Amistad group says it will shut down without state aid

NEW LONDON, Conn. – The educational group that operates the state flagship schooner Amistad says it will have to shut down if it does not receive the remaining $105,000 in state aid it is due this year.

The Day reports the comments by Discovering Amistad Chairman Len Miller this week came after Democratic state Rep. Diana Urban of North Stonington proposed using the group’s aid instead to help cut the state’s $54 million Medicare deficit.

The group operates the 129-foot schooner Amistad, a replica of a slave ship taken over by African captives in 1839. The captives were captured and jailed in New Haven, but later won their freedom in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case.

Urban says keeping the Amistad funding while cutting Medicare spending sends a bad message to state residents.

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Information from: The Day, http://www.theday.com