For most public health officials, the answer is yes. But state Sen. Joe Markely wants to make sure.

Markley was recently compiling a list of unfunded state mandates on municipalities when he learned about the state’s water fluoridation policy, which requires fluoride levels of  between 0.8 mg [...]]]> Do we need fluoride in our drinking water?

Markley was recently compiling a list of unfunded state mandates on municipalities when he learned about the state’s water fluoridation policy, which requires fluoride levels of  between 0.8 mg per liter and 1.2 mg per liter in public water supplies serving 20,000 people or more.

Markley believes the decision about whether to add fluoride or not ought to be left to local control. He filed a bill in the 2013 legislative session to end the mandate. Even though the bill failed to win passage, Markley said it generated a lot of comment.

“I was surprised by the response to the bill, both from advocates and from opponents of fluoridation,” Markley said. “Each side offered arguments which sounded credible to me; further research revealed that the debate is lively, persistent, and widespread.”

Markley has invited both supporters and critics of the policy to present their case at the hearing, which will be held at 11 a.m. on Wed., June 26 at the legislative office building.

Saying the state could face more severe storms this summer than usual, the Democratic governor met with utility companies behind closed doors for about an hour Tuesday in Hartford. Malloy and [...]]]> Bad weather was on the agenda Tuesday as Forecaster-In-Chief Gov. Dannel P. Malloy met with state’s utilities to plan for the next major storm.

Saying the state could face more severe storms this summer than usual, the Democratic governor met with utility companies behind closed doors for about an hour Tuesday in Hartford. Malloy and the utility companies said storm response should be better than it has in the past two years, when Hurricanes Irene and Sandy pummeled the state.

“We may not get everything right every time but we will hold everyone, including ourselves in state government, accountable,” he said.

Malloy also said the state will test the response of the utilities and local agencies with an ice storm drill on Thursday and Saturday. The governor said 150 of the state’s 169 municipalities have agreed to participate in the exercise.

And should the goal of the utilities be better outage prevention or faster power restoration after a storm?

“It’d better be both,” Malloy said.

Sharkey on Tuesday traveled to Washington to join President Biden, who delivered an address on the status of the administration’s gun safety efforts.

In his [...]]]> Connecticut Speaker of the House J. Brendan Sharkey, who helped craft the state’s landmark gun control legislation in response to Newtown, is now pursuing the issue at the federal level.

Sharkey on Tuesday traveled to Washington to join President Biden, who delivered an address on the status of the administration’s gun safety efforts.

In his speech, Biden mentioned the efforts of Connecticut’s Congressional delegation, Gov. Malloy and the Connecticut state legislature to say that he and the president “are not giving up” on stricter federal gun laws.

“We need to make sure that the voices of those we’ve lost are the loudest ones in the fight,” said Biden.

“The country has changed,” he said. “You will pay a political price for not getting engaged and dealing with safety.”

“What changed with Sandy Hook, the straw that broke the camel’s back, is now those people who support national safety issues say this will be a defining issue for me…that’s a fundamental change in the political calculus,” said Biden.

Now Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he wants Congress to look [...]]]> Federal investigators looking into the death of a Metro-North track worker last month near West Haven issued an “urgent” safety recommendation yesterday, saying the railroad doesn’t use a basic safety device that lets track workers signal when a track should be closed for repairs.

Now Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he wants Congress to look at whether such a device should be required under federal law.

The scene in West Haven after a Metro-North train after a track worker was struck and killed by a train last month. (Courant courtesy photo)

“I was absolutely astonished and appalled that this very simple, feasible, inexpensive device has not been routinely installed by Metro North and other railroads,” said Blumenthal in an interview late Monday. “No passenger or railroad worker should be in danger because a railroad doesn’t install a simple device.”

The former Connecticut attorney general said he’s scheduled a Congressional hearing this week to look into the matter, but Metro North likely won’t testify then. Blumenthal has repeatedly called on the National Transportation Safety Board to finish its investigations faster.

On Monday, he said it’s the investigators who will be on the hot seat this week.

“I think one of the essential obligations of safety watchdogs like the NTSB is to ensure that we learn lessons from tragedies and prevent them from happening,” he said.

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Perry rolled up in front on Max Downtown a few minutes before noon and his staff said as many as 40 companies were invited to meet with him.

Connecticut Gov. [...]]]> Texas Gov. Rick Perry arrived in Hartford on Monday, looking to make his pitch for why Connecticut companies should move to the Lone Star State.

Perry rolled up in front on Max Downtown a few minutes before noon and his staff said as many as 40 companies were invited to meet with him.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy also dropped in, saying he just wanted to show “Yankee hospitality.” Executives in the room said Malloy greeted them, but left just a few minutes after he arrived, without making any kind of counter to Perry’s selling points.

In addition to Perry, executives from some firearms manufacturers also met with South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard in New Britain on Monday. Both Republicans say that lower taxes, fewer regulations and looser firearms laws make their states more appealing than Connecticut.

Daugaard said he hadn’t met with Malloy.

“I’m not here to see him,” Daugaard said just before he went on a tour of manufacturing facilities at Stag Arms.

Here’s Perry speaking to reporters just before meeting with the companies:

“This afternoon, Rick Perry will be in Hartford to try to lure Connecticut business away to Texas,” Jonathan Harris, executive director of the Connecticut Democratic party, wrote in an email. “This isn’t about gun manufacturers; he is meeting with [...]]]> Connecticut Democrats are using Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s jobs-poaching trip to the state in a fundraising email.

“This afternoon, Rick Perry will be in Hartford to try to lure Connecticut business away to Texas,” Jonathan Harris, executive director of the Connecticut Democratic party, wrote in an email. “This isn’t about gun manufacturers; he is meeting with pharmaceutical and financial services companies as well. We need your help to tell Rick Perry to stay away from our jobs! Please donate $10 to help make sure that people around the state know what is happening today.”

The email bolsters the notion that the so-called battle over jobs between Texas and Connecticut is nothing more than a publicity stunt for all involved.

“We should not…go backwards as a nation for students who are dealing with a crushing level of student debt,” said Courtney, standing beside Connecticut students at a press [...]]]> The rate for the popular federally-subsidized Stafford student loans is set to double on July 1, and Rep. Joe Courtney has been leading a push in Congress.

“We should not…go backwards as a nation for students who are dealing with a crushing level of student debt,” said Courtney, standing beside Connecticut students at a press conference Monday.

John Thierry, a UConn student who is about to take out an additional $5000 in student loans for his final year of school, discusses how this affects him:

The vice president’s remarks come the week after gun control advocates began their summer lobbying push to return to the issue after it [...]]]> Vice President Joe Biden Tuesday will deliver an address on gun violence prevention, renewing the administrative push for stricter federal gun laws that has been the cornerstone of President Obama’s second-term agenda.

The vice president’s remarks come the week after gun control advocates began their summer lobbying push to return to the issue after it failed to clear the senate earlier this spring. Newtown families traveled to Washington to meet with lawmwkers and hold press conferences, and Mayors Against Illegal Guns, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s group, was in Newtown kicking off a 100-day nationwide bus tour.

The vice president will outline progress on the president’s gun control proposal, which he announced in January.