The deal to raise the debt ceiling reached by President Obama and Congressional leaders averts the immediate crisis, John Gramlich and Melissa Maynard report at Stateline.org, but it leaves governors wondering exactly what kind of pain their states will face over the next decade. While the deal calls for $917 billion in deficit reduction through […]

WASHINGTON-After a rushed and wrenching review, Connecticut’s five U.S. House members split over the debt-reduction deal crafted by the White House and congressional leaders to avoid a U.S. default. Capping a chaotic day and ending weeks of brinksmanship, the House approved the measure by a vote of 269 to 161, with 174 Republicans supporting the […]

The heads of state government’s nine watchdog agencies referred three finalists Monday to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to become executive director of the new Office of Governmental Accountability — including one candidate who’s prepared to take no salary. The Governmental Accountability Commission voted unanimously following a 50-minute closed-door debate to recommend: former Freedom of Information […]

NEW HAVEN — The last time a comprehensive conservation and management plan was created for Long Island Sound was 1994. The estuary was severely stressed from pollution, toxins, garbage, poorly regulated development and general neglect. But the phrase “climate change” had yet to enter the public lexicon, the concept of sea level rise was barely […]

As tempers flare over the contentious vote and revote on a labor concession deal, one of the questions that occasionally pops up on comment boards is this: Is the Malloy Administration really spending money to redecorate the governor’s mansion as it is demanding labor givebacks? Technically, the state isn’t redecorating the Executive Residence (the term […]

To combat the nation’s obesity problem, officials in some jurisdictions have considered requiring chain restaurants to post calorie information on their menus, saying that would help consumers make better decisions. Critics, on the other hand, say nobody orders a Big Mac thinking it’s a low-cal snack, and posting the numbers won’t help. A new study […]

More than 9,500 people enrolled in the state-run Charter Oak Health Plan will see their premiums jump by at least 45 percent and possibly as much as 67 percent starting Sept. 1 as the state cuts its subsidies for the program. The premium increases stem from the cost of health care claims in the program […]

Medicare turns 46 Saturday, and on Friday, Hartford Hospital and Aetna commemorated the role of the two city institutions in launching the program, with an event that was part history lesson, part appreciation for the insurance program and, at least for the politicians invited, part opportunity to bash proposals to change Medicare. Aetna was an […]

The leader of Connecticut’s right-to-know agency for three decades, who called Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s plan to merge nine watchdog groups “a disaster” when it was proposed, is one of five finalists to head the unified Office of Governmental Accountability. Mitchell W. Pearlman, who retired in 2005 after 30 years with the Freedom of Information […]

WASHINGTON–Connecticut’s got nothing on Washington when it comes to budgetary uncertainty and legislative double-takes. Thursday’s on-again, off-again vote in the U.S. House on a Republican debt-ceiling plan underscored the ambiguity about how, or whether, lawmakers in Washington will be able to resolve the current debt-ceiling standoff. But amid the chaos, one thing is pretty clear: […]

Todd was agitated, and the effort of the staff at Riverview Hospital to calm him down weren’t having any effect. As the confrontation escalated, aides did what they were trained to do: physically restrain him, face down against the floor, in hopes that would defuse the situation. But as in many similar cases, during the […]