Free Republic

A $100 million legal claim filed against the state of Connecticut in the wake of the deadly Newtown elementary school shooting has been withdrawn for now, local media reported Tuesday. New Haven, Connecticut-based attorney Irving Pinsky said he dropped the claim because he was evaluating new evidence, according to a report on CTPost.com. Pinsky said he did not rule out further legal action, the report said. He did not respond immediately to Reuters requests to comment on the report.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy gave a high-profile roll out Tuesday to an anti-gun violence strategy that targets hundreds of young minority men deemed most likely to kill or be killed in Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven. In an era of tight resources and a political unwillingness to squeeze the supply of guns, "Project Longevity" is an ambitious, if politically easy new take on an old strategy: Focus existing social-services and law-enforcement resources on those most at risk. The basics are simple: identify a pool of young men involved in gangs and street violence, then...

State and federal officials are set to announce $121 million in federal funding for a high-speed rail project between New Haven and Springfield, Mass. In addition to Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, who will announce the funding, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin support the 62-mile project. It calls for service every 30 minutes during peak periods and every 60 minutes at other times. Speeds would reach up to 110 miles an hour. Malloy's office projects 1.26 million riders annually by 2030. The state says it expects to finish design work next year and launch service in...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- A New Haven convenience store owner fought back against a man trying to rob him and won Tuesday night. The owner fired off two shots in his store which was enough to scare him off. It was the third time he's faced a gun in an attempted robbery. Seventy-year-old Edilberto Fontanez has owned Eddie's Market on Sylvan Avenue in New Haven for 40 years. [Snip] Tuesday evening he took matters into his own hands when a convicted felon tried to take away his money. 24-year-old Brandon Mills, of New Haven, allegedly came into Fontanez's business,...

A New Haven man was arrested Saturday night after police said he broke into a home and stole the stove from the kitchen. Police said when were called to 48 Platt St. just before 9:30 p.m. after getting word of a burglary. Police said as they were arriving at the scene, they found a man wheeling a stove down the street on a handtruck. Police stopped the man, identified as Brian Howard, 45, and asked him where he got the stove. He told them he found it in the back yard of a home on Platt Street. New Haven police...

The New Haven People’s Center serves as the headquarters of the Connecticut Communist Party USA and several of its fronts including the Greater New Haven Peace Council and a city funded City of New Haven Peace Commission. It is lead by well known Communist Party leaders Art Perlo, Al Marder and Joelle Fishman – head of the Communist Party Commission, which is charged with working with the Democratic Party.

As part of our Citizens' Agenda project, we are asking voters which issues matter the most to you in Election 2012. Reporters will be assigned to the top issues you help identify in the survey below. ... The New Haven Board of Aldermen's Human Services Committee in May voted in favor of a resolution calling on Congress and the Connecticut General Assembly to support repeal of the Supreme Court's ruling in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission. The full board votes at 7 tonight at City Hall, 165 Church St.

Opposition from state veterans groups prompted Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to reverse his support Monday for using state funds to repair a New Haven community center that houses a Communist newspaper. Malloy, whose administration has gone back and forth on whether to finance $300,000 in renovations for the New Haven People's Center, issued a brief statement during the State Bond Commission meeting before moving on to the next agenda item without discussion. And one of the two Republican legislators who spearheaded opposition to the funding, Rep. Sean J. Williams of Watertown, said after he would ask the Democratic governor's administration...

Police in New Haven are investigating the city's sixth homicide this year, and its third in a week. Police said 23-year-old Shane Deran Barrett was shot several times at the corner of Gibbs Street and Dixwell Avenue Tuesday afternoon. Police said someone posted pictures of Barrett online and fled the scene before police arrived. Police are still searching for a suspect.

New Haven police said they were responding to reports of a shooting and stabbing Friday afternoon. Several people called 911 just before 1 p.m. after shots rang out on Hamilton Street and reported a person had been shot outside the Farnam Court Housing Complex. Within minutes, emergency crews arrived at the scene and found Quintin McIntyre, 41, of New Haven suffering from a gunshot wound. Emergency officials said it appeared as though he had been shot in the back of the head or neck, with the bullet exiting through his face. McIntyre was conscious and alert when he was taken...

