Josh Kovner
Hartford Courant
Hartford, CT, United States
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Past articles by Josh:
Daily update: As coronavirus spreads, new demands for additional measures to restrict gatherings grow; Stop & Shop to curtail hours
With the potentially fatal coronavirus continuing to spread across Connecticut, a number of public officials are calling for tougher measures to limit public gatherings, saying existing steps in place do not go far enough. → Read More
After decades of independence, state legislators want to exert more control over the Metropolitan District
After decades of independence, state legislators want to exert more control over the Metropolitan District. → Read More
In veterans’ darkest hours, service dogs can light a path back to stability
There was Phil Bauer, 43, explaining how Champagne saved his life. That’s Lady Champagne, or Champ, for short, his 5 ½-year-old Labrador-Dane mix who, after 1,500 hours of training, is capable of dozens of specific tasks. → Read More
Hartford’s warming center on Vine Street open nightly through March 31
On Friday night into Saturday morning, at least 70 people sought refuge at the center, run by the Salvation Army, said Vas Srivastava, aide to Mayor Luke Bronin. The center has 80 cots. → Read More
Police arrest former farm animal owner after nearly 200 neglected animals seized from Suffield farm
The woman who police say neglected hundreds of farm animals in Suffield has turned herself in for arrest, police say. It's the town’s largest-ever animal cruelty case. → Read More
Health officials report first child death as flu virus tightens grip across Connecticut
Thirty-two people have died, including nine this week, and more than 1,365 have been hospitalized. Flu virus activity is widespread across the state, health officials said. → Read More
Gov. Ned Lamont’s criminal justice agenda includes ‘clean slate’ bill and reducing cost of prison phone calls
Gov. Ned Lamont’s criminal justice initiatives announced Wednesday would erase lower-level misdemeanor convictions after seven crime-free years, test and treat prison inmates for the hepatitis C virus, support the hiring of up to 170 new state troopers and lower the price of inmate telephone calls to strengthen family bonds. → Read More
Boost in DCF hiring leads to more manageable caseloads, federal report says
The Department of Children and Families has been hiring 30 social workers per month over much of the last year, leading to a decrease in average caseloads, an increase in home visits and improvements in the pace and quality of child welfare investigations, according to the latest federal oversight report on the agency. → Read More
Sen. Chris Murphy demands utilities ‘take responsibility’ for protecting eligible low-income families from utility shut-offs
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy told regulators Thursday he doesn’t believe Connecticut’s power companies are complying with an order to insulate thousands of low-income families from utility disconnections during the annual, six-month-long winter protection period — an established program that prohibits disconnections from November to May. → Read More
Activists press for new law abolishing solitary confinement and capping inmate cell time at 16 hours daily
Inmates who are isolated under one of DOC’s several versions of solitary confinement are now locked in their cells up to 23 hours a day. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the use of solitary confinement at the Manson Youth Institute in Cheshire, and a federal judge in August ruled that the isolation and other conditions of confinement of a former death row at Northern Correctional… → Read More
Absent the usual triggers, Anthony Todt’s confessed crime is an unusual case study
Tony Todt’s confessed actions in the killing of his wife, three young children, and the family dog make him an unusual perpetrator in the annals of family killers, three forensic experts said in interviews Friday. → Read More
Lawsuit: Cancer doctors criticize state’s care of stricken prison inmate
Now, an email-string between cancer doctors at UConn Health’s John Dempsey Hospital, contained in one of the inmate wrongful-death lawsuits, is providing a variation on that theme: outside professionals, forced to deal with a sick inmate who did not receive timely care, appear to be the ones indicting the $90 million a year medical system. → Read More
Stories that shaped the decade: The Cheshire home invasion trial and repeal of the death penalty
Courant reporters and editors have selected the Cheshire trial, and the death penalty repeal that followed later, as two of the top stories that shaped the decade. → Read More
Fairfield dentist ordered to pay $1.7M for exploiting Medicaid patients at assisted living centers
Superior Court Judge A. Susan Peck found that from May 2014 to May 2015, Agadjanian knowingly presented claims for payment for dental work that was never provided to state Medicaid patients, created false records to back up the claims, and accepted payment for the fraud. → Read More
New Britain’s Mark Schand awarded $27M by federal jury in wrongful imprisonment lawsuit
A federal jury in Massachusetts has awarded $27 million to a Connecticut man who spent 27 years in prison for a killing he maintained he didn’t commit. → Read More
As vaping illnesses continue to rise in Connecticut, most patients report using products containing THC
As vaping illnesses continue to rise in Connecticut, nine patients interviewed so far by state health investigators reported using products containing THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. → Read More
Opposition to Purdue settlement runs deep in Connecticut and Northeast; purported $10B-$12B deal seen as ‘fantasy’
As details of a purported deal between 27 states and OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma have surfaced, the attorneys general in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York have grown increasingly resolute that the offer lacks credibility and doesn’t remotely address the human toll of the opioid addiction crisis. → Read More
Purdue Pharma reaches tentative settlement in federal lawsuit and some state cases, but not with Connecticut
Purdue Pharma, manufacturer of blockbuster painkiller OxyContin, has reached a tentative settlement with 22 state attorneys general and more than 2,000 cities and counties that have sued the company over its role in fueling the opioid crisis of the past two decades, sources said Wednesday. → Read More
Tong indicates OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma may be retreating from opioid settlement talks
Following indications Purdue Pharma could seek bankruptcy protection, Attorney General William Tong on Monday was sounding like the Stamford-based OxyContin maker had squandered an opportunity to settle hundreds of lawsuits and make reparations for its role in the opioid--addiction epidemic. → Read More
Connecticut medical examiner predicts 1,088 overdose deaths by year’s end, an increase from 2018
It would continue an upward trend in deaths since the opioid epidemic took hold here in 2015, wipe out a small decrease in 2018, and defy a steep rise in the distribution of the antidote Narcan in Connecticut this year. → Read More