New Haven County | featured news

By Cara RosnerCTNewsjunkie.comNEW HAVEN >> In states where minors are banned from using indoor tanning facilities, like Connecticut, young people are still accessing the services, a new study has found.Research assistants from the Yale School of Public Health posed as minors and called tanning salons in 13 states that have bans, including Connecticut.

ctnewsjunkie.comLobbyists spent $25 million this year trying to push their issues over the legislative finish line, according to reports filed with the Office of State Ethics.While the spending and the lobbying is far from over in the absence of a state budget, one of the most expensive efforts this year centered around the state's decision to expand gaming.

NEW HAVEN >> The St. Andrew the Apostle Society is conducting its 177th annual Italian "festa" this weekend through Sunday evening at the club grounds at Wooster Square, 515 Chapel St.St. Andrew is the patron saint of Amalfi, Italy, to which many club members trace their ancestry, and of all fishermen.

Last May, Samantha Collins' drug use, legal problems and dealings with the state Department of Children and Families forced her to strike a bargain with the agency.In return for allowing social workers to come into her home three times a week to help her stay off drugs, improve her parenting and learn the practical skills needed to function as an adult, DCF would not remove her children.

NEW HAVEN >> A plan for an extended-stay hotel in the middle of downtown easily got approval Wednesday, while the beginning of a separate project to remediate a large contaminated site in Newhallville was slowed for more information.The City Plan Commission approved a 108-room hotel at the corner of Crown and High streets, as well as the additional conversion of a home at 15 High St.

WEST HAVEN >> The Columbus Day Committee of Greater New Haven will hold a fundraiser from 6 to 9 p.m. June 28 at the Cielo Banquet Ballroom, 85 Chase Lane, to raise money for the 2017 Columbus Day parade in West Haven.The benefit will include a buffet of Italian foods donated by city restaurants, along with beer, wine, soda, coffee and dessert.

My house is at the top of a hill. At the bottom is an intersection with Whalley Avenue. That intersection is a few feet away from another at Whalley and Blake Street. Both intersections have traffic lights.Thing about these intersections is they trick drivers into running a red light. Cars heading downtown stop at the first red light but can only see the second light.

NEW HAVEN >> Unionized workers at Fair Haven Heights manufacturing company say the Swedish conglomerate that owns factory is playing hardball with them as their current three-year contract nears its expiration.Negotiators with Local 151 of the New England Joint Board say the management of Trelleborg Uretek won't agree to a new contract without certain give back of benefits the 140 unionized workers at the plant already have.

May was a strong month for Connecticut's real estate sector, with solid gains in both the number of properties sold as well as the median sale price, according to the Connecticut Realtors trade group.The number of single-family homes sold last month increased by 311, or 10 percent, compared to a year ago.

BRIDGEPORT >> The leader of a heroin ring in the Fair Haven neighborhood of New Haven was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison Wednesday.The more than 12-year sentence was necessary for Wilson Vasquez, because of his role in organizing the distribution of between 1 kilogram and 3 kilograms of heroin into New Haven, U.