Good Government Group Says Rate Hikes Are Not Justified
The Connecticut Citizens Action Group updated its report on insurance company profits in anticipation of Monday’s hearing on the double-digit rate hikes proposed by health insurance companies in the individual and small group marketplace.
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OP-ED | Political Party Endorsements Are Impactful, But Not This Time
Our state political parties are pretty stodgy when it comes to candidate recruitment, convention rules, and party procedures. This process includes candidates being endorsed by chosen convention delegates (through their respective local party committees) for registered party voters in primary elections. Connecticut saw the results of low turnout this week and voters supported state-party endorsed candidates with one exception: Connecticut’s Republican candidate for the U.S.…
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“God, No, Not Another Case.” COVID-Related Stillbirths Didn’t Have to Happen.
Doctors last year made a stunning discovery following repeated stillbirths across the country: None of the stillbirths they studied involved a pregnant person who had been fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Unvaccinated women who contracted COVID-19 during pregnancy were at a higher risk of stillbirths.
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ANALYSIS | Another CT Healthcare Story of Wasted Money and Missed Opportunities
An excellent investigation by C-HIT published Tuesday found that the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy has squandered $20 million in federal funds and delayed for years a key health improvement system that could be protecting our health today. The C-HIT investigation took the better part of a year, encountered serious roadblocks from OHS, and only scratches the surface of the mess.
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Connecticut Officials Highlight Congressional Proposal To Lower Health Costs
Gov. Ned Lamont and his social services commissioner touted Thursday the expected impact on health care costs in Connecticut of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, a federal legislative package filled with long-sought Democratic priorities that is expected to receive final passage in Congress before the end of the week.
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ANALYSIS | Levy Shocks Klarides, Endorsed Candidates Roll
Leora Levy is the GOP nominee for U.S. Senate in Connecticut. She’ll face off against Richard Blumenthal in the fall. She easily defeated well-known moderate Republican Themis Klarides, who served as House minority leader up until 2021, and in doing so almost certainly torpedoed any chance her party has of racking up some much-needed wins in November.
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‘No Tolls’ Co-Founder Teams Up With Stefanowski
As this year’s gubernatorial election entered its final three months, Republican candidate Bob Stefanowski named Patrick Sasser, a Stamford firefighter and organizer of a successful campaign against highway tolls in Connecticut, as his new campaign manager.
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OP-ED | Marching Toward the Abyss As Potential For War Increases
The last two weeks have seen the global temperature rise considerably, and I’m not talking about climate change. Despite our hopes to the contrary, the 21st century has been full of belligerence and war fought by the United States, Russia, and China. Until now, these large, heavily armed nations have avoided direct conflict with each other. The potential for war has increased though, and it’s…
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‘Hero Pay’ System Expected To Be Up And Running By End of Week
The crush of 30,000 applications for a $30 million program to compensate Connecticut workers who couldn’t work from home at the beginning of the pandemic is expected to be fully functional by the end of the week.
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OP-ED | Can Yang’s Third Party Succeed? Depends On Where ‘Forward’ Is
In my most frustrated moments after I’ve tried and failed to get started on a writing project, I often prompt myself by muttering, “There’s got to be another way.” Alas, I find myself doing much the same thing as I try to assess the state of politics in the United States and even in Connecticut specifically. With apologies to my Democratic and Republican friends, whose…
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Proto Counters That Biden Is On The Ballot
Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont and the endorsed slate of constitutional candidates spent Wednesday morning telling the media that former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Republican Senate candidate Leora Levy, is on the ballot. By the afternoon, Connecticut’s Republican Party Chairman Ben Proto, was telling the media that it’s President Joe Biden that’s on the ballot.
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OP-ED | Drought in Connecticut? Getting Smart About Water Use
I was driving through farmland this weekend, just a few miles up the Connecticut River in western Massachusetts, when I saw a thick haze covering the road ahead. It wasn’t fog; the sun was bright and hot, and the sky clear. Instead, it was a cloud of dust blowing off the nearby fields, stirred up by strong winds. It’s been a hot, dry summer, all…
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Ned: Trump on the Ballot
A day after Connecticut Republicans nominated a Trump-backed candidate in the state’s U.S. Senate race, Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said the primary results put the former president back on the ballot in the coming November election.
