Category: Connecticut
Senators Express Concern for Poisons Found in Capitol and Wallingford
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON — A poisonous white powder found in a Senate office building Monday forced Connecticut’s senators and their colleagues to relocate Tuesday as they recalled the chilling anthrax poisonings that followed the September 11 t terrorist attacks.
Authorities found the powder, which tests confirmed was ricin, in a mail-sorting area next to a stack of opened letters. Officials were investigating whether the substance went through the mail system or entered the building another way.
No one exposed to the substance showed any signs of illness Tuesday, officials said. Symptoms, including fevers, vomiting, diarrhea and respiratory problems, generally occur within eight hours, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), a surgeon, said at a press conference.
Ricin, which prohibits cells from making proteins and eventually leads to death, is most powerful when injected, said Dr. Charles McKay, associate medical director of the Connecticut Poison Control Center .
Unlike anthrax, an infectious agent that multiplies and becomes active within the body, ricin cannot multiply, McKay said. For that reason, he said, it is “not very effective” as a large scale bio-terror weapon.
Senator Christopher Dodd, (D-Conn.), expressed deep concern over the ricin found in the mailroom in Frist’s office. “Anyone-be they terrorists or criminals-who would use these types of toxins as weapons needs to be dealt with in the harshest fashion and swiftly brought to justice,” Dodd said in a statement. “I’m just hopeful that no one is ultimately harmed by this attack.”
Senator Joseph Lieberman, (D-Conn.), who was campaigning for president in Delaware and Virginia Tuesday, expressed concern for those in the Dirksen Senate Office Building who were exposed to the poison.
“The health and law enforcement officials on the scene have my full support as they work to decontaminate the area and trace the source of this deadly substance,” Lieberman said in a statement. “We must get to the bottom of this so that the Senate can focus on the people’s business.”
Dodd also stated he hoped the substance found early Tuesday at a postal distribution center in Wallingford turned out to be harmless. “Sadly, our state previously had to deal with tragic consequences from anthrax attacks,” Dodd said, referring to the death from anthrax poisoning of a 94-year-old Oxford woman in late 2001. “My thoughts and prayers are with the workers [in Wallingford ] as they deal with these anxious moments.”
Lieberman’s staff members had to work from their homes Tuesday even though their offices are not located in the Dirskson building. “This wasn’t a big disruption for us,” spokesman Matt Gobush said. “We were expecting a big ice storm for the area and I packed up plenty of work yesterday in anticipation of working from home today.”
Schaghticokes Get Recognized, Shays: Disappointed
By Brian Dolan
WASHINGTON -Rep. Christopher Shays, (R-4), has introduced legislation that would make it harder for the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation to build a casino. His move comes as the Bureau of Indian Affairs officially recognized the Schaghticokes of Fairfield County as an Indian tribe, which may enable them to build a casino in Connecticut .
"We have to respect the process, but I hope the state uses all resources necessary to seek to overturn the decision," Shays said in a statement after the bureau acted Thursday. "This recognition may enable the Schaghticokes to build a casino, which I believe will be very detrimental to the state."
"The gaming industry in the east is a billion-dollar industry. . It is a financial license to print money," Shays said in an interview. Casinos bring a tremendous amount of traffic and congestion to a community."
Shays contended that local residents should have a say, through state legislatures, over whether to host casinos. "The bottom line is citizens should have the final word on casino expansion in their communities," he said.
The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation has more than 300 members and is located near Kent , on a reservation established by the Colony of Connecticut in 1737. The Schaghticokes are considering building a casino, and possible sites include Danbury .
Federally recognized tribes need to obtain the approval of their state's governor to begin casino construction. Shays and Rep. Frank Wolf, (R-VA), introduced legislation Wednesday that would also require state legislative approval for building new Indian casinos.
"I understand this is an important issue to Mr. Shays' district because there are many groups trying to get recognition as tribes there," said Charles Bunnell, chief of governmental affairs of the Mohegan tribe. "I just don't understand why we are continually focusing on the Indian community. This piece of legislation seems like an attempt to undermine the special relationship the government has with Indian communities."
The proposed Tribal and Local Community Relationship Improvement Act would also direct the President to create a committee that would establish requirements for federal regulation of Indian gaming.
"We already have a committee that reports to Congress with thoughts on regulations for Indian gaming," Bunnell said. "It's called the National Indian Gaming Commission."
Shays said he agrees the commission has a similar mission but that it fails to carry it out.
