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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

Lamont Nominates First Latino DOCNAACP Commissioner Financial Justice a Key Focus at 2016 Convention INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

Family, Community Demand Justice for Tianna

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

NEW BRITAIN, CT — Tianna Laboy was only 19 years old when she gave birth to her baby in a toilet in a prison cell.

Laboy is still behind bars, but the community and her family and her baby, who has autism and is non-verbal, called on the state to stop fighting the family’s lawsuit.

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The complaint alleges that the Department of Correction was understaffed and failed to offer Laboy proper prenatal care and no labor and delivery services.

Laboy’s cellmate helped her deliver the baby and got a year shaved off her sentence as a result, while Laboy is still behind bars.

“Baby N. was born into the toilet,” according to the complaint. “Baby N. was unresponsive after exiting the uterus. At this time, Plaintiff T. Laboy, prompted by her cellmate, picked up Baby N. and ‘patted her on the back to get all the fluid out.’

Baby N. began to breathe at this point.”

The state’s Department of Correction’s Security Division conducted an investigation into the matter, and concluded that the York Correctional Facility staff did not follow proper procedures.

“No mother should have to give birth in inhumane conditions. And no baby should be born into incarceration,” Karine Laboy, Tianna’s mother, said. “That’s why I am here today urging Attorney General Tong

to take action and stop using the power of his office to prevent justice for Tianna and my granddaughter.”

Two-and-half years later, Laboy is still in jail and the state is still fighting the lawsuit.

Ken Krayeske, Laboy’s attorney, said Tong should resolve the case.

“He knows I’m not going anywhere. I will fight until I die,” Krayeske said.

He said this case is a political case and as such, it’s appropriate to use political pressure like Thursday’s press conference to resolve it.

The Department of Correction was unable to comment because it’s pending litigation.

Elizabeth Benton, a spokesman for Tong, said “The Office of the Attorney General has a constitutional, statutory and ethical obligation to represent the State of Connecticut as its lawyer. In this matter, we represent individual employees of the Department of Correction who were investigated by DOC and found not to have engaged in any misconduct. We declined to represent a nurse who was terminated following investigation. We have engaged in good faith settlement negotiations with plaintiffs’ counsel. We will continue to do so.”

Krayeske said the state has no intention of settling this case even though it should.

“Everyone knows that what happened to Tianna is grotesque,” Krayeske said.

CHRISTINE STUART / CTNEWSJUNKIE PHOTO

Karine Laboy, Tianna’s mother

Orange Street’s Reconnection Advances

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven I ndependent

City planner Donna Hall looked west towards a dug-up intersection, rumbling construction vehicles, a surface parking lot, and a mini-highway separating the Hill and Downtown — and described a new pedestrian-safe connector that is now less than a year away from completion.

Hall, a senior project manager with the City Plan Department, called that future image into existence Tuesday afternoon during a press conference held at the intersection of Orange Street and Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard on the edge of the Ninth Square, Downtown, and Hill neighborhoods.

The presser brought together over a dozen city, state and federal officials to celebrate progress made so far in Phase 2 of the Downtown Crossing project.

That’s the $50 million-plus overhaul of the Rt. 34 mini-highway-to-nowhere that seeks to undo some of the sins of the mid-20th Century urban renewal era and reconnect the city’s downtown with the medical district, Union Station, and Hill neighborhood.

The focal point of Phase 2 is the construction of a new bicycle- and pedestri-

an-protected intersection that connects Orange Street and South Orange Street across the Rt. 34 corridor, which includes MLK Boulevard, South Frontage Road, and the Air Rights Garage Service Drive.

Construction on the roughly $18 million phase began last spring, and is slated to be complete in July 2021.

“This will be one of the premier and primary gateways to get in and out of the city,” Hall (pictured) said while standing in the dirt of the construction zone alongside Mayor Justin Elicker, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, and city Economic Development Administrator Michael Piscitelli, among others.

“This is our new welcome mat to the city,” added Piscitelli.

Phase 1 of Downtown Crossing was finished in 2016. It included a new intersection at College Street that allowed for the development of the Alexion building at 100 College St. Phase 3, slated to begin in 2022 pending federal funding, will include a new intersection connecting Temple Street and Congress Avenue.

In addition to the new Orange Street intersection, Hall said, Phase 2 consists of: • a section of North Frontage Road between State Street and Orange Street that

Hall and Gateway Community College President Thomas Coley.

will be permanently closed to car traffic and will allow for a bicycle and pedestrian connection to Water Street.

• a series of bioswales and other stormwater management improvements surrounding the new intersection.

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• and reconfigured service drives that will provide direct access to the current and future buildings to be constructed in the Rt. 34 corridor between MLK and South Frontage.

The project also frees up 10 acres of former infill land that the city can sell to private developers to build on.

“It’s hard to imagine what this is going to look like when we have 101 College coming in,” Elicker said, pointing towards the empty plot of land that will soon house a new 10-story bioscience lab and office tower.

“When we have a bustling Coliseum site that will have residential and commercial space; when these streets are connected together; when we have less vehicle traffic because more people can opt to live here and walk to work.” But these projects are all underway, he said, and that vision will soon be a reality.

City transit chief Doug Hausladen said that the new Orange Street intersection will require pedestrians to cross a total of nine lanes of traffic when going between the Downtown and Hill sides—but no more than four lanes at a time before reaching a traffic island, and all guided by new traffic signals and protected by curbs

and bollards.

“This intersection will be fully protected in all directions,” Piscitelli said.

“If you’re on foot, if you’re on bike, even though we have a lot of traffic that comes through here, you can feel a sense of safety and confidence as you go through this intersection.”

Also included as part of Downtown Crossing’s Phase 2 is a new public art installation by Sheila de Bretteville.

Leading a tour along the now-closed stretch of North Frontage over to the State Street overpass that separates Downtown from police headquarters and Union Station, Site Projects President Laura Clarke described the artwork as illuminating passerby with a series of foot-level lights as well overhead cans providing circular spotlights on the walkway.

“When you’re walking, you’ll see light circles on the sidewalk,” sge said. “What [de Bretteville] has done is so powerful and simple,” and shouled lighten up a currently gloomy 90-foot stretch of sidewalk.

Hall said that the public artwork should be finished and installed by the end of 2020.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

Lamont Nominates First Latino DOC Commissioner

by Lisa Backus Ct. News Junkie

Gov. Ned Lamont on Wednesday nominated Deputy Commissioner Angel Quiros to serve as the new commissioner of the state Department of Correction. If he’s confirmed by the legislature, Quiros will be the state’s first Latino DOC commissioner.

An employee for 31 years at the DOC, Quiros, 52, grew up in the Park Street area of Hartford. He took over the helm in July as the interim commissioner following the departure of Rollin Cook.

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“We looked all over the country and found the best candidate right here,” Lamont said.

Cook resigned in June and returned to his family in Utah.

Lamont said Cook left “beleaguered” as the agency was dealing with the coronavirus, which sparked lawsuits against the agency as 9% of inmates tested positive for the virus. Seven have died.

Cook also had to contend with budget deficits, mostly based on the agency’s 2018 decision to take over its healthcare system, which had been contracted out to the University of Connecticut’s Correctional Managed Health Care unit.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, DOC unions have been displeased with leadership’s handling of the public health crisis, while advocates have pushed for more releases, more cleaning and more social distancing.

DOC union leaders who represent correction officers and other staff wished Quiros well on his appointment. But they also pointed out that there is more work to be done to get the agency on track.

“We urge him to improve the lines of communication between management and frontline employees responsible for maintaining safety and security throughout Connecticut’s prison system,” said

AFSCME NP-4 Corrections Bargaining Unit presidents Sean Howard (Local 387), Collin Provost (Local 391) and Michael Vargo (Local 1565). “The incoming commissioner certainly has his work cut out for him. The department’s lack of planning and preparation for the COVID-19 pandemic exposed staff and inmates to illness and created volatile working conditions throughout our prisons.”

“We wish the new commissioner good luck,” the trio said. “At the same time, we cannot emphasize strongly enough that a good commissioner will listen to our concerns and ideas, and treat us as partners in helping the agency move forward.”

Quiros said the rate of COVID-19 infections is now down to about 3%, with about four inmates per month testing positive, based on the protocols put in place by the agency including health care workers in the prisons.

He acknowledged that mistakes were made early in the pandemic, including denying symptomatic inmates access to showers while they were housed at the Northern Correctional Facility, one of the state’s most restrictive facilities.

“I am moving away from Northern,” said Quiros, who went on to explain that some inmates were hiding symptoms out of fear of being housed at Northern. He has a different facility in mind for inmates who test positive, but hasn’t told the warden yet, Quiros said.

As the new commissioner, Quiros will be operating under a settlement with the Connecticut American Civil Liberties Union, which sued Lamont and the DOC over prison conditions during the pandemic. The lawsuit was settled last month and requires a commission to review practices including the identification of medically fragile inmates for release, enhanced cleaning measures, and more social distancing to help stem the spread of the virus.

The CT ACLU which has been critical of the way Cook handled the pandemic called

COURTESY OF MICROSOFT TEAMS

Angel Quiros

Lamont out on his 2018 campaign promise to include the public and stakeholders such as formerly incarcerated individuals in the search process for a new DOC commissioner. It is the second time that a DOC commissioner has been appointed under Lamont without public input.

“The Lamont administration has consistently ignored and belittled the public health threat of COVID-19 in prisons and jails, a threat faced by a population that is more than 70 percent Black and Latinx,” Medina said.

“The Governor’s appointment of a new DOC commissioner without meaningful public engagement is the latest example of an administration that has, at times literally, shut off its lines of communication with the most vulnerable people it is supposed

to serve,” Medina said.

Medina also said the appointment without public hearings or feedback, “demonstrates disappointing disregard for transparency and public engagement and backtracks on the spirit of a campaign promise Lamont made in 2018.”

The organization contends Lamont’s administration “did not meaningfully solicit feedback, even virtually, from people and communities whose lives are directly impacted by the DOC’s decisions.”

Quiros also will consider closing correctional facilities in the spring once the prison system gets through what could be a second wave of the coronavirus. As of Sept.1, the inmate population is down to around 9,500 – 50% lower than its peak in 2008. Nearly 3,000 inmates have been

released since the pandemic began impacting the state in March – but crime has remained at a 51-year low, Lamont said, and fewer people are returning to prison on technical violations.

Plans are underway to increase visitation for families, which had been suspended when the pandemic reached the state, Quiros said. Initiatives include more visits on Zoom and Microsoft Teams until socially distanced visits can take place, he said.

Quiros drove through his old neighborhood in Hartford on his way to his second interview for the commissioner’s job last week, he said. He viewed the job as an opportunity to help the people in his old neighborhood and keep the residents of Connecticut safe while allowing incarcerated individuals a second chance at life by providing enhanced programs.

“No one deserves to be defined by their biggest mistake,” Quiros said.

The agency is now better prepared for a second wave of infections with a greater stockpile of personal protective equipment and better ways to separate those who are symptomatic from the rest of the prison population, he said.

“We’ve learned a lot,” Quiros said.

“There’s a lot of data on our mistakes we made, but we are better prepared for the fall.”

The agency employs 6,000 people and runs 13 facilities, said Marc Pelka, undersecretary of criminal justice for the state Office of Policy and Management.

“It’s a demanding job,” Pelka said of the role of DOC commissioner.

Quiros, who worked his way up through the ranks since starting as a correction officer three decades ago, was the right choice for the job, Pelka said. “When he’s tested on the job, he makes the tough, right, decisions,” Pelka said.

Quiros’ appointment will have to be confirmed by the legislature. The salary is $167,000 a year.

ConnCAT Enters Next Phase in COVID Response, Launches 'Safe Space' Education Hub to Provide Supports to Students during Distance Learning

New Haven, CT (September 1, 2020) – The Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT), today announced the launch of Safe Space, a no-cost education hub which will provide academic support, social engagement, and a safe educational space to selected New Haven students during distance learning for the 2020-2021 school year. This education hub is the next step in ConnCAT’s continued response to combat the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on New Haven’s Black and low-income communities.

Prior to the launch of Safe Space, ConnCAT hosted two focus groups with students and parents, to gain greater clarity on what was needed to best support families. Guided by those conversations, Safe Space will operate Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and will provide students with “hands-on” educational and technical support, reliable wifi, breakfast and lunch, and an 8-1 ratio

of students to teachers. Meals will be provided through ConnCAT’s Orchid Cafe, which is run by students and graduates of ConnCAT’s adult Culinary Arts Academy.

“Safe Space is fundamentally and primarily about keeping kids safe, and giving them the tools they need to learn and grow,” said Erik Clemons, ConnCAT President & CEO. “Families in our community are facing a lot of uncertainty right now, and for many, distance-only learning presents a whole new host of difficult decisions to make. We wanted to do our part to solve for some of those uncertainties by providing a setting where students’ needs can be met physically, socially, and academically.”

The decision to launch the education hub was made in response to a vote by the New Haven Board of Education to start the 2020-2021 school year with 10 weeks of remote-only learning. Made possible through the support of Dalio Philan-

thropies, Safe Space is currently slated to run from September to January, but may be available for the entirety of the school year, pending the reassessment of remoteonly, hybrid, or in-person learning by the Board of Education at the end of the 10 weeks.

“Education has always been at the core of everything we do. With the pandemic threatening to impact the educational opportunities of so many, we knew we needed to step up,” said Genevive Walker, ConnCAT’s Chief Operating Officer. “Safety is our top priority, but we also want to ensure that as the school year progresses students are able to progress academically. We will be physically distant, but socially engaged.”