The man accused of kidnapping a 26-year-old Wallingford woman in New Haven on Saturday has 55 convictions, including 15 for felonies, court officials said Monday. Albert Leclaire, 43, of Massachusetts Avenue in East Haven, is wanted for a similar incident that took place earlier in the week and involved a Yale student, officials said. He was held with bail set at $1 million. Leclaire was arrested on Saturday, after a girlfriend's desperate text messages to her boyfriend, indicating she had been kidnapped led cops to rescue her in New Haven. Leclaire was naked from the waist down when he was...

A New Haven pizza parlor won't deliver in certain neighborhoods after two men pulled a gun on its driver outside a Willis Street home. Depending on where you live in New Haven, you may have to pick up your order from Pizza Heaven II. Steve Shain has expanded his no-delivery-after-dark area map after one of his drivers was nearly robbed over weekend. Pizza Heaven II used to make regular deliveries in the Willis Street area, but now the residents will have to come get their wings, salads or pasta themselves. "You can walk out there, and someone can shoot you,"...

... Ray Neal joined and helped launch Occupy New Haven. About 30 young people, some with children and professional jobs, set up camp on the Green where their protest could be heard. The goal was to get people to stand up against corporate greed. The Occupiers in New Haven say it was the city who came up with the idea for them to set up on the Green in the first place. So, Occupy New Haven began to take on life as the weeks turned into months. It grew into more tents, more blue tarps, more signs, more people. ......

A proposal to give more than $300,000 in state assistance to a New Haven community center with ties to the Communist Party was pulled abruptly off the State Bond Commission agenda Friday. And while Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, whose budget office sets the agenda, insisted the item was tabled only because the New Haven People's Center wasn't ready to use the funds, a key Republican on the commission called the proposal an inappropriate use of state funds and charged the administration with conducting sloppy research. "An organization like this should never have made it onto the bond commission agenda," Rep....

New Haven city officials have been given the green light to evict Occupy New Haven protesters from the Green. The protesters must begin vacating the Green on Wednesday morning. Protestors have been stationed on the New Haven Green for the past six months, one of the longest stays in New England. Bulldozers began moving in last week after a judge had ruled with the city, saying the tents were becoming a hazard and blocking public space. But, another judge in a federal appeals court judge decided protestors could have a little more time, granting another temporary stay. The decision to...

A federal judge has given Occupy New Haven protesters a 10-day reprieve. It's the second reprieve for the protesters who've been camped out on the New Haven Green since October. The city wants them off the property and issued them an eviction notice two weeks ago. The city argues the protesters are costing the city money, especially for police activities. New Haven officials say in court documents that the protesters never obtained a permit and that their temporary structures are littered with flammable materials including tires and wood pallets and have destroyed the grass and leave all sorts of trash....

Protesters are still on the New Haven Green two weeks after the city had given the Occupy movement an eviction notice, and Wednesday they will find out how long they will be able to stay. For nearly six months the Occupy New Haven movement has taken over a portion of the city green. They said it's public space, and they're exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech. The city said they're limiting the public's access to public space and issued an eviction notice two weeks ago. But a federal judge in Bridgeport said the protesters could stay a little...

Occupy New Haven activists faced a deadline to leave the city Green, but a federal judge ruled Wednesday that they can stay for at least two weeks while their case is heard in court. The office of New Haven mayor John DeStefano released a statement Wednesday that said, "Any structures or personal belongings on the Green after noon (Wednesday) are subject to removal and may be discarded." Lawyers for the Occupy group said the activists' free speech rights are at stake, and they were seeking a court order barring any eviction. "We're going to have to use those two weeks...

City officials today told members of the Occupy New Haven movement that Wednesday is the last day they will be allowed to have their encampment on the Green. Wednesday is the last day “tents, structures and other materials will be lawfully permitted on the New Haven Green,” according to a statement released by the city. Anything not removed by noon Wednesday may be discarded. “The city has been respectful of the movement’s message, but it is now time for Occupy New Haven to remove their structures and personal items from Green,” the statement says. Representatives from the Occupy movement plan...

ome came from the surrounding towns and cities, East Haven and West Haven, Branford and Hamden. Others came from further afield — New York, Delaware or Texas. But wherever the demonstrators came from, they say that they're not leaving the green. Not by mid-March, as the city has requested, and maybe not ever. The Occupy New Haven protesters have lived in the upper half of the New Haven Green for five months now, an occupation that has far outlasted the Occupy Wall Street movement that inspired it (protesters were evicted from Zuccotti Park on Nov. 15), as well as occupations...

