A bill that would have raised the minimum age for students to enter kindergarten — a move that would delay the start of public school for about 1,600 students a year — has failed to gather the support of legislators on the Education Committee. Rep. Andy Fleischmann, the committee’s co-chairman, said during a meeting last […]
Are some students too young for kindergarten?
Posted inHealth
New nonprofit health insurer gets license
There’s a new health insurer in the state. HealthyCT, a nonprofit company launched with federal funds, has received a license from the Connecticut Insurance Department. The insurer will begin offering health plans in the fall through brokers and through Access Health CT, the marketplace for individuals and small businesses to buy insurance as part of […]
Posted inPolitics
A gesture that whispers ambition: Bacchiochi creates exploratory for LG
State Rep. Penny Bacchiochi, R-Stafford, said today she has formed an exploratory committee for lieutenant governor, one of those gestures that announces availability, especially if the GOP field for governor is all male. Bacchiochi is perhaps best known for her advocacy of legalizing the use of marijuana for medical purposes, a cause she took up […]
Posted inAnnouncements
Publisher and CEO James Cutie to depart CT Mirror
The Board of Directors of the Connecticut News Project commends James Cutie for his work as publisher of this electronic newspaper.
Posted inNews
Vote planned Wednesday on sweeping gun-violence bill
The General Assembly’s leadership finalized a bipartisan response Monday to the Sandy Hook school massacre, scheduling a vote Wednesday on a sweeping gun-violence bill that imposes new restrictions on the purchase and ownership of firearms and ammunition in Connecticut. After weeks of negotiations, the deal will create the nation’s first gun-offender registry, require universal background […]
Posted inNews
Round two: Bridgeport education heading back to court
One year after the state Supreme Court ruled that the state illegally appointed members to Bridgeport’s Board of Education, the same lawyer who won that case is asking the courts to expel the district’s superintendent. On behalf of two Bridgeport residents, Norm Pattis has filed a lawsuit in Superior Court alleging that Superintendent Paul Vallas’s […]
Posted inNews
Current state budget outlook improves, though big challenges remain
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 […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
Posted inEducation
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 […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
Posted inNews
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 […]
Posted inNews
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 […]