East Rock

The Case Of The Former Guy & The Missing Wallet

by | Jul 12, 2021 3:58 pm | Comments (4)

(Opinion) I’m sorry to show you the above, which I noticed just a day ago on an otherwise politics-free sidewalk on Orange Street. It’s enough already. Enough of him.

I would rather tell you in this space about an act of kindness – a minor miracle, really. Yes, an uplifting story about people helping people, the kind of act that can restore peace of mind.

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Refugees Gather: “This Is Now Our Family”

by | Jun 21, 2021 9:20 am | Comments (3)

Natalie Kainz Photo

Refugees and friends in East Rock Park Sunday.

Jane and Rahab Kinity at Sunday’s gathering.

Arabic salad, vegetable biryani, Sudanese white beans, and Afghani qabili palau were passed around Sunday to the beat of African drumming — and the tales of more than 35 refugees from eight countries who are now part of one community in New Haven.

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Critics Protest Principal’s Use Of N-Word, NHPS Opacity

by | Jun 15, 2021 7:08 pm | Comments (23)

Emily Hays Photo

Black Lives Matter New Haven Co-founder ala ochumare: The board chose white supremacy.

Thomas Breen photo

Mayoral challenger Karen DuBois-Walton (center): Roblee investigation must be transparent.

Parents, protesters, and political leaders called for a transparent investigation and a public apology from the former Brennan-Rogers School principal, one day after the Board of Education narrowly voted to demote her for using the n‑word” in an antiracism workshop.

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Warrant Ties Pan To Other Local Shootings; North Haven Cops Ran Stolen Plate

by | Jun 11, 2021 5:47 pm | Comments (15)

Thomas Breen photo

Qinxuan Pan (right) with attorney William Gerace in court on June 1.

Thomas Breen photo

Whyte: Why shoot my house?

• Runs 96 pages.
• Blood evidence cited to support murder charge.
• Pan linked to other, nonfatal shootings in town, including of deputy school superintendent’s house.
• North Haven cops let Pan go — even though they knew license plate on his car was stolen.
• New Haven dispatcher later sent out incorrect bulletin for Black” suspect.
• New details of Jiang murder revealed.

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Tracey Leads Flock To The Mountaintop

by | Jun 4, 2021 8:42 am | Comments (9)

Emily Hays Photos

Superintendent Iline Tracey leads hikers up East Rock.

Principals Edith and Joseph Johnson, with one of their sons, Jacob.

The prospect of an almost vertical climb 366 feet up East Rock didn’t faze New Haven Public Schools Superintendent Iline Tracey.

The students, staffers and parents alongside her?

If I can do it,” the 66-year-old vegan educator declared, they can, too.”

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Wilbur Cross’s Drama Club Shines “A Light In The Dark”

by | May 26, 2021 8:42 am | Comments (2)

The cast of A Light in the Dark — the showcase from Lights Up Drama Club at Wilbur Cross High School, which will be broadcast June 4 and 5 — assembled in a rehearsal room at the school that would also serve as the beginning scene for the number I Feel So Much Spring,” from the William Finn-penned musical A New Brain.

As the music began, and music director Matt Durland conducted, all the voices behind the masks sprang to life.

The students glided across the floor as co-director Salvatore DeLucia weaved among them with a camera. It would all be edited together into a final product, with 17 other songs, in time for broadcast.

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The Sidewalk Surprises

by | May 17, 2021 2:59 pm | Comments (4)

Lary Bloom photos

Young people headed, at last, for school.

Some weeks ago, I came across a woman of advanced age on the sidewalk. She used a cane and wore a backpack, and was walking down Orange Street toward East Rock Park. When she stopped to greet me, she noticed the pup on my leash, and, as most foot travelers, was eager to pet little Lucca.

While she did so, I resumed my digging for New Haven gold, defined here as a pedestrian’s daily discovery and illumination.

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Shuttered-School Principals Reassigned

by | May 11, 2021 2:33 pm | Comments (2)

Allan Appel File Photo

Fair Haven School Principal Monica Morales.

Quinnipiac School Principal Monica Morales and West Rock Principal Yolanda Jones-Generette will head up Fair Haven School and Celentano Magnet School, respectively, starting this July.

The New Haven Board of Education voted for their transfers on Monday evening, alongside the promotion of Marisol Rodriguez to principal of Columbus Family Academy.

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Hybrid Classes Challenge Teachers Anew

by | May 10, 2021 12:21 pm | Comments (13)

Emily Hays Photo

At least two laptops needed at a time.


Are there any volunteers at home who want to do this problem?” said New Haven Academy biology teacher David Herndon, addressing the portion of his class tuned in via computer. Don’t all jump at once.”

His in-person students giggled.

Herndon switched his attention back to the physical classroom — and, like high school teachers all over New Haven, navigated a new normal of teaching two types of classes at once: Remote, and in-person.

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Dance Collaboration Captures Elm City Vibes

by | Apr 28, 2021 9:29 am | Comments (2)

Armando Muñoz, a.k.a. Decoy, danced at the top of East Rock, popping and locking, the city of New Haven unfurling behind and beneath him all the way to the Long Island Sound. In front of him, armed with a tiny handheld camera, cinematographer Mike Pollack moved with Muñoz, following the arcs of Muños’s steps, the bending of arms, the fluttering of fingers.

A few families were at the top of East Rock at the same time, and one of them drifted close to watch.

You’re so good!” one of the family members exclaimed.

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