Washington – Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy last weekend jumped into the middle of an escalating conflict in Ukraine over the nation’s rebuff of the European Union in favor of Russia. Murphy’s mission: To persuade Ukrainian officials to change their minds. “It was absolutely magical to be there. We were witnessing history,” Murphy said. Mass protests […]
Murphy: ‘Magic’ in Kiev
Posted inNews
CT tax department restores paper check refund option
The state’s tax department will give income tax filers the choice of receiving refunds by paper check next year in response to a computer data breach of its debit card system. The Department of Revenue Services also announced it would issue refunds by paper checks to “several thousand” filers still needing to resolve their 2013 […]
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ECSU President Núñez wins lifetime achievement award
Elsa M. Núñez, the president of Eastern Connecticut State University, has won a lifetime achievement award from the New England Board of Higher Education. During her seven years at the public liberal arts college in Willimantic, Núñez has launched a program that allows the university to predict the academic success of its students and target support programs […]
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Newtown, governors, and acts of kindness
The Newtown effect This week, in a half-dozen stories, a video and one particularly striking graphic, we tried to assess how Connecticut has absorbed and responded to the terrible event of a year ago. We talked with mental health experts to see if we’re changing how we approach mental illness. We spoke with school personnel to determine if […]
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Sandy Hook anniversary highlights growing child mental health care crisis
We are approaching the very sad one-year anniversary of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The victims’ families and the people of Newtown have asked us all to pay tribute to their loved ones by respecting the town’s privacy on this day and by performing “random acts of kindness” as part of our everyday […]
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Nonprofits enduring their own ‘perfect storm’
For the last several years our government has tried to decrease the charitable tax deduction for generous Americans. If you missed the latest attempt at trying to fix what’s not broken, here’s what’s not broken. The Charitable Tax Deduction provides people with an income tax deduction when they make charitable donations to registered 501(c) (3) […]
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1,853 more Hartford students to attend integrated schools
State officials agreed Friday to offer 1,853 more students from Hartford a seat in an integrated setting in the next school year. The agreement is a result of a 17-year-old Connecticut Supreme Court decision ordering the state to eliminate inequities that exist because the city’s student population is largely black and Hispanic. State officials agreed […]
Posted inPolitics
Malloy, a year after Sandy Hook
It was dusk, nearly quitting time. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy leaned back in a wooden captain’s chair, about to end a week’s worth of unwanted interviews, all about a date that cannot pass too quickly, the looming anniversary of Sandy Hook.
Posted inHealth
Obamacare payment deadline and pre-existing condition pool extended
People covered by the Connecticut Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan and similar high-risk insurance pools across the country will get another month to find new coverage before the program ends in 2014, federal officials announced Thursday.
Posted inPolitics
Would-be NHL owners talking to Malloy
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday that he has told two groups interested in acquiring NHL franchises that Connecticut would be interested in providing a home, though not at the cost of building a new arena totally on the taxpayer’s dime.
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A Sandy Hook moment
Earlier this week, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said he is like a lot of people when it comes to the Sandy Hook tragedy. At times, he finds himself overcome, usually in private. One of those moments unfolded in public Friday. The trigger was a question about his plans to remember the anniversary of the Sandy […]
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26 Acts of Kindness, one year later
One person sent 26 donuts and coffee to teachers this morning. Another bought a foster child a new bicycle. Another paid the toll for some motorists on the Mass Turnpike. All of these acts of kindness came with a message: Pay it forward in remembrance of the 26 children and educators who were killed last […]
Posted inMoney, Politics
DeLauro splits with delegation to vote against budget bill
Washington – Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-3rd District, split with Connecticut’s four other House members in voting against a $1.04 trillion budget deal that will avert another government shutdown, eliminate across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester and set federal spending levels for the next two years.
Posted inEducation
Group of superintendents says CT school department in ‘disarray’
A memo from a group of school superintendents recommends that the state association that represents them publicly lambaste Connecticut’s education commissioner. But Elizabeth Feser, president of the board of directors of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) and the leader of Milford Public Schools, said the full board Thursday rejected that request. “It […]
Posted inPolitics
Connecticut lawmakers give lukewarm support to federal budget deal
Washington – Most, if not all, of Connecticut’s members to the U.S. House are expected to vote late today for a $1.04 trillion budget deal that will avert another government shutdown, eliminate across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester, and set federal spending levels for the next two years.