Since 2005, 11 people have died after being shocked by Tasers in Connecticut. Most have been black or Hispanic. In one case, a highly agitated Middletown man having an anxiety attack struggled with police and died after being shocked 34 times by police in 2010. In 2011, a 26-year-old man succumbed after being stunned while […]

A bill requiring all public school and homeschooled children in Connecticut to have behavioral health assessments in grades 6, 8, 10 and 12 is drawing criticism from parents and homeschool advocates who say it would stigmatize children and intrude on parents’ rights. The bill was crafted in the aftermath of the Newtown shooting with the hope […]

Feeling duped and fearful of the state’s plan to move inmates and mentally ill patients into a former nursing home without zoning approval, Rocky Hill neighbors and town leaders testified Friday for a bill that would require local site approval. Lawmakers representing Rocky Hill proposed the bill to prevent the state from opening similar prison […]

In a move to stop manufacturers from “poisoning our children,” a handful of state lawmakers are pledging to pursue legislation to crack down on the use of toxic chemicals in children’s products. State Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, has proposed a bill that would ban any product marketed for the use by young children that […]

Yaleris Diaz, 8, raced across the gym from one Hula Hoop on the floor to another. She arrived safely before the music stopped and looked around with a smile on her face. This exuberant game of “musical hoops” was her favorite among several she and some classmates played recently at the Burns School in Hartford. […]

The state’s health care exchange has awarded a $15 million contract to a Virginia company with a mixed track record in Connecticut. Through a competitive process, the exchange, called Access Health CT, selected Maximus Inc. of Reston, Va., to run its call center operation. Maximus will handle phone calls and guide consumers through buying and […]

In response to the horrific Newtown massacre, state and federal lawmakers have proposed at least four bills to study and regulate the impact of violent video games on children’s behavior. The bills all come in reaction to published reports that Adam Lanza, the gunman who shot and killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School, […]

Mindful of the Newtown massacre, a legislative committee Tuesday considered a bill that would bar minors from using violent, point-and-shoot video games at public arcades and other businesses. Sen. Toni Harp, D-New Haven, who proposed the bill before the Children’s Committee, said these games inadvertently teach children that shooting people is easy, virtually harmless and […]

New Haven — A Yale neurosurgeon has discovered four genes that cause the most common form of brain tumors, opening the door to someday treating these tumors with targeted drugs rather than surgery. Dr. Murat Gunel, 45, led a research team that used genomic computer analysis to discover gene mutations that cause these typically benign […]

Chanting “Just say no,” about 100 Rocky Hill residents, various politicians and prison guards rallied in the cold at the Capitol Wednesday to protest the state’s plan to move prison inmates and institutionalized mental health patients into a nursing home in a residential Rocky Hill neighborhood. State Rep. Anthony Guerrera, D-Rocky Hill, served as emcee […]