Closer to heaven. Gourmet Heaven closed from Dec. 19, 2011 to Jan. 3 to renovate the interior of its Broadway store. The furniture on the upper level of the store has been replaced with wooden tables and benches, the walls and ceiling were repainted (orange and off-white, respectively) and the floors were waxed.

Things Fall Apart. After months encouraging students to dine trayless, the Silliman dining hall finally removed trays Monday in what was supposed to be a semester of trayless dining. But in an email Monday night, Master Judith Krauss told the Silliman community that early reports named the initiative an “unmitigated disaster.” Krauss is asking for more feedback before making a final decision on the trays.

Fall of print. The New Haven Register’s printing operations — that is, its actual printing press and distribution center — will close down in March, the New Haven Independent reported on Tuesday. The move will cut 105 jobs. The Register will remain in print, its papers now printed on the Hartford Courant’s presses.

More open news. The Register is also planning to shut down its operations in Long Wharf and move to an open newsroom in downtown New Haven.

Wild bear hunt. With nearly 3,000 bear sightings in the past year, the state of Connecticut is deciding whether to implement a hunting lottery, used in states such as Maine, the Hartford Courant reported Tuesday.

Megacourses. Two days into shopping period, three courses have potential enrollments of over 500 students on the Online Course Selection system, according to course demand data accessed at 11 p.m. Leading the pack is “Introduction to the History of Art,” with 584 shoppers, while “Great Hoaxes and Fantasies in Archaeology” has 519 and “Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature” has 505.

By the people, for the people. The Yale College Council emailed on Tuesday a mid-year report on its activities and achievements halfway through this academic year, as part of its promise for greater accountability, the report stated. The report groups achievements into categories from dining to gender-neutral housing. Top achievements include expanded dining hall services over Thanksgiving break, the Bluebook app and emailed grade notifications.

THIS DAY IN YALE HISTORY

1965 The New Haven Railroad files a petition asking permission to end service between New Rochelle, N.Y. and New York City, as part of an effort to end passenger service on the bankrupt line.

CORRECTION: Jan. 11 Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this article incorrectly claimed that trays had returned to the Silliman dining hall. Silliman is still trayless, and Master Krauss is asking students to send in more feedback before making a final decision. We apologize for the mistake.