A classroom at a private school in Connecticut A new state tax break is available this school year to help parents pay for private K-12 school tuition – a development triggered by the federal tax overhaul. The state has for years allowed parents to avoid paying state income taxes on up to $10,000 each year […]
New tax break for private K-12 tuition begins this school year
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Community action: Helping people, strengthening communities
As residents across Connecticut struggle to make ends meet in one of the richest states in the nation, our Community Action Agency (CAA) Network is on their side. Through critical Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding, CAAs — the state and federal designated antipoverty agencies— provide cost-efficient and programmatic-effective essential, basic human needs services like food, shelter, heating assistance, employment and training, and child care to the state’s low and moderate income communities in all 169 cities and towns.
Posted inPolitics
A night of zingers courtesy of Stefanowski and Lamont
NEW HAVEN — The Republican and Democratic candidates for governor pummeled each other in their second televised debate Monday, offering practiced one-liners that energized a Shubert Theater audience dominated by Realtors, while giving voters little new information on how either would close a projected deficit of $2.1 billion awaiting the next governor.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Kavanaugh and alleged victim of assault to testify before Senate panel
A handful of Connecticut female candidates joined other Democrats Monday calling for an investigation into the complaint that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl at a high school party decades ago.
Posted inMoney
Report says pension boards share blame for states’ widening debt
While past governors legislatures and governors get much of the blame for Connecticut’s massive pension debt, a new analysis says politically appointed oversight boards should share the heat both here and in other states.
Posted inPolitics
CT cities and towns press candidates for mandate relief
The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities challenged candidates for state office Monday to address more than 1,300 mandates placed on city and town budgets.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Happy Constitution Day for an apathetic citizenry
September 17 is Constitution Day. The Constitution is 231 years old. The Framers of the Constitution effectively protected us from having our rights taken away. But they never thought that we would give them away. As countries go, the United States is one of the relative youngsters, nevertheless, our constitution is the longest lasting constitution in human history. So, Happy Birthday to the most important document in the life of every American citizen, a document which represents and embodies the freedoms that we have been enjoying for the last 240 years.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Out of prison and out of work: the toll on Connecticut’s economy
Connecticut faces an enormous decision about the direction of its economic future. Yet as politicians pitch visions about their plans for prosperity, most are not talking about the staggering financial toll that criminal incarceration has had on this state.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Fairness for Kevin Ollie
The University of Connecticut has a coaching contract with former men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie, and despite their ongoing disagreement, it is way past time for the school to live up to its obligations to pay Coach Ollie the money it owes him.
This issue is bigger than basketball, it’s bigger than Ollie’s win-loss record at UConn and it is bigger than UConn itself. In this matter, UConn represents all of Connecticut, and in this matter UConn is creating the impression that Connecticut and its people do not stand behind the agreements they make. And that is a terrible mistake.
Posted inEducation
More low-income, Hispanic students taking AP classes, narrowing disparities
The state has seen a drastic increase in participation in AP courses among Connecticut students from low-income families and — most notably — among Hispanic students. Nearly 2,000 more Hispanic students in Connecticut took at least one Advanced Placement exam last school year compared to five years ago – a 79 percent jump.
Posted inNews
Any way the wind blows, it’s still Connecticut politics
While the residents of the Carolinas struggled against devastating tides, torrential rain and winds from Hurricane Florence, the political wind blew in Connecticut. A lot of it, some would say, was hot air. Florence’s impact here was more political than meteorological as the state’s Puerto Rican community reacted to President Donald Trump’s denial that nearly […]
Posted inHealth
Doctors slow to adopt medication-assisted therapy for opioid treatment
By the time William Evans was working at his first job after college, he was addicted to opioids, spending $25,000 in less than a year and driving to Philadelphia twice a week to buy drugs on the street. Now 37, Evans hasn’t used illegal drugs since 2006. He is married and has a 3-year-old daughter, a home in Trumbull, and a sales job at a software company. He attributes his sobriety to counseling and medication to treat his addiction. “It’s allowed me to live a life.”
Posted inHealth
Dems try to link Stefanowski to Trump’s health care policy
NEW HAVEN – U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy tag-teamed with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ned Lamont on Friday to paint the candidate’s Republican rival, Bob Stefanowski, as a Trump acolyte when it comes to health care policy.
Posted inPolitics
Stefanowski’s cash is tight, but GOP’s outspending Lamont on TV
Republicans are outspending Democrats on television advertising in the race for governor of Connecticut this month, even as questions persist about the financial resources directly available to the campaign of the GOP nominee, Bob Stefanowski.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Trump’s instant injury to the Puerto Rican soul
I would like to stay calm but I can’t. I can stay silent, but I must not. In light of the predicted devastation that Hurricane Florence may bring to the Carolinas, President Donald Trump’s fingers have once again taken a life of their own on Twiyter. He has attempted to create an alternative reality. People who do not know the facts about Hurricane María and Puerto Rico may be ready to accept them.
I won´t. He is a demagogue.