Posted inEconomic Development, Housing

Ortiz: Puerto Rico facing long, challenging recovery — bravely

Jason Ortiz, president of the Connecticut Puerto Rican Agenda, knows how badly Puerto Rico was damaged by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and how important the territory has been to the rest of the United States. He has strong feelings about what it will take to rebuild the island; and in this Sunday Conversation told us how the crisis has brought Puerto Ricans here and on the island together as a people.

Posted inEconomic Development, Education, Health, Money, Politics

Last night, the budget politics — today, the details

Legislators arrived at the State Capitol on Friday with the opportunity for the first time to see the details of a $41.4 billion, two-year budget proposal that the administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Democratic legislative leaders hoped would end Connecticut’s summer-long budget impasse.

Posted inEconomic Development, Money

For CT, strides and stumbles in quest to spur bioscience industry

Connecticut is losing more bioscience jobs than it is gaining, despite a sizable jump in research and development jobs over the last three years. Alexion’s departure is the latest in a line that has undercut bioscience growth. Nonetheless, many say New Haven is nearing a “critical mass” after years of effort by Yale and a new cluster is emerging in Farmington after more than $1 billion in state investment.

Posted inEconomic Development, Politics

One option for promoting faster public Internet still on the table

Updated at 6:30 p.m.
A bill that would have prevented towns from using their reserved space on telephone poles to provide high-speed Internet services to the public failed to gain enough traction to get out of committee this session. That leaves an option on the table for town and municipal officials looking for creative ways to improve the state’s Internet infrastructure.