by | Aug 31, 2020 9:18 am | Comments (12)
Officer Bandy on the set of his weekly podcast.
Officer Jason Bandy, a decade-plus veteran of the local police force who hosts a regular podcast promoting QAnon and other extremist anti-government conspiracy theories, retired from the New Haven Police Department effective August 27.
by | Aug 25, 2020 11:51 am | Comments (1)
Courtney Luciana photos
Neither pandemic nor systemic cutbacks are preventing New Haven’s postal carriers like Terrence Rogers from delivering the mail.
Continue reading ‘Postal Workers Power Through Pandemic, Protests’
by | Aug 14, 2020 7:09 pm | Comments (5)
Maya McFadden Photo
Christian Vazquez, Iyana Torres, D’Hati Burgess, Kenny Flowers, Joshua Vazquez, Jaylin Martinez.
Two dozen “youth ambassadors” in neon green “Elm City Communities believes” T‑shirts are becoming familiar faces in West Hills as they clean up streets and serve their neighbors.
by | Aug 14, 2020 8:25 am | Comments (24)
Spinnaker/Fieber Group
Take a look at this picture.
Now look at this one.
You have now seen almost everything new Downtown and Hill South neighbors learned on Thursday evening about the mini-city planned for the former Coliseum site.
by | Aug 12, 2020 2:45 pm | Comments (3)
Christopher Peak File Photo
Jamie Coady (left) with Diane Mitchell and Kimberly Orifice at John S. Martinez School.
Jamie Coady is leaving John S. Martinez School after 16 years to become principal of another Fair Haven magnet, Clinton Avenue.
by | Aug 12, 2020 12:02 pm | Comments (2)
New Haven Public Schools has settled salaries for teachers less than a month out from the start of school.
Continue reading ‘Teacher Pay Freeze, Job Security Finalized’
by | Aug 8, 2020 9:44 pm | Comments (6)
New Haven teachers voted to approve a pay freeze for this year in exchange for three years of relief from layoffs, involuntary transfers and rising medical costs.
by | Aug 7, 2020 4:35 pm | Comments (6)
Ko Lyn Cheang Photo
Wargo tracks wreckage on Day 3 of Tropical Storm Isaias clean-up.
“Make safe 2 to EOC. At Concord and Alden, tree has been cleared but still has power lines down and has a leaning pole.”
Fire Captain William Wargo leaned into his handheld radio as he reported back to the city’s emergency operations center.
“Pole 5814 is leaning and could come down if it’s windy enough. There is no power in the area. Houses are running generators.”
by | Aug 6, 2020 3:33 pm | Comments (4)
Chris Peak Photo
Bandy at a 2019 Board of Police Commissioners meeting about whether to fire him.
From Jason Bandy’s first year on the job as a New Haven cop in 2009, four chiefs have tried to take action against what they considered dangerous or unprofessional behavior.
He still has his badge and gun.
by | Aug 5, 2020 5:19 pm | Comments (1)
Emily Hays Photo
Wambolt on the job Wednesday on Prospect Street.
City tree trimmer Adam Wambolt heaved a limb up and tossed it into the pile next to the yellow payloader. The rustling pile of wood and leaves was all that was left of a tree that had blocked almost two lanes of traffic on Prospect Street.
Prospect’s felled giant was one of over 200 trees broken and blown by Tropical Storm Isaias on Tuesday. And it was one more tree cleared from Wambolt and crew’s to-do list for Wednesday.
by | Aug 4, 2020 3:08 pm | Comments (1)
Thomas Breen file photo
Former union prez Frank Ricci.
The city plans to pay former fire union president Frank Ricci roughly $7,500 in enhanced pension benefits between now and the end of the year.
But come January 2021, those city payments may stop and the city’s pension fund may take them over — depending on how retirements in the fire department shake out over the next four months.
by | Jul 31, 2020 1:06 pm | Comments (16)
Ko Lyn Cheang Photo
Paraprofessionals Hyclis Williams and Albert Alston at recent protest.
This year, the lowest-paid paraprofessionals in New Haven’s schools will make $22,849. That’s a $536 raise over last year — and still thousands of dollars lower than survival budgets calculated for the area.
by | Jul 30, 2020 6:23 pm | Comments (53)
Maya McFadden Photos
Elizabeth Reyes: “They’re leaving us to die in the classroom.”
