Long Term Care Workers Begin Push For Better Pay
Long term care providers and labor advocates packed a legislative hearing room Tuesday, transforming U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s press conference on federal efforts to boost their pay into a rally for raises here in Connecticut.
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Statewide Rent-Cappers Canvass Fair Haven
Bianca Flecha opened the door of her Poplar Street apartment building to find an Australia-raised tenant organizer with a pitch that resonated. Read more from the New Haven Independent.
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Council Seeks To Find Relief For Those Suffering From Rare Diseases
Someone suffering from a rare disease can walk into a pharmacy to get a prescription filled, and may very well end up being charged thousands of dollars.
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OP-ED | What it Means When a Corporate Headquarters Leaves Connecticut
Opinion writer Susan Bigelow asks the hard question: What does Lego leaving actually mean for us, and what lessons, if any, can Connecticut take away from the departure of corporations to other states?
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Committee Will Debate Who Gets To Vote
Despite objections from at least four committee members, the Government Administration and Elections Committee will hear testimony on a bill that would remove the voting rights of anyone convicted of insurrection-related felonies.
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US-China Relations
Editorial cartoon by Jeff Koterba. The Associated Press reports that the balloon incident appears to have burst hopes for end to spiraling US-China tensions.
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Advocates Vow to Fight Ruling That Would Allow Domestic Violence Abusers To Retain Guns
Domestic violence advocates rallied with state officials Monday and vowed to fight a recent federal court ruling which could undermine a Connecticut law enabling courts to remove guns from people who are the subject of a restraining order.
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State Lands $18M Homelessness Lifeline
Oscar Britt has a plan to survive subfreezing temperatures this weekend thanks to a connection he made with outreach workers who found him a hard-to-secure shelter bed at Columbus House. Read more from the New Haven Independent.
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Lamont Details Promised Income Tax Cut
Gov. Ned Lamont on Monday detailed a long-promised reduction in Connecticut income tax rates. The proposal is targeted at middle class families, but would help reduce income taxes for 63% of state taxpayers and virtually eliminate income taxes for households that qualify for the earned income tax credit.
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OP-ED | Schools Should Press the ‘Pause Button’ on ChatGPT
Opinion writer Barth Keck says CNET’s announcement last week that it would suspend its use of artificial intelligence to write news stories – because of “substantial” errors – is a good example of the digital era’s shortcomings. Artificial intelligence is only as good as the data upon which it is built.
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Cash Flow Problems From Theraplant Could Hinder The Adult Use Cannabis Supply
One of Connecticut’s four medical cannabis suppliers is embroiled in a financial meltdown that could disrupt the state’s recreational supply.
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State of the Union
Editorial cartoon by Dave Whamond. President Joe Biden is scheduled to give this year’s State of the Union speech before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST.
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New Face, Same Mission
The new head of the Connecticut Paid Leave Authority wants to make sure applying for benefits is as easy as possible. Erin Choquette, who was named director of the authority last month, is not new to the agency. She was previously the authority’s general counsel and chief operating officer. And she plans on continuing the…
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Analysis Identifies Connecticut’s Most Dangerous Areas for Pedestrians
The numbers have been on the rise here and across the country in recent years, and Connecticut data – newly compiled by a law firm – points to “the most dangerous areas” where pedestrians may be at higher risk of being struck.
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Gas Prices Remain Flat In Connecticut
Gas prices in Connecticut and across the nation have largely held steady over the last several days as freezing weather and ice crushed Texas and other parts of the southern U.S., keeping Americans home.
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Podcast | Griswold’s New Senior Center
The Connecticut East Podcast visits the new senior center in the town of Griswold. The facility came in around $1.5 million over budget, but the voters continued with the project. Brian Scott-Smith takes a look at out how it turned out and what it will offer the local community.
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Fight Over School Spending Begins With Lengthy Public Hearing
Nearly 200 residents signed up during a Friday public hearing to speak largely in favor of legislation to boost state support for Connecticut’s lower-income school districts in the wake of expiring federal COVID relief funding.
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Podcast: Americans Are Lonely. That Has Political Consequences
Americans are spending more and more time alone, and more than a third reported experiencing “serious loneliness” in 2021. The director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development – the longest study of human life ever conducted – concluded in a new book that close personal relationships are the “one crucial factor [that] stands out for the consistency and power of its ties to physical…
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Digging Into AI and Algorithmic Bias In State Government
When artificial intelligence is making decisions for state agencies, the public should know. That’s what the Connecticut Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights declared Thursday in a memorandum.
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Big Oil Rakes In Record Profits
Editorial cartoon by Tom Janssen of the Netherlands. The Grid reports that record profits in 2022 show us that the oil and gas industry remains strong as climate change worsens, and meeting climate targets would mean a rapidly shrinking oil and gas sector, but companies are raking in money and expanding aggressively.
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Looney Looks to Send Message on Organ Donation and Unhelmeted Motorcyclists
Motorcyclists killed in crashes while riding without a helmet would be presumed to be organ donors under a bill proposed by Senate President Martin Looney, who said Thursday the legislation was intended to make a statement rather than change the law.
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Lamont Considering Program to Erase Medical Debt As Part of Budget Proposal
Gov. Ned Lamont wants to use $20 million in federal COVID-19 recovery funding to contract with a company that buys medical debt.
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Committee Pops Cork On Sale of Wine in Grocery Stores
Connecticut grocery store operators clashed Thursday with the state’s package store owners during an expected all-day public hearing on legislation that would change a longstanding law preventing the sale of wine at grocery stores.
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OP-ED | Connecticut Is Continuing To Set The Standard For Reproductive Rights
Opinion writer Susan Campbell says you may believe state governments should have a larger say over their residents’ lives – as was the case in the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the US Supreme Court – but you must then acknowledge that other states are free to do the same thing.
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Lawmakers Debut Debate Over Human Composting As Burial Option
Since 2015, cremation has become the most popular method of burial, but lawmakers at the state Capitol are exploring whether terramation, or human composting, would be a more environmentally friendly method. Rep. Amy Morrin-Bello, D-Wethersfield, who proposed the legislation said that it takes three hours to cremate a body and it releases almost 500 pounds…
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Groundhog Day!
Editorial cartoons by John Darkow, Jeff Koterba, and Rivers. Chuckles XI, the groundhog at the Lutz Museum in Manchester, Connecticut, predicted an early spring today, while Punxsutawney Phil in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania predicted another six weeks of winter.
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Lawmakers Debate Banning Flavored Vapes
Connecticut lawmakers heard testimony Wednesday on legislation that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco and vape products as well as prohibit the use of vapes while in a vehicle with a child.
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OP-ED | State Police Contracts, Taking Out The Trash, And Other Thoughts
Opinion writer Terry Cowgill highlights the state’s difficulty in hiring State Troopers, and what’s being done about it, along with Connecticut’s trash conundrum.
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