The Internal Revenue Service is never particularly popular this time of year, and Politico’s Jeanne Cummings has one more ill to lay at the tax agency’s feet: The never-ending barrage of political advertising. In recent years, groups such as Karl Rove’ Crossroads GPS have been formed as “non-profit social action organizations” under IRS regulations, allowing […]

(James H. Smith is a retired Connecticut journalist, an officer of the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information, and the author of “A Passion for Journalism, A Newspaper Editor Writes to His Readers.”) Where has wisdom fled to in American politics? With all the rancor and clamor across the land over how literally broke government […]

In a difficult year for organized labor, unions in Connecticut have managed to advance legislation that would expand collective bargaining rights to state managers, legislative employees and public-university graduate assistants. The bill might ultimately fail, but it is one of several bright spots for labor in a year when union bargaining rights are under assault […]

WASHINGTON–Gov. Dannel Malloy still has his sights on winning an extra $100 million in federal funds for the state’s high-speed rail line. But on Thursday he was scrambling to make sure Connecticut didn’t lose millions of dollars in federal aid for a related rail project now in the design phase. At a meeting with Transportation […]

Despite significant proposed cuts to its budget for the next school year, the University of Connecticut administration is recommending that trustees adopt the smallest percentage increase in tuition and fees since 2000. The proposed 2.5 percent increase — which amounts to an additional $240 in tuition and fees for in-state students — is expected to […]

A court-appointed receiver has recommended closing four nursing homes that have been in state receivership since January, arguing in court documents that they face financial barriers to operating and meeting required care standards. The homes–University Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation in New Haven, Bishops Corner Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation in West Hartford, Soundview Skilled Nursing and […]

WEST HARTFORD–Friday is assessment day in Room 111 at Braeburn Elementary School. Nancy Wildt, the school’s literacy tutor, spends the day handing out worksheets full of reading passages with blanks in them, having students answer open-ended questions and timing students as they read paragraphs out loud, marking down mistakes. Usually, Wildt works with multiple students […]

Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman and John McCain joined John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in praising the UN’s call for a no-fly zone in Libya. Their statement: “We applaud tonight’s action by the UN Security Council authorizing ‘all necessary measures’ to impose a no-fly zone in Libya and protect civilians and […]

State lawmakers on the Education Committee narowly passed a bill that grants in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants. The out-of-state tuition for undocumented students is almost three times higher than the charge for in-state students to attend the University of Connecticut, Connecticut State University System and the dozen community colleges. Before the vote, lawmakers expressed concerns […]

Pretty good, as it turns out. Keith Phaneuf will be gone for an estimated three weeks, hearing evidence in a federal fraud trial. We’re assured the legislature won’t adopt a budget before his return.