Connecticut was able to slow its loss of jobs — if not reverse the trend — in the third quarter of 2012, and might have to wait until the second half of 2013 to see significant growth, the University of Connecticut’s quarterly economic journal reported Wednesday. But the winter issue of The Connecticut Economy also […]

Washington — When Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, lost an important committee chairmanship after her party lost control of the Senate in 2001, her successor, Sen. Joe Lieberman, assured her she would still have clout. “I’ll never forget … Joe leaning over to me and saying, ‘Don’t worry, Susan. All that will change is […]

James R. Wagner, 75, who was sergeant at arms in the Connecticut House of Representatives for 22 years, died Monday of complications from bladder cancer. Wagner served in the Marines and the National Guard and was a member of the Governor’s Foot Guard. He is survived by his longtime companion, Lynn England, a former employee of […]

For all the expectations around Tuesday’s meeting of the nine member states of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative — the nation’s first power plant emissions trading and reduction program — the result was a bit anti-climactic. It will still be another month or so before any anticipated changes to the initiative are known. Several adjustments, discussed […]

Facing potentially dramatic budget cuts on two fronts, Connecticut’s commissioner of the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection says the agency will need to remake its business model to continue to do its job. In a particularly sobering presentation to an annual gathering of environmental advocates, Daniel Esty made it clear that the pain from […]

My story in today’s Mirror and on WNPR does not paint a pretty picture for transportation in Connecticut — or really anywhere, for that matter. Below is a graph of the sources for Connecticut’s transportation budget, a total of about $1.2 billion. That federal piece of the pie could be drastically reduced in the next […]

Municipal leaders are asking the governor’s budget director for an explanation of how he was able to cut state funding they were expecting mid-year since they believe state law forbids such a move. “I’ve never seen so many cuts to categories we see as municipal aid,” said James Finley, the executive director of the Connecticut […]

Transportation advocates and officials across Connecticut gathered in the State Capitol on Monday to face a sobering fact: In an age of soaring deficits on both the state and national levels, the funds available for transit improvements are shrinking fast. Funding on the federal level remains uncertain not only because of the slow negotiations to […]

U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman brought his farewell tour to the State Capitol on Monday, a visit to where he began 42 years ago as a state legislator, the first rung on a ladder that took him to the heights of national politics. “It’s a sentimental time, but the most persistent emotion I feel is […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy defended his plan Monday to seek an extra $22 million in revenue from businesses and power plants to help close the current budget deficit, arguing this doesn’t break his pledge not to raise taxes. “We never said that we wouldn’t look at revenue,” Malloy told Capitol reporters following the State Bond […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy today announced the long-planned departure of his senior adviser, Roy Occhiogrosso, a move that deprives Malloy of his public voice and closest confidant as he begins the two-year march towards the 2014 campaign. Occhiogrosso, 47, who has been framing issues and political messages for Malloy since the governor’s first unsuccessful run […]

Vincent Espino was removed from his home by the state’s child welfare agency almost five years ago. He has bounced around to four different foster homes and a group home since then. He has never paid rent or a bill himself. He has to ask his social worker when he needs money for things like […]