GOP Mayoral Candidate Keeps It Local
by | Oct 20, 2021 2:21 pm | Comments (9)
Paul Bass Photo
Hamden GOP mayoral candidate Ron Gambardella at WNHH FM.
Ron Gambardella has done the math. He’s an accountant, after all.
Hamden
Sex-Violence Allegations Rock Eli Whitney
by | Oct 20, 2021 8:22 am | Comments (5)
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Parents debrief after storming out of Tuesday evening meeting.
Eli Whitney Technical High School’s response to complaints of sexual harassment and alleged rape have students and parents up in arms.
The past two days have seen a 100-student walkout and a charged parent-principal confrontation over the issue.
Continue reading ‘Sex-Violence Allegations Rock Eli Whitney’
Double Gang Shooting Leads To Arrest
by | Oct 19, 2021 5:05 pm | Comments (4)
A beef between two New Haven gangs erupted in gunfire that left a 23-year-old Hamden man in the hospital — and later arrested.
Decision Postponed On Fate of Ex-Middle School Affordable Housing Project
by | Oct 19, 2021 1:10 pm | Comments (4)
Nora Grace-Flood photo
The abandoned middle school at 560 Newhall St.
Hamden’s Legislative Council voted on Monday to extend a contract with a nonprofit affordable housing developer until Jan. 18 — in order to take more time to decide whether to go through with builder’s proposal for a long blighted property at 560 Newhall St.
Continue reading ‘Decision Postponed On Fate of Ex-Middle School Affordable Housing Project’
Leng Mum On Mayoral Endorsement
by | Oct 18, 2021 2:11 pm | Comments (5)
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Mayor Curt Leng: Is there an election coming up?
More than one month after losing to Lauren Garrett in the Democratic primary, Hamden Mayor Curt Leng has remained silent on whom he will endorse to replace him in the town’s top office — and why.
Gym Bans Toddler Over “Black Lives” Shirt
by | Oct 15, 2021 1:13 pm | Comments (40)
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Mom Janina Tauro at Friday’s protest outside Rascals.
A toddler was barred from a gym preschool program for wearing a Black Lives Matter T‑shirt — leading roughly 50 adults and kids to return two days later in protest. All wearing shirts with the same message.
Continue reading ‘Gym Bans Toddler Over “Black Lives” Shirt’
Woman, 56, Dies In Fire
by | Oct 15, 2021 9:52 am | Comments (1)
HFD, Brad Young Photos
Scenes from Thursday evening’s fire.
A 56-year-old woman lost her life in a fire in Hamden Thursday night.
Garrett Outraises Gambardella $15K-$13K In Q3
by | Oct 14, 2021 3:18 pm | Comments (1)
Maya McFadden and Nora Grace-Flood file photos
Lauren Garrett and Ron Gambardella: Down to two for Hamden mayoral race.
Democratic mayoral candidate Lauren Garrett outraised Republican opponent Ron Gambardella by two to one over the past three months, based on individual monetary contributions, while Gambardella narrowed the gap with a party contribution.
Continue reading ‘Garrett Outraises Gambardella $15K-$13K In Q3’
Hamden Mayoral Candidates Clash On Race, Representation
by | Oct 13, 2021 11:28 am | Comments (4)
Lauren Garrett and Ron Gambardella debate with Steven Ciardiello’s oversight from a room in the Whitney Center while an audience listens remotely.
Hamden an example of systemic racism? That “divisive language” from the left is creating rifts among the town’ residents.
That thinking denies historic reality as well as current segregation and violence against Black and Brown people.
Hamden’s two mayoral candidates offered those opposite positions in a one-hour online debate Wednesday that focused heavily on race, representation, and policing.
Continue reading ‘Hamden Mayoral Candidates Clash On Race, Representation’
20-Year Newhall Soil Remediation One Step Closer to Conclusion
by | Oct 13, 2021 8:15 am | Comments (2)
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Assistant Town Planner Matthew Davis reviews the ELUR on Tuesday night.
Hamden’s Planning and Zoning Commission Tuesday evening voted in favor of adopting a series of land-use restrictions for the town’s abandoned middle school.
Continue reading ‘20-Year Newhall Soil Remediation One Step Closer to Conclusion’
Thank God It’s Felonious
by | Oct 12, 2021 1:47 pm | Comments (4)
Police have charged a 25-year-old woman with six offenses linked to a “disturbance” that took place late Monday at TGI Fridays.
Fear vs. Growth On The Campaign Trail
by | Oct 12, 2021 9:21 am | Comments (12)
Chris Atchley and Ted Stevens take selfie for DTC Facebook group that candidates used to encourage each other to keep canvassing.
Nora Grace-Flood Photos
Pat Destito travels door to door in his daughter’s neighborhood, looking to listen to residents’ concerns and make them feel heard.
Pat Destito knocked on just the door he was looking for: one opened by an unaffiliated voter who told him, “I don’t go shopping by myself anymore. When I go to ShopRite, I go with my husband.”
A New “Voice” Lifts A Congregation
by | Oct 11, 2021 1:10 pm | Comments (2)
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Pastor Jeremiah Jermaine Paul at his new pulpit.
After winning the second season of NBC’s The Voice and touring for a decade with Alicia Keys, Jeremiah Jermaine Paul realized his true life — singing about “building your church from the ground up” from his own pulpit at Sunday worship services.
Love Train Leads “Black Beethoven” To Lay Down Local Roots
by | Oct 8, 2021 8:36 am | Comments (1)
Paul Bass Photo
Dunn Pearson Jr. at WNHH FM.
