by | Aug 10, 2020 12:04 pm | Comments (5)
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Westville Alder Darryl Brackeen, Jr.
(Opinion) As a nation, we are facing troubling times during this pandemic. But the truth is many issues, gaps, and weaknesses have been exposed within so many of our state institutions. Not only the vulnerabilities in our healthcare system but equally true of our voting system as well.
by | Aug 10, 2020 9:47 am | Comments (0)
Nora Grace-Flood
Julie Robbins shows off her new PPE to Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz .
“We love our clients to the moon and back!” small business owner Julie Robbins declared from behind her new BioVYZR, a masked air filtration system with an astronaut-like flair.
Since reopening The Well For Women, a center that specializes in massage therapy for prenatal and postnatal women, on June 28, Robbins has been “going hardcore on PPE.” The CEO, doula, licensed massage therapist, entrepreneur and mom said that she has been able to invest in new safety protocols — and pay her rent and employees — thanks to various grants and loans from state and federal governments.
Continue reading ‘Westville’s Well, Wisdom Highlighted For Covid-19 Resilience’
by | Aug 6, 2020 9:48 am | Comments (0)
Amanda Duchen
I Am … A Dreamer.
A cluster of heads floating like balloons on stalks. An oil painting of a woman eating a hoagie. A connection with a goddess. All these and more are part of “I Am…,” the latest riotous exhibition at Kehler Liddell Gallery, which is now open by appointment and for limited weekend hours.
by | Jul 21, 2020 9:41 am | Comments (7)
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Chapel Haven residents honoring the organization’s recently-expanded name, the Chapel Haven Schleifer Center, in 2018.
A former employee of Chapel Haven was sentenced to 33 months in prison on Monday, after stealing at least $240,000 from both clients and the institution — and puncturing the school’s culture of “family” trust.
Continue reading ‘Ex-Chapel Haven Employee Sentenced To 33 Months For Stealing $240K’
by | Jul 20, 2020 5:37 pm | Comments (1)
With some sultry opening licks, Westville up-and-coming teen rockers have launched themselves on an “Odyssey.”
by | Jul 13, 2020 2:59 pm | Comments (5)
Paul Bass Photo
Jim Owen dropped in on his neighbor Shawna Reed to discuss two potentially fruitful matters: absentee ballots and black raspberries.
by | Jul 6, 2020 11:05 am | Comments (4)
Sophie Sonnenfeld Photo
New Haveners flocked to Edgewood Park to stock up on fresh veggies, fruit, and flowers Sunday at the opening of CitySeed’s annual farmers market.
by | Jul 3, 2020 10:11 am | Comments (0)
Susan Tabachnick
Blades. Surgical pliers. A length of wire. Who used them, and for what exact purpose, remains unknown. But used they were, and then discarded and collected by artist Susan Tabachnick. She then made them into new art for a show called “Artifacts,” running now until July 12 at Da Silva Gallery on Whalley Avenue in Westville. The gallery, operating under the guidelines for maintaining social distancing, is open by appointment.
by | Jul 2, 2020 10:35 am | Comments (0)
Kim Weston
The figures in Kim Weston’s four grouped photographs are in frenzied motion, dancing, traveling. The red prayer bundles laid at their feet — a pinch of cherry tobacco wrapped in red fabric, each one signifying one of the 15,000 murdered and missing indigenous women in Canada and the U.S. — feel both like a border marking a sacred space and a road leading from here to someplace far away. Weston’s photographs have been paired with Frank Bruckmann’s paintings for Kehler Liddell Gallery’s first show since its reopening, “Journeying,” which runs until July 12 — and thus will be around for an event KLG is billing as date night.
by | Jun 22, 2020 1:15 pm | Comments (22)
Paul Bass Photo
“You’re the problem!” “I’m the solution!”: Marshal Criscuolo spars with co-owner Monsanto outside Fitch 50 at Monday’s paper-serving.
Prompting accusations of racism from the owner, the city closed down the popular 50 Fitch restaurant and bar and revoked its license after an event that drew an estimated 1,000 people to its parking lot amid restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of the coronavirus.
Carlton Staggers (center) at Monday evening support gathering: “We’re standing by” Monsanto.
by | Jun 19, 2020 10:25 am | Comments (1)
Sophie Sonnenfeld Photo
Over a hundred cars decked out with balloons, paint, and signs rolled through an end-of-year drive-through Thursday afternoon for students at Mauro-Sheridan Interdistrict Magnet School (MASH).
Faculty and staff lined the perimeter of the parking lot behind the school greeting student families as they passed.
Continue reading ‘Bubbles, Balloons Fill The Air For Mauro-Sheridan Drive-Through’
by | Jun 12, 2020 11:11 am | Comments (17)
Thomas Breen Photo
Hausalden at a February community meeting.
CDN Smith
Cycletrack plan — at least as of four years ago.
