Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
The Independent Party is a ballot-qualified in Connecticut for all statewide offices except President. In this year's U.S. Senate race, two factions of the party support different candidates for the party's U.S. Senate nomination.
Mylan NV's latest attempt to deflect criticism over the price of allergy shot EpiPen failed to get the drugmaker out of the sights of Congress. Last week, Chief Executive Officer Heather Bresch was quick to react to the mounting political scrutiny over EpiPen's price hike with measures to reduce patients' out-of-pocket costs for the shot's $600 brand-name version.
Mylan Pharmaceuticals said Thursday that it would be giving a $300 "savings card" discount for a two-pack of EpiPens amid pressure to cut the price of the drug. Mylan has increased the price of EpiPen by 500% since it acquired the drug in 2007, and it didn't budge on the actual list price of the drug.
EpiPens are injection devices used to ward off potentially fatal allergic reactions, and the price has surged in recent years. A two-dose package cost around $94 nine years ago.
As a solid-blue state in recent elections, Connecticut is not likely a battleground in the 2016 presidential campaign now getting underway in earnest. But there is enough uncertainty and ferment among voters for the political world to take it seriously.
Police across Connecticut were asked to increase vigilance after the shooting deaths of three police officers in Baton Rouge, La., Sunday morning. "All members of the Hartford Police Department are reminded to maintain situational awareness at all times and utilize officer safety tactics and techniques," Deputy Chief Brian Foley said in a statement released on Twitter.
Much like their House counterparts, Connecticut's Democratic senators pushed for immediate funding aimed at opioid addiction. But in the end, they settled for the Republican majority's measure that puts the money on hold until later this year.
A border war between titans in the casino world has escalated, with MGM Resorts International stepping up its opposition to a proposed tribal casino project in Connecticut that's supposed to help the tribes fend off competition from MGM's planned $950 million project in neighboring Massachusetts Besides challenging the law which laid the groundwork for the possible satellite casino, MGM was credited last month with proposing the surprise amendment to a federal defense bill. It would have prevented tribes with casinos on tribal land, like Connecticut's Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribal nations, from opening a venture off-reservation in the same state.
On Friday, U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal , Chris Murphy , along with U.S. Representatives John Larson , Joe Courtney , and Rosa DeLauro announced a more than $1 billion contract from the Air Force to Pratt & Whitney to develop next generation military fighter engine technology. As part of the Air Force's Adaptive Engine Transition Program , Pratt & Whitney will design, develop, fabricate, and test complete adaptive engines.
Senators John Hoeven, R-ND, and Heidi Heitkamp, D-ND, Thursday joined a bipartisan group of 10 senators, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., in urging the Department of Defense to replace the Vietnam-era UH-1N helicopters as soon as possible. While these helicopters are responsible for protecting the nation's intercontinental ballistic missile fleet, including those located around Minot Air Force Base, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command has deemed them insufficient for addressing current threats to our national security.
As questions grow about Anthem's proposed acquisition of Cigna, the Indianapolis-based company says the completion of the deal remains "the highest priority." "Anthem and Cigna are not in discussions regarding a termination of the merger agreement or the payment of a break-up fee," said Anthem spokeswoman Jill Belcher.
The Senate is set to begin voting on a rescue package for debt-stricken Puerto Rico, just two days before the island is expected to default on a $2 billion debt payment. The White House-backed measure faced some opposition from both Republicans and Democrats, but party leaders endorsed it and promised to complete it before the July 1 deadline.
Without addressing recent conflict-of-interest allegations against state insurance regulators, Connecticut's senior senator wrote Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice should deny the mergers of Aetna with Humana and Anthem with Cigna. "These mega-mergers have potentially far-reaching and severely harmful effects on Connecticut, but they raise issues of national importance as well," U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal wrote.
Despite a poll showing more support among Americans, lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on new gun control measures. This is the second time since December that similar amendments did not get the required 60 votes to pass.
U.S. Sen. Christopher Murphy arrives outside the Senate Chamber for votes on June 20, 2016 at the Capitol in Washington, DC. The Senate is voting on four amendments on gun control.
A top Republican is rejecting a potential compromise on gun control negotiated by moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine FILE - In this June 16, 2016 file photo, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., left, accompanied by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Democrats get their long-sought votes on gun control a week after the massacre in Orlando, Florida, but the prospects for any election-year changes in the nationA a a s laws are dim.
Sen. Chris Murphy addresses a room full of residents, elected officials and leaders from the LGBT and Muslim communities during a roundtable meeting at the Rainbow CafA Meeting Room in the First Congregational Church of Stamford on Saturday, June 18, 2016. In the wake of the devastating event that occurred last weekend in Orlando, Senator Murphy , along with Senator Richard Blumenthal and Stamford Mayor David Martin joined in discussion with LGBT and Muslim communities to look for ways on how we can move forward together to combat hate in our society.
U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Congressman Jim Himes, and Stamford Mayor David Martin are hosting a public meeting with Connecticut's Muslim and LGBT leaders on the Orlando shooting. The meeting is being held Saturday, June 18, at 9 a.m. in the Rainbow Cafe Meeting Room at the First Congregational Church, 1 Walton Place, Stamford.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., left, accompanied by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., right, and other Democratic senators, calls for gun control legislation in the wake of the mass shooting in an Orlando LGBT nightclub this week, Thursday, June 16, 2016, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Murphy waged a roughly 15-hour filibuster into early Thursday, asserting as he yielded the floor that Republican leaders had committed to hold votes on expanded gun background checks and a ban on gun sales to suspected terrorists.
This undated image provided by the Orlando Police Department shows Omar Mateen, the suspect in the Sunday, June 12, 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. less FILE - This undated image provided by the Orlando Police Department shows Omar Mateen, the suspect in the Sunday, June 12, 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.