The secretary of the state’s office said Tuesday that the Libertarian candidate for governor, Rod Hanscomb, has qualified for the ballot, joining Democrat Ned Lamont, Republican Bob Stefanowski and Oz Griebel, a petitioning candidate.
Libertarian gubernatorial candidate qualifies for ballot
Posted inMoney
Lembo pushes back on Malloy’s prediction of budget surplus
Connecticut’s chief fiscal watchdog slammed the brakes Tuesday on Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s assertion that the new state budget is on its way to another surplus.
Posted inJustice
Blumenthal leads attempt to adjourn Kavanaugh SCOTUS confirmation hearing
Washington — Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, one of the leading voices opposing the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, called for the adjournment of Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing almost immediately after it began Tuesday.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Walking politics — a candidate is educated one front door at a time
As a first-time candidate for office, I entered the summer door-knocking marathon with skepticism. How could a brief encounter on someone’s front step change a mind or solidify a vote? Now, with several months behind me and thousands of doors “hit,” I have learned that the greatest value in door-knocking comes from what you hear, not what you say. It is, in fact, the best way to get to know what’s on people’s minds. And it can help dispel the justifiable suspicion with which many people regard politicians.
Posted inPolitics
Stefanowski is on the trail, looking for money and votes
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski shook hands with office workers at the pre-Labor Day picnic that real-estate developer Robert D. Scinto throws for tenants and their employees at his office park in Shelton. Then Stefanowski retired to a borrowed office in Scinto’s headquarters to make calls for money, an activity that consumes about half his working day. “It’s part of the game.”
Posted inJustice
Blumenthal: ‘Sparks will fly’ at Kavanaugh hearing
WASHINGTON – Sen. Richard Blumenthal will be at the center of what is expected to be a historic partisan firefight this week over the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Blumenthal plans to use his skills as a former litigator and what he knows as a former Supreme Court law clerk to persuade colleagues Kavanaugh is out of the mainstream when it comes to legal thought and would set the high court on a rightward course for decades.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut’s opioid epidemic: A glimpse of the last five years
Various measures have been taken to alleviate the burden of opioid-related deaths in Connecticut in recent years. However, these efforts have yet to make a significant difference in terms of reducing the high death rates within the state. There has been a steady increase in total overdose deaths among residents from 357 deaths in 2012 to 1,038 deaths in 2017. In 2016, Connecticut ranked 11th among all states in highest rate of overdoses, with 27.4 deaths per every 100,000 people. Many of Connecticut’s neighbors were among the top 10, including New Hampshire (39 deaths/100,000 people), Massachusetts (33 deaths/100,000 people), Rhode Island (30.8 deaths/100,000 people), and Maine (28.7 deaths/100,000 people).
Posted inHealth
Worker illness in Connecticut declines, but still above national average
Connecticut workers are getting sick on the job slightly less often than in recent years, but still more frequently than the national average, according to a new state report. The state had a 6 percent higher rate of occupational illness than the average national level, ranking 15th highest out of 41 states.
Posted inNews
As a great man is remembered, events continue to unfold
Connecticut, like the rest of the nation, spent the last week remembering the life of U.S. Sen. John McCain, R- Ariz.,who will be buried today. With one notable exception, Republicans and Democrats alike took part in the public remembrance ceremonies – perhaps for slightly different reasons – and former Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman, McCain’s “amigo,” […]
Posted inNews
More residents above poverty line can’t cover basic costs in CT, report says
Elizabeth Yates and her 2-year-old son are among the 538,529 households in Connecticut that could not afford basic needs such as housing, child care, food, transportation, health care,and technology in 2016. This group constitutes 40 percent of the households in the state, according to a new report released by The United Way of Connecticut.
Posted inNews
McCain’s complicated health-care legacy. He hated the ACA and also saved it.
There are many lawmakers who made their names in health care, seeking to usher through historic changes to a broken system.
John McCain was not one of them. And yet, the six-term senator from Arizona and decorated military veteran leaves behind his own health care legacy, seemingly driven less by his interest in health care policy than his disdain for bullies trampling the “little guy.”
Posted inPolitics
Democrats, labor use Trump and Stefanowski as motivation
Democrats running for key state and federal offices fired up Connecticut’s largest labor coalition Friday, painting President Donald Trump and GOP gubernatorial nominee Bob Stefanowski as major threats to the left’s core values.
Posted inPolitics
Showdown on food stamps looms in Congress
WASHINGTON – Unless there’s a last-minute deal, there will be a huge showdown in Congress next week over the future of food stamps, a federal program that helps feed about 400,000 individuals and families in Connecticut. House conservatives — and President Donald Trump — want to add new work requirements to the program, but there’s resistance in the Senate to that idea.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
A Trump Administration progress report
Shortly after President Trump’s inauguration I thought that the true test of the Trump administration will be on how much it could deliver. If President Trump could just deliver on a third of his promises, it would be a successful presidency. Batting .333 is good in any league. I hoped that commentators would begin to focus on what the Trump administration actually does, and not what Donald Trump had done in his past or what they fear he will do in the future. Little did I realize how hard it would be to find out what the Trump administration has actually accomplished.
Posted inEducation
Advocates: State didn’t do enough to plan for CJTS closure
The Connecticut Juvenile Training School closed on April 12, forcing the state to place the boys in pretrial detention centers that were never intended to meet the needs of this population. Advocates say the state didn’t adequately plan for the closure of CJTS and that it must move faster to establish alternative facilities.