It's only the second week of December, but 70 organizations invested in early childhood initiatives crowded the podium at the Legislative Office Building Wednesday and urged Gov. M. Jodi Rell to continue investing in the state's children.

Worried that some of their progress in recent years may disappear as Rell and lawmakers struggle with an estimated $6 billion budget deficit, advocates said they want the state to protect the children.

"This Governor has supported early childhood programs more than any other governor in recent history," Chris Cooper, Rell's spokesman said Wednesday. However, "right now the state faces difficult times and the Governor has said everything is on the table," he added.

As part of a $4 million public-private partnership, officials from the University of Connecticut announced Tuesday that it added six of the nation's top alternative energy researchers to its faculty.

University of Connecticut President Michael Hogan praised lawmakers for having the vision to make something like this happen, while Mun Choi, Dean of the UConn Engineering School, introduced the new faculty to lawmakers.

The six new faculty members were hired as part of the "Eminent Faculty" program, which was created by the 21st Century Jobs bill passed by the General Assembly in 2006. The legislation is intended to promote economic development and help grow the state's alternative energy workforce.

Comedian Bill Cosby returned to Hartford on Monday night for the second time since July to share his views on responsible parenting, education, hope, and empowerment.

The 71-year-old actor-turned motivational speaker offered some blunt comments about the need to teach children about the dangers of having sex - and maybe more of his comments were directed at young women than young men - but despite his language, the message appeared to be well taken by parents, teachers, and teens alike.

ConnCAN (the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now) graded how well the state's schools performed in 2008 in "overall improvements in student performance," and "how well they served their low-income, African American and Hispanic students."

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Eight urban schools from Hartford to Bridgeport will be doing whatever it takes this year to educate their students, even if that means using a different reading curriculum than prescribed by the school district.

Often frustrated by being told how to educate its students, the Connecticut Alliance for CommPact Schools, is offering the eight public schools an opportunity to think outside of the box and let the teachers, parents, and school community decide what's best for its school.

"I feel like I'm teaching to the test all the time," Anabel Pinto, a teacher at Hill Central in New Haven said in this video about why this new collaboration is needed. Pinto isn't alone.