Connecticut Daily Intel
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Connecticut Daily Intel delivers daily, independent coverage of the news, politics, and stories shaping Connecticut https://substack.com/@connecticutintel?r=5ja179&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=stories&shareImageVariant=image
After more than a year of delay, Gov. Ned Lamont's office has released several hundred pages of texts between him and chief of staff Matt Brokman to CT Insider. The messages from Lamont's personal phone span a stretch when he was weighing controversial bills and a third term.
A plan to replace the Carriage House Apartments in Storrs with 192 units, up from the current complex, was rejected 8-1 by the Planning and Zoning Commission on Oct. 5. The commission found it was not consistent with the town's 2015 Plan of Conservation and Development.
Developer John Ranciato Jr. met with about 30 neighbors to discuss "Paradise Woods," his proposed 150-unit affordable housing complex off Old Coach Highway in Hamden, filed under the state's 8-30g statute. Not everyone agreed, but the conversation stayed civil.
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Heating an average 1,800-square-foot Connecticut home this October is expected to cost anywhere from $293 with an electric heat pump to $878 with electric baseboard heating. Oil heat is estimated at $584 and natural gas at $308, based on typical October weather in Hartford.
Cheshire's former Chapman and Darcey elementary schools hit the market this week, and developers have already made "dozens" of inquiries. Both sit in R-20 single-family zones, so any new use will take time and town input. The broker called it "a long journey."
Connecticut’s Laptop ConneCT program is bringing nearly 6K laptops to 135 libraries across 138 towns. Eligible residents can borrow a Dell laptop for education, work, healthcare or other essential online needs. Laptops are rolling out now, with all libraries expected to have them by year’s end.
A proposed data center project on Old Amston Road in Colchester could bring 2 buildings, 10 MW of power & significant clearing to a wooded area known for trails/nature. Residents are raising concerns about traffic, noise, water use, lighting & property values. Planning & Zoning meets Wednesday @ 7pm
Sen. Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) announced $10.5M in state trail grants for 50 projects, including $470K for Hebron, Marlborough and Montville. “I'm proud that Connecticut has the process and the funding mechanisms in place to maintain our outdoor spaces," she said.
Four Connecticut hotels landed on Condé Nast Traveler's 2026 list of the top 20 hotels in the Northeast. The Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington ranked No. 2, and Belden House & Mews, Delamar Westport and Delamar Mystic also made the list.
Three prediction market firms have exited Connecticut with six more in discussions. Read it in the notes. 👇 substack.com/@connecticut...
Connecticut Daily Intel (@connecticutintel)
THREE PREDICTION MARKET FIRMS EXIT CONNECTICUT AFTER LAMONT CRACKDOWN HARTFORD, Conn. — Three of nine prediction market firms that received cease-and-desist orders last month have stopped operating i...
substack.com
Gov. Ned Lamont's campaign released a new ad, "Both Parties," highlighting three bipartisan measures: lower health care costs, free school breakfasts and record education funding. The campaign says Republican nominee Ryan Fazio voted no on each one. youtu.be/KYwRG7ybSfQ
Coffee
YouTube video by Ned for CT
youtu.be
Gov. Lamont, AG Tong and Commissioner Trueworthy are urging HHS to withdraw a proposed rule that would strip most Head Start performance standards. The program serves about 5,600 Connecticut children up to age 5 and their families.
Electric costs are a top issue in Connecticut's governor's race. Gov. Ned Lamont's new TV ad claims he cut household bills by $400 a year, while Republican Ryan Fazio says rates are up 38% since Lamont took office. Connecticut's 2025 residential rate was nearly 70% above the national average.
Connecticut builders filed permits for just over 9,800 new homes in 2025, the most in two decades, according to the state Department of Economic & Community Development. That is nearly 3,350 more than in 2024, and Stamford accounted for almost half of the gain.
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has secured an SBA disaster declaration for Fairfield County and neighboring New Haven and Litchfield counties following the Sept. 13 flash floods. Homeowners, renters, businesses and nonprofits may now qualify for low-interest SBA disaster loans to help with recovery.
Connecticut is awarding $275,000 in LEAP grants to help improve student attendance in Norwich. Chronic absenteeism in Norwich Public Schools has fallen from nearly 30% in 2022 to under 20% last year. Statewide, it has dropped from 23.7% in 2021-22 to 16.4% in 2025-26.
Connecticut is turning its food TV fame into a road trip. Gov. Ned Lamont is helping to launch the new TV-to-Table Trail, which will highlight restaurants featured on national food shows, local chefs, farmers and growers, including a live cooking competition featuring locally sourced ingredients.
Shore Line East riders are getting a more frequent service starting today. CTDOT has added four weekday trains to close long gaps in the schedule and create a new connection with a Metro-North Super Express train. Officials say the changes respond to rider survey feedback.
More than 2,000 Danbury residents were without power on Sunday evening as Eversource performed maintenance in the area, the utility company reported. On its outage tracker, Eversource listed 2,126 customers without power in Danbury at 6:55 p.m., with more than 1,900 impacted by maintenance.
Connecticut's Office of the Inspector General has opened an investigation into Tuesday's officer-involved shooting that ended the pursuit of a Middletown homicide suspect, saying the man fired three shots at a WH police officer before police shot and wounded him during an attempted carjacking.
Nearly two months after Gov. Lamont's administration pledged $300 grocery gift cards to 25K former SNAP recipients, only 1,425 cards ($427,500) have gone out, less than 6% promised. The state says it will intensify outreach to deliver the remaining $7.1M to 23,570 food-insecure residents.
Connecticut's new bottle and can deposit rules took effect Oct. 1, adding penalties for redeeming large amounts of containers bought out of state. Since the 10-cent deposit began in 2024, a surge of New York and Rhode Island containers has left distributors losing money.
Trump’s tariffs and war are making housing more expensive. Construction input costs rose 8.9% from August 2025 to August 2026, with the Associated General Contractors of America pointing to tariff- and war-induced material cost increases, driving up housing costs.
A federal judge temporarily blocked Connecticut's ban on convertible pistols just hours before it took effect, and the state's top officials are vowing to pursue every legal option to reinstate what they call a commonsense law.
The Legend of the Titanic: The Ultimate Immersive Experience" makes its North American debut at Mohegan Sun on Nov. 20. The self-guided, 90-minute exhibit features original artifacts, 360-degree projections, VR tours of the ship's decks, and props from James Cameron's "Titanic. 📸 Mohegan Sun
A UConn parent has filed a court request to stop the university from removing its blue light emergency phones. The filing argues that students' personal phones may be dead, out of reach, or unusable in an emergency, and that removal without a replacement creates "an unsafe gap in campus safety."
One day after Connecticut closes its books on FY26, Comptroller Sean Scanlon has an update. connecticutintel.substack.com/p/connecticu...
Connecticut Projects $380M Surplus as Rising Interest Rates Test State and Local Budgets
The projections come one day after the state closed the books on fiscal year 2026
connecticutintel.substack.com
