CT Cities Showing Population Growth

Connecticut abolished county government decades ago, but population numbers viewed by county continue to demonstrate where the growth is across the state.  According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the state's most populous county is Fairfield, with a population of 916,829 - an increase of 3.9 percent since 2000. The other counties in the top five are Hartford, with a population of 894,014 (increase of 4.3 percent); New Haven, 862,477 (increase of 4.7 percent); New London, 274,055 (increase of 5.8 percent); and Litchfield, 189,927 (increase of 4.2 percent). Fairfield County includes two of the state's largest cities:  #1 Bridgeport (pop. 144,229) and #4 Stamford (122,643).  Rounding out the top five cities are  #2 New Haven, 129,779; #3 Hartford, 124,775;  and #5 Waterbury, 110,366. Largest city growth?  New Haven grew by 5 percent between 2000 and 2010, Stamford by 4.7 percent  and Bridgeport by 3.4 percent.  Waterbury grew by 2.9 percent and Hartford by 2.6 percent over the decade.

UConn Misses Down Ratings Year for Bowl Games

2011 was not a good year for college football bowl games on television.  Ratings were down virtually across the board, with some particularly low-rated games even dropping below the 1.6 rating for the 2009 season's PapaJohns.com bowl (UConn 20 South Carolina 7).  The BBVA Compass Bowl, for example, drew its fewest viewers in the game's six-year history with a 1.5 rating for Pittsburgh-SMU. That was down 32 percent from a year ago.  The Birmingham News reports that college football's average 2011-12 bowl rating fell to a new low in the 14-year history of the Bowl Championship Series.  It was a similar story in the stands - average bowl attendance dropped below 51,000 for the first time since 1979.  Twenty-one of 34 bowls tallied by Nielsen ratings attracted fewer viewers than a year ago, including 11 that were down by 20 percent or more. Fighting the trend was the Fiesta Bowl, with Stanford-Oklahoma State achieving a 56-percent increase, marking the largest gain of any bowl from a year ago (2010 Fiesta Bowl:  Oklahoma 48 UConn 20).

Teacher Shortage Areas in CT Span Grades and Subjects

Teacher shortage areas in Connecticut in the current school year include science, mathematics, world languages and English in grades 7-12.  In addition, the shortage areas identified by the state Department of Education prior to the start of the 2011-12 school year include bilingual education (PK- 12) comprehensive special education (K-12) and remedial reading and language arts (1-12).  Concluding the list of shortage areas in Connecticut schools are Speech and Language Pathologist, Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Intermediate Administrator.  Teachers holding certification endorsements in these areas are eligible for state and federal program benefits.

CT Combats Cancer Rates with Education

Connecticut has the second highest rate of female breast cancer and 14th highest rate of uterine cancer in the nation, and the state's death rates for ovarian and uterine cancers exceed those of most other states, according to the state Department of Public Health.  Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in Connecticut.  The department received a $26,361 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in 2011 to support an initiative to educate health care providers on hereditary cancers for which national recommendations for genetic counseling and testing exist.  The effort is part of the state agency's Healthy People 2020 Action Project.  

St. Francis Care Affiliates with Johnson Memorial

Saint Francis Care, Inc. and Johnson Memorial Medical Center (JMMC) have announced plans to enter into an affiliation agreement designed to maintain Johnson Memorial (based in Stafford Springs) as an independent source of high-quality healthcare and expand its clinical services in North Central Connecticut.  Saint Francis Care is an integrated healthcare delivery system (anchored by Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center) licensed for 617 beds.  A regional presence since 1897, it is a major teaching hospital and the largest Catholic hospital in New England.  Under the plan, Johnson Memorial and St. Francis will continue to be separately licensed institutions, each with separate Boards of Directors. The region's other dominant medical facility, Hartford Hospital - central to the burgeoning and recently re-branded Hartford Healthcare - is licensed for 867 beds.  The University of Connecticut Health Center's John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington has 153 beds, and is on the threshold of construction of a new facility.

$28 Million Helps Sustain Hartford Area Nonprofits

The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving awarded more than $28 million in grants during 2011 in support of the 29-town region's nonprofit agencies and educational institutions.  More than 1,600 grants were awarded, with more than one-third ($10 million) to programs supporting education and economic development, key to the Foundation's recently adopted strategic plan.  The Greater Hartford Arts Council received $1.3 million, which was re-granted to more than 100 local arts, heritage, cultural and community groups; $700,000 was provided in support of programs at three agencies that provide emergency and permanent housing for the homeless in Hartford; $450,000 was provided for programs at 66 area agencies providing basic human needs.  Founded in 1925, the Foundation has more than 1,000 funds established through the years by individuals, families and organizations.

Ticket to Ride

The first automobile law was passed by the state of Connecticut in 1901. The speed limit was set at 12 miles per hour.  In 1937, Connecticut became the first state to issue permanent license plates for cars.  And in 1982, Connecticut made legislative history by approving the country’s first Lemon Law to aid owners of defective new automobiles.  (Oral history archived at Central Connecticut State University.) Connecticut was not first to prohibit the use of cell phones or mobile electronic devices while driving, but has joined a growing number of states that do so, while continuing to permit hands-free devices.  The National Transportation Safety Board is now urging the first-ever nationwide ban on driver use of portable electronic devices (PEDs) while operating a motor vehicle.

Walkway Over the Putnam

The Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG) reports that the Putnam Bridge, which carries Route 3 over the Connecticut River between Glastonbury and Wethersfield, has a pedestrian walkway in its future.  The six-foot wide walkway will be constructed at a cost of approximately $5 million, added on to a $26 million State Department of Transportation bridge rehabilitation project set to get underway this year and be completed in 2014.  CRCOG is working with local communities to seek funding for a feasibility study to develop multi-use pathways on either side of the bridge to connect with local roads.

Travel and Tourism Boost Economy and Employment

Connecticut's Department of Economic and Community Development - launching initiatives to promote tourism and advance the arts in Connecticut - indicates that the state reaps $11.5 billion every year through total traveler and tourism revenue and $1.15 billion in state and local tax revenue, according to the most recent analysis conducted by UConn's Center for Economic Analysis.  They report that travel and tourism create more than 110,000 jobs statewide, approximately 6.5% of Connecticut's total employment.  

Growing Cities

Which of Connecticut's cities experienced the largest population growth between 2000 and 2010?  According to the U.S Census, it is Danbury, with an 8.1% increase in population - followed by New Haven with 5% and Stamford with 4.7% growth during the decade.  Bridgeport remains the state's largest city, with a 2010 population of 144,229, ahead of New Haven's 129,779 and Hartford's 124,775. The Business Council of Fairfield County has noted that while the rate of growth increased in many CT cities compared with the previous decade, the cities of Stamford, Norwalk and Danbury experienced a slower rate of growth, while Bridgeport's rate increased.