Author Archives: cxpowell

By Chris Powell Connecticut’s state Senate president pro tem, New Haven Democrat Martin M. Looney, recently acknowledged the state’s worst social problem. Better late than never. Interviewed by the Connecticut Examiner about the next session of the General Assembly, Looney said he hoped there would be more funding for preschool and day-care programs. “I thinkContinue reading “Looney’s belated insight; and ceasefire isn’t peace”

By Chris Powell To understand the feeling that lingers for John F. Kennedy on the 60th anniversary of his assassination, it may be best to go back to the poem Robert Frost wrote for the young president’s inauguration in January 1961. Some poor fool has been saying in his heart Glory is out of dateContinue reading “We miss JFK because we miss our better selves”

By Chris Powell East Hartford’s new mayor, Connor Martin, has a vision and a prescription for his town of 51,000. “We’re no longer going to be this blue-collar town, this poor community that we get labeled as,” Martin says. “We have to start raising the household median income, bring in revenue through economic development, andContinue reading “Want to raise incomes? Better raise job skills”

By Chris Powell Drawing on data from the secretary of the state’s office, Connecticut’s Hearst newspapers reported last weekend that while voter participation in the state’s municipal elections long has been poor, participation in this month’s municipal elections improved slightly, from 32 to 33%. But in fact participation is far worse than that and is alwaysContinue reading “Connecticut’s voter participation is far worse than reported”

By Chris Powell What’s going to happen to Waterbury Hospital, Manchester Memorial Hospital, and Rockville General Hospital? The three hospitals, then nonprofits, were in financial trouble when they were acquired in 2016 by a California company, Prospect Medical Holdings, which said it would invest in them but instead appears to have taken tens of millionsContinue reading “Play chicken with 3 hospitals but prepare for bankruptcy”

By Chris Powell A Bridgeport Hospital nurse, Emily Callahan, last week told a gripping story to the Connecticut Hearst newspapers upon her return from Gaza, where she had been volunteering with Doctors Without Borders when the Hamas-ruled territory invaded Israel and reveled in the slaughter and abduction of civilians, prompting devastating retaliation. Callahan and herContinue reading “Better places than Gaza for humanitarian service”

By Chris Powell Connecticut’s Education Department was fairly candid the other day with its annual accountability report for public education. Student performance statewide remains lower than it was before the recent virus epidemic, though schools have been fully reopened for two years. But faulty as public education in the state has been, with its socialContinue reading “Education isn’t improving but who is accountable?”

By Chris Powell President Biden’s nomination of Sarah F. Russell to a federal judgeship in Connecticut is supported by her strong resume. Russell teaches law at Quinnipiac University and directs its legal clinic and used to teach at Yale. She is a former assistant federal public defender and was a clerk for two federal judges. Continue reading “Does federal judge nominee still want to end prison?”

By Chris Powell Most Connecticut state legislators purport to hate the car tax — that is, municipal property taxes on automobiles. A special committee of the General Assembly has been created to review the tax and suggest alternatives for raising the billion dollars it pays into municipal government treasuries each year. Since cars are soldContinue reading “Car tax won’t be eliminated, just moved or maybe hidden”

By Chris Powell According to a report issued the other day by Dalio Education, the Connecticut-based philanthropy, thousands of children and young adults in the state are “disconnected” — uneducated, alienated, unemployed, or even unemployable. Meanwhile Connecticut Attorney General William Tong had the state join a national lawsuit against Meta, operator of the social media companies FacebookContinue reading “Regulations on social media won’t substitute for parents”