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Volume 27 . No. 2323 Volume 21 No. 2194

New Haven

School Committees Malloy To Dems: Malloy To Scour BudgetDems: For Savings

“DMC” Jocelyn Maminta Legal Community Honors

Ignore Ignore“Tough “ToughOn OnCrime” Crime” Mayor Toni Harp swears in Yesenia Rivera, the school board’s newest member.

Donna Brazile Trying a New Lane By Joining Fox News

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Montessori Mates Check Out Chess THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK New Haven Independent

Odysseus Szarabajka was stuck in a corner. His opponent, Malachi Antoine, had decimated his army, sweeping all but two of his chess pieces off the board. All Szarabajka had left to defend his king was one lonely pawn, almost useless against Antoine’s powerful pieces.

Szarabajka scratched his head. If he could just get his pawn to the board’s end, it would be transformed into an all-powerful queen.

But Antoine was expecting that, and he’d set his own queen back to strike it before Szarabajka could ever reach the last square.

With few options, Szarabajka tried for the next best move. He walked his king right into harm’s way, close to the spots where Antoine had set his traps.

Feeling victory at hand, Antoine moved his rook over one row to deliver the final blow. But he’d made a last-minute mistake.

Szarabajka’s king was safe on that square, but he had nowhere to move. It was a stalemate, ending the game in a draw.

“Want to play again?” Antoine asked.

That showdown took place at Elm City Montessori School’s Blake Street campus towards the end of an all-afternoon chess tournament.

Over several hours Friday afternoon, nearly 40 elementary-school students played at least four games each, competing for trophies, medals and wristbands.

The event was put on by two brothers from

Hopkins School, Jake and George Wang, through their nonprofit Chess Haven.

Their work started at their middle school, Worthington Hooker, where they founded a chess club. “From there, we wanted to share our passion with other kids,” Jake Wang said. “We wanted to give back to New Haven especially.” Since then, they said they’ve brought the board game to dozens of schools, public libraries and even a refugee resettlement agency.

Jake Wang said he thinks that he’s seen students build up their “reasoning, focus and interpersonal skills,” all through the game.

To spread chess even further to schools across the country, the brothers wrote up

Elm City Montessori students face off in tourney.

a curriculum, which is posted online and distributed in bound booklets.

To help students remember the complicated rules, they wrote out a story about a king who’s under attack. For instance, Pawns, “loyal to the king, bravely marched forwards, without turning back,” and the bishops “use their sneaky movement.”

At Elm City Montessori on Friday, some of the matches veered away from the

Wangs’s story and developed rules of their own.

Kings, which are supposed to move one space at a time, slid across the entire board, and knights, which move in a wonky Lshape, conveniently jumped right on top of opponents’ pieces that should have been just out of reach.

Other students won their matches fair and square.

After winning all three games, Kingston Clark said it was the best day of his life.

He planned to put his chess trophy next to a flag-football award at home. He said his dad would be taking him to Dunkin’ Donuts.

“I needed to use strategy to win,” he said.

“Mostly I look at the board and see what’s next. I’m looking for a check or a way to take the queen. Or even a rook.”

Clark said that he’d gotten better after playing against his classmates, including Sam Duncan, who also won all three of his games.

“If I lose, I go back there and see that was the move I could have done,” he said.

At the end of the awards ceremony, the Wangs left Elm City Montessori with a giant wrapped present.

The teacher picked two volunteers to open the package. But after the first piece of wrapping paper was torn open, the rest of the class rushed forward, clamoring to see what was inside.

A few cylindrical objects popped up over the kids’ heads.

“Bowling?” one asked.

Horses and castles followed. The Wangs had donated a gigantic chess set.

“All 32 of them!” another said, quickly calculating the number of pieces.

The teacher said that once the weather warmed up, classes could play the game outdoors under the school’s gazebo. The kids broke into cheers.

Harp Aide Matteson Hands In Resignation

by PAUL BASS

New Haven Independent

Mayor Toni Harp’s chief administrative officer (CAO) has decided not to be a permanent “acting” boss.

The CAO, Sean Matteson, the top City Hall manager in charge of line departments like police and fire and public works, has handed in his resignation. He agreed to keep working through the end of April.

Matteson said he is leaving because the Board of Alders back in October voted not to confirm Harp’s appointment of him. A 2013 city charter revision allows alders to vote down a mayor’s nominees to top positions.

Matteson has continued working in an “acting” capacity since the vote. His 180day reappointment as “acting” CAO, which began Sept. 24, has now run out, he noted.

Some officials continue serving in perpetually reappointed “acting” capacity” for years on end. Matteson said he didn’t want to be one of those officials.

His 180-day reappointment as “acting” CAO has run out since the alders vote.

“I love the city,” said Matteson, a former chief of staff in the DeStefano administration whom Harp lured back to City Hall with the hope of establishing a sense of order and direction.

“It’s a hard thing to do,” he said about re-

signing. “It’s the right thing to do. I want to be compliant with the law.”

Harp discussed Matteson’s resignation on her latest appearance on WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday” program.

“He submitted his resignation. We are posting the position for two weeks. He is staying until the end of April,” Harp said.

“We didn’t want the board to say that we’re not abiding by the law. … They affirmatively voted him down.”

Harp said Matteson has done “a phenomenal job.” She said she has discussed with him the possibility of seeking another Board of Alders confirmation vote. But “if we bring it back and once again, it’s voted down by the Board of Alders, that can hurt his career moving forward. That’s one of the things he has to take into consideration.”

Board of Alders President Tyisha WalkerMyers told the Independent that the Harp administration has not submitted a request for another vote.

“I haven’t had a conversation with Sean yet, which I plan to,” Walker-Myers said.

She credited Matteson with “doing a good job of communication with the board” in his six months in the acting CAO position.

“He hasn’t been here that long. He jumped into the role trying to figure it out. This wasn’t the role he was in before. It’s new.”

Alders had pressed the Harp administration to rein in police and fire overtime, a challenge Matteson has been engaged in as the top administration official in charge of public safety departments. “They made some changes in the beginning to help with the overtime,” Walker-Myers said.

She noted that the city still faces “a lot of variables” such as short staffing, and weeks with crime spikes or special events requiring overtime.

Also on “Mayor Monday,” Harp said she is keeping the Matteson rejection vote in mind as she plans the selection process for a new police chief.

Chief Anthony Campbell retired on Friday.

Harp has named Otoniel Reyes to serve as acting chief. The position pays $162,000 a year.

Unlike the last time she chose a chief, Harp said, she is not looking nationwide or even outside the department. She said she anticipates hiring either a current or a former New Haven cops.

“Our police force and the way that we police— our attitude toward the community in New Haven is different from almost any other community in America. To get someone from the outside [to train] would be very difficult,” she said. She added that beat cops should be able to see that they have a chance one day to ascend to the de-

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MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO Sean Matteson with Newhallville Alder Dephine Clyburn after she and colleagues voted down his appointment.

partment’s top post.

Harp said she aims to hire a permanent new chief by July 1. She said Reyes is among those in the running.

She does plan to appoint a committee to conduct interviews and present her with three finalists, she said. And she plans to

ask board President walker-Myers to appoint an alder to that committee.

The Board of Alders must ultimately vote to confirm Harp’s choice for chief.

“They did say to us that we did not go through a process for Mr. Matteson,” Harp said. “So we will go through a process.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

New Haven Legal Community Honors Jocelyn Maminta with the Liberty Bell Award

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The Foundation of the New Haven County Bar will honor Jocelyn Maminta with the Liberty Bell Award at the Liberty Bell Bash April 5, 2019. This year’s event will be at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. The Liberty Bell Award is given to non-practicing lawyers and/or community organizations that have shown an extraordinary commitment to justice and provided outstanding service to the local community. Foundation Board President, Michael Leone of Halloran & Sage LLP, states “lawyers and judges of the New Haven County Bar recognize that Jocelyn Maminta’s wholehearted efforts to improve the lives of others in her community and across the United States furthers a just society.”

As Foundation Board of Director, Nicole Tung of Halloran & Sage LLP, remarked, “I was thrilled to have the opportunity to nominate Jocelyn Maminta for the Liberty Bell Award and my fellow Board members jumped at the opportunity to acknowledge such a compassionate leader in our community. Her enthusiasm for important causes is infectious. Jocelyn Maminta demonstrates that when we live a life of service to others, we are all stronger and better for it.”

Jocelyn Maminta, accepts the award remembering her dear friend, Carolyn (“Carrie”) Witt, who died in 2013 while still in the role of Executive Director of

the Foundation of the New Haven County.

“Carrie was truly larger than life and to be honored by the organization that she so passionately served, is a wonderful reminder of her and her indominable personality.”

Over her distinguished broadcast career, Jocelyn Maminta, the Good Morning Connecticut at Nine Co-Anchor and Emmy Award nominated News 8 Medical reporter, has anchored and reported for televisions stations in North Carolina, Buffalo, Milwaukee, Texas and Connecticut. A political science graduate of the University of Missouri in Columbia, Jocelyn works tirelessly for many nonprofits across Connecticut. She has been honored many times for her efforts to help others.

She serves on the Board of Friends of Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, Member of Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital Council; recently served as a board member of Arts Council of Greater New Haven and remains an advisor to the board; and is a member of the Junior League of Greater New Haven. Jocelyn also recently served as a board member of the March of Dimes Connecticut Chapter and remains active in its mission.

Jocelyn is co-founder of Caroline’s Room, a safe-haven for families coping with the challenges and uncertainties surrounding the birth of a premature baby. There are

Caroline’s Rooms in Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, Texas and Virginia. The first Caroline’s Room is at YaleNew-Haven Children’s Hospital and a second is located at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

The Liberty Bell Bash will be held at Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History at 170 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, from 6:00 to 9:30pm on April 5, 2019. This year’s event is a cocktail party with food vendors from the New Haven area and complimentary wine and beer, allowing the Foundation to maximize the charitable aspect of the event. To purchase tickets for the Liberty Bell Bash, please go to www. fnhcb.org or contact the Foundation of the New Haven County Bar at (203) 562-9652.

To donate, or to become a sponsor, please contact the Executive Director, Gillian Fattal, at gfattal@newhavenbar.org.

The Foundation of the New Haven County Bar is the charitable arm of the New Haven County Bar Association. Established in 1989, the Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization through which local attorneys, other legal professionals and community members serve the needs of the Greater New Haven area by providing financial support to organizations that promote justice and contribute to the greater public good through grants and legal related public service programs. A commitment

Jocelyn Maminta

to the eliminating homelessness through the “Snowball Tournament” has resulting in over $140,000 being raised for New Reach, an organization working to eliminate homelessness and to support women and children. The Foundation maintains the Thomas J. Witt Memorial Children’s Book Fund supporting literacy endeavors for children.

Over the years, the Foundation has pro-

vided funding to critical organizations in New Haven County including Project Youth Court, New Haven Reads, LEAP, IRIS, CWEALF, the Connecticut Veteran Legal Services, The Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, and the Yale Sappern Memorial Fund amongst others. The Foundation has donated over $300,000 in the past 10 years.

