NB Politicus

• Trash Talk From Mayor Sets Wrong Tone At Start of New Term

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  Mayor Stewart began a new term this week with an official call for an "end to political warfare" between his office and the City Council, according to Courant coverage
  
  And there was some high-minded rhetoric from Stewart to get things going:
  
  "Today we stand at the" [...]
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  Posted: November 14, 2009, 10:02am EST
  by NBpoliticus

• Veteran's Day: "They Didn't Give Their Lives. Their Lives Were Taken From Them."

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  New Britain's tradition of honoring veterans of all wars occurs twice a year on Memorial Day (the real one not the Monday national holiday) and on Veteran's Day this month.
  
  On Wednesday there will be a full round of remembrances put on by the Parks and Recreation [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 9:06am EST
  by NBpoliticus

• New Britain's Newest Newspaper: Hardware City Journal Hits The Streets

  Number of comments: 5
  New Britain's "October surprise" has nothing to do with the upcoming municipal election and everything to do with what may be a revival of community journalism in town.
  
  The first edition of Hardware City Journal (HCJ), a 16-page free circulation paper, began circulating Friday (Oct. 16th) packed full of' [...]
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  Posted: October 17, 2009, 4:50pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Remembering Ted Kennedy

  Number of comments: 1
  
  
  [newbritaindemocrat.blogspot.com]
  
  Ted Kennedy’s five-decade Senate career spanned 10 presidencies, starting with his brother’s 1,000 days in office through Barack Obama’s first year.
  
  That longevity – which counts for a lot in the U.S. Senate –allowed Kennedy to leave a lasting mark on [...]
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  Posted: August 26, 2009, 10:49pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Courant Drops Gombossy and Its Editorial Integrity

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  Achieving distinction for editorial page leadership and substantial news presentation were the Providence Journal and Bulletin and the Hartford Courant.....The Hartford Courant, begun as the weekly Connecticut Courant in 1764 and claimant to the longest publishing record in America, was kept at a high level by publisher John B.Reitemeyer and [...]
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  Posted: August 19, 2009, 7:22pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Funds Coming For New Haven To Hartford Rail: Does This Mean They'll Get The Hole In the Train's Roof Fixed?

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  Measured against the hundreds of millions invested in the 11-mile New Britain-Hartford bus way, a $4 million appropriation to start "preliminary work" on high-speed rail on the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield Amtrak line doesn't seem like much.
  
  The FY 2010 federal appropriation that surfaced last week' [...]
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  Posted: August 01, 2009, 5:28am EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• State Rep. O'Brien Poised To Take Mayoral Plunge

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  State Rep. Tim O’Brien (D-24) is set to make an announcement on his political plans this year at an announcement on July 17th to be held at the Pulaski Democratic Club, 89 Grove Street, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.
  
  O’Brien formed an exploratory committee [...]
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  Posted: July 12, 2009, 4:36pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• State Budget: The Sunset Solution

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  The July 4th holiday will come and go without a state budget in place for the fiscal year that began last Wednesday. The state House and Senate finally hammered out a plan that didn't muster a veto proof majority in either chamber. A disengaged Governor suddenly got engaged in the' [...]
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  Posted: July 03, 2009, 6:16am EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• State Marshals: It's Not What You Know But.......?

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  A recent Courant story on the hiring of state marshals suggests that a little cronyism and political backscratching may be creeping back into a relatively new system for the hiring of marshals -- the individuals who serve the legal papers on behalf of lawyers and courts.
  
  At [...]
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  Posted: June 21, 2009, 1:25am EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Think Globally, Buy Locally: New Movement Says Buy From Local Merchants

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  What to do about our hard economic times is a part of the national conversation and plenty of federal action in the first five months of the Obama Administration. The media gas bags on cable news won't let us forget it. We rightly expect the' [...]
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  Posted: June 03, 2009, 9:57pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Revenue Gap Threatens New Britain Municipal Budget

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  It's a year when local and state governments are struggling with falling tax revenues and a severe economic downturn. New Britain is facing all of those struggles plus one more potential hole that could break the city budget in the new fiscal year.
  
