Another small measure of Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton’s interest in running for governor in 2014 (aside from his recent tweaking Tom Foley): On Friday, Jan. 25, he will be driving to Norwich to be the keynote speaker at a fundraising dinner of Grassroots East, the GOP group in the 2nd Congressional District. Everybody loves the 95.6 […]
Chits for 2014? Boughton to keynote Grassroots East
Posted inPolitics
Tweak me? Tweet you!
Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton’s assets include the fastest pair of thumbs in Connecticut politics. Just follow his Twitter feed @MayorMark. He shares — overshares at times, in the opinion of some fretful friends — trenchant observations on life, pop culture and politics. He also answers constituent questions about whether hockey is allowed on a rink […]
Posted inNews
Some Connecticut companies get breaks in fiscal cliff deal
Washington — While lawmakers championed the fiscal cliff deal as the mechanism that keep taxes on the middle class from rising, they also, more quietly, approved special tax breaks that will benefit several Connecticut businesses. The tax breaks range from credits to rum makers like Diageo to research and development write-offs for large companies like […]
Posted inNews
Former state Sen. Ernest Newton arrested
Former state Sen. Ernest E. Newton II, D-Bridgeport, a convicted felon who attempted a political comeback in 2012, was arrested Friday and charged with committing fraud to obtain $80,550 in public financing for his unsuccessful bid to return to the Connecticut General Assembly. Newton, 56, who lost a three-way Democratic primary for the state Senate […]
Posted inNews
Economic forecast: a risky year for Connecticut
Hartford — An economic outlook conference greeted the New Year cautiously Friday, pointing to the slow and largely jobless recovery from the 2008 recession and the inability of Congress to reach a grand bargain necessary to avert devastating cuts to Connecticut’s defense industry. “I think everybody here knows we dodged a bullet this week. We […]
Posted inNews
Despite deficit, panel recommends more state funding for schools
The panel appointed to recommend repairs to the “broken” way the state pays for education is proposing state legislators phase in an additional $757.3 million in spending over four years. But with the state facing a deficit, everyone on the Education Cost Sharing Task Force seems to agree new money will be difficult to come by. […]
Posted inNews
Congress approves money to pay Sandy’s flood victims
Washington – Congress on Friday approved an increase of $9.7 billion to for the National Flood Insurance Program, which was rapidly running out of money to pay claims — many filed because of Super Storm Sandy. The vote was 354-57 in the House. Two-thirds of the House was required to support the bill to win […]
Posted inNews
Fiscal Cliff Deal Helps Commuters…No, Really
I know, I know, nobody seems all that thrilled about the last-minute deal pushed through to avoid hurtling over the fiscal cliff. But believe it or not, as part of the deal, a tax benefit for public transit riders was significantly increased. As heard on Connecticut Public Radio this morning, employees who rode public transit […]
Posted inNews
Esty appointed to Democratic gun control panel
The day after she was sworn into office, Rep. Elizabeth Esty, D-5th, was appointed to a new, 12-member Congressional Gun Violence Prevention Task Force. The task force will try to co-ordinate congressional gun control efforts and recommendations expected at the end of the month from the White House on how to curb gun violence. It […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
Microgrid project draws three-dozen applications
Connecticut’s first-in-the-nation microgrid pilot project received some three-dozen applications by Wednesday’s deadline, according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Most were from cities and towns, including some with multiple submissions; but there were also some from universities, hospitals, companies, a state transit facility, Tweed airport, the Navy sub base and even an as-yet-to-be-built […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
On Guns and Security: A Parent’s Plea for Reason
I was in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001. The events in Newtown have affected me as nothing else since 9/11, now that my wife and I have children, ages 7 and 5. We try to shield them from a climate of anxiety that already seemed pervasive. The National Rifle Association’s call for paramilitary school vigilance […]
Posted inNews
On Guns and Security: A Parent’s Plea for Reason
I was in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001. The events in Newtown have affected me as nothing else since 9/11, now that my wife and I have children, ages 7 and 5. We try to shield them from a climate of anxiety that already seemed pervasive. The National Rifle Association’s call for paramilitary school vigilance […]
Posted inNews
DECD gets raves for service — and cheap capital
What does it take for a state agency to produce dozens, if not hundreds, of happy small-business owners in Connecticut, a state not known as business friendly? Quick service and responsive employees help — and $67.2 million in no-cost or low-cost capital certainly doesn’t hurt. For nearly an hour Thursday, about 30 small business owners […]
Posted inNews
Murphy, Esty begin new political careers
Washington — As soon as the 113th Congress was gaveled in Thursday, there was a new face in Connecticut’s congressional delegation, one member has been promoted from the House to the Senate and others have new jobs. Chris Murphy, a Democrat who represented Connecticut’s 5th District in the House for six years, was sworn in […]
Posted inNews
Our blogger looks back at some big transit issues from 2012
CT Mirror reporter Neena Satija blogs regularly about the commuting life in Connecticut, transportation, and related public policy issues. Now that 2012 is fading into the rear-view mirror, she takes a look back at some of the year’s most significant transit developments and at what might be ahead. You can read her regular blog posts at […]