House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, conceded today that the Supreme Court’s instructions to its special master on redistricting appears to echo a key Democratic argument: new congressional districts can be drawn with minimal changes to the existing map. But Cafero said he also sees room for the special master, Professor Nathaniel Persily […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy may have given an energizing pep talk on education reform to a roomful of education advocates and leaders Thursday, but it was the comments he made to reporters afterward that will likely receive the largest cheers from those who have long said the state is shortchanging education. “To make some of […]

With gasoline prices already climbing since December, a Meriden lawmaker and Connecticut’s service stations want to put the brakes on a volatile state fuel tax that accelerates prices hikes even further. But with Connecticut taxpayers still recovering from the $1.5 billion increase ordered across all state taxes last year to close a record-setting budget deficit, […]

The Connecticut Supreme Court has directed its special master on redistricting, Professor Nathaniel Persily of Columbia, to make minimal changes as he draws new lines for the state’s five U.S. House districts, echoing arguments made by Democrats. “In developing the plan,” the court said in its new order, “the Special Master shall modify the existing […]

Farmington — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy marked his first anniversary in office today by finalizing the deal for the state to invest $291 million in a genetics research institute at the University of Connecticut Health Center. The state’s partnership with The Jackson Laboratory, a world-renowned research center in Maine, is an attempt to ride the […]

More than half the school superintendents in the state say the state is not helping to close the achievement gap between minority and low-income and Caucasian students. One-quarter of the school leaders say they have no authority to turn around low-achieving schools; 87 percent say they lack the ability to remove ineffective teachers; and two-thirds say […]

It was a year ago today that Dannel P. Malloy was inaugurated as Connecticut’s 88th governor. On his first anniversary, Malloy is giving blood, conducting a ceremonial bill signing, addressing groups in Hartford and New Britain and then closing the day in Norwich with a town-hall meeting about his year as governor. He gives blood […]

The divisions of state government’s new and loosely unified watchdog agency found a common voice this week as they opposed recommendations that would increase executive branch oversight of their missions. Leaders of the right-to-know, clean elections and ethics agencies, along with the child advocate, urged lawmakers in a new report not to enhance the powers […]

Only 27 police departments consistently file annual reports required by state law to show whether minorities are targeted in traffic stops — not that it would matter if more departments complied. No one has analyzed the limited data that is filed since 2001. A dozen years after the Connecticut General Assembly banned racial profiling in […]

Treatment for Susan Block’s ovarian cancer required doctors, drugs and, critically, the intervention of a U.S. senator. The West Hartford woman was two days away from her fourth course of chemotherapy this summer when she learned that the drug was not available, causing her to miss the treatment. The drug Block needed, known as doxil, […]

Teachers unions and education officials will soon begin butting heads as the Malloy administration tries to reform teacher tenure and other laws the unions have worked hard to protect. But Tuesday was a day of niceties, as — at a meeting that included Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor and Senate President Donald E. Williams — the union representing more […]