PLAINVILLE — A union Super PAC trying to help re-elect Democratic state legislators by mocking Donald J. Trump’s insensitivity to women scrambled Wednesday to defend its digital attack ad against Dr. William Petit, a home-invasion survivor who raises money for women’s groups in the memory of his murdered wife and daughters.
Union ad tying Petit to Trump’s ‘attack on women’ backfires
Posted inPolitics
In CT, most Republican mega-donors steer clear of Trump
WASHINGTON — With the notable exception of Linda McMahon, Connecticut’s Republican mega-donors have largely steered clear of helping their party’s standard bearer – Donald J. Trump. Instead, some of Connecticut’s richest Republicans gave to other candidates running in the GOP primaries and even to the anti-Trump Our Principles PAC.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The legal community coming together to increase diversity
Recent events and the rhetoric of this year’s presidential campaign have put a sharp focus on the need to devote more energy to the issues of diversity and inclusion and combating implicit bias. The urgent need to face these challenges first grabbed me in the aftermath of the shooting in 2012 at the Sandy Hook School located in my hometown. That event dramatically changed my outlook on life and led me to devote more of my personal time working in and learning about some of our most disadvantaged communities.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Providing new teaching pathways — one way to improve public schools
Judge Thomas Moukawsher’s recent ruling on education is creating an opportunity to improve our approach to K-12 education in Connecticut. As we set goals for our students, and how to best reach those goals, we must also take time to consider our teachers. Teachers matter more to student achievement than any other factor in a student’s schooling. It is my hope that lawmakers think about how we can increase the number of local teachers who are passionate about learning as well as excited and prepared to support the needs of our students.
Posted inPolitics
CT GOP helps Trump mega-donors bypass campaign limits, legally
Some eye-popping numbers are listed in the Connecticut Republican Party’s latest finance report: On a single day, nearly $900,000 flowed from across the U.S. into its account, nearly doubling its receipts. But the money bounced to the Republican National Committee, a legal trick practiced by both parties to help megadonors evade contribution limits.
Posted inHealth
Feds find doctor lists for Medicare Advantage plans often wrong
Provider directories for private Medicare Advantage plans are riddled with errors, according to the government’s first in-depth review.
Posted inEducation
Grading teachers: Tempers flare over use of student test scores
Should the state require using student test scores to evaluate teachers? Officials have delayed answering that question for years.
Posted inPolitics
Elite group in CT raising millions for Clinton
WASHINGTON — An exclusive group of about two dozen Connecticut residents has raised millions of dollars to help put Hillary Clinton in the White House by “bundling” contributions from friends, associates and anyone else willing to give to the candidate. The Trump campaign has not disclosed its bundlers.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
‘Criminalization of poverty:’ New data on women in Connecticut jails
While criminal justice reform has gained mainstream, bipartisan acceptance over the past few years, the system remains a tangle of overlapping issues—racial disparities in sentencing, felon disenfranchisement, and disproportionate rates of mental illness in prisoners, for example. As of 2014, Connecticut had 326 people sentenced to state prisons for every 100,000 residents, and 35 women for every 100,000 female residents; this rate of female incarceration is just over half of that nationwide. Yet, American incarceration is so extreme that Connecticut’s relatively low rates are still higher than those of most medium- and large-sized countries in the world for both incarceration in general and incarceration of women.
Posted inHealth
What you need to know for the 2017 Obamacare open enrollment
If you buy health insurance on your own, or plan to, your chance to sign up for 2017 coverage starts next week. Here’s what you need to know, whether you’re new to the process or buying again.
Posted inEducation
For dyslexia, politics takes the day off in Hartford
The softer side of Connecticut politics was on display Monday in Hartford as Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, called Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, an ally and friend, and Fasano praised Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy as a role model. Their common ground was bipartisan efforts to address learning dyslexia.
Posted inPolitics
Former state Rep. Victor Cuevas gets probation for loan fraud
Former state Rep. Victor Cuevas, D-Waterbury, was fined $1,000 and sentenced to a year’s probation Monday in connection with a mortgage he fraudulently obtained in 2013 for a condominium in Bristol.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Murphy and Blumenthal are hedging on Algonquin pipeline issue
Sens. Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal need to follow the example set by their peers in New York and Massachusetts and responsibly question the further building and enhancement of the interstate methane (natural gas) pipelines running through Connecticut.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
No lame duck vote on the TTP!
The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement should not be voted on during the “lame duck” session of Congress after the election — that unique moment in the political calendar when representatives who have retired or been voted out of office still hold their seats for a short time and political accountability to constituents is at its lowest.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Lembo walking a tightrope in ‘silly season’ budget feud
As legislative leaders and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy engage in a partisan battle over the health of Connecticut’s budget, Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo insists he doesn’t want to stay out of the debate — just the political posturing.