Some of Connecticut’s lowest-performing public schools could qualify for up to $2 million by agreeing to undergo major shake-ups under a $25.7 million federal stimulus grant announced Thursday. To be eligible, the schools would have to take steps such as replacing principals, overhauling curriculum, hiring new teachers, or converting to charter schools. Gov. M. Jodi […]

The state is preparing to launch a pilot program aimed a keeping victims of domestic violence safer, but even proponents say the high-tech solution comes with unanswered questions. The year-long pilot program will allow judges in Bridgeport, Danielson and Hartford to order domestic violence offenders who ignore restraining orders to wear GPS ankle bracelets. Their […]

A Superior Court judge refused to rule Thursday that Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz was unqualified to run for attorney general, reserving judgment until after final arguments next week. Judge Michael R. Sheldon rejected a motion by the Republican Party that Bysiewicz, a Democrat, had failed to prove she met the minimum statutory requirements […]

Republican candidate Linda McMahon has pumped another $8 million into her U.S. Senate campaign, bringing her personal investment in the race to about $14.5 million. Her latest contribution, which will be listed as a loan in her official filing, is listed in a brief summary of her fundraising for the first three months of 2010 […]

Just 2½ months before the end of the fiscal year, Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the state legislature agreed Wednesday on a plan to eliminate nearly 90 percent of the projected $371 million deficit without tax hikes or major reductions in municipal aid. The plan cuts million of dollars from social services, health care and […]

Pete DeGregorio has seen it for months: Customers come into his New Haven bait and tackle store, stock up on gear to go fishing in nearby Long Island Sound, then find out a license will cost them $40 per person. “It’s ridiculous. It’s just too expensive and people are walking out,” said DeGregorio, owner of […]

Connecticut’s public schools could be required as early as this year to keep most suspended students in alternative in-school programs rather than sending them home, a key legislative committee has decided. A law limiting out-of-school suspensions was passed in 2007 but has been delayed because some educators and municipal officials have said it would be […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell pledged Wednesday to offer a new plan to help balance the next state budget by selling close to $1.8 billion in future revenues at a discount in exchange for $1.3 billion now. And this plan, according to the governor, would be one she would sign into law. That distinction is important […]

Under oath and in open court, the Democratic front-runner for attorney general was roughly cross-examined Wednesday about her qualifications by a lawyer for the Connecticut Republican Party. Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz invited the novel interrogation by asking a Hartford Superior Court judge in February to rule on whether she has the necessary 10 […]

Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed a bill late this afternoon that eliminates nearly 90 percent of this fiscal year’s $371 million budget deficit. Rell’s signature came about 30 minutes after the Senate unanimously adopted the compromise measure. The House of Representatives adopted it 147-1 on Tuesday. federal revenue and raids on special accounts and trust […]

A bill extending the seven-day window the legislature has to respond to a court decision on the state’s embattled campaign finance program was passed by the Senate Wednesday and signed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. A federal appeals court is currently considering the state’s appeal of a lower court ruling that the public finance law […]

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz took the witness stand today in the lawsuit she filed over her qualifications to run for attorney general. (The updated story is here.) For two hours this morning, Bysiewicz was uneventfully questioned by her attorney, Wesley Horton, about the operation of her office and legal issues she encountered as […]

The state closed in on its first balanced budget in two years Tuesday as the House of Representatives approved a measure to eliminate nearly 90 percent of this fiscal year’s $371 million shortfall. The measure, which relies on a combination of spending cuts, additional federal revenue and raids on special accounts and trust funds  to […]

Despite calls for an immediate resolution of problems that threaten the state’s public campaign finance program, the House of Representatives Tuesday approved a bill that only buys more time for a fix if the state loses a court appeal to rescue the program. Almost 250 committees have been formed for the 2010 elections, and are […]

Accused of gross mismanagement one day, the state Department of Children and Families responded the next by asking a judge to end 18 years of court oversight, citing “monumental and sustained improvements.” “The timing is nothing short of astonishing,” said Sarah Eagan, who has closely followed the case as the director of the Child Abuse […]