Glitch May Return Rehab’d Man To Prison

by THOMAS BREEN New Haven Independent

Jermaine Demetrius Anderson may have to leave his two jobs, his condo in Westville, his local “church family,” and the stable, crime-free life he has built for himself in the Elm City and go to prison. All because of an apparent miscommunication over a decade ago between the Connecticut state judicial system and the federal court in Philadelphia.

His hope now is the federal government maybe even President Donald Trump will cut him a break.

On Feb. 28, Paul Diamond, a judge with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, signed a warrant for Anderson’s arrest for his failure to serve an outstanding 16-month federal sentence.

The sentence dates to a crime that occurred 16 years ago.

The federal court issued that sentence to Anderson, now a 43-year-old employee for the city’s parks department, in 2005 after he pleaded guilty to two felony counts of possessing and passing counterfeit currency and one count of identity theft while living in Pennsylvania. He committed the crimes in 2003.

Anderson never served that federal sentence. Even though he thought he had.

That’s because he spent three years in state prison in Connecticut after pleading guilty to similar but separate counterfeit currency charges in New Haven in 2003.

He said he believed he was serving his

Demetrius Anderson with his attorney, Mike Dolan.

state and federal sentences concurrently while locked up in Webster Correctional Institution in Cheshire.

After finishing that state sentence in November 2006, the state judicial system didn’t remand him to federal custody in Philadelphia. He said no one reached out to him and said he had to report to the

Eastern District of Pennsylvania to serve more time for the federal offense.

He thought he had done his time. He set about rebuilding his life in New Haven.

Thirteen years later, U.S. marshals came pounding on his door in New Haven last week, claiming that he had evaded arrest and demanding that he report back to

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Pennsylvania to serve 16 months in federal prison.

Local attorney Michael Dolan said he has been in touch with Philadelphia federal attorneys, and has urged them to reconsider requiring Anderson to serve federal time so long after he was sentenced and so long after he served time in state prison on similar charges.

“It would appear that the goals of the criminal justice system have been met,” he said about his thoroughly rehabilitated client.

Dolan said he plans on filing a petition to President Trump for a commutation of Anderson’s federal sentence.

Robert Clark, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, told the Independent that the marshals unearthed Anderson’s outstanding federal sentence and the slip-up between the Connecticut state judicial system and the Pennsylvania federal district court during a routine audit.

“During an internal audit of custody detainers by the U.S. Marshals in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,” he said, “a case dating back to 2005 was found in which a sentenced man, Jermaine Demetrius Anderson, had been sent to Connecticut to face state charges. After a conviction and sentence served in Connecticut, Anderson should have been held for transfer back to federal custody; instead, he was mistakenly released.

“Upon the Marshals providing this information to a federal judge, the court issued

a bench warrant for Anderson for failure to serve an outstanding federal sentence.

Anderson was arrested in Connecticut March 20, released on bond and ordered to appear in U.S. district court in Philadelphia April 4.

“As the enforcement arm of the federal courts, the Marshals ensure that individuals with federal warrants are brought to face justice. Ultimately, the federal court system will make a determination on Anderson’s outstanding federal sentence.”

Dolan called Anderson’s case a prime example of someone who committed a crime, took responsibility by pleading guilty, served time in prison, and has subsequently successfully rehabilitated himself.

“He’s been crime free, drug free, has employment,” Dolan said. “And now they want to take him back into custody.”

“It’s called corrections,” Anderson said. “I corrected myself. I don’t want pity. I just want people to be ethical.”

“I wasn’t evading,” he continued. “I wasn’t on the run.”

Instead, in the 13 years since he got out of state prison, he’s done just the opposite, he said. He’s built a stable, happy life for himself in New Haven.

Anderson worked for four years as a store manager at Walmart. In 2012 he landed a seasonal job with the city’s parks department as a caretaker for the Lighthouse

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

Route 34 Hotel Operator Found March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

by PAUL BASS

New Haven Independent

New Haven has another plan for a new hotel and this one will welcome a unionized workforce.

So said Mayor Toni Harp on Monday.

Harp, in her latest appearance on WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday” program, announced that Choice Hotels, a national group, is in talks to build a 100-plus room hotel at the corner of Orchard Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

Choice franchises more than 6,800 hotels worldwide, according to its website. Its “brands” include, among others, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Econo Lodge.

Choice is negotiating the terms of the deal with a firm called RJ Development & Advisors, which owns the property. RJ principal Yves-Georges A. Joseph II said Monday he can’t discuss the deal because he signed a confidentiality agreement.

Choice & RJ met in City Hall last week with members of the Harp administration to discuss the deal. Choice plans to operate on the site a new brand of hotel it has introduced, according to city Economic Development Administrator Mike Piscitelli.

Piscitelli Monday called the news a reflection of New Haven’s attractive market for hotel builders. Construction has begun on a new hotel at the old Duncan on Chapel Street; plans have been approved for a Hilton Garden Inn at Orange and Elm. Developer Randy Salvatore opened an upscale “boutique” hotel called the Blake in January at the corner of High and George streets. There’s talk of other small hotels popping up elsewhere in town, such as at the old Pirelli building on the Ikea site on Long Wharf.

“We’re encouraged,” Piscitelli said of

RJ DEVELOPMENT Developers Jason Rudnick and Yves-Georges A. Joseph II.

Choice’s choice of New Haven. “We’ve demonstrated the need for more hotel rooms in the city. The demand has been met by suburban” locations off highways.

The hotel would be built on a 5.39-acre megablock that the city sold in 2014 to developer Robert Landino’s Centerplan company to house several new properties on a former surface lot across from Career High School as part of a project called Route 34 West.

The block was part of a 16.2-acre stretch that the government cleared during the Urban Renewal era to make way for a highway that was never built.

Since the 2014 approvals, Landino who ran into legal trouble over a ballpark proj-

ect in Hartford has sold off various chunks of the property. A new owner owns the portions that house a Rite Aid and a new child care facility. Continuum of Care owns a new 30,000-square-foot headquarters for its agency, which helps people with psychiatric and developomental disabilities. RJ whose principal Joseph previously worked for Centerplan owns the hotel site. (Joseph formed RJ with Jason Rudnick after leaving Centerplan. Their new company took over the College & Crown upscale apartment complex that Centerplan originally developed.)

The Board of Alders has already approved a development and land disposition agreement (LDLA) for the whole megablock

(which is bounded by Orchard, Legion, Dwight, and MLK Boulevard).

That means, depending on the details, Choice Hotels won’t need to win new site plan approval for its hotel, assuming it conforms to what has already been approved.

Labor Dealt In A sticking point for hotel builders has been the influence in local politics of UNITE HERE, which represents hospitality workers and supports a majority of the Board of Alders. The unionizing issue at first held up plans for the sale of the Duncan to a new owner; and it has again held up the new owner’s plans, throwing the project’s future into uncertainty (even though the new owner claims he had agreed to having a unionized workforce, but then stopped hearing from UNITE HERE).

Harp said she is making clear to hotel developers that if they want to build in New Haven, they need to have sign a neutrality agreement that paves the way for UNITE HERE to organize employees.

“I mentioned it to them when we met with them and they said yes. They said yes.

They were aware that that was part of the” deal, Harp said on “Mayor Monday.”

Choice’s press office did not respond to requests for comment before this article was published.

If the hotel project proceeds, that leaves one last piece of unfinished development business on the Route 34 West parcel: a parking garage approved for the middle of the block.

Piscitelli said Monday that he has a meeting scheduled Tuesday with representatives of LAZ parking and the Svigals + Partners architecture firm to discuss taking on that last piece.

Intel Center Giving Cops A Tech Edge

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK New Haven Independent

Against the digital map of New Haven’s streets, blue and gridded like graph paper, a yellow pin stuck out in Newhallville, marking where bullets had flown last night and automatically tripped up the city’s ShotSpotter system.

That pin on a television screen would serve as the marker unifying the department’s old-fashioned intelligence-gathering.

That visual reference of a recent non-fatal shooting hung over the city’s top cops in a third-floor conference room Tuesday at the New Haven Police Department headquarters at 1 Union Ave. In that room, command staffers would share what leads they’d gathered so far and decide what verified info should be pushed out to beat cops on the street to try to pick out who’d fired the gun.

For the last two years, that room, known as the Elm City Intel Center, has been the node where law enforcement coordinates its crime-fighting strategies. That can

range from a social worker dropping by a suspect’s house to federal prosecutors writing up indictments.

On Tuesday the department invited reporters in to take a look.

In 2017, the otherwise-nondescript, white-walled, blue-carpeted and flourescent-lit conference room became the command center for the department’s surveillance and communication technology, thanks to some upgrades by the city’s information technology and engineering teams that Assistant Chief Herb Johnson requested.

Close to 200 security cameras from street corners around the city now live-stream footage onto a row of flat-screen televisions. Detectives can pull up recordings timed with crimes onto a wall-sized screen.

With that hardware at their disposal, district managers now show up in the Intel Center each Tuesday morning for COMPAS — a Comprehensive Accountability Session, as Lt. Herb Sharp — to discuss what’s been happening in their neighbor-

Lt. Herb Sharp.

hoods, reviewing crime trends and presenting month-long plans to reverse them.

And department brass show up in the conference room every day to review what

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information they’ve gleaned about car break-ins, burglaries, murders and other crime to blast out to the force.

John P. Thomas Publisher / CEO

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Editor-in-Chief Liaison, Corporate Affairs Babz@penfieldcomm.com

Advertising/Sales Team Keith Jackson Delores Alleyne John Thomas, III

Editorial Team Staff Writers

Christian Lewis/Current Affairs Anthony Scott/Sports Arlene Davis-Rudd/Politics

Contributing Writers David Asbery Tanisha Asbery Jerry Craft/Cartoons Barbara Fair

Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur Michelle Turner Smita Shrestha William Spivey Kam Williams Rev. Samuel T. Ross-Lee

_______________________

Contributors At-Large

Christine Stuart www.CTNewsJunkie.com Paul Bass New Haven Independent www.newhavenindependent.org

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

No Escape?

by PAUL BASS

New Haven Independent

Mayor Toni Harp has put on hold longdelayed plans to construct a youth center and overnight shelter for teens on Orchard Street.

Harp updated her plans for the center called The Escape during her latest appearance on WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday” program.

Back in 2015 Harp announced plans for the city to build out the drop-in center at 654 Orchard St., a former community outreach center owned by Bethel AME Church. It would include after-school homework help, athletics, music activities, and 15 beds for homeless young men between the ages of 17 and 24.

PAUL BASS PHOTOHappier days: The 2015 announcement of the Escape project.

The plans almost immediately became mired in repeat delays. It became a source two appointees.