  The problem? Mayor Stewart's proposed $216.3 [...]
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  Posted: May 22, 2009, 7:17am EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Thinking Globally Today: Buy Fair Trade

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  If you're shopping this weekend for Mother's Day, looking for a graduation gift or just want a latte, there are ways to strike a blow for economic justice and sustainable development.
  
  Saturday May 9th is Fair Trade Day around the globe. It's a weekend filled with all sorts' [...]
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  Posted: May 09, 2009, 10:12am EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Getting Specter's Vote: Promise Him More Earmarks

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  The pundits are making much of Senator Arlen Specter's defection to Democrats as proof that a "moderate" Republican can't survive in the GOP; that it puts the Senate Democrats on the verge of that 60-vote threshold needed to cut off debate and move legislation if the cagey Specter goes along. [...]
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  Posted: April 29, 2009, 7:13pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Not What Everyone Wants To Hear From CCSU Campus 10 Years after Columbine

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  "Gun fight at CCSU" blares today's front-page headline in the New Britain Herald.
  
  The story by Jennifer Abel reports on CCSU's Riflery and Marksmanship Club joining a national "Empty Holster Protest" that advocates for the right of students to bear arms on the campus. The protest springs from [...]
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  Posted: April 21, 2009, 7:31am EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Stewart's double standard on state budget priorities

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  Mayor Tim Stewart has lashed out at New Britain's all Democratic legislative delegation for reductions in local aid made in a Democratic state budget plan presented last week.
  
  Stewart, facing the prospect of higher property taxes in a bad economy, delivered a "broadside" that takes aim at State Rep.' [...]
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  Posted: April 08, 2009, 6:33am EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Why disinvesting in the local community college hurts

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  The state deficit problem is jeopardizing the state's educational and social safety net resources -- what the Governor and Legislature would call "core" services.
  
  Bristol Press' Jackie Majerus tells a story in today's local papers that can be replicated thousands of times across the state.
  
  
  Chipping' [...]
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  Posted: March 26, 2009, 6:22am EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Does New Britain Hospital Figure In Hartford Hospital's Takeover Plans?

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  The Hospital of Central Connecticut (HOCC), better known in these parts as New Britain General, has been more than an interested bystander in the debate over the future of John Dempsey Hospital at the University of Connecticut Health Center and its possible takeover by Hartford Hospital.
  
  Recent [...]
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  Posted: March 23, 2009, 11:58pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Iraq Authorization and Wall Street Bailout Votes: Two Of A Kind

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  The outrage now being expressed in Congress over the excessive bonuses paid to AIG executives -- especially from Republicans -- is an outrageous display of phony indignation.
  
  When the federal bailout legislation was making its way through Congress last September there was some concern expressed by Nancy Pelosi [...]
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  Posted: March 17, 2009, 10:19pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• The Courant: Then and Now

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  I had the privilege of raising money for Hartford's Camp Courant back in the early 1990s. For one year I walked to a small cubicle assigned me in advertising at the newspaper's 285 Broad Street offices to seek support for the century-old free day camp serving thousands of Hartford's' [...]
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  Posted: March 02, 2009, 9:34am EST
  by NBpoliticus

• Rell's Local Aid: Placing More Burdens On Cities

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  The mayors of Bridgeport and New Britain have forged a bipartisan alliance to praise Gov. Jodi Rell's budget package for level funding of education aid to cities and towns. All cities and towns will get the same amount for the single largest local expense item -- the schools.
  
  According' [...]
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  Posted: February 26, 2009, 9:46pm EST
  by NBpoliticus

• Ethics Flap Prompts Billy Mac To Resign From Board; Salvio's Complaint Called Another "Fishing Expedition"

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  The resignation of former Mayor William McNamara from the city ethics commission adds another partisan twist to the sorry state of affairs on a board charged with keeping municipal officials honest.
  
