WASHINGTON – To tackle congestion in the Northeast Corridor, the Federal Railroad Administration has released an environmental study on ambitious proposals to overhaul Connecticut’s railroad system – possibly adding new routes, high-speed rails and a rail tunnel under Long Island Sound.
Fairfield County
Coverage of issues affecting residents in Connecticut’s southwestern-most county.
Posted inPolitics
All eyes on Bridgeport, but races in 165 municipalities
A Bridgeport mayoral contest featuring a comeback attempt by Joseph P. Ganim, the Democrat forced from city hall by his corruption conviction a dozen years ago, tops the list of races to watch today as voters choose chief elected officials in 130 cities and towns. Overall, elections in 165 municipalities.
Posted inHealth
As health care changes, can independent hospitals survive?
As large hospital systems have grown in Connecticut, the state now has just seven hospitals that are not part of a bigger system or in talks to join one. Are the remaining independents holding out for the right suitor? Or do they see a path forward as independent hospitals at a time when more hospital leaders are taking the opposite view?
Posted inPolitics
CT kicks in nearly $3 million to presidential candidates
WASHINGTON — As a group, Republican candidates have the edge in campaign fundraising over Democrats in Connecticut, but individually Hillary Clinton continues to lead the pack with more than $1 million raised in the state.
Posted inMoney
CT continues to lead nation in income, but wealth poorly distributed
WASHINGTON – Connecticut continues to lead the nation when it comes to personal income, federal economists say, but other reports show the state is also No. 1 when it comes to the uneven distribution of that wealth between the very rich and everyone else.
Posted inPolitics
It’s Foster, Finch and a fusion campaign in Bridgeport
This city’s mayoral election sharply veered into unchartered waters Tuesday as Mayor Bill FInch, the loser of a Democratic primary, endorsed a fusion campaign to elect Mary-Jane Foster and stop the return to City Hall of the fallen former mayor, Joseph P. Ganim.
Posted inPolitics
Joe Ganim’s first campaign for a second chance
On a jubilant day of door-knocking in the East End of Bridgeport, the closest Joe Ganim came to a sour moment was at the end of Wilmot Avenue, where a woman demanded to know how someone convicted of a crime still can participate in electoral politics.
Posted inPolitics
CT lawmakers meet with GE’s Immelt, promise help in D.C.
WASHINGTON – Several members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation Wednesday promised General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt whatever help he needed in Washington. “We offered to do whatever we can,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
Posted inPolitics
No Ex-Im bank, so GE says it may move jobs overseas
WASHINGTON – General Electric announced Tuesday that it may move about 500 U.S. jobs to France, Hungary and China because of Congress’s failure to extend the charter of the Export-Import Bank. It is an issue that could also influence the Connecticut-based company’s search for a new headquarters.
Posted inMoney
On business, Connecticut craves climate change
The annual business survey by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association was released Friday as the new state Commission on Economic Competitiveness begins assessing a business climate regularly described as dismal in national ratings. “The challenge for us is why,” said Joseph McGee, co-chairman of the commission.
Posted inPolitics
Ganim’s comeback pitch: ‘It’s not about my past’
BRIDGEPORT – It’s the question of Connecticut’s primary season: Can Joseph P. Ganim, a dozen years after his mayoralty here was unmasked as a racketeering conspiracy to shake down city contractors, regain the office he so memorably disgraced?
Posted inPolitics
New report: CT traffic is bad — and likely to get worse
WASHINGTON — Connecticut has some of the worst traffic in the nation, with snarls that cost drivers about 20 gallons of wasted fuel and dozens of hours of lost time each year – and things are likely to get worse, a new report says.
Posted inPolitics
ConnDOT’s early stumbles, successes in development
In fits and starts, transit-oriented development projects, TODs in planning jargon, are taking root in Connecticut, a state expanding mass transit with the Hartford-to-New Britain busway, commuter rail service from Springfield to Hartford to New Haven expected by 2017, and Metro-North improvements from New Haven to New York.
Posted inMoney
The tricky business of measuring business climate
Forbes ranks Connecticut 36th among the states as a place to do business. Others peg it as low as 47th. On the plus side, Bloomberg places it fourth on its list of innovative states. And Connecticut ties for second-lowest business tax burden measured against productivity. Does it matter?
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Flood insurance hikes arriving at a waterfront near you
Just over a year after shoreline politicians along with a panicked real estate industry and homeowners fought successfully to roll back scheduled dramatic increases in National Flood Insurance Program rates, most of them are back in only slightly modified form. As policies renew, shoreline homeowners are likely to face a new round of sticker shock, their penalty for living in flood zones.