• Harp said the city is hoping that the creof tension with the Board of Alders last year If it goes forward at all. “We are at the posiation of “opportunity zones” will help lure when Harp included money for it in her protion of negotiating with the Board of Alders” developers to build out the newly approved posed annual city operating budget. about whether it makes sense to continue plan for Long Wharf. Long Wharf is within Harp did not include money for the Escape pursuing the plan, Harp said. one of the zones created nationwide to offer in her proposed budget for the coming fisUnanticipated problems have included needinvestors federal capital gains tax breaks to cal year. She said Monday that the project ed roof repairs. Click here to read a story create jobs in economically distressed areas. doesn’t need more money. But it does need about last year’s debate over the unantici• A listener asked Harp about this article new attention to unanticipated structural pated problems. last week in the New Haven Register about problems. And it needs a sign off from the Beaver Hills Alder Jill Marks, whose ward parking ticket scofflaws owing the city $13.8 Board of Alders. includes the Escape site, said she still supmillion. She said the city is asking the state “We put it on hold,” Harp said. “I stopped ports the overall concept. legislature to change a law to help collect it because I really felt it should be in the “That would be a great asset for the comparking tickets, but prohibiting people from hands of our CAO [chief administrative ofmunity. That’s something we need,” she said obtaining or renewing their driver’s licenses ficer] and our city engineer.” Last year Harp Tuesday, holding out hope the project can if they have two unpaid tickets. The current shifted responsibility for the project away move forward.

SCSU_GOH_InnerCity_5.472x5.1.qxp_Layout 1 3/11/19 1:42 PM Page 1law sets the limit at 5, she said. from her youth services division to those Also on “Mayor Monday”:

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

Women’s Day Event Highlights Human Trafficking

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

Mayor Toni Harp and the New Haven chapter of The Links Inc. teamed up for an International Women’s Day observance to honor women who serve in city government and to highlight the horrors of human sex trafficking.

They did that at City Hall Friday evening.

Mayor Harp, the city’s first female mayor and also a member of the Links chapter, said the event was a showcase to the city’s broad commitment to gender equality and an opportunity “to acknowledge the talents and abilities of women, to celebrate women’s achievements and to raise awareness about gender parity and highlight recent gains to that end.”

Honorees for the evening included Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers; New Haven Public Schools Supervisor of World Languages Jessica Haxhi; Deputy Economic Development Administrator Cathy Graves; Department of Elderly Services Data Control Specialist Eneida Arroyo; Corporation Counsel Executive Assistant Paula Pernal; Department of Public Works Open Space Coordinator Honda Smith; Finance Department Chief Accountant Carleen Laffitte; and New Haven Link Patricia Downing.

The Links Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer organizations. Its members contribute more than 950,000 documented hours of community service, according to Cathy Graves, a deputy director for the city’s economic development department and president of the New Haven Links.

Joette Katz, a former commissioner for the Department of Children and Family Services and a former associate justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court, delivered the keynote address. She sought to dispel the myths and misconception associated with human trafficking including those that are often espoused by the current president of the United States as he pushes for a wall along the U.S-Mexican border.

Katz said President Trump has claimed

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO Former DCF Commissioner Joette Katz delivers keynote address.

The crowd at City Hall Friday night.

that human traffickers are “invading the United States ... and brought a flood of victims” across the border. He has further claimed that the victims are often kidnapped and brought into the United States and that a border wall would help stop that.

But Katz said statistics refute such claims.

“The majority of human trafficking vic-

tims, roughly two-thirds, are U.S. citizens and foreign-born victims have entered the country legally on visas ... after securing a job through a recruiting agency,” she said.

She said human sex trafficking victims are just like the crowd of people gathered in City Hall Friday, people of “any age, race, gender, nationality and any socioeconomic

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group.”

Katz said government and nongovernment agencies need to collaborate to combat human sex trafficking. And each person in the room can help, she said. She gave those assembled a laundry list of human sex trafficking indicators that people can look for that could be “the first step in identifying victims that can help save a life.”

Here are the common indicators to help recognize human trafficking: • When you see your children, see your children’s friends, in church community activities, does the child appear disconnected from family, friends, community organization?

• Has the child stopped attending school?

• Has the child had a sudden, dramatic change in behavior?

• Is the child engaged in commercial sex acts?

• Is the child disoriented or confused, or exhibiting signs of mental or physical abuse?

• Does the child have bruises in various stages of healing?

• Does the child appear fearful, timid, or submissive?

• Does the child show signs of having been denied food, sleep, or medical care?

• Does the child often appear in the company of someone to whom he or she defers, or someone who seems to be controlling of the situation like where they go or who they may speak to?

• Does the child seem coached on what to say?

• Is the child living in unsuitable conditions?

• Does the child lack personal possessions, or not have a stable living situation?

• Does the child have freedom of movement, or freely leave where he or she lives?

• Hotel business cards, escort service cards, hotel key cards, a large number of condoms, excessive amounts of cash, multiple cell phones—are any of these present?

• Does the child present with new clothes, electronics or other items of value without a reasonable explanation of how they were obtained?

• Is the child inappropriately or inadequately dressed for the situation?

• Is the child reluctant to explain tattoos or marks that could otherwise be considered branding?

“We rescued a child who had a dollar sign tattooed on her face,” Katz said. “Not all indicators will be present in every human trafficking situation ,and the presence or absence of any of the indicators is not necessarily proof of human trafficking. But I can tell you firsthand that when I left DCF there had already been over one thousand referrals of youth identified as human sex trafficking victims. One thousand.

“You’d be surprised to learn that the majority were not runaways. They were not in foster care,” Katz added. “And although that population is extremely vulnerable, more than half of the youth were still living at home. While a few had been victimized by their own families, most of had been trafficked by strangers. It is a sobering reality.”

Con’t from page 04

A Tech Edge

“We broke down all the silos,” Assistant Chief Johnson said.

New Haven’s commanders said that kind of coordination isn’t happening in other departments. They argue the coordination has helped plunge the city’s violent crime rate to the lowest point in decades.

“The corny saying that all cops know: ‘If one of us knew what all of us knew, then all the crimes would be solve,’” said Lt. Karl Jacobson, the head of the Shooting Task Force and Narcotics Enforcement Unit who also runs the Intel Center. “It’s about collecting the intel in a common place, having a place for detectives and officers to come and for us to meet as command staff and, the final piece, actually pushing it out.”

Sharp and Jacobson said that they’re not just collecting the evidence they need to bust wrong-doers. They credit Project Longevity, the initiative that aims to stop gun violence by offering gang members a choice between a stable career or a prison sentence, with proactively stopping feuds before they turn deadly.

Checking in with confidential informants, cops find out who’s feuding, Jacobson said. At the Intel Center, command staff can then target their response to a handful of suspects who are most at risk of engaging in the crossfire, he said.

Sometimes, that means sending Stacy Spell, Project Longevity’s project manager, to tell a gang member that he’s been “targeted to be saved.”

Or it could mean asking probation officers to put a GPS tracker on a recently released ex-con, telling them to use it as an excuse to dodge their old crews, Jacobson said. “Blame us,” he tells former gang members, and he’s heard them say, “Thank you.”

“It’s not just arrests, we’re talking to people,” Jacobson said. “It’s about stopping the violence. It’s still extremely hard to clear non-fatal shootings because of the lack of witnesses, but we don’t need to clear it if we stop it ahead of time.”

Pointing to several stats, the commanders said that the approach is yielding results.

Compared to 2008, when the ShotSpotter system was first rolled out, it’s now far more common to receive a 911 call when a gun goes off, Johnson said.

Jacobson also said those shootings are far rarer, down from an average of 134 shootings between 2003-2011 to an average of 62 shootings from 2012 on. He added that the department is also nabbing more guns, too, with 31 recovered so far this year, compared to 13 at this point last year.

The Intel Center isn’t a cure-all, Johnson cautioned, as technology can still fail, as it did with the unsolved slaying of 14-yearold Tyrick Keyes in July 2017, which wasn’t picked up by the ShotSpotter nor caught on security camera. He said that’s where relationships have to come in.

“The technology only gets so far,” he said.

“It’s partnerships and old-fashioned police work.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

School Committees Scour Budget For Savings

by CHRISTOPHER PEAK New Haven Independent

Two new committees will be on the lookout for millions of dollars that can be trimmed from the city’s school spending.

The Board of Education froze all spending and created those two groups at its regular meeting at Celentano School on Monday night, as it seeks recommendations on how it can close the two multimillion dollar deficits: $5.3 million this year and $30.7 million projected for the fiscal year starting July 1.

The board’s vice-president, Jamell Cotto, introduced the two resolutions. Both passed unanimously with a few minor amendments.

The first resolution freezes all school district spending that hasn’t already been approved or that won’t be paid for with grants. The resolution says that includes all contracts (including those under $20,000 that the superintendent previously approved automatically) and all new hires (including part-timers).

Any checks that go out for emergencies need to be approved by a committee of the board’s three elected leaders, who are currently President Darnell Goldson, VicePresident Cotto and Secretary Tamiko Jackson-McArthur.

This fiscal year, the school district is facing the deficit of $5.3 million after following through on almost all the cuts it initially promised, including combining the alternative schools, closing a high school and laying off school counselors, library media specialists and physical education teachers.

But it never made up the $5 million that Mayor Toni Harp requested in increased school spending, which the alders eventually zeroed out to cover medical benefits.

According to the district’s latest budget projections, most of this year’s cost overrun has been in full-time teachers, whose salaries are $8.1 million above what it can currently afford. It’s also losing big on overages of $960,000 for full-time support staff, $900,000 for full-time administrators and $830,000 for transportation.

But the district has also been able to collect back big savings by cutting $1.95 million in tuition for outside providers, $1.40 million in part-time workers and $1.37 million in maintenance and custodial costs.

The district’s financial situation improved recently with the unexpected award of close to $2.5 million in grants, but it’s unclear exactly where that money’s coming from. For the last two weeks, Superintendent Birks has not been able to answer questions about what specific sources of new money came through.

Birks added that the district has already frozen spending “unless it’s absolutely necessary,” like if something breaks at a school building.

The second resolution creates a Deficit Reduction Committee that will develop initial plans to deal with both this year and next year’s budget holes.

CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTO Jamell Cotto introduces two resolutions to reel in the school district’s deficits.

Join us for our Spring Speaker Series

Mayor Toni Harp swears in Yesenia Rivera, the school board’s newest member.

Its 15 members will include: two each picked by the presidents of the teachers, administrator and paraprofessional unions; two city officials picked by the mayor; two picked by the superintendent; and three community members and two school board members picked by the Board of Ed president.

The resolution sets two objectives for the committee to keep in mind: that any cost-cutting should minimize “harm to student achievement growth” and remain “permanent and structural.”

The committee will send its recommendations to the board’s standing Finance & Operations Committee on May 1 and May 30.

So far, to deal with next year’s projected $30.7 million shortfall, Superintendent Birks has floated a “worst-case scenario” of costcutting that could include the reduction of close to 170 teaching positions, the termination of a lease and the consolidation of a school among other reductions and financial maneuvers.

Birks said she was open to any help she could get in balancing the school district’s books.

During the meeting, the board also welcomed its newest member, Yesenia Rivera, and it privately gave Birks a two-hour performance evaluation in executive session.

The People’s United Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Quinnipiac University hosts a weekly speaker series featuring corporate innovators, entrepreneurs, Quinnipiac University alumni, public and private sector support organizations and experts who focus on financing entrepreneurial start-ups.

The goal is to create a vibrant entrepreneurial community that provides inspiration and guidance.

Sessions take place on Wednesdays from 4–6:30 p.m. at the People’s United Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship classroom in the School of Business (SB-109). Admission is free.

Visit qu.edu/innovation for more information and a list of events.

