Nearly a year ago, our state was confronted by an act of confounding evil. For many of us, the emotions we felt that day and in the days after are still raw, as if the events at Sandy Hook Elementary School happened only a moment ago. Of course, no one feels this more than the families and friends who lost a loved one that terrible day.
Honoring a solemn day in our state’s history
Posted inPolitics
Honoring a solemn day in our state’s history
Nearly a year ago, our state was confronted by an act of confounding evil. For many of us, the emotions we felt that day and in the days after are still raw, as if the events at Sandy Hook Elementary School happened only a moment ago. Of course, no one feels this more than the families and friends who lost a loved one that terrible day.
Posted inNews
Nelson Mandela’s impromptu lesson to Connecticut Democrats
On the morning of July 16, 1992, Connecticut delegates to the 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York were restive. The party leadership had neglected to order Danish or decent coffee for their morning meeting. Some alternates complained their seats were too distant from the stage. This business of nominating a new leader of the […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
New England governors sign energy agreement
Representatives of consumers and New England’s largest utility reacted with cautious optimism Friday to a pact announced Thursday night that commits the governors of Connecticut and five other states to expand gas and electric transmission lines, without endorsing any specific project.
Posted inNews
DeLauro, Democrats fight end to unemployment benefits
Washington — President Obama and congressional Democrats are pushing back against a GOP plan to end federally funded extended unemployment benefits. The White House says the plan would affect more than 1 million of out-of-work Americans, including 85,100 Connecticut residents next year. Congress is rushing toward a Dec. 15 deadline to develop a budget plan […]
Posted inPolitics
Larson doesn’t sign release slamming UnitedHealthcare
The entire Connecticut House delegation — except for U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-1st District — praised U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill Friday for putting a temporary stop to UnitedHealthcare’s intent to drop 2,200 doctors from its Medicare Advantage plan. The UnitedHealthcare proposal would affect tens of thousands of older Connecticut residents who would lose their doctors.
Posted inEducation
New higher ed chairman wants to reduce public colleges’ autonomy
If the new chairman of the legislature’s Higher Education Committee gets his way, the independence that the state’s public colleges have enjoyed for years will be reined in more under lawmakers control. “I have a simple philosophy: over the years the legislature has ceded too much autonomy to the universities,” Sen. Steve Cassano, D-Manchester, said in a news release announcing his appointment this week.
Posted inEducation
‘Reduced resources’ for UConn sports
The sports teams at the University of Connecticut are facing fiscal challenges, the president’s athletics advisory committee wrote in its annual report to school President Susan Herbst. “The fiscal impact that the University faces is also mirrored in the [athletics] Division. As with all areas of the university, there are required elements that need to be addressed even in difficult fiscal periods and the challenge is to meet them with reduced resources,” reads the report from the President’s Athletic Advisory Committee.
Posted inNews
Himes holds holiday fundraiser
Merry Christmas! Have some eggnog, and care to contribute to my campaign? For three-term Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, the holiday season has provided another opportunity to raise political cash. Himes has sent out invitations to a holiday party at the Fat Cat Pie Co. in Norwalk on Dec. 17. But he’s also asked his […]
Posted inHealth
CT’s Obamacare exchange applications surging this week
Application activity for the state’s health insurance exchange has skyrocketed this week, with close to 1,000 people signing up for coverage each day. That compares to a previous peak of 3,544 enrollees for the entire week before Thanksgiving.
Posted inNews
Americans to remember Newtown at National Cathedral vigil
Editor’s note: The Mirror will be looking this week at how Connecticut has reacted, and changed, in the year since the Sandy Hook shootings. Washington — High on a rise overlooking Washington, D.C., the National Cathedral is the nation’s spiritual heart — the place, chosen by Congress, where Americans of all faiths have expressed some […]
Posted inNews
Trial guaranteed on CT school funding and reforms
A Superior Court judge Thursday rejected the state’s request to throw out a lawsuit charging that Connecticut has failed to provide enough money to its poorest school districts. The decision comes eight years after a group of mayors and teachers’ unions across the state filed the lawsuit alleging chronic underfunding of education and nearly three […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Dueling state budget forecasts: There’s no escaping fiscal realities
The General Assembly’s Appropriations and Finance Committees recently met to hear annual budget forecasts from both the governor’s budget office (OPM) and the legislature’s nonpartisan budget office (OFA). Certain disparities between their projections were striking. While both agencies project substantial deficits for the next biennium, their projections differ by a vastly greater margin than ever before.
Posted inNews
Dueling state budget forecasts: There’s no escaping fiscal realities
The General Assembly’s Appropriations and Finance Committees recently met to hear annual budget forecasts from both the governor’s budget office (OPM) and the legislature’s nonpartisan budget office (OFA). Certain disparities between their projections were striking. While both agencies project substantial deficits for the next biennium, their projections differ by a vastly greater margin than ever before.
Posted inEducation
CT school ratings released — How does your school stack up?
Parents can now see if their child’s school is among the best or worst in the state. A new website with school-by-school ratings — based on a 100-point scale — was put up by the State Department of Education Thursday afternoon. As expected, many of the schools in urban districts scored poorly. In fact, 91 […]