What Is courant.com? The Hartford Courant's Local News Site Explained

courant.com is the website of the Hartford Courant, a local news source serving Hartford, West Hartford, East Hartford, Glastonbury, Manchester, New Britain, Simsbury, and the wider Connecticut region. Visitors go there for breaking news, UConn sports coverage, business and entertainment stories, weather, traffic, opinion, photos, and videos. The site also offers email newsletters and a subscription option, so some content may sit behind a paywall.

Who runs it and who it's for

The Hartford Courant describes itself as the local news source for Hartford and its surrounding communities. That local focus shapes everything on the site: the politics, crime, and school stories are Connecticut-specific, and the sports coverage leans heavily on UConn.

If you live in or follow central Connecticut, the site is built for you. If you're looking for national or international news, this isn't the primary purpose of the site.

What you'll find on the homepage

The homepage is organized into labeled sections that make it easy to scan:

A typical visit surfaces a mix of hard news and lighter fare. Recent examples from the site include a video of Gov. Lamont using a vulgar word at a campaign event, a proposed development of nearly 70 upscale homes in a Connecticut town, a report on rising poverty as public benefits fall, and UConn men's basketball exhibition results.

Coverage areas in detail

• Breaking news and local news — crime, accidents, court cases, and town-level developments across the Hartford region.
• UConn sports — game coverage, takeaways, and analysis, including men's and women's basketball and football.
• Business — Connecticut companies, development projects, and economic trends.
• Entertainment and things to do — new restaurants, local events, and dining openings.
• Weather and traffic — conditions and road incidents affecting the region.
• Opinion — columns and commentary, such as the Dom Amore sports column.
• Photos and videos — visual coverage of games, events, and news scenes.

Newsletters and subscriptions

The site invites readers to sign up for email newsletters, which deliver headlines and updates directly. It also carries a subscription option, and payment signals on the site include Apple Pay. Because subscription terms and pricing aren't specified in the available information, check the site directly for current rates and what a subscription includes.

Practical notes for first-time visitors

• Headlines often carry relative timestamps ("2 minutes ago," "13 hours ago"), so you can judge how fresh a story is at a glance.
• The "Most Popular" section is a quick way to see what other readers are following right now.
• If a story is behind a paywall, the newsletter signup is a separate, typically free way to get headlines.