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Levy Seeks The Support of Trump Republicans
A small number of Connecticut’s 450,000 registered Republican voters will head to the polls today to decide which of the three candidates they want to challenge U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal in November. The race, which hasn’t garnered much attention, changed in recent days when former President Donald Trump endorsed Leora Levy. Levy has been a Republican National Committee member since 2015. She flipped from a…
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How Misinformation About COVID Vaccines and Pregnancy Took Root Early On and Why It Won’t Go Away
Even before the COVID-19 vaccine was authorized, there was a plan to discredit it. Leaders in the anti-vaccination movement attended an online conference in October 2020 — two months before the first shot was administered — where one speaker presented on “The 5 Reasons You Might Want to Avoid a COVID-19 Vaccine” and another referred…
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A Reminder of the Janus Decision
It’s been five years since the Supreme Court decision in Janus that allows public-sector union members to opt out without penalty, and one new organization wants to make sure teachers in Connecticut know their rights. Outside the Connecticut Education Association’s summer conference at Foxwoods Resort Casino, Americans for Fair Treatment, purchased a roaming billboard that read: “CT Teachers Can Opt Out.” “Teachers have been through…
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State Officials Nixed Health Information Network Computer Software They Spent $20M Developing
When Connecticut needed a computer system for its planned health information network, it came up with a novel solution. Instead of hiring consultants, the state tapped the University of Connecticut to develop the software for the network known as Connie. In 2017, the school created a new unit called UConn Analytics and Information Management Solutions –…
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At Hill Doors, Russell Comes Home
Twenty years had passed since Nakia Dawson-Douglas last saw Erick Russell — until Friday evening, when he knocked on her door. Read more from the New Haven Independent.
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Gas Prices Down 78 Cents Since Last Month
Gas prices continue to drop in Connecticut, but remain higher than the national average. The price of a gallon of regular gasoline is down 78 cents over the month according to AAA, but Connecticut’s average is still $4.20 per gallon, while the national average is $4.03.
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OP-ED | What I Learned On Summer Vacation … ‘Baltimore Style’
A recent jaunt to Baltimore with my son to watch the Orioles play the hated New York Yankees was as thought-provoking as it was enjoyable. Here are several takeaways from that trip.
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Trump Ally Leora Levy Wins Republican Endorsement for U.S. Senate
Buoyed by a last-minute endorsement from former President Donald Trump and the unpredictability of a low-turnout primary, Leora Levy delivered an upset Tuesday by defeating convention-endorsed candidate Themis Klarides for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.
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Today, Dad Could Escape ‘Captive’ Room
“It took a while, Dad,” Martin Michael Looney said to himself after the final vote was cast, “but we’re there.” Read more from the New Haven Independent.
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Thomas, Russell Clinch Democratic Nomination
Very little separated the candidates on the issues, but voters ultimately chose the Democratic Party’s endorsed candidates, Rep. Stephanie Thomas for secretary of the state and Erick Russell for state treasurer. In her acceptance speech, Thomas appealed to unaffiliated voters and Republican voters, who are looking for an “alternative to conspiracy theories and the sowing…
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Trump Surprises Levy With Endorsement
Former President Donald Trump surprised Leora Levy, one of the three candidates vying to challenge U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, with an endorsement Thursday. The endorsement comes as the party decides what role the former president should play within the party. In a statement, Trump through his Save America PAC, said Levy “will work hard to Grow the Economy, Secure the Border, Fight for Energy Independence,…
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Early Turnout Looks To Be Light
It was only four hours into voting, but turnout was low at West Hartford’s Conard High School. Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, a former secretary of the state, said she hoped voting would exceed the 15 to 20% turnout predictions. She said she expected turnout to be higher in places with local legislative primaries and probate…
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Podcast | How Safe Is Your Car?
The Connecticut East podcast visits Consumer Reports’ Auto Test Center, where the magazine’s auto safety and performance experts put new vehicles through their paces to help consumers make good purchasing decisions. Plus, we take a look at other stories making the headlines from around the region.
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Low Voter Turnout Predicted
Hot weather, lower-profile races and lingering concern over COVID-19 may all contribute to low voter turnout during Tuesday’s primary election in Connecticut, former Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said Monday. Democrats and Republicans will head to the polls Tuesday to pick their candidates in a handful of races. Republicans will settle a three-way primary…
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OP-ED | Shame On Politicians (And Journalists) Who Exploit Crime Stories
The boy who cried wolf – Alex Jones – is enmeshed in serious court time, and his business’s bankruptcy. He is what fear would look like, if fear was made of flesh.
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