Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced Monday that the state will move forward to set up its own insurance plan for people with serious health problems, instead of letting the federal government run the program. The new insurance option, called the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, is part of the federal health care reform overhaul. It is […]

Republican gubernatorial contender Michael Fedele could be cleared by mid-day Wednesday to pick up an additional $312,500 in public funds for his campaign–provided he wins his argument today before the state Supreme Court. UPDATE: state Supreme Court refuses to block funds. The State Elections Enforcement Commission is scheduled to meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday to […]

For most of this year’s gubernatorial contenders, discussion of state government spending is focused on ways Connecticut can tighten its belt–and Democrat Dan Malloy is no exception. But in one vital area, tourism promotion, Malloy announced Monday that Connecticut needs to start spending more right away. The former Stamford mayor unveiled a tourism platform that […]

WASHINGTON-Many of Connecticut’s Republican congressional candidates will have relatively thin pocketbooks heading into the Aug. 10 primary, according to the latest campaign finance reports. And even as Democrats nationally are wringing their hands over a toxic election climate and struggling to keep up with their GOP counterparts, Connecticut’s Democratic incumbents don’t seem to be feeling […]

Want to work in the emerging “green” energy industry? There are plenty of training opportunities out there. From state universities to local anti-poverty agencies, Connecticut offers dozens of programs to prepare workers for these new jobs, mostly funded with federal stimulus money. What isn’t out there, critics say, are the jobs, in part because of […]

One of the state’s largest labor coalitions, the Connecticut State Council of the Service Employees International Union, has endorsed Democratic gubernatorial contender Dan Malloy and his running mate, Nancy Wyman. The council, whose delegates represent the SEIU’s six affiliated unions involving about 55,000 public- and private-sector workers in Connecticut, voted Friday to back Malloy and […]

Ned Lamont and Dan Malloy have increased their combined television spending to nearly $4 million, gearing up for the closing weeks of what new polling shows to be a competitive Democratic primary for governor. With both Democrats armed and ready for a TV air war, is the first negative ad about to hit the airwaves? […]

Michael C. Fedele has no problem drawing a line in the fiscal sand. For the Republican gubernatorial contender from Stamford, that means the enormous deficit looming over state government has to be closed without higher taxes, higher fees, or additional borrowing. There are no loopholes.   Facing the budget: Last in a series. “I don’t […]

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley’s wife, Leslie Fahrenkopf, was hospitalized Friday after going into premature labor in her 20th week of pregnancy. The baby did not survive. “The baby was lost Friday evening after a 19.5 week pregnancy,” the campaign announced in a brief statement Saturday. “Leslie is in the Intensive Care Unit at Greenwich […]

President Barack Obama gets his lowest approval rating in Connecticut in a Quinnipiac University poll released today. The performance of the Democratic president, who carried Connecticut in 2008, is approved by 50 percent of voters and disapproved by 44 percent. A month ago, the split was 53 percent to 42 percent. Gov. M. Jodi Rell […]

Democrat Richard Blumenthal has a 17-percentage point lead over Republican Linda McMahon in the Senate race, but the GOP front-runner is slowly narrowing the margin, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. In a separate survey of likely Republican primary voters, McMahon is leading the race for the GOP nomination with 52 percent, compared […]

Oz Griebel was frustrated.  He saw the latest gubernatorial debate as another futile exercise, illuminating little about the abilities of the candidates to lead Connecticut. “To me, it’s how does a person think?” Griebel said. “What are their experiences? How do they react in difficult situations? How do they react in emotional situations?” None of […]

The lagging achievement of low-income and minority students in Connecticut’s cities remains a daunting problem, but that did not dampen the mood Thursday at a press conference announcing the latest test results in Hartford. For the third year in a row, the city’s public schools – made up mainly of black and Hispanic children from […]

The state’s largest health care workers union called on Gov. M. Jodi Rell this morning to intervene in its three-month-long strike against the Vernon-based owner of six Connecticut nursing homes. About 100 members of New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, picketed for an hour today outside of the governor’s residence on Prospect Street […]