7

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

Meet the 16-Year Old Genius Who Has Just Been Accepted into 9 Law Schools

By BlackNews.com Dallas, TX — Haley Taylor Schlitz, a 16year old teenager who graduated from high school at the age of 13, is now set to attend classes at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, one of the nine law schools that accepted her, according to the American Bar Association.

This coming May, Haley will graduate with both an Associate’s degree and a Bachelor’s degree. In the upcoming summer, she will be attending a six-day program with the American Civil Liberties Union in Washington for incoming law students.

Haley was homeschooled in the fifth grade due to her parents’ disapproval with the quality of education in her previous public school.

“I was just being taught to pass the end-ofthe-year test to get to the next grade,” she told Texas Lawyer. “I wasn’t being taught to learn.”

What’s more, Haley said she wasn’t allowed to take the test to enter the gifted program in her school. Her parents had to have her tested privately, in which they found out she is indeed gifted.

After homeschooling, she entered high school and graduated at the age of 13. For one year, she began taking classes at Tar-

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Haley Taylor Schiltz rant County College before starting her studies at Texas Woman’s University.

Now, she has been offered a place in nine different law schools into their 1L class.

She chose to enroll this fall at Southern Methodist University, one of the top 50 law school in the US. At first, Haley wanted to become a doctor

just like his mother. But after experiencing such rejection to opportunities because of being Black, it “sparked a fire” in her to become a lawyer and help fight inequality.

Aside from fighting for educational equality, she also finds intellectual property cool and interesting.

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New Haven Public School Students Opening at the Ives Gallery

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March 23 – May 10, 2019 Monday – Thursday, 10 am – 8 pm; Friday & Saturday, 10 am – 5 pm, Sunday Closed Ives Gallery, New Haven Free Public Library, 133 Elm Street, New Haven, CT About the Exhibit: Creative Minds: The Work of New Haven Youth displays current work of high school students from across the New Haven Public School District. The selections featured in this exhibit are just a snapshot of the fantastic artwork being created in the Visual Arts programs throughout the New Haven Public Schools.

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New Haven

New Haven Public Schools proudly offer a cohesive, comprehensive, sequential Visual Arts curriculum developed and taught by over 70 art teachers. They view the arts as a rigorous subject area with its own content knowledge vital in developing educated citizens. The structure of the curriculum is based on the language of the visual arts, composed of the elements of art and principles of design. Each unit is built around Responding to Art, Creating Art, and Making Connections. In Response to Art, students observe, describe, analyze, interpret, compare and contrast diverse art works which relate to the unit they will be studying. In Creating Art, teachers guide students in experimenting with art materials and techniques to create individual artworks. In Making Connections, the units of study integrate art into other subjects

including Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies. From their studies and guided by teachers, students think critically, learn the language of the visual arts and create artwork which reflects personal experience and imagination.

About the Ives Gallery The Ives Gallery is proud to exhibit work that reflects and celebrates the rich diversity of greater New Haven’s cultural community.

About the New Haven Free Public Library The New Haven Free Public Library welcomes more than 500,000 library users through its doors each year, realizing its mission of fostering lifelong learning, inspiring curiosity, and building community through shared access to resources, experiences, and opportunities for all. The library system includes the Ives Memorial Library on the historic New Haven Green, 24/7 online services, the Readmobile bringing books to early childhood learning centers, and four neighborhood libraries: Fair Haven, Mitchell, Stetson and Wilson. Now and tomorrow, the New Haven Free Public Library will transform lives and contribute to creating a strong, resilient, and informed community where everyone can thrive.

The New Haven Free Public Library is a 2019 finalist for the National Medal for Museum and Library Service given by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The National Medal is the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries for service to their communities. For more information, visit nhfpl.org.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

The New Bitsie Clark Fund for Artists Invites Greater New Haven Artists To Apply for Grants Con’t from page

The Bitsie Clark Fund for Artists (The Bitsie Fund) is inviting Greater New Haven artists to apply for its 2019 grants.

The Bitsie Fund was recently created to honor Francis “Bitsie” Clark. Clark was the Executive Director of the Arts Council of Greater New Haven for 20 years, one of the founders of the Audubon Arts District, and a driving force in establishing the arts as an important economic industry in the region.

The Fund was founded by five women who were Clark’s proteges at various times: Mimsie Coleman, Robin Golden, Barbara Lamb, Betty Monz and Maryann Ott. Proudly calling themselves the Bitsie Chicks, they are working in collaboration with the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, which manages the Fund.

Many of Clark’s most meaningful actions at the Arts Council stemmed from her interactions with people who sought her advice. As she nurtured individ- ual artists and gave counsel to arts organizations, she often inspired them to forge creative partnerships. The Bitsie Fund aims to do the same. It will en- rich the Greater New Haven community by investing in artists from every art discipline (including visual, performing, liter-

ary and film), who will work in tandem with a non-profit organization that will provide institutional support.

The Bitsie Fund awarded its first grant to the artist/printmaker and teacher, Barbara Harder, and to her collaborative partner, Creative Arts Workshop. It was presented at the Arts Council of Greater New Haven’s 38th Annual Arts Awards ceremony in December, 2018. The 2019 awards will be presented at the same annual event in December.

For information about the Bitsie Fund, and for grant applications, visit: thebitsieclarkfund.org.

9

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

HENRY SEYUE, METROPOLITAN BUSINESS ACADEMY GRADUATE, WINS PRESTIGIOUS FREDERICK DOUGLASS GLOBAL FELLOWSHIP TO STUDY IN LONDON THIS SUMMER

NEW HAVEN– Henry Seyue, a 2017 graduate of Metropolitan Business Academy in New Haven, today was awarded a prestigious Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship (FDGF), which provides a full scholarship for the Benedict College freshman to attend a study abroad program in London this summer.

The FDGF is operated jointly by the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), the nation’s largest nonprofit facilitator of studying abroad, and the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI). Each year, the Fellowship is awarded to 10 outstanding students that attend a Minority Serving Institution (MSI).

Seyue, a political science and English major, said he hopes to utilize the experiences abroad to further his goals of improving his analytical skills and better understanding new social environments. He is a Student Ambassador for the Save the Children organization.

A driving force for Seyue is his passion for politics, history and law.

“My interest in debating lead me to become the captain of my high school debate team,” Seyue said. “My interest in politics led me to volunteering on the political campaign for Eva Bermudez Zimmerman who ran for the Lt. Governor in Connecticut. My passion for law led me to a paid internship at a law firm during the summer of my junior year in high school.”

Seyue strongly believes that success in his future career will require better understanding of the world. “The Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship is a gateway to that deeper understanding,” he said. “I’m looking for-

COMMENTARY:

ward to traveling, meeting new people, and sharing knowledge with others as a Frederick Douglass Global Fellow.”

A native of Liberia, who grew up in New Haven, Seyue said he prides himself on being a citizen of many communities. “My ultimate goal in life is to solve issues on a global scale, if nothing more, the fellowship would allow me to better understand my place as a global citizen,” said Seyue.

The Fellows were nominated by their college presidents and selected during a national competition. The winners have demonstrated high academic achievement, possess exemplary communication skills, display the hallmarks of self-determination, exhibit characteristics of bold leadership, and have a history of service to others.

The winners will use their experiences to

motivate other under-represented students to pursue opportunities to study abroad.

Of the 332,727 US college students who studied abroad in 2017, less than 30% were students of color -- 0.4% American Indian/ Alaskan Native, 4.3% multiracial, 6.1% African American, 8.2%Asian/Pacific Islander and 10% Hispanic Americans, according to data from the Institute of International Education. The data shows that students of color largely miss out on international education experiences that can play a critical role in their personal growth, as well as academic and career success.

The Frederick Douglass Fellowship, which launched in 2017, is representative of efforts

by CIEE and CMSI to increase diversity in study abroad by breaking down the barriers of cost, curriculum, and culture that prevent students from participating in international education experiences. Named for the African American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and international statesman Frederick Douglass, the Fellowship encourages students to use his life as a model to becoming bold, globally conscious and service-oriented leaders.

“The students selected for the Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship are ten exemplary student leaders who demonstrate the iconic leadership, keen intellect, and natural change-agent attributes of Frederick Douglass,” said James P. Pellow, President and CEO of CIEE. “These students will be the next generation of leaders and I know that the intercultural competence and global perspective they will gain during the London program will benefit them throughout their lives.”

Immigrant Bail Fund Inspires “Freedom Songs”

PAUL BASS PHOTO Ana Maria Rivera-Forastieri and Hannah Chineyere at WNHH FM.

Immigrant-rights and bail-reform advocates have handed $300,000 to federal jailers. And they want to send more money.

No, the advocates haven’t suddenly become supporters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In fact, they still want to see the agency abolished and undocumented immigrants left alone to remain in the U.S. and lead productive lives.

Instead, the advocates have been handing over the money to post bail for immigrants who get arrested and otherwise remain behind bars while their deportation cases drag on for months and years.

They do so through a group called Immigrant Bail Fund, a special project of the Connecticut Bail Fund. Since 2016, the fund has helped over 200 immigrants reunite with their family and community by posting close to $1 million in total bonds on their behalf.

That makes a big difference, according to fund organizer Ana Maria Rivera-Forastieri: An estimated 68 percent of immigrants who bond out end up prevailing in their cases. They have a better chance of obtaining counsel, for

instance. Most rounded-up immigrants lose their cases if they fail to bond out; an estimated 97 percent in federal detention without counsel are eventually deported.

Rivera-Forastieri talked about that during a appearance on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven” program. She was joined by Hannah Chineyere, who has been freed thanks to the fund’s efforts while a deportation case against her proceeds.

They came on air to plug a fundraiser scheduled for this Saturday, March 30, aimed at both building consciousness about immigrant rights and bail reform, and collecting another $30,000 to support the cause.

Entitled “Freedom Songs: An Interfaith Fundraiser for the Immigrant Bail Fund” it takes place at Long Wharf Theatre from 5 to 7 p.m.

It features live performances by the AfroSemitic Experience, Music Haven, Isabella Mendes Bossa Nova Trio, and Tina Colon Williams; as well as “direct testimonry from community members” whom the fund has bailed out.

Should Stacey Abrams really run for President?

By The Atlanta Voice

Dan Pfeiffer is a CNN contributor, cohosts a podcast titled “Pod Save America” and authored a book titled, “Yes We (Still) Can,” and is a former adviser to President Barack Obama. He tweeted the following on Feb. 5th at 10:49 PM: “Stacey Abrams should run for President.”

This was after the former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee successfully gave the party’s response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address.

Abrams, 45, is one of the shining stars in the post-Obama Democratic Party. Her gubernatorial campaign garnered worldwide attention. Abrams believes everyone should benefit in Georgia’s economy, not just a selected few. Access, fairness and opportunity are three of Abrams’s that echoed what Obama preached in a sacrosanct manner eleven years ago. However, Abrams ran a campaign that captivated celebrities and the middle-class alike.

However, does this mean she should jump into the crowded ring of Presidential politics or run for Senate in the 2020 election?

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader, have implored her to

run in 2020 against Senator David Perdue, a Republican, but longtime friends said Abrams had long had her heart set on being governor.

