The CT Mirror (https://ctmirror.org/author/mpazniokas/)
A federal appeals court Wednesday ruled against MGM Resorts International, the owner of a casino under construction in Springfield, in the first round of what is expected to be a protracted legal fight to stop Connecticut from allowing a competing casino in East Windsor. Continue Reading →
STAMFORD — Ted Taylor settled onto an upholstered leather bench in an unfinished booth at the new Bobby Valentine’s restaurant and sports bar, the Connecticut Gold Coast’s introduction to a plusher version of what’s been a shrinking, down-market gambling niche — off-tracking betting. His company, Sportech, is investing in a gambling market under pressure from increased competition both in and outside the state. Continue Reading →
The jobs report released Thursday showed Connecticut’s unemployment rate in May was 4.9 percent, unchanged since April and four-tenths of a point lower than a year ago. The state had a net gain of 6,700 jobs, a gain partially offset by revised numbers showing a loss of 3,100 jobs in April, nearly double the loss originally reported. Continue Reading →
First Lady Cathy Malloy interrupted an impromptu interview Wednesday at the two-day conference she and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy are co-hosting, Reimagining Justice, to say goodbye to a friend, Tracie Bernardi. The two women hugged, and Bernardi said, “I love you.” They met years ago on Malloy’s visit to prison. Bernardi was doing time for murder. Continue Reading →
Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo and Senate Republicans publicly argued Tuesday over whether the GOP was responsible for jeopardizing a state employees’ charitable giving program by blocking a technical bill unanimously approved by the House of Representatives, only to die from inaction in the Senate. Continue Reading →
UNCASVILLE — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the face of a Trump administration whose approach to the federal budget and its oversight of Indian country is skeptically viewed by many tribes, was welcomed here Tuesday by Connecticut’s two federally recognized tribes as an ally in their casino fight with MGM Resorts International. Continue Reading →
Never coming close to resolving a budget crisis in the five-month regular session that ended Wednesday night, the General Assembly and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy now will try again in special session, burdened by the knowledge that neither chamber has a reliable working majority on the question of how to fund Connecticut’s government. Continue Reading →
A standoff over a bill sought by Dominion Energy to boost the profitability of its Millstone nuclear power station temporarily stopped business in the closely divided House of Representatives on Wednesday, the final day of the 2017 legislative session. It failed to force a vote sought by Dominion. Continue Reading →
Dominion Energy and its allies in the Senate Republican caucus managed Wednesday to salvage elements of a bill intended to stabilize the profitability of Millstone Power Station, a nuclear plant that produces nearly all of Connecticut’s carbon-free electricity. Continue Reading →
Bail reforms intended to ensure that indigent defendants are not jailed simply for lack of resources won final passage in the Senate early Wednesday on a 29 to 7 vote. Continue Reading →
The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribal nations crossed the finish line Wednesday on the last day of the General Assembly’s annual session, victors in a two-year struggle for authorization to jointly develop a casino to compete with the MGM Resorts International casino under construction in Springfield. Continue Reading →
The Senate’s approval of a little-noticed mixed-martial arts bill Tuesday evening was the signal: A deal has been struck for the House of Representatives to vote in the waning hours of the 2017 to authorize the owners of Connecticut’s tribal gaming resorts to develop a casino in East Windsor. Continue Reading →
Updated at 6:50 p.m.
The Senate has passed several non-controversial House bills awaiting final action since gaveling in Tuesday afternoon, including bills on hate crimes, opioids, eye care in the digital age and pregnant women in the workplace. Continue Reading →
A debate Monday over the police use of force laid bare partisan, racial and geographic divisions in the Connecticut House, where black and Puerto Rican Democrats united behind a bill whose very title, An Act Concerning Police Misconduct, was branded an insult to law enforcement by the House Republican leader. Continue Reading →
The Connecticut legislature’s long debate about the implications of expanding casino gambling has come down to a stark question of transactional politics: What do a relative handful of urban Democratic legislators want in return for allowing the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans to jointly develop the state’s third casino, its first off tribal lands? Continue Reading →