The Connecticut chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations is expected to join the Connecticut Civil Rights Coalition at a press conference Tuesday to urge Gov. Dannel Malloy to protect the rights of Muslim students in the state. The coalition's request comes following the revelation that the New York City Police Department spied on Muslim students at Yale University in New Haven and other northeastern universities without warrants, legal jurisdiction or probable cause. A press conference will be held at noon to ask Malloy to probe Muslim spying by the NYPD and will ask for efforts to protect Muslim civil...

City and law enforcement leaders are calling on Gov. Dannel P. Malloy to reject a U.S. Department of Homeland Security initiative they say would encourage racial profiling and undermine the city and state's power to police themselves. At a news conference today at City Hall, Mayor John DeStefano -- flanked by community leaders and the chief of police -- called the new federal initiative “dangerous and unconstitutional.” The Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) plans to roll out its Secure Communities program in Connecticut this week. Local police departments already share arrest and fingerprint information with...

by John HillStand With Arizona The inmates are running the asylum. This Administration has served notice on every illegal alien invader across America: do not be afraid - you are above the law.Eleven illegal aliens who claimed ICE agents "violated their rights" in 2007 raids on their New Haven neighborhood have won a $350,000 settlement from the U.S. government, which also agreed to halt deportation proceedings against the plaintiffs, their attorneys said Tuesday. New Haven is American's most notorious "sanctuary city"- the first in the nation to offer identification cards to illegal immigrants, and critics including the mayor have contended...

A man is recovering in the hospital after waking up to a car on top of him in his bed in New Haven. Now police said they are searching for the driver who fled from police after the car crashed through the home on Tuesday morning. "The sirens stayed on for a real long time," said neighbor Mia Franklin. "You know something happened. And the bang, we heard the bang and that's when we got up." Even neighbors said they couldn't have guesses what the loud bang was at 12:30 a.m. Police said it was a man fleeing from Hamden...

The Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut, John DeStefano, a Democrat, wants to let non-citizens vote in city elections. One might ask the good mayor if he also thinks it OK for non-citizens to run for city offices, too -- like for mayor. According to a news story in New Haven Register, Pat O'Neill, spokesman for the state GOP House Republicans, asked when told of DeStefano's proposal: "When are they going to extend voting rights to the dead?" One inconvenient little snag for Mr. DeStefano's expansion of the franchise is the Constitution of the State of Connecticut, which stipulates in Article...

New Haven and Yale University Police captured a man they said confronted members of Occupy New Haven and pulled a gun on one of them. Around 1:13 a.m. Friday, New Haven Police said they responded to reports that a group of black men were kicking the Occupier's tents as they walked through the encampment. Justin Sabatino, one of the protesters, said he told police that the group was walking through the encampment kicking the tents yelling, "wake up." Sabatino said he confronted the men when one of them pulled out a gun and pointed it at him. Another protester, identified...

You read that headline right. While the GOP candidates squabble about whether support for in-state tuition or a path to citizenship might as well be support for amnesty, the mayor of New Haven, Ct., comes right out with it. He supports amnesty — and not even stealthily. NBC Connecticut reports: New Haven Mayor John DeStefano plans to ask the state Legislature to allow illegal immigrants who live in the city to be able vote in municipal elections.DeStefano said on Tuesday that the proposal would build a more engaged community and follows the lead of other cities, the New Haven Independent...

by John HillStand With Arizona Just one day after announcing his intent to try and block the Federal "Secure Communities" program, the mayor of "Sanctuary City" New Haven, CT announced he would be asking the state legislature to grant illegal aliens in New Haven the right to vote in municipal elections. Mayor John DeStefano argues that illegal aliens who live in New Haven pay local taxes and their kids go to school in the city, and deserve the right to vote: DeStefano said he plans to lobby the state for a “resident voting rights” bill that would allow any...

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano plans to ask the state Legislature to allow illegal immigrants who live in the city to be able vote in municipal elections. DeStefano said on Tuesday that the proposal would build a more engaged community and follows the lead of other cities, the New Haven Register reports. The Register reports that 10,000 to 12,000 undocumented residents are believed to live in New Haven. Immigrants who are in the U.S. legally or illegally and cannot vote now would still be unable to vote in state or federal elections. DeStefano, a Democrat, said illegal immigrants pay taxes...

