Republicans made a final pitch today for a congressional district map more favorable to the GOP, asking the Connecticut Supreme Court to reject districts drawn by a special master who closely followed the court’s own guidelines. Ross H. Garber, an attorney for Republicans on the legislature’s Reapportionment Commission, acknowledged that Special Master Nathaniel Persily’s map […]

Municipal leaders rarely miss a chance these days to thank the governor and the legislature for sparing the entire $2.8 billion town aid package from the budget axe last spring. But in between accolades, town leaders also will point out that, with few exceptions, education aid has been flat for the past three years, and […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy insists he won’t seek more taxes this session after raising more than $1.5 billion last spring. But with a sluggish recovery and an expensive pension fix turning Malloy’s future budget surpluses into a potential deficit by July 2013, Republicans already are questioning whether more tax talk is dead — or simply […]

There’s no shortage of children affected by trauma — whether it’s trauma linked to domestic violence, sexual abuse or other events. But until relatively recently, there has been accompanying lack of strategy on the part of national and state child welfare officials to try to prevent trauma from impacting the child’s life forever. Karrie McAvoy, […]

Under Connecticut law, a home health aide can spend all day caring for you, but if you need help taking your pills, you’ll need a nurse to come give them to you. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy next week will recommend changing that, a move his administration says could save the state more than $28 million […]

Washington — In the political money chase in the race to fill retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman’s seat, deep-pocketed Linda McMahon began the year with the least amount of money. But given that she spent $50 million of her own money on her failed 2008 Senate bid, McMahon should be able to manage a slight cash […]

On its second try in less than a month at naming a new leader, the State Elections Enforcement Commission on Friday selected Michael J. Brandi of Hamden as its executive director and general counsel, a choice the commission hopes will quell a political storm. Brandi, 40, a lawyer in private practice, was the chief administrative […]

A curious thing about recycling in Connecticut — it’s mandatory. Has been for 20 years. And that doesn’t just mean commercial folks have to recycle, or towns have to take your recycling if you choose to leave it out. The recycling laws in Connecticut mean that everybody, all the time, is required to recycle. The […]

West Hartford — Nearly 6,500 students in Connecticut enter kindergarten each year never having attended preschool. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy wants to reduce that number by 500 students in the state’s poorest districts. “We’ve got to close that achievement gap” between low-income students and their peers who attend preschool, he said Thursday, standing on the playground […]

The administration of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy appears to be cooling on Keno, a game the Connecticut Lottery has endorsed as a way to boost revenues in a lottery market that turns 40 this month. Malloy has no intention of proposing Keno or any other significant expansion of gambling in his budget or State of […]

Federal environmental officials have warned Connecticut they will begin to de-certify a crucial pollution abatement program the day after the General Assembly session ends in  May — unless state policy-makers craft a solution first. At issue is a more than $80 million backlog in applications for assistance through Connecticut’s Underground Storage Tank Petroleum Cleanup Program […]

House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan’s proposal to raise the state’s minimum wage by $1.50 over two years could give Connecticut the highest minimum in the nation, a distinction certain to fuel opposition to the idea by business interests and some legislators. But the proposal by the Democratic leader and congressional candidate to index the wage […]