State

Housing Authority Expansion Debated

by | Feb 19, 2021 10:30 am | Comments (42)

Thomas Breen photo

Local housing authority President DuBois-Walton: State should treat housing authorities like any other developer.

Suburbanites testify at hearing.

At passionate state hearing:
• New Haveners push to break suburban housing/race barriers.
• Suburbanites push back vs. allowing housing authorities to build in their towns.
Take bold action”; This has nothing to do with race.”

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New Haven Issues PILOT Plea

by | Feb 16, 2021 4:49 pm | Comments (14)

CT-N

New Haveners testifying Tuesday included (clockwise from top left) Martin Looney, Harold Brooks, Kelcy Steele, Jenna McDermit, Hyclis Williams, Abby Roth.

Sen. Martin Looney’s office

Teachers, preachers, politicians, and presidents of local unions sent an urgent plea from New Haven Tuesday to the state legislature: Change how you reimburse us for revenue on property owned by our tax-exempt colleges and hospitals.

At stake is a roughly $50 million potential annual boost to the city budget — and, advocates say, a more equitable means of distributing state aid to poor, historically marginalized communities.

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Housing, Taxes Top 179-Bill Push

by | Feb 1, 2021 2:57 pm | Comments (12)

Thomas Breen photo

New Haven State Rep. Toni Walker (right, at GOTV rally in October): Back co-chairing powerful Appropriations Committee.

Let the housing authority build more affordable apartments — in the suburbs.

That’s the thrust of one of 179 proposals and counting that New Haven and Hamden state lawmakers have put on the table so far during the current state legislative session.

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Now It’s A $66M Gap

by | Jan 28, 2021 4:28 pm | Comments (166)

City of New Haven

“Grey” area represents fixed costs that, according to mayor, can’t be cut.

Zoom

Mayor Elicker: Crunch “nearly impossible to fix.”

As of Thursday, next fiscal year’s projected city deficit looks $25 million bleaker than it did on Wednesday, thanks to a slate of new estimates and recommendations regarding how the city funds its pensions.

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New Haveners Push For Speed Cameras

by | Jan 27, 2021 7:12 pm | Comments (22)

Laura Glesby Photo

Safe-streets advocates at recent memorial for crash victims.

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Lemar at hearing: Traffic violence continues, must be stopped.

Safe streets advocates fed up with the daily danger of walking or biking in New Haven traveled” to a state hearing Wednesday to support a proposed speed camera law that would automatically send tickets to drivers who hurtle through school zones and road-repair sites.

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Start Promised On Canal, Cycletrack

by | Jan 25, 2021 5:19 pm | Comments (9)

CDN SMITH

Before and after: Plan for Winthrop-Edgewood stretch of cycletrack, with construction first promised to begin in 2017.

Could it be … that construction work may actually begin on the Edgewood Cycletrack and Farmington Canal extension?

After years of false starts and missed deadlines, officials claim that work will indeed start this spring on the two long-delayed upgrades to the city’s pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.

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“A Vaccine For The Mind & Soul”

by | Jan 19, 2021 4:47 pm | Comments (1)

Arts Paper screenshot

Music Haven string quartet members play on during an October concert.

Online programming. Student scholarships. Staff health insurance. And essential connections between young people and joyful creativity, even amidst such a joyless time as now.

Local arts nonprofit leaders pointed to those services as example of how they’ve spent state grant money to date as they struggle to stay afloat during the ongoing pandemic.

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