Disabuse yourself of the notion, if your entertain it, that electric cars are elaborate golf carts that can barely get out of their own way. That is not the case, by a long shot. I took a short spin in a Tesla Model 3, driving through the streets of West Hartford and on I-84. I now see why people like Teslas.
Eat my dust, Maserati
Posted inNews, Politics
Saudi role in journalist’s alleged murder threatens CT defense contracts
WASHINGTON – Sikorsky and other U.S. defense contractors are in a tough spot because of the alleged murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who disappeared in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul 17 days ago.
Posted inHealth
Access Health CT launches new online tool to compare plans
Officials from Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange, are urging their customers, especially those who qualify to be automatically re-enrolled in 2019, to explore their options for next year using a new online tool and other resources available through the exchange.
Posted inPolitics
Lamont reports average adjusted gross income of $3.6 million
Ned Lamont, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, released tax documents Friday showing an average adjusted gross income of $3.6 million in each of the past five years, primarily in investment income.
Posted inHealth
CT officials defend opposition of court-ordered mental health treatment
Connecticut recently received an “F” grade in a national report for being one of three states that doesn’t allow the courts to order people with mental illnesses to comply with outpatient treatment. But Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and other key mental health care advocates wouldn’t have it any other way.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Let’s spend transportation money on… transportation
Should money intended for transportation projects be spent on transportation projects? I think so. As far back as December 2015, the General Assembly was discussing the importance of ensuring that funding in the Special Transportation Fund (STF) be used “solely for transportation purposes.” In 2017, the House and Senate turned this matter over to the electors in a ballot measure. Now it is up the citizens of Connecticut to answer the question.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Voters should reject the ‘lock box’ ruse
Every state relies on its transportation network to drive economic development and maximize quality of life. For this reason, insufficient transportation funding and mismanagement of spending on projects presents a major roadblock to Connecticut’s economic recovery.
The unacceptable state of our infrastructure has a direct impact on all residents, making commuting a nightmare while constraining existing businesses and dooming many newer ones. A study by U.S. News & World Report named Connecticut’s transportation system the third worst in the nation overall, with the very worst road quality out of all 50 states. Meanwhile, rail and bus services are threatened with cuts on an almost annual basis.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
‘Conserva-tarians’ have a chance to get governing right
I am a conservative. Libertarian too. “Conserva-tarian” is a good appellation. “Jeffersonian” is not bad either.
Conservatives among us had better stick with SEBAC for 2.5 more years. (Remember, after June 2021, the oppressive part is over).
To conservatives:
A) Do you REALLY want to trust liberal judges to undo a freely negotiated agreement? (Even conservative John Roberts wouldn’t undo ObamaCare; undoing SEBAC is MORE of a stretch.)
Posted inNews
Newtown school officials defend handling of shooter’s education, refute state findings
The gunman who killed 20 elementary students and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School a few years after he graduated from the school district showed “remarkable progress” thanks to the special education services he received while in school, according to two former officials from the school system.
Posted inJustice
Latest police profiling report leads to something new – a thoughtful discussion
Minority drivers were pulled over for equipment violations, like burned-out tail lights, at higher rates than white drivers in most of the eight towns examined in the state’s latest report on racial disparities in police traffic stop patterns.
Posted inPolitics
Temperature rising in gubernatorial debate
Republican Bob Stefanowski’s bold promise to eliminate Connecticut’s income tax over eight years came under withering attack Thursday by Democrat Ned Lamont and Oz Griebel, a petitioning candidate struggling to be taken seriously in the waning weeks of the race for governor.
Posted inNews
GOP congressional challengers facing the power of incumbency
When she went to the state Republican Party convention in May as a delegate from Manchester, Jennifer Nye had no plans to challenge John Larson, who has represented the Hartford-area 1st Congressional District since 1999. But now Nye belongs to an exclusive club. She’s one of several underfunded GOP candidates vying for Congress in Connecticut this year.
Posted inMoney
CT jobless rate falls to 4.2 percent based on August job gains
Connecticut’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.2 percent Thursday, despite the loss of 500 jobs in September, as labor officials announced August job growth was larger than originally anticipated.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Gov. Malloy, you can grant parolees the right to vote
Six months ago, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order that provisionally pardoned the people on parole in the state – 35,000 in all. It was the fact that the New York State Assembly had just refused to refranchise paroled would-be voters that motivated Cuomo to take bold action. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy needs to follow Cuomo’s example and take action by himself to restore voting rights to people who are currently on parole in Connecticut.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Will our new governor and General Assembly turn a deaf ear to our at-risk students?
Election Day on November 6 is more than a battle of political parties for gubernatorial and legislative control. It’s an opportunity for new leaders to finally put Connecticut on the path to education justice. In January of this year, a deeply divided Connecticut Supreme Court ruled 4-3 in CT Coalition for Justice in Education Funding [CCJEF] v. Rell that the State was meeting its constitutional responsibility to provide a “minimally adequate” and equitable educational opportunity to our public school students. In the face of such callous judicial indifference to the plight of struggling poor, minority, non-English speaking and other high-need students, CCJEF looks to a new governor and the 2019 General Assembly for justice.