Author Archives: cxpowell

By Chris Powell Because of the First Amendment, anyone in the United States can be a journalist at any time — no training or licensing required. Because of Connecticut’s Freedom of Information Act, everyone has access to state and municipal government proceedings and records, with narrowly defined exceptions, though government officials and employees are alwaysContinue reading “Video taken at town halls fails as citizen journalism”

By Chris Powell Connecticut’s terrible shortage of housing isn’t just impoverishing and putting great stress on thousands of people. It’s killing people too. The shortage is enabling unscrupulous landlords to rent substandard, overcrowded, and illegal rooms and apartments and causing desperate people to take them. According to the Connecticut Examiner, last year a man livingContinue reading “Housing shortage is deadly and requires urgent initiative”

By Chris Powell Congress occasionally does investigations that take testimony in public and produce important information, expose scandal, and lead to policy changes. But the General Assembly never does. It eliminated its Program Review and Investigations Committee years ago. While the legislature holds public hearings to gather comment on proposed legislation, these aren’t investigations. NoContinue reading “Might the General Assembly ever attempt investigation?”

By Chris Powell New Haven’s school system is a catastrophe and getting worse, according to presentations made at a Dec. 20 meeting in the city that was called by state legislators and featured analysis from the state Education Department. The meeting’s nominal purpose was to let the city’s Board of Education know that the stateContinue reading “New Haven provides a hint that money isn’t education”

By Chris Powell While the worst of the recent virus epidemic is long past, chronic absenteeism has been soaring in Connecticut’s schools, in cities and suburbs alike, signifying the worsening impoverishment of the population even as the state just went through an election campaign in which the winners insisted that the state is enjoying prosperity.Continue reading “Accommodating child neglect is no substitute for parents”

By Chris Powell With an extension of one of his epidemic-related emergency orders, Governor Lamont has saved for another six months the Pacific House homeless shelter in Danbury, just days before it would have had to close because of the expiration of his previous order and the city zoning board’s disgraceful refusal to approve theContinue reading “Lamont’s new order prevents shame of ‘no room at the inn’”

By Chris Powell Why is there such support in the General Assembly for exempting retirement income from the state income tax? Social Security and pension income is already exempt from the state income tax for single filers with incomes less than $75,000 and couples with incomes less than $100,000, and state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague,Continue reading “State income tax exemption for retirees isn’t deserved”

By Chris Powell Frank Capra’s 1946 film, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” to be broadcast again tonight at 8 by NBC television, is loved most for its personal message of discovery at Christmas: that its hero’s life has been, unbeknownst to him, crucial to his family, friends, community, and even his country. Such general encouragement mayContinue reading “It’s a wonderful life — and a political one”

By Chris Powell Was Governor Lamont serious the other day when he said, as he had said during his campaign for re-election, that he wants to repeal the part of the state’s gun law permitting people to keep the military-style rifles they owned before the state banned their possession and sale? The governor, a Democrat,Continue reading “Lamont eyes rifle confiscation; and press adopts euphemism”

By Chris Powell Having gathered hundreds of people at Weaver High School in Hartford the other night, the Greater Hartford Interfaith Action Alliance called for a state law to limit housing rent increases to 3% annually. This was presented as social justice. Like so much else presented as social justice, it was actually just piousContinue reading “Clergy sinks to scapegoating; and mermaids aren’t necessary”