  The Courant and Herald covered McNamara's move this past week.
  [...]
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  Posted: February 18, 2009, 6:13pm EST
  by NBpoliticus

• Andy Stern On The Delay In the Solis Nomination: "Unacceptable"

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  Last month President Obama nominated Congresswoman Hilda Solis to be our next Secretary of Labor, but conservative Republicans are blocking her confirmation simply because she supports working people.
  
  I just recorded a short video message about this unacceptable obstruction and how you can help. [...]
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  Posted: February 07, 2009, 5:20am EST
  by NBpoliticus

• State Republicans Retreat To New Britain

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  The Republican State Central Committee, hit hard by losses in state House races last year, left Hartford for New Britain's A.H. Harris Building in December in office space that is "twice as big as our current digs and provides us with some exciting new opportunities," according' [...]
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  Posted: February 01, 2009, 8:17pm EST
  by NBpoliticus

• Railing Against Highways: Is Momentum Building For Expanded Rail, Bus Service?

  Number of comments: 0
  
  Connecticut is a tale of two places when it comes to use of public transportation. There's the Gold Coast and the Metro North line with hundreds of thousands of riderships on trains that need replacement and upgrade. Then there is the rest of us in central' [...]
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  Posted: January 31, 2009, 1:23am EST
  by NBpoliticus

• Hello Sweet Heart, Get Me Re-Write: Herald, Press Survive

  Number of comments: 2
  
  The New Britain Herald and Bristol Press, left to die by the parent Journal Register Company (JRC) late in 2008, will survive.
  
  Today's Herald story by Scott Whipple confirmed that Michael Schroeder, a veteran newspaper exec from Newsday, has made good on his promise' [...]
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  Posted: January 24, 2009, 7:18pm EST
  by NBpoliticus

• A Good Bet: Amann Will Exit Gubernatorial Race Quickly

  Number of comments: 1
  
  Former Speaker of the House Jim Amann is ramping up a run for Governor. He's sent no less than five e-messages to Democratic leaders over the last month.
  
  They reflect a hectic schedule and agenda: advocacy for more "Hollywood East" state tax credits (before' [...]
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  Posted: January 17, 2009, 8:03am EST
  by NBpoliticus

• Commuter Question: Rail Over Busway

  Number of comments: 1
  Today's Courant story by Don Stacom reports on a brewing change in legislative thinking on public transit in the area led by State Rep. David McCluskey of West Hartford.
  
  McCluskey, disturbed over the lack of progress by the Department of Transportation on the New Britain busway, recently' [...]
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  Posted: January 03, 2009, 8:22am EST
  by NBpoliticus

• Push To Save Herald, Press Sparks Debate In National Media

  Number of comments: 2
  
  The push by local legislators, as mentioned in November 28's post, to involve the Department of Economic Development (DECD) in efforts to save The Herald of New Britain and the Bristol Press is drawing national media attention.
  
  A Reuters story posted at [...]
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  Posted: December 31, 2008, 9:10pm EST
  by NBpoliticus

• O'Brien's Call For Special Elections For U.S. Senate Vacancies Gets Traction With L'Affaire Blogojevich

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  State Rep. Tim O'Brien (D-24) gets a well deserved accolade from Connecticut Local Politics this weekend on his legislation requiring that special elections be held when vacancies occur for the U.S. Senate.
  
  O'Brien saw his proposal die in the 2007 General Assembly with a criticism that his motive [...]
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  Posted: December 14, 2008, 3:13pm EST
  by NBpoliticus

• Saving The Hometown Dailies

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  A plea by legislators for state assistance in saving the Herald of New Britain and The Bristol Press -- the two dailies slated for closure by the parent Journal Register Company -- is getting a mixed reaction among the commenters and bloggers who offered their opinions this week.
  [...]
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  Posted: November 27, 2008, 4:32am EST
  by NBpoliticus

• Ending Wall Street Welfare: Economist Says Democrats Need Long Term Strategy

  Number of comments: 0
  Robert Kuttner, a widely published economist based at The American Prospect is providing some of the best commentary yet on the economic emergency precipitated by the excesses of the unregulated home mortgage and securities industries.
  
