by | Jan 27, 2020 4:00 pm | Comments (10)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
David Yaccarino: Some in GOP would ban solitary confinement.
Christine Stuart Photo
State Sen. Gary Winfield inside solitary cell on exhibit.
When model solitary confinement cells sat on display at the state Capitol and in New Haven’s Ives Memorial Library, David Yaccarino walked into one to see what some inmates in Connecticut prisons experience.
by | Jan 24, 2020 3:00 pm | Comments (17)
Sam Gurwitt Photos
Keefe Worker Pat Cabral stocks the pantry.
Tekenya works as a supervisor at ShopRite. She can’t always afford to shop there on the wages she earns, so she sometimes ends up at a food pantry to pick up groceries — that were donated by ShopRite.
by | Jan 24, 2020 8:48 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photo
It was toward the end of Sketch Tha Cataclysm‘s set, and he’d just finished an a cappella verse as DJ Mo Niklz fired up the next number, adding rhythms from his turntables. “The crowd has got me feeling open,” Sketch rapped. “And / the vibe has got me right and focused / And / The front and back in fact the whole way around / Know that when we come to rock, y’all can’t mess with the sound.”
Continue reading ‘Sketch Tha Cataclysm Draws A Self-Portrait’
by | Jan 23, 2020 5:24 pm | Comments (18)
Sam Gurwitt Photos
Brad Macdowall (left) sees cleaner, cheaper energy. Marjorie Bonadies (right) sees added debt.
Is it time to ask the state to pave the way for more local control of power in order to bring lower rates and greener electrical currents? Or are more details first need exploring?
by | Jan 21, 2020 3:20 pm | Comments (0)
Contributed photo
Hamden Hall Head of School Bob Izzo.
Hamden Hall and the University of New Haven have partnered up to create a new three-credit college-level course in business analytics for high school students.
by | Jan 17, 2020 2:55 pm | Comments (1)
Allan Appel Photo
Honoree Batson with proud daughter Whitney.
In her work as a pre-school teacher in Hamden, Allison Batson discovered many of the families of her kids were food insecure.
That, along with her faith, led her to found “Dinner for a Dollar,” a communal supper that now feeds about 60 people, including the homeless, isolated seniors looking for social contact, and just plain neighbors, every Friday night 52 weeks a year at the Grace and St. Peter’s Church on Dixwell Avenue in northern Hamden.
Batson has never missed a Dinner for a Dollar night in eight years. In her spare time (!) she volunteers at warming centers in Hamden and helps on the homeless front through service on the board of Columbus House.
Continue reading ‘“Game Changer” Honored For Feeding The Hungry’
by | Jan 16, 2020 1:38 pm | Comments (6)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Curt Leng.
Updated 1/17/20, 11:00 a.m. — After a contentious 2019 Democratic primary, elections featuring many of the same fault lines that have defined the last two years of Hamden politics are now likely as Hamden’s 17,309 Democrats choose the members of the party’s leading body.
by | Jan 15, 2020 5:46 pm | Comments (1)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
District Chief Operating Officer Tom Ariola.
Last week, the Hamden Board of Education’s computers were shut down after a virus entered the system. The district announced Tuesday that it had been a “malware” attack.
by | Jan 15, 2020 3:07 pm | Comments (7)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Wallman: Let’s fix it.
As Hamden politicians pitched their visions of Hamden’s future and their solutions to its problems this fall in their appeals to voters, the word “COLA” began to float about the discourse. Not in soda-floats or vending-machines, but in tough discussions of how to keep Hamden fiscally sound.
by | Jan 14, 2020 3:26 pm | Comments (8)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Interim Finance chief Myron Hul.
Hamden paid more into pension fund in 2019 than ever before — and still ended up with an increased future burden.
On the other hand, the days when assets begin to climb and unfunded liabilities dwindle are now in sight, if all goes according to plan.
by | Jan 13, 2020 12:14 pm | Comments (0)
Two men in their 20s are in the hospital with “non-life-threatening” injuries after they got shot in Hamden early Sunday.
by | Jan 13, 2020 9:00 am | Comments (0)
Karen Ponzio Photo
Perennial
“Tell me, Hamden, Do you like experimental music?” Chad Jewett of Perennial asked the audience at Best Video on Friday night. He was answered with a chorus of yeses and woos. “Wanna hear something a little avant garde?” More woos ensued; if the packed house at the Hamden performance space was any indication, it appeared that there were more than enough music fans ready to hear whatever this band was ready to offer.
Perennial was one of three acts on a bill that built up from acoustic to looping to an all-out rage, each act layering upon the other, each one with lyrical lushness as well as sonic pleasures.
by | Jan 8, 2020 1:00 pm | Comments (0)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
At the Dunbar Hill School.
