Connecticut’s judicial marshals dropped their labor complaint Thursday against the Judicial Branch — a move prompted by court officials’ decision to stop using state police to secure urban courthouses.
Marshals drop labor complaint over police guards at CT courts
Posted inJustice
Feds: Spending on CT jails grew faster than on education
The amount Connecticut state and local governments spend on jails and prisons has increased almost twice as fast as spending on education over the last 40 years, the federal government reported Thursday. However, Connecticut’s disparity in spending grew at the second-lowest rate in the country.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Let’s build Connecticut’s clean energy future – today
On a long-ago day hike up to the Appalachian Trail in northwestern Connecticut, we made the lunchtime discovery that my son’s small backpack was heavier than expected. An inquiry revealed fist-sized rocks that he had picked up at the trailhead that morning. We persuaded him to leave the heavy burdens beside the trail before climbing to the top of Bear Mountain. As Connecticut embarks on a challenging journey to achieve our state’s climate goals, we need to be careful not to fill our packs with “pollution-heavy” infrastructure that we will have to discard in the near future – no matter how shiny and colorful those stones may look today.
Posted inJustice, Money
CT towns, medical examiner compromise on handling of remains
Connecticut’s cities and towns and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner appear to have reached a temporary resolution of their disagreement over responsibility for unclaimed human remains.
Posted inHealth
House passes mental health bill, Murphy presses Senate to follow
WASHINGTON — As the U.S. House of Representatives passed an overhaul of federal mental health policy on Wednesday, Sen. Chris Murphy pressed for a Senate vote on a similar bipartisan bill he has sponsored with Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
Posted inPolitics
Senate moves to quash CT’s GMO food labeling law
WASHINGTON — In a key procedural vote, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted to pre-empt Connectcut’s genetically modified food labeling law, replacing it with a national food safety standard advocates say would be much weaker and not apply to many foods.
Posted inEducation
Fees for nonprofits to run charter schools may be capped
The fee a management organization receives for running a charter school in Connecticut may be capped at no more than one dollar out of every 10 the school receives from the state.
Posted inPolitics
Does Connecticut need a think tank?
Would regional government save money for Connecticut taxpayers? How should the state attempt to close the educational achievement gap? When faced with major questions such as these, policymakers in some other states turn to their independent, nonpartisan public policy research center to study the issues.
Posted inHealth
Doctors wrestle with mixed messages over prescribing painkillers
A provision of the 2010 federal health law linking hospital payments to patient satisfaction surveys may be complicating national efforts to curb the use of opioids and address the epidemic of painkiller abuse.
Posted inPolitics
Larson, Lewis meet with Speaker Ryan, but no deal on gun bills vote
WASHINGTON – Democratic U.S. Reps. John Larson and John Lewis met with House Speaker Paul Ryan late Tuesday, and receiving no assurances that votes would be held on gun control legislation, said they will continue their campaign to pressure House GOP leaders.
Posted inHealth
State deems insurance co-op, HealthyCT, financially unstable
About 40,000 people will lose their health insurance in the coming months as a result of a state evaluation that has deemed the financial health of Connecticut’s nonprofit health care co-op unstable.
Posted inHealth
Five years after approval, cord blood program at a standstill
Despite the passage of legislation five years ago that authorized the creation of the state’s first public umbilical-cord blood collection bank, organizers say a state-sponsored effort to collect cord blood in Connecticut has stalled.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Anthem-Cigna controversy exposes gaps in ethics rules
Insurance Commissioner Katharine L. Wade’s controversial refusal to recuse herself from ruling on the Anthem-Cigna insurance merger has provoked a reappraisal of ethics regulators, who heavily rely on the self-reporting of public officials, and an ethics code that may be clearer to lawyers than lovers of English.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Our interstate system is an engineering marvel — and in need of repairs
As anyone who drives on I-95 in Connecticut knows, the interstates have far surpassed their expected traffic load and are in need of billions of repairs. Little did we know 60 years ago what our automotive future might bring.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Three of 10 ‘Slices of Justice’ is a good start
After a season of campaigning, we, the Grow Hartford Youth, are proud to announce that three of our 10 slices in our “10 Slices of Justice” campaign to improve Hartford Public High School lunches will be a reality in the fall of 2016.