Connecticut’s senators have some of the toughest positions on Capitol Hill on Iran — outflanking President Obama with their talk of war. To roars of approval at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee convention this week, Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., said the threat from Iran is “more serious than anything faced by the United States […]
Connecticut’s senators adopt hardest line toward Iran
Posted inHealth
Study: E-Health records don’t deter testing, spending
Electronic health records have long been touted by Democrats and Republicans alike as a sure-fire way to lower health spending. When doctors have easy electronic access to a patient’s records, advocates argue, they are less likely to order the duplicative and unnecessary tests that drive up the cost of health care in America. But that […]
Posted inEducation
Are charter schools cherry-picking their students?
Hartford — As students from the highly regarded Jumoke Academy Charter School filed into the gymnasium for a mid-afternoon assembly last week, onlooker Gov. Dannel P. Malloy pointed out that at first glance these students seem to mirror those attending the neighborhood public schools. “Look around,” he said, fielding questions about whether this school is […]
Posted inNews
Senate to consider Naugatuck Valley heritage bill
The Senate plans to move forward this week on an effort to designate the Naugatuck River Valley as a federal heritage area. Designation would allow the region’s 14 municipalities to apply for historic preservation grants and other federal funds. The legislation that will be considered Wednesday in a hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural […]
Posted inNews
Working Families Party has new leader in Connecticut
Lindsay Farrell, the political director of the Connecticut Working Families Party, was named today as the new executive director. She succeeds Jon Green, who has taken a national staff position.
Posted inNews
Tong gets great debate review…from Tong
One sure sign William Tong liked his performance at the first full-fledged Democratic Senate debate: The entire video is on his website. He tweeted it, too. Twenty-four hours later, video not posted on Chris Murphy or Susan Bysiewicz sites.
Posted inNews
Bysiewicz, Tong turn on Murphy at Senate debate
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: […]
Posted inNews
A debate over ballot access in Connecticut
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 […]
Posted inNews
Nappier says GOP cash-flow warnings ‘misleading’
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 […]
Posted inNews
Broken STEM: A failure to teach Science, Technology, Engineering and Math
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 […]
Posted inNews
Progress and a question: Is there hope for Harding High?
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 […]
Posted inEducation, Money
State Leaders: Our Most Vulnerable Students Need Your Help!
Edwin Colon and Kathryn Scheinberg-Meyer are attorneys with the Center for Children’s Advocacy Inc., a private, nonprofit legal organization affiliated with the University of Connecticut School of Law. The Center provides holistic legal services for poor children in Connecticut’s communities through individual representation and systemic advocacy. On a cold day last year, 17-year-old Manuel made […]
Posted inNews
Milstein gets to help pick her successor as child advocate
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 […]
Posted inHealth, Politics
Figueroa to step down from Universal Health Care Foundation
Juan A. Figueroa, a former state legislator who has led the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut since 2003, is stepping down as president in September, the Meriden-based foundation announced Friday. Executive Vice President Frances G. Padilla will succeed Figueroa as president. She led the foundation on an interim basis when Figueroa took a leave […]
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Money
Final approval on new home solar program
As expected, Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Dan Esty has given final approval to a new residential solar incentive program to be run by the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Authority.