West Haven receives UI tree grant at Arbor Day celebration

City, state and UI officials celebrate West Haven’s $10,000 tree grant award from United Illuminating by dedicating the planting of a lacebark elm at Campbell Avenue and Center Street in observance of the city’s Arbor Day celebration Tuesday. From left, City Council Chairman Ronald M. Quagliani, D-at large; state Rep. Dorinda Borer, D-West Haven; Albert Carbone Jr., UI’s manager of government and community relations; mayoral Executive Assistant Louis P. Esposito Jr.; city Tree Warden Leo Kelly; state Rep. Michael A. DiMassa, D-West Haven; Mayor Nancy R. Rossi; Councilman Barry Lee Cohen, R-10; and city Tree Commission member Rosemary Beloin. (City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)

City receives UI tree grant at Arbor Day celebration

WEST HAVEN, Oct. 28, 2020 — The city received a $10,000 grant from United Illuminating to plant new trees and fittingly marked the special occasion at a downtown Arbor Day celebration Tuesday.

Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, Tree Warden Leo Kelly, Tree Commission member Rosemary Beloin, and Democratic West Haven state Reps. Dorinda Borer and Michael A. DiMassa accepted the grant award from Albert Carbone Jr., UI’s manager of government and community relations, while dedicating the planting of a lacebark elm at Campbell Avenue and Center Street, opposite Jerri’s Luncheonette.

Also attending the brief ceremony were City Council Chairman Ronald M. Quagliani, D-at large; Councilman Barry Lee Cohen, R-10; and Louis P. Esposito Jr., Rossi’s executive assistant.

According to Rossi, Borer was instrumental in securing the UI grant, which will support West Haven’s Tree Management Plan.

Rossi is working with Kelly and the Tree Commission to improve the city’s tree inventory process and implement a sustainable and safe treescape in the heart of downtown.

During the morning dedication, Rossi read a mayoral proclamation declaring Arbor Day in West Haven. The event was postponed from April 24 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Reading the proclamation, Rossi said the lacebark elm, native to eastern Asia, “is a tough landscape tree, hardy enough for use in harsh planting situations, such as parking lots, small planters along streets, and plazas or patios.

“Introduced to the United States in 1794, the tree is also an ornamental — arguably the most ubiquitous of the elms around the globe — and is found in botanical gardens and arboreta.”

Rossi added, “Trees reduce the erosion of topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce life-giving oxygen and provide habitat for life.”

Arbor Day was founded in 1872 by Julius Sterling Morton in Nebraska City, Nebraska.

By the 1920s, each state had enacted public laws mandating an Arbor Day observance. The customary observance is to plant a tree.

On the first Arbor Day, April 10, 1872, more than 1 million trees were planted.

Rossi issues COVID-19 update

WEST HAVEN, Oct. 22, 2020 — Mayor Nancy R. Rossi has issued an update on the coronavirus.

Read the Statement.

West Haven simplifies voting procedures for residents

WEST HAVEN, Oct. 22, 2020 — Election Day is right around the corner, and city election officials have residents covered.

Due to this year’s presidential election, officials are anticipating a higher-than-normal voter turnout by implementing procedures to simplify the in-person and absentee voting experiences for residents.

The helpful voting steps come at an already challenging time complicated by the coronavirus, officials said, with City Hall closed on Friday until further notice due to the pandemic.

Residents who have registered to vote can vote in person at the window outside the city clerk’s office of City Hall, 355 Main St., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The in-person deadline for voting by window is at 8 p.m. Nov. 2.

Residents who have absentee ballots must deposit them in the ballot drop boxes at the Main Street and Savin Avenue entrances of City Hall by 8 p.m. Nov. 3. They can also deposit them in the drop boxes at the John Prete public housing complex at 1187 Campbell Ave. and the Surfside complex at 200 Oak St.

Residents who have not registered to vote can register online at https://portal.ct.gov/. They can also register in person outside the registrar of voters office of City Hall from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday by calling 203-937-3541 for an appointment. The voter registration deadline is at 8 p.m. Oct. 27.

After Oct. 27, residents cannot register to vote until Nov. 3 from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. at City Hall, according to officials.

The registrar’s office encourages residents to register early to eliminate long lines on Election Day.

At the polls, residents must wear face masks and maintain social distancing at all times, including staying at least 6 feet away from others.

Polling places are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Nov. 3 in the following districts:

— 1st District, Elks Lodge 1537, 265 Main St.

— 2nd District, Savin Rock School, 50 Park St.

— 3rd District, Washington School, 369 Washington Ave.

— 4th District, University of New Haven Student Hall, Formerly St. Paul Church, 41 Alling St.

— 5th District, Simchat Yisrael, 870 First Ave.

— 6th District, Forest School, 95 Burwell Road.

— 7th District, Molloy School, 255 Meloy Road.

— 8th District, Mackrille School, 806 Jones Hill Road.

— 9th District, Haley School, 148 South St.

— 10th District, Pagels School, 26 Benham Hill Road.

Burns sworn in as West Haven housing commissioner

WEST HAVEN, Oct. 22, 2020 — (Pictured): Mayor Nancy R. Rossi swears in West Shore resident Harold “Hal” Burns to the Board of Commissioners of the West Haven Housing Authority on Oct. 21 at the World War I Armistice Memorial on the Green.

(City Photo/Marcin J. Stankevitch)

Feeding those in need

WEST HAVEN, Oct. 15, 2020 — (Pictured): Mayor Nancy R. Rossi, third from left, joins Wellspring Community Center President Omer Kizilcik, fourth from left, on the steps of City Hall on Oct. 14 to announce the center’s gift of 210 pounds of ground beef to the West Haven Emergency Assistance Task Force.

With them are, from left, Wellspring volunteer Aysin Karaman, WHEAT Vice President Arnold Agnoli, state Sen. James Maroney, D-Milford, and Peace Islands Institute Connecticut Director Enes Yapici.

The donation was part of the fourth annual meat drive held by Wellspring and its sister nonprofit, Peace Islands, both of Milford. It was made possible through their partnership with the Connecticut Food Bank and Embrace Relief, a nonprofit international humanitarian relief and development organization based in Fairfield, N.J.

The beef was blessed July 31-Aug. 3 during the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, meaning “Feast of Sacrifice.” The most important Islamic holiday marks the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim — Abraham to Christians and Jews — to sacrifice his son.

During the four-day holiday, Muslims slaughter sheep or cattle, distribute part of the meat to the poor and eat the rest.

According to Rose Majestic, the executive director of WHEAT at 674 Washington Ave., the beef will feed 4,000 city families in need.

West Haven has the state’s largest Turkish American population.

(City Photo/Michael P. Walsh)