One's a city Democrat. The other, a suburban Republican. The two state legislators went toe-to-toe on the question of whom to fault for the collapse of a reading program and other New Haven budget woes.

The friendly but impassioned Crossfire-like exchange took place Thursday afternoon between New Haven State Rep. Cameron Staples, the legislature's finance co-chairman; and State Sen. Len Fasano, who represents Wallingford, North Haven and Cheshire.

Click here to continue reading Paul's report or click the play arrow to witness the exchange.

(Updated 9:36 p.m.) City Hall now plans to start turning away some men from homeless shelters, kill an early-reading program, eliminate 160 positions, and close a senior center, three police substations, and the Dwight School in order to balance the coming year's budget.

The Shubert theater, Market New Haven and Tweed New Haven Airport would also receive budget cuts under a revised budget plan Mayor John DeStefano announced at City Hall Thursday afternoon.

Click here to continue reading about the cuts New Haven will be making.

(Updated: 4 p.m.) Local leaders from a handful of cities and towns gathered at the Legislative Office Building Monday morning to criticize Democratic leaders and Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell for agreeing late last week to stick with the fiscal year 2009 $18.7 billion budget adopted last year.

Mayors and first selectmen from several cities and towns talked about what the legislature's failure to act on the second year of the state's two-year budget means to citizens across the state.

"Tax increases, lay-offs, and service reductions," New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. said Monday summing up the local impact.

Pressure mounted on the city's scandal- plagued car-towing system, as two groups of aldermen called for another probe and City Hall weighed whether to remove a company from its towing list.

City Hall suspended its feared "Plate Finder" program last week after the Independent reported that a marshal called off a tow of a vehicle owned by the Rev. Boise Kimber, a pal of the mayor. The Plate Finder identifies cars whose owners owe back taxes or parking tickets, so companies can tow them away.

Click here to continue reading Paul's report.

First, the good news: The Hartford has promised it won't knock down 40,000 square feet of 1926 Georgian Revival office building formerly owned by MassMutual in Asylum Hill, nor will it create any more surface parking at the site, according to Josh King, a PR flack for The Hartford.

King swore to these edicts at the monthly meeting of the Asylum Hill Problem Solving Revitalization Association (aka the NRZ) Monday night April 7, 2008 at the Asylum Hill Congregational Church.

To refresh the NRZ's collective memory, King explained that in December, The Hartford negotiated an option to purchase the historically significant property. At the same time, it applied for a 90-day waiting period for a permit to demolish 600,000 square feet worth of office edifice on the 16-acre campus.

Republican Senators held a press conference early Wednesday morning to reaffirm their opposition to the new delivery sales tax proposed by the Democratic majority to fully fund PILOT, a grant to cities and towns for tax exempt property.

Local officials from New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford, and New London held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to offer their support for the proposal's goal of fully funding PILOT.

Cities facing tough budget times have found sympathy on one state panel, in the form of a $102.7 million proposed municipal aid package.

The aid package passed through the legislature's Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee at its final session Wednesday would fully fund the PILOT program, as well as let cities keep a share of the state hotel tax. The funds would come from a new tax on delivery services.

The committee co-chairs, New Haven State Rep. Cameron Staples (at right in picture with City Hall lobbyist Laoise King) and Sen. Eileen Daily, declared they'd found two innovative ways to answer municipalities' cry for relief from a reliance on property tax.

Click here to continue reading Melissa's report.

Shoppers like Tanea Drummonds (pictured) likely won't be slapped with an extra tax to buy an IKEA bed: A proposal to create a city sales tax appears to be dead.

Drummonds was strolling through IKEA's bedroom section this week looking to outfit her daughter's new room. She was one shopper who would have been the target of a so-called penny tax proposal at the state Capitol. The bill would send distressed cities some added revenue by allowing them to add one percent to the 6 percent sales tax.

Click here to continue reading Melissa's report.

About 75 Democratic Town Committee members gathered this week to elect a new board and to learn about the impact of a new state public election financing system that begins this year. It is designed to eliminate special interest groups from the election process and to encourage competition in legislative races. Currently 75 percent of all state legislative elections occur without an opponent or with only a nominal one.

State Senator Ed Meyer (pictured), a two-term Democratic incumbent, told the group: "I said no special interests anymore. We call it clean elections. We are way ahead of the country with this program and we are very excited about it." He said he welcomed his opponent to the Senate race.

Click here to continue reading.

One woman, a supposed confidential informant in three homicides, told police that a detective forged her signature when filling out receipts for money -- money she never got.

The allegation is one of several startling revelations in a series of previously sealed arrest warrants in the case of ex-Detective Clarence Willoughby (pictured).

Willoughby, a 24-year veteran of the force, resigned shortly before turning himself over to police on Feb. 6 on larceny and forgery charges. He is accused of pocketing thousands of dollars in informant money in four incidents spanning from 2003 to 2007; he has pleaded not guilty and retained defense attorney Norm Pattis.

Click here to continue reading Melissa's report.