For Connecticut hospitals, the good news is their patient caseloads have grown dramatically since 2009. The bad news is those are Medicaid patients, and government payments don’t cover the full cost of treatment. And then there’s really bad news: Gov. Dannel P. Malloy would cut their state funding by one-fifth over the next two years. […]
Hospitals warn budget cuts will cut jobs and services — maybe close doors
Posted inPolitics
Hewett contrite on Thursday, not so much on Friday
Rep. Ernest Hewett, D-New London, was contrite and accepted responsibility Thursday for a remark to a teenage girl at a public hearing that carried a sexual double-entendre, whether intended or not. But on Friday, Hewett, 56, was suggesting that House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, acted rashly in stripping him of his title as deputy […]
Posted inPolitics
With open letter on guns, Senate Dems suggest foot dragging by others
In an open letter released late Friday afternoon, the state Senate’s Democratic leaders called for a vote no later than March 13 on gun control legislation in response to the mass shootings in Newtown. The letter by Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr. of Brooklyn and Senate Majority Leader Martin M. Looney of […]
Posted inNews
Sequester now certain, but impact unknown
Washington — In largely symbolic moves Thursday, the Senate made one last-ditch effort to avoid sequestration, or automatic spending cuts that will affect most government agencies and many federal programs and services. Now the sequester will take effect Friday. But its full impact is under debate — and could determine which party has an edge […]
Posted inNews
Newtown father reaches out to reluctant senators
Washington –– The day after giving emotional testimony in support of an assault weapons ban, Neil Heslin, who lost his 6-year-old son Jesse in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, continued to reach out to lawmakers on gun control. As senators filed into the Senate chambers to vote on budget legislation, Heslin dodged lobbyists and […]
Posted inNews
Despite limited research, lawmakers scrutinize violent video games
In response to the horrific Newtown massacre, state and federal lawmakers have proposed at least four bills to study and regulate the impact of violent video games on children’s behavior. The bills all come in reaction to published reports that Adam Lanza, the gunman who shot and killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School, […]
Posted inNews
UConn quietly boosts tuition $40 more
The University of Connecticut has quietly implemented an additional tuition increase over and above the 25.6 percent increase going into effect. A spokeswoman at the University of Connecticut says the additional $40 increase for fiscal 2014 was tucked into the fiscal 2013 budget approved last June and is in addition to the $2,112, four-year increase […]
Posted inNews
Popular NYC-Boston Bus Company Service Temporarily Shut Down
By: Georgia Lobb One of the cheapest ways to get from Boston to New York is by taking a bus. And for fifteen dollars a trip, it’s hard to beat the Fung Wah bus, which runs from Manhattan to Boston’s transportation epicenter, South Station. News broke earlier this week that Fung Wah busses are being […]
Posted inNews
Report Shows Recent Rise in Teen Driving Deaths
By: Georgia Lobb Photo courtesy of ghsa.org The year 2011 marks an increase in what was previously a steadily declining rate of teen driver deaths, according to a Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) report earlier this month. The GHSA reports that driving related deaths of 16 and 17 year old drivers have risen a staggering […]
Posted inPolitics
One MORE reason why the speaker is a wonk
The revival Thursday of a legislative commission on regional issues is not going to quicken the political pulse, but it says a few things about the new speaker of the House, Rep. J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden. Sharkey Unlike the House Democratic version created by his predecessor, this panel is bipartisan and bicameral, involving Republicans and […]
Posted inMoney, Politics
Labor committee endorses longshot minimum wage raise
The legislature’s Labor and Public Employees Committee voted along party lines today to endorse increasing the $8.25 minimum wage. That’s the easy part of raising the wage for the first time in three years. Getting a vote in the Senate and House seems unlikely. The Senate refused to bring a minimum wage bill to a […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Ash tree beetle bores further into state
The invasive and destructive beetle that attacks ash trees seems to have dug in even more deeply here. The emerald ash borer, which turned up in five New Haven County communities last summer after being held at bay for years across the border in New York, has been found in three more communities.
Posted inPolitics
Malloy supports Marcus on eve of confirmation hearing
On the eve of her confirmation hearing, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Thursday he has learned nothing about Shelley Marcus of Branford that would disqualify her since nominating her as a judge. But the legal advice Marcus gave to participants involved in a “gifting table,” which is a form of pyramid scheme, is likely to […]
Posted inPolitics
Jepsen joins amicus briefs supporting gay marriage
As one of the states that has legalized same-sex marriage, Connecticut has joined a dozen other states in filing amicus briefs urging the U.S. Supreme Court to support lower court decisions striking down the Defense of Marriage Act, which limits marriage under federal law to the union of a man and a woman. “Discrimination based […]
Posted inPolitics
U.S. House Democrats name Himes as lead fundraiser
Washington — The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the political organization in charge of raising campaign cash and planning strategy to get Democrats elected to the U.S. House, has named Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, as its lead fundraiser. Himes will succeed Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., as the DCCC Finance Committee chairman, said Rep. Steve Israel, […]