WASHINGTON – Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District was the only member of Connecticut’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives to vote for an amendment Wednesday that will allow the Pentagon to spend money arming and training Syrian rebels.
In CT delegation, Courtney casts sole vote to arm Syrian rebels
Posted inHealth
Exchange says Obamacare helped close racial, ethnic coverage gaps
Black and Hispanic Connecticut residents were disproportionately likely to be uninsured before the rollout of the federal health law, and new data suggest that the first sign-up period for coverage under Obamacare made a dent in that disparity.
Posted inMoney, Politics
Feds provide $161 million toward replacing balky Norwalk rail bridge
The federal government Wednesday awarded Connecticut a competitive grant of $161 million toward replacement of the 118-year-old Walk Bridge in Norwalk, a movable bridge whose failure in the open position halted Metro-North and Amtrak traffic twice this year on one of the busiest rail corridors in the U.S.
Posted inEducation, Money, Politics
UConn touts its economic contribution but touches off a political dustup
The University of Connecticut outlined its significant impact on the state’s economy in a report released Wednesday, but it immediately became the center of a partisan dispute in Connecticut’s gubernatorial campaign.
Posted inPolitics
Debicella gets fundraising help from North Carolina Republican
WASHINGTON – Dan Debicella, a Republican businessman who is trying to unseat Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, revealed on Thursday he received fundraising help from conservative firebrand Rep. Virginia Foxx.
Posted inPolitics
Rowland jurors won’t hear from ex-governor in his own defense
Updated: 10:12 a.m.
NEW HAVEN – The defense in the John G. Rowland trial rested Wednesday without calling the former governor, whose resignation and subsequent guilty plea to corruption charges in 2004 rendered him a risky witness in his own defense. Closing arguments will be made Thursday.
Posted inHealth
Access Health plans much smaller enrollment assistance effort this time
When enrollment for Obamacare opens two months from now, Connecticut’s health insurance exchange is planning an in-person outreach effort that’s a fraction of the size of last year’s nearly $3 million sign-up blitz. The smaller scale worries consumer advocates, who say reaching the remaining uninsured will take a more intensive effort.
Posted inHealth
Obamacare Q&A: CT exchange will let some automatically renew plans
Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange, is developing a system to automatically renew coverage for some people who don’t want to make changes to their benefits.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal unsatisfied after questioning Hagel on ISIS mission
WASHINGTON– Sen. Richard Blumenthal was one of several lawmakers who tried to pin down top Pentagon officials Tuesday on the administration’s new campaign to target Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria, and were not satisfied with the answers.
Posted inPolitics
Outside presence of the jury, a day of drama at Rowland’s trial
Updated: 3:28 p.m
NEW HAVEN – Prosecutors and the defense wrangled through the day Tuesday over whether an Apple Rehab executive could testify about conversations in which the company’s owner, Brian Foley, denied having any deal to illegally hire former Gov. John G. Rowland as a consultant to the congressional campaign of his wife, Lisa Wilson-Foley.
Posted inHealth
What new numbers on the uninsured do, and don’t, tell us about Obamacare
New figures released Tuesday indicate that the number of people without health insurance dropped in early 2014, the first year the major provisions of the federal health law took effect. But the numbers still give us a very limited picture of the impact Obamacare has had on coverage in Connecticut.
Posted inPolitics
Senate quickly confirms Schwartz for high VA job
Washington – The Senate on Tuesday will finally consider the nomination of Linda Schwartz, who heads the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs, to a key job at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Op-Ed: Connecticut, a Jim Crow state?
All of Connecticut’s children are harmed by the narrow and inappropriate content of the Common Core Standards, but children of color are hurt most of all. Connecticut should reject reject this misguided “reform” and foster real growth and real learning among its young.
Posted inNews
Op-Ed: Connecticut, a Jim Crow state?
All of Connecticut’s children are harmed by the narrow and inappropriate content of the Common Core Standards, but children of color are hurt most of all. Connecticut should reject reject this misguided “reform” and foster real growth and real learning among its young.
Posted inPolitics
Long-shot candidates hope voter discontent gives them a boost
A Green Party candidate, Bll Clyde is one of several minor party and unaffiliated candidates who will be competing for a congressional seat in Connecticut this year. Like Clyde, they may have a liberal bent. Or they may be conservative or libertarian. But they all have one thing in common – contempt for the way the major parties are running things.