Exactly two months after 26 children and educators were shot to death in Newtown, a crowd police estimated at 5,500 assembled outside the State Capitol on Thursday, climbing snow banks to wave signs demanding new restrictions on the sale of firearms. They cheered a Democratic governor who endorses a ban on high-capacity magazines. They shouted […]
Cheers, jeers and tears as 5,500 rally for gun control
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Malloy chooses former Darien official to oversee state’s affordable housing efforts
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today nominated the former first selectman of one of the nation’s wealthiest communities to oversee a new state agency dedicated to increasing Connecticut’s stock of affordable housing. Evonne M. Klein, the governor’s nominee to lead the new Department of Housing Evonne M. Klein, who was the Darien’s Democratic first selectman from […]
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Connecticut’s defense industry braces for ‘unthinkable’ Pentagon cuts
Washington — Once unthinkable, dramatic cuts to the Pentagon’s budget that would hurt Connecticut’s defense industry are now looking more and more real. The so-called sequestration could cost the state as many as 42,000 jobs, one study estimates. Congress has a deadline of March 1 to find billions of dollars in cuts to the federal […]
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The Specifics: MTA and Nemo
By: Georgia Lobb Here’s a recap of exactly how different MTA stations dealt with Nemo-related issues caused by snow, as documented by the MTA’s Flickr. New Haven: This is a photo chat shows a switch heater at work, which is an apparatus that ensures that trains can move easily and smooth from one track to […]
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Murphy appointed chairman of foreign relations subcommittee
Although he’s a freshman senator, Chris Murphy, D-Conn., has been given the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in charge of European affairs. That means Murphy can hold hearings on anything that concerns U.S. allies in Europe. He replaces Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who headed the panel in the last Congress. “The United States […]
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Himes snags seat on intelligence panel
Rep. Jim Himes, D-4th District, has won a seat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which has authority over the budgets for the CIA and 16 other U.S. intelligence agencies and investigates problems at those agencies. “I am excited and proud to have been appointed to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence at […]
Posted inPolitics
Yankee Institute poll rates Malloy well, budget poorly
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy gets his highest approval rating in the fourth in a series of polls sponsored by the Yankee Institute: 54 percent say they approve of the Democrat and 45 percent disapprove. But the poll, which was conducted by Pulse Opinion Research for the conservative think tank, also found a tighter margin when […]
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Blizzard delivers crushing blow to Connecticut agriculture
Patti Popp of Sport Hill Farm in Easton was at least managing to laugh a bit as she described the collapsed hoop house. “It’s mess,” she said. “I went inside praying it didn’t fall on me.” The hoop house at Sport Hill Farm collapsed under the weight of snow. Popp is among Connecticut farmers who […]
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A Recap: Nemo’s Impact on Connecticut and the Northeast
Photo Courtesy of International Business Times By: Georgia Lobb I was surprised to find my roommate home early from her internship in NYC when I got home last night, so I asked her why she got off early. “The train times are still funky cause of all this Nemo stuff!” She said. “They let me […]
Posted inPolitics
With no GOP consensus on gun control, Cafero bows out of rally
House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, is listed as among those scheduled to address a gun control rally outside the State Capitol on Thursday, but a spokesman says he has withdrawn. Cafero’s caucus is still working on reaching a consensus on what it measures it can support in response to the shooting deaths […]
Posted inEducation
White House grades state’s colleges
The White House today released scorecards for public and private colleges. The criteria: “Where you can get the most bang for your educational buck,” President Obama said when announcing the report cards Tuesday during his State of the Union Address. The goal of the scorecards, Obama said, is to pressure college officials to keep the […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
Between a rock (salt) and a hard place
The Motor Transport Association of Connecticut has a little problem on its hands. The salt and liquid magnesium chloride mixture the state Department of Transportation uses to treat roads after a snowstorm works well. But they want it banned anyway. “We were pretty happy with it earlier this week,” said Mike Riley, the association’s president. […]
Posted inEducation
Universal preschool headed for Connecticut?
President Obama is calling for universal preschool for every 4-year-old. “I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every child in America,” Obama said during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night. “Let’s do what works, and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind. Let’s give […]
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Transcript of President Obama’s 2013 State of the Union
THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, fellow citizens: Fifty-one years ago, John F. Kennedy declared to this chamber that “the Constitution makes us not rivals for power but partners for progress.” (Applause.) “It is my task,” he said, “to report the State of the Union — to improve it is the […]
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President Obama talks jobs, economy — and guns
Washington — Before a joint session of Congress, before a television audience of millions of Americans and before dozens of individuals whose loved ones had been victims of gun violence, President Obama Tuesday night declared that “the families of Newtown deserve a vote” on gun legislation, as do other American communities “ripped open by gun […]