Ariela Lopez
Staff Reporter
ariela.lopez@yale.edu
Ariela Lopez covers Cops and Courts for the City Desk and lays out the weekly print paper as a Production & Design editor. She previously covered City Hall. Ariela is a sophomore in Branford College, originally from New York City.
Author Archive
ARIELA LOPEZ
Heidi’s handler is retiring. Is Yale’s public safety dog also one paw out the door?

The beloved labrador retriever has spent four years on campus supporting students and helping the Yale Police with community engagement. Now, her future at Yale is uncertain.

October 3, 2024

MAIA NEHME & ARIELA LOPEZ
New Haven police union, City announce tentative contract agreement

Amid recruiting troubles, the proposed contract features a nearly $20,000 raise in starting salary and strengthened benefits.

October 2, 2024

ARIELA LOPEZ
Omni workers settle four-year contract

After ten months of contract negotiations and a four-day strike two weeks ago, UNITE HERE Local 217 announced that they had settled a contract with the Omni New Haven Hotel.

September 30, 2024

ARIELA LOPEZ
Police Union highlights lack of wage increase in Family Weekend push

The Yale police union commissioned sign trucks and handed out promotional leaflets to students and visiting parents on Friday and Saturday — at least the sixth public action taken by the union this negotiation cycle.

September 29, 2024

MAIA NEHME & ARIELA LOPEZ
Dozens march through the Hill for police shooting victim

Friends of Jebrell Conley and local activists convened to call for police accountability a week after Conley was shot and killed by three officers at a West Haven car wash.

September 27, 2024

ARIELA LOPEZ
New Haven, State police kill alleged Crips member in shooting at West Haven car wash

The mayor and chief of police believe that New Haven Police Department officers used “appropriate force” in the first fatal shooting by an NHPD officer in nearly two decades.

September 24, 2024

ARIELA LOPEZ & INEZ CHUIDIAN
Unhoused New Havener faces charges for role in bomb scare, neighbors advocate for his release

Robert Cardone Jr., known for collecting recyclable bottles downtown, was arrested as a suspect in a bomb threat for moving canisters near City Hall. Advocates for the unhoused protested outside his court hearing on Thursday.

September 23, 2024

ARIELA LOPEZ & TINA LI
Two years after downtown policing push, juvenile arrests at a low

A collaborative effort instituted in 2022 between New Haven police and public school officers has led to a calmer downtown.

September 20, 2024

MAIA NEHME & ARIELA LOPEZ
NHPD, YPD plan crackdown on “Kia Boyz,” auto thefts

University and municipal police departments around New Haven county are negotiating setting up a task force to deal with heightened auto theft in the area — largely by adolescents.

September 19, 2024

ARIELA LOPEZ
Omni hotel strike ends without contract settled

Omni hotel employees and organizers with UNITE HERE Local 217, the union that represents them, announced that they will return to work on Monday, ending a four-day stoppage.

September 15, 2024

TYSON ODERMANN & ARIELA LOPEZ
Omni workers start second day of strike

Ten months into contract negotiations, members of UNITE HERE Local 217 went on strike for a fair contract at the Omni hotel, joined by state and local leaders on the picket line.

September 13, 2024