A new credit system launched in September that allows offenders to shorten their sentences by participating in re-entry programs could shrink prison populations by several hundred inmates this fiscal year, a key official in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration said this week. But according to Michael Lawlor, who heads the administration’s Criminal Justice Policy and […]

Though Connecticut Light & Power Co. officials have said repeatedly that last weekend’s snow storm caused more damage than Tropical Storm Irene in late August, it was not until Friday–the sixth day after last Saturday’s Nor’easter–that power restoration crew totals surpassed those called in for the earlier outage. Company president and CEO Jeffrey Butler said […]

Joel Gordes, an energy consultant and former state legislator, remembers what happened on September 26 when he started talking about cyber attacks and ice storms during his presentation to the legislative committee investigating the utility response to tropical storm Irene. At one point, he recalled, Sen. John Fonfara, co-chair of the Energy and Technology Committee […]

KENT–Won-Young Kim helped shovel out a ditch for the wiring that led to a plain-looking wooden box encased in cement, set in the bedrock of a hillside framing the Kent School, a private high school tucked in picturesque northwest Connecticut. “Using this,” he said, pointing to the box, “we’ll be able to pick up activity […]

The 2009 “cash for clunkers” program was wildly popular, Emily Badger says at Miller-McCune, but a new study finds that it did little for environment or the economy. In all, the federal government spent $2.85 billion on incentives to help consumers buy 678,359 new cars. The stated goal was to give the economy–particularly the auto […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy directed the Connecticut National Guard on Thursday evening to begin supplementing utility company crews performing tree removal work as part of statewide power restoration efforts. The governor, who said four teams composed of about 100 guard members would begin work Thursday night in Avon and Simsbury, two communities with exceptional levels […]

The one-two weather punch that produced more than 1.5 million power outages across Connecticut in just over two months also has generated a bumper crop of ideas. Legislators, private interest groups and even Gov. Dannel P. Malloy have unveiled proposals in recent days and weeks about how the state can better avoid or at least […]

The Mansfield-based Center for Medicare Advocacy filed a class action lawsuit Thursday challenging the practice of placing hospital patients on “observation status,” an alternative to admitting them as inpatients that can leave Medicare patients with hefty bills for hospital and nursing home care. The lawsuit, filed against U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary […]

Connecticut Light and Power Co. didn’t precisely hit its power outage restoration goal for Thursday morning, but came “reasonably close” enough, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said during a briefing at the state armory. But the governor, who said he would continue to hold the state’s largest electric utility to its daily restoration goals, also announced […]

The board developing the state’s health insurance exchange–a key piece of federal health reform–is already at work. But consumer advocates unhappy with the composition of the board are still trying to change its make-up, and Democratic lawmakers are open to the idea. Some advocates have been urging lawmakers to amend law that governs the exchange […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy stopped short Wednesday evening of endorsing a call to fine electric utilities for slow restoration efforts, but warned his confidence in Connecticut Light & Power Co. could slip as early as Thursday morning if new goals for returning service to customers aren’t met. Meanwhile, CL&P President Jeffrey Butler apologized for creating […]

Connecticut’s newly restructured higher education system has the potential to avoid the pitfalls that have stalled reorganization efforts in other states, a leading higher education authority said Wednesday. “I’m hoping this system will be an especially innovative one,” Terry MacTaggart told members of the state’s Board of Regents for Higher Education. The board sought advice […]

Calling it “one of our highest priorities,” recently-appointed Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor is asking the Malloy Administration for $25 million to help him turn around the state’s lowest-performing districts. “We hope to yield some dollars for this request,” Pryor told the State Board of Education before they unanimously signed off on the proposal. Education Commissioner […]