"The Gaming Commission has very little oversight and is poorly funded," Shays said. "It also doesn't report to the local communities, it reports to Indians."
Jeff Benedict, president of the Connecticut Alliance against Casino Expansion, welcomed Shays' new legislation.
"There is no question that there is a need for the empowerment of local municipalities and state governments to have a greater say in whether they will become host sites for casinos," Benedict said. "This legislation is welcome news for a state that has been on the wrong end of federal recognition for a decade."
Connecticut Community Colleges Say Bush’s Job-Training Spending Inadequate
WASHINGTON -- Connecticut community college officials this week denounced President Bush's proposal to spend $250 million for workforce and job-training programs as inadequate and "only a start."
In his State of the Union address last week, Bush proposed to increase spending on partnerships between community colleges and businesses in such "high-growth" areas as health care and computer technology.
But administrators and faculty members at Tunxis Community College in Farmington and Middlesex Community College in Middletown said that even if they get more money for their dental hygiene, computer and environmental programs, it's not likely to be much. In a federal budget full of programs that cost several billion dollars each, $250 million is relatively insignificant.
"That's only a start. It's a drop in a bucket," said Mary Bencivengo, chairwoman of the Allied Health Program at Tunxis.
Bush's proposal would direct $250 million in fiscal 2005 to programs that are already receiving some federal money, said Kevin Smith, a spokesman for the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Smith said details of the proposal were still being ironed out.
Next week, Bush will unveil his complete budget proposal for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, and Congress will spend much of the year debating it before voting next fall.
Walt Truscinski, coordinator of the Middlesex Community College Brownfield Grant Program, which recently received a $200,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to train students to assess mildly polluted plots of land for development, said he doesn't know whether the college would get any of the new money.
But even if the Brownfield program is included in Bush's new initiative, Truscinski said, "When you do the math, it doesn't come out to be a whole lot of money locally."
The Tunxis Allied Health Program, which provides on-the-job training for students studying dental hygiene and physical therapy, costs $750,000 to $1 million each year, said Bencivengo, who is also a professor of dental hygiene.
Because all of Connecticut 's community colleges have workforce development programs, Bencivengo said, the new grants would be spread too thin.
"If there's 20 [workforce programs] in the community college system here in Connecticut , $250 million isn't going to go far, and this is only little Connecticut ," Bencivengo said.
Bencivengo said that, though 60 percent of workers in the technical medical fields come out of two-year community college programs, four-year universities receive a greater percentage of federal money.
"It's nice to get some recognition from the federal government, from the President, about what community colleges can do. But we are always at the bottom of the food chain," Bencivengo said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education did not return phone calls seeking a response.
Bush's new initiative follows a series of recent budget cuts to state community colleges. Melissa Witt, a spokeswoman for Tunxis, said that Connecticut community colleges lost nearly $6 million in state money this year, following a $13 million cut last year.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, (D-Conn.), said in a statement, "It isn't enough to talk about job training; the President needs to do more to create new jobs in Connecticut and across the nation."
Abortion Opponents Take to the Streets
WASHINGTON --Abortion opponents from Connecticut and around the country descended on Washington Thursday for the annual "March for Life," a day of demonstrating against the monumental Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion Jan. 22, 1973 .
Abortion rights supporters marked the 31 st anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling by introducing legislation that would protect abortion rights. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., introduced the "Freedom of Choice Act", which would forbid government interference with women's rights to use birth control, family planning and abortion services.
Church and school groups left Connecticut at midnight Wednesday to get to the capital in time for the event, which began at noon near the Washington Monument .
Thirty-four members of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Ridgefield attended, bleary-eyed from a 5:30 a.m. departure.
"We're excited to get this thing going," parishioner John Fogarty said. "We're waiting for the program to begin."
Youth 2000 New England , a Catholic group based in Riverside , R.I. , sent approximately 60 members to the March for Life this year. The organization has constituencies in Connecticut , Massachusetts , New Hampshire , Rhode Island and Vermont .
Paul Gory, 14, said he was "pumped up" for his first abortion protest. "It's an adrenaline rush to get down here," the Windsor Locks native said. "I definitely plan to come next year."
According to parish member Mike Ditoro, St. Joseph 's Catholic Church of Shelton has sent participants to the March for Life for the past 15 years.
"This is my ninth time," said Ditoro, who lives in Shelton . "With all the people pressed against me, it's pretty crowded, but I think attendance is a little lighter this year."
