Author Archives: cxpowell

By Chris Powell For the third time in four years, Connecticut’s state auditors have chided the state police for the excessive overtime paid to many troopers and even dispatchers. The most recent audit surveyed the records of 25 state police employees and found that 20 of them were earning more in overtime than in baseContinue reading “Repeated audits disregarded with state police overtime”

By Chris Powell Student performance and even attendance in Connecticut’s public schools are crashing, but not to worry. With Governor Lamont presiding, the state Education Department and the state’s five officially recognized Indian tribes announced the other day that they will create a model curriculum in Native American studies. The curriculum will be offered toContinue reading “Curriculum in Indian history will guard casino privilege”

By Chris Powell Despite Connecticut’s high housing costs and severe shortage of housing, Connecticut’s Hearst newspapers reported last week that half the federal government housing vouchers issued in the state in the last three years have expired unused. That’s about 3,000 vouchers. The federal government estimates that about $1.6 million in available housing subsidies isContinue reading “Housing aid is half wasted; and state rep took dirty money”

By Chris Powell Ever since terrorism descended on the United States 21 years ago, government has urged Americans: “If you see something, say something.” A recent incident in New Jersey that extended into Connecticut suggests that keeping your mouth shut may may be a lot better. In the town of Caldwell a 9-year-old girl wentContinue reading “Two rights make a wrong as racism racket thrives”

By Chris Powell Now that loony ideology is trumping biology and the country is entering an age where merely wishing or thinking is supposed to make it so, why stop with transgenderism? If boys and men can be girls and women, and vice versa, even for competitive sports and bathroom use, thereby nullifying Title IXContinue reading “If biology means nothing, age shouldn’t count either”

By Chris Powell Has a Connecticut teacher union ever declared that the compensation and working conditions of its members are wonderful and need no improvement? Probably not. So more than a few grains of salt should be sprinkled on the last week’s report from the Connecticut Education Association, whose October survey of more than 5,600Continue reading “More money still won’t solve Connecticut’s school woes”

By Chris Powell Most serious crime in Connecticut occurs in the cities and most of its victims are members of racial and ethnic minorities. Last week in Hartford two men were shot on Buckingham Street and survived, but two other men, young brothers, were shot and killed in an apartment on Barker Street. So ConnecticutContinue reading “NAACP masks its irrelevance with hysteria about nooses”

By Chris Powell Connecticut state government lately has tried to increase the accountability of police officers, equipping more of them with dashboard and body cameras, establishing the office of inspector general to investigate police use of force, and diminishing the immunity of officers from lawsuits for actions on duty. But strangely state government has doneContinue reading “More accountability is needed from chronic criminals too”

By Chris Powell Connecticut last week was told to expect a 50% increase in electricity prices this winter and supposedly there is nothing to be done about it — except to rail against the electric utilities, though they are no longer responsible for power prices. Twenty-four years ago state government took the electric utilities outContinue reading “Electricity price increases invite politicians to try getting real”

By Chris Powell New Haven’s Board of Education last week awarded its teacher union a contract with raises so substantial that the union president, Leslie Blatteau of the New Haven Federation of Teachers, called them “life changing.” The award seemed premature and even backwards. For the contract’s total cost had not yet been fully calculated,Continue reading “‘Life-changing’ teacher contract won’t do much for education”