Rep. Michael D’Agostino listens to objections from Rep. Harry Arora about the labor bill.
The House of Representatives voted 90-54 for final passage Tuesday of a Democratic bill intended to help public-sector unions maintain or grow membership in Connecticut.
Senate Bill 908 requires public employers to provide unions with access to new hires and bars them from discouraging or deterring new or existing employees from joining or remaining in a union.
The measure, which was sought by organized labor as a counterweight to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 opinion in Janus v. AFSCME, was opposed by every Republican and three Democrats.
House extends emergency powers but with added oversight
Wage transparency bill also passes
MARK PAZNIOKAS :: CTMIRROR.ORG
Rep. Terrie Wood, R-Darien, and Rep. Corey Paris, D-Stamford, talk about a pay equity bill that passed Tuesday night. Paris, the winner of a recent special election, voted in favor. Wood was opposed.
The House of Representatives voted Tuesday night to extend the governor’s emergency pandemic powers until July 20, then passed a second measure that expands legislative oversight over gubernatorial emergency declarations.
Passage of the extension came on a near-party line vote of 94-53, with Rep. Pat Boyd, D-Pomfret, joining every Republican in opposition.
MARK PAZNIOKAS :: CTMIRROR.ORG
From left to right, Reps. Matt Blumenthal and Steve Stafstrom watch the votes tallied for the risk-warrant update.
The House of Representatives voted Wednesday for legislation that would expand Connecticut’s “risk warrant” or “red flag” law, a first-in-the-nation statute that became a model for seizing firearms from at-risk individuals before violence occurs.
A pacesetting concept when adopted in 1999 in response to a mass killing at the Connecticut Lottery, the new legislation borrows from versions crafted in other states in the intervening decades.
The bill passed 93-55 on party lines, carried by 91 Democrats and two Republicans and opposed by 51 Republicans and four Democrats. It now goes to the Senate.
Pardon the weeds we are feeding the bees, says Kilkenny council
Helping pollinators: A number of areas identified where frequency of mowing will be reduced, including one side of ring road
Reporter:
sam.matthews@kilkennypeople.ie
Ned Hennessy, parks department, KCC; Mayor John Coonan; Claire Goodwin, executive landscape architect, KCC; Frank Stafford, senior engineer, KCC; Cathaoirleach Andrew McGuinness, Martin Gaffney );
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If you noticed a few green areas around Kilkenny where the grass is a little longer and the dandelions a little more plentiful than usual this time of year, it’s for a very good reason.
The council’s parks department are aiming to reduce the frequency of mowing in areas under their remit in support of important pollinators. Reduced mowing allows wild flowers already in the grass to bloom and provide a valuable food source for pollinators.
Breanna Grow / WGLT
At first blush, a pandemic doesn’t sound like a great time to open a gallery. But if there is such a thing as a silver lining when it comes to COVID-19, the owners of Hangar Art Co. seem to have found one.
As the name suggests, Hangar is big 4,500 square feet, to be exact.
Santino Lamancusa had something much smaller in mind when he was looking for a shop to sell his photography. And then he came across the former Half Hazard Press suite on East Jefferson Street in downtown Bloomington.
Looking at those big blank walls got Lamancusa thinking about a piece of art he’d recently bought online from local painter Jeff Bess.