WASHINGTON — The Obama administration coupled its move to tighten gun laws with a plea to Connecticut and other states for help to strengthen a flawed system used to screen gun buyers.
Ana Radelat
Ana has written about politics and policy in Washington, D.C.. for Gannett, Thompson Reuters and UPI. She was a special correspondent for the Miami Herald, and a regular contributor to The New York TImes, Advertising Age and several other publications. She has also worked in broadcast journalism, for CNN and several local NPR stations. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Journalism.
Posted inJustice
Hartford police begin New Year with old civil rights problem
It was the late 1960s and many American cities were ablaze with racial tensions involving police that often resulted in rioting and violence. Hartford was no exception. The result was a lawsuit and a legal agreement for the city to make a number of changes, including hiring more minority police officers. But after more than 40 years, the police force is still bound by the agreement and struggling to more closely mirror its community.
Posted inPolitics
Obama’s action on guns fulfills promise to Newtown families
WASHINGTON — Tearing up as he spoke of the slaying of 20 Newtown first-graders, President Obama made an emotional appeal to the nation for support of his gun-control initiatives on Tuesday, saying, “Every time I think about those kids, it makes me mad.”
Posted inPolitics
White House rolls out new gun control measures
WASHINGTON — With support from Connecticut lawmakers, President Obama is taking executive actions that will broaden FBI background checks of gun buyers and anger Republican members of Congress who say the president has overstepped his authority.
Posted inNews
Plans for Coltsville national park hit some bumps in first year
WASHINGTON — A year after the go-ahead was given to authorize the first national park in Connecticut, efforts to commemorate the industrial innovation of Samuel and Elizabeth Colt in Hartford have hit some stumbling blocks, including one that may require an act Congress to resolve.
Posted inJustice
Hartford case helped inspire tax relief for wrongfully convicted
WASHINGTON — East Hartford resident James Tillman was convicted of rape and jailed for almost 18 years before a DNA test exonerated and freed him in 2006. Congress is now adding to the restitution Tillman, and hundreds of wrongfully convicted people, received for the wrong the judicial system did them.
Posted inPolitics
Defense spending, permanent R&D tax break benefit CT firms
A hyper-busy Congress accomplished this week much of what it wasn’t able to do all year.
Posted inPolitics
Murphy to help Clinton’s New Hampshire campaign
WASHINGTON — Sen. Chris Murphy is travelling to New Hampshire next week to help sell Hillary Clinton’s gun safety plan in a state with strong gun rights supporters.
Posted inEducation
Senate saves Perkins student loan program
WASHINGTON– The nation’s oldest student loan program, which had expired in September, has been temporarily revived by the Senate. The Perkins loan program was available at most of Connecticut’s four-year colleges and has helped thousands of students in the state.
Posted inMoney, Politics
CT lawmakers, except Himes, split with party over tax package
WASHINGTON – U.S. Reps. John Larson, Elizabeth Esty, Rosa DeLauro and Joe Courtney split from their party leaders Thursday in voting for a tax package that would make permanent a research and development tax break benefiting many Connecticut companies and tax credits to help low-income families.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Federal budget bill good for CT defense, health insurance industries
WASHINGTON — The federal government’s proposed $1.1 trillion budget deal will please Connecticut health insurers, defense contractors and early childhood education advocates; but disappoint those seeking more federal heating aid and country-of-origin labeling on beef and pork.
Posted inPolitics
DeLauro helps form ‘Cuba Working Group’
WASHINGTON– On the one-year anniversary of President Obama’s announcement that the United States was seeking to normalize relations with Cuba, Rep. Rosa DeLauro and 11 other House members re-established a bipartisan group to seek an end to remaining sanctions
Posted inPolitics
Federal researchers say Air Force may have to cut back on F-35s
Updated at 8:25 p.m.
WASHINGTON – Congressional researchers told the Air Force its ambitious modernization program will leave it strapped for money, and it may have to cut the number of F-35s it wants to buy.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Courtney expects partial victory on ending ACA’s ‘Cadillac tax’
WASHINGTON — Rep. Joe Courtney expects to soon have at least a partial victory in his effort to eliminate a provision in the Affordable Care Act that has been attacked by both labor and business groups.
Posted inPolitics
Education bill and gun control dominate on Capitol Hill
A new federal education law replacing No Child Left Behind and a stepped-up campaign to bar those on terrorist watch lists from purchasing firearms dominated the discussion on Capitol Hill this week.