A day after Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh vehemently denied sexual assault accusations during a heated and tearful hearing, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont called on Republican Bob Stefanowski to state whether he supports the nominee or agrees with demands for an FBI investigation.
Lamont urges Stefanowski to take a position on Kavanaugh
Posted inPolitics
Yale Law School dean calls for FBI investigation of Kavanaugh
WASHINGTON – Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken, who angered many students at the university with complimentary remarks about Supreme Court candidate Brett Kavanaugh, on Friday called for an FBI investigation of allegations of sexual misconduct that have been leveled against the nominee.
Posted inPolitics
Judiciary Committee advances nomination, but Kavanaugh hits a snag
WASHINGTON – The Senate Judiciary Committee voted along party lines to advance Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court, but the nomination hit a snag when a key Republican pressed for an FBI investigation of allegations of sexual misconduct by the judge.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Creating systems in which all children can be happy, healthy, and successful
Last week, both CT Voices for Children and the Connecticut Health and Development Institute (CHDI) issued publications focusing on the young child. CT Voices addressed access to high-quality early care and education; CHDI promoted a system through which early childhood professionals become more skilled in detecting mental health problems early. Both publications hit the nail on the head; early childhood professionals are in the ideal position to detect developmental delays and early childhood mental health concerns. The importance of revealing developmental delays at an early stage has been addressed since the 1960s; more recently the early identification of mental health concerns gained traction too. Addressing mental health concerns at a young age can increase the likelihood that children will grow up happy, healthy, and successful.
Posted inPolitics
Murphy helps raise campaign cash to defeat NRA-backed Republicans
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chris Murphy will join other gun control advocates and coalition of progressive groups in a one-day fundraising effort for eight Democrats hoping to defeat Republican incumbents with “A” ratings from the National Rifle Association in November’s mid-term elections. It’s an effort show the gun control lobby has political clout, and help flip the U.S. House — and maybe also the Senate — to Democratic control.
Posted inPolitics
GOP, meet your nominee, Bob Stefanowski
STAMFORD — Bob Stefanowski stood Thursday night before Republican Party activists and elected officials still trying to take the measure of the political newcomer who largely sidestepped them on the way to winning a five-way Republican nomination for governor in August.
Posted inPolitics
Markley’s conservatism focus of lieutenant governor debate
The Democratic and unaffiliated candidates for lieutenant governor made Republican Joe Markley a common target Thursday over his social conservatism, including his solitary opposition in the state Senate to bills that address issues of pay equity and college-campus sexual assault.
Posted inHealth
Advisory council stunned to learn about parallel health information exchange efforts
Members of the council charged with creating a health information exchange for Connecticut seemed stunned Thursday as they realized the state Department of Social Services is continuing to create its own products for exchanging this information.
Posted inPolitics
Lamont wins CT state police union endorsement
The Connecticut State Police Union on Thursday endorsed Democratic gubernatorial contender Ned Lamont after citing the potential threat his GOP challenger, Bob Stefanowski, would have on its members’ wages and benefits.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Kavanaugh hearing engulfed in high-stakes drama and emotion
WASHINGTON – Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh angrily lashed out at Democrats who oppose his candidacy and said a rash of accusations of sexual misbehavior from women is a “calculated and orchestrated political hit.” But it was his accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, who first held the nation’s attention when she said she was afraid Kavanaugh “was going to rape me” at a high school party decades ago.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Reflections on synthetic marijuana outbreaks: our own local zombie apocalypse
Imagine chaos, a scene akin to a zombie apocalypse only footsteps away from an Ivy League institution of higher learning: people screaming, fighting, and then suddenly dropping to the ground in convulsions, limbs flailing in all directions. This became reality in downtown New Haven after over 100 people overdosed on synthetic marijuana, “K2,” leaving onlookers in awe and our hospitals in crisis.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Secret hacks of Grand Central Terminal
There is possibly no more beautiful railroad station in the world than New York City’s Grand Central Terminal. As the destination of over 55,000 daily rail commuters from Connecticut, it’s a place where many of us spend a fair amount of time. I’ve been riding in and out of Grand Central for over 50 years. So to help you maneuver the station’s labyrinth of tunnels, ramps and stairs, here are some of the “secrets” of Grand Central that I find most useful.
Posted inPolitics
A gubernatorial debate with a new player, but the same answers
STORRS — The presence of a third candidate, Oz Griebel, in a gubernatorial debate Wednesday night did nothing to nudge Republican Bob Stefanowski and Democrat Ned Lamont toward providing details on how they would close a projected deficit of more than $2 billion or finance improvements to a rapidly failing transportation infrastructure.
Posted inEducation
A pregnant teen dies, and DCF debates value of more transparency
Testifying at the state Capitol complex Wednesday about a spate of suicide attempts at the state’s psychiatric facility for children, the commissioner of the Department of Children and Families held up her right hand and promised to start publicly disclosing when outside inspectors deem the facility unsafe.
Posted inHealth
Bringing legitimacy to a workforce: the road to certification for community health workers
Despite their value to the health care system and the underserved communities they reach, however, there is still no sustainable funding for the majority of community health workers because their services are not covered by insurance. That’s where the move for certification comes in.