The Connecticut Juvenile Training School — the product of bid-rigging, outdated thinking and poor execution by the administration of Gov. John G. Rowland — closed Thursday as the last three young occupants left the sprawling detention center for home or private residential facilities.
Juvenile center, ‘costly relic of Rowland era,’ closes
Posted inMoney
Wall Street firm says federal tax limits could hurt CT towns
A major Wall Street credit rating agency warned Wednesday that federal tax changes could undermine Connecticut cities and towns’ property tax receipts.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Medicare Savings Program cuts are harming low-income seniors
I am writing to express my concerns over the funding of the Medicare Savings Program here in the state of Connecticut. I am a social worker. I work with low-income seniors all across the state of Connecticut and this issue is extremely important to my clients. I am writing to inform you of what the cuts to the Medicare Savings Plan will do to many low- income seniors across the state.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Support homegrown solar energy this session
Last week the General Assembly advanced a flawed bill that would put Connecticut’s growing solar industry on ice. While Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s bill aims to increase clean energy in Connecticut, it undermines the ability of residents and small businesses to contribute to a more renewable future. Senate Bill 9 eliminates “net metering,” a simple policy that pays solar households for the excess electricity they share with their neighbors.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Presidential predictions (and nicknames) for 2018
It’s official: everything is in play with President Pumpkin Head in the White House. My prediction for the remainder of 2018 is more chaos and more nicknames from (and for) our Name Caller-in-Chief.
Posted inHealth
CT opioid lawsuits advancing in face of settlement effort
WASHINGTON — Nearly two dozen Connecticut cities and towns are scheduled to soon confront Purdue Phama and other opioid makers in court over what they say are the pharmaceuticals’ deceptive practices. Meanwhile, there is an effort by a federal judge in Ohio to negotiate a massive settlement for the hundreds of federal lawsuits across the nation targeting the opioid makers for their marketing practices.
Posted inPolitics
Senate attempt to protect Mueller gets a boost
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s angry tweets this week about the growing Russia investigation and the federal raid of the president’s personal lawyer has jump-started an effort backed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal and a growing number of senators to try to prevent Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s firing.
Posted inEducation
Legislators exempt 2 towns from school-spending requirements
Updated at 3:05 p.m.
The state legislature voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to take a year off from penalizing municipalities that reduce school spending in reaction to cuts in state aid, a change the governor says would affect only two communities.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
You are invited April 18 for real talk, real action on climate change
Young people are conscious about the threat of climate change. We know that this fight isn’t about our far-off future; it’s about our today. It’s about what we are willing to tolerate in the present moment and what we cannot afford to ignore any longer. Just as Florida’s Parkland School survivors are taking a stand for their own safety, the young people of Connecticut can take a stand for climate justice and a rapid transition to renewable energy.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
To help prevent sexual assault we must talk about consent
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and comes at a time when our country is experiencing a reckoning with sexual violence. Many people are sharing their experiences with sexual harassment and assault, more institutions are holding perpetrators accountable, and space is being created for authentic conversations about consent.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Feeling sorry for Hope Hicks? Don’t.
President Donald Trump’s former communications director, Hope Hicks, comes off pretty well when compared to the cabal of con men, cretins, tricksters and ne’er-do-wells that otherwise orbit the president. So it’s tempting for Trump’s critics to express a degree of sympathy for the former fashion model and native of Greenwich, Conn., whose reputation is for inner strength and quiet perseverance.
Posted inMoney
Aresimowicz asks GOP to drop partisan budget plans
The top Democrat in the House of Representatives asked his Republican counterparts Tuesday to abandon their longstanding practice of issuing a GOP budget this spring. But House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said Republicans won’t forfeit their option to bring their fiscal proposals directly to the public.
Posted inPolitics
Esty: I gave abusive staffer good reference to ‘get him out of Washington’
WASHINGTON — Rep. Elizabeth Esty said she wrote a glowing reference letter for former chief of staff Tony Baker with the understanding the would leave Washington, D.C., providing “space” and protection to another former aide, Anna Kain, who has accused Baker of physical and verbal abuse. “My instinct was once I learned about (the abuse) was how to protect her,” Esty, D-5th District, said.
Posted inPolitics
RGA plans to play in Connecticut — if GOP nominee is ‘electable’
The Republican Governors Association is reserving $1.7 million in television time in the last six weeks of the Connecticut race for governor, but whether it ultimately spends the money will depend on how the RGA views the “electability” of the winner of the GOP primary in August.
Posted inMoney
Speaker: Gaming issues, pot legalization likely to wait until 2019
House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz was skeptical Tuesday that the legislature would resolve any major gaming issues or the legalization of marijuana this spring.