  "Democrats will shortly become stewards not just of a temporary bailout but of" [...]
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  Posted: October 01, 2008, 9:54pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Back to the Future: Divisive Bozek Gets GOP Nod For State Senate

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  Tom Bozek, the former state senator and self-described "conservative Democrat", wants a soapbox to spew his racially divisive views and bizarre ideas on shrinking New Britain via the elimination of low-income households.
  
  The New Britain Republican Party has obliged Bozek, anointing him as the Republican nominee for state Senate [...]
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  Posted: September 28, 2008, 4:52pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• The Nomination: Clinton, Obama, LBJ and Martin Luther King

  Number of comments: 0
  
  In the back and forth of the Democratic Presidential primary season Hillary Clinton's remarks about Rev. Martin Luther King, Lyndon Johnson and civil rights sparked an unfortunate exchange between hers and the Obama forces.
  
  Clinton was trying to make a point about governing, but her' [...]
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  Posted: August 24, 2008, 6:41am EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Salvio's Latest Salvo: Putting His Pet Projects and Partisanship Ahead of the Public Interest

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  It's bad enough that New Britain's share of federal community development grant funds have been dwindling for a long time. Mid-sized U.S. cities such as New Britain used to count on a bigger share of CDBG dollars to address neighborhood and housing issues and to deliver community services that the [...]
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  Posted: August 02, 2008, 4:26pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Building Commission Update: A Phony Price Tag For Access To Code Violators

  Number of comments: 0
  Once upon a time municipal government in New Britain had a Building Commission – a five-member body that oversaw code enforcement, permits and reviewed variance requests. Every month appointed citizens reviewed inspections, monitored activities and made requests of inspectors if they knew of any code problems.
  
  For safe housing [...]
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  Posted: July 13, 2008, 5:08pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Remembering Sam Goldberger

  Number of comments: 0
  With the sudden passing of social activist Sam Goldberger of West Hartford on June 9th advocates of peace and economic justice in Greater Hartford lost a local hero who traveled the world for the causes he believed in and gave generously of his time and resources for them.
  
  Goldberger, [...]
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  Posted: July 08, 2008, 7:09pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Bush Visit At Taxpayer Expense Raises Big Bucks For Murphy Challenger

  Number of comments: 1
  
  President Bush's visit to Connecticut and the 5th Congressional District on Friday raised as much as $700K, according to press reports . Much of the money is supposed to benefit the presumptive opponent of first-term U.S. Rep Chris Murphy, State Senator David Cappiello.
  [...]
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  Posted: April 27, 2008, 5:18pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Revaluation Makes Tax Increase Inevitable According to the Mayor

  Number of comments: 0
  A $219.5 million municipal budget was submitted to the City Council last week that will bring a tax increase to residential owners because of state-mandated revaluation, Mayor Timothy Stewart and most city officials say.
  
  According to published reports a tax rate of 34.98 ($34.98 per $1,000 valuation) will [...]
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  Posted: April 14, 2008, 7:03pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Mayor, Council At Odds Over FOI Again

  Number of comments: 0
  
  
  Any person denied the right to inspect or copy records under section 1-210 or wrongfully denied the right to attend any meeting of a public agency or denied any other right conferred by the Freedom of Information Act may appeal therefrom to the Freedom of [...]
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  Posted: March 24, 2008, 6:47pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• Foreign Intelligence, Telecom Immunity Evokes Same Old Fear Mongering Against Cong. Murphy

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  Criticism over a U.S. House debate on a Foreign Intelligence Security Act (FISA) re authorization by Rep. Chris Murphy's prospective Republican opponent shows the GOP is turning early to divisive fear tactics on issues of national security and fighting terrorism in 2008.
  