The group of eight took a midnight train from Fairfield .
"We weren't quite sure about the mode of transportation, so our group is a little smaller than usual," said Sean McMahon, of Shelton . "But last year we had about 40 from our group."
Forty-five students and their chaperones from Trinity Catholic High School drove all night after leaving Stamford at 12:30 a.m. Thursday.
"We come every year with our pro-life group, called 'Crusaders for Life,'" Father Tom Powers said. "We're excited, because the weather's great; the numbers are considerably more than they were last year."
"I'm so happy that there was such a great turnout this year," said senior Colleen Flynn, 17. "A lot of kids get involved. It's good. We had a waiting list and everything."
It was sophomore Diane Dauplaise's first year at the march.
"I think it's a really good experience, not just because of religious reasons, but more because of it as an activism thing," said the 15-year-old. "But it's also kind of supportive that so many people have the same beliefs that you do."
The Race for the Youth Vote
by Kevin Joy
WASHINGTON - Inside a fashionable nightclub one Monday night in October, Christian Price sipped Cristal champagne and mingled among 4,500 couture-clad twentysomethings packing the smoky, four-story dance hall on Washington's Northeast side. But she wasn't there to party, even though the open bar and thumping hip-hop music suggested otherwise.
This wasn't just a casual evening out. Attendees paid $50 each to see former President Bill Clinton, the headliner at a bash intended to raise money for the Democratic National Committee and, perhaps more important, raise political participation among young people.
Around 11:30, over the booming strains of 50 Cent's ubiquitous rap jingle "In Da Club," Clinton took the stage to deafening applause and chants of "Bill! Bill! Bill!"
He spoke for only five minutes, but that didn't matter. The event raised $250,000-90 percent of it from first-time political donors.
"Every time I see him I get star-struck," Price, 21, a Capitol Hill intern, said of Clinton. "If the DNC did more events like this, they'd make a ton of money and reach more people."
Reaching young people and spurring them to vote is a constant and growing challenge for politicians and political parties. The nine Democrats vying for their party's presidential nomination are trying to break out of the pack in part by finding unique ways to connect to a generation distrustful of politics and reared on scandal.
With such demographer-coined titles as Generation Y, the New Millenials and the Nintendo Generation, young people today grew up on tabloid journalism, cable TV and, most recently, the Internet. They were bombarded with images of O.J. Simpson and Monica Lewinsky. They are media savvy and often skeptical. They watch reality television.
The trouble is, they avoid Election Day more than any other age group.
"The emerging voter right now already grew up in a world established by Watergate," said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for Popular Television at Syracuse University. "In an age of fragmented popular culture, you've got a cynical, wise-guy population of young people."
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, voter turnout among 18- to 24-year-olds dipped from 50 percent in 1972-the first time 18-year-olds could vote in a presidential race-to 32 percent in 1996 and again in 2000.
That's 8.6 million young people who voted in the last presidential election. By contrast, more than 40 million people cast votes for their favorites in the last two seasons of "American Idol," a televised pop-star competition.
Steve Christoforou, 21, a senior in history at Yale and president of the university's debate society, said he thinks college students have difficulty seeing past the "campus lens" and into the distant future when deciding whether to vote.
"We're still young, and the consequences aren't as visible," he said. Candidates' positions on Medicare, Social Security or tax reform won't usually inspire 18-year-olds to vote, though they will bring out senior citizens-already the most dominant group at the polls, Christoforou said. "Candidates are not as deeply relevant in the same way to some young people like they might be for older generations.
" Many political experts view young people as politically unattainable. Former Clinton political adviser Paul Begala, now co-host of CNN's "Crossfire," deemed them "hopelessly ill-informed."
Nevertheless, voting advocacy groups, political strategists and an odd smattering of celebrities have renewed efforts this year to attract a generation they see as an untapped resource, one that could produce crucial swing votes in a tight election.
Campaigns to entice young voters to the polls have been diverse, even a bit unorthodox. They include the non-partisan Smack Down Your Vote, supported by World Wrestling Entertainment and the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network (and more recently, the League of Women Voters), which registers voters at rallies featuring popular rappers, wrestling stars and religious leaders.
Two nonpartisan groups, Newspapers in Education and the National Association of Secretaries of State, have endorsed the short, snarky film "Let's Go Voting," starring actors Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughan, which tells high schoolers that voting is, like, really cool. The hyperactive 20-minute movie is the product of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the controversial animated series "South Park."
