses than in motor vehicle accidents, with the majority of those deaths caused by common prescription opioid painkillers. From 1998 to 2010, the latest year for which data are available, an average of 272 people, ages 20 to 64, […]
Posted inNews
State’s cash-starved pension funds get a boost from Wall Street
The state’s cash-starved pension programs got a boost over the last fiscal year, earning an average of nearly 11.5 percent on their investments, Treasurer Denise L. Nappier reported. The majority of the $2.8 billion in added market value involved pension programs for retired state employees and public school teachers. But the state also overseas the […]
Posted inNews
Connecticut House members split over NSA
Washington — Connecticut’s House members were split Wednesday on an effort to strip the National Security Agency of its authority to spy on Americans. It was narrowly defeated on a vote of 205-217. Among its supporters were Reps. John Larson, D-1st District, Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, and Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District. “There’s already enough information out […]