Back in the day, Dunn Pearson Jr. played “Love Train” on the keyboard with the O’Jays before 20,000 fans at Madison Square Garden.
This past Sunday, he was at the keyboards at Hamden Plains United Methodist Church playing “Cry Me a River” at worship services.
The venues, the gigs differed. Pearson saw a link.
Continue reading ‘Love Train Leads “Black Beethoven” To Lay Down Local Roots’
Gun Scare Rattles Students
by | Oct 6, 2021 4:18 pm | Comments (11)
Nora Grace-Flood photo
Cecilie Boaheng: Everyone’s terrified.
One day after police arrested a student for carrying a loaded handgun in his backpack on school grounds, Hamden High students said they felt unsafe — and unsupported.
DeLauro Helps Kick Off Hamden Dems’ General Election Campaign
by | Oct 6, 2021 8:31 am | Comments (2)
Rhonda Caldwell photos
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro with campaign manager Sarah Locke and DTC Campaign Manager Brian Murphy.
“This opportunity comes by once. If we don’t take advantage of it, it will pass,” U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro told a crowd of Hamden Democrats Tuesday evening.
DeLauro was rallying the faithful gathered on the back porch of Democratic mayoral candidate Lauren Garrett’s home Tuesday afternoon, officially endorsing Garrett and the Democratic Town Committee’s full slate of endorsed candidates for the Nov. 2 general election.
DeLauro’s endorsement effectively kicked off the DTC’s formal campaign to win elected offices spanning from mayor and town clerk to seats on the Legislative Council and Board of Education.
Continue reading ‘DeLauro Helps Kick Off Hamden Dems’ General Election Campaign’
In Student Backpack: Loaded .45
by | Oct 5, 2021 5:25 pm | Comments (8)
Cops following up on a tip recovered a loaded .45 caliber handgun from the backpack of a 17-year-old Hamden High School student.
Newhall Blasts Affordable Housing Plan
by | Oct 5, 2021 8:47 am | Comments (18)
Nora Grace-Flood photo
Newberry residents Cleveland Bromell, Earnestine Bromell, and Keither Butler, all of whom have lived next to the Newhall property for decades, raise their hands to critique Mutual Housing’s site proposal.
Scrap the existing plan. The neighborhood doesn’t want NeighborWorks New Horizons, or affordable housing.
Fifty residents of southern Hamden delivered that message Monday night at a public meeting about the future of a blighted property located at 560 Newhall St., home to Hamden’s long deserted and decaying middle school.
Erik Johnson Caught In Revolving Door
by | Oct 5, 2021 8:44 am | Comments (3)
Nora Grace-Flood Photo
Erik Johnson at community meeting Monday night: No one told me.
Hamden economic development chief Erik Johnson has agreed to pay a $2,500 fine for taking a voluntary trip through a revolving door.
50 Roads Get First Repaving In Years
by | Oct 4, 2021 10:49 am | Comments (3)
Nora Grace-Flood photos
Joe Colello at the top of his transfer station kingdom.
Joe Colello motioned to a massive heap of milled pavement.
“What you’re standing on now,” he declared, “is all the roads of Hamden.”
Petition Drive Falls Short, But New Council May Revive Proposed New Hamden Charter
by | Sep 30, 2021 12:08 pm | Comments (2)
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Charter Revision Commissioner and DTC Legislative Council Candidate Sarah Ghallagher and Democratic Mayoral Candidate Lauren Garrett convince a voter to sign for the charter while campaigning in August.
A petition to put a proposed town charter to a referendum in Nov. 2’s general election fell short by more than two thirds of the procedurally required signatures, according to Hamden’s town clerk.
A Tale of Two Empanadas
by | Sep 29, 2021 1:13 pm | Comments (5)
Nora Grace-Flood photos
Empanadas from Ibiza and Grab & Go: Try both!
Whether you’re looking for a snack to grab on the go or a slow-cooked meal to sit down and savor, two neighboring Hamden eateries have a common solution: empanadas.
New Haven Chorale Shines A Light
by | Sep 29, 2021 7:53 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery photos
The New Haven Chorale at rehearsal Monday — in person!
As the sun set Monday evening, dozens of people began to congregate in the parking lot of the Unitarian Society on Hartford Turnpike in Hamden. They brought lawn chairs, sheet music, folders, and clip-on lights. On the stairs at the entrance to the building, New Haven Chorale Music Director Edward Bolkovac stood behind a small podium, a score in front of him, a microphone in his hand. Accompanist Blake Hansen sat behind a keyboard near him. In front of him, a camera was ready to Zoom everything. The New Haven Chorale was ready for outdoor rehearsal.
Placeholder Council Member Eyes Permanent Seat
by | Sep 24, 2021 8:45 am | Comments (0)
The council welcomes Zaehringer into her new role on Monday.
Hamden’s Legislative Council introduced a new member this week, two months after previous Council President and District One representative Mick McGarry resigned from the role.
Continue reading ‘Placeholder Council Member Eyes Permanent Seat’
“New” Housing Pitch Sounds Familiar
by | Sep 23, 2021 2:56 pm | Comments (4)
Nora Grace-Flood photo
Mutual Housing’s Aaron Hoffman walks a skeptical Council through the revised site plan for 560 Newhall.
The 560 Newhall property.
Local lawmakers heard a new plan to turn an abandoned middle school into affordable housing — and it sounded a lot like a stalled plan from six years ago.