Did you feel that shiver running up your spine? Then you’ve read about the Chicago Police Department’s use of sophisticated “Stingray” technology to spy on local citizens. Here in Connecticut, we’re no strangers to illegal police surveillance.
Police surveillance of citizens not new in Connecticut
Posted inMoney, Politics
‘Imperfect’ Malloy asks for understanding on budget
STAMFORD – In the first of a series of open-ended town hall meetings, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy stood his ground Thursday on his intention to make deep spending cuts. But the governor did so in a tone more plaintive than combative, suggesting in his sixth year in office he was humbled by the fiscal challenges. He called himself an “imperfect governor.”
Posted inEducation
AFT’s Weingarten: Malloy budget ‘really horrible’ for education
Randi Weingarten, the leader of one of the nation’s largest labor unions, came to an inner-city school in Hartford Thursday to lambaste the budget cuts proposed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat she helped re-elect in 2014.
Posted inHealth
Pino named to lead public health, just in time for Zika
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy named Dr. Raul Pino to lead the state Department of Public Health on Thursday, then immediately featured him at a briefing on the mosquito-borne Zika virus. Pino says there is no public health crisis, but the department is arranging testing of suspected cases contracted by travelers to warm-weather countries where the disease is present.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
State Sen. Beth Bye has no conflict of interest — or appearance of one
In his “Government Watch” column in The Hartford Courant last week, Jon Lender writes about a proposal by state House and Senate Republicans to “enact legislation stating that no member of the state Appropriations Committee can work for an entity that receives grant money or budget line items from the state.” Although it does not mention her by name, the proposal is plainly aimed at Sen. Beth Bye, the West Hartford Democratic who co-chairs Appropriations.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Let’s break the racial barriers to health-care access in Connecticut
As we celebrate Black History Month, we honor the commitment of civil rights, medical and political leaders, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Thelma Patten Law and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. who believed all people need access to health care to complete their education, plan their lives and protect their families. Far too many African-Americans continue to face unequal access to proper health care and education services. As a result, African-American women are dying at higher rates than their white counterparts due to breast cancer, cervical cancer, HIV and other illnesses that can be detected early.
Posted inEducation
CT teacher evaluations headed for an overhaul
How public school teachers are evaluated in Connecticut needs an overhaul. On that much, educators on the state panel that determines how teachers are graded agree. But on why and how it should be done, the consensus evaporates.
Posted inEducation, Money
College leaders decry proposed cuts; ‘It’s grim’ says Herbst
At many of the state’s public colleges – which collectively enroll 150,000 students – tuition could rise, course offerings would shrink, class sizes would increase, library hours would be cut and some degrees would no longer be offered, the state’s higher education leaders testified Wednesday.
Posted inMoney
CT lawmakers: Let U.S. say ‘Asiago,’ not just ‘cheese’
WASHINGTON – The entire Connecticut congressional delegation has asked U.S. trade officials to prevent a provision in a new trade pact that would bar state cheese producers from labeling their products “Asiago” or “Feta.”
Posted inNews
Merrill to Schaghticokes: Our goof doesn’t get you a casino
Secretary of the State Denise Merrill formally notified the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation on Wednesday that her office’s mistaken acceptance of a business filing last month does not confer any right to develop a casino in Connecticut.
Posted inMoney
Labor, advocacy groups call for tax hikes instead of budget cuts
A top Connecticut labor leader blasted Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed budget as continuing “to protect the very, very wealthy,” offering a counterpoint to the governor’s call for deep spending cuts and state workforce reductions, and to the broader aversion among many legislators to the idea of raising taxes for a second consecutive year.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
State budget do-over: The conversion of Dannel Malloy
In the waning hours of the 2015 legislative session, as the exhausted members of the General Assembly debated the budget during an all-night session, Democratic leadership pulled their rank-and-file members out one by one to promise, cajole, and threaten them into voting for the budget. Now, half a year later, we can see why so many Democratic legislators were reluctant to join their leadership in voting for the budget. All of the warnings came true – people and businesses are leaving the state at a faster pace than ever, revenues continue to lag behind expectations, and the state budget remains out of balance.
Posted inNews
Connecticut slowly embraces a new approach to zoning
Instead of focusing on what a building is used for, as traditional zoning does, the new approach, called “form-based zoning,” concentrates on what a building looks like and how it relates to the street and the neighborhood. The aim is a more diverse, attractive and walkable streetscape.
Posted inHealth
Expert: Transparency, savvy patients, competition key in tackling health care prices
Zack Cooper recently co-authored a high-profile paper linking higher hospital prices to market power. He advocates for strong antitrust enforcement when it comes to health care consolidation. But when his father was very sick, Cooper told state policymakers, he wanted him to go to a large medical center that treated a high volume of patients with the same condition. “There’s this tension,” he said.
Posted inNews
Obama budget would cut Black Hawks, F-35s, boost Pell grants, Head Start
WASHINGTON — President Obama’s 2017 proposed budget, released Tuesday, would sharply cut funding for Connecticut -made Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters and trim the number of F-35s the Pentagon would buy, while boosting spending on certain domestic priorities.