In order to maintain social distancing standards, Safe Space is set to serve 32 students, from grades 6th through 9th.

Students will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis, with 33% of the spots re-

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served for students in Newhallville.

“ConnCAT’s Safe Space is God sent.

When I received the invitation from ConnCAT to attend a meeting about the youth program, I was unsure what it would be about,” said Rosealee Reid, ConnCAT Parent. “As I sat there and listened, I felt a sense of calmness come over me. The weeks leading up to the ConnCAT meeting, I had many concerns. How were the children going to maintain social distance in school? How will they be able to keep up with their assignments if they are fully remote? How will I be able to help them?

I am grateful for ConnCAT stepping up again and finding a way to help.”

“When I was in school it was a better experience being in the classroom where I was able to interact with my classmates and get help from my teachers. Then Covid happened all that abruptly stopped, I was not able to work at my best ability,”

said Sayvion Sealy, 9th grade. “I like the program that ConnCAT told me about because it will make it so that I can get help with my school work and interact safely with my friends. I miss my friends at school and I miss my friends and the staff at ConnCAT. I hope that me and my brother get into the Safe Space school program.”

“The new program that ConnCAT is doing is very convenient and helpful, especially the tools that they offer, such as the teachers who will be able to help us with our studies and homework,” said Tajay Henlin, 9th grade. “I think that this program will help my school life easier.

Overall I think the idea/plan is very good and useful to the community. I can’t wait to start the program and see my friends.”

ConnCAT is currently accepting applications for Safe Space a conncat.org/programs/youth-programs

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

Scholarship Fund Gives $400K+ To NHPS Grads

by STAFF

New Haven I ndependent

The following piece was submitted by Jeff Alpert, the president of the New Haven Scholarship Fund.

The New Haven Scholarship Fund is proud to announce that it has awarded over $400,000 in scholarships to graduates of New Haven Public Schools.

Two hundred eleven students representing every public high school in the city were awarded $326,000, and students who applied for continuing scholarships were awarded an additional $76,000.

The all volunteer Board of Directors is extremely grateful to all the generous people who value the work that NHSF does for our New Haven community. We all feel sad that the annual Award Ceremony was unable to take place due to COVID-19. Sadly we miss meeting the recipients and their family members as together we honor our scholarship recipients.

For 60 years the New Haven Scholarship Fund has provided in excess of $11 million to over 10,600 deserving graduates of New Haven Public Schools.

NHSF scholarships continue to provide the financial support that helps young men and women from our city pursue their dreams.

The New Haven Scholarship Fund was founded in 1959 by Jean Lovell, a teacher at Hillhouse High School. She realized that she was working with students

who had the potential to succeed in college, but lacked the financial resources to pursue those opportunities. Her belief in her students was the seed that grew into the New Haven Scholarship Fund. With $400 in donations from friends and $400 that she and husband contributed, she was able to send eight of her students to Southern Connecticut State University for a full year.

This year, with the generosity of hundreds of donors including the Community Foundation and the Seedlings Foundation, the New Haven Scholarship Fund continues the work of supporting the students of the class of 2020.

We are grateful to all those who have a strong belief in the work of the New Haven Scholarship Fund. We believe that supporting our New Haven students who have strong academic potential and limited financial resources is critical to the growth and well being of our New Haven community. It is important to emphasize the fact that every dollar donated to NHSF goes directly to those who benefit most, our New Haven Public Schools graduates who often struggle financially in their pursuit of their post high school education.

A public recognition of the achievements of the New Haven Scholarship recipients is in the planning stages.

Please visit our website at www.newhavenscholarshipfund.org Help us make a difference and join us in

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Scenes from last year’s New Haven Scholarship Fund ceremony.

Equity V. Equality In Local Policy

by KEVIN MALONEY

New Haven I ndependent

The first step of addressing racial disparities at a local level is to get some basic terms right.

This is according to Leon Andrews, the director of the National League of Cities’ Race, Equity, and Leadership (REAL) initiative. Andrews has been working with REAL to help local leaders undo structural racism since protests in Ferguson, Mo. in 2015 brought national attention to police brutality.

Andrews joined the Municipal Voice, a co-production between the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and WNHH FM, to talk about what he’s learned in the years since.

“I think the equity, equality piece is one that is so important to understand at the foundational level because people tend to use those words interchangeably,” Andrews said. “At the very high level, equality means giving everyone the same thing. Equity means giving people what they need.”

Andrews drew on the metaphor of three people behind a fence watching a game, each with a disproportionate disadvantage.

He said that one has to “think differently about what they need to watch the game.”

INTERACTION INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE | ARTIST: ANGUS MAGUIRE

So for local leaders, when they begin to process racism, they can’t process it in the individual sense. There are “policies, practices, and procedures that have actually benefited white people over people of

color, sometimes intentionally or inadvertently,” Andrews explained.

Housing policies like redlining are part of this larger institutional racism, he said.

“Whether we’re talking about housing,

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whether we’re talking about health, … education, criminal justice, unemployment rates, or deaths from coronavirus, race is still the number one predictor [of success in this country],” Andrews said.

One of the ways to change this is through targeted universalism, Andrews said. The idea is that focusing efforts in one area benefits everyone. Curb cuts mandated through the Americans with Disabilities Act were intended to help people with wheelchairs, but they ended up benefitting people walking with strollers and suitcases too.

What ending racial disparities means depends on the town or city, because each is so different. Andrews argued that no one city or town or village has reached the goalposts yet.

“Ultimately, the measure of we’ve succeeded is how we close the gaps, where race is no longer predicting one’s success.”

Andrews said that he has hope for the future but he understands those who do not.

Challenges and tensions can arise on any given day.

“But what I like about this work that we do with city leaders is it’s not just about morally this is a good thing to do. Racial equity is about good governance.”

Contributors At-Large Christine Stuart www.CTNewsJunkie.com

Paul Bass www.newhavenindependent.org

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

Officials: State Ready For 2nd Covid Surge

by PAUL BASS

New Haven I ndependent

A second Covid-19 surge is probably coming. Connecticut will be even better prepared to handle this one.

That message emerged Tuesday during a panel discussion with top state and local government and health officials on the impact of Covid-19 on Connecticut.

Yale School of Public Health hosted the discussion, which was a welcome event for incoming students. Gov. Ned Lamont, New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, New Haven Health Director Maritza Bond, and the chairs of the governor’s reopening task force, Indra Nooyi and Yale’s Dr. Albert Ko, were among the participants.

The bulk of the hour-long discussion consisted of speakers patting themselves and state residents on the back for Connecticut’s nation-leading success in keeping Covid-19 infection rates at or below 1 percent — even while gradually reopening the economy starting in June. They noted that Connecticut residents have bought into social distancing and maskwearing more than people in most other states. They also noted New Haven’s early successful efforts to get ahead of the virus’s spread, including an internationally recognized partnership with Yale graduate students to conduct contract tracing before the state instituted its own process.

Moderator Sten Vermund (pictured), the public health school dean, did ask Mayor Elicker what in retrospect New Haven could have done differently to contain the virus even more.

YOUTUBE

Maritza Bond, Justin Elicker.

Elicker replied that in hindsight the city should have paid more attention early on to nursing homes and assisted living facilities (a conclusion shared by officials in communities worldwide). He didn’t elaborate on what specifically New Haven could have done differently. Vermund noted that 63 percent of Connecticut’s Covid-related deaths have been traced to those facilities.

Toward the end of the discussion, Vermund asked Ko about an expected second surge expected to begin in either November or December to coincide with flu season.

Ko, Yale’s chair of epidemiology of microbial diseases, responded that based on new surges in Spain, Italy, and France, Connecticut should expect a second surge even without the added stress of influenza.

“We’re particularly concerned” about the virus spreading anew as people spend more time indoors, including in restaurants, as the weather turns colder, Ko said.

Gov. Lamont called the next two to three

months “crucial” to keeping the virus at bay in the state.

Asked by Vermund how Connecticut will respond differently this time from last February and March, Ko responded that the state now has an increased testing capacity that didn’t exist at the beginning of the virus. He said officials will also be prepared to encourage people to get their flu shots. And the state’s buy-in on prevention measures will also help right from the start this time, he predicted.

“Citizens have taken masks and social distancing to heart. We don’t understand fully why Connecticut is different from Georgia or even Delaware or Pennsylvania” in that regard, but that will “certainly” help. He also said Connecticut will benefit from continuing to pursue “sound evidence-driven policies ... beyond what is expected from the CDC” [Centers for Disease Control].

As a result, we should “be in containment mode rather than be in reactive mode” when an expected second surge hits, Ko predicted.

touted as a hero and you will have to endure that,” Reyes warned.

He added the the upcoming months of training will test the cadets mentally, physically, and emotionallys.

The officers stood six feet apart as Reyes swore them in with a audience of NHPD command staff. The families of the new recuits could not attend due to the the need for space to socially distance.

The deadline for the new round of applications to join the NHPD has been extended to Sept. 11.

“As we face the ongoing challenges that are not just national but certainly global here in our communities, we need good men and women that will help us,” Reyes said.

View the full ceremony in the video below:

Six NHPD Recruits Sworn In

by MAYA MCFADDEN

New Haven I ndependent

The New Haven Police Department (NHPD) swore in six new faces of the future Wednesday afternoon with the responsibility of “dealing with the realities of what it means to put on the uniform,” in the words of Chief Otoniel Reyes.

The swearing in took place on the third floor of police headquarters.

The six new male cadets — who currently reside in Fairfield, Hamden, Milford, Monroe, Orange, and Hackettstown, N.J. —will begin their journey on Friday with six months at the P.O.S.T. Academy followed by another two at the NHPD. Recruits John Bodman, Thomas Brunski, Tyler Camp, Kevin Joyner, Roberto Talloni, and Antonio Tuccinardi raised their right hands and repeated the oath after Reyes, who reminded them of their expected commitment as New Haven police officers.

“You’ve made a choice even during this very difficult time to take on the mantle of policing,” Reyes said.

As the NHPD continues to evolve, all officers are expected to face the “realties that at any given point people will not like to see you come. You will not always be

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DONT LET THEM COUNT YOU OUT!

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

OP-ED | Missing in the Police Accountability Act: A ‘Trace’ of Common Sense

by Frank Ricci Ct. News Junkie

One of Connecticut’s many “steady habits” is its penchant for passing legislation characterized by good intentions accompanied by less desirable, unintended consequences. A chief example is the drug testing provision in our state’s controversial new Police Accountability Act (PAA).

We all want our police officers to be clear-headed and free from the influence of drugs. But contained within the 71 pages of the new law are a virtual labyrinth of pitfalls and “gotcha” moments more likely to punish good police officers than deter bad ones.

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Section 3, paragraph 10 of the law is perfect example of how the law can spring a trap that could result in financial hardship and ruin the reputation of an upstanding police officer. It mandates that in order to keep their jobs, police officers must submit to a urinalysis drug test that screens for controlled substances, the result of which indicate “no presence of any controlled substance” (emphasis added).

This “zero” standard is contrary to virtually all types of drug screening available to employers across the nation – and it defies science, logic and national consensus standards for drug testing. In any scientific testing, there is a cut off, permissible or threshold limit value that ensures the test will detect impermissible drug use without returning “false positives” in order to optimize overall accuracy.

Apparently, Connecticut legislators missed the famous episode “Seinfeld” when Elaine failed a drug test immediately after eating a poppy seed muffin.

This was drama on television for the sake of comedy. In real life a drug test would show the trace presence of morphine or codeine but not meet the cut off level.

Now, under Connecticut’s new law, it’s entirely possible a law-abiding police of-

by Jamil Ragland

ficer could find themselves in an analogous – but far less funny—situation; in fact, there are a host of everyday products with cross-reactive properties that could trigger false positives.

Calibrating drug tests to allow for trace levels both allows for the likelihood that common substances will lead to trace levels in a person’s urine and take into account test accuracy (margins for error aka cross-reactivity). Some common medications that show up as “trace levels” include (but aren’t limited to): cough medicine, over-the-counter Ibuprofen, weight loss pills, sleep medications and even secondhand smoke.

Allowing some minimal cut off levels prevent the embarrassment and reputational damage that come with a failed drug test. Although results are supposed to be private, the reality in any public safety service is that when a member tests positive, s/he is placed on leave and coworkers will either suspect or know the reason.

Most testing programs around the na-

tion are regulated by the guidelines supplied by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a division of the U.S. Health and Human Services Administration. The other prevalent standard is regulated by the Department of Transportation. All 50 states utilize their best practices and have cut off levels for drug tests. Why would Connecticut deviate from this sound public policy?

SAMHSA guidelines are a proven benchmark for drug testing. Abandoning these standards defies common sense and basic humanity. PAA must be amended to protect law abiding police and the taxpayers who are supporting them.

Frank Ricci (@frankriccidc), is currently Senior Strategist at Yankee Institute, was the lead plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case Ricci v. DeStefano and a retired battalion chief & union president for New Haven Fire Fighters. He is an advisory board member of Fire Engineering Magazine.

Ransomware Attack Postpones Hartford’s First Day of School

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

HARTFORD, CT — After months of careful planning, Hartford Public Schools postponed the first day of school due to a ransomware attack.

Hartford Public Schools said in an email to parents and students that its technology “has been impacted by a ransomware virus making some of our platforms inaccessible.”

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A ransomware virus is malware that locks the files and the attacker demands a ransom to restore access.

