Connecticut

With strong support from young and independent voters, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama leads Arizona Sen. John McCain 52 – 35 percent in Connecticut, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

The numbers don’t look so good for the Senator from New York, although she still edges McCain 45-42%.

What’s interesting how it breaks down amongst independents.

In the Obama-McCain match-up it goes like this:

Independent voters overall swing Obama 45 – 38%
voters < 45 years old 63 – 30 percent
White voters back Obama 48 – 39 percent while black voters back him 91 – 5 percent.

When it comes to a Clinton vs.

(Read the full post about ‘Latest Q-Poll: Obama leads McCain 52 -35%’…)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf the Wizard in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, is hoping to reprise the role in another tale from Middle Earth.

A fan asked McKellen on the actor’s official Web site if he would play the role of Gandalf in “The Hobbit,” which is being produced by Peter Jackson, director of the “Rings” trilogy.

“Yes, I will, if Peter Jackson and I have anything to do with it, he being the producer and me being, on the whole, a very lucky actor,” McKellen, 68, said in a reply dated Wednesday.

Jackson reached a deal with New Line Cinema late last year to make two films of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” a planned prequel to the blockbuster “Rings” trilogy. (Read the full post about ‘McKellen Expresses Interest In Gandalf For ‘Hobbit’’…)

LOS ANGELES — Oscar-winning screenwriter Abby Mann has died.

He was 80.

Mann was known for writing socially conscious scripts for movies and television. He won the 1961 Academy Award for adapted screenplay for “Judgment at Nuremberg.”

Mann also won multiple Emmys, including one for the 1973 television movie which was spun off into the long-running television series “Kojak.”

Writers Guild of America spokesman Gregg Mitchell said Mann died Tuesday. The cause of death was not given.

ATLANTA — Rapper T.I. pleaded guilty Thursday to federal weapons possession charges and is to be sentenced in one year, after completing a period of community service.

In the year that he is awaiting sentencing, T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, must complete at least 1,000 hours of a total 1,500 hours of community service, talking to youth groups about the pitfalls of guns, gangs and drugs.

Harris, 27, who was dressed in a gray business suit, told the judge he understands the terms of the agreement.

He pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered firearm, possession of machine guns and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. (Read the full post about ‘Rapper T.I. Enters Plea In Weapons Case’…)

SAN DIEGO — Starbucks Corp. does not plan to compensate its California baristas for tips they shared with shift supervisors, defying a San Diego Superior Court ruling last week.

“The ruling would take away the right of shift supervisors to receive the tips they earn for providing superior customer service,” said Chief Executive Howard Schultz, in a voicemail message to employees Wednesday night. “I want you to know that we strongly believe that this ruling is extremely unfair and beyond reason.”

In the voicemail, a transcript of which was released by Starbucks, Schultz said the media “grossly mischaracterized” the coffee chain’s standard practice of allowing shift supervisors to share in tips left for baristas.

“We would never condone any type of behavior that would lead anyone to conclude that we would take money from our people,” he said. (Read the full post about ‘Starbucks To Fight Tip-Sharing Ruling’…)

NEW YORK — U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has added his voice to others in the party saying that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton should abandon her White House run.

Leahy said there is no way that Clinton can win enough delegates to get the nomination. He told Vermont Public Radio in an interview that Clinton ought to withdraw and should be backing Sen. Barack Obama. But Leahy said that’s obviously a decision only Clinton can make.

Leahy endorsed Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in January.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., endorsed Obama Friday, a move that could help the presidential candidate make inroads with white working-class voters dubbed “Casey Democrats” in the Keystone State. (Read the full post about ‘Quit Campaign, Leahy Tells Clinton’…)

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — A judge in Pennsylvania gave three Spanish-speaking men a choice: Learn English or go to jail.

The men faced prison terms for criminal conspiracy to commit robbery.

But the judge said they can stay on parole if they learn to read and write English, earn their GEDs and get full-time jobs.

During a court hearing this week in which the men pleaded guilty, they needed translators.

Judge Peter Olszewski said, “Do you think we are going to supply you with a translator all of your life?”

Attorneys for the men said they’re studying the legality of the ruling, and that they haven’t decided whether to appeal.

But one attorney said his client is happy.

“I think it’s going to help him,” the lawyer said. (Read the full post about ‘Judge Sentences 3 Men To English Lessons’…)

VOLCANO, Hawaii — Explosions and toxic fumes aren’t keeping visitors from flocking to witness the spectacular eruption at Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano.

Video: Visitors Flock To Eruption

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park’s superintendent said about 9,000 people a day are touring the park on average so far this year.

Once inside the park, viewers can see the plume of ash and sulfur dioxide rising from a crater. This week the crater spewed small blobs of lava that fell along its rim. (Read the full post about ‘Hawaii Tourists Unfazed By Volcano Blasts’…)

From the Senate Democrats:

Senate President Donald E. Williams (D-Brooklyn), Speaker of the House Jim Amann (D-Milford), Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney (D-New Haven), Senator Edith Prague (D-Columbia), Senator Jonathan Harris (D-West Hartford), Senator Paul Doyle (D-Middletown), and fellow legislators announced a plan to increase funding for nursing homes for the purpose of raising the current statutory minimum staff-to-resident ratio from 1.9 to 4.2 hours of care per day. Governor M. Jodi Rell proposed no increase for nursing homes in her budget presented to the Legislature in February.
[…]
Legislative leaders are looking to add $9.5 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1 to increase staffing.

(Read the full post about ‘A Closer Look at the Budget: Nursing Home Staff Increases’…)

It may have been the most deft political move the current Democratic leadership has ever made.

They proposed a budget which doesn’t raise taxes and comes in under Gov. Rell’s proposal. And the Republicans on the committee didn’t vote for it. Here’s why:

Republican leaders said they liked the Democrat-controlled Appropriations Committee budget, which spends $110 million less than Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s request, but did not vote for it during today’s committee meeting.

(Read the full post about ‘Stealing Thunder’…)