Author Archives: Zeke Miller

Minority residents of Connecticut are bearing the brunt of the economic recession, according to a report released Friday by the advocacy and research group Connecticut Voices for Children. The report showed blacks and Hispanics to be 2.5 times more likely to be unemployed than whites in 2008, and predicted the numbers to be even higher »

The Connecticut budget that goes into effect this weekend will have only a small effect on New Haven, but its impact on organizations providing social services to the city’s neediest is as yet undetermined, Mayor John DeStefano Jr. said. Preliminary examinations of the budget show that Gov. M. Jodi Rell and legislators have largely lived »

Connecticut finally has a budget — well, almost. After a nearly seven month budget battle between Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell and Democratic legislative leaders, both houses of the General Assembly successfully passed a budget late Monday for fiscal years 2010 and 2011. Funding for the New Haven and the state’s 168 other towns and »

Earlier this month, Judge Sonia Sotomayor LAW ’79 took her seat as a Supreme Court justice, replacing retiring Justice David Souter. It had been a nomination of records. Sotomayor, 54, is the first Hispanic justice on the High Court, only the third woman, and the ninth to have attended Yale Law School. Her confirmation, though, »

Sonia Sotomayor LAW ’79, confirmed as a Supreme Court justice on Aug. 6 by the Senate, has come a long way since publishing her first article in the Yale Law Journal. In the week after President Barack Obama announced her nomination in late May, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals judge began preparing for a »

Sonia Sotomayor LAW ’79, nominated Tuesday by President Barack Obama to become the first Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court, has come a long way since publishing her first article in the Yale Law Journal. As the Second Circuit Court of Appeals judge prepares for a confirmation hearing that, at least according to media accounts, »

President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor LAW ’79 to the Supreme Court. If confirmed, Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic justice to serve on the high court, and only the third woman. She has served on the New York-based United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since »

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton LAW ’73 will be in New Haven on Monday to receive an honorary degree, the News has learned. A spokeswoman for the Clinton Foundation confirmed Sunday that Clinton would receive the degree. University officials neither confirmed nor denied that the former first lady would receive the award or be on »

Christopher Buckley ’75 drew laughs at this afternoon’s Class Day ceremony where he addressed the — as he put it, “darned smart and really good-looking” — members of the class of 2009. In a self-deprecating and quote-laden speech, Buckley encouraged graduates to “go forth and speak the cool lines” and to find humor and opportunities »

BETHANY, Conn. — Bethany is small, says its First-Selectman Derrylyn Gorski — so small in fact, that the town of 5,600 relies on its neighbors to get by. Several years ago, Gorski said, Bethany officials realized it could not afford both a street sweeper and a catch basin cleaner (an elephant-like vacuum used to clean »

Months after the State Supreme Court ruled that Connecticut’s ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed legislation amending state law to guarantee equal protection for same-sex couples. Rell, a Republican who is personally opposed to same-sex marriages, signed the bill only after it included a provision allowing vendors and religious institutions »

Richard Blumenthal LAW ’73 says he is his own boss, with one huge modifier — he is constitutionally bound to decide “what is the right thing to do in enforcing the law.” In a wide-ranging speech titled “Leadership Through Lawyering” on Monday, the Connecticut attorney general discussed the ways in which his office is empowered »