CONNTACT.COM

Mark Pazniokas

FARMINGTON -- Gov. M. Jodi Rell and a coalition of regional hospitals announced today they are backing a $236 million investment in a new hospital at the financially troubled University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington.

Key to the plan is a new healthcare network involving former critics of

Lots of people, especially those trying to battle high utility bills, believe in energy-efficient homebuilding.

Legislation to require nutritional labeling on menus was proposed in Connecticut last year but vetoed by Gov.

President Obama criticized health insurers in Pennsylvania today and the White House said "thanks, but no thanks" to CIGNA's invitation to visit its headquarters while he was in the neighborhood.

While much of the congressional debate over consumer financial protection has focused on banks, lawmakers have been grappling behind the scenes over whether and how to regulate payday lenders, debt collectors, check-cashing outlets, title and installment lenders and even pawnbrokers.

Washington Post

GE's Immelt declines bonus, total pay nudges up Reuters The Fairfield, Connecticut-based company is now retrenching. On Monday, GE closed on its sale of its security arm to United Technologies, expects to close ... GE Must Keep Focus on Industrial Units, Immelt WritesBusinessWeek all 177 news articles »

WJBF-TV

State misses out on first round of education money The Hour Connecticut is not among the 16 finalists for the first round of funding under the federal "Race to the Top" school reform competition, prompting officials ... WEB FIRST: State not among finalists in Race to Top competitionMiddletown Press all 1,059 news articles »

Think Tank Blasts "SustiNet," Board Says, "Not So Fast" NBC Connecticut ... reduced employment, longer waits, higher costs and fewer choices. "Connecticut residents who are worried about the big government health care bills ...

Torrington superintendent wants iPods out of high school Waterbury Republican American ... a professor of educational psychology at the University of Connecticut NEAG School of Education, has said smart phones, video games and other technology ...

Labor's high hopes for major gains under President Barack Obama and a Democratic Congress have dimmed.

Connecticut had the fifth most expensive group health insurance premiums in 2008 and has seen accelerating increases since, placing the state squarely in the national debate about out-of-control premium hikes.

Here's how a campaign for governor ought to germinate, bloom and grow: A person with an interest in politics and public affairs has some ideas on how government ought to work.

Jacqueline Rabe

The chairman of the state’s ethics panel violated state law by donating $250 to Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and two other Republican candidates vying for the legislature in 2008, reports the Office of State Ethics.

G. Kenneth Bernhard, chairman of the Citizen’s Ethics Advisory Board and an attorney

High-Speed Government Waste The Ledger How will Florida high-speed rail benefit the taxpayers from Idaho, Texas, Connecticut or the other 47 states? Millions of dollars have been spent on ...

The Millstone 2 nuclear power plant had an unscheduled shutdown at 11:05 a.m. today after one of the plant's four cooling water pumps tripped off during the scheduled work that required another pump to be off, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.

An industrial practice that involved the widespread release of natural gas at a Connecticut power plant shortly before it exploded is "inherently unsafe'' and should be curbed to prevent similar incidents, a federal safety investigator said yesterday.

Moviemakers are coming to Connecticut, though Sen. Gary LeBeau says the state can keep them coming and save money at the same time by adjusting its film tax-break program.

The signs were intriguing. He dropped hints. He showed up for the opening day of the General Assembly. He put a deposit on a condo in Bridgeport. But Chris Shays said today today he is not running for governor.

Shays, the Republican congressman who moved to Maryland after losing his 4th District seat in 2008, told the

The courage to bring Connecticut back Ridgefield Press Compare Connecticut's government employee paid portion for health insurance of $28 to the $150 that federal employees pay. Other spending excesses include a ...

Nov. 24, 1945: Adolfo M. Bruno is born in Bracigliano, Italy. - Bruno emigrates to Springfield at age 10.

What Simmons lacks in star power, the Senate contender says he more than makes ... American Chronicle Businesses that receive loans from the Small Business Administration should instead be allowed to postpone the principal or interest payments until the end ... and more »

A four-year, $26.8 million program involving public and private sector money will bring 183 new natural gas-powered vehicles into the state and allow for the creation of 10 fueling stations, according to an announcement made Friday.