  Danbury GOP State Senator David Capiello, in' [...]
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  Posted: March 16, 2008, 1:04pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• One Way To Promote Job Growth and Stability: Eliminate Tuition At State's Public Colleges

  Number of comments: 0
  
  The earning power of college graduates versus those whose highest attainment is a high school diploma favors the former by a wide margin. In central Connecticut, it doesn't really matter anymore if you want a job as an analyst at an insurance company or fill out' [...]
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  Posted: March 09, 2008, 8:57pm EDT
  by NBpoliticus

• A Brief History of Delegates And Super Delegates

  Number of comments: 0
  
  The origins of pledged delegates chosen in caucuses and primaries and "super delegates" are getting much more scrutiny with no resolution in the Clinton versus Obama race. That was the case at the Feb. 21st New Britain Democratic Town Committee meeting. DTC member Butch Wierbicki, a [...]
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  Posted: March 02, 2008, 10:38pm EST
  by NBpoliticus

• New Year Finally Brings Dramatic Change To Financing of Campaigns

  Number of comments: 0
  A system of public financing of political campaigns will bring dramatic change to many state House and Senate races in 2008. While the full impact will not be felt until 2010 when races for Governor and statewide offices will occur, the law’s intent is to begin to restrict the corrosive [...]
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  Posted: December 28, 2007, 6:16pm EST
  by NBpoliticus

• Downtown's Future: A Place To Live Within Walking Distance of Public Transit

  Number of comments: 0
  
  

  Downtown New Britain is no longer a "downtown," if that word means anything. But if it's no longer the city's commercial or business center, then what is it?

  
  
  from NBBlogs
  
  The revitalization of downtown New Britain was not much of an issue during [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2007, 3:55am EST
  by NBpoliticus

• Celebrating The Life of Tony Norris: December 9th At Marchegian Hall

  Number of comments: 0
  

  This is also the town I grew up in. It’s my community, so I appreciate doing something here. This community has given a lot to me, so I am giving something back. That’s a lot. Not many people get that much satisfaction out of their job. I feel I’m really [...]

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  Posted: November 25, 2007, 10:08pm EST
  

• Courant Turns Blind Eye To Mayor's Real Indiscretions

  Number of comments: 1
  Last week The Hartford Courant editorial board found another way to endorse Tim Stewart by defending some foul-mouthed language of the incumbent in a call to a dispatcher during 2005 flooding. The call, widely circulated in a You Tube posting, drew considerable press coverage. "The most appalling thing about this [...]
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  Posted: October 28, 2007, 6:21pm EDT
  

• Letters, Secret Agreement Reveal Stewart’s Doublespeak on Tilcon Deal

  Number of comments: 4
  An exchange of August letters and documents between the administration of Mayor Tim Stewart (R-New Britain) and the state Department of Public Health shows that Stewart deliberately misled residents and other public officials in an effort to gain quick approval for a controversial deal giving Tilcon Connecticut, Inc. 131 acres [...]
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  Posted: September 30, 2007, 2:11pm EDT
  

• Iraq On $330 Million A Day: Cong. Murphy Responds To Bush Plan To Stay The Course

  Number of comments: 0
  NEW BRITAIN, CT (September 13) Two hours before President Bush layed out a vague, stay the course policy on Iraq from the Oval Office, Cong. Chris Murphy (D-5) made his strongest statements yet on why U.S. policy is on a disastrous course, and why he favors a "precipitous withdrawal" with [...]
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  Posted: September 13, 2007, 10:37pm EDT
  

• Hartford High School Plan Is Instructional For New Britain

  Number of comments: 0
  
  In his earliest days as Hartford School Superintendent, Steven J. Adamoski was critical of the $100+ million investment that had been made in Hartford Public High School. The makeover kept the facility a big-box, comprehensive high school with too many students in one place.
  
  One [...]
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  Posted: August 25, 2007, 7:21am EDT
  

• An Energy Broker Comes To Town: City Considers 5-Year Deal With World Energy

  Number of comments: 1
  The days of your good, old, regulated electric light company are over.
  
  That was abundantly clear at an August 16th meeting of the New Britain Common Council's consolidated committee. City councillors heard officials of Worcester, MA-based World Energy Solutions explain how they can lower energy costs for the [...]
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  Posted: August 16, 2007, 9:08pm EDT