The $4 million New Voters Project is a nationwide drive to register 260,000 young people in the next year and to increase voter turnout among 18- to 24-year-olds by 5 percent in 2004.
Declare Yourself, a $9 million voting drive founded by 81-year-old television producer and Connecticut native Norman Lear, includes an 18-college tour featuring an original copy of the Declaration of Independence. The only New England stop is Keene State College in New Hampshire on Jan. 26, the day before that state's primary.
Smack Down Your Vote and Declare Yourself aspire to get a total of 2 million more young adults to vote in the 2004 election. But will the endorsement of rap artist LL Cool J or the Spandex-wearing, body-slamming Superstar Maven of World Wrestling Entertainment attract new voters?
Curtis Gans, director of the nonpartisan Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, said glitzy, celebrity-driven campaigns are not often effective, since they rarely address anything other than the action of voting itself.
"Youths don't vote because a wrestler or rock star asked them to," Gans said. "They do vote because of idealism, a sense of greater national issues, something larger than themselves-really getting engaged through grassroots politics."
A study released in October by the Harvard University Institute of Politics, which surveyed 18- to 24-year-olds on campuses across the nation, showed political interest is on the upswing. Of the 1,202 students who responded, 86 percent said they would "probably" or "definitely" vote in 2004. That would be a 169 percent increase from four years ago and, experts say, unlikely to occur.
On the other hand, a Harvard poll conducted in April 2000 found that 51 percent of students who participated believed political involvement rarely produced tangible results. A University of California-Los Angeles survey last fall found that less than one-third of incoming college freshmen view following politics as "important."
"I don't know what kind of sampling they're taking," said Derek Garcia, 22, a senior at Wesleyan University. "Most of that criticism has been generated mostly to cast American students as being apathetic to political issues. Colleges are centers of social issues and open-mindedness."
Wesleyan, however, was rated the nation's most politically active campus by Mother Jones magazine. More than 750 of the school's 2,700 undergraduates traveled to New York last February to try to prevent the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Campus sidewalks are constantly etched in activist rhetoric with colored chalk. The college is, as 21-year-old Wesleyan junior Arusha Gordon called it, "kind of a bubble."
But student sentiment is different on other campuses.
"This is a very apathetic campus, not very well-versed in politics at all," said John Jevitts, 20, a junior at the University of Connecticut. "In no way could most people here name all nine [Democratic presidential] candidates."
Since only about one-quarter of recent high-school graduates are enrolled in college, reaching the other 75 percent is difficult, said Dorothy James, a government professor at Connecticut College.
"You have a body of people who aren't particularly interested in politics to begin with," James said. "For these campaigns to make some real difference, they have to deal with the root cause of this problem. I'm not sure doing jazzy things is going to make a big difference."
One of the most widely publicized efforts, last month's Rock the Vote town-hall style debate-broadcast live on CNN from Boston's Fanueil Hall-allowed viewers to question Democratic presidential candidates using e-mails, wireless text messaging and telephones. Technologically speaking, it was hip.
The questions ranged from marijuana use to racism to whether the candidates used Mac or PC computers (a play on the "boxers or briefs" inquiry Clinton fielded in a 1992 Rock the Vote event). The candidates tried to exude coolness-with only some degree of success.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and retired Gen. Wesley Clark, each wearing all-black ensembles with turtlenecks, looked slightly uncomfortable in their urbane threads.
It's not window dressing-or issues, for that matter-but personal character that impresses young voters the most, said Ryan Jones, a UConn senior.
"What a lot of young people are looking for is strong leadership and personal dynamic," said Jones, 21. "They're more inclined to vote on the candidate, not just a specific issue."
Politicians must tread carefully when courting young voters, according to Jonathan Zaff, president of 18to35, which works to involve young people in policymaking.
"This is an extremely savvy generation, and they're not a group that likes to be marketed to," Zaff said. "But the presidential candidates aren't mind readers either. It's important that young adults get involved and make sure their voices are heard."
One popular method of small-scale mobilization has been through local gatherings called "meetups"-community get-togethers staged in coffeehouses, bars and homes to garner support for a candidate. On meetup.com, the Web site that organizes the events, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's campaign boasts 151,200 registered members. No other candidate has even one-third that number.
U.S. Representative Bob Ney, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Administration Committee, recently announced the formation of a bipartisan Congressional Youth Civic Caucus to look at issues affecting young people and urge politicians to initiate more voter outreach programs.
