STATE UNEMPLOYMENT
A new report shows that Connecticut has gained more than 4,000 jobs while its unemployment rate remained the same. Thursday’s monthly Department of Labor employment report indicates Connecticut gained 4,100 net jobs in May. The state’s unemployment rate for that month remained at 4.5 percent. The national unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in May. Governor Dannel Malloy says the state’s efforts to retain and grow private sector jobs, while shrinking the size of government, are paying off.
SCHOOL SAFETY EVENT
As the academic year winds down, school safety continues to be a topic of conversation in Connecticut. High schoolers spoke during a State Student Advisory Council town hall meeting on school safety in Hartford. The council was created by the legislature in 1998 to give high school students a voice in the laws and policies that govern public schools.
OBAMA SCHOOL
A new Connecticut elementary school will be named after former President Barack Obama. New Haven Public Schools administrators, civic leaders and officials gathered Thursday at the Southern Connecticut State University campus to break ground on Barack H. Obama Magnet University School. The 64,000-square-foot school will serve nearly 500 students from pre-K through 4th grade.
RI CAMPAIGN SPAT
A gubernatorial candidate in Rhode Island is facing criticism for saying her Chinese-American rival was “digging so deep” to get out of a recent campaign scandal that he’ll soon “be in China.” Barbara Ann Fenton, the wife of Republican Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, said the comments from Republican state Representative Patricia Morgan were “stupid.” Morgan has said she didn’t mean it in an “ethnic” manner.