Police and fire officials are trying to figure out who set the Christmas tree on the New Haven Green on fire on Saturday night Officials said they found Bibles burning under the tree. "It's a wonderful beautiful Christmas tree for families to see," one resident said. The fire department shut down the power which lights up the tree because some of the wires were damaged. The city says fire investigators are looking to see if the Bibles were intentionally set on fire. "It's wrong. They're disrespecting the holidays," another resident said. "There can't be Christmas without lights," someone else said....

One person is dead and two are wounded in three shootings police investigated today. It’s too early to tell if the shootings were related, police said. Andre Kelly, the city’s 30th homicide victim of the year, was found dead of a gunshot wound by a friend on the first floor of a multi-story building at 536 Whalley Avenue. No further information was available about Kelly, whose body was found at about 7:20 p.m. Police officer David Hartman, spokesman for the department, said the apartment that Kelly was found in is located at the rear of a building that includes a...

A 34-year-old genetic researcher with ties to Yale University will appear Monday in a Dryden courtroom, charged with the first-degree rape of a Town of Ithaca woman. Navneet K. Tyagi of New Haven, Conn. is charged with forcible sex. According to the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office, Tyagi drove from Connecticut to the victim’s home, where he allegedly “held her captive for several hours, forcing her to engage in sexual intercourse.” He was arraigned before Judge Clauson in the Town of Dryden Court and sent to Tompkins County Jail in lieu of $500,000 cash bail. Cornell Public Safety and the New...

A New Haven man was fatally shot early Wednesday evening on Hurlburt Street in New Haven. The male victim, who neighbors tell Eyewitness News is in his 20's, was shot in middle of the street in broad daylight. Police sources tell Eyewitness News that a suspect is in custody at this time. This followed a chase that saw the suspect crash his car on Sylvan Avenue. Police apprehended him after a brief foot chase. A large crowd of the victims family and friends gathered outside of Yale-New Haven Hospital. Many were visually crying and many were very angry.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- New Haven's school board will decide Monday who should run one of the city's lowest-performing schools. The board is considering hiring a New Jersey-based for-profit group to manage the Roberto Clemente Leadership Academy. . The request comes as part of a reform initiative. The private company would focus on raising standardized test scores, cutting the drop out rate and helping ensure all students in the district can go to college. Some parents want to see more responsibility at home. If the board approves hiring the firm, it would cost the city about $430,000 a year. At...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton is in New Haven, leading a rally and march in support of New Haven public service workers. In February, Mayor John DeStefano laid off dozens of city workers, including 16 police officers. Betsy Rosario, who has worked for New Haven's Board of Education for years as a security officer, said she's not sure if she will have a job. Of the 80 workers DeStefano's administration has laid off, five of them were in her union. "We don't have a contact. We haven't had one and haven't had a raise...

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano says he will pursue legal action against the police union for the union's Thursday protest outside City Hall. About 200 officers marched from Police Headquarters to City Hall to protest the mayor's decision to lay off 16 officers as part of a plan to deal with the city's budget crisis. The officers blocked Church Street and demanded to speak to DeStefano about his decision. A spokesperson for the mayor says the city is aware that many of the officers who participated in the protest were on duty -- something that is not permitted.

DEVELOPING: Authorities have found what appear to be "improvised explosives" and materials to make homemade bombs at a home in Connecticut. [Snip] Police and FBI agents are at the scene Thursday and authorities are waiting for a judge to sign a search warrant application.

Steven Hayes was sentenced to death by a Connecticut jury today for his role in the deadly 2007 home invasion that killed Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters. The verdict came halfway through day four of deliberation for the jury that spend the whole weekend holed up in a New Haven courtroom discussing the fate of Hayes, 47. Hayes is convicted of raping and choking Hawke-Petit to death, while accused accomplice Joshua Komisarjevsky is accused of sexually assaulting 11-year-old Michaela Petit. Michaela and her older sister Hayley, 17, died after they were tied to their beds and the house was...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Connecticut police say they arrested a man at a management company after he mentioned the shooting rampage across the state that killed nine people and said he understood the killer's mindset. Fifty-eight-year-old Francis Laskowski of Derby was charged with breach of peace Wednesday after making the comments while working at Fusco Management Co. in New Haven.

Illegal immigrants fleeing Arizona because of SB 1070 will find the welcome mat set out for them in New Haven, Connecticut. The city appears ready to pick up the cost of their medical care, schooling and other services that will take the financial burden off the backs of Arizona taxpayers.

