Irene hit Connecticut as a strong tropical storm Sunday with torrential rains and gusty winds that destroyed coastal homes, toppled trees and left a record 800,000 customers without power, surpassing damage from Hurricane Gloria in 1985. More than eight inches of rain fell. The storm reached New England weaker than expected as it failed to […]
A weakened Irene knocks out power to 800,000 in state
Posted inNews
Obama declares emergency in Connecticut
President Obama declared a state of emergency in Connecticut today, giving the federal government authority to coordinate disaster relief in anticipation of Hurricane Irene sweeping across Long Island and into Fairfield County on Sunday morning as a Category 1 storm. A hurricane warning was issued for the southern New England coast, and Gov. Dannel P. […]
Posted inNews
State phasing out its early intervention program
As part of a larger shift toward privatizing services, the state Department of Developmental Services is phasing out a state-run early intervention program for infants and toddlers over objections by public-employee unions. Joan Barnish, a spokeswoman for the department, said there are 43 other programs run by private providers that can serve the infants and […]
Posted inNews
Malloy says midnight Saturday is deadline to prep for Irene
A hurricane warning was issued late this afternoon for the southern New England coast, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced that public transportation in Connecticut would be suspended Saturday in advance of Irene’s arrival in the state Sunday as a Category 1 hurricane. “You have the rest of today, all day tomorrow to take the […]
Posted inNews
State intervenes in Hartford’s treatment of students with disabilities
Concluding that Hartford Public Schools have failed to appropriately serve students with disabilities, the state Department of Education has ordered the city school system to evaluate students more quickly, implement the evaluations when they are completed, and assign staff to better track these students. “The system has failed on a systemic basis” to meet the […]
Posted inNews
Wilson-Foley’s family worth as much as $653 million
WASHINGTON — Republican congressional candidate Lisa Wilson-Foley and her family own about 70 different companies in Connecticut. Their holdings range from the AllStar Therapy Corp., a physical therapy firm that generated as much as $5 million in income last year, to the Rock n Bowl recreational facility in Simsbury, which netted no income at all. […]
Posted inNews
Malloy signs emergency order as Irene approaches
A hurricane watch was issued today for southern New England as Irene moved north at 14 miles per hour on a course projected to bring it ashore near Bridgeport as “a strong Category 1 storm” on Sunday morning, a forecast that prompted Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Thursday to declare a state of emergency. Colleges […]
Posted inNews
Until McMahon arrives, no deep pockets here
WASHINGTON — If Connecticut’s last U.S. Senate contest was a battle between two of Fairfield County’s rich and famous, the financial wherewithal of the candidates vying for retiring Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman’s seat next year is not quite so eye-popping. Democratic hopeful Susan Bysiewicz owns some undeveloped property in Middletown, but it’s worth almost nothing […]
Posted inMoney
Blumenthal on first congressional trip–to Pakistan
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is on his first official congressionally-sponsored trip abroad. He and three other Democratic senators are in Pakistan, where they recently met with top political and military leaders. Blumenthal, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a phone interview from Islamabad that the meetings focused on disrupting terrorist networks […]
Posted inHealth
Health exchange board meeting canceled
Monday’s meeting of the Connecticut Health Care Exchange has been canceled because of concerns about the effects of Hurricane Irene. The meeting would have been the first of the board that will oversee the marketplace for individuals and small businesses to buy health care coverage, part of federal health reform. The board will meet Thursday, […]
Posted inNews
WFSB’s ‘Face the State’ to greet Irene with live show
What do you do when your public affairs show airs at 11 a.m. Sunday, precisely when a hurricane is scheduled to arrive? On WFSB, Dennis House is scrapping plans to air a show he usually tapes on Thursday nights. Instead, this week’s “Face the State” will go live, with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and others […]
Posted inNews
Overhaul of education financing formula likely to wait until 2013
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has promised to dedicate the 2012 legislative session to education reform, but fixing how the state finances public schools is likely to wait until 2013, the co-chairs of the task force responsible for making recommendations to Malloy said during their first meeting Thursday. “It’s not as though we have to come […]
Posted inNews
DPUC gave engineer pay, ‘almost no work’ for 6 years
The state’s utility regulatory agency kept an engineer on the payroll for six years with “almost no work” after a disciplinary incident that led to a brief suspension in 2003, followed by the employee’s repeated and fruitless requests for work after his reinstatement, according to documents obtained by The Mirror. A labor arbitrator concluded that […]
Posted inNews
Storm on track to hit Connecticut
With the latest forecasts showing Hurricane Irene on a path toward New England, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy urged Connecticut residents to begin preparing today for high winds and torrential rains that could leave swaths of the state without power, beginning Sunday. “To put it as delicately as we can, we take this threat very very […]
Posted inNews
After a five-month audition, Redeker is named DOT chief
Acting Transportation Commissioner James P. Redeker today gets to drop the word “acting” from his title. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy named him as his commissioner this morning, describing Redeker’s five months as interim chief as one long job interview. Malloy, who named Redeker as acting commissioner in March after the retirement of a predecessor, Jeffrey […]