The governor’s race would not take place until 2022 setting up a rematch against Governor Brian Kemp.

Almost six weeks removed from delivering the Democratic response, Abrams’s popularity has remained steady. Leah Daughtry, former chairwoman of the party convention, said Abrams was “just as good as a candidate as any — and maybe even better than some.” Amanda Litman, the former email director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, said, “If she wants to be, she will be president one day — whether it’s 2020 or 2032 or 2040.”

The fact is the Democratic Party is in uncharted territory after the “Blue Wave” swept through the House of Representatives. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Rashida Tlaib (DMich.) are among the ethnically diverse women representing the Democrats in key positions in Congress.

However, the Democratic Party at-large is facing an election includes questions of ideology and identity that is not only inclusive of what politics used to be, but also having the ability to define a vision that can

set the journey of political discourse, inclusion and diversity for generations to come.

If this is why Abrams is considering running for President, she’s got a valid point.

She looks at the sudden change in the landscape and believes this could be the opportunity to strike while the proverbial iron is hot.

In #LeadFromTheOutside, I explore how to be intentional about plans, but flexible

10

enough to adapt. 20 years ago, I never thought I’d be ready to run for POTUS before 2028. But life comes at you fast – as I shared in Q&A w @Yamiche at @sxsw.

Now 2020 is definitely on the table…

— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) March 11, 2019 “In the spreadsheet with all the jobs I wanted to do, 2028 would be the earliest I would be ready to stand for president because I

would have done the work I thought necessary to be effective at that job,” Abrams said March 11th at South by Southwest.

Abrams’s ability to blend a hard-left and progressive message while championing unity and togetherness that attracts more centrists is a rare talent in today’s political environment . She is not trying to outTrump the sitting President. Nor, did she out-Trump her gubernatorial opponent, Brian Kemp.

“She has certainly earned the right to be taken seriously as a national player,” said the Rev. Raphael Gamaliel Warnock of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. “It’s just the old assumptions of race and gender that make it difficult for people to give her the credit she deserves.”

Under the old Democratic Party, race and gender would be the reasons why Abrams would be discouraged from running. However, in this current environment and with this crop of candidates, Abrams has an equal chance compared to her counterparts.

That’s all she would ask.

This article originally appeared in the Atlanta Voice.

Stacey Abrams speaks after securing the Democratic Party nomination for Governor in Atlanta on May 22, 2018.

(Photo by: Itoro N. Umontuen/The Atlanta Voice)

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

Glitch May Return Rehab’d Man To Prison

Point Park carousel.

In addition to his city job, Anderson works full-time in human resources for a downtown nonprofit.

He owns a two-bedroom condo in Westville, and is a proud member of the Joy Temple Church on Howard Avenue.

“I turned my life around,” he said. “I am not a product of recidivism.”

Ten years after his release from state prison, Anderson’s life received devastating shock. His younger brother murdered both of his parents and his sister in Richmond, Va. in 2016. Anderson had to fly down South to identify his family members’ bodies.

For support, Anderson leaned heavily on his “church family,” a distant aunt, and domestic violence counselors from BHcare.

“I don’t know what I would have done without them,” he said about the domestic violence counselors.

Despite the trauma of losing his family, he continued on with his new life. He stayed out of trouble with the law. He returned to his city and human resources jobs.

Now, after 13 years of freedom, after rebuilding his life in New Haven following three years in prison for nonviolent crimes committed while in his 20s, Anderson faces a year-plus return to prison. Several states away from his New Haven home.

After the marshals delivered last week the arrest warrant for a crime and a sentence he thought was over a decade behind him, Anderson said, he thought the same thing he thought after learning about the death of his parents and sister. “Oh Lord, why me?”

NBA Legend Abdul-Jabbar Talks Auction to Help Kids in STEM

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar left the NBA in 1989 at age 42, no NBA player had ever scored more points, blocked more shots, won more Most Valuable Player Awards, played in more All-Star Games or logged more seasons.

NBA.com reported that Jabbar’s list of personal and team accomplishments is perhaps the most awesome in league history: Rookie of the Year, member of six NBA championship teams, six-time NBA MVP, two-time NBA Finals MVP, 19-time All-Star, two-time scoring champion, and a member of the NBA 35th and 50th Anniversary All-Time Teams.

He also owned eight playoff records and seven All-Star records. No player achieved as much individual and team success as did Abdul-Jabbar.

On Saturday, March 2, Jabbar auctioned off his championship rings, MVP and AllStar trophies and other rare items to benefit Jabbar’s Skyhook Foundation, whose mission per Jabbar, is to “give kids a shot that can’t be blocked.”

“We do this by sending children from economically challenged schools to five days in the Angeles National Forest to experience the wonders of nature and learn the basics about science, technology and engineering, Jabbar told NNPA Newswire in an exclusive interview.

He said the children participate in an “immersive hands-on experience that takes kids out of school for five days and four nights.”

They go from auditory learning to utiliz-

ing all of their senses in the great outdoors.

“Our hope is not just to get them out of the city to commune with the outdoors, but to stimulate an interest in the sciences that might lead them to fulfilling careers,” Jabbar said.

He said he decided to sell the items because his foundation has struggled for a

number of years and can use the funds.

“I need to keep it working and I have these wonderful mementos of my career and they take up space, need to be insured and you have to take care of them,” Jabbar said.

“I’d rather use these to make sure the foundation gets the funding,” he said.

At auction, Jabbar’s 1971-72 NBA MVP

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Trophy sold for more than $76,000 while his 1987 NBA Championship went fetched more than $260,000.

When final accounting is performed, the auction should easily net more than $1 million for the foundation.

The funds will keep the foundation afloat, allowing underprivileged children a chance at an education in the STEM field.

“So many young people think they have to be extremely talented like a LeBron James, Stevie Wonder, or Beyoncé. They don’t have realistic ideas on what their potential is and giving them this opportunity is showing them where the best jobs will be in the 21st century,” Jabbar said.

“It gives them a leg up and hopefully [helps them] make connections,” he said.

Foundation officials have discovered recent research that shows that 97 percent of girls and 92 percent of boys give up on science because of peer pressure and what’s hot in popular culture, Jabbar said.

His mission is the change that.

“When it comes to choosing between storing a championship ring or providing kids with an opportunity to change their lives, the choice is pretty simple – sell it. Besides I was there, I lived it,” Jabbar said.

“Instead of gazing at the sparkle of jewels or gold plating and celebrating something I did a long time ago, I’d rather look into the delighted face of a child. Everybody has an ego and I’m no different,” he said, laughing.

“But, I can’t take this stuff with me so it’s better that I share it in a way that enables me to do something really neat and the benefits I think far outweigh anything else.”

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

Homeless 8-Year Old Boy Wins New York State Chess Championship

By BlackNews.com

New York, NY — Tanitoluwa Adewumi, an 8-year old boy who is a refugee from Nigeria, recently won the New York State chess championship for his age group.

While celebrating his big win, his family were able to move out of the homeless shelter and move into a new apartment. His next goal: to be the youngest grandmaster in the world!

Tani, who is now in third grade, has defeated 73 of the best chess players from kindergarten to third grade in the New York State Scholastic Championships last week.

He learned to play chess at Manhattan’s P.S. 116. Since last year, he has been honing his skills by attending free weekly three-hour practice sessions, playing on his

father’s laptop, or even on the floor of the shelter they were living in.

Shawn Martinez, Tani’s chess coach at school, took notice of the boy’s excellence and said he “could just tell this game was for him.”

“He smiled every time he did anything on the board or learned something new,” Martinez told NBC New York. He encouraged him to join the tournament.

Tani’s family, who moved to New York City from Nigeria as refugees two years ago over fears of attacks by a terror group, initially thought they couldn’t afford fees for the tournament and chess camp admissions. But with the help of the club who waived his fees, he was able to join.

Meanwhile, chess coach Russell Makofsky, who oversees P.S. 116’s chess pro-

gram, launched a GoFundMe page to help Tani’s family raise money and get out of the shelter after his win. It has so far raised over $190,000.

With that, they were able to move into a new apartment in Manhattan. They also plan to establish Tanitoluwa Adewumi Foundation to give back and “share the generosity of others to those in need.”

Now with seven chess trophies under his belt and being one of the top players for his age group nationwide, Martinez believes that Tani could reach the status of grandmaster within the next two years. Tani also confidently told CBS News that he wants to “beat the world champion’s record.”

“Anything is possible. God can — he can do anything for me. He can do anything for my family,” Adewumi said.

Tanitoluwa Adewumi, an 8-year old chess champion

NNPA Celebrates Black Press Week in Washington

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) kicked off Black Press Week in Washington, D.C., with a welcome reception at the Dupont Circle Hotel.

Celebrating 192 years of the Black Press, the NNPA Foundation and NNPA’s member publishers engaged in several workshops throughout the week that centered on this year’s theme: “Publishing, Power & Purpose.”

Among the highlights of the annual Black Press Week, which ran from March 20 to March 22, was the enshrinement of two publishers into the Black Press Archives and Gallery of Distinguished Black Publishers.

Additionally, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-D.C.) was recognized for her lifetime of service and Black Lives Matter co-founder Alicia Garza received the NNPA 2019 Newsmaker of the Year Award.

“It’s such an honor to be recognized by the Black Press in this manner,” Garza said.

NNPA Foundation Board Chair Amelia Ashley-Ward, NNPA National Chairman Dorothy R. Leavell (pictured), NNPA Convention Committee Chair Jan Michelle Lemon-Kearney and NNPA President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., also provided remarks.

“What we do is for the people, to benefit the people,” she said.

Pfizer Rare Disease, Reynolds American Inc., General Motors, Ford, Wells Fargo, Collaborative for Student Success, AmeriHealth Caritas, Ascension, Koch, Volkswagen, API and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation count among the partners and sponsors of the NNPA and Black Press Week.

Among the topics on the week’s schedule were “How Public Policy Can Help Shape the Future of Sickle Cell Disease;” “Education Equity: Parent and Family Engagement Using Public Awareness and Outreach;” and the presentation, “2020 U.S. Census,” which featured senior advisor in the Office of the Director of the United States Census Bureau Tasha Boone.

Panelists this year included Angela Reimer, the senior director of federal government relations for Pfizer; Dr. Angie Snyder, research associate professor at Georgia State University and the director of Health Policy and Financing at the Georgia Health Policy Center; Beverley Francis-Gibson, president and CEO of Sickle Cell Disease

Association of America; and General Motors Corporate Giving Communications & Strategic Business Planner Lester Booker, Jr. NNPA Foundation Board Chair Amelia Ashley-Ward, NNPA National Chairman Dorothy R. Leavell, NNPA Convention Committee Chair Jan Michelle LemonKearney and NNPA President & CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., also provided remarks.

A fireside chat with Cherie Wilson, the director of Federal Affairs for General Motors while Reynolds American Inc. presented the topic, “Municipal, Regional and National Public Policies That Impact the Quality of Life for Black Americans and Wells Fargo presented “Minding the Wealth Gap.” The special week of activity concluded with a luncheon presentation and library tour at the Library of Congress which had the theme, “The Black Press in the United States: History, Legacy and Heritage,” cohosted by Dr. Carla Hayden, the 14th Librarian of Congress and the first African American to hold the post.

