Free Republic

BELOIT — Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday signaled he’s open to charging tolls on Wisconsin’s Interstates, but with a key condition: linking it to a reduction in the state’s 30.9-cent-per-gallon gas tax. Walker also said an impasse over the state’s next transportation budget risks costly delays to billion-dollar highway projects now under construction. That includes a $1.2 billion expansion of Interstate 39-90 from the Madison area to the Illinois state line. The Interstate formed the backdrop for Walker’s remarks in a press conference at a Beloit rest stop. Republicans who control the state Assembly have proposed seeking federal approval to...

According to the fiscal analyst, income-tax collections declined this year for the first time since the recession due to lower earnings at the top. Many wealthy residents decamped for lower-tax states after Mr. Malloy and his Republican predecessor Jodi Rell raised the top individual rate on more than $500,000 of income to 6.99% from 5%. In the past five years 27,400 Connecticut residents, including Ms. Rell, have moved to no-income-tax Florida, and seven of the state’s eight counties have lost population since 2010. Population flight has depressed economic growth—Connecticut’s real GDP has shrunk by 0.1% since 2010—as well as home...

HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) - Connecticut lawmakers were working at the State Capitol on Friday in the final days of the session. Democrats said they were finding it harder to get bills passed, now that Republicans have more seats and carry more weight. "They said they wanted to lead. They told the voters in the state of Connecticut give us more seats and we will be at the table,” House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz said. “And you know what we have heard, we will offer no votes."

The leader of a New Haven mosque — implicated more than a decade ago in a scheme to fraudulently obtain religious-worker visas for immigrants who worked other jobs — was taken into custody by federal immigration agents last week and is awaiting deportation to his native Pakistan.

A former University of Connecticut student has been arrested after vandalizing several buildings around campus. Eric Cruz-Lopez, 21, was charged with 103 counts of criminal mischief. Police caught him after a three-month investigation into incidents of vandalism from December 2016 to March 2017.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH)– Protesters have taken to the streets and are causing traffic delays Thursday morning, in support of graduate student-teachers who are fighting to start their own union at Yale. The spokesperson for the protesters in Local 33 of Unite Here, CJ Macklin, tells News 8 that eight protesters will sit down while eight “marshals” (other protesters) will stand around them for protection, at the intersection of Chapel Street and College Street. Macklin says that two of the protesters are former hunger strikers who say they have experienced sexual harassment, while another protester is a current hunger striker....

Hartford Moves Closer to Bankruptcy, Soliciting Proposals From Law Firms - Courant Community http://www.courant.com/community/hartford/hc-hartford-bankruptcy-lawyer-20170509-story.html Courant Community Hartford Hartford Moves Closer to Bankruptcy, Soliciting Proposals From Law Firms Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin answers questions from the public about the 2017-18 city budget. Bronin stood his ground with different agencies trying to keep funding for their interests.  City leaders have taken a step toward bankruptcy, soliciting proposals from law firms that specialize in Chapter 9, which protects financially strapped municipalities. The city is reviewing several firms and could hire an attorney as early as this week, sources with knowledge of the plans...

More Parish Closings Nationwide - What Are We to Learn and Do? Msgr. Charles Pope • May 8, 2017 • It was recently announced that a substantial number of Catholic parishes will be closing in Connecticut. This is just the latest in a national trend that is likely to affect the diocese where you live, especially in the north. I’d like to offer some rather quick thoughts and then ponder what I think is the root cause for our decline. Bishops don’t close parishes, people do. While it may be juridically true that bishops formally certify or give recognition...

WINDSOR, Conn. (CBS Connecticut) – An Arkansas-based pharmaceutical company plans to open a 90,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Windsor, said the office of Governor Dannel Malloy Tuesday. SCA Pharmaceuticals plans to create 361 jobs at the facility over the next four years, said officials. SCA manufactures injectable pharmaceuticals in ready-to-administer dosages for use at hospitals and healthcare facilities. The company helps healthcare facilities increase efficiencies and reduce costs while improving patient care. SCA is leasing a facility at 755 Rainbow Road in Windsor. The state, through the Department of Economic and Community Development , will support the project with an...

