Quick state budget riddle: When is an extra $100 million in surplus dollars not necessarily good news? Answer: When the revenue trends behind it could require Connecticut to pay a matching amount into the employee pension fund. If that bit of fiscal logic seems hard to follow, it’s because it’s based on a new $19.01 […]

The widow of Owen Hart, a wrestler killed in the ring 11 years ago, is suing Linda McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment, claiming that the WWE has violated Hart’s 1996 contract by continuing to use his name and image in videos in which he appears. “They have been profiting from this tragic death,” Martha Hart […]

Standing outside a community health center in Manchester, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dan Malloy outlined a health care plan that includes expanding the availability of subsidized coverage for children under the state’s HUSKY program. Too many people are “not properly cared for in one of the richest states in the nation,” Malloy said Monday as he […]

The General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Monday to continue taxing real estate sales at an elevated rate first employed as a temporary measure seven years ago, a welcome relief to the state’s towns and cities who stand to benefit. Without action, the 0.25 tax rate would have expired next week, and with it an estimated $25 […]

When viewed through the prism of personal finances, the U.S. Senate contest is a matter of who has more zeros. Democrat Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut’s attorney general, reported combined household assets last year of up to $124 million, including a checking account owned by his wife Cynthia with more than $1 million in it and multimillion-dollar […]

Connecticut has become the first state in the U.S. to take advantage of a provision in the new federal health reform law by adding nearly 45,000 low-income childless adults on Medicaid. Prior to the federal health reform law states had to apply for temporary waivers to receive partial reimbursements for this population not otherwise eligible […]

The General Assembly Monday overrode Gov. M. Jodi Rell on six of the 13 bills she vetoed in the 2010 session, her last regular session before stepping down as governor in January. The bills re-passed affect criminal background checks, sentencing policies, off-track betting, environmental permitting procedures, licensing for social workers, and a Stamford parking garage. […]

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said today his office will lead a multistate investigation into Google’s collection of data from personal wireless networks. Blumenthal announced two weeks ago his office is investigating Google’s Street View service, which collected emails and other personal information from unsecure networks. And today, he announced 30 states have show an interest in […]

Secretary of the State Susan Byisiewicz announced today that petitioning candidates have qualified for primaries in two congressional races, plus three state legislative and three probate contests. In the 4th Congressional District of Fairfield County, endorsed Republican Dan Debicella picked up two opponents: Rick Torres and Rob Merkle. The winner faces U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, […]

U.S. Senate candidate Peter Schiff, a Tea Party favorite known for his gloomy predictions about the U.S. economy, has qualified for the Aug. 10 Republican primary. Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz said Monday that Schiff gathered enough petition signatures to challenge the endorsed Republican, former wrestling executive Linda McMahon. “We are thrilled to hear […]

With the increased interest in locally-grown and -raised food has come a recent uptick in preservation of Connecticut farmland-but advocates warn that may not be enough to reach the state’s long-term goals. Despite preserving 1,370 acres of farmland in 2009, a 100 percent increase over the previous year, and an expectation to set aside even […]

Though neither Gov. M. Jodi Rell nor the legislature did much to reduce the record-setting deficit bearing down on Connecticut 12 months from now, there’s no great mystery about how to solve it, according to Oz Griebel. Griebel, who is fighting for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in the Aug 10 primary, says Medicaid-funded health care […]

When Barbara Planker was laid off from her job last year she headed for the nearest soup kitchen – not to be fed, but to volunteer. “I used to have the money to donate, but now all I have is time,” said the Milford resident, who was laid off from her job as an event […]

Ned Lamont’s campaign for governor notified state officials Friday that he and his wife have donated an additional $1 million to his campaign, triggering supplemental funds to his publicly financed Democrat primary opponent, Dan Malloy. The money was donated last week, but the campaign failed to notify the State Elections Enforcement Commission within 48 hours, […]

Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has denied the request from all 12 Republican state senators to join the multi-state lawsuit challenging the federal health reform law. Blumenthal said in a Thursday letter the lawsuit would have “virtually no chance of success” and “could be costly to the state.” “It remains doubtful that the Act will impose on […]