A new analysis of the food stamps fraud scandal following last year’s Tropical Storm Irene found state social services workers weren’t instructed to ask applicants to verify income information. State Auditors John Geragosian and Robert Ward also concluded Thursday that the administration failed to review more than 110 government workers who received benefits, and that […]
Auditors: Income verification spotty in Irene scandal
Posted inNews
Ohio Super PAC promises $1 million to help Roraback
What does moderate Republican Andrew Roraback have in common with the conservatives in Ohio? On the surface, very little. But right after House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, held a fundraiser in Hartford this week for Roraback, a Super PAC based in Ohio said it would spend more than $1 million running ads for the Republican […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
Stamford officials, commuters will have some input in state overhaul of parking
Two weeks ago, Gov. Dannel Malloy and Transportation Commissioner Jim Redeker promised to create an “advisory panel” to help the state decide which developer should receive $35 million in public money to replace a parking garage at the Stamford train station. Thursday, they announced the five members of the panel, and some names are sure […]
Posted inEducation
Documents surface surrounding controversial meeting with community college presidents
What exactly happened behind closed doors last month between the dozen community college presidents and a top central office staff employee depends on whom you ask. What isn’t debatable are the email communications that followed the meeting. They show that a plan had been drafted by the higher education system’s office for the separation of […]
Posted inEducation
House Minority leader to Kennedy: Three Strikes, You’re Out
Talk of President Robert A. Kennedy’s resignation as the leader of the state’s college system is beginning to circulate around the state Capitol. The co-chairwoman of state’s Higher Education Committee alluded to it during an interview Wednesday and the state House and Senate minority leaders called for it directly Thursday. “I don’t know how he […]
Posted inEducation
Former trustees on raise: A “Reward for destroying the community colleges?”
Two former community college trustees are asking Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, the new system president and the board chairman what their involvement was in the offer of “expedite[d]” separations of the local college presidents and the hefty raise awarded to the system’s executive vice president. “If the recent threats of simultaneous terminations of all 12 […]
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New questions follow an educator’s apology
Hartford — The head of the state’s higher-education system apologized Wednesday for the hefty raises he unilaterally awarded to top staff, but he immediately was confronted with new questions about six weeks he spent working remotely from a second home in Minnesota over the summer. Robert A. Kennedy, the president of the Board of Regents […]
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All executive raises in Board of Regents’ system suspended
The president of the state’s merged public college system announced this afternoon that 21 administrative raises he improperly authorized have been suspended immediately pending review by the system’s governing board. The announcement by Robert A. Kennedy, president of the Board of Regents for Higher Education system comes one day after the raises were first disclosed. […]
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Malloy promises review of higher education raises
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was highly critical Wednesday of excessive and improperly authorized raises granted by Robert A. Kennedy, president of the Board of Regents for Higher Education, but he stopped short of saying he no longer had confidence in Kennedy’s leadership of the newly merged system. “This was badly mishandled, inappropriately handled. It needs […]
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Elizabeth Esty: A passionate moderate
Washington — Before former House Speaker Chris Donovan’s campaign was sunk by scandal, the influential political analyst Stuart Rothenberg touted him as the next likely congressman from the 5th Congressional District. That did not sit well with Elizabeth Esty, one of Donovan’s rivals in the Democratic primary. She sought an appointment with Rothenberg’s staff in […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Malloy, Esty pitch energy policy on WNPR
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Dan Esty, his commissioner of energy and environmental protection, spent an hour on WNPR’s “Where We Live” today explaining and defending the Malloy administration’s push to convert homes from oil to gas heat. The show repeats tonight at 7, and audio of the show is available online. As The Mirror […]
Posted inEducation
Higher education chief ‘mistakenly’ ordered 21 executive raises without board approval
The state’s merged public college system backpedaled Tuesday as its top executive announced that 21 raises he “mistakenly” authorized during the past 10 months would be reassessed by its governing board. That includes the $49,000 increase granted recently to Michael P. Meotti, the executive vice president of the Board of Regents for Higher Education. Meotti […]
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Teacher of the year — improving the world, one child at a time
Cromwell – Blaise Messinger tells his fifth graders in Room 175 that he is going to teach them the secret to math. He writes “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally” on the white board. He tells the class to turn to the left and say the sentence to their neighbor, then turn to the right […]
Posted inNews
Higher education official forfeits $49K raise, senator wants all hikes canceled
The second-highest ranking official in the state’s merged public college system will forego a controversial $49,000 pay raise, the system announced Tuesday morning — one day after The Mirror disclosed the pay increase. Michael P. Meotti, executive vice president for the Board of Regents for Higher Education, will continue to earn $183,339, forfeiting the 27 […]
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Murphy struggles to counter months of McMahon ads
Meriden — It was a friendly setting. Democrat Chris Murphy picked a tour of an aerospace manufacturer in his congressional district to press his argument that Republican Linda McMahon’s jobs plan is a rehash of trickle-down tax policy, not a substantive prescription for economic development. But the reach of McMahon’s saturation advertising in the U.S. […]