Antoinette “Toni” Harris: Her Bright Football Future

By BlackNews.com

Nationwide — A multitude of news sources are predicting that she’ll become the first female NFL player. Antoinette “Toni” Harris, a 22-year-old Detroit native, is ready to turn these predictions into reality.

When she was six years old, Toni Harris developed an interest in the sport – she would watch her cousin on the field and dream about a career in football. Unfortunately, Harris has faced challenges along the way. Because of her gender, many little leagues and middle school teams kicked her out – even a junior college didn’t allow her to play on their team.

Thankfully, Harris received the oppor-

tunity to play for Redford Union High School’s team, and because of her persistence and personality, they even crowned her homecoming queen. For the past two years, while simultaneously studying criminal justice and securing honors at East Los Angeles College, she played free safety on their football team. She didn’t complete the first part of her season in 2017 due to health reasons, but she got back on track to finish 2018 strong.

From there, she received a few offers she needed to consider, including one from Bethany College in Kansas to play within their National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) program. However, Missouri’s Central Methodist University –

a Division I NAIA school – awarded Harris a full-ride scholarship; Harris committed to CMU just a few weeks ago. She’s the first female non-kicker on a college football team to receive a football scholarship for a skill position. Harris will be playing defense for the four-year university.

Additionally, doubters have always been telling Harris that she wouldn’t go far and she wouldn’t make it to the NFL—but she has never been “a big fan of assumptions.”

Although numerous coaches, players, and spectators have told her that her chances of playing professionally are slim, she won’t quit. There were even women before her who played football at the collegiate level, so she’s determined to continue excelling

12

Antoinette “Toni” Harris

in (and of course, out) of the classroom at a four-year university.

What makes Toni Harris’s story even more compelling is that she beat stage one ovarian cancer, another challenge that caused her health to diminish. She thought that this setback would be the end of her career, but she pushed forward. In fact, Toyota recently featured Harris in their Super Bowl commercial this past February. This opportunity, along with her scholarship, has increased her exposure.

After CMU, she’s hoping her skills and the publicity earn her a spot to play safety in the NFL. If it doesn’t happen, she’d love to start a women’s NFL league.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

Gayle King Offered

Multi-Million Dollar Deal to Stay at ‘CBS This Morning’

By BlackNews.com

Nationwide Gayle King, one of CBS News’ most prominent hosts, has been offered to sign a new multi-million dollar contract — aside from the $5.5 million annual deal she already has — to remain a host at CBS This Morning.

The network chiefs had been in negotiations with King to keep her in efforts to boost the show’s declining viewership. The new contract, which will give King a major salary increase, haven’t been signed yet but is reportedly being finalized.

“Nothing’s signed but the discussion is about finer points rather than whether or not Gayle will remain,” a source told Deadline.

The deal came after the huge success of King’s remarkable interview with R. Kelly earlier this month where she showed her great composure despite Kelly being emotional.

The network’s move is considered the first step of new CBS News President Susan Zirinsky in finding out which hosts and anchors best fit the programs.

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March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

Pfizer, Sickle Cell Advocates Address Disease During Black Press Week

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

National Sickle Cell Advocacy Day 2019 is a great time to focus on key legislative issues that are important to individuals and their families who are living with the blood cell disorder, including promoting stable funding for research, better healthcare access, expanded programs and increased education and awareness for the Sickle Cell Disease community and programs throughout the country.

Lori Luck, the global medical director for Pfizer Rare Disease, joined Beverley Frances-Gibson, the president and CEO of the SCD Association of America; and Angie Snyder, a professor at Georgia State University, to discuss the latest in Sickle Cell Disease advocacy during Black Press Week in Washington, D.C. The discussion came ahead of National Sickle Cell Advocacy Day, which is actually held over two days on April 8 and April 9 at the Kellogg Conference Hotel at Gallaudet University in Washington.

The event features advocacy training and meetings with legislative champions and a collaboration of federal partners, as advocates attempt to raise awareness to the disease which affects about 100,000 Americans and occurs among nearly 1 out of every 365 black or African American births.

According to researchers, the illness occurs among about 1 out of every 16,300

Lori Luck, the global medical director for Pfizer Rare Disease, joined Beverley Frances-Gibson, the president and CEO of the SCD Association of America; and Angie Snyder, a professor at Georgia State University, to discuss the latest in Sickle Cell Disease advocacy during Black Press Week in Washington, D.C.

Hispanic American births and about 1 in 13 black or African American babies are born with sickle cell trait, meaning that the individual has inherited the sickle cell gene from one of his or her parents.

“We’re educators and we’re not only educating internal clients but external as well,” said Luck, who noted that Pfizer has partnerships with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as other organizations.

The company also has a partnership with

the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a trade association of more than 200 African-American–owned community newspapers from around the United States.

The partnership is a collaboration to raise awareness of sickle cell disease, a lifelong and debilitating genetic disorder that affects red blood cells.

People with rare diseases, like sickle cell disease, have unique and complex challenges and the Pfizer partnership provides

an opportunity for NNPA to inform and educate readers of Black-owned newspapers in more than 70 markets across the country on sickle cell disease, which NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., said is an often misunderstood disease that has a profound impact on the health and well-being of those affected.

“Together with Pfizer, we look forward to providing sickle cell disease education that can underscore the importance of improving quality of care in the community,” Chavis said.

Snyder, whose work at Georgia State University includes researching and advocating for the sickle cell disease community, said it’s important that everyone is educated.

“We have to continue to study on what works and doesn’t work for people,” she said.

Francis-Gibson said conversations must take place in and outside the home. “Sickle Cell Disease is personal for me because I have a family member who died from sickle cell disease when I was in high school,” Francis-Gibson said.

“We never discussed it and when I was offered my current position I knew it was my calling because if my own family isn’t discussing sickle cell disease, I knew that other families weren’t discussing it either,” she said.

In December, a bi-partisan bill aimed at fighting sickle disease was signed into law

by President Donald Trump.

The Sickle Cell Disease and Other Heritable Blood Disorders Research, Surveillance, Prevention, and Treatment Act of 2018 was introduced by Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., in February 2018 and passed in the Senate in October.

The bill also reauthorizes a current sickle cell disease prevention and treatment program for nearly $5 million each year over the next five years.

“Even though sickle cell disease is the most common inherited blood disorder in our country, research and treatment lags behind that of other chronic illnesses,” Booker said in a statement.

“Our legislation will help find new ways to improve the lives of people suffering from sickle cell disease. It’s time we start treating sickle cell disease as a serious and debilitating illness and allocate adequate resources to monitoring, researching, and treating it,” he said.

Francis-Gibson said advocacy for funding the bill is still needed.

“It’s important everyone comes out during National Sickle Cell Advocacy Day and join me on Capitol Hill because when I’m speaking to the legislators, it’s much better when they look and see all of the people behind me,” she said.

Donna Brazile Trying a New Lane By Joining Fox News

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

Donna Brazile says there’s no way she’s selling out and her core values will always remain intact despite her controversial decision to sign with Fox News.

“I’m not changing my values. Nobody would ever make me change my values,” Brazile told NNPA Newswire in an exclusive interview. “The only thing that will change about me is my age,” she said.

The former Democratic National Committee chairwoman, signed on as a contributor with the Fox News Channel on Monday, March 18.

Previously, Brazile had been a contributor for CNN and ABC News.

In an op-ed article on FoxNews.com, Brazile wrote that she hoped to improve the tenor of political debate. “Will I agree with my fellow commentators at Fox News? Probably not. But I will listen,” Brazile wrote.

Brazile said she would question assertions about low-income people and issues such as climate change, but would do so with “civility and respect.” Brazile added: “I will also freely admit the weaknesses in liberal arguments and the

strength in conservative positions.”

Her signing with Fox comes as the network has faced growing criticism and mounting allegations of racism as hosts like Jeanine Pirro and Tucker Carlson have spewed hateful messages on air.

Fox has openly been aligned with President Donald Trump and many observers have criticized the network and the president for their alleged pro-white supremacy views.

Brazile, a longtime friend of the Black Press, was honored last year during Black Press Week by the NNPA when she delivered a stirring address about the “State of the Black Press in 2018” at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The NNPA is a trade group that represents more than 200 Black-owned media companies operating in the United States. NNPA member publications reach more than 20 million readers in print and online every week.

“I’ve known Donna Brazile for about 40 years and, in 2016, the Democrats couldn’t have selected a better person to lead them,” said Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the NNPA. Brazile said that the Black Press is the “pulse of the community.”

“You are carving out stories that the

come I’m not working for Hillary Clinton because she’s a woman,” she said.

“I said, I’m getting old and gray, so if I choose, can I work for John McCain?”

Brazile said the importance of the 2020 presidential election was a primary reason she decided to join Fox News.

She said it’s of great concern that the national debate has become hostile and disrespectful.

“Fox has one of the largest audiences during the evening hours and they are not just Republican voters and they’re not just Trump voters,” Brazile said.

“In order to win, we have to expand the electorate and we can’t just talk to people who agree with us. We have to talk to people who may not agree with us because they don’t hear us,” she said.

Donna Brazile mainstream [media] won’t,” she said.

“You’ve been at the forefront of change, even before change was in vogue. That’s why I’ve always supported the Black Press.”

Brazile said she expected criticism when she decided to sign this week with

14

Brazile continued:

Fox News.

“If I made a decision tomorrow to work for a presidential candidate, people would ask why,” Brazile said. “It reminds me of 2008 when people asked how come I’m not working for Barack Obama, that he’s a black man. Or, how

“I hope that I’m able to come across as someone reasonable and someone people can respect and I will do my very best.”

Finally, she said unlike those who wish to “stay in their lanes all of their lives,” she needed a change. “I want to try this lane [Fox News]. If I don’t like it, I’ll get out of this lane and hopefully I’ll get a job when I get out of this lane,” she said.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

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THEINNER-CITY INNER-CITY NEWS March 2019 - April 2019 NEWS- July 27, 27, 2016 - August 02,02, 2016

Dispatcher

PVC FENCE PRODUCTION NOTICE

Galasso Materials is seeking a motivated, organized, detail-oriented candiLarge CT Fence Company looking for an individual for our PVC date to join its truck dispatch office. Responsibilities include order entry Fence Production Shop. Experience preferred but will train the and truck ticketing in a fast paced materials manufacturing and contracting right person. Must be familiar with carpentry hand & power tools company. You will have daily interaction with employees and customers and be able to read a CAD drawing and tape measure. Use of CNC as numerous truckloads of material cross our scales daily. We are willing Router machine a plus but not required, will train the right person. to train the right individual that has a great attitude. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. Authority, Reply to Hiring Manager, PO Box 1776, East Granby, CT 06026.

HOME on behalf of Columbus and the New Haven Housing This is an INC, in-shop production position.House Duties include building EOE/M/F/D/V. is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this devel-

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

fence panels, posts, gates and more. Must have a valid CT driver’s opment 108 Frank Street, New Haven.

Maximum income limitations aplicense & belocated able toatobtain a Drivers Medical Card. Must be able ply. Pre-applications will test. be available from resume 9AM TOto5PM beginning Monday Ju;y to pass a physical and drug Please email pking@ atlasoutdoor.com.

