As Joette Katz manages the high-profile case of a five-month old Ansonia boy dying under her agency’s supervision, child advocates are waiting to see if the new commissioner of Children and Families has the resolve to avoid the mistakes of some predecessors, who hastily removed children from their homes. “What has happened in the past […]
An infant dies, and a new DCF commissioner is tested
Posted inNews
GOP censors Courtney’s franked mail on Medicare as ‘political propaganda’
WASHINGTON — Rep. Joe Courtney’s staff recently put the finishing touches on a piece of government mail that sharply criticizes the House Republicans’ Medicare plan. But GOP officials have told the Connecticut Democrat that he can’t send it out to his constituents unless he softens the barbs in the piece. On Tuesday, Courtney, D-2nd District, […]
Posted inNews
Malloy gets 38-percent job approval in Quinnipiac poll
Dissatisfied with a record tax increase, only 38 percent of Connecticut voters approve of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s job performance in his first five months as governor, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Voters like the first Democratic governor in 20 years as a person and overwhelmingly favor his push for two controversial […]
Posted inNews
On Medicare, Lieberman is a Gang of One
WASHINGTON — With his sweeping Medicare proposal, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman has shown he maintains a knack for generating political buzz and drawing fire, from pundits and politicians. First came the scathing column by the Nobel-Prize winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. “Every once in a while a politician comes up with […]
Posted inMoney
Droney confirmation hearing set
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a confirmation hearing next week on the nomination of Connecticut’s Christopher Droney to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the 2nd Circuit. Droney, now a U.S. District Court judge, was nominated for the post in May by President Obama. His name was sent to the Senate after Republicans opposed Obama’s […]
Posted inPolitics
GOP state chair hopeful admits to adultery at state Capitol
Former state Sen. William Aniskovich, a leading candidate to be elected Republican state chairman later this month, admitted today to sexual misconduct with a lobbyist, intern or staff member while he was in the General Assembly, according to Courant columnist Kevin Rennie. In a column published online tonight, Rennie said Aniskovich confirmed what the columnist […]
Posted inHealth
Connecticut’s 2nd District among those most heavily impacted by GOP Medicare plan
Connecticut’s 2nd Congressional District would be among the most heavily impacted in the country by the House Republican Medicare plan, according to a new analysis by Bloomberg, the wire news service. The Bloomberg report looked at which districts had the most people aged 45 to 54-the first segment of Americans who would not have access […]
Posted inNews
State to Amazon: You still have to collect sales tax
Amazon.com and other online retailers have severed their Connecticut business ties, rather than accede to a new state law that will require any online company with a physical presence in the state to collect the sales tax. But now, it seems, the taxman cannot be so easily dodged. “They can run, but they cannot hide,” […]
Posted inNews
In bad economy, Hartford reduces chronic homelessness
Against all odds — a souring economy, strained state and city budgets, and an unemployment rate hovering around 9 percent — the Hartford region has continued a successful seven-year effort to reduce the number of the chronically homeless, though short-term homelessness is on the rise. The number of chronic homeless in Hartford has shrunk by […]
Posted inNews
Session over, now Democrats wait on two big bets
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the Democratic legislature made two bold wagers in adopting the governor’s first biennial budget: that 45,000 unionized state employees will ratify a concession-and-labor savings deal, and that the $1.6 billion in purported savings are real. With a ratification vote under way, they will know soon if they won the first […]
Posted inNews
Texas tycoon, non-profit team up on state energy project
WASHINGTON — As T. Boone Pickens lobbies Congress to enact subsidies for the natural gas industry, the Texas oil and gas tycoon also is bringing his zeal for natural gas vehicles to Connecticut in a deal involving a non-profit corporation, two taxi companies and millions in stimulus dollars. Clean Energy Fuels Corp., a company founded […]
Posted inHealth, Money
Congress launches “wellness caucus”
There’s the Congressional Dairy Caucus. The Congressional Natural Gas Caucus. And now… the “Wellness Caucus.” No, it’s not dedicated to lawmakers’ physical well-being. “The whole idea is to put out ideas about employee wellness programs,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., a founding member. With so much focus on how to curb health care costs, the […]
Posted inEducation
Tuition break for illegal immigrants to begin in upcoming school year
Undocumented immigrants that attended high school in the state will begin paying significantly less to attend the state’s public colleges and universities this upcoming school year, as Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has signed a bill into law allowing them to pay in-state tuition rates. The impact of the law is uncertain. Backers estimate about 200 […]
Posted inPolitics
Malloy’s job approval drops to 42 percent in Yankee Institute poll
With a Quinnipiac University poll due out Wednesday, the conservative Yankee Institute released a survey today that found voters giving Gov. Dannel P. Malloy a job-approval rating of 42 percent. The one-day poll of 500 voters by Pulse Opinion Research was conducted June 9, the day after the General Assembly session ended with a closing […]
Posted inEducation
History repeats itself: tests show students still poor at history
If you are able to say why Abraham Lincoln was an important figure in U.S. History or why the pilgrims wanted to leave England, then chances are you know more then most U.S. fourth graders. Less then half of the U.S. fourth graders tested in public and non-public schools were able to answer those two […]