The State Board of Education is expected to vote Wednesday to extend for another year the state’s intervention in the operation of Windham and New London public schools. The state board voted in 2011 to intervene in Windham schools by appointing a “special master” backed with the authority to make management and governance decisions. The following […]
Another year of state intervention in Windham and New London schools
Posted inHealth
DSS extends benefits for people receiving cash assistance
The state Department of Social Services has extended cash assistance benefits to people at risk of losing them this month, a protective measure meant to ensure that people don’t wrongly lose their benefits as the department grapples with problems related to a major change in how it handles paperwork. The department announced last week that […]
Posted inHealth
Access Health call center opens to take Obamacare insurance questions
The Access Health CT toll-free call center is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It can be reached at 1-855-805-HEALTH (4325).
Posted inPolitics
The cost of lobbying in Connecticut
Lobbyists spent $32.9 million lobbying state lawmakers last year, the Office of State Ethics reports. The office updated their numbers last week after discovering their initial report double-counted many expenditures. In total, $42 million was spent on lobbying activity in the state, of which nearly three-quarters went to compensate lobbyists and the remainder to cover TV campaigns, […]
Posted inNews
Connecticut dairy farmers lose their safety net
Correction: The final paragraph in an earlier version of this story should have said that dairy farmers are paid per 100 pounds of milk. The present version uses the correct unit measure. Washington – Because Congress failed to act on a farm bill before its summer recess, Connecticut’s dairy farmers lost their federal assistance over […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
A Labor Day message: Economic security is very much a women’s issue.
Connecticut was among the first states to enact Labor Day legislation in 1887, a full seven years before the U.S. Congress made it a federal holiday. Labor Day was created to recognize trade unions, secure workers’ safety and generally honor the contributions of laborers everywhere. And yet, more than 100 years after its passage, how well do we, as a society, really honor our workers?
Posted inPolitics
Connecticut: Time for a higher standard of government
Connecticut is in serious trouble. You can’t pick up a newspaper without reading another negative headline about our state’s dire economic condition. Connecticut has the heaviest tax burden in the country, one of the least friendly business climates, the nation’s highest per capita debt, dangerously unfunded pension liabilities, and the dubious distinction of being the […]
Posted inNews
A Labor Day message: Economic security is very much a women’s issue.
Connecticut was among the first states to enact Labor Day legislation in 1887, a full seven years before the U.S. Congress made it a federal holiday. Labor Day was created to recognize trade unions, secure workers’ safety and generally honor the contributions of laborers everywhere. And yet, more than 100 years after its passage, how well do we, as a society, really honor our workers?
Posted inNews
Connecticut lawmakers face ‘whale of a fight’ when Congress returns
Washington — When Congress returns from summer recess, it will once again find itself on the brink of disaster. Unless Congress acts, the federal government will shut down Oct. 1, and the nation will run out of cash to pay its bills by mid-October. Congress must figure out a way to avoid these disasters, and under […]
Posted inEducation
As UConn builds more labs, research funding shrinks
Farmington — Leslie Loew, a researcher at the University of Connecticut, had planned to study the use of fluorescent dye and light to help doctors better repair life-threatening heart rhythms, but his funding was cut so that research will have to wait. Many research projects have stalled at the University of Connecticut as research funding […]
Posted inNews
DSS modernization has made things worse, some say
Glenda Perez said she’d already sent in the paperwork needed to maintain her food stamps when she got a notice last month saying they were being discontinued. She called the state Department of Social Services, using the single phone number that everyone in the state who wants to reach a worker is supposed to use. […]
Posted inNews
CT Hurricane Sandy victims can apply for homeowner grants
Washington — Nearly a year after Hurricane Sandy slammed into Connecticut, the super storm’s victims can apply for grants, in the amounts of between $10,000 and $150,000, to repair and fortify their homes. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy Friday said Sandy-hit homeowners can apply for assistance through the state’s “Connecticut Recovers” website. The money for the […]
Posted inNews
Connecticut Democrats hire labor liaison
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy playfully pretends he is unaware that 2014 is an election year, but the Connecticut Democratic Party signalled the opposite Friday by beefing up its staff: Jennifer Smith is the party’s liasion with labor. “Labor Day honors the great improvements union workers fought so hard for, and the victories on behalf of […]
Posted inNews
Justice Department to limit role in state marijuana laws
The federal government announced Thursday that it will not try to pre-empt laws in states, including Connecticut, that have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use as long as the law is strictly enforced. The memo sent to all 50 states reiterated that the federal government still considers the drug illegal, but will not intervene […]
Posted inNews
DSS extends Medicaid, food stamps for 15,500 households
The state Department of Social Services announced Thursday that it would extend medical and food benefits for about 15,500 poor households at risk of losing them Sept. 1. The move is intended to prevent people from losing Medicaid or food stamps as the department deals with problems related to a major change in its handling […]