Millstone bill passes House, goes to governor

After blocking similar bills over two years, the House of Representatives voted 75 to 66 for final passage Thursday of a measure variously derided as a windfall for a major energy company and praised as a responsible first step toward stabilizing the finances of Connecticut’s last nuclear plant. The bill would permit, not require, state […]

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Amazon HQ2 grabs 238 bids

Amazon received 238 proposals from cities and regions in 54 states, provinces, districts and territories across North America, the e-commerce giant said Monday. The company expects to invest over $5 billion in construction and grow its second headquarters to include as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs — a full equal to its Seattle campus, Amazon said. […]

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Senate To Vote Wednesday on a $40 Billion State Budget That Remains Under Wraps

With no documents available, the state Senate is planning to vote on a $40 billion state budget Wednesday evening. Earlier in the afternoon, the legislature’s tax-writing finance committee will vote to adopt revenue estimates for the two-year taxing and spending plan, paving the way for the Senate vote. The House is tentatively scheduled to vote […]

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Lawmakers finally reach budget deal

After a marathon session of shuttle diplomacy in Capitol meeting rooms that started Monday afternoon, Connecticut’s 116-day budget impasse finally ended at 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, when legislative leaders agreed they have a deal that can be voted on later in the week. Between late in the afternoon Monday and right up to the agreement […]

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September construction starts jump 14%

The value of construction starts surged 14% from August to a seasonally adjusted rate of $814.8 billion in September, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. The rebound was driven by the nonresidential sector, which spiked 37% month over month.  A lethargic public works sector pushed nonbuilding down 3%, while residential — both single-family and multifamily […]

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Republicans, Democrats Agree On Compromise Budget, But Malloy Hasn’t Seen It

Republican and Democratic state legislators hope to vote next week on a budget agreement that they reached Wednesday afternoon, possibly ending a crippling dispute that began early this year. Anticipating a potential veto from Malloy, Aresimowicz said there could be 101 votes in the House and 24 in the Senate supporting the bipartisan deal. Legislative […]

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Legislative Leaders Set Wednesday Deadline For Budget Deal

Legislative leaders said they expect to know whether they will have a two-year, bipartisan budget deal by 2:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. After 13 days of closed-door negotiations, legislative leaders will have poured over more than 1,000 pages of budget line items and talked through their differences. The arbitrary deadline they’ve given themselves is 2:30 p.m. […]

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Amazon considering redesign of planned North Haven distribution center

Amazon has approval to build an 855,000 square-foot warehouse and distribution center at 415 Washington Ave. (Route 5) that would yield 1.2 million square feet in floor space to ceiling. The investment in the land and construction is estimated to be about $129 million and the personal property, including robotics, is estimated to add $130 […]

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Malloy counters with ‘lean, no-frills, no-nonsense’ budget

The governor’s new plan would reduce spending by an additional $150 million over this fiscal year and next combined compared to a September budget Malloy and Democratic legislative leaders recommended. It maintains emergency relief for distressed municipalities by includes a revised formula for redistributing education aid. And while it does shift funding from wealthy communities […]

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Leaders Continue Working Toward Bipartisan Budget Deal

Legislative leaders met for about six hours Monday in a continuing effort to fashion a bipartisan budget proposal that will end the budget stalemate that’s lingered for more than 100 days. They haven’t reached a deal yet, but staff on both sides said there’s been movement from both parties. What’s not clear yet is if […]

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With no plan for replacing Millstone, what are CT’s options?

Millstone’s owner Dominion is arguing it needs help because cheap power produced from natural gas is forcing it to consider shutting Millstone down. But even if legislation does finally pass, it won’t change some basic realities: One day Millstone will close, and Connecticut doesn’t have a plan for that. With no plan for replacing Millstone, […]

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Wage Theft Charged At Farnam Court

A “fat cat” in a plush three-piece suit dangles and strangles a working guy in a yellow construction helmet. The blow-up figures were deployed Thursday afternoon by members and supporters of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters (NERCC) in support of Terail Slaughter, a non-union carpenter who had been employed helping to build the […]

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Rotary project making progress on Columbus Boulevard

The fourth phase of the city’s Complete Streets Master Plan is making progress. In January, the New Britain Common Council authorized a contract of nearly $3.2 million with Morais Concrete Service out of Springfield, Mass., to oversee upgrades along a section of Columbus Boulevard. The Columbus Boulevard project is expected to be completed by fall 2018. […]

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New Middletown high-rise apartments developer, city banking on walkable cities trend

The developer of the College Street Apartments hopes to sign leases by next fall with tenants who are already clamoring to secure a spot at the 93-unit six-story building a block away from downtown. The construction was delayed about 15 months, said Chuck Hajjar, president of the Milton, Massachusetts-based Hajjar Management Co. Hajjar estimates the […]

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House Democrats propose their own infrastructure plan

House Democrats introduced their own infrastructure plan Wednesday as lawmakers await further details on President Donald Trump’s expected $1 trillion spend, according to The Hill. The New Democrat Coalition’s “fund it, fix it and foster it” strategy would use repatriated taxes to fund infrastructure and seek long-term revenue streams for the Highway Trust Fund. The […]

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CT selects cities to pitch locations for Amazon HQ2

The state of Connecticut has chosen the Stamford and Hartford regions to represent it in its bid to land Amazon’s second headquarters. The cities of Bridgeport and New Haven are still jointly pursuing an application with Amazon together as a metropolitan area, the mayors of both cities said Friday. http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20171006/NEWS01/171009934

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Infrastructure could follow tax reform on Congress’ agenda

Some industry groups and highway transportation advocates hope changes to U.S. tax policy will allow for increased allocations to the Highway Trust Fund, which supports state infrastructure programs and is set to run dry by 2020. Until a formal infrastructure program can be worked out, Chao said, the Department of Transportation is streamlining regulations, particularly […]

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Hartford Fires Centerplan From Development Around Dunkin’ Donuts Park

Hartford leaders on Monday fired Centerplan Construction Co. and DoNo Hartford, the original developers of Dunkin’ Donuts Park, from other projects in the city’s stalled downtown north neighborhood. Now that Centerplan and DoNo have been fired from the rest of the development, city leaders said they’re looking for developers “with the interest and capital” to […]

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