Deirdre Daly, who was among the 46 Obama administration holdovers ousted Friday as U.S. attorneys, was reinstated Monday and will remain in the post until October, a gesture by the Trump administration that will give her 20 years of service.
Out on Friday, Daly now to remain U.S. attorney until fall
Posted inCities & Towns, Money
Jepsen sees ‘not insubstantial’ risk in casino expansion
Allowing Connecticut’s two federally recognized tribes to jointly operate a casino off tribal lands would pose legal risks that “are not insubstantial” to the more than $250 million in slots revenue annually shared with the state, Attorney General George Jepsen wrote Monday in a formal legal opinion.
Posted inJustice, Politics
It’s a guessing game on how Trump will pick U.S. attorney for CT
The abrupt departure of Deirdre Daly as the U.S. attorney for Connecticut gave new immediacy over the weekend to the legal and political parlor game of identifying not only who might be in the running as a successor, but who will guide the Trump administration in making the choice.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
This is why I protest. This is why I must.
Last night my brother asked me why I was protesting, what was my goal. I answered, but my answer was incomplete. I said something about impeachment and then something about reversing the tide with the mid-term elections. What I should have said was that I can’t not do this. And here’s why:
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut getting smart on juvenile justice
You don’t teach trigonometry to third graders or spend time helping high school sophomores learn their colors. Educators have always understood that curriculum needs to be appropriate to the student’s development. If the juvenile justice system aims to teach better ways of interacting with the world, the system needs to be built around developmental stages, as several initiatives in Connecticut propose.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Malloy budgets for big raises yet seeks union concessions
Why does his two-year budget include $800 million for state employee raises — an amount that far exceeds anything Malloy set aside before and doubles the funding his staff estimated was necessary just five months earlier?
Posted inHealth
Anthem uncertain it will continue in CT’s individual market next year
The company’s president wrote that the insurer is likely to notify regulators this summer that Anthem will withdraw from the state’s individual market. She added Anthem might not actually choose to pull out of the market, but is required to give six months’ notice if it withdraws and needs to preserve its options.
Posted inPolitics
Murphy: The GOP health plan is a ‘dumpster fire’
WASHINGTON – It’s surprising Chris Murphy is only in his first term in the Senate because he’s had a an amazing amount of visibility for a freshman on a number of hot-button issues that have ranged from gun control to diplomatic flash points. The Connecticut Mirror spoke to him about the prospects of the Republican “American Health Care Act” and a few other things.
Posted inNews
New immigration order, big healthcare bill, hit the partisan fan
Still reverberating from President Donald Trump’s unsupported claim that he was wire-tapped by Barack Obama during the 2016 election campaign, the nation began the week examining the potential impact of two major Republican initiatives. Both have local implications.
Posted inHealth
What hospitals waste
In 2012 the National Academy of Medicine estimated the U.S. health care system squandered $765 billion a year, more than the entire budget of the Defense Department. In this special story, ProPublica documents the astounding waste by hospitals that is helping drive up healthcare costs.
Posted inJustice
States that raise the age see cost savings, less recidivism, JPI report says
WASHINGTON — More states are getting rid of laws that automatically bump teenagers from juvenile courts when they reach a certain age, abandoning a model of punishment proven to be expensive, ineffective and not flexible enough to improve outcomes for offenders or society, a new study says.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Fact-checking elected officials on the Affordable Care Act repeal
Dismayed by the results of the 2016 election, Meg Godfrey decided she needed to do more than vote, share social media posts and sign online petitions. So she went to the website of Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and typed a note in support of the Affordable Care Act. “I asked him to use my tax dollars to provide health care to his constituents just like my tax dollars provide health care for him and his family,” she said she wrote. A short while later, Godfrey received an email reply from Blunt, essentially a form letter explaining why he supported the law’s repeal.
Posted inEducation
Salaries, fringe benefits driving tuition hikes at CT public colleges
Top financial officials from Connecticut’s two major public college systems told legislators Friday that rising fringe benefit costs and mandated employee salary increases are key driving forces behind tuition hikes.
Posted inJustice
Daly out as Trump removes U.S. attorneys in Friday surprise
Deirdre Daly, the first woman nominated by a president to serve as U.S. attorney for Connecticut, was among the 46 prosecutors removed Friday as the Trump administration abruptly demanded the resignations of remaining holdover appointees of the Obama administration.
Posted inPolitics
Courtney to Malloy: Use HUD funds to help fix crumbling foundations
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s budget would eliminate a housing grant program that pays for projects in nearly two dozen Connecticut towns – and Rep. Joe Courtney wants the Malloy administration to also use it to help residents with crumbling foundations before the money disappears.