The Office of Policy and Management said today it has secured new fixed-price contracts to supply natural gas to state agencies at a savings of $660,000. One contract provides a new price for 453 natural gas accounts of $6.68 per dekatherm, compared to the old price of $10.73 per dekatherm. Another contract for a dozen […]

A Capitol police officer appeared in the press room moments ago on his way to lower the flag atop the State Capitol. Access to the east wing roof of the Capitol is through our fourth-floor office space, and a midday appearance by a cop often signals the loss of another Connecticut soldier. An email from […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy can be brash and brusque in his public comments at times, but he declined an invitation to take a shot at Jim Calhoun at a town-hall meeting on the budget last night in Windham, not far from the UConn campus where Calhoun is prepping for this weekend’s Final Four. Leroy Hollis, […]

Americans want to know more about their local schools, a new Brookings report says, and the No. 1 item on their list is teacher performance. The report, based on a national telephone survey, says the most common source of information about schools is family and friends, followed by daily newspapers, school publications and local television. […]

WINDHAM–The residents of this struggling eastern Connecticut community were his audience, but Gov. Dannel P. Malloy opened a debate Wednesday night with another Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo of New York. Doffing his suit coat and rolling up his sleeves in a middle school auditorium, Malloy defended his budget for maintaining state aid to municipalities, while […]

An older veteran rose to speak the other night at a public meeting about Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s budget. First, he pointed to two young servicemen, both recently returned from Afghanistan. The audience rose as one and applauded. It’s kind of story Ted Graziani enjoys hearing, even if reminds him of how he and his […]

New measurements of Connecticut wind speeds show that many more sites than previously believed could be economically viable for wind power, potentially expanding the range where turbines could produce electricity. The data suggest that with today’s taller turbines and improved blades, wind power could work even in lower-lying areas, not just the higher elevations in […]

The federal health reform law is meant to expand health insurance coverage, but some advocates worry that it could inadvertently leave some low-income adults in Connecticut worse off. They want the state to take action now to ensure that doesn’t happen, but that idea has critics, including, for now, the Malloy administration. Sharon Langer Beginning […]

Senate President Pro Tem Donald E. Williams Jr., D-Brooklyn, sat in tonight on Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s 13th town-hall meeting on the budget, a cordial meeting in Windham, a stop on the senator’s drive home from Hartford. Williams didn’t hear anything that made him think Malloy needs to take another approach to the budget. “The […]

Mike Clark kicks off his campaign for the Republican congressional nomination in the 5th District next Tuesday, promising supporters he’ll get them home in time for the tipoff of the women’s basketball championship game. Clark is a retired FBI agent, whose expertise was pursuing white-collar fraud and corruption. He now serves on the Farmington Town […]

When your team makes the Final Four, bet your friends it will be a matter of days before your governor makes a wager involving foodstuffs. It’s a lock. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy embraced that tradition today, announcing a wager with Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear over the UConn-Kentucky men’s game on Saturday night. Malloy is putting […]

Which prospective Republican presidential candidates are getting the most media attention? It depends on whether you get your news from traditional media or from blogs, Nate Silver says in his NY Times blog, FiveThirtyEight. In traditional media, the five candidates getting the most attention are Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Haley Barbour and Tim […]

MANCHESTER–Gov. Dannel P. Malloy used his strongest language to date Tuesday night to question the wisdom of placing control over state health care, a significant and growing piece of the state budget, in the hands of the proposed quasi-public SustiNet Authority. “The idea we would move these cost centers from direct government control, particularly our […]

Facing significant cuts from the state, officials at Connecticut State University System said Tuesday they will not be able to freeze tuition for next year as previously announced–but the increase they are proposing is the smallest in 11 years. “We hoped to not raise tuition at all, but I don’t see us being able to […]

WASHINGTON–In another flashpoint over implementation of federal health reform, insurance brokers are trying to undo a regulation that, they say, has already led to deep cuts in the commissions they earn from selling health care policies. The issue pits brokers against consumer groups, with state insurance commissioners split on the subject. Connecticut’s new insurance commissioner, […]