Boston Globe

Obama Targets Connecticut Health Insurance Rates Hartford Courant The Obama administration, in criticizing health insurers this week, singled out Connecticut and three other ... Fight Over Health-Care Premiums Heats UpWall Street Journal Blue Cross Blue Shield used by Sebelius as example of health costs run amokThe Detroit

UConn Trustees Increase Tuition, Room, Board, Fees Hartford Courant The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees voted Thursday to increase tuition for in-state students by 5.66 ... UConn Tuition Going UpNBC Connecticut Students Protest UConn Tuition HikeWFSB Hartford all 20 news articles »

fgnpr (press release)

State should yell 'cut' to film tax credit Boston Globe Connecticut gets an 8-cent return on the dollar, and Rhode Island reaps 28 cents. Michigan state senator Nancy Cassis puts the irrationality of the spending ... deMacedo: Tax credit cap could kill Mass. movie industryWicked Local Plymouth all 6 news

AT&T on Thursday said it would add 20 new cellular sites in Connecticut and upgrade about 50 others to improve its 3G mobile broadband network, part of an $18 billion to $19 billion capital investment plan nationwide.

Millstone Power Station should take steps over the next two years to substantially reduce the water it uses for cooling and help restore populations of winter flounder and other marine life in Niantic Bay, but for now it is allowed to continue discharging more than 2 billion gallons of water per day into Long Island Sound.

CLINTON — The Connecticut Water Co. has spent about $600,000 to acquire two small water systems that serve 55-and-older housing complexes in Killingworth and Mansfield, as well as a small utility in Old Lyme.

Connecticut Ranks 5th-Worst In US In Funding State Employee Pensions Hartford Courant In addition, the state is on the hook for future health insurance and other retiree benefits of $24.6 billion. "The state of Connecticut has a commitment to ...

Connecticut Struggling To Sell Surplus Land To Private Investors Hartford Courant Farther south, on Long Island, the state has sold all or part of three large former mental-health centers. Two have become mixed-use developments with ... and more »

The Keene Sentinel

Tritium reaches Connecticut River MassLive.com ... the radiological health chief for the Vermont Department of Health, said Thursday that tritium has not yet been detected in the nearby Connecticut River ... Vt. health chief: Tritium may in Connecticut RiverThe Associated Press New Hampshire: Inquiry Sought at Nuclear

Boston Globe

AP source: Lamont to announce Conn. governor bid The Associated Press Joe Lieberman four years ago, plans to officially announce his bid for Connecticut governor next week, according to a state Democratic official. ... Ned Lamont runs for Governor in ConnecticutNewsolio (blog) Ned Lamont To Officially Enter Governor's Race On

MIDDLEFIELD — The developer with whom the town had been negotiating to buy Powder Ridge and turn it into a year-round recreation area has pulled out, citing the state’s high cost of electricity and heavy tax burden.

Two rivals of Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, in the campaign for the Democratic attorney general's nomination, raised questions Thursday over her use of an internal database from her office to send thousands of e-mails soliciting political support and campaign contributions.

Future of Middletown plant remains unclear Danbury News Times That contract was set to begin in 2011, according to Mitch Gross, a Connecticut Light & Power Co. spokesman. The contract was cited by a Project Finance ... and more »

No joke, Dodd wants Constitution amended New Haven Register (subscription) In Connecticut, lawmakers have proposed a bill that would amend the public finance system for minor party candidates, among other aspects, ...

Secret poll designed to help Rell in budget fight TheDay.com It's what's right for Connecticut." But poll numbers showed support for Rell's positions through the summer, like "standing firm" in refusing to strike a ... Democratic Lawmakers, Rell Propose Ways For State To Retain And Retrain WorkersHartford Courant all 3 news

The controversy over Sunday liquor sales has sprung up once again with the mayors of Connecticut 's biggest three cities supporting the issue.

Robert A. Frahm

University of Connecticut officials will recommend a tuition increase next week that, if adopted, will mark a milepost in the long trend of shifting public higher education costs to students.

The 5.8 percent increase in tuition and fees would mark the first time that revenue from students would exceed

Between 50 and 75 people will be laid off April 1 at Millstone nuclear power complex, Connecticut's largest power plant.

