Author Archives: Lacey Gonzales

Mayor John DeStefano Jr. relies on over $3 million in uncertain funds from the state — including an assumed increase in state PILOT money — in order to balance his budget. The $464 million city budget for fiscal year 2010, which DeStefano unveiled in a presentation at City Hall on Thursday, represents a $9 million »

Students who fly home from Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport may need to make alternate flight plans in the near future. Last week, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell proposed a $38 billion budget to the state legislature that would cut all $570,000 of state funding to independently owned Tweed Airport. If passed, the cut would exacerbate »

The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday approved a proposed ordinance that will end what it terms “unfair discrimination” against former convicts on government employment forms. The board voted 22-1 for the ordinance — a progressive piece of legislation colloquially referred to as “Ban the Box” that legislators from many cities across the nation are currently »

Warren Kimbro, who spent decades giving back to the community he so famously stirred after killing a fellow Black Panther and prompting the headline-grabbing New Haven Black Panther trials, died late Tuesday at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He was 74 and lived in Hamden. The cause was a heart attack, a hospital spokesman said. Described by »

Warren Kimbro, a community activist and former Black Panther whose arrest on murder charges led to the headline-grabbing New Haven Black Panther trials, died Tuesday at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He was 74. In May 1969, Kimbro shot and killed Alex Rackley, a fellow Black Panther who was suspected of being a police informant. The ensuing »

In a new coffee shop, even a centuries-old drink can be a novelty. On Sunday afternoon, a steady stream of chattering students could be seen through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the long-anticipated Willoughby’s on the ground floor of the Loria Center on York Street. A bunch of balloons and the promise of free chocolate-covered espresso »

For Campus Customs, a small move meant a big change. Though the new space is only three storefronts from its old location, Campus Customs owner Barry Cobden said the increased square footage of the new location enables him to centralize production and retail facilities. The new space, which staged a soft opening the Tuesday before »

An old factory at 1175 State St. has been cited for 18 severe health and safety standard violations, the New Haven Register reported this week. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced Monday that the building developer, State Assets LLC, had failed to monitor the level of asbestos workers were »

In one fell swoop, aldermen voted to investigate both an expansion and reduction in spending. The Finance Committee of the Board of Aldermen met Wednesday evening to discuss a proposed addition to the Office of Economic Development and a steering committee on the feasibility of a four-day work week for city employees. The office proposed »

Cooper’s Dress Shop and Cosi are closing their doors, and if sales trends in New Haven continue, they will not be alone. Large, Wall Street investment banks are being bailed out by the national government, but struggling small businesses in the Elm City cannot expect similar support from the local government. As a result — »

The Cosi hearth will fire up for the last time this weekend. Cosi, the soup, salad and sandwich restaurant on Elm Street near Ivy Noodle and Bulldog Burrito, will close for good this Sunday. At a table in the subdued and quiet dining area, General Manager Ben Harrison said the business has been hit by »

In New Haven’s Fair Haven neighborhood, Poplar Street is replete with trash, beer bottles, and abandoned houses with gang symbols sprayed across the walls. But on an adjacent street, Ferry Street, there are freshly painted homes with brand-new siding and trash-free lawns. NeighborWorks New Horizons — a nonprofit housing developer based in Fair Haven — »