Author Archives: Nick Defiesta

Aldermen are struggling to determine the shape of New Haven’s wards ahead of a fast approaching deadline. A special committee of the Board of Aldermen considered three different ward maps at a Thursday evening meeting at Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy, the latest in a series of meetings held in an effort to equalize populations across »

The “occupation” has ended: after six months on the Green and a protracted legal battle with the city, Occupy New Haven is finally gone. Police removed Occupy protesters from their Upper Green site early Wednesday morning, allowing the city’s parks department to clear the Upper Green of tents and debris. Occupy’s departure ended a two-month »

After more than six months, Occupy New Haven may finally leave the Green following Tuesday decisions by a federal appeals court and a state housing court. A panel of three judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld District Court Judge Mark Kravtiz’s ruling that the city could legally remove protesters »

Occupy New Haven celebrated its six-month anniversary Sunday afternoon amid calls to leave by city officials, New Haven residents and some of their own members. Over 50 people gathered at Occupy New Haven’s encampment on the Upper Green for an afternoon of music and food as they commemorated the protest’s arrival at the site on »

The death penalty’s days in Connecticut are numbered. After nearly nine hours of debate, the State House of Representatives passed a bill repealing capital punishment late Wednesday night, setting the stage for Connecticut to become the 17th state to abolish capital punishment. The House’s approval of the bill by a vote of 86 to 62 »

In a joint committee meeting Wednesday night, aldermen debated the final budget for New Haven’s share of federal Community Development Block Grants. The Board of Aldermen’s joint community development and human services committee approved several amendments to Mayor John DeStefano Jr.’s budget for the grants, sending its final budget to be debated before the entire »

Less than 30 minutes after police began bulldozing the Occupy New Haven encampment on the New Haven Green, city officials were forced to halt the eviction when a federal appeals court issued an injunction allowing the protest to survive at least another week. City officials first started preparing to evict the protesters on Monday after »

Nearly six months after Occupy New Haven set up camp on the Green, federal judge Mark Kravitz ruled that the city has the right to evict the protest. In a decision released Monday afternoon, Kravitz ruled that the city acted within its rights when it asked protesters to leave the Green last month. Unless a »

The city’s future political map began to take shape at a meeting of the Board of Aldermen’s special redistricting committee Wednesday. By city charter, aldermen must redraw the lines that define the city’s wards by a May deadline, and the special redistricting committee took public testimony Wednesday night on its first draft of a new »

At Tuesday night’s finance committee meeting, the Board of Aldermen’s budgeting process for the next fiscal year gained momentum. Aldermen heard testimony from representatives of various city departments at the meeting regarding their 2012-’13 budgets and considered the best way to allocate New Haven’s budget in the wake of an economic recession. While most departments »

Whether Ward 1 remains the Board of Aldermen’s “Yale ward” may depend on how closely local politicians wish to follow the letter of the law. Aldermen debated the rules governing the city’s redistricting process and began to redraw ward lines at a special committee meeting Thursday evening. By city charter, the Board must produce and »

Federal judge Mark Kravitz heard arguments from Occupy New Haven, City Hall and the New Haven Green’s legal proprietors today in a lawsuit that Occupy protesters encamped on the Green hope will protect them from eviction. Norm Pattis, Occupy’s attorney, argued before Kravitz that the regulations governing the Green, where the protesters first settled on »