WASHINGTON — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will be one of the most notable guests at Tuesday’s State of the Union speech, sitting with Michelle Obama.
Obamas to put Malloy in spotlight at State of the Union
Posted inPolitics
U.S. asks CT, other states, for help enforcing gun rules
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration coupled its move to tighten gun laws with a plea to Connecticut and other states for help to strengthen a flawed system used to screen gun buyers.
Posted inJustice
Malloy gives early peek at 2015 stats showing falling crime
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy demonstrated one of the first rules of modern politics Thursday: If you have good news, get it out. And he says it looks like the news on crime in Connecticut is continuing to be good.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Connecticut IS preventing and ending homelessness
In August of 2015, Connecticut made history when we became the first state to end the long term homelessness of veterans with disabilities. We are also on track to end the long-term homelessness of all Connecticut residents with severe disabilities by the end of this year. Rep. Dan Carter wrote in a recent op-ed that our state’s system to addressing homelessness, “merely put a Band-Aid on the hopelessness of those already without a home.” He also referred to the people we serve as, “’statistics’ who will be back out on the street in no time at all.” These statements could not be further from the truth.
Posted inHealth
Coming soon to your mailbox: An Obamacare tax form
Even if you don’t get your health insurance through the federal health law, you’re likely to get the form, which is part of the way the federal government verifies whether people are complying with the mandate that nearly all Americans have health care coverage. Here’s what you need to know.
Posted inPolitics
Challenges at home as Malloy raises national profile
He’s already had five years of crisis, conflict and close calls. But 2016 is dawning as a pivotal year for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat taking on a leadership role in national politics while trying to solidify a legacy in Connecticut.
Posted inJustice
Another Connecticut prison is bound for mothballs
EAST LYME – The Connecticut prison system shrinks again this weekend when the final two dozen inmates depart the Niantic Annex, a section of a century-old complex of prisons that was reopened in 2011.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
The what and why of ‘due process’
Since Gov. Dannel Malloy announced his intention to issue an executive order barring people who appear on the federal government’s “no-fly” list from buying guns, a debate has ensued about whether such an order would violate a person’s right to “due process.” The purpose of this post is not to join that debate, but instead to help non-lawyer readers understand what the “due process” debate is really about.
Posted inJustice
Hartford police begin New Year with old civil rights problem
It was the late 1960s and many American cities were ablaze with racial tensions involving police that often resulted in rioting and violence. Hartford was no exception. The result was a lawsuit and a legal agreement for the city to make a number of changes, including hiring more minority police officers. But after more than 40 years, the police force is still bound by the agreement and struggling to more closely mirror its community.
Posted inPolitics
Obama’s action on guns fulfills promise to Newtown families
WASHINGTON — Tearing up as he spoke of the slaying of 20 Newtown first-graders, President Obama made an emotional appeal to the nation for support of his gun-control initiatives on Tuesday, saying, “Every time I think about those kids, it makes me mad.”
Posted inNews
A transcript of Obama’s remarks on gun control
“The United States of America is not the only country on Earth with violent or dangerous people. We are not inherently more prone to violence. But we are the only advanced country on Earth that sees this kind of mass violence erupt with this kind of frequency. It doesn’t happen in other advanced countries. It’s not even close.”
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
Who sets Connecticut’s speed limits anyway?
Crawling along I-95 the other day in the usual bumper-to-bumper traffic, I snickered when I noticed the “Speed Limit 55” sign alongside the highway. I wish! Of course, when the highway is not jammed, speeds are more like 70 mph, with the legal limit, unfortunately, rarely being enforced. Which got me thinking: who sets speed limits on our highways and by what criteria?
Posted inHealth
How well will new rules on health care cost transparency work?
Lisa Freeman recently tried an experiment: Before having a medical diagnostic test, she tried to figure out what it would cost. “It took no less than five phone calls, and I still never got to the end of the thing,” she said. A major transparency law intended to change that is taking effect this year. How will it work in practice? Health care providers say it might be bumpy at first.
Posted inPolitics
White House rolls out new gun control measures
WASHINGTON — With support from Connecticut lawmakers, President Obama is taking executive actions that will broaden FBI background checks of gun buyers and anger Republican members of Congress who say the president has overstepped his authority.
Posted inNews
Decades later, compensation for Iranian hostages
Thirty-six years after Moorhead Kennedy spent 444 days as one of 53 U.S. Embassy personnel taken hostage in Iran on Nov. 4, 1979, he is close to getting compensation. He attributes the breakthrough to the work of a U.S. senator from Connecticut, several colleagues – and the Hollywood movie, “Argo.”