Around 1 a.m. this morning Hartford Public Schools said “Powerschool was one of the systems impacted and has been restored. Our online learning platforms, Google Classroom and SeeSaw, were not

OP-ED | This is What It Looks Like

JAMIL RAGLAND

impacted by this issue.”

A second message sent around 5:30 a.m. said the ransomware attack impacted the transportation system, too, “preventing our ability to operate schools Tuesday.”

Hartford Public Schools has a staggered reopening process where Pre-K - Second Grade and Grades 6 and Grades 9 were supposed to start in-person learning Tuesday. Remote learning was also supposed to start for students and families that chose that option.

“Everyone at Hartford Public Schools was ready to welcome back our beautiful and capable students in person and remotely,” the email says.

There are approximately 17,000 students in the Hartford Public School system.

The first day of classes will take place Wednesday with adjusted classes in a staggered schedule for in-person learning.

6

About a month ago, I went to a wake for Wayne Price. You may have never heard of him, but if you attended Bloomfield High School at any point in the 2000’s, then you know who I’m talking about. Wayne was the coolest guy in school; so cool, in fact, that I never talked to him because I was intimidated. His death came as a complete shock to me. He was only 37 years old, and his death was sudden.

My reaction to his death also shocked me, because I was deeply hurt. Why? I’d never talked to him.

But my brother did. And the stories he told me made me feel like I was there.

What each story had in common was laughter and happiness. That was what Wayne brought into the lives of all the people around him. So I was shocked when he died. Hundreds of other people turned out for his wake. He was a pillar of our community, gone in an instant.

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A few months before that, I was speaking to a friend of mine. Her father had just died. I knew how important her father was to her, because she’d told me constantly. He was her strongest support, and the person she loved the most in the world. Many people get to enjoy their parent’s support for most of their lives. But not her. She’s not even 30 and her pillar is gone.

This is what it looks like. When George Floyd or Breonna Taylor have their lives snuffed out, there is at least the possibility of accountability, however unlikely. The plague of Black death visits us so frequently, in so many ways. Racism and oppression kill us in quiet ways that don’t cause massive peaceful protests or elicit empty promises from the political class. How do you rally people to march about a missed diagnosis, poisoned water, lead-based paint or cancer clusters which seal the fate of Black people when we’re still children?

There are more people like Wayne Price. There’s Brittney Daniels. Sean Walford. Johnnie Jones. Kristina Nelson. Taneil Mac. Dwayne Knowlin.

Dyshawn Copeland. Hakeem Lumpkin. Raland Johnson. Do you know any of their names? These are friends, classmates, and neighbors of mine.

These are brothers and sisters, parents and children. These are young Black people who are dead. All before 40.

Cut down by chronic illness. Accidents. Violence. Pillars of their com-

GAGE SKIDMORE VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Chadwick Boseman, speaking at the 2017 San Diego Comic Con International, for “Black Panther,” at the San Diego Convention Center in California.

munities, gone.

But someone you do know died from this same plague. He was Black Panther. He was a shining light that represented hope and power for more than just Black people, but especially for us. He was, to use the phrase again, a pillar of our community. His name was Chadwick Boseman.

Gone. At 43. From a treatable, chronic illness that affects African Americans at a higher rate. This is what it looks like. It’s not always a hail of bullets or a knee to the neck. In fact, it often isn’t. It’s racism chipping away at us, wearing us down over a lifetime that is often far shorter than for other people. Because doctors don’t believe our pain, even when we see them. Because we’re misdiagnosed and undertreated.

Yes, Boseman had access. He had access to a racist system which has documented failures when treating Black people.

Boseman had wealth, fame and access. But like my friends, he didn’t always have it. He’d been subjected to the same meat-grinding conditions of racism as Wayne and the others for his entire life. This is what it looks like. A galaxy of Marvel stars, and the Black star is snuffed out too soon.

The marches cannot stop. Right now, we’re asking for the police to stop killing us. Next, we’re asking for everything else to stop killing us too.

Jamil Ragland writes and lives in East Hartford. You can read more of his writing at www.nutmeggerdaily.com.

DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, positions, or strategies expressed by the author are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of CTNewsJunkie.com.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

Pistachio Prepares A Sweet Opening In Westville

by Lucy Gellman, Editor, The ARTS Paper. www.newhavenarts.org

The counter is packed with sweets, each ready to tell a story. Syrup the color of sunlight sits atop chopped nuts, some crushed to the texture of fine, wet sand.

Pastry, thin as parchment, wraps honeyed confections. The scent of rose rises from a round of nest-shaped cookies. A smooth cup of Syrian coffee comes across the counter, thick and steaming.

For the man tipping the espresso pot, every part of this is a pathway to home—and an invitation to seek it out among friends.

Welcome to Pistachio Cafe, the newest venture from artist and architect Mohamad Hafez. For the past five months, Hafez has been working with Luke and Mistina Hanscom of Lotta Studio to transform the space into a coffee shop that celebrates not only the Westville community, but also the storied cafes of Damascus before nine years of civil war tore the city apart.

The shop, which will be serving food from a number of local refugee and immigrant chefs, is poised to open at the end of the month. Hafez’s current partners include Canton-based Giv Coffee, Derby’s Damask Dessert Shop, The Farmer’s Cow milk, Holy Kakow, and New Haven’s own Sanctuary Kitchen.

“I think the whole place speaks to my need for hosting people, and having a big guest room that my house doesn’t have,” he said in an interview Wednesday. “It’s focused on bringing people together. I’ve done that through artwork and my other skills, so I wanted to see if I could do that on an architectural scale.”

From the outside, Pistachio looks unassuming, another coffee shop at a corner that has been home to multiple coffee shops for the past five years. Through its heavy glass doors, Hafez has conjured something from a forgotten era: the tin ceiling is painted a rich blue-green, vivid enough to dive into. Chandeliers and lanterns hang overhead, casting a warm glow on the pastry cases and coffee machines.

Flowers explode into bloom across the back wall, which leads to bathrooms covered in old newsprint.

A partition separates the cafe from Lotta Studio’s coworking space, panes of old glass fitted like crooked, still perfect teeth.

Antique chairs and couches turn it into a nineteenth-century salon; their upholstery looks like it belongs in a museum, hidden away in the Napoleonic wing. Antique radios line the wall, ready to crackle to life with a broadcast from a pre-war Syria most Americans can’t remember or fathom.

Minimalism has no place here. Neither does kitsch. Magic and salon-style conversation, however, are both welcome.

That’s part of the story.

While the work on Pistachio officially began in March, the idea for a cafe, gathering space, and homage to Syrian culture has been brewing in Hafez’s mind for

Photos: Lotta Studio

much longer. For years, he has bridged artistry and architectural practice in his pieces, small-scale, intricately detailed renderings of home interiors and buildings destroyed by the Syrian Civil War. His series Unpacked: Refugee Baggage encases those works inside old suitcases, which open to reveal vignettes of everyday life, suddenly interrupted. Pistachio looks as if someone has walked into his work and turned back the clock, to a time when war was unimaginable.

It is also a tribute to his love for sweets and coffee, the latter of which he has been making and drinking since he was 12 or 13. As a kid, Hafez was delighted by the very sight of baklava, eyes fixed on trays and cases of the nut-packed sweet as soon as he was tall enough to reach the counter. He also started drinking coffee young, as part of the rituals his family practiced around Ramadan. His mother was a big believer that strong coffee, with dates, apricots, and nuts, should be served after fasting. He is still working on serving dates with coffee as a nod to her.

When his family owned a coffee shop in Chicago, Hafez fell in love with the din of grinding beans and whirring espresso machines. Viewers who are lucky enough to get a tour of his studio—which is next door to the cafe at West River Arts—know that he keeps coffee cups, a rounded pot, and grounds in the corner of the space, beside a tin of cookies that is perennially half-full. The beans have been ground so finely that they are a silky brown powder, more like sifted cocoa than coffee.

But there never seemed to be enough space for his ideas to percolate in exactly the way he wanted them too. Until this year.

Last summer, Hafez left his job at the architecture firm Pickard Chilton, where he estimates that he was working 80 hours per week. The period marked a personal

reawakening: it took him six months “to get out of that mindset and get a grip on life,” he said. He started to look more closely at the world around him. For the first time in over a decade, he recalled spending 15 minutes fixated on a single thing. In the winter, he took a two-month trip away from the United States, to visit extended family in Sweden, Saudia Arabia, and Dubai.

When he returned, he approached the Lotta Studio duo to talk about opening a coffee shop. The timing was right: Cafe X closed in November of last year. The Hanscoms had been in conversations with three or four other vendors. When Hafez suggested he was interested in the space—and knew what to do with it— they accepted his proposal. Hafez is family to them. It seemed right.

“It was a no brainer,” Mistina Hanscom said Wednesday, reached by phone. “I’ve missed having the public come in and out. He showed us his design ideas and he talked to us about needing more space.

His vision was very much in line with ours—aesthetically, communicatively, a lot of sweat equity. We go into places and utilize our skills in a lot of different ways.”

The timing, she added, became a sort of unexpected gift. By the end of February, Luke Hanscom had lost almost all of his photography work in New York City.

He and Mistina watched a fully scheduled spring season dry up overnight. On March 16, Gov. Ned Lamont ordered all nonessential businesses to close, meaning that they shut the doors on their coworking space. Five days later, they and Hafez began renovations on the cafe.

Together, the three got to work, pulling 18-hour shifts that began early in the morning, and went into the wee hours of the next one. Around 7 a.m., the Hanscoms would begin work on the space.

8

Hafez, who described himself as a “night owl,” would roll in mid-morning and stay until 3 a.m. the next day. They’d overlap during part of the day, and essentially considered themselves a COVID-19 isolation pod. Or as Mistina called them, “instantly like quarantine buddies.”

In the midst of it, Luke Hanscom worked with the Westville Village Renaissance Alliance (WVRA) Executive Director Elizabeth Donius to pull artists through the financial hole COVID-19 had left in their lives. When he wasn’t working on renovations, he was helping others navigate the alphabet soup of unemployment and federal aid, nearly impossible for contract or gig workers. Lotta, which is an LLC, secured a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan that helped it survive.

They each had “different strengths,” Hafez added. While all three put in physical labor, Hafez navigated contracts and permits that have become a second language during his years in architecture.

The renovation had not been without literal blood and sweat: he broke his ankle after falling from a ladder while hanging a light.

“There was a point when I would look around and it looked like my artwork from the war zones,” he said. “Really!

There literally isn’t a single nook between the coffee and the coworking space that hasn’t been touched. The corporate world taught me that I couldn’t cut corners. That the standard was very, very high. Over 12 years, it was sort of beaten into my DNA.” As the space came together, Hanscom said it helped all of them get through quarantine and COVID-19, the long shadow of which she is still staring down. This month marks their five-year anniversary in the space: the two signed their lease in August of 2015, and opened during City-Wide Open Studios that year. She

recalled watching reactions to Pistachio last month, as Lotta cautiously reopened its coworking space. Now, the model operates on shifts of 10 people, who must be masked and social distancing while inside.

“I think that we could all use a little bit of glimmer right now,” she said. “I love watching their reactions when they see the beauty, and the time, and the investment. For me, as a creative, I haven’t felt creative throughout this whole thing. My brain has flipped into survival mode. It just seems like I’m doing busywork.

“I’m feeling a little bit of a relief to be socially distant around other people, understanding that we’ve all been through this traumatic thing and we’re all going to come out on the other side.”

Now that it is done, Hafez hopes that it will be a space for conversation and cultural exchange.

The furniture, old radios, even the wallpaper in the bathrooms is meant to conjure French Baroque and English Victorian style, as well as bygone sitting rooms of Syria, Lebanon and Turkey that he still yearns for. The cafe lives at his own intersections: Arab, Syrian, practicing Muslim, brother to a refugee, artist, architect, American citizen.

“Hospitality and serving people is really embedded in our DNA,” he said.

“Whether I’m serving coffee in my studio or I have a bigger appetite. This is an opportunity to serve folks at a bigger scale, and food is an amazing thing that brings people together. During these divided times that we’re living in, I think it’s prudent that folks break bread and share coffee or tea before delving into deeper subjects. And you never know who you’ll meet here. This is a safe space. A sanctuary space.”

It is also bittersweet, he added. Pistachio is an homage to both his New Haven home—his chosen family—and a home that doesn’t exist anymore. Hafez has created his family’s living room in the middle of Westville because there isn’t a living room in Damascus to go home to.

The Midan neighborhood where he once saw “towers of baklava, mountains of baklava” is gone.

“It’s steeped in our nostalgia … what our life looked like before the war,” he said.

“I miss that. I miss those conversations and hosting folks. That’s why I collected the antique furniture and old radios for years. I’m always living in an experience of nostalgia. Not where it puts you into a depression, but where it pushes you to be positive.”

“I’m very blessed to have this opportunity,” he later added. “My art taught me that kindness is contagious. That only came because art allows me the interaction with my audience. You want to reach out to folks outside your social sphere and hear what they have to say.”

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

"Interruptions" Breaks Through The Silence And Stigma Of Gun Violence

by Lucy Gellman, Editor, The ARTS Paper www.newhavenarts.org

A woman takes center stage, eyes wide and trusting. Something sits heavy in her arms and legs, the way she holds her neck. Is it grief? Stress? She speaks: her son has been gunned down in an act of senseless violence. One year later, on what would have been his 26th birthday, she suffered a brain aneurysm that almost ended her life. And yet she is still here, standing before the audience.

The woman is the Rev. Odell Montgomery Cooper, one of the artistic forces behind Interruptions: Disrupting The Silence as it films at Bregamos Community Theater this week. The work is based on Cooper’s life after the murder of her 25-year-old son Jonathan, who was shot to death on Dixwell Avenue four years ago, while he was stopped at a traffic light.

