Norwich — U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th District, handed the front-runner’s role in a three-way Senate debate Saturday night, gently pushed back at repeated criticisms by his two main rivals for the Democratic nomination, Susan Bysiewicz and state Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford. The pecking order of the three candidates at their first debate was clear: […]

In an age when merchants and libraries are accessible on smart phones, how easy should it be to vote? Should officials treat the electorate as valued customers, or should voters view elections as a civic duty, regardless of convenience? Secretary of the State Denise Merrill’s new push to modernize the machinery of elections and boost […]

State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier and House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, have resumed their fight over whether the state has a cash flow problem indicative of financial distress — or if politicians are clashing over semantics. Nappier offered Thursday to meet with legislators to warn them about “misleading” statements from some lawmakers […]

Jo Handelsman remembers the moment she realized something was seriously wrong with the way science was taught. She was an undergraduate at Cornell University in her junior year, sitting in a biology lecture with an unusually good professor. “It suddenly occurred to me that every idea I had memorized or learned or thought I understood […]

Bridgeport -– It’s already mid-afternoon when the school day begins for 18-year-old Hanifah Kelly, who arrives at Harding High School grateful for a second chance she never thought she’d get. Along with dozens of other students, Kelly checks in at about 3 p.m., logs into a computerized lesson -– today she is working on geometry […]

Jeanne Milstein will get a say in naming her successor as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy named her today as his appointee to the seven-member advisory committee that will recommend a new child advocate. The appointment should allay the fears of some social-service experts that Malloy might effectively block the naming of a new advocate by […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy got the unscripted confrontations he wanted Thursday night at his first education forum: teachers willing to mix it up over tenure reform, and a Bridgeport parent and former official furious over the state takeover of that city’s troubled schools. In a community center in Hartford’s South End, the first stop on […]

For the first time since they took office 14 months ago, Comptroller Kevin P. Lembo and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy don’t see eye-to-eye when it comes to state finances. Lembo, whose office certifies the official monthly budget assessment, reported his first deficit of the fiscal year Wednesday, projecting a $20.7 million shortfall in the general […]

Washington — Congress can’t seem to stop its debate on birth control — and one reason is that it’s bringing in lots of votes and money. The debate that began earlier this month over a birth control mandate has spread beyond Congress to the GOP presidential campaign, and to Connecticut’s Senate race where Democratic candidates […]

Contradicting two earlier reports that concluded that Connecticut’s largest utility was unprepared for last year’s two major storms, Connecticut Light & Power Co. offered utility regulators a private report Thursday that found its power restoration efforts were “reasonable” compared with industry norms. But the report submitted by Maryland-based Davies Consulting also recommended that CL&P take […]

An emergency fix to Connecticut’s Freedom of Information law — crafted without a public hearing or committee review — was headed to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s desk following Wednesday’s unanimous Senate vote. The measure, designed to clear legal obstacles blocking the release of voter lists and other omnibus public registries, has been criticized by right-to-know […]