State database to track medical costs, which could increase competition in...
Image Copyright Wavebreak Media, 2013.Used under license from Shutterstock.com The state is moving closer to the creation of a database that will track the intimate details of our medical choices –...
View Article‘Man Up’ – are men down?
Photo by Johnathon Henninger. This week two more examples surfaced of how men are falling behind women, lending credence to the national narrative that men – particularly young men – are struggling to...
View ArticleWill new UConn STEM money keep our college graduates from leaving?
Photo courtesy of the University of Connecticut. Gov. Dannel Malloy announced on Thursday that he wants to borrow $1.5 billion over the next 10 years to strengthen the science, technology, engineering...
View ArticleMore kids missing dads in Connecticut
Photo by Suzanne Bates. The number of children raised in single-parent homes is on the rise in Connecticut, especially in the state’s biggest cities. Statewide the number of children living with single...
View ArticleAverage unemployment higher in liberal states than conservative states
% Liberal Unemployment Washington DC 40.8 8.5 Massachusetts 30.5 6.7 Oregon 29.3 8.4 Vermont 29.2 5.1 Delaware 28.4 6.9 Connecticut 28.4 8.6 Washington 28.3 7.6 Rhode Island 28.3 10.2 Hawaii 27.7 5.2...
View ArticleState blocks millions of cyber attacks a week
Image Copyright Hellen Sergeyeva, 2013.Used under license from Shutterstock.com The state had to protect its computer system 2.1 billion times last year, according to the state Department of...
View ArticleNew Public Enemy Number One: Landlords
The state and some municipalities have targeted so-called “absentee landlords,” as they look for new sources of revenue to match their increases in spending. Landlords in New Britain have filed a...
View ArticleQuestions for Gov. Malloy on the budget
COMMENTARY Gov. Dannel Malloy is on a listening tour around the state defending his budget and other policy priorities. In terms of the budget, he has a tough task ahead of him. Democrats and...
View ArticleResidents ask state lawmakers to stop treating them like piggy banks
Residents gathered at the statehouse on Friday to ask lawmakers to stop thinking about them as revenue sources and to instead think about how the state’s laws are affecting their daily lives....
View ArticleLet’s revisit discussion on media violence
COMMENTARY A discussion about the effect of media violence on society was briefly held after the atrocities of the Newtown shootings. Lately the conversation fizzled while our attention was fixed on...
View ArticleWeird: Quasi-public agencies can’t hire lobbyists but they can employ them
Unseemly links between lobbyists and state government are coming to light regularly these days, serving up curious examples of loopholes in Connecticut’s ethics law, like the one allowing lobbyists to...
View ArticleFirst do no harm
As we near the end of the state legislature session, which is set to adjourn June 5, the House and Senate are considering a flurry of bills that have made their way through the legislative committees....
View ArticleDespite decline in unemployment, fewer working in Connecticut
State officials say the job market is improving, but the number of people working in Connecticut has actually fallen every month for the past two years. While the unemployment rate has come down from...
View ArticleLobster season to close early this year
Photo by Suzanne Bates On the wharf, hundreds of lobster traps are piled high, waiting to be dropped into Long Island Sound. Standing on the Stonington Dock, Richie Maderia rattles off the list of...
View ArticleCREC school transportation costs high
Photo by Suzanne Bates. If you happen to be driving across Hartford around the time school lets out you may find yourself behind a full-size passenger van with a bright yellow sign that says “Carrying...
View ArticleHartford moves ahead on $100 million renovation of half-empty school
Photo by Suzanne Bates. State officials recently approved borrowing $80 million to renovate Weaver High School, with Hartford picking up the tab for another $20 million, even though three-quarters of...
View ArticleHartford gets $47 million for students who left its schools
Connecticut is spending millions on so-called “phantom students” because it pays for some students twice – a practice that would end if the state instead “followed the child” with its education...
View ArticleWill government unions spend millions on Connecticut politics again?
Connecticut’s public employee unions are big players in the state’s elections, spending millions on their political operations, which may affect 2014 races. The unions are a highly-focused,...
View ArticleCommission: Legislators should give themselves a 10 percent raise
The state’s Compensation Commission must have been inspired by the generosity Gov. Dannel Malloy exhibited last month when he gave dozens of senior officials 12 percent raises, and pushed several of...
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