Tag: Connecticut

Retired Sheriff Says Putting Men in Women’s Prisons is Causing ‘Unprecedented Rise in Violence’

Virginia Star Staff
Retired Los Angeles County Sheriff Detective Sergeant Richard Valdemar

A retired California sheriff says in a newly-released documentary series that state and federal transgender inmate policies have led to an “unprecedented rise in violence” in women’s prisons.

In September 2020, Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Transgender Respect, Agency and Dignity Act, which allowed women’s prisons to accept biological males as inmates if they identified as “transgender women.”Retired Los Angeles County Sheriff Detective Sergeant Richard Valdemar claims that he has witnessed an “unprecedented rise in violence” in not just California prisons but around the country due to recent policy changes regarding inmates that identify as the opposite sex that have so far been obscured from the public in an episode of a new docuseries titled “Cruel and Unusual Punishment” by the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Read More

Illegal Alien Sex Offender Released Despite Detainer Request, ICE Says

Virginia Star Staff
Illegal alien sex offender in police custody

Connecticut law enforcement officials released an illegal alien convicted of sex crimes against a minor while ignoring a detainer request, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

ICE agents apprehended a 27-year-old Ecuadorian national convicted of indecent assault and second degree assault of a Connecticut child earlier this month, the agency announced in a press release on Wednesday. The agency is faulting local officials for releasing the alien, despite an immigration detainer placed on him.

Read More

Democrats, Liberals Criticize ‘Election Deniers’ but Face Allegations of Election Irregularities

Just the News
Al Gore and Hillary Clinton (composite image)

While Democrats and liberals criticize Republicans, conservatives, and others who are concerned about election integrity, smearing them with the pejorative label “election deniers,” many allegations regarding election irregularities are now being made against Democrats.

Since the 2020 presidential election, former President Donald Trump and other Republicans have raised concerns about election irregularities and are often called “election deniers” by Democrats and the media. However, many Democrats have been accused or found guilty of election crimes, sometimes by members of their own party.

Read More

Connecticut Baby Born at 22 Weeks Is ‘Story of Hope’ as She Survives Odds and Is Discharged Home

Susan Berry, PhD

The smallest baby ever born at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, was celebrated by staff across the hospital as she was discharged last week following four months in the neonatal intensive care unit.

“Born at just 22 weeks, Baby Zahraliz Francis Angueira, the smallest baby ever born at Saint Francis Hospital, graduated from our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) after four months and headed home today!” the hospital posted to Instagram. “Our colleagues from across the hospital gathered to provide well wishes to the family and celebrate their story of hope.”

Read More

Drug Manufacturers, CVS, Walgreens Settle Another Opioid Lawsuit with 22 States for $17.3 Billion

The Center Square

Thirteen attorneys general announced settlements with opioid manufacturers Teva and Allergan on Friday, while 18 states settled with CVS and Walgreens for a total of $17.3 billion.

The attorneys general said settlement funds will start flowing into state and local governments by the end of this year and will be used for prevention and treatment of opioid addiction.

Read More

Democratic Secretaries of State Warn ‘Independent State Legislature Theory’ Would Upend Elections

The Center Square

Thirteen Secretaries of State led by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold filed an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in Moore v. Harper, a case that will have the court considering the “independent state legislature” theory.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Moore v. Harper in December, a case brought forth after the Republican-controlled North Carolina Legislature adopted a new congressional voting map based on 2020 Census results. A group of Democratic voters and nonprofit organizations alleged the map was a partisan gerrymander that violated the state constitution and challenged it in court, according to Ballotpedia.

Read More

Crime Task Forces, Bus System Among Issues Discussed at Connecticut Budget Appropriations Meeting

The Center Square

The efficacy of crime task forces, status of CTtransit bus lines and issuance of non-driver IDs were among the wide ranging issues Connecticut lawmakers dug into with state officials at a recent hearing looking into the back half of Gov. Ned Lamont’s biennium budget.

Members in both chambers of the General Assembly’s Appropriations Committee held a hearing Feb. 18 with state officials serving on transportation, regulation and protection agencies.

