by | Mar 30, 2021 10:55 am | Comments (6)
Courtney Luciana photo
Colin Caplan and Kevin Gagliard display Pepe’s’ trademark clam pizza.
YouTube
Bill baker Dillon at hearing.
Pizza is one pie closer to becoming the official state food, as New Haveners pitched state lawmakers on recognizing the local culinary delicacy’s role in fostering community, uplifting small businesses, and satisfying taste buds.
by | Mar 29, 2021 1:42 pm | Comments (18)
Thomas Breen photo
Diesel buses, be gone? TCI seeks electrifying impact.
New Haven is the 11th most dangerous city in the country when it comes to asthma rates, asthma-induced emergency department visits, and asthma-related fatalities.
A new regional initiative touted by local and state advocates seeks to curb that urban air quality harm by capping greenhouse gas emissions and investing in more sidewalks, bike lanes, and electric buses — a move opponents say will only hurt Connecticut residents in the form of a higher gas tax.
by | Mar 26, 2021 9:36 am | Comments (7)
BEULAH LAND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION / HELP USA RENDERING
The proposed 4-story, 69-unit apartment building at 340 Dixwell.
Four local affordable housing projects will be getting over $5.4 million in state support, thanks to the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority’s (CHFA) annual awarding of federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC).
Continue reading ‘4 Affordable Housing Projects Get $5.4M State Boost’
by | Mar 26, 2021 9:35 am | Comments (2)
Thomas Breen pre-pandemic photo
Labor Committee Co-Chairs Julie Kushner and Robyn Porter, in support of gig economy study bill.
State lawmakers advanced a bill that would study — but not take any immediate action on — whether or not Uber and Lyft drivers and other gig economy “independent contractors” should be classified instead as employees.
by | Mar 25, 2021 5:29 pm | Comments (10)
Laura Glesby photo
Housekeeper Everlana Allen with fellow workers at a protest outside the Omni in August 2020.
Following in the steps of New Haven’s Board of Alders, state lawmakers advanced a “worker recall law” that would require Connecticut businesses to give recently laid-off former employees first dibs at returning to their old jobs.
by | Mar 24, 2021 5:00 pm | Comments (7)
Thomas Breen photo
Rideshare drivers rallying Wednesday outside Union Station.
A state bill to help Uber and Lyft drivers organize unions has made for strange bedfellows: The drivers are lined up with their employers, and against the state AFL-CIO.
Continue reading ‘Uber Bill Splits Labor, Drivers, Big Tech’
by | Mar 24, 2021 9:18 am | Comments (1)
A New Haven-backed state bill designed to protect Black patients from potentially inaccurate blood-oxygen readings advanced out of committee and towards the full state legislature for further debate.
Continue reading ‘Health Equity & Blood Oxygen Bill Advances’
by | Mar 19, 2021 9:54 am | Comments (5)
Jose Flores: It’s been a long wait.
CHK America image
One possible design for new real-time info bus stop signs.
Downtown bus riders should soon have a better sense of when their rides will actually arrive, as the state prepares to roll out new digital signs with real-time information on where a bus is, and when it will get to a stop.
That’s one initiative planned among many in a state Department of Transportation (DOT) push to make New Haven’s beleaguered bus system easier and more enjoyable to use.
by | Mar 18, 2021 5:05 pm | Comments (71)
Prodigal son challenged: Greenwich’s Fiorello, New Haven’s Elicker square off at hearing.
New Haven’s mayor Thursday rejected a demand from outraged Gold Coast Republicans that he apologize for asserting that their zoning laws keep racial minorities out of their wealthy towns.
by | Mar 16, 2021 5:09 pm | Comments (12)
Desegregate CT
Parking-related zoning reforms designed to boost housing supply.
The city’s parking authority joined a statewide zoning reform campaign to boost housing supply by reducing minimum parking requirements.
The goal: lower the cost of creating new homes, and increase the appeal of publicly owned parking garages.
by | Mar 16, 2021 1:18 pm | Comments (3)
Zoom
New Haven State Rep. Robyn Porter at Tuesday’s press conference: “Economic justice must come first.”
A new statewide coalition of community, labor, and faith organizations has partnered with New Haven State Rep. Robyn Porter to push proposed tax code changes that would raise $3 billion in new revenue from the state’s wealthiest residents, and send money directly into the pockets of the poor and working class.
by | Mar 15, 2021 4:47 pm | Comments (3)
Thomas Breen photo
State housing commissioner Seila Mosquea-Bruno at September 2020 City Hall presser.
