In The News
November 7, 2013
In The News
Electric Boat has won a $25.7 million contract to perform maintenance work on the USS Providence. The work on the Los Angeles-class attack submarine was originally expected to be done at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine. But it was moved to Groton's Electric Boat following the cancellation of repair work planned for the fire-damaged USS Miami.
November 4, 2013
In The News
The Coventry High School band, at the request of U.S Rep Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, has been invited to participate in the 2014 National Memorial Day Parade in Washington, D.C. The catch? The band needs help raising almost $100,000 to go on the trip. Fundraising efforts have already begun, with an added boost from the town council late last month. The council unanimously approved $4,800 to ensure all of the band members have the opportunity to go. The funds will come from the town council’s 1.5percent fund, a pool of cash budgeted at the disposal of the council for small, one-shot expenditures. It is equal to 1.5-percent of the town’s taxable levy.
October 31, 2013
In The News
Monthly premiums for Medicare Part B will remain stable in 2014 at $104.90 for most beneficiaries, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced this week. The premiums paid Medicare recipients with higher incomes -- less than 5 percent of the beneficiaries -- will also remain level in 2014. The deductible for that portion of the program will also stay at its current level, $147. Medicare Part B covers physician and outpatient hospital services, as well as some home health care and durable medical equipment.
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October 20, 2013
In The News
At a time when bipartisan has somehow become a four-letter word in Washington, Democratic Congressman Joe Courtney of eastern Connecticut's Second District and Congressman Tom Latham, an Iowa Republican, deserve credit for doggedly reaching across party lines to try to correct a senseless and unfair Medicare rule.
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October 16, 2013
In The News
With the help of votes from Connecticut's lawmakers, Congress approved an 11th hour deal that raised the debt limit and reopened the federal government. The agreement was approved by the Senate on a 81-18 vote Wednesday evening and by the House, 285-144. President Obama said he would sign it immediately, and the government would reopen Thursday morning and stay open until Jan. 15. The deal also extends the nation's borrowing authority until Feb. 7, pushing aside for now any danger of default. Every single Democrat in the House and Senate voted for the agreement, including all members of Connecticut's congressional delegation. It was one of the few times Connecticut's Democratic House members were on the winning side of a vote in the GOP-controlled House.
September 29, 2013
In The News
Today House Republicans passed a continuing resolution including a poison pill amendment to delay implementation of the Affordable Care Act for a year, a measure that all but guarantees a government shutdown, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-2) voted against the bill. "I am deeply disappointed in Speaker Boehner’s decision to cave to the extreme wing of the House Republican conference, and move forward a bill that has already been declared dead-on-arrival in the Senate. The clock is ticking, and it is abundantly clear that the only way to avert a government shutdown is for House Republicans to give up their single-minded obsession with undermining the Affordable Care Act, and agree to fulfill their duty to help run the government, Congressman Joe Courtney CT-2 stated.
September 29, 2013
In The News
Electric Boat has won a $25.7 million contract to perform maintenance work on the USS Providence. The work on the Los Angeles-class attack submarine was originally expected to be done at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine. But it was moved to Groton's Electric Boat following the cancellation of repair work planned for the fire-damaged USS Miami.
September 27, 2013
In The News
The Norwich Police Department will add four officers to its community policing initiative over the next several months on the strength of a $500,000 federal grant awarded to the department on Friday. The money comes from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS. “This is a real coup, to be able to get this type of funding. It recognizes the good work we’re been doing, and this helps us continue it,” Police Chief Louis J. Fusaro Sr. said. “We’re seeing results, and obviously we want to build on that.” Norwich is one of four communities in the state to win COPS dollars, joining Bridgeport, Farmington and Hartford. Nationwide, COPS funds will create more than 930 law enforcement positions using $125 million in funding. Norwich Police Capt. Patrick Daley wrote the department’s successful grant proposal. Fusaro said it could take up to a year for the positions to be filled as administrators recruit and search for the best candidates. “We’re looking for the best of the best. We’re not just going to fill four slots,” he said.
September 25, 2013
In The News
Groton-based Electric Boat was awarded a $152.4 million contract modification Wednesday by the U.S. Navy to provide lead-yard services for Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarines, Congressman Joe Courtney announced Wednesday in a news release. Under the contract, Electric Boat will maintain and update design drawings and data, including technology insertions, for each Virginia-class submarine throughout its construction and post-shakedown availability periods.
September 9, 2013
In The News
Just about every day in the emergency department at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital in New London, Dr. L. Anthony Cirillo and other physicians see elderly patients who are obviously sick and need to stay in the hospital for a few days to sort out the cause of their chest pains, abdominal ailments or other symptoms. Problem is, without a definite diagnosis - the kind a subsequent series of tests and monitoring would provide - the patient must be classified under "observation status" instead of as an "inpatient" for purposes of Medicare coverage, or hospitals risk stiff penalties from Medicare auditors.
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