Free Republic

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — In a series of exchanges spanning over three days, Connecticut’s top Democratic leaders appeared divided over whether or not to move forward with Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposal for a one-month gas tax holiday to address rising costs triggered by the war with Iran.The Democratic House speaker and House majority leader both signaled on Wednesday that their 102-member caucus is not clamoring for a gas tax holiday. A reprieve from the 25-cent-per-gallon tax, they reason, will not deliver sufficiently targeted savings.

BRANFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — What’s known to some as “gas station heroin” will officially be illegal in Connecticut to manufacture or sell.Kratom has been described by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as more potent than morphine and, at times, addictive like opioids. Starting Wednesday, Kratom will be classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, meaning it’s going to be banned from gas stations, convenience stores, vape shops, and other businesses in Connecticut.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — The Trump administration is using Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to help with a shortage of Transportation Security Administration agents at certain U.S. airports.This comes as Connecticut lawmakers propose new limits on what ICE agents may do in our state. There has not been word about the federal government sending ICE officers to Bradley International Airport. But there have been ICE raids in Connecticut.

Democrat Senator Richard “Da Nang Dick” Blumenthal on Sunday said ICE agents will shoot and kill families at airports. The Democrats have repeatedly voted to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security. On Friday, Democrats once again blocked funding for the DHS and TSA. Hundreds of TSA agents have quit their jobs after missing a paycheck. ... According to Reuters, ICE agents will be deployed to at least 14 major airports across the country on Monday. Senator Blumenthal said the ICE agents will shoot and kill families at the airports. “ICE agents at airports will only aggravate delays &...

Connecticut Democrats recently rushed through an emergency anti-fraud law requiring bottle redemption centers to collect a copy of a person’s driver’s license when they cash in more than 1,000 cans or bottles in a day — a document demand that Republicans say undercuts the party’s attacks on voter-ID rules. Earlier this month, an emergency certification bill, SB 299, was introduced by top Democratic leaders in the state's legislature. It was later passed in both chambers in late February and was signed by Gov. Ned Lamont, a Democrat, on March 3. It requires people wishing to recycle cans for money to...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Former New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson, who was arrested last month for allegedly embezzling $85,500 from public funds, is due in court Thursday.Jacobson faces two counts of first-degree larceny.He abruptly retired on Jan. 5, hours after three assistant police chiefs confronted him about the missing funds from the police department’s confidential informant fund.

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Legislators heard public testimony on legislation that would implement a 2024 ballot measure greenlighting universal access to absentee ballots. The ballot measure, which was put before voters by Democratic efforts in the legislature, passed overwhelmingly. Now, Democrats are pushing to implement it before the statewide election this fall.

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Two hot-button political issues converged Wednesday in the state capitol, drawing a crowd well over 1,000 parents and children opposed to proposed regulations on homeschooling and changes to Connecticut’s vaccine policies. The day began with a scathing press conference staged by the General Assembly’s Republican caucuses. GOP legislators took particular issue with the fact that Democratic members of the Public Health Committee voted to cap public testimony at midnight on Wednesday.“No elected official that casted a vote today to silence your voices deserves to be re-elected to office again,” State Sen. Steve Harding, the leader of...

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Lawmakers in Connecticut met Wednesday for a public hearing on a bill to ban Glock pistols because of how easy they are to convert from semi-automatic to fully automatic.The Hartford Police Department said it has seized dozens of Glocks that have been converted to fully automatic through the use of a relatively inexpensive modification known as a “switch.”

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — The family of 55-year-old Steven Jones, the man who was shot nine times by a Hartford police officer while he was having a mental health crisis, will hold a press conference Monday.The family will be represented by a high-profile civil rights and personal injury attorney, Ben Crump. He’s best known for representing the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Randy Cox.

A cannibal who hacked a homeless Connecticut man to death before devouring his brain and “oyster-tasting” eyeballs stunned a courtroom by saying sorry to his victim’s family. Tyree Lincoln Smith, 35, stood up Monday seconds after being sentenced for up to 60 years in a psychiatric hospital to plead forgiveness for slaying Angel “Tun Tun” Gonzalez.“I’m really sorry for what I did, that I couldn’t be myself,” Smith told a shocked gallery. “It really had nothing to do with the other person.” His surprisingly candid confession sparked Gonzalez’s relative Talitha Frazier to break down in tears. “We waited two years...

