Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Chris Powell Hartford’s streets long have been notorious for the disregard of traffic rules and signals, and the other night such disregard killed a city police officer, Robert Garten, and seriously injured another, Brian Kearney. According to the police account, their cruiser, its emergency lights flashing, was struck at an intersection by a carContinue reading “What might Connecticut do if it cared about mayhem in cities?”

By Chris Powell Nothing may be more beautiful in politics than when influential but selfish special interests clash, catching squeamish elected officials in the middle, forcing them to choose sides on the basis of how much political harm each special interest could inflict on them. Choosing sides according to the public interest seldom occurs toContinue reading “Leave choice to car buyers; and new school segregates”

By CHRIS POWELL Most people in authority who grew up in Connecticut went through elementary, middle, and high school without air-conditioning and experienced how uncomfortable classes could get when days in late spring and early fall got unseasonably warm.  So during last week’s heat wave no one should have been surprised that temperatures in manyContinue reading “Schools needed air-conditioning long before last week’s heat”

By Chris Powell According to state officials, Connecticut’s economy is strong. But much of the news tells a different story. An extra $25 million in food subsidies is to be distributed this week to the families of 210,000 children in the state, on top of the recent expansion of the state’s free breakfasts and lunchesContinue reading “What’s happening in Connecticut doesn’t look like prosperity”

By Chris Powell Whether the school bus drivers who lately have been striking in Meriden and Coventry are underpaid, as they complain, is largely a matter of whether qualified replacements can be hired for them at similar compensation. Since labor generally seems scarce in Connecticut, with job openings being advertised almost everywhere, replacing the strikersContinue reading “Why school bus drivers are so easy to exploit”

By Chris Powell Bridgeport might not be Bridgeport without irregularities, improprieties or worse in its municipal elections. Connecticut state government might not be itself if it didn’t take too long to address breaches of integrity. So only recently did the State Elections Enforcement Commission get around to the corruption in the 2019 Democratic primary inContinue reading “Bridgeport reminds again of risk of absentee ballots”

By Chris Powell Hope and happy excitement bubbled up in Connecticut this week as children began a new school year, though of course children going to school for the first time were apprehensive, along with their parents, many of whom were yielding custody of their kids to outsiders for the first time.  The luckiest childrenContinue reading “New school year brings less joy, more anxiety”

By Chris Powell Who and what are to blame for the soaring cost of medical insurance in Connecticut? Last week, a hearing held by the state Insurance Department heard opinions in response to more requests from medical insurers for premium increases, this time averaging 20% for individual policies and 15% for small group plans.  OfContinue reading “Blame government first as medical insurance explodes”

By Chris Powell Yale University’s police union seems to have thought last week that it could scare up a better contract by distributing to incoming freshmen a handbill suggesting that New Haven is so dangerous that just leaving their rooms in the university cocoon could get them killed. Crime and violence in New Haven areContinue reading “Cities can’t save themselves and Connecticut isn’t helping”

By Chris Powell Hartford’s Democratic primary for mayor Sept. 12, which will be the equivalent of the general election in November, may give Connecticut another reason to enact the runoff election mechanism known as ranked-choice voting. Under ranked-choice voting, voters designate not just the candidate who is their first choice but also second and evenContinue reading “Hartford election for mayor invites ranked-choice voting”