Governor under fire

South Windsor, Conn.

Connecticut Gov. John Rowland admitted that a major state contractor paid for improvements at his lakeside summer cottage, prompting Democrats to call for his resignation. Ten days after insisting that he paid for the work himself, Rowland, a Republican, confirmed that TBI Construction Inc. had covered the bill for a heating system and gutter repairs at his vacation house in 1999. Weeks after the work was done, the company won a state contract worth $50 million. “The man is a disgrace,” said state Sen. Edith Prague, a Democrat. Rowland said that he had done nothing wrong. “We’ve made an apology,” he said. “Now I have to govern.”