The proposal to establish the SustiNet state-run health insurance plan cleared its first legislative committee Monday, receiving approval to move forward from the Public Health Committee by a 16-10 vote. The current version of the bill is a work in progress and will likely be amended as it moves forward. It will now go to […]

(Steve Mandel is vice-chair of the Teach for America Connecticut advisory board.) Gov. Dannel Malloy has a very difficult job on his hands. He is new to his position, needs to build a top-flight management team to help him run the state, and must close a $3.5 billion budget deficit, one of the largest in […]

With the labor contracts for 69 nursing homes set to expire this month, state health officials are preparing for the possibility of a large-scale strike. Representatives for both sides say the negotiations are in the early stages and no strike plans are imminent. But because so many contracts are in play, state officials are taking […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and organized labor delivered blunt messages to each other Friday about economic justice, political debts and fiscal realities. Neither side retreated, but Malloy left to applause even after warning of “dire consequences” if concession talks fail. Malloy listens to John Olsen For 60 minutes, Malloy stood in front of 175 public- […]

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy named Correction Commissioner Leo C. Arnone, originally an appointee of former Gov. M. Jodi Rell, to continue to oversee Connecticut’s prison system as the administration undertakes efforts to further reduce the inmate population. Arnone, 59, who was originally appointed Aug. 1, 2010 following the retirement of then-Commissioner Theresa Lantz of Manchester, […]

Aetna is in the health insurance business, but as an employer, it’s not immune to the rising costs of health care. So the company uses wellness programs to encourage its workers to improve their health and health plans designed to make them more aware of the costs. Employees pay less for medications to treat chronic […]

When Sabra Mayo heard a knock on her door last summer, the last person she was expecting to be there was the grandson she’d seen just a handful of times since the state Department of Children and Families took him from his mother seven years before. “They just dropped him off on my doorstep,” she […]

Embroiled in two wars, battered in the polls and battling Republicans on every front, President Barrack Obama has at least one consolation at the end of the day: his own home-brewed beer. Not brewed by Obama himself, of course, the blog Obama Foodorama reports–he’s way too busy. But the president and Michelle Obama did use […]

As any good Irish pol would want to do, Gov. Dannel Malloy had been set to serve as the Grand Marshal of New London St. Patrick’s Day parade. But now he’s handing over those duties to Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman so he can go back to Washington for another round of lobbying White House officials. […]

The state Department of Social Services has received approval to hire 26 retired workers on a temporary basis to process food stamp applications. The food stamp program has come under fire after federal officials warned that the state could face financial sanctions if it does not improve its performance significantly. Connecticut has one of the […]

James Redeker, a former New Jersey transit official who has been with the state Department of Transportation, has been named interim commissioner of the DOT. “Jim Redeker is a talented, dedicated transportation professional with recognized expertise in the realm of public transportation, which is right where our focus needs to be right now,” Malloy said. […]

The campaign treasurer for Sen. John Fonfara, D-Hartford, was charged today in connection with the embezzlement of $2,300 form Fonfara’s campaign in 2006 and 2007. David Larkin, 43 of Rocky Hill, was charged with third-degree larceny by the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney, which acted on a complaint from the State Elections Enforcement Commission. […]

Rep. Chris Murphy wrote a letter to the CEOs of five major oil companies Friday, asking them to chip in for the heating bills of Connecticut’s low-income residents. Murphy’s gambit comes amid news that Operation Fuel, a Bloomfield-based nonprofit charity, has run out of money for its heating assistance program and stopped accepting applications from […]

President Barack Obama officially said Connecticut’s winter storms were terrible–a disaster in fact. In signing an official “disaster declaration” for the state, the president cleared the way for the state to get federal funds to defray the costs of local and state recovery efforts. Here’s a snippet from Thursday’s White House release: “The President today […]