Renters have a new lifeline: The state has officially opened a $235 million pandemic-era rental assistance program, whereby eligible tenants can receive up to $10,000 in rental aid and up to $1,500 to help cover utility payments.
Continue reading ‘State Launches $235M Rental Assistance Program’
by | Mar 15, 2021 3:41 pm | Comments (39)
Youtube photos
Testifying Monday for “recovery for all” bills, clockwise from top left: Abby Feldman, Beryl Benson, Kimberly Cushman, John Lee.
New Haveners traveled virtually to Hartford Monday to issue a call: Increase taxes on the wealthy who have thrived during the pandemic, and send money back to the poor and working class who have been hit hardest by Covid-19.
by | Mar 15, 2021 12:41 pm | Comments (0)
CTNJ Photo
State Rep. Robyn Porter at the state Capitol.
More than hairstyles were at stake when Connecticut passed a law to bar discrimination against Black women for wearing afros, braids, or corn rows.
by | Mar 11, 2021 6:02 pm | Comments (7)
Zoom photo
Local DSA organizer Khadija Hussain during Thursday’s radio interview: Right to counsel helps level the playing field.
A local push to guarantee legal representation for low-income tenants facing eviction notched a victory, as state legislators advanced a “Right to Counsel” bill out of committee and toward the General Assembly floor for further debate and a potential future vote.
by | Mar 11, 2021 6:01 pm | Comments (20)
Thomas Breen photo
City housing authority prez DuBois-Walton: A “great step forward.”
A state bill that would let public housing authorities develop properties in neighboring towns moved ahead Thursday, as state lawmakers voted to advance the proposed legislation out of committee and to the General Assembly floor for further debate.
by | Mar 10, 2021 12:24 pm | Comments (7)
New Haven State Rep. Robyn Porter’s legislative quest to combat discrimination against Black women because of their hairstyles came to fruition as Gov. Ned Lamont signed the CROWN Act.
by | Mar 8, 2021 10:08 am | Comments (7)
Maya McFadden Pre-Pandemic File Photo
A high school graduate shows off her customized cap.
(Opinion.) We chose a new program manager for the state’s college savings program after an in-depth comparison of investment returns, fees, cybersecurity protocols and more. We are also disappointed with the first few days of the transition to Fidelity Investments and expect to see improvements soon.
Continue reading ‘State’s Chief Investment Officer Responds To CHET Fret’
by | Mar 2, 2021 1:51 pm | Comments (19)
Zoom
New Haven State Sen. Looney at Tuesday’s virtual presser.
Now that the state legislature has overhauled how Connecticut distributes aid to municipalities that are home to tax-exempt colleges and hospitals, will that same body fully fund the new need-based formula to the tune of $137 million each year?
At stake is a roughly $50 million annual boost to New Haven’s teetering city budget.
by | Mar 1, 2021 3:38 pm | Comments (7)
(Opinion) Commitments to anti-racism must include ending solitary confinement.
by | Mar 1, 2021 11:03 am | Comments (8)
Hamden state representatives address Quinnipiac students.
Hamden State Sen. Jorge Cabrera and State Rep. Josh Elliott presented critiques from the left of Gov. Ned Lamont’s marijuana and minimum wage policies as they spoke to a group of student Democrats at Quinnipiac University.
Continue reading ‘Elliott, Cabrera Slam Guv, Push For Equity In Cannabis Legalization’
by | Feb 26, 2021 5:08 pm | Comments (22)
Thomas Breen photo
Lopez with her son on front porch of their Cassius St. apartment (pictured below).
Unemployed and undocumented, Sandra Lopez keeps falling further behind on rent as the state assistance she received last fall has long since run out.
Her hopes — and those of many others in the state who have fallen in dire financial straits over the past year — rest now on a soon-to-launch $235 million state rental support program designed to help keep low-income tenants afloat as the Covid-19 pandemic drags on.
by | Feb 23, 2021 11:16 am | Comments (10)
Christopher Peak Pre-Pandemic File Photo
CFO Phil Penn: Bad form to abandon plan so soon.
Help is not on the way from the state to close the gap between what New Haven schools need and what they’ll get, the system’s financial chief warned.
by | Feb 22, 2021 7:32 pm | Comments (7)
Thomas Breen photo
James Dailey, at Temple and Elm: “Great” for late workers.
New Haven buses could soon keep traveling until the early hours of the morning, in what the city’s transportation chief called “the broadest expansion of public transit” in years.
by | Feb 22, 2021 2:19 pm | Comments (14)
(Opinion) Connecticut just changed who manages its college savings program. Here’s how to make that poorly executed change work for you.
Continue reading ‘CT College Savings Change Counterintuitive’