The red ink in Connecticut’s current spending plan may be drying up, though significant challenges remain. State Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo reported a $91.3 million deficit Monday in the state’s chief operating fund, a $40 million improvement from the shortfall the comptroller projected one month ago. That change is due largely to an unanticipated surge […]
Current state budget outlook improves, though big challenges remain
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Attorneys press for change in medical malpractice procedure
Medical malpractice laws are getting an airing at the Capitol today as the Judiciary Committee hears testimony on a proposed change to how cases against physicians come to court. Since 2005, a patient wanting to claim damages from a doctor for alleged negligence must have his or her case reviewed by a similar health care […]
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Newtown families want strict ban on large ammo magazines
The families of the Sandy Hook school massacre victims delivered a precise, unequivocal and timely message to legislators Monday: The current bipartisan proposal by the legislature’s leaders to ban the sale, but not the possession, of high-capacity ammunition magazines is inadequate. In a letter delivered to leaders, the families of 11 of the 26 victims […]
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Ahead of gun-control votes, lawmakers honor Connecticut’s gun-making past
Washington — When Congress returns from spring break in two weeks, Connecticut’s lawmakers will support new gun-control legislation — and a bill that would honor a local, and arguably the most famous, gun maker in U.S. history. Rep. John Larson, D-1st District, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., recently introduced legislation that would make the Coltsville Historic […]
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Another community college president announces departure
A third president of a community college in Connecticut has announced she will be leaving the Board of Regents system. Martha McLeod, who has been president of Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield for 10 years, wrote students and faculty Sunday to inform them she will be retiring at the end of the fiscal year June […]
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10 Days on which you should avoid traveling
By: Georgia Lobb Photo courtesy of wsmv.com Today is Easter Sunday- a day to cherish time with your family, enjoy food and drinks, and apparently it’s also a horrible day to travel. I decided to tag along with my mom to drop my brother off at the airport today, where he was planning to catch […]
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Weird Commuting News: NYC Transit Attempts To Use Birth Control on Subway Rats
By: Georgia Lobb This sounds like it should be out of a science fiction novel. Photo courtesy of NBC News Transportation Nation reports that in an attempt to get rid of subway rats, the New York MTA is trying to get the rodents to consume birth control. The National Institute of Health has reportedly given […]
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At 87, Prague is named commissioner of aging
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Thursday named former state Sen. Edith Prague of Columbia as the commissioner of the new State Department on Aging, a rebuke to those who insist there are no second acts in American life — never mind a third and a fourth. Prague is 87. Prague returns to state government after […]
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February job losses mar slight drop in unemployment rate
Despite losing 5,700 payroll jobs in February, Connecticut’s unemployment rate dropped slightly last month as 7,600 more people left the labor force, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday. The jobless rate fell from 8.1 to 8 percent in February, marking the sixth consecutive monthly decline in the Nutmeg State. Labor officials also noted that […]
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Five awful minutes: 154 rounds fired, 26 killed
Authorities released chilling details Thursday of Adam Lanza’s troubled life and his horrific assault on Sandy Hook Elementary School, providing tantalizing hints and clues, but no answers about what launched the bloodiest primary school shooting in U.S. history. Lanza killed 26 children and educators in less than five minutes, firing 154 rounds from a Bushmaster […]
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An inventory of carnage: Newtown warrants unsealed
Search warrant documents released today offer new details of Adam Lanza’s troubled life and his horrific assault on Sandy Hook Elementary School. They are an inventory of carnage and a life seemingly consumed with weapons. They offer stark details: Lanza died in the middle of three classrooms he attacked, clad in military gear and a […]
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Pfizer will raze huge office building in Groton
Groton — Drug giant Pfizer Inc. said it plans to tear down 750,000 square feet of unused laboratory space on its Groton campus, a move that follows frantic efforts in recent months to find a new use for the facility. Last year, Pfizer put up for sale a million square feet of space at its […]
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Boosting public financing for campaigns is off the table
If Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy runs for re-election as a publicly financed candidate next year, he can expect a state grant of only $6 million, less than half the $12.8 million spent by his Republican opponent, Tom Foley, in 2010. With the state struggling to balance the budget, Malloy has ruled out a repeat […]
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Preparing future teachers: Panel aims to start fixing the deficiencies
As students filed into Sharon Leger’s fifth-grade class in Farmington on the first day of school, it became painfully clear that the new teacher was not prepared. Leger never learned in college how to get, and keep, the attention of her students. She also never learned how to tailor her lessons to teach students who […]
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List: Connecticut Air Control Tower Closures Due to Sequester
By: Georgia Lobb Danbury Airport: Photo Courtesy of CT Post Last week, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) released a final list of the 149 Airports that will lose air control towers due to the recent sequester. (See related: The Cost of Sequestration) In Connecticut, the following six air control towers will be shut down (starting […]