In the years since, Cooper has survived a brain aneurysm and used writing, faith, counseling, and fierce anti gun violence advocacy to address her own grief and trauma. The work is a collaboration with writer and director Ina Anderson, musical director Jonathan Quinn Berryman, writers and family members Jackie Cooper, Marcel Brown and Damar McArthur, and graduate student actors from the Yale School of Drama.

Jackie Cooper is Cooper’s daughter and Jonathan’s sister. Brown and McArthur were his best friends at Metropolitan Business Academy. They graduated together in 2010. After taping with Baobab Tree Studios, the work will premiere virtually September 5 and 6. Tickets are free; more information is available here.

“It’s been a journey of grief and trauma,” Cooper said in a recent episode of “Arts Respond” on WNHH Community Radio.

“People needed to hear about trauma in their life, the way we carry grief, the impact of gun violence, so we’re telling that story.”

Interruptions was born a year and a half ago, after a chance meeting between Cooper and Berryman at a fundraiser for now-Mayor Justin Elicker. Cooper has known Berryman, who is the founder and director of the Heritage Chorale of New Haven, for years. Her kids sang under his direction when they were younger, and belonged to a choir at Varick AME Zion Church.

Cooper found herself telling Berryman her story, from the loss of her son through the aneurysm, which doctors did not expect her to survive. They gave her three days, then three months. She is still living.

She spoke about her Jonathan, a brighteyed audio engineer and coffee shop manager who had moved to New York City in 2010, after graduating from Metropolitan Business Academy. The weekend he was killed, he’d come home to celebrate his cousin’s birthday. After celebrating, he’d texted his mom to say he was on his way

home. Less than 90 minutes later, he was gone. The shooter, who pulled up beside him at a traffic light, had mistaken him for another Black man.

Berryman listened intently. When she finished, he urged her to find a way to get her story to the wider community.

“Something said in me, ‘this story needs to be told,’” he recalled. “And Odell heard it, and she didn’t hear it.

And I guess some greater power helped her to hear it again—more deeply—and we started. She convened us at her table and we started talking about what it could look like.”

That didn’t happen immediately. Cooper, who was carrying both grief and post-traumatic stress disorder, estimated that she took “about a year” until she was ready to sit down with Anderson and Berryman. In part, the decision came out of her realization that her grief was not hers alone—her son’s death had devastated members of her family and a larger community.

She and her daughter still shared a home, but had become like ships in the night.

Her son’s best friends were still reeling from the hole left in their lives. All of them had taken their own personal journey to find counseling, which Cooper sees as still largely stigmatized in the Black community. When they did come to the table to work on Interruptions, the others often asked Cooper to leave the room, so that they could talk candidly without retraumatizing her.

“It was a tough process,”McArthur said.

“It was emotional, going down that road and having those conversations with Ms. Odell. You know, we were in high school.

We had to share stories that—we were kids at the time. Having fun. Pranks. All things kids do. It was an emotional process … and I am super proud of how we all came together and got this organized while dealing with grief.”

It wasn’t met without suspicion, Brown added. Initially, he wasn’t sure how the play would take shape, or what power his voice would have. He chose to trust the process.

“When Ms. Odell came to us with this idea, we were a little skeptical about it,” he said. “We were like, ‘how is she gonna get this to move?’ We talked about different ideas. We talked about how we want to portray it. What to include, what not to include. To make sure messages don’t get lost in this. And just through the process, just checking in on each other.”

One by one, the four told stories about the son, brother, and friend that had been torn away from them. Brown and McArthur reminisced on high school, and the years following graduation during which they left New Haven and Hamden, but remained close. When Cooper was killed, McArthur was about to welcome his first baby, and had asked him to be the baby’s godfather. Brown was preparing to get engaged and wanted Cooper to be his best man.

The cast and crew at Bregamos Community Theater this week.

Photos courtesy of Rev. Odell Montgomery Cooper.

In the hole that he left, the two tried to fill that empty space. Brown became the godfather to McArthur’s child. McArthur prepped Brown before he walked down the aisle. The two feel his absence everywhere.

Cooper and her daughter also had different ways of seeing the big-hearted footprint Jonathan left on the world, and the way they moved through it without him.

Because Cooper has struggled with writing since her aneurysm, she worked with Anderson and Berryman to dictate the stories.

She realized that “I know people” who could help, and watched as members of her village emerged from the woodwork to provide help with writing, then script development and production. In addition to the play, she has also penned a book of the same title.

“We talk about what we went through, the characteristics that we were feeling,” she said. “My character, my daughter’s character, and Marcel’s character all talk about that journey, and then how we fi-

10

nally decided to go to counseling. That was painful. Every time we rehearse it, it’s painful to hear and relive. But it’s important to tell.”

The four also spoke extensively about the “silences” and stigmas each of them faced, some of which also appear in a series of podcasts from Baobab Tree Studios. Cooper, who is an ordained minister, recalled returning to her church family and being told that she simply needed to pray harder and more often. She returned to work, and found colleagues who were impatient with her grief.

She kept herself from asking for help, afraid that it would be perceived as a sign of weakness. She said she could feel the expectation “that I would be the strong Black woman,” even as she navigated unspeakable loss with her family.

She also saw an alarming trend around her: other families, almost always Black, were reeling from the same kind of loss across New Haven and Hamden. When those deaths happened, she watched newspaper and television reports that

spun grief, PTSD, and multigenerational trauma into the myth of “Black -on-Black crime” instead of talking about systemic racism and economic deprivation.

Four years after her son’s murder, she has continued to watch New Haven mourn Black boys and men whose lives are taken much too soon by gun violence.

Between the time of her WNHH interview and filming, 28-year-old Dayshon Smith became the latest casualty on Rosette Street.

“Part of the silence we need to disrupt is this notion that Black people being killed is normal,” Berryman said. “That’s a great challenge, and we need to be more proactive and more active about recognizing that that is not normal.”

Around her, her daughter and son’s friends—who she considers her adopted children and often refers to as “the fellas”—were experiencing some of those same silences. They too felt like people were asking them to move on too prematurely, with phrases like “how are you feeling today?” and “God needed another angel.” No one talked about counseling.

No one wanted, it seemed, to hear how they were actually doing, because the answer was a matter of survival. Cooper now owns a shirt adorned with the phrase “Ask Me Another Question” as a response to people who “were saying all the wrong things,” even if they had good intentions.

As Interruptions became a script, scenes emerged and fell into place. Cooper wrote through her experience of getting the call from police, just as Brown and McArthur recalled getting a call from Cooper hours later. She wrote about lying in the hospital after her aneurysm, where she realized that “I had to fight for my life. And I had to give up the way that I was carrying my son’s grief so that I could fight for my life.”

All four of them discussed the journey to counseling, which they now urge friends, family members, and colleagues to tap into. McArthur said he hopes others hear the story, and feel less afraid to seek help themselves. Berryman likened Cooper’s process to Johannes Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, which he wrote in a state of deep grief after his mother’s death in 1865. The grief doesn’t disappear. It becomes something different, communicable and enveloping for all who are willing to listen.

“So he turned his grief into a masterwork,” Berryman said. “And to a certain extent, that’s what this story is. To me, Interruptions 2020 is the Raisin In The Sun of yesteryear, in how it speaks to what’s really going on in such an honest way that the world has to pay attention.”

“As a person of faith, we have to believe that things happen in God’s own time and God’s own way,” he later added. “It does not mean that we have to be happy about it. And acknowledging that is part of disrupting the silence. There’s just some stuff that happens to us. We don’t know Con’t on page 13

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

Volunteers Keep Fresh Food Flowing

by LISA REISMAN

New Haven I ndependent

An SUV backed into Honda Smith’s Harper Avenue driveway in West Hills this past drizzly Wednesday afternoon.

Smith, the alder of Ward 30, emerged from her garage, clicking off her phone.

Another batch of fresh food for those in need during the pandemic had arrived— and a team of volunteers was ready to get those boxes distributed.

“Can I get some help getting seven boxes into the trunk?” Smith called out to a group of neighbors, before turning her attention to the driver.

“Pop the trunk, Shelly,” she said, referring to her neighbor Shelly Holiness.

The 12-pound boxes of fresh produce came from Common Ground High School mobile market managers Kelly Shreeve and Chelsea Brooks.

For the past twelve Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m., they’ve been delivering 86 boxes to Smith’s garage, as well as 225 more to other areas of West Hills and West Rock, including 60 Common Ground families.

“It’s about getting fresh, local fruits and vegetables out to people who need it in our community,” said Shreeve, whose route also takes her and Brooks to the public housing development Brookside Estates, Tower One Tower East, and

Wilmot Crossing senior housing, as well as to Beulah Heights Church in Dixwell.

As has been the case since mid-June, the produce was picked fresh from Cecarelli’s Harrison Hill Farm in Northford the day before, thanks to a contract secured in early May from the USDA Farmers to Families food box program.

The program pays farmers to box up and distribute product to food banks and nonprofit organizations.

The $660,000 award has had Cecarelli’s owner William DellaCamera providing roughly 2,000 boxes each week to the Council of Churches in Greater Bridgeport and East Haven Public Schools, in addition to Common Ground.

While the program has not been without its issues nationwide, “it’s been a complete blessing to the residents here to receive fresh produce,” Smith said.

“This is a poverty community in need, surrounded by four to five different housing complexes of low-income families, and Covid has made it worse,” she said.

“We have a lot of retired seniors living in their own homes who can’t get out to shop and also people who’ve been laid off from jobs that didn’t know how they were going to make out.”

Holiness, who joined Smith in the garage, agreed. “These are all low-income resi-

dents who otherwise would have no access to healthy food, and even if they did, they’re priced out,” she said.

Smith’s phone beeped. “There’s a text from one of our seniors. “‘God bless you,’” she read aloud. “‘You such a blessing.’ People get their deliveries, they’ll text me, they’ll call me.”

“A Healthier Way Of Eating” The conversation turned to nutrition.

“Speaking from my own experience growing up in a low-income family, you try to get what’s on sale, to just get by, so that your children can eat,” Smith said.

“The residents would rather get canned food for 99 cents versus getting the produce where you’re gonna pay $1.29 a pound.”

She pointed to the label on a box showing contents that ranged from green beans to peaches to kale.

“It’s just a healthier way of eating where you know what you’re putting in your body and it’s not something sitting in a shelf aging for a long period of time,” she said.

“This is about helping the people that need it,” said Harper Avenue resident John Warren, who’s been volunteering to help Smith each week, as he helped load boxes into Holiness’ trunk. He said he was looking forward to his wife cooking

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Spanish-speaking counselors available.

11

LISA REISMAN PHOTOS

Charles Eugene Holiness and Shelly Holiness prepare for food delivery.

the green beans.

“We’re trying to instill healthy eating habits in our residents,” Holiness said.

“This fresh, good healthy food gives you a stronger and better life for yourself,

where you don’t have to worry about that high blood pressure, or obesity, because those are the kind of things we worry about.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

Bus Cafe Serves Up Salmon In Newhallville

by BRIAN SLATTERY

New Haven I ndependent

Chef Larry Lucky stood in the kitchen installed in the back of Lucky’s Star Bus Cafe, deftly cooking up a piece of blackened salmon, which he explained was a customer favorite.

The year-old, family-run business recently relocated from Fair Haven to Newhallville—bringing to the neighborhood Lucky’s decades of restaurant experience and his seasoned culinary chops.

“I have everything I need here,” Lucky told the Independent in a recent interview inside his mobile kitchen.

Most of all, he explained that the bus cafe was a family-run business in the truest sense of the term. “Everything I do, I consult family,” he said. “I can’t do it myself.”

Lucky’s Star Bus Cafe is currently parked at the corner of Dixwell Avenue and Dudley Street, right next to the Farmington Canal bike trail, from Tuesday to Friday, 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.

On regular days Lucky offers salmon, chicken, pork chops, hamburgers, veggie burgers, and hot dogs, along with some specials. Thursday is soul food day, when the menu expands to include BBQ pork, collard greens, and other staples.

The Friday highlight is a happy hour (the bus is BYOB). Lucky’s is often hired for catering jobs on the weekends, but this weekend, the bus is staying where it is.

Saturday, Sept. 5, Lucky’s is throwing an end-of-summer luau party with Hawaiian dishes. This Sunday, Sept. 6, it’s hosting live gospel and R&B. The crew of the bus, keeping the operation going from the kitchen to the seating to the business end, are all family — wife Linda, her sister Joyce Foreman, and Joyce’s son Jaykeen Foreman — among many other nieces and nephews. “My family members are truly in my heart,” Lucky said. “I couldn’t do it without them.”

Though Jaykeen threw the love right back. Looking at Lucky, he said, “that guy does everything.”

Born and raised in New Haven, Lucky, 61, has been a chef for over 30 years. He got into the restaurant business at 17, starting off as a dishwasher, and worked his way up to be chef at restaurants around the area, including Audubon’s, which used to be on Audubon Street. He also has been driving charter buses for nearly 20 years. The germ of the idea for Lucky’s Star Bus Cafe came from his son, Tyerise.

“His son said ‘Dad, I got an idea,’” Jaykeen said. “‘We can get a bus and gut it out, and make it warm. And people can eat on the bus, or off the bus.’ And Lucky said, ‘son, let’s do it.’ And he did it.”

Lucky was taken with the idea. “You see a lot of food trucks,” Lucky said, but “there’s nowhere for people to sit.”

