by | Jul 28, 2011 2:36 pm | Comments (0)
Jacob Cohn Photo
Jackie Solimini with workers at 26 Dickerman Street.
The crew fixing a porch on Dickerman Street Wednesday morning had more than one house in mind. They’re looking to make all of Dixwell look better
by | Jul 25, 2011 8:00 am | Comments (8)
Allan Appel Photo
Darlene Taylor is diabetic and 80 percent blind. So she couldn’t see them. But for weeks she felt their biting and the itching.
by | Jul 22, 2011 11:19 am | Comments (27)
Laurel Leff Photo
For Joyce Winston, her new walk-in paternity testing clinic at the corner of Sherman and Goffe is not just a business, it’s also a mission. She hopes the clinic will help men discover whether they’re “the daddy” so others won’t have to go through what she went through — twice.
by | Jul 17, 2011 8:34 am | Comments (3)
Michelle Turner Photo
Andrew Smith changes the net between games.
A basketball tournament Saturday at DeGale Field (in Goffe Street Park) brought back decades worth of good vibes and hanging-out memories, but with a more contemporary and urgent reason for gathering — the violence taking the lives of young men from the neighborhood, in this case 31-year-old Donell Allick, the former basketball standout gunned down last month.
by | Jul 15, 2011 12:05 pm | Comments (5)
Allan Appel Photo
One of the older Monks, Conley F. Jr., smooched with his granddaughter Kiley, one of the newest, as the fabled singing Monk Family —whose rise mirrored the rise and rich cultural contributions of post-World War II black New Haven — began to gather as they have for the past 48 years for their annual reunion, parade, and concert this weekend in the Hill.
by | Jul 14, 2011 7:53 am | Comments (2)
Jacob Cohn Photo
A shot at the First Niagara Block Party.
Perhaps it takes a racket to build a tennis village.
In the week following last June’s Free Tennis Lesson at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale, where First Niagara gave free rackets to 300 local kids, registrations for New Haven Youth Tennis and Education’s tennis lessons shot up by 30 percent.
So on Wednesday the New Haven Open at Yale sought to spark a similar rise in young people’s tennis playing in the Dixwell neighborhood.
by | Jul 4, 2011 9:12 am | Comments (10)
Allan Appel Photo
Morehead (center) dances with Curtis Edwards & Alice Pritchard.
At a block party turned dance party where Greg Morehead announced he’s running for a third term, the Dixwell alderman cut a rug with a constituent, released a hip-hop anthem denouncing “haters” — and said he has helped his constituents land jobs at the new Stop & Shop.
by | Jul 3, 2011 9:53 am | Comments (6)
Allan Appel Photo
Travis’s Aunt Latonya Washington, right.
Latonya Washington was selling not only hot dogs and burgers in Goffe Street Park’s DeGale Field Saturday. She also sold items that alas are becoming nearly as common in crime-beleaguered neighborhoods of the city: Rest In Peace T‑shirts and R.I.P. buttons.
by | Jun 30, 2011 12:05 pm | Comments (8)
Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo
Mayoral candidate Clifton Graves showed up to the Dixwell/Newhallville Senior Center ready to parry with voters. William Vaughn, president of the seniors association there, told him — politely — to come back when the group entertains all four challengers to Mayor John DeStefano, so members can pick the best bet. Graves is hoping the candidates do the picking first.
by | Jun 27, 2011 8:36 am | Comments (10)
Michelle Turner Photo
“Yeah, this is what we talking ‘bout right here. The youth. We gotta start with the youth.”
by | Jun 21, 2011 10:55 am | Comments (0)
Melissa Bailey File Photo
As New Haven Promise prepares to dispatch its first CollegeCorps crew to knock on students’ doors this weekend, the program is looking for more volunteers.
by | Jun 14, 2011 11:12 am | Comments (6)
Melissa Bailey Photo
Hooker’s Robles-Rivas & Hershonik.
Quick learners at the Hooker School will get newfound independence, and a new team of teachers aims to boost Dixwell kids’ test scores by 10 percent, according to new plans due to take effect this fall.