James Rovella, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, addressed how Lamont’s fiscal year 2023 budget will assist with a number of initiatives, including several targeted task forces aimed at such issues as violent crimes and stolen vehicles.

Read More

Connecticut Supreme Court Orders Congressional Maps Drawn by Special Master Be Adopted

The Center Square
Connecticut Supreme Court Building

The state’s highest court ruled that new Congressional maps drawn by a court-appointed special master be adopted.

The Connecticut Supreme Court handed down the decision Thursday after members of the Reapportionment Committee failed to reach an agreement on new maps in December 2021. The maps were re-drawn using information from the 2020 Census.

Read More

Connecticut Parents Enraged by Eighth-Grade Assignment Using Pizza Toppings as Metaphor for Sexual Likes and Dislikes

Susan Berry, PhD

A health class assignment to eighth-grade students in Enfield, Connecticut asked them to list their sexual likes and dislikes, using pizza toppings as a metaphor.

Parents of eighth grade students in a sex ed class at the John F. Kennedy Middle School in the Enfield Public Schools (EPS) district reported their children received an assignment that asked them to list their sexual likes and dislikes – and likened that to ordering toppings on a pizza.

Read More

Connecticut Governor’s Lifting of School Mask Mandate Depends on Legislature Voting to Extend His Emergency Powers

Susan Berry, PhD

Connecticut children cannot be certain they can finally be free of wearing masks in school since, although Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said he would end the state school mask mandate by February 28, that plan may depend on the legislature voting to extend his pandemic emergency powers, and then on individual school districts.

In his State of the State address Wednesday, Lamont told residents he will roll back some coronavirus restrictions, including the school mask mandate, adding, “You have earned this freedom.”

Read More

Connecticut Governor Lamont Plans to Eliminate School Mask Requirement

The Center Square

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said he is backing a plan that would eliminate statewide requirements that masks be worn in child care facilities and public and private schools in the state.

The governor announced he is working with the departments of public health and education to determine whether masks will continue to be a requirement beyond the Feb. 28 deadline.

Read More

Connecticut Gov. Lamont Proposes $336 Million in Tax Cuts

The Center Square

Gov. Ned Lamont said he is proposing a package of legislative proposals that would provide for $336 million in tax relief for state residents.

The governor announced the first package of tax aid comes as the state has a projected $1.48 billion surplus in its operating budget. The surplus, Lamont said, enables the tax cuts to be built into the budget and will ensure the state’s Rainy Day Fund remains strong.

Read More

Connecticut Slow in Job Growth, Won’t Reach Pre-Pandemic Levels Until 2023

The Center Square

Although Connecticut will add 60,000 jobs this year, the state won’t be back to pre-pandemic levels of employment until 2023, industry groups say.

“The inability to grow jobs at the national average or even at the top of the Northeast means that Connecticut’s economy is going to continue to grow slower than the rest of the country and the Northeast,” Chris DiPentima, president and CEO of the Connecticut Business and Industry Association, told The Center Square. “The slow job growth means that businesses are not meeting the customer demand that they have. Connecticut, in turn, is not realizing the state’s total economic growth potential. Most businesses are hopeful that the state will put some policies in place to fuel growth and the jobs added each month will increase. This will help recover the jobs that we’ve lost before the end of this year.”

Read More

Connecticut Guns Sales Reach Five-Year High During Pandemic

The Center Square
woman in a white dress holding an AR in a gun shop

Gun sales reached a five-year high in Connecticut in 2021, the year that the FBI saw the second-highest number of recorded background checks.

According to Mark Oliva, director of public affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, there were 21 million background checks for gun sales in 2020 and 18.5 million in 2021, nationwide. Those figures are the top two highest on record.

“Background checks skyrocketed in March 2020, when there were 2.3 million background checks recorded,” Oliva told The Center Square. “That was the most ever recorded in a single month. That, of course, was the beginning of the pandemic lockdowns. People became concerned for their safety when police were warning they would not be able to respond to all emergency calls because they were seeing COVID infections rise.”

