The state Supreme Court named a Columbia law professor and political scientist Friday as a special master to supervise the drawing of new congressional districts. Democrats and Republicans concurred on the choice, while sharply disagreeing on what factors should shape the new map. With the appointment of Nathaniel Persily, one of two academics nominated by […]
Court names Columbia professor to draw congressional districts
Posted inNews
As expected, graduation rates drop drastically
Two reports released Thursday give disappointing figures in two key categories in Connecticut education: the number of students dropping out of high school, and the number of high school graduates who go on to college. And, the reports are accurate — unlike those released for years that were accused of being based on “funny math.” […]
Posted inNews
A senator’s take on politics, gridlock and Sabbath sex
It’s not the first time he’s been a punch line, or worse. Over nearly 24 years in Washington, Joseph I. Lieberman’s been called everything from the “conscience of the Senate” to an “unprincipled troll.” But on this winter day, two months shy of his 70th birthday, Lieberman is red-faced with laughter, reacting to a female […]
Posted inMoney
The cost of Massachusetts casinos to Connecticut
It is widely accepted that the casinos that will soon begin popping up in Massachusetts will cause a major cut in revenue the state receives from its casinos — and now a price tag has been calculated as to how painful it may be. The legislature’s budget office estimates the state may be headed for […]
Posted inNews
Prison population headed for an 11-year-low in 2012
After dropping by nearly 4 percent in 2011, Connecticut’s prison population is on pace to dip below 17,000 inmates in early January after hitting an 11-year-low earlier this month, according to the state’s Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division. And former state Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, who has led the division for the past year, […]
Posted inNews
Big agenda, and a few battles, brewing for energy and environment in 2012
After the bumper 2011 legislative session, you might expect a modest wish list from Connecticut legislators, environmentalists and conservation advocates for 2012. Not happening. Nearly a year after those groups and the Malloy administration began an energy and environmental reform quest that resulted in the new Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, an unprecedented comprehensive […]
Posted inNews
Prague’s stroke described as ‘minor’
No one was eager to speculate today if the stroke suffered by Sen. Edith G. Prague, D-Columbia, will end her three-decade career in Hartford as a state representative, a commissioner of aging during the administration of Lowell P. Weicker Jr., and a state senator since 1995. Prague, who turned 86 in November, is the oldest […]
Posted inHealth
Anthem, Eastern Connecticut hospitals reach contract agreement
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the parent company of Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals announced Thursday that they have renewed their contracts, avoiding the possibility that the hospitals would leave the insurer’s network. The agreement takes effect Jan. 1. Anthem and the hospitals’ parent company, Eastern Connecticut Health Network, did not release […]
Posted inPolitics
Cafero tells Malloy to butt out of redistricting
House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, a co-chairman of the bipartisan Reapportionment Commission, is upset that the office of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has filed a brief in the congressional redistricting case before the state Supreme Court. “The governor has no existing role to play under the State Constitution,” Cafero said. “This is […]
Posted inNews
New autism program only underscores extreme need
The years of work that went into the Hospital for Special Care’s plan to open an autism center gave officials there a sense of the need for services. But the demand hit home the morning after a local newspaper detailed the New Britain hospital’s plans. “We got a phone call by 9 o’clock from a […]
Posted inPolitics
Ready for Roberti vs. Greenberg or Roraback in the 5th?
With the legislature punting to the state Supreme Court on drawing new congressional districts, there now is a greater chance that some candidates in the 5th Congressional District could wake up in February to find they no longer are living in the 5th CD. Democrat Dan Roberti of Kent and Republicans Mark Greenberg of Litchfield […]
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Governor taking it down a notch this week on public schedule
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is easing back on the public schedule this holiday week, giving his press staff a slight break. His big announcements today: the hiring of a cosultant to study the state’s three deep water ports, plus news of four more state grants to municipalities. His senior adviser, Roy Occhiogrosso, is off this […]
Posted inNews
Court orders redistricting commission back to work
The Connecticut Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Democrats and Republicans on the legislature’s deadlocked redistricting commission to resume negotiations over a congressional map, calling it “quintessentially a legislative function.” At the same time, the justices prepared for a continued legislative deadlock by setting a deadline of Friday for Democrats and Republicans to nominate a special […]
Posted inNews
Malloy refers 10 more employees to agency heads in food stamps fraud probe
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration announced today it has forwarded the names of another 10 state employees to agency heads for review in connection with the ongoing food stamps fraud investigation. This brings the total number of state workers still under close review to 44. An additional 29 employees already have been cleared of any […]
Posted inNews
Tackling homelessness — who’s right?
A soon-to-be-occupied room at Bethsaida community Norwich — Cookies shouldn’t make you cry. But when Debbie dropped a raw egg on the kitchen floor, it was just too much. “I lost it,” she said, laughing at the memory a few days later, sitting on a plush couch in the living room of her new home. […]