BRIAN SLATTERY PHOTOS

Chef Lucky and the Lucky’s Star Bus Cafe crew.

Lucky started researching the possibility. At the time he worked for the New Jersey-based Academy Bus Lines. He pitched the mobile cafe idea to the company’s owner, who agreed to sell him the bus he needed. Lucky’s brother is a mechanic. He test-drove the vehicle and assured Lucky that the idea could work.

Lucky worried about the finances of starting such a venture; he knew from experience that “restaurants are risky,” he said. So he bet on himself; he and Linda took money out of their retirement fund. Another bus driver pitched in some money as well, as did a childhood friend who became a police officer. That let him avoid having to take out a loan from a bank. Three years ago, he bought the bus in New Jersey and drove it back to New Haven himself. And then he and his family “took all the seats out and started working on it.”

Lucky hired professionals to install the parts of the cafe that needed it — the kitchen and the wiring, for example. He hired two friends — plumber Gerard Grete and an electrician who goes by Chubby — to help out, too. “They did all the work in the cold,” Lucky said, in the middle of winter. “I feel blessed. Truly appreciative,” he said.

But much of the work he and his family did themselves, gutting the interior and redesigning it. They installed long counters for people to eat at. They put in a sound system and TVs to show movies on DVD. They found and installed an old-school Pac-Man video game. They figured out how to get the bus to have WiFi and even a working public phone.

It was about “keeping it interesting,” Jaykeen said.

That all took two years. “Why is every day all about that bus?” Lucky recalled Linda saying in the middle of the work.

But Lucky was committed to the idea, to seeing it through.

When it came time to name the business, Lucky had the idea of calling it Lucky’s Mobile Cafe. His lawyer, Lucky said, wanted something with a little more personality. “I am passionate, to my soul, about Star Trek,” Lucky said, pointing to the insignia pinned to his collar. They went from there.

Lucky’s Star Bus Cafe opened for business a little over a year ago. His family helped spread the word. Lucky’s mother, Lucky said, “was so excited about it, we started calling her the ambassador,” as she brought in people to try the cafe out.

The bus started out on a spot on James

12

Street. “It was OK for lunch,” Lucky said, “but there was no dinner.” People didn’t come to James Street in the evening. They needed a new location.

When the pandemic hit, the family closed the bus for a few months, and took the chance to find a different place to park the bus. Lucky found the spot on Dixwell Avenue and talked to the owner, who agreed to rent him the spot. Lucky and his family cleaned up the area around it. The owner was delighted, Lucky said.

“Lucky, I love the atmosphere,” Lucky recalled him saying. “I love the look.”

As the weather has warmed, “we’re doing well,” Lucky said, especially on Thursdays and Fridays. “Every weekend is busier and busier.” They play low-key jazz during the day. “Later in the evening, we kick it up a bit,” Lucky said. Catering is also picking up, as they can move their whole operation wherever there’s room for an extended bus. “We call it a food truck on steroids,” Lucky said, noting that his bus cafe “is the first one in the country.” In addition to drawing customers from the immediate neighborhood, it gets traffic from the bike path; a rider informed Lucky that his cafe is the only mobile food spot on the trail for maybe 40 miles. Plus, he said, the food, from the

blackened salmon to the chicken sandwich, “will make your knees buckle.”

But it still comes back to family — Linda, Joyce, Jaykeen, and others, including niece Jada, who “does everything in this vehicle but drive it,” Lucky said. His family is there for every aspect of the business, from food prep to keeping the lot clean and customers satisfied. “It’s all about keeping it clean, from the front to the back, inside and out,” Lucky said. He also insists that the quality of the food stay consistent and high. “It’s okay to have specials, but our main menu items have to be exactly the same.” At the same time, he is always relying on his family for ideas about how to make the cafe run better. “I’m not an owner who just does it my way. I take advice, from my family, friends, and customers.”

“We’re a team,” Jaykeen said. “I tell my kids, ‘we need a team!’ When we go out there, if we don’t have a team, we lose.”

Lucky calls Jaykeen an ambassador as well. “I love coming on the bus and telling people about it,” Jaykeen said. “It’s so different…. We keep going, moving up, pushing it.”

“If we do it right,” Lucky said, “we’ll make it.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

Con’t on page 10

"Interruptions" why. We just don’t like it. But unless we deal with that, it will kill us.”

Initially, the work was slated for performances at Bregamos Community Theatre, in the city’s Fair Haven neighborhood. Cooper, who wears many hats in the production, had been fundraising and writing grant proposals for months. When COVID-19 hit, Interruptions lost almost all of its funding, after organizations assumed the show could not go on without a physically staged production and an audience to see it.

Cooper pushed back. She explained that COVID-19 was—and continues to be— an evolving part of the trauma that Black people experience every day, at rates that are much higher than their white counterparts. Then she reimagined the performance.

In the late spring, writers and producers held auditions over Zoom, which they have also been using for podcasts, rehearsals, and check-in meetings. Cooper marveled at how actors have risen to the challenge, studying the real-life people that they are depicting.

Yale School of Drama student Abigail C. Onwunali, who was recently in a.k. payne’s Where Pathways Meet, plays Cooper’s daughter. Malachi Beasley, also at the Yale School of Drama, plays Brown. McArthur, who now lives in North Carolina, does the voiceovers for Jonathan Cooper.

There are also New Haven voices, because “this is a New Haven and Hamden story,” said Cooper. Funeral director Howard K. Hill plays himself as he delivers a speech on what it is like to watch the toll of gun violence on families, communities, and even funeral homes. So does Cooper, who stepped in unexpectedly after an actress had a family emergency.

She said reliving that grief amidst the trauma of COVID-19—including the call she received that her son was gone—feels both heavy and necessary. Because the aneurysm has made it impossible to remember lines, she relies on a fact that also pains her: she knows the story better than anyone else. The team has been working at Bregamos this week, while maintaining social distancing at all times and mask wearing when characters are off set.

“This is a dark story to tell,” she said. “A painful story to tell. But we have to tell it. Because if I can’t return to work, and if my doctor says to reinvent myself, to do something different, I have a passion in ministry to help others. So I am here to disrupt the silence, and to help others see themselves in this journey of grief, and trauma.”

“Whether it’s from a gunshot, COVID-19, a loss of a job, where your life has been interrupted, your life is not over,” she continued. “There is a way that you can find something inside of you to reinvent yourself. To keep living and to do something different.”

Covid School, Week 1: Zzzzzz…...

by SIMON BAZELON

New Haven I ndependent

At 7:25 a.m., the alarm went off. Five minutes later, I was in class.

Well, sort of.

As a senior at Wilbur Cross High School, I am a student in one of the only school districts in the state reopening this fall without any in person instruction.

The first day back at “school” felt pretty different.

Instead of sitting at a desk, I was on my couch. Instead of having my friends around me, I was home, by myself. Instead of wearing real clothes, I was still in my pajamas.

My first class of the day was English. I normally enjoy my English classes, but from behind my laptop screen, the experience was not the same. Despite the best efforts of my wonderful English teacher, I found myself completely unable to focus on and discuss the excerpt of Romeo and Juliet we read.

As a friend of mine, Wilbur Cross junior Marc Muench, put it, “Virtual learning has all of the boring and unpleasant parts of high school, without any of the stuff that makes it fun.”

I think he’s right.

On Google Meets – the platform NHPS is using for online instruction – there’s no way to recreate the side conversations that make classes bearable. No jokes, no gossip, no sarcastic comments. Just 80 minutes of staring at a computer screen, full of awkward pauses as students and teachers alike try and fail to recreate the rhythm of in-person conversations.

Have you tried to sit by yourself and focus on a virtual lesson from 7:30 to 8:50 in the morning? Everyone is doing their best. But the pauses and inability to look people in the eye, or look away from the screen, are unnatural and alienating. It is… difficult, to say the least.

After my first period English class came homeroom. My homeroom teacher took attendance and asked us questions about ourselves. She explained that while absences during spring remote learning won’t be counted against students, going forward, not showing up to virtual homeroom will be reported to the district as an absence for that day of school. I spent most of homeroom eating breakfast, hoping no one would ask me a question while my mouth was full.

Second period psychology went similarly to English. The class syllabus was presented via screen share, and the expectations and goals for the course were set out.

Students asked questions, and got answers, but student-teacher interactions were much clumsier through the screen than they usually are face to face. Some of that may improve as teachers and students grow more accustomed to live remote online instruction, but mostly it

Simon Bazelon home at (remote) “school.”

seemed like a limitation of the platform itself.

Studying the faces of some of my classmates – students are being “strongly encouraged,” though not required, to have their webcams on during class – I could see that many students were less than fully engaged. Some were clearly looking down at their phones. Others didn’t respond when asked questions. At least one actually appeared to be asleep.

By the time psychology was over, it was 10:40, and my “lunch break” was beginning.

Usually, lunch at Wilbur Cross is a chaotic and glorious mess. Hundreds of students mill around the cafeteria and wait in line to get their food. Since many students rely on NHPS for two meals a day – New Haven schools provide free breakfast and lunch to all students – closures have been a serious disruption to the food security of many families. In response, New Haven is offering free meal pickup for students and their families at numerous locations throughout the city.

I made myself a sandwich and ate it alone, without anyone else to talk to.

My last class of the day was physics, which passed by fairly uneventfully. After an hour, it was over, and so was my first day back at school since early June.

“In One Ear And Directly Out The Other” In writing this article, I was asked to explain how I felt about the first day of

13

virtual learning this fall, as well as what I thought worked, and what I thought didn’t.

To be completely honest? I hated my first day. All told, I spent more than four hours staring at my computer screen. It was mentally exhausting, especially with none of the hustle and bustle of a normal school day to wake me up. I had a lot of trouble focusing, and I felt like almost everything I was taught went in one ear and directly out the other.

On the positive side, I really appreciated how much effort my teachers were putting in to try and make the lessons work, despite the challenging circumstances.

On the negative side, there are two key changes that I think NHPS should adopt immediately.

First, the start time. Last February, I wrote an opinion piece for the Independent calling for later high school start times. My argument was that the science clearly shows that young people, and especially teenagers, learn better when they wake up later.

In today’s unusual circumstances, the case for moving start times back is stronger than ever. With students learning from home, there are no transportation issues to work out. With fall sports canceled, there is no conflict with afternoon games and practices. Continuing to start online school at 7:30 a.m. each day is, in my view, a terrible, horrible, no good,

very bad idea. Not a single high school student – or teacher – I have talked to has said they are happy about waking up that early to get online.

In April, when I surveyed roughly 100 NHPS students on how they felt about remote learning, most said that they didn’t like it, but it had one redeeming quality: They could wake up later. Now, by enforcing a 7:30 start time, the school district has taken that one benefit away.

In a recent Board of Alders hearing, the superintendent explained that the early start time is intended to keep students in their usual routine. But we need to recognize that we’re all out of our routines already and participating in a different kind of school. Navigating school online during a pandemic is difficult enough without the added challenge of a lack of sleep.

Second, classes should be shortened.

Eighty minutes is simply too long to expect students to focus on an online lesson. Teachers should include intermittent breaks when students can get away from their screens, and should consider not using up the full block of class time.

Going back to school after the summer is something I’ve usually looked forward to. After months apart, catching up with friends I haven’t seen is always fun. After one day back, I can clearly say: Covid school is not the same.

Simon Bazelon is a senior at Wilbur Cross High School.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

First Day Of Online School: Some Glitches, Mostly Resolved

by EMILY HAYS

New Haven I ndependent

Some students got accidentally booted out of their virtual classrooms. Some teachers struggled with weak internet connections. Some parents rushed from room to room providing “mom support” as kids learned to use new technology.

But overall, the first day of remote school appeared to go as well as could be expected—with teachers and school admins working with families to resolve the technological difficulties.

New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Superintendent Iline Tracey told the Independent about those tech hiccups—and collaborative resolutions—that occurred as the roughly 21,000-student public school system kicked off all-remote classes on Thursday.

In social media posts and interviews with the Independent, NHPS parents also spoke of the challenges, adjustments, and relief of the first day of all-online classes.

“We were not expecting perfection. There will always be some issues starting out, but as soon as everyone understands the technology, it should go much smoother,” Tracey said.

“Overall, it was successful. We got information back from families that things went very well and that they were very pleased.”

New Haven is scheduled to spend 10 weeks online before transitioning into partial in-person classes as the Covid-19 pandemic continues.

By the publication time of this article Friday afternoon, NHPS did not have a total count available of how many of the 20,505 city public school students successfully logged in to classes on the first day.

Tracey spent her first day of school as the official NHPS superintendent popping into physical classrooms to appear in the background of her students’ virtual class-

rooms.

Tracey visited school buildings in the morning to check on what kinds of issues schools were experiencing. She was surprised to find many teachers broadcasting from their classrooms.

“With all the talk about buildings not being safe, it was interesting that there were teachers who really wanted to use the devices in school,” Tracey said.

The majority of NHPS teachers are extremely concerned about ventilation and cleaning in school buildings if they need to teach in-person classes, according to a survey by the New Haven Federation of Teachers. However, the union found that teachers were most worried about interactions with noncompliant students, like students who refuse to wear a face mask.

Tracey’s team has been working to check and double-check that the school buildings have new air filters, stockpiles of hand sanitizer and other Covid-era safety measures. She has said that she wanted to start the year with some in-person classes but is waiting for all of the city’s Board of Education members to agree that the classes would be safe enough.

Tracey said that the best part of her day Thursday was seeing how happy students were on their Google Classroom calls.

“Kids were talking to other kids. You could see their excitement,” Tracey said.

