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Big City Mayors Make Big $chools Push

by | Jan 14, 2025 9:30 am | Comments (14)

Facebook photo

Mayor Elicker (at the mic) in Hartford on Monday.

(Hartford) Mayor Justin Elicker and Supt. Madeline Negrón made the trip to the state’s capital Monday — to stand alongside mayors and superintendents from Bridgeport, Stamford, Waterbury, and Hartford and deliver a collective call for state government to up its public education funding by $545 million. 

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City Historian: The Green's Constant Is Change, & "Public Good"

by | Jan 13, 2025 3:22 pm | Comments (14)

The Green, as drawn in 1879 by Bailey & Hazen. Note the state house on the Upper Green, behind the Center Church, built in 1831 and demolished in 1889.

And the view from 1824, as engraved by Doolittle.

From a market place” to a burial ground to a venue for government and education and worship, the Green has seen many different uses over the years.

However, the one constant over four centuries there is also that the space has been for the public good.” 

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Harp Fined For Trash, Missed Inspections

by | Jan 10, 2025 3:19 pm | Comments (18)

Laura Glesby Photo

W. Matthew Harp, right, and his attorney Kirt Westfall.

LCI Photo

The since-cleaned-up backyard of 75 Brewster.

One man’s trash is another man’s tenant’s loose tires, copper pipes, and splintering wooden cart of debris and furniture.

Local landlord W. Matthew Harp floated that idea at a series of back-to-back civil citation hearings involving some of his properties, which saddled him with nearly $20,000 in fines.

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Union Brings Contract Push To Schools HQ

by | Jan 9, 2025 7:10 pm | Comments (7)

Maya McFadden Photos

At 54 Meadow: "We are the union... the mighty, mighty union!"

Vereen: "I really didn't think it was going to take this long."

After a full day of preparing students’ meals, John C. Daniels School lead cafeteria cook Latasha Vereen added a coat and scarf to her uniform and headed to the school district’s headquarters — to rally for a new contract and a living wage for public school food service workers.

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For Now, At Least It's Warm Inside

by | Jan 9, 2025 12:34 pm | Comments (0)

Thomas Breen photos

"Old," leaving the warming center for a bit: "I try not to complain."

David Cox: "This is not where I want to be."

As the temperature outside dipped into the 20s Thursday morning, David Cox sat inside a Dixwell church extended-hour warming center — his legs crossed, bundled up in a coat and scarf and beanie hat, his walker by his side and a window sill lined with Pothos plants behind him. 

He didn’t want to be at that warming center. And he didn’t plan on staying long. But for now, with the weather dangerously cold, it was a safe place to be. 

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After Chair Change, Lemar Targets Towing

by | Jan 8, 2025 4:06 pm | Comments (13)

Hugh McQuaid/CTNJ file photo

General Law Chair Lemar: “Have you seen those towing articles?”

(Hartford) Connecticut’s towing industry better watch out. There’s a new sheriff in town — and he’s got his sights set on scrapping storage fees, eliminating patrol towing,” requiring companies to take credit cards, and otherwise protecting consumers.

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Prof/Filmmaker: The Green’s Not Just About Fun

by | Jan 8, 2025 9:26 am | Comments (13)

An opening slide from 2002's Convergence.

The Green is big enough, gracious enough, generous enough to tolerate many different people.”

And public space — well, public space is not always fun.” That’s kind of the point.

So argues Elihu Rubin, a Yale architecture professor and documentarian of the Green, as he cautioned against too many permanent changes to the city’s great public square at a time when a redesign is on the horizon.

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2024 Crime Review: Homicides, Gunshots Down

by | Jan 7, 2025 3:00 pm | Comments (27)

Nathaniel Rosenberg photo

Police Chief Jacobson (right): “We went to nine less funerals this year."

NHPD data

Homicides and gunshots in New Haven fell by more than 30 percent last year, mirroring a nationwide trend of a post-pandemic drop in gun violence — even as the city saw a year-over-year jump in nonfatal shootings.

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