New Haven issues bonds

New Haven sold $50.4 million worth of bonds through the federal Build America Bonds Federal Stimulus Program, which subsidizes borrowing by state and local governments, City Hall spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga announced Thursday. There were 12 bidders competing for the bonds, and the city saved approximately $3.5 million through the program. “The City was able to recognize really low interest rates which is good for taxpayers and is also a strong commentary on the City’s stable finances,” Mayor John DeStefano Jr. said in a statement. The city will pay 1.75 percent interest on the tax-exempt bonds.

Esther Zuckerman

Man seeks $10 million from city

An attorney filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Tuesday against the city of New Haven and the New Haven Police Department seeking $10 million in damages for the false arrest and 13 months of pre-trial imprisonment of his client, Ernest Pagan, the New Haven Register reported. Pagan was charged with murder in 2006 after a man was shot outside Newt’s Cafe on Whalley Avenue. He was jailed at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution on $3 million bail for 13 months prior to his trial, and a Superior Court judge acquitted him in 2008, the Register reported.

Esther Zuckerman

Sinergy reopens as Crown Street Bar and Grill

More than two months after a brutal murder occurred on its dance floor, the shuttered Crown Street nightclub Sinergy has reopened as the Crown Street Bar and Grill. No longer a late-night destination, the new venture is a “food-oriented sports bar,” which will compete with nearby Black Bear Saloon and Buffalo Wild Wings, said the owner’s brother, Silvio Delmonaco. All patrons of the Crown Street Bar and Grill must be at least 21 years old or else accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Jordan Schneider

Butta J’s abandons quest for new liquor permit

Joyce Bellamy, the owner of Butta J’s Café on Ashmun Street, said Thursday that she will not apply to the State Liquor Commission for a new type of liquor license that would allow her to host various forms of live entertainment, including exotic dancers. Bellamy told the News on Thursday that she had not thought exotic dancers would spark community outcry. “We weren’t trying to do something that was going to be a burden in the area,” she said, adding that her bar’s reputation as a center of noise and violence is unfair. She said she hopes that in the future her customer base will accept her attempts to add exotic dancers.

Egidio DiBenedetto

Science Park joins city’s grand list

New Haven’s grand list, which measures the amount of taxable property in the city, grew 2.8 percent in 2009, Mayor John DeStefano Jr. announced at his State of the City speech Monday. During his speech, DeStefano noted that in 2009 Science Park had worked its way onto the grand list’s top 10, a sign of the area’s continuing development. He said that “along with 300 George and the Fusco properties, [Science Park is] home to the dramatically growing cluster of private, for profit, businesses built on the science coming out of the University.”

Esther Zuckerman

Police find drugs and guns in suspicious car

New Haven police found two loaded hand guns, a box of ammunition and narcotics in a suspicious car Wednesday evening. Officers observed the parked vehicle near the corner of Grand Avenue and Franklin Street. When they approached, they saw the front passenger and the driver move furtively, according to NHPD spokesman Joseph Avery. The officers then investigated, found the incriminating material in the car and charged the four occupants with criminal possession of weapons and possession of narcotics.

Yale Daily News