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 […]

Comptroller Nancy S. Wyman, the endorsed Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, said today she has raised the $75,000 in qualifying funds necessary to obtain $375,000 in public financing for her primary with Mary Glassman. “I am overwhelmed by the support I have received from people across the state since I announced my candidacy for lieutenant […]

The General Assembly’s chief investigative panel will spend much of this summer and fall trying to find ways to get state transportation projects done quicker and under budget. But while advocates of the Program Review and Investigations Committee study are hopeful it will lead to positive change, they also concede it likely won’t be enough […]

When his father lost his job, Robert Hermann faced the prospect of adding to his already huge student loan debt. But he caught a break last year when he told University of Connecticut officials of his financial pinch. The university tapped into a new $1 million emergency fund set aside for juniors and seniors facing sudden […]

CROMWELL – The two Republican governors who followed him were “corrupt or disinterested.” And the legislature’s Democrats are “sauced up on spending and borrowing.” Lowell P. Weicker Jr. is back, blunt and quotable as ever. But the man who gave Connecticut the income tax in 1991 has a very different prescription for its present fiscal […]

Democratic gubernatorial contender Dan Malloy revisited his middle class roots as he re-introduced himself to voters in the first statewide televised ad of his campaign, released today. Standing outside of his childhood home in Stamford to open the commercial, Malloy, the youngest of eight children, recalled seeing his father leave for work in the morning […]

The sour economy has not hit the investment portfolios of Connecticut’s members of Congress too hard. Sure, a few lawmakers, including Sen. Joe Lieberman, have seen a small dip in their investments. And some, such as 5th District Rep. Chris Murphy, didn’t have that much to begin with. But federal financial disclosure forms released yesterday […]

When Connecticut officials debate taxes, particularly the income tax, the arguments inevitably lead to comparisons with border states. Anticipating a watershed debate in the 2011 legislative session as Connecticut confronts a mammoth, $3.4 billion budget deficit, legislators and gubernatorial candidates have stressed the importance of matching the neighbors. In other words, if taxes have to go up, make […]

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ned Lamont borrowed from an energy bill vetoed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell to lay out a broad approach Wednesday to lowering energy costs and creating jobs. On a walkway overseeing the Connecticut Science Center in downtown Hartford, Lamont said he would install solar panels on state offices and consider windmills in […]