Rell designates day of mourning for victims of Middletown explosion

Governor M. Jodi Rell today designated Wednesday as a day of mourning for the five men killed Sunday in an explosion at the Kleen Energy power plant in Middletown.  Rell ordered Connecticut state flags to be flown at half-staff from sunup to sundown and asked residents to observe a moment of silence at 11 a.m., […]

University of Connecticut officials will recommend a tuition increase next week that, if adopted, will mark a milepost in the long trend of shifting public higher education costs to students. The 5.8 percent increase in tuition and fees would mark the first time that revenue from students would exceed the state’s contribution to running Connecticut’s […]

The state should keep domestic violence shelters open around the clock and require high-risk offenders to wear GPS ankle bracelets when restraining orders do not work, a group of state lawmakers recommend. “We are really going to change some key things for domestic violence victims,” Rep. Mae Flexer, chairman of the legislature’s bi-partisan domestic violence […]

On the same day last year, the state House of Representatives took up two bills that mandated increased health insurance coverage for various medical conditions. One passed nearly unanimously and was celebrated by Gov. M. Jodi Rell at a bill-signing ceremony. The other divided the House along party lines and provoked a veto. The successful […]

The Democratic race for governor heated up today over Ned Lamont’s opposition to state legislation that would require businesses to offer paid sick days to employees. Dannel P. Malloy, the former Stamford mayor, criticized comments Lamont made in an interview with the Connecticut Mirror. “There are certain basic rights that should be afforded to any […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell today named retired U.S. District Judge Alan H. Nevas to lead a multi-agency inquiry into the explosion that killed five workers Sunday at a power plant under construction in Middletown. A congressional committee also intends to hold a public hearing into the disaster, according to members of the state’s congressional delegatin. […]

With a campaign manager and media strategist in place, Ned Lamont is preparing to launch a run for governor by promising Democrats he has the drive, message and resources to compete with a wealthy Republican frontrunner, Tom Foley. “We’re not going to be outhustled. We’re not going to be outsmarted,” said Lamont, who is expected […]

During the long effort to desegregate Hartford’s schools, state officials helped create and support more than 20 magnet schools they hoped would attract minority children from the city and whites from nearby suburbs. They weren’t counting on suburban students like Brandon Rothschild. “I thought this would be the best fit for me,” said Rothschild, 17, […]

Towns across the state are required by law to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars to print notices in local newspapers to inform the public of government happenings – a mandate Gov. M. Jodi Rell wants the legislature to repeal. But at a time when they are already struggling to stay afloat,  newspapers say the loss […]

Towns across the state are required by law to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars to print notices in local newspapers to inform the public of government happenings – a mandate Gov. M. Jodi Rell is calling on the legislature to throw out. But at a time when they are already struggling to stay afloat,  newspapers […]

It was Jan. 7, 1981. Jimmy Carter was two weeks away from leaving the White House to make way for Ronald Reagan. William A. O’Neill had been governor for eight days, succeeding the dying Ella T. Grasso. A 29-year-old organizer and public-interest lobbyist named Mary M. Mushinsky entered the state House of Representatives that day […]

One day after its release, a key piece of Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s proposed $18.9 billion budget for the next fiscal year is in trouble, a harbinger of challenges awaiting legislators. Opposition mounted Thursday as word spread that one of Rell’s top options for borrowing $1.3 billion would require diverting money from special green-technology funds […]

Educators expressed relief Wednesday at being spared major cuts in school funding in Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s recommended budget adjustments, but they said the forecast remains ominous, including more layoffs. The key recommendation for schools was to hold the state’s Education Cost Sharing grant at its current level of just under $1.9 billion, avoiding some […]

With demand for safety net programs growing, Gov. M. Jodi Rell on Wednesday proposed a social services budget that depends heavily on one-time federal stimulus grant money but reduces state spending on programs including rental assistance and aid for the elderly, disabled, blind and homeless. Gov. M. Jodi Rell “We have a state government that […]

Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Williams, members and guests: We gather today to mark the opening of the 2010 legislative session and we do so at a time of continued challenge, continued anxiety. None of us need to be reminded of the unparalleled struggles that we have endured over the last 22 months. Our nation […]