There is a cynical reason why Democrat leaders keep illegal aliens in the country. It is not for humanitarian reasons. The net effect of increases in both legal and illegal immigration in the 2020 Census shifted 17 House seats and 17 Electoral College votes. It resulted in a net gain of 14 seats in blue states. Ten seats shifted from red states and four from battleground states. It’s partly due to districts with high percentages of noncitizens who lean heavily Democrat. “Of the 24 districts where one in five adults is not an American citizen, twenty were won by a...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The killing of a Minnesota woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer is reverberating across Capitol Hill where Democrats, and certain Republicans, are vowing an assertive response as President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation operations spark protests nationwide.Lawmakers are demanding a range of actions, from a full investigation into Renee Good’s shooting death and policy changes over law enforcement raids to the defunding of ICE operations and the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in what is fast becoming an inflection point.“The situation that took place in Minnesota is a complete and total disgrace,” House Democratic...

HARTFORD, CT (WFSB) - Hartford officials launched an investigation Thursday after video showed the drivers of a car and a van drive through crowds at an ICE protest outside the federal courthouse. The video, obtained by CT Insider, showed the vehicles inching forward through people before driving off. As the van driver pulled away, someone ran after it, throwing what appeared to be chains at the back window and smashing it.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson admitted theft and misuse of public funds, Mayor Justin Elicker announced during a press conference Monday. Jacobson allegedly admitted to taking money from a city fund used for confidential informants, according to Elicker. The fund is used to provide money to people who share information with police during criminal investigations.

NBC Connecticut recently spoke with Matthew Mathison, an entrepreneur who has just written his first book, "Leadership Orbit." A key part of the book, Mathison says, is making small simple changes to overcome large problems. A global problem like climate change is a great example. “The act of doing something that you can actually control, completely changes a mindset from one of being scared and overwhelmed, sometimes paralyzed, to actually getting energy, getting excited and getting motivated,” Mathison said. If you’re waiting for someone to lead, well, that leader could be you. Mathison believes we can all be leaders -...

Meanwhile, Rhode Island bureaucrats give a big thumbs-up to SouthCoast Wind transmission line plan. President Donald Trump clearly has the climate cultists and green grifters among his top targets during his very busy second term, which began with his signing an executive order in January to halt new or renewed offshore wind leases. Now it looks like the plug is going to be pulled from a massive offshore East Coast wind farm project. Back in September, I reported that federal regulators were moving to revoke approval of SouthCoast Wind’s construction and operations plan, the final major permit required before offshore...

Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Chris Jansing Reports,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), who serves as the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said MAGA voters who cheer the Trump administration’s military strikes on alleged drug boats in the eastern Pacific would not like who a potential President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez chooses to kill. (snip) "And all my MAGA friends who are cheering on these illegal killings need to imagine who gets killed when President Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says that it doesn’t matter what the law says,"

“Nazi bootlickers” are running rampant in Milford, Conn. — and apparently I’m one of them.That is, according to a local Democratic committee member who hurled invective at me and other Republican aldermen at a public meeting this month.The accusation reflected a growing national sickness: The harsh political rhetoric that led to Charlie Kirk’s assassination is eating away at the roots of American politics — our local town councils. An anti-Trump demonstrator with Rise and Resist holds a sign that reads ‘NO KINGS NO FASCIST NO TRUMP’ outside of Trump Tower on Fifth Ave. ZUMAPRESS.comThe ugliness exploded after our town’s elected...

Rep. Katherine Clark (D-CT), the number two ranking House Democrat, is admitting that allowing families to suffer under the shutdown is all about leverage. “Shutdowns are terrible, and of course there will be families that are going to suffer,” she told Fox News Thursday. “We take that responsibility very seriously. But it is one of the few leverage times we have.” She added: “It is an inflection point in this budget process where we have tried to get the Republicans to meet with us and prioritize the American people.” So there you have it. Even though Republicans have made clear...