The Bush-Cheney campaign is starting its youth outreach eight months earlier than in the last election, according to spokesman Kevin Madden. It's building a national student support group and organizing student committees. The campaign also is trying to reach out to a certain type of younger voter in another way: it has created a new fundraiser category called "Mavericks" for donors under 40 who raise $50,000 each.
With the help of Internet campaigning-encompassing e-mail "listservs" to send event updates, "blogs" that track day-to-day happenings and user-friendly Web sites-tech-savvy youth can feel more closely connected with a candidate, said Kerry Szeps, co-president the of the Connecticut Young Democrats. She credits Dean for fueling the Web-based phenomenon, which has garnered attention and copycat efforts from nearly every candidate.
While the Democratic presidential nominees are making every attempt to appeal to youth-the Rev. Al Sharpton recently hosted "Saturday Night Live" and Clark talks of his penchant for rap duo Outkast ("I can shake it like a Polaroid picture," he said after a debate, using an obscure reference to one of the group's hit songs)-they will have a tough time matching the electric connection Clinton made with young people in 1992.
Syracuse's Thompson said he doubts any of the candidates will have an "Arsenio" moment, referencing Clinton's wildly popular appearance on "The Arsenio Hall Show," complete with sunglasses and a saxophone performance.
However, Dean did play Bob Dylan songs on the guitar and harmonica in Iowa last August.
But such attempts also carry risks.
"There's always the uncomfortable moment when political candidates are in certain venues trying to 'get down' with the young folks-not only can that feel forced, but sometimes a little bit pathetic," Thompson said. "They've got to speak with a candor and frankness that acknowledges this generation's cynicism and skepticism, not to mention the very reason they're appearing in this venue is to get their vote."
Smog Provision in Federal Energy Bill Frustrates Lawmakers, Clean-Air Advocates
by Kevin Joy
WASHINGTON - Environmental advocates and many lawmakers are fuming over a little-noticed provision in the $30 billion federal energy bill that they say could result in smoggier skies over Connecticut.
The provision would permit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to extend smog reduction deadlines established under 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act. If an area could prove some of its pollution comes from another community or state-for instance, by pollutants traveling downwind-it wouldn't have to clean up its own emissions until the outside polluter did.
The outcome would be a continuous finger-pointing game with no incentive for ecological responsibility, said Christopher Phelps, an advocate for the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group (ConnPIRG), a watchdog organization.
And for Connecticut, a state already faced with high summer ozone levels, a large commuter population and close proximity to New York City, activists say the extended deadlines for air quality standards could produce devastating long-term effects.
"You'll have sides saying, 'It's not our pollution, it's your pollution," Phelps said. "And in the meantime, nobody's cleaning up their air."
The measure was not in the original versions of the energy bill passed by the House and Senate earlier this year, but instead was inserted during negotiations on a final bill last week at the behest of Rep. Joe Barton, R-Tex. The House approved the bill, 246-180, Tuesday, and the measure awaits Senate action this week.
A number of senators on both sides of the aisle have threatened to try to kill the bill, a high priority for President Bush. The administration contends the bill would reduce America's dependence on foreign oil, while opponents argue it would provide too many tax incentives to energy producers and delay efforts to clean up air on a local level.
Angela Ledford, executive director of the Washington-based environmental group Clear the Air, called the provision "appalling" and said it overlooks Connecticut residents' health needs.
Ten percent-or 86,000-of Connecticut children have asthma, compared with 6 percent nationally, ConnPIRG reported. Medical experts say polluted air is a main cause of respiratory problems.
Connecticut has some of the nation's most stringent air quality regulations, and Gov. John G. Rowland signed a bill into law in 2000 cleaning up the state's aging "sooty six" power plants. Nevertheless, the number of days during which Connecticut residents were exposed to unhealthy amounts of smog rose by 177 percent from 2000 to 2002, according to the EPA.
An analysis by Abt Associates, a Cambridge, Mass., consulting firm, concluded that Connecticut residents could face an additional 10,756 asthma attacks, 135 hospitalizations and 15,000 lost school days because of symptoms resulting from increasingly poor air quality stemming directly from the energy bill's extension of clean air deadlines.
Both Rowland, a Republican, and Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, have criticized the energy bill, with Rowland calling it "government at its worst."
Blumenthal said the provision was a "backdoor attempt to save polluters in the Midwest and the South from the expense of having to reduce emissions."
