Her name is Jessie. She is autistic, intellectually disabled and about to turn 21. Her mother told reporters Wednesday that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is “doing his best to take her future away from her.” With those words, Jessie became the face of opposition to $103 million in emergency budget cuts ordered by Malloy.
Fight over Malloy’s cuts to social services turns personal
Posted inCT Viewpoints
A healthy sign: more teachers and parents are opposing the Common Core
It takes a lot to oppose the Common Core State Standards when they are said to offer reform, rigor, high academic standards approved by states and matched by other high-powered nations, a guarantee to close the achievement gap and college and career readiness! What red-blooded American could say no to this promise? You might think […]
Posted inEducation, Justice
The state of Connecticut juvenile incarceration in 17 charts
Each year about 3,000 children enter Connecticut’s juvenile justice system after being convicted of breaking the law. Here, in graphical form, is a historical overview of what happens to youth after they are found guilty, including details on the jails where about 200 youths each year are sent to live.
Posted inEducation, Politics
7 hours of video released from inside CJTS and Pueblo Unit
Under fire for what has been called improper restraint and seclusion of youths at state-run juvenile correctional facilities, the Department of Children and Families has released nearly seven hours of surveillance video in an effort to provide the public a more complete picture of its operations.
Posted inPolitics
It’s Foster, Finch and a fusion campaign in Bridgeport
This city’s mayoral election sharply veered into unchartered waters Tuesday as Mayor Bill FInch, the loser of a Democratic primary, endorsed a fusion campaign to elect Mary-Jane Foster and stop the return to City Hall of the fallen former mayor, Joseph P. Ganim.
Posted inHealth, Politics
Aetna, Anthem merger plans under scrutiny, again, by Congress
WASHINGTON – Members of both political parties expressed increasing skepticism Tuesday when they continued their scrutiny of the proposed mergers of insurance giants Aetna and Humana and Anthem and Cigna.
Posted inHealth
Specialty drug prices threaten health care affordability
The state employee health plan has tailored its design to encourage people to manage chronic conditions, get preventive care and avoid emergency room visits. But costs are being driven up by the rising expense of specialty drugs for conditions including Hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis and cancer. It’s a challenge that’s not unique to the state employee health plans, health care experts said Tuesday.
Posted inHealth, Politics
House panel grills Access Health CEO, other exchange chiefs
WASHINGTON – As part of a renewed attack on the Affordable Care Act, House Republicans grilled Access Health CEO James Wadleigh and the heads of other state marketplaces on Tuesday, saying they had wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on an effort that has raised health insurance deductibles and premiums.
Posted inHealth
How to find (reliable) medical information online
There’s a wealth of medical information available online – but it’s not all trustworthy. Here are some tips from medical librarians on how to find reliable health information online and avoid the rest.
Posted inCT Viewpoints, Talking Transportation
In praise of the Merritt: the “Queen of Parkways”
A century ago, the only way to drive between New York and Boston was on Route 1, the Post Road. If you think traffic is bad today, imagine that journey. So in 1936, 2,000 men began work on the state’s largest public works project, the $21 million, four-lane parkway starting in Greenwich and running to […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
With cash for bike trails, new era begins at ConnDOT
The Connecticut Department of Transportation marked a milestone Tuesday as the state Bond Commission authorized $8.3 million in bicycle and pedestrian projects, including $5.1 million to construct a missing piece of the New Haven-to-Northampton, Mass., bicycle trail in Farmington. For the first time, the state is paying to construct a bike trail, the beginning of an annual commitment of $11.2 million.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Feds say CT cities had little economic growth in 2014
WASHINGTON – How healthy is the state’s economy? It’s a tale of two Connecticuts, and the subject of widely different viewpoints. But a recent federal report shows Connecticut’s big cities lag most others in the nation when it comes to economic growth.
Posted inMoney
CT job centers to remain open with ‘reduced services’
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration announced Monday a revised plan to keep open six Department of Labor job centers – albeit with reduced services and smaller, privatized staffs.
Posted inPolitics
Kudlow denies report he’s decided to run against Blumenthal
WASHINGTON – CNBC host and conservative commentator Larry Kudlow denied on Monday that he has decided to run against Sen. Richard Blumenthal, saying he is still mulling over whether he will challenge the popular Connecticut Democrat.
Posted inNews
FBI reports crime dropped across the board in Connecticut
Violent crime in Connecticut dropped by nearly 10 percent for the second consecutive year, placing it among the states leading a long downward trend in the incidence of crime in the U.S., the FBI reported Monday in its annual release of the Uniform Crime Report.