While Hamden sifts through the changing sands of its foiled West Woods School reconstruction project, the town is now looking into another urgent fix to keep water off of kids’ heads: at the Dunbar Hill School.
by | Jan 7, 2020 1:59 pm | Comments (3)
Sam Gurwitt Photos
After tree activists and town officials raised concerns about the impact of a United Illuminating (UI) tree-cutting program, the town has sent a letter to the utility asking it to power off its chainsaws (and those of its subcontractors) until it meets with the town to clarify tree cutting procedures.
by | Jan 6, 2020 1:02 pm | Comments (0)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
As Firefighters Jason Davis, Tim Doyle, and Daryl Osiecki pulled out of Station 2 onto Circular Avenue to respond to a carbon monoxide call, the top of their engine cleared two inches beneath the garage-door frame.
by | Jan 5, 2020 10:23 pm | Comments (0)
Karen Ponzio Photo
You’re Not Listening! Brass Band
Surf punk, sweet head-banging riffs, and a Gwen Stefani singalong accompanied by a sousaphone and glockenspiel — on Friday at The Cellar on Treadwell, The Sandy Clams, Minorchy, and You’re Not Listening! Brass Band made up an eclectic triple bill, ushering in the new year with enough raucous fun for music fans of any genre.
by | Jan 3, 2020 8:36 am | Comments (0)
Brian Slattery Photo
Taylor.
Even before their song-swapping set began at Best Video Thursday night, Shawn Taylor and Dick Neal were talking.
“You got the Willie Nelson thing going on your guitar there, Shawn,” Neal said, pointing to a hole Taylor had worn through the top of the instrument just below the pick guard. The reference to the country legend was apt, for a set filled with songs about memories and music itself.
by | Dec 23, 2019 1:41 pm | Comments (2)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Renee Reed in her new bathroom.
In the corner of Renee Reed’s new living room, a box sits, wrapped, beneath a white synthetic Christmas tree. The contents of that wrapped box pale in comparison to the biggest gift Reed got this season: The walls, ceiling, and floor around the box.
Continue reading ‘In Hamden, 1st-Time Homes For The Holidays’
by | Dec 20, 2019 1:33 pm | Comments (5)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Loubabatou Harris rose by 5 a.m. First she prayed; then she hit the road to Hartford to pick up a delivery of meat. It was time to stock up for the holidays on food that many of her African-born customers remember from the motherland — and can find only at Motherland Market.
by | Dec 20, 2019 8:36 am | Comments (3)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Mayor Curt Leng.
After a year of political battle over Hamden’s finances, Moody’s presented Hamden with a metaphorical lump of coal in its fiscal stocking last week: a downgraded bond rating that places the town among the state’s 3 lowest-rated municipalities.
Continue reading ‘Hamden’s Christmas Gift: Bond Rating Drop’
by | Dec 19, 2019 8:45 am | Comments (1)
Studio Duda Photography
It’s easy to hear why Jeff Fuller decided to name the first composition “Round & Round” on his latest album of the same name. Darren Litzie’s piano unfurls a melody that does curlicues around a similarly circular set of harmonic changes, while Jeff Fuller on bass and Ben Bilello on drums settle into a sharp but easy swing. Litzie’s piano gets more angular during his solo, and Fuller’s own ride around the changes is luscious and free. Bilello’s break makes great melodic use of his drums. And then the band settles back into that gliding circle of a melody to take things out.
by | Dec 19, 2019 8:42 am | Comments (0)
The rock ‘n’ roll power trio Death Saddle Syndicate is bringing its own take on the rock ‘n’ roll power trio to the Cellar on Treadwell in Hamden this Friday — joining ranks with three other power trios from around the state with the goals of melting faces and just possibly giving a taste of where rock ‘n’ roll is headed in 2020.
by | Dec 17, 2019 9:04 pm | Comments (0)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
John Cappiello.
After 18 months in the interim position of Hamden acting police chief , John Cappiello received approval to officially step into the department’s highest office Monday — along with an extra $10,000.
by | Dec 16, 2019 4:35 pm | Comments (1)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Hamden’s school bus number 79 was driving East on Putnam Avenue Thursday afternoon. It looked like it would get to its stop on Augur Street by 3:08 p.m. — nine minutes ahead of schedule.
by | Dec 13, 2019 8:56 am | Comments (4)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
Interim Finance Director Myron Hul.
After months of pension-related Legislative Council battles and campaign talking points about the Hamden’s looming financial burden, officials heard good news on Wednesday: the town’s pension investments performed well in 2019.
Continue reading ‘2019 A Good Year For Hamden’s Pension Fund’