• City readies comprehensive plan for bike, pedestrian commuters.
• Long-delayed Edgewood cycletrack delayed once more.
by | Jun 9, 2020 10:20 am | Comments (1)
Contributed Photos
Jada and Madison (Maddy) McAulay (pictured) started a neighborhood Black Lives Matter chalk event to turn West Elm Street into “West BLM Street” for a day.
by | Jun 9, 2020 10:15 am | Comments (1)
Karen Ponzio Photos
Corina and her very New Haven find.
“Should I buy this shirt?” Maria Corina asked me as she held up a slate gray T‑shirt that had the words “New Haven” across it, along with a picture of the city’s skyline.
It was the first time we had both been out shopping with a friend present, in person, in a very long time.
It was also the first time for this type of shopping experience at Vintanthromodern, a vintage store that had decided on a hot Saturday afternoon to hold its first tag sale in the back parking lot of its Westville location. Not only would it give customers a chance to get back to what they love — shopping for vintage deals — but it would also be a fundraiser, with Vintanthromodern donating fifty percent of sales to a cause aligned with social justice and equality.
by | Jun 5, 2020 1:08 pm | Comments (2)
NHPD
Cops track Westville roamer’s whereabouts.
Top west side cop Lt. Elliot Rosa updates us on the whereabouts of the bear roaming Westville — and asks if “Boo-Boo,” who was last spotted roaming Orange, may be the same visitor.
by | Jun 1, 2020 5:26 pm | Comments (0)
Paul Bass Photo
Families drove their kids back to Edgewood School Monday — honking their horns as they passed teachers and other staffers like social worker Rosalie Febus, special ed teacher Julia King, and Youth Development Coordinator Travis Jones (pictured).
by | Jun 1, 2020 12:17 pm | Comments (0)
The Zoom visit to artist Chris Ferguson’s studio filled up fast, as 20 people joined within two minutes of each other. Ferguson, in his studio next to a painting of an outdoor scene, smiled back.
“Is this where all the masterpieces come from?” someone on the meeting said. Ferguson laughed.
by | May 27, 2020 10:41 am | Comments (12)
Chris Volpe Studio
Stop at bird-watching oasis In Edgewood Park, 7 a.m.
A bear took a morning stroll through Westville Wednesday morning, offering some off-screen pandemic entertainment for the neighborhood-bound.
by | May 21, 2020 6:24 pm | Comments (6)
Paul Bass Photo
A postal carrier was taken to the hospital Thursday afternoon after a Volkswagen crashed into his truck.
by | May 21, 2020 12:08 pm | Comments (6)
Thomas Breen photo
Closed downtown businesses in March.
A federal judge has turned down a complaint from a local bar owner alleging that the mayor and the governor have violated her constitutional right to free assembly during the pandemic.
The court’s rationale? The emergency orders limiting the size of social gatherings are not “arbitrary” or “unreasonable” or “a plain, palpable invasion of rights,” but rather appropriate actions for government to take during a public health emergency.
by | May 21, 2020 9:46 am | Comments (11)
Newman Architects
The planned new 500 Blake St. development.
Ocean Management’s plans to transform a largely vacant riverfront stretch of Westville into 129 market-rate apartments won key approvals as city planners chose increased density over immediate neighbors’ traffic concerns.
Continue reading ‘500 Blake Approved; Density Trumps Traffic’
by | May 21, 2020 9:36 am | Comments (1)
Jason Calogine was tired and prepared. Rehab Rajou was energized and excited. Isabella Fletcher-Violante was happy to be there. They and several other fellow Mauro-Sheridan Interdistrict Magnet students were on a Zoom chat with Michael Hinton, a teaching artist at Elm Shakespeare, recording a final few scenes for the school’s production of Cymbeline — which pivoted from theater to Zoom film project to keep the program going during the Covid-19 pandemic.
by | May 15, 2020 3:24 pm | Comments (9)
Paul Bass Photo
Master chef Arturo Camacho onsite.
Chef Arturo Camacho is about to do what you would expect Arturo Camacho to do: open a new restaurant amid a pandemic.
by | May 14, 2020 3:10 pm | Comments (20)
Newman Architects
Rendering of project’s riverine bike path and pedestrian plaza.
Building new apartments on the grave of the old 500 Blake Street Cafe is a great idea. But what about the traffic? And what kinds of stores will go on the first floor?
Westville neighbors offered that support and unleashed those questions Wednesday night in a virtual gathering with a prominent developer about his plan to build on the lot that used to house the storied restaurant-bar-banquet hall.
by | May 14, 2020 12:37 pm | Comments (0)
Emily Hays Photo
Dakoulas next to both sales counter and packing area.
Alex Dakoulas plans to reopen his Westville shop Strange Ways on May 20. He would still prefer for his customers to continue to shop online.