Reps. Rob Simmons and Nancy Johnson, both Connecticut Republicans, voted for the bill Tuesday. Simmons said that while he would continue to support a strong Clean Air Act, his vote could be likened to "swallowing a rat"-in other words, he said, "taking the bad with the good."
The "bipartisan energy bill had more than enough good provisions to warrant my support," Simmons said in a statement. "The energy bill passed today by a large majority is not perfect; far from it. But politics is the art of the possible, not the art of the perfect."
Forty-six Democrats joined 200 Republicans to pass the bill in the House. Despite the extended deadlines for smog reduction, energy producers contend the legislation will be environmentally effective.
"Some of the critics have suggested that any extension of a deadline must inherently be bad, when in fact the whole purpose of providing this flexibility is to ensure that this puts an end to finger-pointing and controversy impeding air quality progress," said Dan Riedinger, a spokesman for the Washington-based Edison Electric Institute, which represents companies that generate 70 percent of the nation's electricity.
Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn, blasted the energy bill for containing a number of provisions that would shield polluters from liability and for doing little to promote the use of alternative and renewable fuels.
"Republicans are attempting to jam an energy bill through Congress that is better suited to meet the energy needs of the 19th century, not the 21st," Dodd said in a statement.
A number of Senate Democrats and Republicans have threatened to use a filibuster to prevent the bill from coming to a vote this week, but it is unclear whether they can muster enough support to sustain it. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D.-Conn., called the measure "another giveaway to special interests" and said he would support a filibuster
Census Data Show College Grads Leaving Connecticut
By Kevin Joy
WASHINGTON - They're young, single, well-educated-and leaving Connecticut in droves.
More unmarried 25- to 39-year-old college graduates left the state than moved in between 1995 and 2000, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released this week.
Young adults used to leave the Northeast for such established Sunbelt cities as Phoenix and Atlanta. Now, they're swarming to Naples, Fla., Las Vegas and Charlotte, N.C., the census reported. The continuing "brain drain" has Connecticut employers and economic officials worried about losing intellectual talent to areas with warmer climates, an abundance of jobs and lower costs of living.
Single college graduates in their 20s and 30s are more mobile than every other age or social group, the Census Bureau reported. Their departure from New England is second only to their migration from the Midwest.
"Young people want to move to places that are hip, but also have jobs," said Marc Perry, a Census Bureau demographer. "Places with faster population growth have more job growth."
Of the 3.4 million people living in Connecticut in 2000, 84,247 were classified as young, single college graduates. But Connecticut lost 6,315 more young, single, college graduates than it attracted during the second half of the 1990s, the bureau reported. Put another way, their rate of departure during that period was nearly three and a half times the overall out-migration rate of all other Connecticut residents 5 and older.
"It is certainly a concern, especially when the economy is struggling," said John Tirinzonie, an economist with the Connecticut Department of Labor. "You have more people leaving and more people retiring."
He added that nearly half of the state's high school seniors last year chose to attend out-of-state colleges this fall, making it less likely they would return home when they graduate.
But Connecticut students and recent graduates aren't immune to wanderlust either.
A semester in Washington during his junior year inspired Shaun Ferrari, 25, to pursue work in the nation's capital following his graduation from Connecticut College in 2000. He is currently a financial services analyst with the Federal Reserve.
Ferrari, who grew up in Windsor Locks, said he eventually plans to settle in Connecticut.
"I'd rather raise a family there," he said. "The feeling I get in the Northeast-I just can't describe it. I like to see the dramatic change of all four seasons."
On the other hand, Jonathan Kaplan, 34, headed to Texas in the early 1990s after receiving degrees from the University of Connecticut and Springfield College in Massachusetts. He said he was attracted by the low cost of living and job opportunities in the South. He moved to Boston a few years later, but his company ultimately transferred him to Phoenix, his current home.
"Everything is brand new and spotless," Kaplan, a Stamford native, said of Phoenix, where he works for an investment management firm. "You can get a four-bedroom house for $150,000 here. And it's definitely more relaxed than Connecticut."
Unlike Ferrari, Kaplan doesn't plan to return home.
Sunbelt cities continue to compete for the Northeast's young and educated. Beginning in 1999, the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce has run a series of television ads in Boston, Dallas and Chicago, tempting young viewers with technology jobs. The chamber has run a similar campaign on the pages of Wired and Rolling Stone magazines.
