WASHINGTON – As Congress rushes to finish work before its August recess, Connecticut lawmakers are trying to get some federal help for homeowners who have been victimized by tainted concrete that has caused the foundations of their homes to crumble. They’ve made some progress, but final congressional approval of their efforts isn’t guaranteed.
CT lawmakers seek federal help for homeowners with crumbling foundations
Posted inEducation
Decline in percent of students meeting readiness standards on SAT
There was a 3 percent drop this year in the number of 11th grade students who met or exceeded the standard for college and career readiness in the reading and writing portion of the SAT.
Posted inNews
How taking a knee in Haddam echoed in statewide politics
It was a 12-second protest — waged by a single selectwoman in a nondescript room in a small Connecticut town — but it has provided days of political outrage and the perfect platform for two Republican candidates to reassert party values.
Posted inTransportation
Bond commission approves $10M for electronic tolls study
The State Bond Commission approved $10 million in financing Wednesday for an analysis of establishing electronic tolling on most Connecticut Highways.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
On Hamden’s tragic fiscal decline
Twenty five years ago Hamden was a healthy, thriving town with generally happy residents. Taxes were manageable, schools were good and the town had excellent services. Town workers were fairly paid and got great benefits, particularly top-notch, town-funded health care and a generous defined-benefit pension plan. The Hamden real estate market had its ups and downs but was as strong as most in the area. Unfortunately, decades of miss-management and union commiseration have reversed the town’s strong prognosis.
Posted inPolitics
A bare-knuckle GOP debate about character, taxes — and reality
FAIRFIELD — A question about eliminating the income tax sparked a protracted exchange of charges, countercharges and insults Tuesday between the two Republican gubernatorial contenders with the least political experience and biggest television advertising budgets: businessmen David Stemerman of Greenwich and Bob Stefanowski of Madison.
Posted inEconomic Development
JAX Labs surpasses 10-year goals in under six years
FARMINGTON- State officials announced Tuesday they are forgiving a $165.9 million loan to Jackson Laboratory (JAX) because it has surpassed its 10 year goals for employment just four years after opening its doors on the UConn Health campus.
Posted inMoney
Panel seeks new ways to slow skyrocketing state pension costs
A new panel is exploring how Connecticut can use state assets — both physical properties and revenue streams — to mitigate pension costs expected to surge dramatically over the next 15 years.
Posted inTransportation
Nappier will abstain from vote on $10 million tolls study
State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier announced Tuesday she will not support Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposal to borrow $10 million to finance a new analysis of electronic tolling.
Posted inNews, Politics
Final defense bill boosts Sikorsky helicopters and and EB subs, but trims F-35s
WASHINGTON – Congress has finished work on a final defense authorization bill that boosts military spending and provides more dollars for Connecticut defense contractors.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Our voice, our power: An invitation to hear the candidates July 25
I arrived home from classes excited about the warm weather that guaranteed I would play soccer with my friends that evening. As I was finishing my reading assignment for 10th grade English, I received a phone call from my mom informing me my dad was at the police station for a minor traffic violation. Naively I thought to myself, “He’ll be home tonight,” but as I entered the lobby I was greeted by my mother with tears racing down her face. Immediately, my heart sank as I heard the words, “They called ICE on him, he’s being deported.”
Posted inJustice
‘Warrior of religious liberty’ Kavanaugh could shift church-state balance
WASHINGTON — There’s concern Judge Brett Kavanaugh, will speed the Supreme Court’s steady shift from a strict separation between government and religion and that his approach to religious liberty cases would determine the intensity of that trend for decades. Considered a “warrior of religious liberty” by some of his conservative admirers, Kavanaugh has defended the use of taxpayer money for religious schools and backed student-led prayers at high school football games.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
McCarthyism à la 2018 supported by CT congressional delegation
When the Democratic Party ramped up its attacks on Russia during and immediately after the 2016 election, the rhetoric was reminiscent of that used during the Cold War. It portended the hysterical reaction being displayed by political leaders (including our own congressional delegation), the media, neo-cons, and most astonishingly, “liberals” who, after years of rejecting the duplicity of U.S. intelligence agencies and criticizing the U.S. government for its treachery in other countries, now suddenly embrace the establishment’s narrative without any thoughtful analysis.
Posted inHealth
In fight against HIV, outreach workers take ‘PrEP’ to the streets
PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, can lower the risk of getting HIV through sex by more than 90 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Yet six years after the federal government approved the daily blue pill for HIV prevention, Connecticut public health officials say they are still trying to put PrEP on people’s radars, and into the hands of those most vulnerable to contracting the virus.
Posted inPolitics
Ganim preaches party unity, Lamont campaign nonplussed
BRIDGEPORT — On a waterfront crowded with stories of disappointment and promise, some dating back to his first tenure in city hall here in the 1990s, Mayor Joseph P. Ganim jumped on the back of a pickup truck Monday to accept the endorsement by four trade unions of a campaign that is testing the notion of whether Connecticut is ready to elect an ex-con as governor.