AA/EOE-MF 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have

DELIVERY PERSON NEEDED

been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preisINC’s seeking a at 171 Orange Street, Third applications must be returned to HOME offices Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

Common Ground

Part Time Delivery Needed

Campus and Facilities Manager.

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For job description and directions for applying,

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Must Have your Own Vehicle

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VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

Administrative Assistant

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HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está

Must have DOT Construction Involves traveling to Site aceptando pre-solicitudes paraExp. estudios y apartamentos deJob un dormitorio en este desarrollo for recorden keeping. transportation must. NO ubicado la calleReliable 109 Frank Street, Newa Haven.

Se PHONE aplican limitaciones de ingresos CALLS RESUME TO michelle@occllc.com máximos.

LasEMAIL pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 EOE/AA Females andseMinorities aresuficientes encouraged to apply julio, 2016 hasta cuando han recibido pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100)

Listing: Accounting

en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición Accounting Department has two immediate openings for full llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse time Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable professionals Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks: a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 . in a fast-paced office environment. Must be highly organized, Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced possess good computer skills, be detail oriented, and able to in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory manage multiple projects. Benefits include health, dental & training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT LTD insurance plus 401(k). Send resume to: Human Resource We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Dept. P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300

NEW HAVEN

Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply 242-258 Fairmont Ave Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**********

EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST - (P/T)

Assist individuals receiving services in identifying and making choices about their social, vocation and personal goals. Duties include case management, job development/placement/retention services and job support as needed. Requires use of personal vehicle. B.A. in a related field; plus 2 yrs’ related experience or equivalent combination of education and experience. Pay rate $16.61/hr.

Apply to: GWSNE, 432 Washington Ave., North Haven, CT 06473/Fax (203) 495-6108/ hr@goodwillsne.org EOE/AA - M/F/D/V

CARPENTRY SHOP

InvitationLarge to Bid:CT Fence Company looking for a full-time carpenter for our Wood Fence Production nd Shop. Experience preferred but will train the right person. Must be familiar with carpentry Notice 2 The GUILFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY hand & power tools and be able to read a CAD drawing and tape measure. This is an in-

2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 levelis, currently 1BA accepting applications for its efficiency and one shop production position. Duties include mortising & drill wood posts for fence panels, bedroom apartments at Guilford Court and Boston Terrace building fence panels gates & more. Must have a valid CT driver’s license and be able to All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 Saybrook, CT Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, seeks:centerin Guilford, CT. Applicants must be age 62 and over(4Old or on obtain a Drivers Medical Card. Must be able to pass a physical and drug test. Please email highways, near bus stopInc & shopping Buildings, 17 Units) 100% social security or federal disability and over the age resume to pking@atlasoutdoor.com. AA/EOE-MF Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project of 18. Applications maybe obtained by calling the applicalicensing and clean driving record, tion line at 203-453-6262, ext. 107. Applications will be acBe willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. Truck Driver/Maintainer 3 - DPW Highway Division CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased a Deacon’s NewatConstruction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castcepted until May 30, 2019 3:00 p.m. Credit, police, and We offer excellent hourly rateto&offer excellent benefits Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates checks Smoke free Contact: Tousignant Phone: 860243-2300 landlord in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Town of Portland, CT (EOE) in response toRick the Church’s Ministry needs.

The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30- are procured by the authority.

3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. housing.

Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Town is accepting applications for a full-time Truck Driver in the Public Works Highway (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster EQUAL OPPORTUNITY HOUSING Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Division; hours weekly; starting hourly wage $24.71; AFSCME union with fringe benMechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and40Fire Protection.

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

St. New Haven, CT

Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Subject to pre-employment drug/alcohol testing and DMV background check.

This contract is subject to state set-asideefits. and contract compliance requirements.

SEYMOUR HOUSING Union Company seeks: AUTHORITY

Qualifications: High School diploma or GED equivalent + 2 years manual labor & equipment operation experience; valid Connecticut Commercial Driver’s License. Must have Bid Extended, Due Date: goodAugust ability 5, to 2016 understand and follow oral and written instructions. Must have physical sufficient Anticipated Start: strength August 15, 2016 to perform heavy manual labor, often under adverse weather conditions.

Send General Employment Application to: First Selectwoman’s Office, P.O. Box 71, PortProject documents available via ftp link below: land, CT 0648-0071. Deadline: 4/12/2019

KMK Insulation Inc.

Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour Equipment. Must have a CDL License, clean driving record, until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, capable of operating heavy equipment; be willing to travel Seymour, CTthroughout 06483 fortheConcrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Northeast & NY. 1907 Smithfield Living Facility,benefits 26 Smith Street Seymour.

We offerGardens excellentAssisted hourly rate & excellent

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

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Hartford Turnpike Elm City Communities Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com North Haven, CT 06473 HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses

Mechanical Insulator position.

Request for Proposals

Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 A pre-bidEmail: conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Environmental Services AA/EEO EMPLOYER Women & Minority areon encouraged to apply Street Seymour, CT Applicants at 10:00 am, Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Insulation company offering good pay

Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

and benefits. Please mail resume to

BiddingManager documents are availableRemediation from the Seymour Housing Authority OfProject Environmental Division above address. fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

3-5 years exp. and Bachelor’s Degree, 40-Hr. Hazwoper Training Req. Forward resumes to RED Technologies, LLC, 10 Northwood Dr., Bloomfield, CT 06002;

MAIL ONLY

company is an Affirmative Action/ 860.218.2433; or Email to HR@redtechllc.com The Housing Fax Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or This all bids, to RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE. reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any 16 informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Environmental Services A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday , February 20, 2019at 3:00 PM

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

Heavy Equipment Operator & Skilled Laborer Our growing construction company currently has 2 open positions available.

All work is 1st shift and we work only in the State of Connecticut.

Heavy Equipment Operator

Ideal candidate will have experience operating all types of heavy equipment on large municipal construction jobsites. A minimum of 3 years’ experience required.

Skilled Construction Laborer

In need of a skilled construction laborer who has experience prepping, forming, pouring and finishing concrete sidewalks. Additional labor skills a plus.

Both positions require current OSHA 10 Certificate (Hazwoper Certificate a plus).

Positions require taking and passing a drug test / background check. Apply by emailing your resume to TradeMarkLLC@att.net or fax to 860-314-1428.

Women & Minority applicants are encouraged to apply.

An Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer

HELP WANTED:

Large CT guardrail company looking for Laborer/ Driver with valid CT CDL Class A license and able to get a medical card. Must be able to pass a drug test and physical. Compensation based on experience.

Email resume to dmastracchio@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE M-F

ROTHA Contracting Company, Inc Project Engineer (Connecticut):

Project Engineer job opening available for a growing / established Heavy Highway Construction Contractor based out of Avon, CT. Tasks include takeoffs, CAD drafting, computations, surveying, office engineering, submittals, other miscellaneous engineering tasks. Competitive compensation package based on experience. Many opportunities for growth for the right individual. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. Email resume to jobs@ rothacontracting.com

The Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk, CT is requesting proposals for Financial Advisory Services.

Request for Proposal documents can be viewed and printed at www.norwalkha.org under the Business section RFP’s/RFQ’s Norwalk Housing is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Adam Bovilsky, Executive Director.

Human Resources Human Resources Assistant -The Town of Wallingford Human Resources Department is seeking a responsible and detailed orientated individual to provide clerical and administrative support in all areas of a full-service HR Department.

Applicants must possess a H.S. diploma or GED plus 3 years’ experience in office work of a responsible nature with some experience performing HR related work.

A combination of experience and training may substitute on a year-for-year basis. Salary rate: $22.37 to $26.78 hourly, plus an excellent fringe benefit package. The closing date for applications is March 22, 2019 Apply: Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492, Fax: (203) 294-2084 Phone (203) 294-2080. EOE.

Firefighter Town of Greenwich Do You Want A Job That Makes A Difference?

Become A Town of Greenwich Firefighter.

To view detailed information and apply online visit www.governmentjobs.com/careers/greenwichct Current Starting Salary: $60,910. The Town of Greenwich is dedicated to Diversity & Equal Opportunity Employment; Town of Greenwich, HR Dept., 101 Field Point Rd, Greenwich, CT, (203)861-3188.

The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven is seeking to fill the position of Development Manager.

Please refer to our website for details: http://www.cfgnh.org/ About/ContactUs/EmploymentOpportunities.aspx.

EOE.Electronic submissions only. No phone calls

NEWLY RENOVATED RESIDENCES AVAILABLE We are currently accepting applications for elderly (62 or older) and/or disabled households.

Located in revitalized neighborhoods, our newly renovated apartments feature efficiency, 1 and 2 bedrooms all with convenient access to transportation, great schools and amenities. Community features include 24-hour emergency maintenance, resident activities, and supportive services.

Families who qualify for Section 8 assistance will pay no more than 30% of their adjusted annual income for rent.

REQUIREMENTS: Earnings must be between 25-60% of the Area Medium Income (AMI). Please see the table below for specific income and household requirements. Applications will be rejected if the head of household, co-head or spouse is not elderly and/or disabled and does not qualify for an efficiency, 1 or 2 bedroom apartment. # of people in household

1

2

3

4

Minimum

$16,950

$19,375

$21,800

$24,200

Maximum

$40,680

$46,500

$52,320

$58,080

Applications may be picked up at: • 360 Orange St ● 819 Sherman Parkway ● 220-230 County St. • Downloaded at http://www.cthcvp.org/ • Downloaded at http://www.elmcitycommunities.org Applications can be submitted: • Online at www.elmcitycommunities.org • In person at 360 Orange St, New Haven, CT 06511 • Mailed to PO Box 1912, New Haven, CT 06509 Applications will be ready for pickup on 3/25/19 17

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

Attorney Ben Crump Sues Harvard Over Slave Images University refuses to return images once used to advocate racism

CAMBRIDGE, MA – A Connecticut woman today accused Harvard University of the wrongful seizure, possession and monetization of photographic images of her family’s patriarch, an enslaved African man named Renty, and his daughter, Delia. The images, believed to be the earliest known photographic images of slaves, were commissioned in 1850 by a Harvard professor, Louis Agassiz, and used to support a theory, known as polygenism, that Africans and AfricanAmericans are inferior to whites. Polygenism, widely advocated by the Harvard professor, was used to justify both the ongoing enslavement of black people prior to the Civil War and their segregation afterward. As detailed in a lawsuit filed today, Harvard stood by its professor and, to this day, has never sufficiently repudiated Agassiz and his work.

The images, known as daguerreotypes, were captured in the winter of 1850 in a South Carolina photography studio. Renty was brought to a photography studio, stripped naked and photographed from every angle; next to him, his daughter Delia was then stripped to the waist and forced to pose for the photographs.

The lawsuit filed today in Middlesex County Superior Court alleges that Harvard has ignored Tamara Lanier’s repeated requests to stop licensing the pictures for the University’s profit and stop misrepresenting her great-great-great grandfather, the man she knows as Papa Renty. A direct linear descendent of Renty, Ms. Lanier is seeking return of the photos to her family, as well as damages from Harvard.