Continue reading ‘“Dream Team” For Dixwell; Help For Hooker’
by | Jun 6, 2011 4:18 pm | Comments (35)
Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo
A campaign kickoff turned into a community meeting as Jeanette Morrison announced the latest in a series of first-time quests for seats on the Board of Aldermen.
by | Jun 6, 2011 11:02 am | Comments (27)
Melissa Bailey Photo
George Cunningham joined mentors who talked to Hillhouse boys.
At Hillhouse High’s graduation this month, 97 girls and 75 boys will get diplomas. Two-thirds of the boys who entered the school freshman year didn’t make it.
by | Jun 3, 2011 7:36 am | Comments (5)
Melissa Bailey Photo
Longtime classroom aide Patricia Robinson will hit the streets of Newhallville with a blue T‑shirt and an armful of “parent kits,” as the city launches a new door-knocking campaign to help families prepare for college.
Continue reading ‘College Crew Prepares To Hit Newhallville’
by | May 31, 2011 9:38 am | Comments (4)
Allan Appel Photo
David Strollo (right) & Norman Pattis.
While real bullets flew outside in New Haven, a state prosecutor who runs the “gun court” in town and a longtime defense attorney engaged in a verbal duel — over whether mandatory sentences for gun possession and other crimes enhance society’s safety or ruin young lives.
by | May 31, 2011 9:37 am | Comments (12)
Maxine Davis welcomed the dramatic change beginning at Wexler/Grant School — even though it means she can’t return to teach there in the fall.
Continue reading ‘At “Turnaround,” Half The Teachers Will Stay’
by | May 19, 2011 11:16 am | Comments (4)
Paul Bass Photo
The Edwards family lost “everything” in a fire that gutted their home. Now their church is running a drive to collect clothing and donations in response.
Continue reading
‘Church Rallies For
Mother's Day Fire Family’
by | May 19, 2011 7:28 am | Comments (4)
Allan Appel Photo
Kendall Murphy & John Prokop.
Longtime New Haven homeowner Kendall Murphy had a problem with a tree. He saw city parks director Bob Levine.
He also had a problem with the sidewalk in front of his Ella Grasso Boulevard home. So he sat right down for a face-to-face with public works director John Prokop
It was the Mayor’s Night Out, and on a squalling Wednesday evening at Hillhouse High there were far more department directors to chat up than residents.
That meant that Murphy got to bring his gripes directly to as many top city officials as he wanted, right in his backyard.
by | May 9, 2011 8:01 am | Comments (3)
Paul Bass Photo
Tim Edwards had an elaborate home-cooked meal ready for his mom. Then their house erupted in flames.
by | Apr 29, 2011 11:11 am | Comments (0)
Gwyneth K. Shaw Photo
As she clutched a ribbon attached to a black balloon and gathered on the Green with other women who have lost sons to the gunfire on New Haven streets, Darlene Kelly found missing her son a little easier. And, yet, harder, too.
Continue reading
‘Anti-Violence Vigil
Brings Bittersweet Comfort’
by | Apr 29, 2011 7:59 am | Comments (4)
Uma Ramiah Photo
“My name is Shayla Streater,” said a woman standing in front of a crowd at the Stetson Library. “And I was sexually abused.”
by | Apr 28, 2011 7:55 am | Comments (6)
Allan Appel Photo
Alfreda Edwards & Chief Limon.
In a crime-weary pocket of town, adults appealed to the police chief to help keep kids off the street at 2 a.m. — and the chief embraced reviving the idea of making that the law.
by | Apr 25, 2011 7:56 am | Comments (6)
Allan Appel Photo
This vacant corner lot where Dixwell meets Munson has long been sending up only green grass. It may sprout nine homes in the future as the housing authority continues to move forward divesting itself of non-productive properties.
by | Apr 7, 2011 7:57 am | Comments (8)
Uma Ramiah Photo
Dennis Grimes stood by, in a white hard hat and work boots, as city officials lauded a new construction project as “New Haven’s future.” For Grimes, the groundbreaking also represents a lifeline — for him and his family.