NEW HAVEN, CT (WPIX) - A journalism professor at Southern Connecticut State University is accused of standing naked in front of his window and exposing himself to his neighbor. Jerry Dunklee, a well-known radio personality in New Haven, was taken into police custody last week after police said they observed him naked in front of a window of his home. His neighbor alerted police, after seeing Dunklee dancing naked at the window overlooking her yard. She reportedly told police she saw Dunklee last Thursday fondling himself and waving at her. Dunklee told police that what he did inside his...

NEW HAVEN — Attorneys for a group of black city firefighters Monday filed a motion asking a federal court to halt the promotion of 10 other firefighters (including four minorities) who scored well enough on 2003 exams to be promoted. The 10 firefighters’ advancements were approved Friday by the Board of Fire Commissioners, just three days after the board ratified the promotions of 14 other firefighters (all but one of them white) mandated by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Ricci v. DeStefano. The 10 in question scored high enough on the test to be promoted, but weren’t plaintiffs with...

A New Haven man is under arrest after police found pipe bombs and a weapon in his vehicle late Saturday,  Marlon Reddick, 44 was stopped by West Haven Police last night around 11:00 p.m. in the area of Elm Street and Kimberly Avenue for equipment violations. During the motor vehicle stop, officers observed a clear plastic bag containing pills in the passenger compartment of the vehicle. After Reddick claimed no knowledge of the pills, the officers asked him to exit the vehicle as they continued their investigation, according to a police report. As officers searched the vehicle, they discovered a duffle bag behind the front seat. ...

SNIPPET: "NEW HAVEN — A 38-year-old man arrested after police discovered a pipe bomb, shotguns, gas masks and other items inside his Mercedes late Tuesday was arrested earlier this year on bombmaking charges in East Haven. John Iannucci was held at New Haven police headquarters for most of the day on a host of weapons and explosives charges. The arrest could likely complicate the situation on his current court case. He is due to appear in court on Oct. 22 on the East Haven charges of illegal possession of explosives and illegal bomb manufacturing. He was free on $25,000 bail...

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Police have identified a suspect in the killing of a person whose body was found stuffed behind a wall in a high-security laboratory building at Yale University, law enforcement sources told NBC News on Monday. The suspect, a student, has defensive wounds, and failed a polygraph test, the sources said. The body found Sunday in the Yale Medical School building is believed to be that of Annie Le, a 24-year-old native of Placerville, Calif. She was last seen in the building on Tuesday and Sunday was to have been her wedding day. An autopsy was being...

Investigators are trying to determine whether a San Diego sailor passed Navy secrets about security weaknesses and warship movements to a British man accused of having terrorist links, according to court documents unsealed yesterday. E-mail messages from the unnamed sailor, sent in late 2000 and 2001 before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, were found in December in computer files belonging to Babar Ahmad, who was detained Wednesday in London, according to the 31-page arrest affidavit. The computer files contained details about security arrangements and movements of the San Diego-based Constellation carrier battle group, which included the destroyer Benfold, on which...

Legislation: Still believe in post-racial politics? Read the health care bill. It's affirmative action on steroids, deciding everything from who becomes a doctor to who gets treatment on the basis of skin color. President Obama is on the record as being officially opposed to reparations for slavery. But as with other issues, you have to sift through his eloquent rhetoric and go beyond the teleprompter to get at what he really means.

Legislation: Still believe in post-racial politics? Read the health care bill. It's affirmative action on steroids, deciding everything from who becomes a doctor to who gets treatment on the basis of skin color.President Obama is on the record as being officially opposed to reparations for slavery. But as with other issues, you have to sift through his eloquent rhetoric and go beyond the teleprompter to get at what he really means. His opposition to reparations is based on the fact they don't go far enough. In a 2004 questionnaire, he told the NAACP, "I fear that reparations would be an...

Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's backers are reportedly urging reporters to probe what one called the "troubled and litigious work history" of New Haven firefighter Frank Ricci.

NEW HAVEN — The two dozen firefighters who packed into Humphrey’s East Restaurant were celebrating a coming marriage, drinking and jawboning in the boisterous style of large men with risky jobs, but Lt. Ben Vargas spent the evening trying to escape the tension surrounding his presence. During a trip to the bathroom, he found himself facing another man. Without warning, the first punch landed. When Lieutenant Vargas awoke, bloodied and splayed on the grimy floor, he was taken to the hospital. Lieutenant Vargas believes the attack, five years ago, was orchestrated by a black firefighter in retaliation for his having...