Connecticut labor officials said they're working to combat the exodus. Last year, the state targeted young adults with an advertising promotion-part of the "You Belong in Connecticut" campaign-that described the state as a "hot spot" for technology and science jobs. In January, it will sponsor a college career expo in Hartford. "
Obviously everyone else is in competition for skilled labor, and, of course, we would like them to stay here," said Pat O'Neil, a representative of the Connecticut Office for Workforce Competitiveness. "But Connecticut schools produce a highly skilled, well-educated labor force and, in turn, they could seek opportunities elsewhere."
Still, O'Neil remains optimistic, saying that as the economy continues to recover and college enrollment increases, more recent graduates might decide to stay in Connecticut.
"As the baby boom generation retires, we need to fill those jobs," O'Neil said. "We believe Connecticut can remain competitive-the quality of life here is second to none."
McCain-Lieberman Global Warming Bill Rejected by Senate
By Kevin Joy
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday rejected a bill intended to combat global warming by lowering levels of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
The bill, cosponsored by Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, D.-Conn., would have capped the amount of greenhouse gases industrial outlets could release. It was defeated by a vote of 55-43, suffering the same fate as the last proposal to fight global warming, which died in 1997.
President Bush opposed the measure, arguing emissions reductions should be voluntary.
Under the latest bill, companies that exceeded the projected annual limit of 10,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas could purchase emissions "credits" from other outlets producing less than the limit -a plan similar in structure to the successful acid rain trading program included in the 1990 Clean Air Act. Any company not meeting the limit would be fined three times the market value for each additional ton of greenhouse gas it emitted.
The bill's ultimate goal was to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in 2010 to levels measured in 2000.
On Wednesday, Lieberman described the legislation, which he sponsored with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as "a modest proposition" and blasted President Bush's failure to act against global warming. Senators last considered global warming six years ago, when they voted 95-0 against the more stringent Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty on climate change.
But in a statement following his bill's defeat, Lieberman said congressional attitudes toward environmental issues were steadily improving.
"Today's vote shows that the political climate is changing on climate change," he said. "Global warming is now on the front burner of the national agenda."
Political experts knew the bill's passage would be a long shot. It faced significant opposition from Republican lawmakers and the Bush administration, which prefer voluntary corporate emission reductions over federal enforcement. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency decided in August that carbon dioxide couldn't be regulated as a pollutant.
Regardless, McCain said in a statement he was hopeful that the closeness of the vote would create a greater awareness of the problem of climate change when global warming legislation comes up for a vote in the future.
"We've lost a big battle today, but we'll win over time because climate change is real," McCain said. "You can only win by marshaling public opinion."
State and local governments now are leading the way on climate change. Last week, 12 states, including Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine, filed suit against the EPA's decision not to regulate carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. At the same time, 156 mayors-including those representing Bridgeport, Hamden, New Haven, Stamford, Waterbury and Windham-signed a statement sent to Bush and a host of government agencies in support of the McCain-Lieberman bill.
"We really hoped to get some visibility," said Susan Ode, the outreach director for the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives, the group that organized the mayoral coalition. "It's an issue that has tremendous support among local governments."
While Bush argued that the global warming bill could endanger jobs and spike federal costs, a recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said McCain-Lieberman would cost approximately $20 per household per year.
National energy, transportation and manufacturing sectors were responsible for approximately 85 percent of overall U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2000. The farming industry and households would have been exempt from McCain and Lieberman's reduction requirements.
The Year 2007 Looks to be a Promising One for New Britain
WASHINGTON - The expected completion in 2007 of a bus route stretching about nine miles from Hartford to New Britain will reduce traffic congestion on Interstate 84 and stimulate economic development in New Britain, according to Michael Sanders, transit administrator for the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CDOT).
The U.S. Senate has approved a transportation appropriations bill for next year that includes more than $40 million to help reduce traffic congestion and improve air quality in Connecticut. Of that, $10 million would be spent on the Hartford-New Britain Busway. But the version approved earlier by the House includes no funds for the busway.
"This measure can literally help transport Connecticut to a brighter future," said U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.). "It is a tremendous step in the right direction to help create new jobs, improve air quality, ease commute times and provide a better quality of life for families all across our state. I hope the House will agree with these important Connecticut priorities."
House and Senate negotiators now must try to reconcile the two versions of the bill. Dodd's office said the full $10 million still might be approved.
Connecticut, like other states, is suffering from increased automobile use, with traffic congestion turning what should be short commutes into long, frustrating ones.
