Author Archives: Nick Defiesta

New Haven’s school reform efforts received a federal endorsement Thursday afternoon in the form of a multi-million dollar grant from the Obama administration. The city’s school district will receive a projected $53.4 million federal grant over five years to support professional development for teachers and administrators, city officials announced in a Thursday afternoon press conference »

After weeks of worries among Connecticut Democrats that their nominee for the state’s open Senate seat, U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, was in danger of losing to Republican Linda McMahon, Murphy appears to be pulling away in the race. A Wednesday poll by Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling found that Murphy leads McMahon by six »

Five years after the creation of the Elm City Resident Card and the controversy it generated, City Hall is seeking to expand the program, which provides identification and access to financial services for New Haven residents. In a Wednesday afternoon press conference at JUNTA for Progressive Action, a New Haven-based Latino rights advocacy organization, Mayor »

The New Haven and Yale of 20 years ago are a far cry from the city and University of today. Twenty years ago, a committee was searching for a replacement for then-interim University President Howard Lamar. Across the New Haven Green in City Hall, John Daniels, the Elm City’s first black mayor, struggled with seemingly »

Facing an onslaught of negative attacks funded by Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Linda McMahon, Democratic nominee and U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy is struggling to regain the lead in the polls. After a poll in late August gave McMahon a three-point lead ahead of Murphy in the election for the Senate seat vacated by Joseph »

With less than two months to go before Election Day, the race for the Senate seat that will be vacated by Joseph Lieberman ’64 LAW ’67 has started to turn personal. The latest round of spars between the GOP nominee, millionaire wrestling magnate Linda McMahon, and Democrat Chris Murphy, who represents Connecticut’s fifth congressional district »

The Board of Aldermen unanimously voted to approve the creation of a “jobs pipeline” Tuesday night. Aldermen voted in their biweekly meeting by a 25–0 margin to create New Haven Works, a coordinating agency that will partner with employers in the city to help connect local residents with jobs. The emphasis of the new program »

The Board of Aldermen heard testimony Thursday night on a proposal for its long-awaited jobs initiative, one they hope will prepare residents for jobs within the city. While the board’s human resources committee held a public hearing on the plan, locally called the jobs pipeline, residents testified in support of the idea, and offered suggestions »

The Elm City’s longest-serving mayor is already eyeing another term. Mayor John DeStefano Jr., who won a record 10th term by a modest 1,600-vote margin last November, began showing signs of campaigning this summer. As Yale’s labor unions — which have opposed the mayor’s fiscal policies in recent years — tested the political waters for »

In a 24-minute speech at Sunday’s Class Day exercises, journalist Barbara Walters encouraged members of the class of 2012 to follow their bliss — even if they are not sure what that is yet. Graduating seniors donned colorful hats and faculty members and administrators broke out their academic robes on Sunday as crowds descended on »

Beginning in fall 2013, the School of Nursing will call West Campus home. Yale administrators announced Thursday that YSN will move from its current location at 100 Church Street South, near the Yale School of Medicine, to the University’s West Campus in West Haven, seven miles west of downtown New Haven. Despite concern that the »

The legalization of medical marijuana moved a step closer to reality in Connecticut after a Wednesday vote by the State House of Representatives. The House voted 96 to 51 to pass a bill that would legalize medical marijuana in the state following an afternoon of debate and a last-minute attempt by opponents to block it. »