Connecticut Says 148 Taxpayers Disclosed UBS Accounts BusinessWeek 15 deadline, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell said in a Feb. 6 statement. Under the federal government's partial amnesty program, announced in March 2009, ... and more »

Connecticut Attorney General Charges IDSA with Violating Lyme Antitrust ... Earthtimes (press release) February 1, 2010, the Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to the IDSA expressing “concern” over “improper voting procedures” used ... and more »

Rell continues bid for Keno Boston Globe Under the agreements between the state and the two tribes, no other person within Connecticut has the right to operate a “commercial casino game. ... Connecticut Governor Proposes Keno Gambling To Help BudgetCasino Gambling Web CHRIS POWELL: Rell's budget does nothing to solve state's problemNorwich

Connecticut, Starwood Hit Bump Wall Street Journal The government has long tried to avoid funding interstate competition for jobs. Several agencies explicitly ban states from using grants for relocations ... and more »

Mark Pazniokas

One day after its release, a key piece of Gov. M. Jodi Rell's proposed $18.9 billion budget for the next fiscal year is in trouble, a harbinger of challenges awaiting legislators.

Opposition mounted Thursday as word spread that one of Rell's top options for borrowing $1.3 billion would require diverting

" If the state of Vermont had carried out a plan to sterilize his grandmother, Don Stevens said Tuesday, he "wouldn't be here." Many Vermonters of mixed French Canadian and Native American heritage, like Stevens' grandmother, as well as poor, rural whites, were placed on a state-sanctioned list of "mental defectives" and degenerates in the 1930s

State Educators Hail Obama's Budget Proposals Hartford Courant Connecticut is set to receive $455 million under Obama's proposed budget to help develop better schools, improve student achievement and make high school ... and more »

Gambling proposal may be gaining Boston Globe “We plan to be able to compete with casinos in Rhode Island and Connecticut, with no problem,'' Carney said. “We're not just going to throw a few hundred ... and more »

Or a plumber, or an electrician...I'd have a trade to last a lifetime. So what's up with Connecticut's tech schools? Read It politics Feb 3, 2010 First U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said owners of Toyotas under recall should stop driving them immediately, then he said he "misspoke." Read It local_beat Feb 3, 2010 If you lost your job

Senate Democrats Monday proposed a package of measures to help small businesses, funded by a tax on employee bonuses over $1 million paid by companies that received federal bailout money last year.

Among the proposals for small businesses: Eliminate the $250 business entity tax for small

New Britain-Hartford Busway Gets $45 Million Federal Boost Hartford Courant Rell called the $45 million "great news — and a clear indication that the federal government is ready to fully support the busway project." Connecticut is ... $45 Million for CT Bus CorridorNBC Connecticut Busway on its wayNew Britain Herald Busway cost pegged at

The Black Hawk is Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.'s most famous brand, its bread and butter, a helicopter that has left the Stratford company with few peers.

Rell To Propose Credit Consortium For State's Smaller Businesses Hartford Courant M. Jodi Rell today is expected to propose a $500 million " Connecticut Credit Consortium" that would provide loans to small and medium-sized businesses. ... Governor Rell's budget includes wide-ranging fiscal reforms, safeguards for ...Connectcut Plus all 28

Tuesday, February 2, 2010 The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee has chided the Obama administration for recommending new banking restrictions late in his negotiations for a sweeping overhaul of financial regulations.

Griebel joins crowded field for governor TheDay.com ... state government, including regional delivery of municipal services, and questioned whether Connecticut needs "multiple higher educational institutions. ... 'Oz' Griebel announces candidacy for Republican gubernatorial nominationNew Haven Register (subscription) GOP businessman jumps

Connecticut to receive high-speed rail grants, Dodd says Stamford Advocate Connecticut will receive $40 million in stimulus funding toward constructing a second track along a rail line between New ... and more »

In the strongest indication yet that he may re-enter politics, former Rep. Christopher Shays R-Conn., said Wednesday night that he wants to run for governor this year if the stars align.

Nora R. Dannehy, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that JOSE I. FLORES, 50, of Fairfield Avenue, Stamford, waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty yesterday, January 20, before United States District Judge Christopher F. Droney in Hartford to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud stemming from