Date of Yankee Stadium train station opening announced

The Metropolitan Transit Authority announced late last week the date that Metro-North Railroad will offer direct train service from New Haven to Yankee Stadium: May 23. While the new route will significantly cut travel time to Yankee Stadium, it will do little to cut the $24 total travel cost between New Haven and the Stadium — passengers will no longer have to pay for an additional $2 subway ride from Grand Central Station to East 153 St. As a result of the new stop, Dan Brucker, a spokesperson for Metro-North, said he expects an influx of student passengers from areas such as New Haven. The station, however, opens only three days before all Yale residences close on May 26. —Lindsay Gellman

Matos leaves City Hall for New York company

Community Services Administrator Kica Matos — a key New Haven official in the creation of the Elm City Resident ID Card — has announced that she will leave a position as program executive for the The Atlantic Philanthropies company, which focuses on criminal justice, immigration and the protection of civil liberties. Mayor John DeStefano Jr. said in a statement that Matos has been an “outstanding member of our team who has initiated and made real change.” City Hall spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said in an interview that a formal process for finding a new CSA will begin soon. —Victor Zapana

DeStefano, city leaders petition Rell to oppose tax hikes

Mayor John DeStefano Jr. petitioned the state government in Hartford on Wednesday to avoid tax hikes and service cuts. DeStefano and over 200 other local government representatives of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities traveled to ask Gov. M. Jodi Rell to preserve state grants for cities and towns. The officials argued that they have already cut their own budgets and that Rell’s anticipated funding reductions would make tax increases or cuts in essential government services inevitable. DeStefano said more taxes would “pour gasoline on the fire.” —Colin Ross

After assaulting cancer patient, burglar apprehended by YPD

A Yale Police Department bicycle officer apprehended Andrew Rispoli, 26, at Chapel Street near Howe Street on Wednesday evening, police reported. Earlier in the day, Rispoli had knocked on the hotel room door of the room of a 65-year-old man with terminal cancer who was staying at the Hotel Duncan on 1152 Chapel St. Police said Rispoli twisted the elderly man’s wrist and shoved him to the ground before stealing approximately 100 of the man’s Oxycontin pills. Rispoli was charged with home invasion, burglary, larceny, assault on an elderly person and several other charges.

—Harrison Korn

For Easter, city kids partake in various egg hunts

The telltale signs of Easter have arrived: egg hunts. On Saturday, West River is holding an egg hunt and other games for children under 11 on the rugby field of West River Memorial Park, free of admission. New Haven held its own hunt last Saturday, featuring tin-foil eggs and a man-sized bunny in a polka-dotted vest. Three New Haven Guardian Angels, a local safety patrol group, made a surprise appearance. The Angels, who normally patrol city streets armed with walkie-talkies to try to stop and prevent crime, instead shared some hunting skills with the children. Each child went home with over 3 pounds of chocolate. —Colin Ross

Case against ex-NHPD officer Willoughby held up in court

The jury in the trial of ex-New Haven Police Department Detective Clarence Willoughby failed to reach a verdict Thursday in its first day of deliberations. Willoughby is charged with multiple felony counts for stealing over $5,000 from the NHPD via fraudulent requests for payments to confidential informants during his investigation of crimes from 2004-’06. State prosecutors say Willoughby did not pay any confidential informants, instead retaining the cash for himself. Willoughby has denied this, saying the NHPD’s records are unreliable, citing missing receipts and mismanaged files. The trial will reconvene on Monday morning. —Harrison Korn