“They were really happy to see their friends and get connected.”

Some families experienced technical difficulties as students tried to attend classes on Google Classroom. While students used Google Classroom after Covid-19 closed schools in the spring, Thursday was the first day of live virtual classes for all 21,000 students.

Some students got accidentally booted out of their classrooms, and some teachers found that their school buildings had weak internet connections. Tracey said that the district’s technology team is

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO

Superintendent Iline Tracey: Overall, a successful day.

working on both issues.

“Teachers were great in supporting families. There was a great level of support that we noticed across schools,” Tracey said.

She had news that the district’s iPads, which were on back-order, were delivered on Thursday. She has emphasized that iPads are more developmentally appropriate as learning devices for students under first grade, but schools have been giving out Chromebooks to young students until the iPads come in.

This completes Tracey’s goal of making sure every student in the district has a computer or tablet, one of the major roadblocks preventing full attendance in the spring.

“I am proud,” Tracey said. “I kept my

promise of 1:1 for all our students.”

Tracey asked any families who experience technical difficulties in the coming days to seek help at this website.

“I’m asking that parents bear with us as we work through some of the challenges,” she said.

Resolving Glitches Parents seem mostly impressed by the level of preparation they are seeing at their children’s schools.

A poll on City Wide Parent Team’s Facebook group showed 27 families voting as having complete confidence in their schools, and four wishing their schools had prepared more.

In comments on Facebook, parents talked about their kids getting shut out of Google Classroom or experiencing other

technical challenges. They often added that their school helped them fix the issue.

“The kids kept getting kicked out of class,” wrote Wilbur Cross parent Lisamarie Vidro.

“I have to say the teachers were great with the response via email while this was going on,” Vidro added, and thanked Wilbur Cross for the help.

Another parent described the difficulty of handling technical issues while working out of the house.

Troup mother Maria Charron agreed by phone that having an adult at home was helpful. Charron said that her three children were nervous about using new technology on their first day and had trouble logging in.

“I spent the entire morning running from room to room to be able to help each one of my kids,” Charron said. “After a few hours, they felt better knowing that the teachers were very patient and they were learning how to manage together. Also having mom support is a big add.”

Charron said that the second day of school went better than the first.

“The kids started the day more confident on what to do,” Charron said.

Luke Austin’s 6-year-old daughter, Yvonne Michelle Austin, could not get into her virtual classrooms at all on Thursday.

His wife, Michelle, was about to give up and take the computer to the school when something clicked on Friday morning, just before classes were about to start, according to Austin.

Austin was running errands for most of the day but got to see his daughter’s joy at reconnecting with her friends and teachers at Bishop Woods Architecture & Design Magnet School.

“It takes some of the monotony out of it,” Austin said. “She said, ‘Oh daddy, see my new friends, my new teacher!’ She’s so excited.”

Republicans Push Back Against Extension of Emergency Powers A committee of 10 lawmakers, including all six legislative leaders and the chairs and ranking members of the Public Health Committee, could overrule Lamont’s request for an extension. However, Republicans would need two Democratic lawmakers to join them in voting to overturn the extension.

“This is about our democracy and our representative form of government,” Rep. Bill Petit, R-Plainville, said.

Petit is one of the ranking members of the Public Health Committee and one the committee of 10.

Earlier in the day at an unrelated press conference, Lamont said things were going really fast in April and May and they were doing their best to keep legislative leaders informed about the executive orders.

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

HARTFORD, CT – Gov. Ned Lamont filed the paperwork for a five-month extension of the public health and civil preparedness emergency Tuesday so he can retain his executive powers in the middle of a pandemic. But some lawmakers want more checks and balances.

Republican legislative leaders stood on the front steps of the state Capitol Wednesday and called on their Democratic colleagues to vote on whether they should continue Lamont’s emergency powers.

Support authentic, locally owned and operated public service journalism!

“We think it is time the legislature step up and provide a voice,” Rep. Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, said.

CHRISTINE STUART / CTNEWSJUNKIE

Rep. Vincent Candelora and House Minority Leader Themis Klarides

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Lamont has signed more than 70 executive orders since March 10 when he initially declared the two emergencies.

Lamont said his staff has kept the legislature informed “every step of the way.”

“Right now I think we’re led by science,” Lamont said. “So I welcome everybody’s input but rather than make it into more of a political process. I think what I’d love to do is lead with the science and then keep the legislature involved closely all along the way.”

Republicans say they have not been involved in conversations about executive orders.

“We’ve been told things 10 minutes before the press is alerted to issues,” Candelora said. “That’s a problem. And if they

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020 Con’t on page 14

Push Back

believe collaboration should occur, don’t just say it—do it.”

Candelora said the power that Lamont is taking right now through some of these executive orders is well beyond the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We need to sit down and have a conversation about what authority is necessary for the purposes of addressing the pandemic,” Candelora said.

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, said they never agreed with the governor on Monday to extend the emergency powers.

“We realize we are still in a public health emergency,” Klarides said. “But unfortunately, his executive orders are too broad.

They cover health issues, they cover economic issues, they cover election issues and so by extending these orders in this broad fashion we are allowing the governor to make unilateral decisions by fiat and that’s the problem.”

House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz said they’re unlikely to call a meeting to vote on overturning the emergency powers.

“The legislature really is a deliberative body. It’s not a body that’s meant to run the state of Connecticut,” he said.

He said right now Connecticut needs to “follow the science” and let the governor make the quick decisions he needs to make.

“We’re one of the top states in the country. Why do we want to mess with that?” he added.

Albertus Continues Convocation Tradition, With A Twist

by MAYA MCFADDEN

New Haven I ndependent

Albertus Magnus’s Class of 2024 was passed a virtual torch from the senior class as the college found a way to continue its traditional convocation candlelighting tradition to kick off a school year marked by a pandemic.

The college celebrated its 95th convocation ceremony on Monday in the Hubert Campus Center. A group of 11 made up the virtual ceremony.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the other members of Albertus’ second-largest incoming class could not gather for the ceremony. Instead, a virtual ceremony was broadcast to students. They virtually watched a lineup of student and staff speakers offer them words of encouragement and inspiration to start off the semester.

Senior Sophia Obertello and junior Jessica Reid passed on the torch to first-year Zaporia Satterfield. Satterfield accepted the lit candles representing gifts of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, courage, humility, and wonder on behalf of the class of 2024 of the Catholic private liberal arts college, which was founded by the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs.

After each candle lighting, the group recited, “Holy spirit. give us your gifts.”

Graduate student Alicia Delambida presented Satterfield with the class banner to be hung in the campus center for the next four years. The green banner represents the new class’s Dominican pillar of com-

Graduate student Alicia Delambida presents class banner to Zaporia Satterfield.

munity. The community pillar stands for harmony, growth, and saftey.

In previous years the senior class would line up with the new college community

members and light each new student’s candle. The candle’s flame represents a passing of knowledge and education, said President Marc Camille.

Satterfield is a legacy student whose mom graduated from Albertus in 2009.

“With Covid I thought we wouldn’t have many things like this. It’s exciting” Satterfield said.

“Even though your class pillar, community, may seem challenging during these current times, it is so important to focus on building our Albertus community up for the better,” said student government President Jessica Reid.

Psychology and Human Services Professor Carol Huckaby presented the convocation address. Huckaby advised students of the power of knowledge. She discussed the historical denial of education to oppress women and African Americans.

“This college was founded in a time of challenge,” said Camille. “This college does not shy from challenge.”

Camille too recalled the history of access to education. The Dominican sisters traveled East in 1925 to seek out an education that was not offered to women said Camille.

Camille encouraged the new class to embrace the new challenges brought about

by Covid. Camille shared the importance of tradition, opportunity, and repsonsiblity: A tradition of passing on the torch of knowledge.The opportunity to take on new challenges. And the responsibility to continue studies in hard itme.

The tradition continued for the class of 2024 as they were passed the torch, lit their flame, and joined the Albertus community as fearless falcons.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

Phi Beta Sigma “Feeds A Family” During Covid

by COURTNEY LUCIANA New Haven I ndependent

The New Haven Alumni chapter of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. arrived at the Whalley Avenue Stop & Shop to buy groceries for 18 families residing in the Rockview and Westville Manor publichousing complexes.

For the past month, the fraternity has been making these trips as part of a “Feed a Family” initiative to assist the struggling families in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A $15,000 grant from the Yale Community for New Haven Fund is helping the effort, Donald McAulay Sr., Connecticut area deputy director and past president of the New Haven Alumni chapter, said the original goal was to address 50 families.

“Although ‘Feed a Family’ was a new initiative for us, to secure additional funding, and to be able to do fundraisers, this might be something we look to do going forward,” McAulay said. “This issue isn’t going away. The area that we chose is a food desert. That’s not going to change by tomorrow. We had an impact and I think that we’ve demonstrated that we can continue to have an impact if we’re able to continue to get funding.”

Alder Honda Smith and director of the family resource center at Katherine Brennan School, Lensley Gay, gave additional support for the mission by finding families in need of assistance for Saturday’s shopping trip and delivery.

Chapter Vice-President Tai Richardson said Rockview and Westville Manor were chosen because the West Rock complexes are often forgotten by the rest of the city.

“It’s kind of set off as an area by itself and a food desert. There’s not a Stop & Shop nearby or a local grocery store,” Richardson said. “There’s smaller convenience stores that don’t necessarily have all of the goods that they need.”

“While we were shopping and setting up for delivery, we’ve had other people come up to us and ask us how they can help,” said Chapter President Derek Tompkins.

“It’s not only what we’re doing but how it affects the community positively as a whole. Members of the community want to participate to help others’ lives. We know that the month of August, families were able to put their energy, time, and resources, as limited as they may be, somewhere else and that helped to push their family further along.”

Each fraternity brother was given an individual grocery list (pictured) with suggested items to purchase and a budget of $165. The budget remained fairly flexible, as the fraternity members were reminded not to go under that total or they would be sent back for another round of grocery shopping. Many used their phone calculators to keep track of prices while filling products into their carts up to the brim.

Chapter member Donald McAulay Jr.

(pictured above) said families didn’t expect the help and have been appreciative of the nutritional items purchased.

“Some of the families were in tears.

These are households that house five orsix members. Some are eldery. Some are younger children,” McAulay Jr. said “Covid had a large impact on a lot of them in terms of unemployment and kids going to school. So, our availability to provide healthy, nutritious fresh vegetables and starches for them. It’s uniquely different because some food pantries provide only canned goods.”

A member of the fraternity for over 35 years, Eddie Sauls, lives in Danbury and drives an hour to New Haven to participate in the effort.

“I’m a teacher in a very urban area in Westchester County, N.Y.,” Sauls said. “I see a lot of the struggle. If I can help, it’s my obligation as a human to help as much as I can.”

Marcus Dickey said he has experienced personally receiving assistance, which has inspired his work in the fraternity.

“There’s times where I needed assistance.

I’ve had to reach out to organizations for scholarship money and food stamps. No one has ever done anything like this for me, so the fact that I can do this for somebody else is amazing. I can just pass it on,” Dickey said.

“You can tell the families are very appreciative. Their kids always come out and carry the bags with me, and I feel like that they feel like they’re a part of it too.

So, that’s a huge impact on the younger generation.”

Julius Preston has been a part of the fra-

Jeff Baskin and Billy Augustine.

16

ternity for 33 years. He was inspired to give families hope based on his own personal experiences.

“I lost both of my parents before I was 17, so when I went to college I didn’t really have a lot of assistance other than the brotherhood. This brotherhood internalized to help me have a family. Yes, there were times when I didn’t eat but the brothers helped me,” Preston said. “At this time of the pandemic, when people really need assistance and the government is kind of failing us right now it’s nice to know that there’s in the community that can stand up and help their fellow man, that’s what this program is about.”

Two of the fraternity brothers who shopped together, Jeff Baskin and Billy Augustine, also used to work together as New Haven firefighters. Now that they’ve retired, their mission to serve the city has persevered.

“This project seems to stick out a lot more because of Covid-19 affecting families throughout New Haven. It seems more significant,” Baskin said. “The family that I’ve been shopping for asked for laundry detergent to wash clothes and dish detergent to wash dishes, but they said that they like what we bring.”

“Being a firefighter, for over 20 years, going in and out of houses and helping people you see what’s really going on in the city and in the community,” Augustine said. “There’s a lot of people who need a lot of help. A lot of people have got a lot of pride and won’t say they need the help but we know that they need the help and we’re here to help them.”

The program has also purchased $540 in Stop and Shop gift cards and $425 in Walmart gift cards every week. That’s a $30 Stop & Shop gift card and $25 Walmart gift card for each family to spend on additional items.

Quanetta and S’ence Thomas have been living at the Brookside Apartments for eight years. Just last week the mother and daughter enjoyed a free ice cream giveaway there. Quanetta, who receives food stamps, said being a single mother without a job has put a strain on survival for her family.

“The first day that they came I was literally about to cry,” Thomas said. “We make the food stamps work. But this has definitely been a blessing. Without it, I’m just going to be basically taking one day at a time.”

Vickie Benson lives at the Westville Manor Apartments with her husband, who is disabled, four kids, and a grandson who comes every other weekend.

The food and gift cards have been a great help because when you have a lot of bills it’s just amazing,” said Benson.

“With the Walmart gift card, I was able to buy socks or anything else that I needed.

I’ll probably be struggling now that it’s over. They need to keep programs like this going.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

Pols Make Census Push In Newhallville

by MAYA MCFADDEN

New Haven I ndependent

Newhallville resident Lisa Hargreaves opened her door Friday to the familiar faces of U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, State Rep. Robyn Porter, and State Sen. Gary Winfield after the team came knocking with handouts on completing the U.S. census.

