Len Besthoff takes a look back at some of the biggest Troubleshooters stories of the past year.
It has been a busy 12 months for the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters.
We have results in connection with a number of stories we broke months ago and some we shared with you for the first time this year.
In March, the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters learned a solar company we had profiled and that had been the subject of consumer complaints surrendered its license and agreed not to participate anymore in a state solarization program.
An attorney for the state said, “but for an NBC Connecticut story, this issue would still likely be unresolved."
The company maintains the issues highlighted by the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters were the exception, not the rule.
A month later, the NBC Connecticut investigative team broke a story about alleged patient abuse at Connecticut's maximum security mental health hospital. It led to dozens of employee being put on leave, terminated and for some, arrested. The investigation also prompted a state legislative hearing.
Our team got some great news for consumers in July, when we learned our report on how pharmacies were restricted from telling customers about cheaper medications ended up with legislators passing a law allowing them to.
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A month later, another law was passed following a NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters report on school bus companies failing to check up on the driving and criminal records of their drivers. The legislation tightens requirements on how often school bus companies must check on them.
In the fall, we learned a law was passed after a series of NBC Connecticut Troubleshooter stories about people avoiding car taxes with out-of-state plates. Police can now check the registration status on questionable vehicles that are parked on public property, which they could not do before.
The NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters teamed up with the Connecticut Bank and Trust Alumni Club to help get the word out about how they will locate pension funds that many thought were lost forever after the bank's parent company failed back in 1991. More than $1 million dollar in long lost money owed to retirees of CBT and the Bank of New England was found following our reporting.
Most of all, it was another big year for the NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters and our award winning coverage of Connecticut's crumbling concrete crisis. Not only did the state step up with $100 million to help people with failing basements, but our team won the coveted duPont-Columbia Award for our exclusive coverage of this catastrophic issue, our first, exclusive piece on this airing more than two years ago.
