Bill MacDonald got right to it. Incurable cancer can do that, give a man a heightened sense of time, and MacDonald had just waited five hours for the chance to address the legislature’s Judiciary Committee in Room 2C. He’d get exactly three minutes, the standard allotted to witnesses as public hearings.
If you stay long enough, the General Assembly will hear you
Posted inMoney, Politics
Murphy, Courtney: Trump cuts to job training grants could hurt EB
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s budget calls for cutting manufacturing training money that has helped provide hard-to-find skilled workers for Electric Boat and its suppliers, even as the president wants to ramp up building submarines. “This is exactly the wrong direction we should be going,” said Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Blumenthal presses Gorsuch on key cases, but judge won’t be pinned down
WASHINGTON — On Day 3 of the Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Neil Gorsuch, Sen. Richard Blumenthal tried to do what other Democrats have tried, and failed, to do – pin down the nominee’s opinion on a hot-button issue. Gorsuch deftly avoided giving his views – and Blumenthal said it leaves doubt in the minds of Americans about the nominee.
Posted inEducation
In CT, black students far more likely to get less-experienced teachers
In the 4th grade, 36 percent of black students are being taught by math teachers with less than five years in the classroom vs. 19 percent for white students. That gap is the largest in the nation.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Housing opportunity is educational opportunity
I have always believed that my success and opportunities in this country were attributable to my access to a solid education, and this fundamental belief has driven my passion to eliminate the achievement gap. Research resoundingly confirms the importance of good teachers, a solid curriculum, an appropriate cultural environment in school as well as other factors that are connected to the school setting. However, it is only more recently that I have begun to understand how segregated housing is a significant “missing” piece of the achievement gap. If we want better educational outcomes, then housing segregation – racial, ethnic, and economic – must be addressed.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Adding police to state’s hate-crime legislation confuses the issue
Jorge Fernandez says that state legislators should not add police officers or first responders to proposed legislation amending the state’s hate crime laws.
Posted inPolitics
WFP backs union officer over endorsed Democrat in Hartford
The labor-backed Working Families Party has rejected the choice of the Democratic Party for a vacant legislative seat in Hartford and is running its own candidate: Joshua Hall, an officer of the Hartford Federation of Teachers.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Nuclear brinksmanship: Does Millstone need help to stay open?
Lobbyists crowded into a committee room at the General Assembly to watch the inevitable advance Tuesday of a bill that sponsors say would simultaneously lower electric rates and stabilize profits generated by the Millstone Nuclear Power Station. Opponents say the bill would cost ratepayers and produce a windfall for the plant’s owner, Dominion Resources of Virginia.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Gorsuch tells Blumenthal he’s offended by Trump’s attacks on judges
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch on Tuesday confirmed he found President Donald Trump’s criticism of federal judges who ruled to block his travel ban “disheartening and demoralizing” – statements Trump said had been “misrepresented” by Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
Posted inJustice, Politics
Hartford, East Haven listed in first DHS report of cities limiting cooperation with ICE
WASHINGTON — Connecticut is hardly mentioned in the Department of Homeland Security’s first list of law enforcement agencies that fail to hold jailed immigrants beyond their release dates for federal authorities. But the DHS did list Hartford and East Haven as cities which limit cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Take a springtime hike, America. (It’ll do us all good.)
The most compelling argument against environmental ennui and illiteracy is that spaceship earth is in trouble. If more of us don’t appreciate and understand it better, our planet will continue to decline at an alarming pace. We have long abused it to feather our own nests at the expense of other creatures we share the planet with. But our day is coming —if not our children’s, then our grandchildren’s— when our species, too, will be squarely in the crosshairs of a failing global ecosystem. We Americans have taken a giant step in the wrong direction by electing a president who loves fossil fuels, hates wind power and pollution regulations, and whose idea of a natural habitat is a golf course.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
With new health insurance bill, Trump breaks three major promises
President Trump’s support of the House GOP Obamacare replacement bill has broken three major promises the president had made with all Americans, particularly older ones.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
A day in the life of a UConn adjunct faculty member
An adjunct faculty member at UConn’s Hartford regional campus explains her busy life, teaching duties and the need for the university to evaluate the way it treats adjunct professors and find ways to improve the conditions of their employment.
Posted inHealth
The health care that happens outside the doctor’s office
A few years ago, Nadia Lugo went door-to-door in Hartford’s North End with a list of names and a mission: Find people who were going to the emergency room frequently. Figure out what was keeping them from staying healthy or getting the right kind of care. And try to help. It was the kind of work many in health policy now view as key toward improving the outcomes of high-need patients. But incorporating it into the health care system remains a challenge.
Posted inJustice
Malloy makes a personal appeal on bail reform
In an appearance before a legislative committee, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy directly lobbied legislators Monday to support bail reforms he says would minimize the number of defendants jailed before trial over their inability to afford bail.