Hargreaves told the census group that she completed her form about a month ago and would pass on the information to her tenants of the multi-family home, who she believes haven’t completed their census in fear of sharing personal information with the government.

The three elected officials went door to door on Thompson Street Friday distributing handouts that encouraged New Haveners to fill out the census before the bureau’s shortened deadline on Sept. 30.

Hargreaves said the messages she’s seen telling residents to fill out the census haven’t been educational enough.

“I don’t think people know what it does and how it can help our community.

There needs to be more talk about that,” she said.

Even after completing her family’s census form, Hargreaves, said she still doesn’t know “if it works.”

Newhallville community leaders like Learning Corridor Executive Director Doreen Abubakar, Newhallville Community Management Team co-chair Shirley Lawrence, Founder of Newhallville Community Action Network Devin AvshalomSmith, Addie Kimbrough a neighborhood census advocate, and Newhallville/Prospect Hill/Dixwell Alder Steven Winter joined Murphy, Porter and Winfield Friday to get their neighbors counted.

The group met at the corner of Newhall and Thompson Streets, where a team of city staff tabled for passing by residents to collect information on the census. The group split into two small groups to cover both sides of Thompson Street.

After a knock on a door, the group engaged in conversation while waiting for an answer. People at many homes were unresponsive or took a quick peek from the front window and decided not to answer.

Hangers were left on each door as many knocks went unanswered by neighbors,

which Murphy said was “natural when dealing with a nationwide pandemic that calls to reduce interactions.”

New Haven’s self-response rate is at 53 percent as of Sunday. Response rates in cities have lagged those in suburbs.

Murphy and Porter argued that cities like New Haven cannot afford to be miscounted at the risk of losing federal aid to the state and city.

“The reality is [President] Trump doesn’t want people counted. He knows it’s hard-

er to count people in urban areas and would rather rig the census so money and representation goes to more rural areas,” Murphy said.

Porter said the shortened census count is targeting communities of color and causing “census supression.”

“Black communities have been disenfranchised. It’s been a custom to not count us but just because that’s how its been doesn’t mean it should carry on,” Porter said. “If we’re not counted we can’t get the food, education, or jobs we need. It’s apart of the crib to coffin pipeline.”

Porter talked with Kimbrough and Lawrence, who threw out an idea to host an informal roundtable discussing the effects of not being counted in the census and the history of mistrust with the government in communities of color.

“The administration could have increased the amount of time we have. Instead they decreased it. So the administration has made it harder for us to count rather than making it easier as would logically be your response in the face of a nationwide pandemic,” said Murphy.

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Pre-registration required. Visit rwater.com/hazwaste to register and for more information, or call 203-401-2712.

17

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

Muralists Bring Life To Public Walls

by BRIAN SLATTERY

New Haven I ndependent

At the intersection of Orange and Crown on Sunday afternoon, artist Michael DeAngelo stood on a ladder, a can of spray paint in his hand, putting shading touching onto a blue figure that seemed to float across the black wall in front of him.

A few addresses north on Orange Street, artist Alexander Fournier was on a ladder of his own, sketching out the ghosts of skyscrapers on a blank white wall in front of Ninth Square Market.

Around the corner on Center, Francisco Del Carpio-Beltran was putting down the linework for an intricate mural of his own.

DeAngelo, Fournier, and Del CarpioBeltran had applied and been selected to be the first cohort of artists to participate in Straight Up Art, a collaboration among Town Green District, CTNext, and New Haven Innovation Collaboration that describes itself as “partnering with property owners to invite artists to transform nondescript walls and other vertical surfaces into sites of public art making that stimulate excitement, thought, and desire to take care of each other and the Downtown environment we share.” (Artists who might like to be a part of the program are encouraged to sign up to be informed when the next call for artists goes out.)

The artists had begun their work on Friday and will proceed at least through next weekend, in an effort that hopes to support creative artists, foster business development, and stimulate interest in even more public art in New Haven.

“There aren’t enough murals downtown,” said Elizabeth Bickley, manager of public space planning and development for the Town Green District. She said there are “different hurdles behind that,” and “there needs to be a breakthrough.” She noted that murals were more common in neighborhoods in other parts of the city. Murals grace the walls of buildings in Fair Haven, Newhallville, and Goatville, as well as I-91 underpasses in East Rock and Cedar Hill (DeAngelo had a hand in the Under 91 project creating one of those murals).

In June friends of hip hop pioneer Stezo created a mural of him along Route 1 as a memorial to him. And in August, DeAngelo completed a mural of Sun Ra on the side of the Cafe Nine building, just down Crown Street from where his Straight Up Art mural is.

In the case of the Sun Ra mural, however, that was fostered by connections to the landlord. “It’s not always the case that artists have an in with property owners,” Bickley said. Downtown property owners needed help in being able to “trust their wall spaces” to artists, and “Town Green wants to be the one to help create those inroads.”

Bickley said the project has its origins in a conversation at Barcade among policymakers, community leaders, and Orange Street small business owners, including Ben Berkowitz and Matt Fantastic (of Elm

City Games) after a MakeHaven event.

“We all love public art,” she recalled them agreeing. “Why aren’t there murals?”

From there the partnership among Town Green District, CTNext, and New Haven Innovation Collaborative began to take shape. The partner organizations had the connections to artists and community to get the word out and find candidates to create murals. Town Green agreed to be the liaison with property managers.

The breakthrough on Orange Street came when the Ninth Square properties were bought by Beacon Communities last year (the developer has continued to buy property around the city). Bickley credited Beacon CEO Dara Kovel, Director of Development Thacher Tiffany, and Regional Vice President Kristie Rizzo with being open to the idea of public art on their properties. Town Green had already worked with the company in hosting Windowed Worlds in its storefronts, and Beacon was amenable to more collaborations. They also took inspiration from Beyond Walls, a nonprofit that facilitated the creation of murals in Lynn, Mass.

“Everyone helps feed the mission,” Bickley said. “We’re already seeing that this is proving a concept. Once you can show it works, others are open to it.” The collaboration is already working on creating more public art projects next summer.

Meanwhile, the first round of projects was well under way. DeAngelo’s mural featured Dave Higgins, a CT transit worker, and Michelle Salazar, a surgery resident at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

DeAngelo said that his original proposal had pitched an image of two figures in relation to each other the way they appeared in the mural — “a health care worker and a transit worker” — but suggested they use actual residents of New Haven.

“I could have picked people I know” to be subjects for the mural, DeAngelo said, “but that’s a more biased thing.” Town Green, on the other hand, is “a community organization, so their choice should be better than mine. I’m good at the idea part, the painting part.”

“I said, ‘Find me residents who are willing to work with me,’” DeAngelo continued. Upon accepting his proposal, Town Green took him up on that challenge.

DeAngelo met with and photographed Higgins and Salazar. He reported that Salazar had stopped by the day before to see how things were going, and seemed pleased so far. Though he was keen to render Higgins and Salazar in a way that people who knew them would recognize him, he also wanted to keep their depictions general. “I want a nurse to walk up and say, ‘that’s me,’” he said.

DeAngelo said he hopes that this mural will be just the start of more public art projects, for him and other artists.

“I could do the whole street,” he said, noting that his mural of Sun Ra was just down the block. “I just need to get permission…. I would love to do murals of resi-

BRIAN SLATTERY PHOTOS

dents — people who live in New Haven,” he said. “You don’t see a lot of that, and that’s what people appreciate.”

A man walking by affirmed this, nodding as he watched DeAngelo’s work come to life. “Nice job, nice job!” he said.

“For me, this is something I can do — I can paint, in oils, with spray paint. I have that ability. Public murals are a really good way to give that to people,” he said.

In an urban environment, he said, “90 percent of what you see are advertisements.”

Public art has “a different intent…. Every time I paint a mural, people stop and tell me how much they like it. It makes their day a little better.”

Up the block, Fournier was settling on the final outline for his mural, which was to depict a cityscape that took its architectural cues from the Victorian era and the Gilded Age. Pointing to his ornate buildings in his sketches, he said, “I think a lot of New Haven used to look like this.”

Some buildings in New Haven still do, but “a lot of it is in decay, which makes me sad.” He pointed to the demolition of the former pawn shop on Chapel Street as a recent example. In his mural he sought to depict “the world we left behind, and it’s not just in the Northeast. It happens everywhere, all over the world…. Once you knock something down, future generations don’t even know that it existed.

The only way you can find it is if you dig.”

He cited the razing of older buildings and the building of block housing in metropolitan areas across the United States and Europe. “Over time, people found it more efficient to create less detailed, more utilitarian structures.” The architectural

18

details that were lost in more “imaginative buildings,” and the beauty of them, were what he was hoping to “bring back to the city.” Monotonous architecture, he felt, “does something to the psyche. I’m trying to reverse that.”

About public art, he said, “when it’s not cool, it can seem like noise pollution. If I can do something that is cool, I can inspire others to say, ‘hey, I can do this.” Looking at his mural in progress, he said, “I just want to put it up to interact with the public. I want to engage people to study our history — the people who came before us and walked the same streets. And just imagine.”

Where Fournier drew inspiration from the past, on Center Street, Del CarpioBeltran was looking to connect past, present, and future in one gesture. His intricate mural was alive with figures playing music and socializing — and that was only half of it. On the other half, the block would give way to the greater city of New Haven, then become a blueprint that, it was revealed further down the block, was drawn by a single hand.

But first, he said, “we showcase what happens around here — the music, bars, restaurants.” Ninth Square, he said, was a place “where people meet.” The riotous flowers blooming among them captured the neighborhood’s growth. “These places used to be empty and now they’re not,” he said. “it’s the present and the future.” His mural, he said, could be read from either left to right or right to left; the hand in the corner could be the “architect, the designer” or “whoever is helping the cause” right now. “Any person trying to do something

for the greater good.”

Del Carpio-Beltran’s view of Ninth Square is shaped by over a decade working on that block, for Svigals and Partners. Now 30, he began there as an intern while still in high school. He got a job there when he graduated, and it helped him fund college, first at Gateway, then at Western Connecticut State University. In its subject and its execution, his mural is also a pushback against the grand-vision central plan that dominated the city’s development in the second half of the 20th century.

Noting that his elaborate design was going to take a couple weeks to finish, Del Carpio-Beltran said people who were interested were welcome to come down to Center Street and pitch in. “Everyone who has come to visit us, we’ve let them help paint,” he said. Through their work, “they’re part of the mural, and the mural is part of them. Anything you do for the city becomes part of you.”

Del Carpio-Beltran extended that attitude to the wider mission of community and economic development. “At the end of the day, we’re the ones in control of this,” he said. “We decide whether a business grows just by going to it. If you want things to succeed, it’s your choice.”

This was the first time Del Carpio-Beltran, a trained illustrator and graphic designer, had attempted a piece of art on this scale.

He admitted to a little trepidation at trying something so large. But “once you put down the first line, you think, ‘I got this,’” he said.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September , 2020 - September 15, 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27,09 2016 - August 02, 2016

THE GLENDOWER GROUP NOTICE

Request for Proposals VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Construction Manager at Risk PREfor McConaughy Terrace HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority,

The Glendower Group isfor currently proposals foratconstrucis accepting pre-applications studio andseeking one-bedroom apartments this develtion manager for McConaughy Terrace.

Aincome complete copyapof opment locatedatatrisk 108 Frank Street, New Haven.

Maximum limitations Pre-applications will be fromfrom 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday ColJu;y theply.requirement may beavailable obtained Glendower’s Vendor 25, 2016 andPortal ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have laboration https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems. been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon recom/gateway quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed prebeginning September at 3:00PM applications muston be Wednesday, returned to HOME INC’s offices2, at2020 171 Orange Street, .Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

Listing: Dispatcher

NOTICIA

Extremely fast paced petroleum company needs a full time (which inVALENTINA VIVIENDAScoverage) DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES cludes on callMACRI and weekend detail oriented experienced Dispatcher. A strong logistics background and a minimum of one year preHOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está vious petroleum experience required.

Send deresume to: en HR aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos un dormitorio esteManager, desarrollo ubicado la calle 109 Frank New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos P.O. Box en 388, Guilford, CT.Street, 06437 máximos.

Las pre-solicitudes disponibles 09 a.m.-5Employer********** p.m. comenzando Martes 25 ********An Affirmativeestarán Action/Equal Opportunity julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición Listing: HVAC llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 duranteTechnician esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

Fast paced Petroleum Company is hiring for a full time, CT (minimum S2 license) HVAC Technician. Applicant must have experience in oil, propane, natural gas and A/C. Send resume to: Attn: HR Manager, Confidential, PO Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437.

NEW HAVEN

**An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**

242-258 Fairmont Ave 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR,Assistant 1 level , 1BA Listing: Customer Retail

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 Petroleum Company has an immediate full &time opening.

Excellent customer highways, near bus stop shopping center service Pet skills a must.

Requirements include: billing questions, assistunder 40lb allowed.

Interested partiesanswering contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 ing in sales calls received, scheduling service calls as well as assisting in collections and account set ups. Previous petroleum experience and/or experience in a CT. Unified Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s to also perform administrative/ very busy Deacon’s office environment a plus.

Applicant Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates clerical tasks as assigned.

Please send resume to: H.R. Manager, Confidential, in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon J. Davis, M.S., PO Box 388, Guilford CTJoe 06437.

B.S.

