Friday roundup

The latest...

• CTNJ: "Advocates Call For CT To Move Forward With A Public Option In Wake Of Decision"
  

  During a celebration of the Supreme Court's ruling on the Patient and Affordable Care Act, religious leaders and health care advocates called on Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to embrace a public option.

  Iman Kashif Abdul-Karim of the Islamic Center of Greater Hartford called on Malloy, who "during his campaign proclaimed his intention to expand access to healthcare," to "please stop wasting time and start doing the work he was elected to do."

  The crowd gathered at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford Thursday afternoon cheered Adbul-Karim's remarks.

  Abdul-Karim and other advocates called on Malloy to go further than just implementing the Patient and Affordable Care Act. They called on him to create an "affordable public option" here in Connecticut.

  On the campaign trail in 2009,  Malloy said he supported a public option, and he even stood side-by-side with religious leaders in calling for a public option just weeks before taking office. However, campaigning is different than governing and faced with a $3.6 billion budget deficit, Malloy backed off his support for a public option.

• Oh oh...
  

  Federal authorities have ordered the Waterbury Regional Chamber to turn over all of its records connected to former Gov. John G. Rowland's job as the city's economic development czar, sources say.

  Federal postal inspectors visited the chamber's Bank Street offices Wednesday afternoon with a subpoena in hand demanding the Rowland records within two weeks, according to the sources.

  The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is one of the nation's oldest law enforcement agencies, specializing in investigating crimes committed through the mail.

  Rowland recently removed [JUMP]some of his personal effects from the office, but chamber officials have secured what remained and are making copies of the records to be delivered.

• Another story about the police in New Haven...
  

  Dozens of veteran cops, including the supervisor of both the Dwight-Kensington neighborhood and the SWAT team, are leaving the police force as the year comes to a close.

  As many as 30 veteran officers have turned in retirement papers as the June 30 deadline approaches, said incoming union President Lou Cavaliere Jr. The total number won't be known until the end of Friday.

  Cavaliere noted that the exodus is leaving the department short-staffed on supervisors. Some five sergeants who supervise daytime patrols are among those leaving.

  The department has been racing to fill empty spots and beef up the ranks, with 41 recruits currently undergoing training in three academies.

  "The city's in panic mode right now because they're losing so many supervisors," Cavaliere said. The decision to lay off 16 cops last year exacerbated the problem, he added.

• Agreed!
  

  17 Democrats voted to hold Eric Holder in contempt. They preferred to take orders from the NRA than stand with their party. There are some things that, even for Democrats, should be beyond the pale. They should be cut loose. Not a dime from the DNC or the DCCC. Let them get their money from the NRA, as if that group would go out of its way to protect Democrats. The Republicans are scum, but they would never allow something like this within the party, and in that instance, they'd be right.