After a contentious public meeting last week on developing a new teacher and principal evaluation system, the State Department of Education has closed its meetings on the topic to the public and the media. Instead, a series of private “working group” meetings is scheduled to take place in the weeks before the panel’s June 30 […]

Short-term memory loss makes it hard for Antonio Cardoso to remember whether he already had his insulin shot that day. Delays in processing paperwork at the state Department of Social Services meant that the 68-year-old went months without getting any help, his lawyer said. Cardoso lives on his own in Wethersfield, responsible for managing his […]

It’s likely to get a few seconds, at best, on a couple of TV newscasts. So, what was it worth to U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy for U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., to stand before television cameras Monday and endorse Murphy’s campaign for U.S. Senate? The support of a grass-roots group like the Connecticut Citizen Action […]

Trumbull — Will Britnell, principal engineer with the Connecticut Department of Transportation, typically starts meetings on the subject of building a trail along the Merritt Parkway with a quote from Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” That pretty much says it all. […]

Bridgeport Democrats took a step tonight toward sending a felon to Hartford, endorsing former Sen. Ernest Newton II over Sen. Ed Gomes, according to the Connecticut Post and Only in Bridgeport. Newton, 56, who struggled with drugs during his tenure in the General Assembly, then was forced to resign after his conviction and prison sentence […]

Hartford — Linda McMahon won the Republican endorsement for U.S. Senate on Friday night for the second time in two years, setting the stage for another August primary with another former congressman, Chris Shays. McMahon, a World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder who spent $50 million on a losing Senate race in 2010, is vying with Shays […]

Hartford — Republicans endorsed state Sen. Andrew Roraback of Goshen for the open 5th Congressional District seat on the third ballot Friday, but three other candidates qualified for an August primary. Roraback beat Lisa Wilson-Foley, Justin Bernier and Mark Greenberg for the top line on the primary ballot in the district that represents the GOP’s […]

Washington — With the backing of some Connecticut lawmakers, the Republican-led House approved the $642 billion defense bill President Obama has threatened to veto because it would block the Pentagon’s planned overhaul of the Armed Forces. In defiance of the president and a majority of Democrats who voted against it, Reps. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, […]

At Bulkeley High School in Hartford, teachers can expect that one of every four of their students will be absent every day. These teachers are not alone. Dozens of schools statewide, in all parts of Connecticut, also have dismal attendance rates. But is this a truancy problem? “We don’t know,” said Charlene Russell-Tucker, chief operating officer […]

The Malloy administration Thursday announced a “dramatic” reduction in Connecticut’s future unfunded employee and retiree health care liabilities, but Republicans said the state should count on only a fraction of that. The figures at issue are part of an actuarial report by The Segal Co., which said the state has a $17.9 billion unfunded liability […]

Washington — When Jody Rodiger of Manchester volunteered to help Connecticut’s needy buy food, she never thought she would one day also depend on food stamps. “I advocated for it for years, I knew the program inside and out. But I never thought it would be for me,” Rodiger, 50, said. Like many who’ve recently […]