The state's solution is a two-lane exclusive bus roadway, with about 12 stations, including one in New Britain and one in Newington. The project will cost $175 million or more, depending on the final design, Sanders said.
"We're still in the preliminary design," he said. "So it's reasonable that the cost could increase."
James Boice, chief of planning for CDOT, is optimistic that some part of the $10 million the Senate has approved will also be approved by the House. He said the roadway would be built with or without the $10 million. Congress has appropriated more than $17 million for the project in the last three fiscal years.
"These funds will encourage more commuters to use transit, get more cars off our clogged interstates and ensure our continued ability to attract new businesses to the state," said U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.).
According to Dodd's office, the busway project has a dual purpose: to decrease congestion on I-84 and to create jobs. "It kills two birds with one stone," an aide said.
Peter Agostini, president of the New Britain Transportation Co., said the busway would be a "huge benefit" and boost the economy of New Britain as Hartford residents come to work in the city.
But, Agostini said, generating a sufficient passenger load to justify it may be difficult.
"Connecticut's a tough sell," he said. "It's one of the wealthiest states in the country, and they think, 'God forbid you take away our automobile.' "
Agostini added that he is certain people will take the bus if it is marketed properly. The state has been marketing public transportation in general, Boice said. But little has been done for the future busway.
"There is no heavy-duty marketing yet because we will not start service for four years," Sanders said. "That would be kind of premature."
Sanders was optimistic the new roadway would be a boon for New Britain.
"Clearly, people from Hartford will come to New Britain. It certainly will increase transportation infrastructure in New Britain," he said. He added that "there will be a lot of economic development along the whole route."
The exclusive busway would follow rail lines, some of them abandoned, from Hartford through Newington and into New Britain center, eliminating some of the environmental problems that building a busway from scratch would have entailed, according to Ned Hurle, director of environmental planning for CDOT.
According to a CDOT report, the exclusive busway would cut bus travel time between Hartford and New Britain by 11 minutes and bring it close to automobile drive times.
Fear That The Medicare Bill Will Not Be Passed This Year Increases
WASHINGTON - The Oct. 17 target date set by congressional leaders to present President Bush with a Medicare prescription drug bill has passed and so, many fear, will the chance to reform the massive health-care system before lawmakers go home for the year in November.
"Some modest progress is being made but there is no broad agreement," said Dan Mendelson, president of the Health Strategies Consultancy. "They want people to think that they're making progress because there is very little time left."
The House and Senate have passed separate plans to overhaul Medicare and provide a prescription drug benefit to senior citizens, but negotiators have been struggling to iron out the differences in the two bills.
Supporters of prescription drug benefits consider it critical for Congress to reach a compromise this year to avoid dragging the issue into an election year, when controversial bills often die.
U.S. Rep. Nancy L. Johnson (R-5) is one of a handful of Congress members on the conference committee that is negotiating the legislation. In an interview Wednesday, she discounted speculation that the issue would extend into next year.
"The bill will pass this year," Johnson said. "If it goes into next year, it may not make it, and it would be very serious if the bill didn't pass."
Johnson said House and Senate negotiators met Wednesday afternoon and had meetings scheduled for the rest of the week to discuss such major issues as what kind of drug benefit to provide and how it would be delivered.
Johnson insisted that the conference committee has been making progress. But Mendelson said the conferees are "still at the drawing board." He said that while House and Senate negotiators have reached agreement on many small issues, they have not settled on a number of overarching issues, including details of the prescription drug benefit and rules for the importation of drugs.
"They don't have anything yet," said Norman Ornstein, a congressional expert at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank. He said that the conferees have done little to resolve the stark differences between the House and Senate bills.
Ornstein added that dragging the issue into next year would hurt Congress members as they seek re-election. "This will cause many more problems for Republicans than Democrats because they're in charge," he said. Senior citizens are particularly frustrated that the final bill hasn't passed, said Arnold Schwartz, a member of AARP's state leadership council.
"They have the feeling that nothing's going to happen this year," he said. "And the feeling is getting to be that nothing is ever going to happen."
Brenda Kelley, the state director of AARP Connecticut, said the senior citizens' lobby is focused on getting a bill out of the conference committee that it can support. "The bill will remain a top priority whether they pass it or not" this year, Kelley said.
Schwartz said the battle has turned into a "partisan fight."
The Senate bill received bipartisan support, while the Republican-crafted House bill passed by a single vote.
