Author Archives: Christine Stuart

Only 3600 Houses for Sale in CT

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HARTFORD — Connecticut lawmakers on three legislative committees tried to tackle the real estate market Tuesday during an informational session on home sales, affordability, and construction. 

Jessica Lautz, chief economist and vice president of research for the National Association of REALTORS, told the Housing, Planning and Development and Insurance and Real Estate Committees, that there are only 3,600 homes for sale in all of Connecticut. That’s down from 17,000 homes for sale in 2017. 

The median price for a single-family home has also increased from $235,000 in 2017 to …

Visit this link to read the full story by Christine Stuart and published Jan. 18 on CTNewsJunkie.com.

Political Signs Defaced In Old Lyme

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Defaced political sign in Old Lyme, Connecticut on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022. Credit: Contributed photo / Courtesy of the CTGOP.

OLD LYME — Less than 24 hours after they were put up along a busy street in Old Lyme, two large signs promoting Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Stefanowski were defaced with red graffiti, according to property owner J. David Kelsey.

Kelsey, who co-founded the Old Lyme-based real estate private-equity investment company Hamilton Point Investments LLC, is a Republican currently serving as chairman of the town’s Board of Finance. Kelsey also funded the launch in 2019 of the CTExaminer, and in February he contributed $500,000 to the launch of a Super PAC that is supporting Stefanowski’s campaign.

He said the signs were installed on his land around 2 p.m. Saturday and on Sunday were found defaced.

“It’s a little disappointing,” Kelsey said. He added …

Read the full article, titled, Political Signs Reportedly Defaced In Old Lyme, which was written by Christine Stuart and published Oct. 2, on CTNewsJunkie.com, at this link. Both CTNewsJunkie.com and LymeLine.com are members of the national organization LION (Local Independent Online News) Publishers.

Former Old Lyme First Selectwoman Testifies at State Transportation Committee’s Public Hearing on CPA

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CHRISTINE STUART/ CTNEWSJUNKIE PHOTO. Published with permission of CTNewsJunkie.com.  Bonnie Reemsnyder and Scott Bates, two former Port Authority board members, testify at Wednesday’s hearing.

HARTFORD, CT / OLD LYME — The massive stroke suffered by the Connecticut Port Authority’s former executive director, Evan Matthews, on May 26, 2017, took a toll on operations and contributed to the contracting issues at the quasi-public agency.

Matthews, who voluntarily testified Wednesday at the Transportation Committee’s public hearing on a second state audit of the organization, said some of the contracting issues “were related to the CPA reacting to this emergency.” He also said he was not given a chance to sit down with the auditors and explain to them the unique circumstances “to give them context for why some decisions were being made.”

However, …

Read the full article by Christine Stuart and titled, Former Executive Director Says His Health Contributed To Problems At Port Authority, published Dec. 4 on CTNewsJunkie.com.

Senator Murphy’s Vote Was Not Counted in Old Lyme Election

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OLD LYME — It was one of the most hotly-contested local elections in the state, but not everyone’s ballot was counted.

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy voted by absentee ballot in the Nov. 5 election, but his vote was not counted because — unbeknownst to the senator — his name had been moved to the inactive voter list.

Shortly after his election to the U.S. Senate …

Read the full article written by Christine Stuart and published Nov. 26 on CTNewsJunkie.com at this link.

News Associations Concerned Over Digital Political Ad Reporting Requirements

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Sen. Matt Lesser and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff. Photo by Christine Stuart/CT NewsJunkie file photo

The Connecticut Broadcasters Association and the Connecticut Daily Newspaper Association are lobbying against legislation that seeks to target “online platforms” with reporting requirements for political advertising.

In an open letter to the General Administration and Elections Committee, which forwarded HB 7329 to the House on April 1 by a 12-3 vote, the news associations said the requirements in the bill would “create costly administrative burdens” and would act like a “hidden tax” on news organizations.

At the minimum, the bill would require …

Follow this link to read the full article by Christine Stuart and published today on CTNewsJunkie.com