by | Sep 20, 2006 12:01 pm | Comments (3)
The spike in crime has startled Edgewood and Beaver Hills as much as any neighborhoods in town, with some people questioning whether community policing is dying. But the cops received nothing but love at a meeting with the area’s management team, and these two officers were part of the reason why. Meanwhile, Police Chief Cisco Ortiz announced that more cops would soon be on the street.
by | Sep 14, 2006 2:28 pm | Comments (3)
“The way forward is with a broken heart.” So wrote Beaver Hills Alderwoman Babz Rawls-Ivy Thursday in a letter announcing her resignation in the wake of pleading guilty to embezzling $49,000 in federal money.
by | Sep 12, 2006 3:58 pm | Comments (1)
City Hall’s opponents and supporters alike were scrambling Tuesday to find a candidate to replace Beaver Hills Alderwoman Babz Rawls-Ivy. If, as expected, Rawls-Ivy (at left in photo) resigns her seat this week in the wake of her guilty plea to embezzling public money, a special election must take place within 45 days to choose her successor, under Section 53 of the city charter. Independent readers have been unanimous in their comments in calling for Rawls-Ivy to resign. Wrote one reader: “I’m sorry to read of her misdeeds, but I know firsthand that she has done tremendous good — for the four children she has adopted, and for her neighborhood and the city. I’m sure Babz will do the right thing now and resign, but our city will be the worse off for losing her as an alder.” Click here to join the discussion; please be civil and respectful in your choice of words.
by | Sep 11, 2006 5:08 pm | Comments (19)
Declaring a hope for “redemption,” Beaver Hills Alderwoman Babz Rawls-Ivy said Monday afternoon that she’s considering a request from the mayor to resign her post after she pleaded guilty to embezzling a total of $49,059 in federal money through a community agency she used to run.
by | Aug 16, 2006 1:12 pm | Comments (4)
Glass, and busy work crews, signal progress at two previously stalled building projects bringing new life to two corners of the west side of town.
by | Aug 11, 2006 3:25 pm | Comments (12)
People who live or work along Whalley Avenue want the city’s most heavily-traveled corridor to have more character than “Route 1 in Orange.” So do city officials like Kelly Murphy (at right in photo), who unveiled new marketing efforts Friday to attract new business along the least attractive stretch of Whalley, where a new zoning “overlay” aims to make new construction more “appealing” and pedestrian friendly.
by | Jul 12, 2006 8:24 am | Comments (2)
Daniel Stein, the developer who dismayed and upset Beaver Hill neighbors by slashing down this tree, withdrew Tuesday his request for a zoning variance to build a house on that lot. He plans to build a house there anyway.
by | Jul 6, 2006 9:27 am | Comments (8)
The neighborhood protectors of Beaver Pond Park, like Nan Bartow (in photo), brought a messy matter to City Hall Wednesday: the bottles and bags and other junk that ends up in their urban jewel after heavy rains.
Continue reading ‘Water Over the Dam? Not If They Can Help It’
by | Jun 21, 2006 5:28 pm | Comments (4)
In more tree trouble in Beaver Hills, a UI tree-trimmer (pictured) came under the fire of angry neighbors who didn’t want to hear justifications for the power company pruning. They wanted a “moratorium” on the “hacking.”
by | Jun 21, 2006 8:54 am | Comments (24)
Some called it “murder.” Others shed tears. A rare, stately copper beech tree was hacked down Tuesday morning to make way for a proposed home on an historic street in Beaver Hills. In its place stood heightened neighborhood tension, and this stump (pictured).
by | Jun 16, 2006 5:43 pm | Comments (0)
This corner lot on Beaver Hills’ Colony Road has long remained a quiet yard with old, stately trees. An investor wants to clear the lot and put up a house. Neighbors worry the move would ruin the neighborhood’s historic feel.
by | May 18, 2006 8:31 am | Comments (1)
“Beaver Hill is a single-family neighborhood,” said Francine Caplan (pictured), protesting a troubled boys’ home moving onto a stately neighborhood street. “It spoils the fabric of the entire neighborhood.” In a clamorous meeting at Hillhouse High School Wednesday night, Caplan joined 75 neighbors in debate over whether the proposed home fits the neighborhood. Some applauded. Others called remarks “discrimination” against those in need.
by | Apr 18, 2006 3:31 pm | Comments (0)
In honor of the winners of Mayor John DeStefano’s first annual Green Awards, the sun shone brightly Tuesday, the birds sang sweetly, and a big crowd turned out to see a flowering cherry tree planted at Beaver Pond Park. (And the guns were fired noisily, but that’s another story.) The honorees were Oliver Barton, director of Common Ground High School, and Ed Grant, an environmental activist for decades, whose many claims to fame include the annual Freddy Fixer parade, which promotes clean-up and recycling in inner city neighborhoods. Grant is shown at left with several Common Ground students.