Elizabeth Reyes, a special education teacher at Columbus Family Academy, joined 70 other local teachers in a caravan through New Haven neighborhoods Thursday demanding that schools reopen only if they will be 100 percent safe for all.
by | Jul 29, 2020 9:38 pm | Comments (29)
Ko Lyn Cheang photo
Hundreds of cars jammed the streets of Downtown New Haven from Hillhouse Avenue all the way to the Yale School of Medicine during rush hour Wednesday to demand that “Yale respect New Haven.”
by | Jul 29, 2020 12:54 pm | Comments (21)
Sophie Sonnenfeld Photos
Masks given out on Green Tuesday by CTtransit.
CTtransit driver Valentine Perez said about 80 percent of his passengers get on the bus wearing required face masks to protect people from the spread of Covid-19. He can’t stop the others from coming on board.
by | Jul 29, 2020 9:39 am | Comments (11)
Charlie Delgado
(Opinion)—I was born and raised in New Haven. My family was one of the first black families to come to New Haven and they settled in Newhallville. For generations, my family has survived through the ups and downs of our city. I’m caravanning on Wednesday to demand that Yale respect me and respect New Haven by paying its fair share to the city.
by | Jul 28, 2020 3:25 pm | Comments (4)
A New Haven Fire Department battalion chief retired on the same day that he was scheduled to face a pre-disciplinary hearing regarding an internal investigation’s findings that he had violated the city’s sexual harassment policy.
Continue reading ‘Investigation: FD Brass Violated Sex Harassment Policy’
by | Jul 28, 2020 9:36 am | Comments (6)
Thomas Breen photo
Their voices were heard: contractors protest outside Q House site.
Four local African American-owned contractors recently landed work at the Q House construction site, bringing the project’s share of subcontracting work awarded to Black-owned businesses past the city’s 10 percent goal, for now.
by | Jul 27, 2020 3:34 pm | Comments (55)
Ko Lyn Cheang Photo
New Haven teachers are scheduled to vote late this week on whether to freeze their salaries at their current level for a year in exchange for three years of relief on other concerns.
by | Jul 24, 2020 11:21 am | Comments (11)
Markeshia Ricks Photo
Local 33 leader Eckert-Erdheim: “Transparency, accountability” needed.
Preparing for a possible pandemic spread and mental health crisis on campus, Yale is hiring “public health coordinators” to provide “on-site crisis intervention and emergency management” for undergraduate students living on campus.
Those coordinators will be graduate and professional students with three weeks of training under their belt by the start of the academic year, if all goes according to plan.
Continue reading ‘Grad Students Balk At Yale Pandemic Posting’
by | Jul 22, 2020 3:34 pm | Comments (23)
Zoom
Superintendent Tracey: We’re till waiting on state decisions.
Teachers and paraprofessionals asked school brass one question over and over on Tuesday evening: Can they opt out of teaching in person this fall to avoid the risk of catching Covid-19?
by | Jul 22, 2020 10:59 am | Comments (9)
Courtney Luciana photo
Catherine “CJ” John and Barbara Fair at Tuesday’s rally.
A third group of protesters held a rally outside at the construction site of the new Dixwell Community “Q” house to call attention to the lack of contracts for black-owned companies.
by | Jul 16, 2020 10:00 pm | Comments (2)
Thomas Breen Photo.
The Whitney Avenue Fire Station.
A New Haven firefighter lost his job Thursday after allegedly committing domestic violence and stealing over $10,000 in firehouse funds.
Continue reading ‘Firefighter Fired After Alleged Theft, Domestic Violence’
by | Jul 16, 2020 6:09 pm | Comments (4)
Sam Gurwitt Photo
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal at Stop & Shop.
On Wednesday, Charmaine Acampora got her first direct deposit paycheck from Stop & Shop since March without 10 percent tacked on as hazard pay. On Thursday afternoon, she stood in front of the Hamden Stop & Shop with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal to call on the company to reinstate the hazard pay.
Continue reading ‘Blumenthal Pressures Stop & Shop To Reinstate Hazard Pay’
by | Jul 13, 2020 10:22 am | Comments (17)
Christopher Peak Photo
Angela Walder: “Paras are the foundation.”
Albert Alston held up this sign to his Zoom camera during the voting process.
By 2023, New Haven Public School entry-level paraprofessionals will earn $23,397 a year, thanks to a $1,000 raise.
Some paras, who are among the city’s lowest-paid employees, say this raise isn’t enough — particularly amid uncertainty about what schools will look like during the pandemic.