“For years, Papa Renty’s slave owners profited from his suffering – it’s time for Harvard to stop doing the same thing to our family,” said Tamara Lanier, Renty’s greatgreat-great granddaughter. “Papa Renty was a proud and kind man who, like so many enslaved men, women and children, endured years of unimaginable horrors. Harvard’s refusal to honor our family’s history by acknowledging our lineage and its own shameful past is an insult to Papa Renty’s life and memory.”

“These photographs make it clear that Harvard benefited from slavery then and continues to benefit now. By my calculation, Renty is 169 years a slave. When will Harvard finally set him free?” said national civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, co-lead counsel

for Ms. Lanier. “Without slavery, this photo would not exist, nor would the racist theories that led to its creation We cannot erase the wrongs of the past or the legacies of slavery within higher education, but we can forge a new path of respect, dignity and equality moving forward. Returning the images would be a first step in the right direction.”

In 1847, Harvard had recruited Agassiz, whose work as a zoologist had focused on grouping living things together based on observable characteristics and placing them in hierarchical order, to head the University’s Lawrence School of Science. With the prestige and support of Harvard, Agassiz soon became a zealous advocate for polygenism.

The famed Harvard professor’s assertion of black inferiority came at an opportune time for slave owners and northern profiteers from the cotton trade and aided their fight against abolitionists. The Fugitive Slave Act, widely seen as a barometer for the relative strength of the pro-slavery and abolitionist camps, was being hotly debated in Congress. For those seeking to prove that African-Americans were inferior, Agassiz’s work, backed by Harvard’s prestige, was an invaluable gift.

Based upon the oral history passed on to Tamara Lanier, Renty was born in Africa.

After being kidnapped by slave merchants, he was enslaved on the B.F. Taylor plantation in South Carolina. Renty was small in stature but towering in the minds of those who knew him. Though prohibited by South Carolina law, Renty taught himself and other enslaved people to read and also conducted secret Bible readings and Bible study on the plantation.

In the winter of 1850, on Agassiz’s orders, Papa Renty was led into a plush photograph studio in Columbia, South Carolina.

He was ordered to fully disrobe, and Delia was stripped naked to the waist. Renty and Delia were photographed in various poses, half and full figures taken from the front, side and back views. The completed daguerreotypes received just the enthusiastic reception that had Agassiz hoped. The next month, Agassiz published the results of his research in an article entitled The Diversity of Origin of the Human Races, noting that he had recently studied “closely many native Africans belonging to different tribes, and

[have] learned readily to distinguish their nations ... and determine their origin from their physical features.” He went on to describe, with the detached voice of an empiricist, the essential characteristics of Africans as “submissive, obsequious, [and] imitative,” possessing “a peculiar indifference to the advantages afforded by civilized society.”

For decades, the images were then forgotten. In 1976, an employee of Harvard’s Peabody Museum, the late Ellie Reichlin, discovered them in a corner cabinet of the museum’s attic. Despite Ms. Reichlin’s expressed concern for the families of the men and women depicted, Harvard University chose to make no effort to locate the subjects’ descendants. In displaying and licensing the images, Harvard has avoided the fact that the daguerreotypes were part of a study, overseen by a Harvard professor, to demon-

strate racial inferiority of blacks.

To this day, Harvard insists that anyone seeking to view the photographs sign a contract, and anyone wishing to reproduce the images, even for educational purposes, pay a hefty fee to the University. In other words, Harvard – the wealthiest university in the world – has seen fit to further enrich itself from images that only exist because a Harvard professor forced enslaved men and women to participate in their creation without consent, dignity or compensation.

In 2011, Tamara Lanier, then the chief probation officer in Norwich, CT, wrote a letter to Dr. Drew Faust, the President of Harvard University from 2007-2018. Faust, a Civil War historian, was the first president of Harvard to have been raised in the South. Lanier detailed her ancestry and expressed her belief that she was a direct, linear descendant

of Renty and Delia. Dr. Faust’s evasive response made no mention of Lanier’s heritage and offered no opportunity to discuss returning the pictures to the Lanier family.

Over the next several years, Lanier continued to gather documentation of her heritage and consult with genealogical experts who validated her ancestry. She also made additional unsuccessful attempts to engage Harvard University in a conversation about the images. In 2016, Lanier reached out to the Harvard Crimson, the University’s student newspaper, to suggest a news story about the daguerreotypes. The paper responded positively, and Lanier traveled to Cambridge for an interview. Sometime later, Ms. Lanier received an email from an editor at the Crimson informing her that the story had been killed due to “concerns the Peabody Museum has raised.”

Harvard continues to use the Renty images as a source of income. For example, in 2017, Harvard used Renty’s image to sell its 13th anniversary edition of “From Site to Sight: Anthropology, Photography and the Power of Imagery.” Renty’s image is the cover of the book, which sells for $40.00. The same year, Harvard hosted a national academic conference called “Universities and Slavery: Bound by History.” The program for the conference referred to Renty as “anonymous,” even though Ms. Lanier, who was in attendance, had repeatedly told the renowned university that the man was her great- greatgreat grandfather.

Even though Agassiz helped lay the groundwork for over 100 years of state-sanctioned segregation, discrimination and violence against African-Americans, Harvard continues to defend him as a great scientist of his time, according to the lawsuit, and continues to profit from the images while refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of Ms. Lanier’s familial relationship.

Tamara Lanier is represented by Benjamin Crump, Talley Kaleko and Scott Carruthers of Ben Crump Law, Michael Koskoff, Joshua Koskoff, Preston Tisdale and Katie Mesner-Hage of Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder, and Elizabeth Mulvey of Crowe & Mulvey.

The lawsuit was filed in Middlesex County Superior Court. Sign the petition at https:// www.change.org/p/family-to-harvard-freerenty.

Bribery And Fraud: Affirmative Action For Rich, White People

by William Spivey, Medium.com American Colleges and Universities have often struggled with the issue of race. Primary White Institutions (PWI’s) initially in almost every instance, failed to admit most minorities at all. When they did, it was often as a result of legislation requiring minority admissions and/or affirmative action programs establishing goals for minority students. There has been a long term backlash to affirmative action students, most

suggesting that deserving white students were denied admission in lieu of less qualified minorities.

Some have disingenuously taken up the cause of highly qualified Asian students who have suffered because of limits imposed by Affirmative Action programs.

They place blame, typically on black students that were admitted rather than recognizing that these programs have made all minorities, crabs in a barrel, fighting for a limited number of spaces while white students enjoy the rest.

A still-developing scandal has revealed that rich people, almost all rich, white people, have been using other tools to ensure their children got into good colleges and universities and buy their way in. These schemes included having other people take

their ACT and SAT tests, faking medical disabilities to allow extra time on standardized tests, and “earning” athletic scholarships in sports their children didn’t play.

They faked honors earned in high school and staged photo’s of the children on rowing machines or playing water polo. One example had the parents paying from $15– 75K to get a rigged test score with $10K going to the person who actually took the test. Money was routed through a mostly fake charity, apparently aspiring to keep up with the Trump family.

Among the schools known to be involved are; Georgetown, Stanford, Yale, the University of Texas, and the University of Southern Califonia. People have been quick to suggest the schools had no idea this was going on and the students were un-

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aware the fix was in. People at the schools getting paid include athletic coaches and administrators. One would think a student might notice if someone else took their SAT and got an excellent score?

Thus far, 33 parents have been charged by the FBI as part of, Operation Varsity Blues.

Several executives of firms have been charged as well with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. A couple of the parents arrested were Hollywood celebrities. I omit their names because it would distract from my main points: 1 When it’s all said and done, what will be the penalty for these crimes? Depriving better-qualified students of getting into the best schools. What are the odds one of those rich parents will go to jail? Or

will they pay a small fine or see the cases dropped? Maybe the actors involved can play themselves in the movie?

2. Will we see the outrage about rich, white people, cheating the system in ways different than usual like legacy students, making huge donations, or adding a wing to a building?

The problem is not now nor has it ever been affirmative action. The existing programs have served more like a cap on minorities, significantly less than their percentage of the population. Some people have condemned the admission of minority students while readily accepting that the advantaged often take advantage. Let’s see if they even make the effort to get upset?

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

NEW HAVEN’S GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY RADIO STATION!

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www.newhavenindependent.org

JOE UGLY IN THE MORNING Weekdays 6-9 a.m.

THE TOM FICKLIN SHOW Mondays 10 a.m.

MAYOR MONDAY!

MERCY QUAYE

Mondays 11 a.m.

Mondays 1 p.m.

“THE SHOW”

“DJ REL”

MICHELLE TURNER Tuesdays 9 a.m.

“WERK IT OUT”

ELVERT EDEN Tuesdays at 2 p.m.

MORNINGS WITH MUBARAKAH

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Thursdays 1 p.m.

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ALISA BOWENSMERCADO

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FRIDAY PUNDITS Fridays 11 a.m.

TO THEE WE SING Thursday, April 4 • 7:30pm Lyman Center • Southern Connecticut State University New Haven Symphony Orchestra William Boughton, conductor Harolyn Blackwell, soprano & narrator Elliott Forrest, visual artist New Haven All-City Orchestra The NHSO marks the 80th Anniversary of Marian Anderson’s groundbreaking performance at the Lincoln Memorial with a concert that celebrates the perseverance of the human spirit and the ability of music to speak to power. This resonant, poignant performance will use the words of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr; original art by Elliott Forrest; and music by Aaron Copland, Joseph Schwantner, Daniel Bernard Roumain, and others to commemorate and examine what it means to be an American.

Tickets on Sale Now! (203)787-4282 | NewHavenSymphony.org 19

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

March 27, 2019 - April 02, 2019

This Is Us available at xfinity.com/stream

Stream the New Renaissance We’re living in the middle of a new Renaissance of Black entertainment, and with Xfinity, you can watch it all unfold. Catch the entertainment you love with Black Film & TV at home or on-the-go with the Xfinity Stream app. Plus, access Netflix, YouTube and now, Prime Video, directly from your TV with X1. All from America’s best Internet provider. The new Renaissance comes to life with Xfinity.

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To access Netflix, YouTube and Prime Video on X1 requires an eligible set top box with Xfinity TV and Internet service. Netflix streaming and Prime Video subscriptions required. Netflix and Prime Video use your Internet service and will count against any Xfinity data plan. Internet: Best Internet service provider claim based on download speeds measured by over 111 million tests taken by consumers at Speedtest.net. Actual speeds vary and are not guaranteed. Voice: If there is a power outage or network issue, calling, including calls to 911, may be unavailable. Mobile: Requires a post-pay subscription to a residential Xfinity Internet service. New Xfinity Internet customers limited to up to two lines pending activation of Internet service. Call for restrictions and complete details. The Xfinity Mobile logo and “O” logo are the trademarks of Comcast Corporation or its subsidiaries. To see the Xfinity Mobile Broadband Disclosures visit: xfinity.com/mobile/ policies/broadband-disclosures. © 2019 Comcast. All rights reserved. HBO® requires a subscription. HBO® and related channels and service marks are the property of Home Box Office, Inc. THE HATE U GIVE ©2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Rated PG-13. NPA222868-0001 NED AA Q1 BAU V16

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