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 […]
GOP state chair hopeful admits to adultery at state Capitol
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 […]
Posted inHealth, Money
Public forum on health insurance exchange Wednesday
Have something to say about the health insurance exchange? Or just want to learn more about a key piece of federal health reform? State officials are holding a public forum on the exchange Wednesday evening in Bridgeport. The health insurance exchange is required under the federal health reform law and will serve as a marketplace […]
Posted inCT Viewpoints
Victories for at-risk kids despite a tight budget
Conventional wisdom says nobody leaves a legislative session completely happy, certainly not when a gargantuan deficit hangs over the proceedings. But when those of us who advocate for kids in the juvenile justice system left the Capitol, we felt… well, victorious. Many measures to improve the system passed and are expected to be signed into […]
Posted inHealth
Victories for at-risk kids despite a tight budget
Conventional wisdom says nobody leaves a legislative session completely happy, certainly not when a gargantuan deficit hangs over the proceedings. But when those of us who advocate for kids in the juvenile justice system left the Capitol, we felt… well, victorious. Many measures to improve the system passed and are expected to be signed into […]
Posted inNews
Courtney, Himes demand Weiner resign over Twitter
WASHINGTON — Rep. Joe Courtney says he first realized at a Medicare town-hall meeting in Norwich exactly how big a problem Rep. Anthony Weiner’s salacious conduct on Twitter was going to be for House Democrats. The first question he fielded was about Weiner, not Medicare. “To me, that’s sort of is Exhibit A of what […]
Posted inNews
Summer ad fling a precursor to rebranding Connecticut
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy was introduced today as the “tourism governor” at the kickoff of a quickly assembled summer advertising campaign, but a better measure of his right to that title will come later this year as his administration forges a marketing identity for the state. “We are in engaged in selecting a team to […]