Hartford Courant Let's Buy The Whalers And Bring Them Back Home Bring Back The Whalers Hartford city councilman John Q. Gale has proposed a way for the Whalers to come back to Hartford. By JOHN Q. GALE Friday, May 5, 2017 Forbes Magazine says that the Carolina Hurricanes (our Hartford Whalers) National Hockey League franchise is worth $230 million. As the team has the lowest attendance in the league, this is likely an overstatement, but let's work with it. Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos Jr. said earlier this year that he would entertain offers for his team. What if all 38...

PLAINFIELD, Conn. (WTNH) — A Plainfield High School student is faced with charges related to having a photo of himself with a firearm. Police are charging a 15-year-old student of Plainfield High School with Breach of Peace, after it was revealed he had a picture of himself with a firearm. The school administration found out about the picture, after the student had a tiff with another student. Police say that second student also had a picture of himself posing with a gun. The student facing charges, allegedly took his photo with the gun and posted it on social media, in...

One hundred days into his presidency, Donald Trump's supporters see a shrewd businessman who has roared into Washington, following through on campaign promises to cut government regulation, secure the border and be a fresh departure from business as usual. But at the same time his backers acknowledge that Trump has had difficulty navigating his way through the quagmire of Congress — facing opposition from Democrats and Republicans — and leaving some signature pledges incomplete. "He's in this to try to make this country a better place, to make things right," said state Rep. Tony D'Amelio of Waterbury, one of the...

HARTFORD – Toll talk is back at the State Capitol. Some lawmakers say it will drive billions into the state over the next two decades and others want to put the brakes on the idea.At a hearing, Monday, the proposal to bring electronic tolls to Connecticut highways was discussed, with public comment both for and against it.State accountants said the way Connecticut funds transportation will no longer be sustainable in the next four years and a new revenue source is needed.“This doesn't make any sense at all," State Sen. Toni Boucher said. "This is just another name for another tax...

Second Amendment supporters won another victory, this time in Connecticut. On Thursday, 6 April, 2017, HB6200 was defeated. The bill would have required individuals who open carry handguns to present permits to law enforcement on demand. This was the second year that such a bill was stopped. It never made it out of committee. In Connecticut, a resident is not allowed to carry a handgun outside of his home without a permit. Permits are not exactly "shall issue" but are granted to most people who apply. Here is the summation of  the bill, from ct.gov: AN ACT CONCERNING THE PRESENTATION...

In a roomful of supporters and agency heads, tears broke the governor’s businesslike façade. Dannel P. Malloy said his rejection of a third term, a decision he announced Thursday afternoon, frees him from partisan politics so he can better steer the sharply divided General Assembly through its current budget crisis. In January 2019, Malloy will begin the next act of a life that began as a dyslectic child in Stamford, led to law school, a stint as a criminal prosecutor, mayor of his hometown and nearly seven years in the Governor’s Residence. […] With low popularity ratings, a $1.7 billion...

With family, friends and teammates cheering her on at her first high school track meet, Andraya won the girls 100- and 200-meter dashes, and helped her 4x100-meter relay team take second place. She ran 11.99 seconds in the 100 and 26.34 in the 200. "I do hope I inspire people, but not only with track," Andraya said Wednesday. "I hope it inspires people to not hold yourself back just because you're scared of it or it is your first time doing it, or because of other people's negativity.

A high school in Connecticut has accepted a new boy on their track team. Except, he won’t be going to the boys track team, he’ll be going to the girls team. Andraya Yearwood, a freshman and biological male from Cromwell High School in Connecticut, identifies as a girl and recently received permission to join the girls track team after competing as a boy in middle school. Not surprisingly, Yearwood has been extremely successful as a male competing against females. According to the Hartford Courant, “Andraya’s times in the 100 and the 200 are fast. A year ago, her 11.99 in...

Republican Dave Walker, who is a 2014 candidate for lt. governor, announces run for governor when he talks with Dennis House on Face the State.

UConn's record 111-game winning streak came to a startling end when Mississippi State pulled off perhaps the biggest upset in women's basketball history, stunning the Huskies 66-64 on Morgan William's overtime buzzer beater in the national semifinals Friday night.

The Department of Homeland Security added the entire states of California and Connecticut to its list of U.S. jurisdictions that hinder cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in detaining illegal immigrants. Both states had enacted legislation called "Trust Acts," allowing local law enforcement to ignore ICE's requests to detain certain illegal immigrants in custody.