The General Administration and Elections Committee killed a bill Monday that would exempt private contractors from disclosing information under the state's Freedom of Information laws.

Instead of addressing the bill the committee neglected to bring it up for a vote, which effectively killed the bill.

Rep. Chris Caruso, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the GAE committee, said there was a lot of pressure put on committee members regarding their vote on this bill. Not to mention, the bill goes "totally against the Freedom of Information Act," he said.

First, the good news: The Hartford has promised it won't knock down 40,000 square feet of 1926 Georgian Revival office building formerly owned by MassMutual in Asylum Hill, nor will it create any more surface parking at the site, according to Josh King, a PR flack for The Hartford.

King swore to these edicts at the monthly meeting of the Asylum Hill Problem Solving Revitalization Association (aka the NRZ) Monday night April 7, 2008 at the Asylum Hill Congregational Church.

To refresh the NRZ's collective memory, King explained that in December, The Hartford negotiated an option to purchase the historically significant property. At the same time, it applied for a 90-day waiting period for a permit to demolish 600,000 square feet worth of office edifice on the 16-acre campus.

In the past week, while eyes were on the meltdown of New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer, another meltdown was in progress that can damage Connecticut's state budget and the stability of financial markets.

On March 10, Spitzer publicly acknowledged wrongdoing. Less noticed that same day, shares of Bear Stearns, a financial institution with major exposure to sub-prime mortgages, began a week long decline in share price.

By this weekend, the Federal Reserve brokered a bailout at a shocking $2 a share to preserve the stability of markets. In two days alone, $4.5 billion in equity had vaporized.

Because of the effect on the stock market, the short-term implications for Connecticut's budget will likely be losses in our pension fund investments.

Click here to continue reading her report at the New Haven Independent.

In sparing one of the New Haven Savings/NewAlliance bank scammers a jail term, federal Judge Janet Arterton (pictured) said she was sending two messages to purveyors of financial fraud.

Message One: If you cooperate immediately with authorities, pay fines without negotiating, send others to jail, and show real remorse, you can stay out of jail.

Message Two: People now do go to jail if they sneak their way into bank-conversion stock buys to which they're not legally entitled.

Click here to continue reading Paul's report.

Making him an "example" in a pioneering white-collar crime prosecution, a federal judge sent the mastermind of the New Haven Savings Bank/NewAlliance bank scam to a year and a day in the slammer.

U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton recommended a minimum security "camp" for Robert R. Ross, 62, sentencing him Friday to the prison term plus three years of supervised release.

Click here to continue reading the New Haven Independent's report.

NewAlliance Bank's president (pictured) came under fire at an annual shareholders meeting for her $4 million 2006 compensation as well as for her role at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

President Peyton Patterson faced 20 minutes of shareholder open-mic barbs -- including pointed questions from a retired reverend and a union activist -- at the end of the bank's annual meeting Tuesday morning. The meeting took place in the lobby of the Chevrolet Theatre (which was known as the Oakdale back in the days when NewAlliance was known as New Haven Savings Bank).

Click here to continue reading this report from our New Haven bureau.

Wake Up Wal-Mart is back. The grassroots union-backed organization that rallied alongside Democratic candidates this fall will hold a press conference in Hartford Thursday to highlight the retail giant's record on gender discrimination, access to affordable health care, and anti-family policies. As shoppers consider their holiday purchases, Wake Up Wal-Mart supporters will distribute pink greeting cards that say, "Women and Families Deserve Better Than Wal-Mart" Keri Hoehne, spokesman for the organization said Wednesday. Wake Up Wal-Mart supporters, Working Families Party members, and state officials will gather Thursday afternoon at the Flatbush Avenue Wal-Mart store in Hartford to give the retailer a "Holiday wake-up call." The group will call on Wal-Mart's CEO Lee Scott to end the company's anti-family policies by Christmas Day and will launch its newest holiday television ad entitled "1000 Years." The ad will be available Thursday afternoon on its web site. To see its previous ad campaigns, click here.

Paul Bass file photo
State Sen. Martin Looney originally tried to stop state deregulation of electric utilities. In the wake of UI's Thanksgiving surprise -- a 38 percent rate hike -- he and other leaders promise to press for answers about how to fix the disaster.In the short term, maybe not much. In the long term, ideas abound.

Paul Bass photo
New Haven Savings Bank didn't turn a blind eye to a massive unfolding fraud when the bank went public and became NewAlliance, its chief financial officer testified in federal court.

NewAlliance Bank isn't a named party to a fraud trial that began in federal court in New Haven Monday. But the lawyer for an alleged scammer made clear in opening remarks that he'll put on trial the actions of top execs of a "greedy, dishonest bank" (like CEO Peyton Patterson, pictured) who he said winked at a massive swindle in order to pocket millions themselves.