Read More

Connecticut Republicans and Democrats Argue Congressional Map Case in Court

The Center Square
Connecticut Supreme Court Building

The state’s Supreme Court has until Feb. 15 to render a decision on how Connecticut’s congressional district maps will be drawn.

The court heard arguments Thursday from attorneys representing Republican and Democratic members of the Reapportionment Commission, who have been unable to reach agreement on how the state’s congressional districts will be drawn.

At the crux of the arguments are maps that are to be drawn with the least amount of change from current districts, with close approximations of the number of residents in each district, and how to address the “lobster claw,” a gerrymandered district that dates back to 2001.

Read More

Gov. Lamont: Connecticut Worker’s Compensation Rates Decrease for Eighth Straight Year

The Center Square

For the eighth consecutive year, Connecticut’s worker’s compensation insurance rates are dropping, Gov. Ned Lamont said.

The governor announced in a news release that businesses will see a rate decrease in 2022 as the state’s Insurance Department has approved a filing featuring a 14.1% reduction to pure premium loss costs and an 8.2% reduction in risk rates.

“This further decline in workers’ compensation insurance premiums is good news for businesses, enabling employers to invest more money back into their companies and employees, and providing a boost to our economy,” Lamont said. “It’s even better news for workers, because the decrease reflects the fact that workplaces are getting safer and safer.”

Read More

Connecticut Schools Close as COVID-19 Cases Rise Among Students, Staff

The Center Square

Some school districts around Connecticut announced closures to allow students and teachers additional time to recover from COVID-19 as the state is experiencing a rise in cases and quarantines.

Stratford Public Schools posted a notice on its website stating that, “Schools will not be in session on Monday 1/3 and Tuesday, 1/4. We will effectively treat the next two days as Inclement Weather Days. This will position us to allow impacted staff members and students to receive current test results and potentially complete their quarantine for a safer return.”

Stonington Public schools announced the closure for Monday only and that Tuesday would be “closed due to Professional Development in lieu” a scheduled Professional Development Day on March 9, which will now be a regular class day.

Read More

Connecticut Governor Lamont Directs Increase in Earned Income Tax Credit to Benefit Lower-Income Taxpayers

The Center Square
Ned Lamont

Nearly 200,000 households in Connecticut will benefit from an increase in the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit, Gov. Ned Lamont said.

The governor said in a news release that the Department of Revenue Services will increase the 2020 Earned Income Tax Credit from 23% to 41.5% as directed by the state budget.

Lamont said the increase will “provide needed economic support to low-to-moderate income working individuals and families” who faced negative economic impacts amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read More

Over Half of U.S. States Will Increase Their Minimum Wage in 2022

Admin

Over half of the states in the U.S. will institute a minimum wage increase in 2022, according to a report.

A total of 26 states will raise the minimum wage in 2022, with 22 of the states starting the pay hikes on Jan. 1, accordingto payroll experts at Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.

“These minimum wage increases indicate moves toward ensuring a living wage for people across the country,” Deirdre Kennedy, senior payroll analyst at Wolters Kluwer, said in the report. “In addition to previously approved incremental increases, the change in presidential administration earlier this year and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have also contributed to these changes.”

Read More

Massive Multi-State Democratic Climate Change Initiative Crumbles

Virginia Star Staff

Several Democratic states withdrew from an ambitious plan to curb transportation emissions less than a year after signing onto the agreement.

Massachusetts and Connecticut abandoned the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) last week, citing high gas prices and irreconcilable differences, E&E News reported. Rhode Island and Washington, D.C., also joined the agreement which promised to cut transportation emissions 25% and raise $3 billion for clean energy projects.

Read More

Virginia Opts Not to Join Climate Initiative, for Now

The Center Square

Virginia was not in the first slate of states to join the Transportation and Climate Initiative, which proponents argue will help fight climate change and opponents assert will increase costs for households.

Under the multistate agreement, a state would agree to establish a cap on diesel and gasoline sales and require wholesales to purchase carbon allowances to go over that limit, which effectively creates a carbon tax. The initiative has received support from many Democrats and opposition from Republicans.

Read More