Mayor DeStefano graces cover of Governing
New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. was on the cover of Governing magazine for its December issue. “While other places crack down on illegal immigrants, New Haven is gambling on a softer approach,” the magazine’s cover story began. —The Yale Daily News
Aldermen surprised by power plant proposal
City Hall officials have requested permission from the Aldermanic Finance Committee to build a $5 million power plant underneath the City Hall plaza in order to heat and cool the building. New Haven’s 20-year contract with the Government Center Thermal Energies Partnership comes to an end this June, and City Hall has decided not to renew the contract and instead to build their own power plant. The request came as a surprise to members of the Board of Aldermen, who were not asked to include plans for the power plant in this year’s budget, Aldermanic President Carl Goldfield said. If the power plant project is approved, it will be funded by municipal bonds.
—Martine Powers
Yale to test ALERT system
Between noon and 1 p.m. today, thousands of phones around campus will ring in unison as the University tests the Yale ALERT emergency communications system. Members of the Yale community will receive an e-mail and a text and voice message on their cell phones. In addition, faculty and staff will receive calls to their home phones. The ALERT system, which was put in place last fall as a response to the 2007 shootings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, will be used only in the event of a campuswide emergency. In a test of the system in November 2007, 10,062 voice messages were sent out and 98 percent were successfully delivered. —Harrison Korn
Owner of Courant and Advocate files for bankruptcy
In the face of crippling debt and falling ad revenues, the Tribune Company, the largest employee-owned media company in the United States, filed for bankruptcy Monday. In a press release, Tribune Chairman and CEO Sam Zell attributed the filing to “a precipitous decline in revenue and a tough economy coupled with a credit crisis that makes it extremely difficult to support our debt.” The Tribune, which owns 23 television stations and 10 daily newspapers, including The Hartford Courant and New Haven Advocate, has enough cash to continue running both its newspapers and its television stations without interruption, according to the release. —Jessica Letchford
Three Yale women victims of purse snatchings
Yale Police Department Chief James Perrotti sent an e-mail to the Yale community on Sunday regarding several purse snatchings that occurred over the past week. On Nov. 26 at High Street near Wall Street a Yale college student was knocked to the ground from behind and had her purse stolen. On Dec. 3 at 9:58 p.m., a Yale professor had her purse snatched at Whitney Avenue near Bishop Street. On Dec. 7 at 7:25 p.m. on Lynwood Place another female associated with Yale had her purse snatched. Perrotti said in his e-mail to the community that “we are uncertain if these acts are being committed by the same person.” —Harrison Korn