In a recent column New England Ratepayers Association’s Executive Director Marc Brown incorrectly claims that wind power contracts recently announced by Massachusetts officials are a bad deal for ratepayers due to wind energy’s “hidden costs.” (“Let’s calculate the true cost of wind power” CT Mirror October 4, 2013). Brown’s claims are based on biased and inaccurate […]
The Value of Wind Energy for Ratepayers and the Region’s Present and Future Economy
Posted inNews
Bay State’s wind power contracts are great for the region
In a recent column New England Ratepayers Association’s Executive Director Marc Brown incorrectly claims that wind power contracts recently announced by Massachusetts officials are a bad deal for ratepayers due to wind energy’s “hidden costs.” (“Opinion: Let’s calculate the true cost of wind power,” October 4, 2013). Brown’s claims are based on biased and inaccurate […]
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Every community deserves a public school
As a graduate of a rural Windham County public school, I am dismayed by efforts to weaken or even close it – the sole school in the town. Hampton Elementary’s enrollment has shrunk, as the population edged up to about 2,000. Fewer residents have children, reflecting a demographic dip statewide. Also, more families opt for private alternatives.
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Jepsen, Rowland separately seek SCOTUS review of labor case
Attorney General George Jepsen and former Gov. John G. Rowland separately petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to overturn a lower court’s finding that layoffs ordered by Rowland a decade ago were intended to illegally punish union members. The state argues that the decision in May by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the […]
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Concerned about community safety, state closes three halfway houses
Citing concerns about community safety and financial difficulties, the Connecticut Department of Correction announced Friday it would terminate its contract with an embattled Norwalk agency to run three halfway houses in Norwalk and Waterbury, including a 20-bed program for women and children in Waterbury. Norwalk Economic Opportunities NOW Inc., known as NEON, runs a 27-bed […]
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Connecticut’s federal courts running on financial fumes
Washington – Connecticut’s federal courts have been limping along during the shutdown by using money collected for court fees and leftover funds from other small accounts. But that will end next week unless talks between congressional Republicans and the White House bear fruit soon. On Friday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut […]
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The Debt Ceiling: What it is, and why Connecticut should care
Economists agree that failure to lift the nation’s debt ceiling would be disastrous. Should Congress and President Obama fail to reach an agreement by Thursday — the deadline when the government contends it would run out of money — it reportedly would send economic shockwaves around the world. But what exactly is the debt ceiling, […]
Posted inHealth
7 things to know about HUSKY and Obamacare
Here are some key things to know about how the law commonly known as Obamacare affects Medicaid in Connecticut.
Posted inHealth
Obamacare update: More than half of enrollees getting Medicaid, many callers complaining about price
More than half of the people who have signed up for coverage through Access Health CT, the state’s health insurance exchange, qualified for Medicaid, according to figures released Friday. Among people shopping for private insurance, meanwhile, price is a main concern, according to an Access Health official.
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A lawyer asks, Who misled Sandy Hook families about FOI?
The Connecticut Freedom of Information Act has guaranteed public access to grisly crime-scene photos for years, yet there is no record of any being published, including from high-profile crimes such as the Cheshire home invasion. Dan Klau, the president of the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government, argues in an interesting piece that a legislative task […]
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Tight money race for CT GOP gubernatorial field
Three of the four major Republican gubernatorial contenders filed reports Thursday showing they each raised about $30,000 in the period ending Sept. 30, with Tom Foley hitting the mark in 20 days, compared to 34 days for Toni Boucher and two months for John McKinney. Mark Boughton, who created an exploratory committee Aug. 14, raised […]
Posted inEducation
Will locking up troubled girls help? State aims to find out with new Middletown facility
The new girls detention facility in Middletown The state’s child welfare agency will open a new state-run facility in January to lock up girls who break the law –- a decision that has generated mixed reactions from those who work most closely with these children. The facility that the Department of Children and Families will […]
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Connecticut buys a tennis tournament
The administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has agreed to pay $618,000 for the rights to the New Haven Open at Yale tennis tournament in what a top state official says is an unprecedented government investment in professional sports. The purchase was announced Thursday in a conference call by Ben Barnes, who oversees the state […]
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Jim Himes’ Wall Street savvy puts him on top in debt ceiling crisis
Washington – As an expert on Wall Street and global markets, Rep. Jim Himes’ stock is rising as the nation lurches toward the brink of a fiscal cliff. For weeks, Himes, a Democrat who represents Connecticut’s 4th Congressional District, has been issuing Cassandra-like warnings about the dire consequences of defaulting on the nation’s bills, a […]
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It’s Malloy to the rescue, with rewards and risk
Bridgeport – Gov. Dannel P. Malloy rode to the rescue Wednesday of 13 Head Start day care centers closed by the federal shutdown, a gesture that returned immediate dividends, while posing the danger of raised expectations elsewhere. Malloy was rewarded with applause and a photo op with young children happy to climb into the governor’s […]