Continue reading ‘A (Special) Tree Grows in Beaver Pond Park’
by | Mar 22, 2006 8:57 am | Comments (1)
The firing range at the Police Academy on Sherman Avenue draws FBI and Secret Service agents, members of the U.S. Coast Guard and local patrol cops. Honing firing skills is key, especially with the recent spate of violence against cops —‚Äù three separate incidents in the last month. But neighbors say the range, where guns go off in evening hours, disrupts neighborhood peace. Sgt. Stephen Shea (pictured) responded to neighbors’ complaints at a Whalley/Edgewood/Beaver Hill (WEB) Management Team meeting Tuesday night at the police substation on Whalley Avenue.
by | Mar 17, 2006 12:52 pm | Comments (0)
Starting Saturday, women will learn pilates, yoga, or kickboxing in a new studio on Whalley Avenue from an instructor in a hijab, long sleeve shirt and baggy pants. Meet Mubarakah Ibrahim — and check all stereotypes at the door.
by | Jan 25, 2006 9:50 am | Comments (1)
After a neighborhood meeting Tuesday night, activists in Beaver Hills are guardedly optimistic that Southern Connecticut State University is listening to their concerns about Southern’s proposed construction of a parking garage, but they also plan to keep all their options open as the process moves forward.
by | Jan 22, 2006 3:28 pm | Comments (2)
A gunman emerged from a car around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, fired bullets into two men on the corner of Blake and Whittlesey streets, then continued the job as one of the victims lay dying on the sidewalk before he drove away. Conetta Liburd (pictured) heard at least ten shots from her bedroom up the block — and thought about how her neighborhood has changed over the past year.
by | Jan 20, 2006 8:40 am | Comments (2)
Believe it or not, this is a scene from a city neighborhood. Neighbors like Nan Bartow are organizing to keep it this way as Southern Connecticut State University expands.
by | Jan 13, 2006 12:52 pm | Comments (4)
Look who’s moving into the Beaver Hills neighborhood: A wave of young families with children like Emma (pictured)— and a sober house of up to 12 recovering alcoholics and drug addicts. The families say they don’t want to be NIMBYs but they worry about the block’s future. The brewing battle touches on finer points of zoning law as well as broader questions about how and where to reintegrate addicts into society.
by | Oct 26, 2005 9:52 pm | Comments (1)
It was a day for vows at City Hall Tuesday for Beaver Hills politicians. Alderwoman Babz Rawls-Ivy of the 28th Ward renewed her wedding vows the same day, and at the same place, that Thomas Lehtonen was sworn in to replace the late 27th Ward alderman, Philip Voigt. The Board of Aldermen staff captured the event with these pictures. 
by | Oct 5, 2005 8:40 pm | Comments (4)
Some called him “alderman.” Others called him dad or co-worker or friend. Everybody called him a Great Guy — everybody, whether they were voting with him or sitting on the opposite side of the table. That’s what made Philip Voigt, a city alderman and longtime labor leader who died Wednesday after a bout with cancer, stand out on New Haven’s often-fractious civic terrain. And it offers a clue to how he made such a difference.
by | Sep 21, 2005 9:32 am | Comments (0)
The city has a plan for changing the character and appearance of the Whalley Avenue strip from the Boulevard to Sherman Avenue. Neighbors offered their reactions Tuesday night.
by | Sep 14, 2005 6:39 pm | Comments (1)
Neighbors say Harry’s Package Store at the commercial heart of Beaver Hills has been a mess for years. Especially the lot around it, pictured here. The city’s set to fine the owner $100 a day. The owner — who runs upscale restaurants elsewhere in town — says he’s tried to make the property nice but unreasonable neighbors have stopped him.