State grants Amistad America more time to show progress
A spokeswoman for Attorney General George Jepsen said Wednesday that he has given a short extension to Amistad America to produce copies of its application for reinstatement of its nonprofit status and its audited financial reports.
Jepsen had set the deadline for Monday, but spokeswoman Jaclyn Falkowski said he has granted a few more days, till the end of the week. She said more information may be available on Friday.
The struggling organization that owns the Mystic Seaport-built schooner Amistad lost its tax-exempt status after failing to file federal tax returns three years in a row.
The news comes as state Rep. Diana Urban, D-North Stonington, presses the state Department of Economic and Community Development to detail how Amistad America has spent the $8 million in state taxpayer money that it has received for the construction, maintenance, programming and operation of the vessel.
DECD has not responded to The Day's request for information about how the money has been spent.
DECD has given the ship $1.9 million over the past four years. It plans to pay Amistad America $359,000 a year for the next two years and it made payments this year despite questions from the Internal Revenue Service.
The former New Haven-based organization, which no longer has an office or website, has now moved the Amistad to Maine, where it is being leased to a sail training organization.
In a May 29 email, the DECD told Urban that contrary to The Day's reporting of Amistad America's shaky financial status, "Our findings paint a positive picture ... of a struggling organization finally starting to turn the corner in achieving financial stability."
Except for mentioning three "potentially transformative partnerships," it offered no specifics about how much money the organization would generate for the vessel.
j.wojtas@theday.com
Stories that may interest you
UConn student admitted to pretrial diversion program in swastika incident
A University of Connecticut student accused of drawing swastikas on buildings on campus has been granted admission to a pre-trial probationary program.
Ice cream truck driver strikes, drags 11-year-old boy in NYC
An 11-year-old boy was clinging to life Saturday after he was struck and then dragged by an unlicensed Mister Softee ice cream truck driver while riding his new bike down the block from his Brooklyn home, police and witnesses said.
R.I. police officer suspended for incident at abortion protest
A Rhode Island police officer has been suspended from his job with pay while the Providence Police Department conducts a criminal investigation into his actions at a Statehouse abortion protest where a woman was assaulted

Couple sues Boston hospital over loss of baby's body
A Massachusetts couple whose prematurely born baby girl died less than two weeks after she was delivered has sued one of Boston’s most prestigious hospitals for losing the infant’s body
READER COMMENTS