Americans for Prosperity — a controversial group linked to the conservative Koch brother billionaires — made an impromptu political debut Wednesday during a press conference held by prominent Democrats. It came as a long line of lawmakers and clean-election advocates at the state Capitol called for the reversal of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Citizens […]

Connecticut’s Supreme Court got a history lesson Wednesday as it tried to sift through the sticky legal question of which party’s candidates should get the top spot on the November ballot. The state Republican Party, whose 2010 gubernatorial nominee Tom Foley collected the most votes on any single ballot line, insisted again that it deserves […]

In a late night conference call from China, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy described his trade mission Wednesday as an overdue effort to strengthen ties with a nation that has the world’s fastest-growing middle class and trillions in capital to invest. “I don’t think we have competed on an equal footing with other states,” said Malloy, who […]

With the state now spending a quarter-million-dollars a year responding to concerns about the exploding black bear population, environmental officials are considering proposing a regular bear-hunting season for the first time in the state. “Conflicts with humans are increasing every year,” said Jason Hawley, a wildlife biologist with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection […]

A study by the Wesleyan Media Project suggests that President Obama’s upward tick in the polls is due to advertising, not the assumed post-convention bounce. “In the past couple of weeks, Obama advertising has outpaced Romney advertising by more than a two to one margin,” said Erika Franklin Fowler, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project. […]

Premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage in the United States rose 4 percent over last year, a modest increase compared with recent years but still higher than the 1.7 percent growth in workers’ wages, a national survey found. “A 4 percent increase is a low increase, and it is good news,” Drew Altman, Kaiser Family […]

New Haven — A beloved Catholic hospital ended a 105-year run, and one of the nation’s largest hospitals was born, as officials signed papers Tuesday afternoon to have Yale-New Haven Hospital take over the Hospital of Saint Raphael. Two St. Raphael’s nurses called the occasion “bittersweet” as they posed for one last time with the […]

Washington — Veterans, especially young ones, suffer from dismal unemployment rates, and Congress wants to help. Both Democrats and Republicans want to win favor with an important voting bloc — the nation’s 21 million veterans. But legislation attacking veterans’ unemployment isn’t expected to pass in Congress’ shortened work period before November’s general election. Nevertheless, on […]

Mansfield — The U.S. Senate race between Linda McMahon and Christopher Murphy has featured plenty of attack ads and countercharges, but at least no one has been hit with a cane. There were plenty of heated exchanges during the 5th Congressional District primary campaigns earlier this summer, but no one was labeled a “monster” or the […]

Storrs — A $1.1 million van outfitted with prison bunk beds and realistic “breathing” inmate mannequins made its first stop Monday on its way to serve as a mobile classroom for nurses in the state’s prisons. The UConn School of Nursing opened the 40-foot Correctional Nursing Simulation Van to the public during a launching ceremony […]