AltWeeklies Wire
The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Poorer in Connecticutnew

A new report from Connecticut Voices for Children (CVC), a research and advocacy group for low-income families with offices in New Haven and Hartford, offers a stark analysis: Connecticut is the only state in the nation to see a significant decline in the real wages of the poorest 20 percent of state residents.
New Haven Advocate |
Jim Motavalli |
06-10-2008 |
Economy
Photographer Paul Duda Captures China's Cultural Landmarks as They're Destroyednew

Duda has been documenting the way things used to be -- before the 2008 Olympics spurred a national call for modernization of Beijing -- and the way things are now, with crumbling walls and loose bricks around every corner. "I got to photographing these areas in Beijing without any prior knowledge they were going to wipe it out," he says. "Then I went back and realized they were gone, so I just kept going back, kept re-photographing."
New Haven Advocate |
Laura Yao |
06-03-2008 |
Art
New Haven's City Budget Relies on an Unreliable Source of Incomenew
By statute, Connecticut is supposed to fund PILOT -- which compensates cities for tax-exempt property like hospitals, universities and schools -- at 77 percent of the real estate's full value. In New Haven, that adds up to big bucks. But PILOT's only been fully funded twice in the last decade.
New Haven Advocate |
Betsy Yagla |
05-20-2008 |
Policy Issues
Can the Cosmetics Industry Fight Chemicals with More Chemicals?new

There are toxins in makeup, beauty products and standard personal hygiene stuff like toothpaste, deodorant and soap, but do they have to be there? The director of Yale's Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering says that as chemistry advances, scientists are learning how to design substances to be nontoxic from the get-go.
New Haven Advocate |
Rachel Slajda |
05-20-2008 |
Environment
Is the Ailing 'New Haven Register' Fit-to-Print for The New York Times Co.?new
The financial free-fall and dwindling readership of the Journal Register Co. and its flagship Register are old news, but that doesn't mean somebody doesn't think they can turn the business around. JRC honchos won't tell us a thing, but a source inside the Reg hints that no less a monolith than The New York Times Co. may be a suitor.
New Haven Advocate |
The New Haven Nose |
05-20-2008 |
Media
In Connecticut, Government and Businesses Combat the Toxic Terror Known as E-Wastenew
If all goes well, by July 1, 2009, towns across the state will provide free recycling of home computers, television and other electronic devices, and the entire operation will be paid for by the manufacturers, not the taxpayers.
New Haven Advocate |
Daniel D'Ambrosio |
05-20-2008 |
Environment
Can Connecticut's New Carbon Emissions Cap Deliver?new
The bill requires the state to reduce greenhouse gas emissions an ambitious 17 percent from current levels by 2020, and a huge 80 percent by 2050. It doesn't specify exactly how we're going to reach that goal, and current efforts -- while laudable -- don't appear to be nearly enough to get the state on track for such big reductions.
New Haven Advocate |
Jim Motavalli |
05-20-2008 |
Environment
New Haven's BBQ Trucksnew

Some of the city's best barbecue and jerk chicken is sold from trucks.
New Haven Advocate |
Nicholas Day |
05-13-2008 |
Food+Drink
Two New Affecting Books About Loving, and Being, Childrennew
Frances Richey's book of poems The Warrior: A Mother's Story of a Son at War and A.M. Holmes' memoir The Mistress's Daughter are "children's literature" in the most literal way.
New Haven Advocate |
Jolisa Gracewood |
05-13-2008 |
Books
High Metal Prices Fuel Underground Trade of Stolen Scrapnew
Scrap dealers and police say they cooperate to prevent the sale of stolen goods, and Connecticut law has recently been toughened. But the rise in metal heists begs the question: Would there be so much theft if there wasn't a network of places to "fence" the swag?
New Haven Advocate |
Jim Motavalli |
05-13-2008 |
Economy
Can Pizza-Flavored Beer Really Be Any Good?new

To make sure you're keeping it classy, the creators of Mamma Mia! Pizza Beer recommend drinking the beer in a wine glass to get the full aroma. I obliged when I tried the beer last week; it's surprisingly decent and not at all what I expected: I didn't throw up.
New Haven Advocate |
Erin Lynch |
05-06-2008 |
Food+Drink
Phil Donahue Discusses His Doc About a Paralyzed Iraq War Vetnew
Body of War puts a human face on the armed forces with the coming-home story of a 25-year-old private returning from Iraq, whose badge of courage is the scar he wears on his spine.
New Haven Advocate |
Chandra Niles Folsom |
05-06-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Girl Talk Melds the Top 40 Hits You'd Never Dance to On Their Ownnew
Greg Gillis talks about his fans ("frat dudes like it, rap guys like it, rock guys like it"), quitting his day job as a biomedical engineer ("real cool"), and sampling culture ("I always understood sampling as an instrument").
New Haven Advocate |
Vivian Nereim |
04-29-2008 |
Profiles & Interviews
Discrimination Suits Accuse Southern Connecticut State University of Institutional Discriminationnew
Five SCSU business professors, past and present, are suing the university for discrimination and harassment, and all say the university president is aware of and maybe even condones the problems. If the claims are true, the lawsuits paint a bleak picture of academic life at the state school.
New Haven Advocate |
Betsy Yagla |
04-29-2008 |
Education
Four Govs Gather at Yale Climate Conference to Promise They Won't Let the World Endnew
Governors Jon Corzine, Kathleen Sebelius, Jodi Rell and, of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger, met to sign a declaration to renew statewide efforts to reduce our collective carbon footprint. The event marked the 100th anniversary of the original 1908 "governors conference" sponsored by then-President Theodore Roosevelt, which called the public "to consider the weightiest problem now before the nation."
New Haven Advocate |
Alexis Fitts |
04-29-2008 |
Environment