Washington –- Sen. Chris Murphy has asked a California company to stop making a new shooting target, in the shape of a zombie gun control advocate. The target, with a price tag of $89.95, is sold as “a real scumbag with no appreciation for the U.S. Constitution or respect for an individual’s freedom” who was […]
Murphy goes zombie hunting
Posted inHealth
Community health centers to hire workers to get uninsured covered
Connecticut community health centers are getting federal funds to hire 28 people to help enroll uninsured state residents in coverage as part of the federal health reform law, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Wednesday. Thirteen Connecticut health centers are getting just under $1.6 million for the effort, part of $150 million […]
Posted inNews
Feds offer little help for Connecticut high-speed rail project
Washington -– A U.S. Transportation Department official Tuesday gave Connecticut little hope of advancing on a high-speed rail project that would connect New Haven to Springfield, Mass. At a hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th District, asked witness John Porcari, deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation, for help […]
Posted inNews
Thousands of callers as DSS launches new system
The calls started coming fast and early at the state Department of Social Services, where a new centralized phone system launched statewide Monday. By 9:30 a.m., there’d been 2,400 calls, and by noon, 7,000. The day ended with more than 11,000 phone calls, with 90 people waiting when the offices were to close. Commissioner Roderick […]
Posted inNews
Two weeks into fiscal year, state college budgets already in the red
Officials at the state’s largest public college system face a multimillion-dollar deficit they need to close quickly. This comes even after the Board of Regents approved a budget last month that community college presidents say has forced them to cut programs and increase class size. To balance that budget, officials also had to draw from the system’s […]
Posted inNews
Sequester’s pinch felt by some, not others, in Connecticut
Washington -– Three months after the federal government imposed across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration, their impact is felt by some but not others in Connecticut. Predictions by the Obama administration, echoed by Democrats, that sequester would lead to chaos, with long lines at airports and veterans without health care, have not materialized. But the […]
Posted inEducation
U.S. Education Secretary weighs in on Bridgeport leadership debacle
What does U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan think about the recent court decision that the superintendent of Connecticut’s largest public school system is not eligible to run Bridgeport schools? “A superintendent is told he can’t hold his job. That’s fascinating to me,” Duncan told The Huffington Post. Vallas has said he intends to appeal the Superior Court judge’s ruling. State law […]
Posted inNews
Firearms industry sues Connecticut
A trade group representing the firearms industry filed a federal lawsuit Monday using legislative procedural grounds to attack the lawfulness of the Connecticut gun-control law passed in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. The National Shooting Sports Foundation, which is based in Newtown near the elementary school where 20 children and six educators […]
Posted inNews
With eye on ’14, Malloy touts energy bills
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy presided over a bipartisan bill-signing ceremony Monday to mark the latest in what his administration says are underappreciated steps to reform how energy is procured, priced and delivered in Connecticut. The ceremony reflects Malloy’s emphasis of energy policy since taking office in January 2011 — and his administration’s belief in the […]
Posted inNews
Thousands more children get free meals
Thousands more children are showing up for school each year in need of a free- or reduced-priced breakfast and lunch. And while 28,008 more students over the last 10 years are now being fed at free or reduced rates during the regular school year, state officials are trying to also boost the number of children […]
Posted inNews
DSS modernization launches statewide Monday amid personnel shuffle
The state Department of Social Services is going through a leadership shake-up as it prepares to roll out major changes in how it deals with clients and handles paperwork. The agency is getting a new deputy commissioner and has new officials in charge of finance, human resources, field operations and the effort to modernize the […]
Posted inNews
Lembo: A dose of realism could help keep budget balanced
The state budget finished moderately in the black last week after officials struggled much of the just-completed fiscal year with red ink. But whether state government remains free of deficits in the new budget year — and in the next few to come — could hinge on how realistic officials are about Connecticut’s gradually recovering […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Environmental doings while you were doing other things
While you were scrambling toward the July 4 holiday and probably a lot more concerned about getting to the shore, getting a steak on the grill or otherwise getting away, there were a number of developments worth noting in the world of the environment and energy.
Posted inNews
A GOP gubernatorial hopeful and his ‘nonpartisan’ policy institute
A once and future Republican candidate for governor, Tom Foley greeted a lunchtime audience drawn by what promised to be a withering and irreverent take on Connecticut legislative politics: “Going Down the Toilet and Picking Up Speed.” But Foley shared nothing of his own opinions or ambitions. His role was to introduce the speaker, Chris […]
Posted inNews
DCF report card: Major problems linger
A foster child in state custody needed eyeglasses, but the agency didn’t make it happen. An abused child needed counseling but faced delays in getting an appointment. These children are not alone, reports the federal court monitor of the state’s Department of Children and Families. Of the 55 children in state custody whose cases were reviewed […]