WASHINGTON — Congressional negotiators sharply cut funding for Connecticut-made Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopters and trimmed the number of F-35s the Pentagon would buy next year.
Joe Courtney
Joe Courtney, a Democrat, has served as the U.S. representative for Connecticut’s second congressional district since 2007.
Posted inPolitics
Incumbent Democrats win U.S. House races
Connecticut’s five Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives were projected as winners on election night. All of them won their race by large margins.
Posted inPolitics
CT lawmakers spend millions fending off underfunded foes
WASHINGTON — Boosted by their success at fundraising, members of the all-Democratic Connecticut delegation to the House of Representatives have spent a total of nearly $5 million to stave off woefully underfunded challengers this year.
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Larson makes big push for more F-35 fighter jets
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. John Larson is spearheading a push to substantially boost defense budget spending on additional F-35 fighter jets, but success is not assured.
Posted inTransportation
Federal rail official: ‘No elevated track’ in Old Lyme; spokesman creates doubt, but later clarifies
OLD LYME — Less than an hour after a top federal rail administrator Wednesday renewed her agency’s promise not to build an aerial rail line through Old Lyme’s historic district, a spokesman for the agency backpedaled on the statement and said it could not be ruled out entirely. The spokesman later amended his comments and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment.
Posted inEnergy & Environment
Above the waves, Connecticut fishermen struggle to hang on
Shifting fish species have Connecticut fishermen in an emotional dispute over how the U.S. fishing system operates. They’re calling, if not downright begging, for immediate changes to fish allocations to save the state’s fishing industry from what many believe is its inevitable ruin. But others in the scientific and environmental communities are saying – maybe not so fast.
Posted inEnergy & Environment, Politics
Malloy, Cuomo face off over dumping in Long Island Sound
WASHINGTON – New York officials say a plan to dump dredged material in eastern Long Island Sound is potentially harmful to the ecology and tourism, but Connecticut supporters say it’s key to the state’s economic development and to keeping Naval Submarine Base New London off a base closure list.
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Outgoing Navy secretary still urging a base-closing round
WASHINGTON — Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus said submarines have become more important to the national defense and the Navy has less excess capacity than the other services, but he also said all Navy facilities would be on the table, even sub bases, if there were a new base-closing round.
Posted inHealth
State receives nearly $1 million in grants to combat Zika virus
State officials have nearly $1 million in new funds at their disposal to fight the Zika virus after receiving a pair of federal grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Posted inPolitics
Blumenthal calls for emergency session to address Zika virus
EAST HARTFORD — U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called on Republican leaders in the Senate Monday to convene an emergency session to approve new federal funding to combat the Zika virus.
Posted inTransportation
Amtrak favors one rail overhaul plan, Old Lyme pans another
WASHINGTON – Amtrak is backing an ambitious plan proposed by the Federal Railroad Administration to overhaul rail transportation in the Northeast corridor, a proposal that would cost more than $300 billion. An alternative proposal for a new line through Old Lyme and other shoreline towns drew opposition.
Posted inPolitics
Lawmakers look to speed deportation of undocumented convicts
More than a year after an undocumented immigrant fatally stabbed a Norwich woman, two Connecticut lawmakers announced Monday they plan to introduce legislation in Congress to expedite the deportation of undocumented immigrants who have committed a violent crime or pose a threat to public safety.
Posted inPolitics
CT lawmakers raise millions in political cash, challengers not so much
Washington – Connecticut’s incumbents continued to outpace their challengers in campaign fundraising by wide margins, according to the latest reports with the Federal Elections Commission.
Posted inPolitics
Pelto bids for Green Party nomination in 2nd District
Jonathan Pelto, a former five-term state representative and public education advocate, announced Tuesday he plans to seek the Green Party’s nomination for the 2nd District congressional seat. The Green Party’s 2nd District nominating convention will be held on July 30 in Mansfield.
Posted inPolitics
After Dallas shooting, Murphy knocks Congress for inaction on gun control
WASHINGTON — Connecticut’s members of Congress called for calm, prayers, healing and justice in the wake of the shooting of five police officers in Dallas and the slaying by police of black men in Minnesota and Louisiana. But Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., also slammed Congress for inaction on gun control.