Underdog Kris Allen Captures America’s Vote Folksy singer Kris Allen, left, is the new “American Idol,” turning judges’ favorite Adam Lambert into an also-ran. Allen gets a record contract along with his “American Idol” title. Story, Page A4
THURSDAY 5.21.09 >> 5 #
AT THE CAPITOL
House Backs Universal Care Measure Would Guarantee Medical Coverage To Any State Resident By CHRISTOPHER KEATING ckeating@courant.com
The state House of Representatives took a major step Wednesday night toward resolving an issue that has long defied a solution — guaranteeing health care coverage to tens of thousands of Connecticut residents without health insurance. After a debate that lasted 2½ hours, the House voted largely along party lines, 107-35, for a landmark bill aimed at achieving universal health care in Connecticut by creating a public insurance
pool that anyone could join, regardless of their health history. The pool, backed by a coalition of social activists, religious leaders and Democratic lawmakers, would be based on the existing pool for state employees, and is designed to compete with — not replace — private insurance plans. It is still not clear when, or if, the so-called SustiNet plan could become law. The state Senate still needs to act, and Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell, who has been pushing her own Charter Oak health plan, could
veto it. The costs are expected to be a major sticking point, especially with the state’s projected budget deficit of $8.7 billion over the next two fiscal years. The insurance industry has also pitched an alternate concept for expanding health coverage. That plan would also create an insurance pool for people who lack coverage, but instead of using a public pool, the plan would have insurers offer coverage for the people in the pool. HOUSE, A6
COAST GUARD ACADEMY COMMENCEMENT
SOX, YANKS The Yankees make it eight in a row with an 11-4 win over the Orioles: David Ortiz homers as the Red Sox win, 8-3. CTSPORTS, B1
FLAVOR
CLOE POISSON | cpoisson@courant.com
Whether it’s slow-cook smoking or hot and fast grilling, the time is right for outdoor cooking.
CADETS TAKE A BIG LEAP
CTLIVING, C1
Thomas Edward Horejs of Greencastle, Pa., jumps into the arms of friend and fellow newly commissioned officer Chris Mohnke of St. Johns, Mich., at the end of the 128th Commencement Exercises of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London on Wednesday. The 225 men and women in the Class of 2009 were addressed by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano. “My commitment to you today is to do everything I can to ensure that the Coast Guard has all the tools and resources it needs to achieve everything the country asks of you,” Napolitano said. Story, Page A5.
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The Color Of News
$75 MILLION OFFER
Attorney Fighting Pfizer Settlement Says Offer To Nigeria On Drug-Test Suit An End-Run Around His Clients By MATTHEW KAUFFMAN mkauffman@courant.com
Pfizer Inc. is prepared to pay tens of millions of dollars to Nigerians who were killed or injured when the pharmaceutical giant tested an experimental antibiotic on scores of children during a meningitis outbreak in the African country. So why is a Connecticut attorney
working so hard to scuttle the settlement? It’s the latest twist in a long-twisted court battle that has skipped across an ocean and back again, and drawn on everything from Colonial-era piracy laws to the Nuremberg trials and a John le Carré murder mystery. West Haven lawyer Richard Altschuler has been suing Pfizer for most of the past decade, but he wasn’t cheering when he first got word of a $75 million offer to
resolve a case in the Nigerian courts. Instead, he’s gone to court in Connecticut to block the settlement, charging that the drug company and lawyers for the Nigerian government are conspiring to shortchange his clients — and slam the door on his U.S. suit. The wrinkle: Altschuler is not involved in the Nigerian negotiations and,
After Wesleyan student Johanna Justin-Jinich was killed, the media coverage was intense. But what about 22-year-old Ashley Peoples of Enfield, kidnapped and killed in August 2008? Or Tiana Notice, a 25-year-old University of Hartford graduate student, stabbed to death on Valentine’s Day? Why do some lives — and deaths — seem to matter more? It’s hard not to look at the disproportionate coverage and wonder about the color of the news. Helen Ubiñas column, Page A2
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