State budget cuts mean Connecticut municipalities now must take responsibility for disposition and, in some cases, storage and transportation of unclaimed human remains, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
State handing towns responsibility for unclaimed human remains
Posted inPolitics
CT approval of Aetna-Humana merger draws fire
Updated at 5:30 p.m.
WASHINGTON — Opponents of the proposed Aetna-Humana merger on Thursday blasted the state insurance department for approving the deal, saying it was “rubber stamped” without public input, and asked the department to reopen the case.
Posted inHealth, Money
CT to assist 18,000 parents losing state Medicaid coverage
Leaders of the Connecticut’s health insurance exchange announced Thursday that they would work in partnership with three other state agencies to assist up to 18,000 low-income parents who would lose their state-sponsored Medicaid health coverage on Aug.1 because of budget cuts.
Posted inJustice
High Court reaffirms the end of Connecticut’s death penalty
The state Supreme Court declined Thursday to reverse its 2015 decision eliminating the last vestige of capital punishment in Connecticut – the sentences facing 11 men on death row when the legislature repealed the death penalty for future crimes. The 5-2 ruling means an end to the death penalty, a punishment the General Assembly repealed for future crimes in 2012.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Two big Connecticut egos jockeying for recognition
Connecticut voters have every right to be proud about recent political events. Less than a week after Gov. Dannel Malloy received the prestigious “John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage” award, for “courageously defending” U.S. settlement of Syrian refugees, USA Today announced that our own junior senator, Chris Murphy, is being vetted by the Clinton campaign as a possible vice presidential candidate for the Clinton ticket. Hard to believe our luck: one small state and two YUUGE political egos battling for recognition…
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut — where there is less for every student
For nine years, Connecticut was one of the very few states in the country that did not reduce state funding for public education. In 2016, that very praiseworthy policy ended. The impact of reduced state funding for education will be felt in one way or the other by every child who attends a public school in the state.
Posted inNews
GE part of a national move away from big, suburban office parks
Among other lessons, the move provides further evidence that large, isolated, one-tenant suburban office parks, such as the sleek but aging campus that GE has occupied since 1974 on 68 arboreal acres in Fairfield, have seen their day.
Posted inMoney
Connecticut middle class losing ground, as in most of the nation
Connecticut has seen some of the sharpest declines in the size of its middle class over the past decade and a half, according to new research
Posted inHealth, Politics
CT signs off on Aetna-Humana merger, but other hurdles remain
WASHINGTON — The Connecticut Insurance Department has signed off on Aetna’s proposed merger with Humana, but other hurdles remain for that deal and another merger proposed by Cigna and Anthem.
Posted inHealth
State tentatively OKs hospital purchases in Manchester, Vernon
The consolidation of the hospital industry progressed Wednesday as state regulators gave tentative approval to the $105 million purchase of Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals by Prospect Medical Holdings, a for-profit hospital chain based in Los Angeles.
Posted inEducation, Money
State says thousands of children to lose day care subsidies
Updated at 1:50 p.m. Thursday
Thousands of children from low-income families will soon lose the state subsidy that helps them pay for daycare or preschool so their parents can work, the state Office of Early Childcare estimated Wednesday.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
How has ‘wealthy’ Connecticut run out of money?
As we head into summer, we also head into increasingly turbulent economic times. The sad economic reality is that Connecticut, the wealthiest state per capita, has been driven to near fiscal collapse by years of fiscal mismanagement in Hartford, and our loss of authority to Washington.
Posted inEducation
What cuts loom at your community college or regional university?
“This is a very challenging budget that we are looking at,” said Mark Ojakian, the president of the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities system. “Times of crisis are a time of opportunity. We are going to have to do business differently. We are not going to be able to sustain even this level of funding in the future. It’s going to be tough.”
Posted inPolitics
Carly Fiorina urges GOP unity, yet won’t speak Trump’s name
STAMFORD – Carly Fiorina seemed to endorse Donald J. Trump, if only by inference Tuesday night. She never allowed herself to say his name in a 30-minute speech to Connecticut Republicans, yet vowed, “I will do everything in my power between now and November to make sure that Hillary Clinton is not our next president.”
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal says VA chief should apologize for Disney comments
Washington – Sen. Richard Blumenthal joined a growing number of lawmakers who slammed Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald for comparing wait times at VA hospitals with wait times at Disney theme parks.