(203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

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

St. New Haven, CT

Listing: HOUSING HVAC Technician SEYMOUR AUTHORITY

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour Fast Company a full time, CTSmith (minimum untilpaced 3:00 Petroleum pm on Tuesday, Augustis hiring 2, 2016for at its office at 28 Street, S2 license) HVAC Technician. Applicant must have experience in oil, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the propane, natural gas and A/C. Send resume to: Attn: HR Manager, Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Confidential, PO Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437.

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith **An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer** Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Construction FT-Exp Bidding documentsAdministrative are available from the Office Seymour Position.

Housing Authority Ofrequired.EmailHherbert@ gwfabrication.com fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any

DELIVERY PERSON

Everyone Is Invited To A

NEEDED

V irtual P ublic i nformation m eeting

Must Have your Own Vehicle If Interested call

Please join us on Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and CTDOT Public Involvement Procedures (PIP) document Residents, commuters, business owners, and other interested individuals are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to learn about and discuss the STIP and PIP.

Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week,

(203) 387-0354

The meetings will be live streamed via: Microsoft Teams Live Event and YouTube Live Afternoon session - Formal Presentation will begin at 1:00 pm, Evening session - Formal Presentation will begin at 7:00 p.m.

Question and Answer (Q&A) sessions will immediately follow both presentations.

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

APPLY NOW!

Instructions on how to access the meeting and on how to provide comments or ask questions, can be found at the STIP webpage: www.ct.gov/dot/stip

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT 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

The public informational meeting is being held to provide the public and local community the opportunity to offer comments or ask questions regarding the Draft 2021 STIP and PIP. Persons with limited internet access may request that the Draft 2021 STIP and/or PIP information be mailed to them by contacting Rose A. Etuka by email at Rose.Etuka@ct.gov or by phone at 860 594-2040. (Allow one week for processing and delivery.)

Individuals with limited internet access can listen to the meeting by calling (800) 369-2192 and entering the Participant Code when prompted: 4906163. Persons with hearing and/or speech disabilities may dial 711 for Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS). The MS Teams Live Event offers closed-captioning for the hearing impaired and non-English translation options. A recording of the formal presentation will be posted to YouTube following the event and closed-captioning (including non-English translation options) will be available at that time. The recording will also be available in the list of DOT virtual public meetings here: https://portal.ct.gov/dot/general/CTDOT-VPIM-Library Apple user may not have access to the live chat line. The use of email or voicemail to leave a comment is recommended. During the Q&A session and the comment period that follows the meeting, individuals may leave a question or comment via email (preferred) at DOT.Draft2021STIPComment@ ct.gov Individuals may also leave a voicemail question or comment by calling (860) 944-1111. Please reference the project in your voicemail.

Language assistance may be requested by contacting the Department’s Language Assistance Call Line (860) 594-2109. Requests should be made at least 5 business days prior to the meeting. Language assistance is provided at no cost to the public and efforts will be made to respond to timely requests for assistance.

FENCE ERECTING Invitation to Bid: SUBCONTRACTORS2 Notice nd

Large CT. Fence Company SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Large CT Fence & Guardrail Contractor is looking for an individual for our is looking for experienced, responsible stock yard. Warehouse shipping and receiving and Forklift experience a must. commercial and residential fence erectors Old Saybrook, CT Must have a minimum of 3 years’ material handling experience. Must be able and installers on a subcontractor basis.

(4 Buildings, 17 Units) to read and write English, and read a tape measure. Duties will include: LoadEarn from $750 to $2,000 per day. Email Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wageunloading Rate Project ing and trucks, pulling orders for installation and retail counter sales, resume to rhauer@atlasoutdoor.com AA/ EOE keeping the yard clean and organized at all times and inventory control. Individ-

ualSelective will alsoDemolition, make deliveries of fence New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Site-work, Cast- panels and products, must be able to lift at LEGAL NOTICE of least 70lbs.

Required to pass a Physical and Drug test, have a valid CT. Driver’s in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, License and be able to obtain a Drivers Medical Card. CDL B & A drivers a plus.

TOWN OF PORTLAND, CT Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Town of Portland has amended its Citi- Send resume to pboucher@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE/MF zen Participation Mechanical, Plan for the Electrical, purpose ofPlumbing and Fire Protection.

This contract is subject state set-aside and contract compliance requirements. informing the public abouttoits intent to apply for CDBG, Covid-19 funding. For a copy of the amendedBid Plan go to www.

Extended, Due Date: portlandct.org.

THE GLENDOWER GROUP

Request for Qualifications

August 5, 2016 Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Design Project documents available via ftp link below: Competition for Robert T. Wolfe, http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Crawford Manor, Westville Manor, and 34 Level Street

DELIVERY PERSON

NEEDED

The Glendower Group is currently seeking Qualifications

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com for the design competition for Robert T. Wolfe, Crawford HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 Manor, and 34 Level Street. A complete Manor, Westville AA/EEO EMPLOYER

Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week,

Must Have your Own Vehicle If Interested call

(203) 387-0354 19

copy of the requirements may be obtained from Glendower’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing. cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Monday August 24, 2020 at 3:00PM

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Listing: Commercial Driver

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Full time Class A driver for petroleum deliveries for nights Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT and weekends. Previous experience required. Competitive We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits wage, 401(k) and benefits. Send resume to: HR Manager, VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Contact: Tom Dunay P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437.

Phone: 243-2300 HOME INC, on behalf of860Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer********** is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develEmail: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com opment& located at 108 Frank Street, Haven. Maximum Women Minority Applicants are New encouraged to apply income limitations apof TOWN OF PORTLAND, CT ply.Affirmative Pre-applications willEqual be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning LEGAL MondayNOTICE Ju;y Action/ Opportunity Employer Town of Portland 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have has amended its Citizen Participation Plan the purpose of informing the public about its intent to apply been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will befor mailied upon reforCompleted CDBG, Covid-19 funding. For a copy of the amended Plan quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. preGarrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Incoffices seeks: go toStreet, www.portlandct.org. applications must be returned to HOME INC’s at 171 Orange Third Reclaimer Operators Floor, New Haven,and CTMilling 06510.Operators with current licensing

360 MANAGEMENT GROUP

NOTICE

and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

NOTICIA

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300 VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com

HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer dormitorio en este desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 seeks to fill 100) a full-time and/or part-time position in our julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente construction yard. The ideal candidate will be able to en lasTrailer oficinasDriver de HOME INC. & Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas correo a petición Tractor for Heavy Highway Construction Equip- por llamando HOME INCLicense, al 203-562-4663 duranterecord, esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse ment.

Must ahave a CDL clean driving capable of work indoors and outdoors, in all weather conditions, . a las oficinas de equipment; HOME INCbe enwilling 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, , CT 06510 operating heavy to travel throughout theNew Haven and assist in keeping the construction yard clean and Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

Union Company seeks:

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply

ROTHA Contracting Company, Inc.

organized. We are an equal opportunity employer and encourage woman and minorities to apply. Please email resume to jobs@rothacontracting.com.

Plumbing Services 360 Management Group is currently seeking bids for plumbing services.

A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from 360 Management’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Monday, August 31, 2020 at 3:00PM.

Construction Administrative Office Position. FT-Exp required.Email- Hherbert@ gwfabrication.com

Plant Maintenance Mechanic

Highly skilled mechanic needed in the repair and maintenance of all plant equipment to include pumping station equipment and motor vehicles for the Town of Wallingford Sewer Division. Requires graduation from a high school/trade school and 4 years experience in the repair and maintenance of mechanical equipment. Must obtain a CDL Class B motor vehicle operator license within 6 months of employment. $29.15 to $34.18 per hour plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Apply to: Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Fax #: (203) 294-2084. Closing date will be September 15, 2020 or the date the 50th application is received, whichever occurs first. EOE.

Construction Administrative Office Position. FT-Exp required.Email- Hherbert@ gwfabrication.com Invitation to Bid:

NEW HAVEN

242-258 Fairmont Ave Town of Bloomfield 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA

Town of Bloomfield2

nd

Notice

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

Lead Building Maintainer - Facilities

Finance Director Full Time - Benefited

Old Saybrook, CT Full Time - Benefited Request for Proposals (4 $31.26 hourly Buildings, 17 Units) Development of Single-Family Homeownership Housing Taxdrug Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project Pre-employment testing.

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

$96,755 - $149,345

Pre-employment testing.

For more details, visit our website – www.bloomfieldct.org CT. Unified Deacon’sdrug Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

Real Estate Controller

St. New Haven, CT Fusco Management is seeking a Real Estate Controller. Candidate should have leadership, communication and supervisory skills. Controller should have 6+ year’s hands on accounting experience and have a BS in Accounting.

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Duties and Responsibilities: Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour Oversee the activities of the Accounting Department for the accurate and timely disuntil 3:00 on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at itsinternal office and at 28external Smith monthly Street, semination of pm financial management reports including Seymour, CT 06483 foraudits Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the financial statements, annual and annual budgets.

Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Desired Skills and Experience Qualifications: A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith • Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, and Timberscan, BNA, TValue.

Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, Timberline on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

• Discretion, good judgment and good communication skills.

• Strong general ledger, accounts payable and accounts receivable.

Bidding available from the Seymour Housing Authority • Real Estatedocuments experience are a plus.

Invitation for Bids

Of-

fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

Education and Experience Required: Bachelor's degreeAuthority in Accounting or Finance.

CPAtocertification a plus.any Mustorhave 6+years The Housing reserves the right accept or reject all bids, to of reduce hands-on managerial Fusco Management offers a competitheaccounting scope of the project experience. to reflect available funding, and to waive any tive benefit package. Fusco is an Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

For more details, visit our website –

www.bloomfieldct.org The Housing AuthoritySite-work, of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, CastProposals for Development of Single-Family Homeownership in-place Concrete, Asphaltcurrently Shingles,seeking Vinyl Siding, Construction Administrative Housing.

A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Flooring, Painting, DivisionOffice 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Position. FT-Exp required.

Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobbleMechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

Email- Hherbert@ gwfabrication.com stonesystems.com/gateway beginning on This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

FENCE ERECTING SUBCONTRACTORS

Monday, August 10, 2020 at 3:00PM.

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 Large CT Fence & Guardrail ContractorStart: is Construction Anticipated August 15, 2016 Administrative Office Position. FT-Exp required. looking for experienced, responsible comEmail- Hherbert@ gwfabrication.com Project documents available via ftp link below: mercial and residential fence erectors and http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage installers on a subcontractor basis. Earn

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

from $750 to $2,000 per day. Email resume to rhauer@atlasoutdoor.com Fax or Email Questions & BidsAA/EOE to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 QSR STEELHaynes CORPORATION AA/EEO EMPLOYER

APPLY NOW!

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

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Request for Proposals Electronic File Management Services

The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Electronic File Management Services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/ gateway beginning on

Monday, August 17, 2020 at 3:00PM.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

THE GLENDOWER GROUP NOTICE Request for Proposals VALENTINA MACRIEngineering RENTAL HOUSING PREAPPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Architectural Services for McConaughy Terrace HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, isThe accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develGlendower Group is currently seeking proposals for architectural opment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apengineering services for McConaughy Terrace.

A complete ply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y copy of the re25, 2016 and ending sufficientfrom pre-applications (approximately 100)Collaboration have quirement may bewhen obtained Glendower’s Vendor Portal been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon rehttps://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street,atThird beginning on Wednesday, September 2, 2020 3:00PM. Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

CITY OF MILFORD

NOTICIA

Seeking qualified condidates to fill numerous vacancies to include, Engineer Technician, Secretary and more.

For information and detailed application instructions, DISPONIBLES visit www.ci.milford.ct.us Click on VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES SERVICES, JOBS and JOB TITLE. HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 CITYLasOF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT - REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición Q-House Launch and Management llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse RFP Street, # 2020-07-1340 a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

RFP due date: Tuesday September 29, 2020 at 11:00 AM EST. RFP can be downloaded at https://newhavenct.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=login Michael V. Fumiatti Purchasing Agent

NEW HAVEN

242-258 Fairmont Ave 2BR Townhouse,ELM 1.5CITY BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA COMMUNITIES

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 for Proposals highways, near busRequest stop & shopping center Request for Proposals for Outside General Legal Services for Elm Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact MariaCounsel @ 860-985-8258

Sewer Laborer: Involves manual work in construction and general maintenance activities for The Town of Wallingford’s Sewer Division. Operates vehicles, trucks and a variety of power equipment. Must have a minimum of six (6) months experience in performing related manual work at the laborer level and a High School Diploma or G.E.D. Must also possess and maintain a valid State of Connecticut Motor Vehicle Operator’s License. Wages: $19.14 - $22.69 Hourly. Applications can be downloaded from the Town’s Department of Human Resources Webpage and mailed or fax to: Department of Human Resources, 45 S. Main Street, Room 301, Wallingford CT 06492 Fax: (203) 294-2084 Phone: (203) 294-2080. The closing date will be the date the 30th application or resume is received or September 22, 2020, whichever occurs first. EOE

Construction Administrative Office Position. FT-Exp required.

Email- Hherbert@ gwfabrication.com Construction

Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, operator and teamster trades for a heavy outside work statewide. Reliable personal transportation and a valid drivers license required. To apply please call (860) 621-1720 or send resume to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V Drug Free Workforce

LEGAL NOTICE Request for Public Comment

Workforce Alliance, the non-profit workforce development board serving 30 towns in South Central CT, is requesting public comment on its proposed Local Plan of service. This strategic plan outlines priorities for serving jobseekers and employers using federal, state and local funds for employment and training. The plan will be posted as a PDF at https://www. workforcealliance.biz/south-central-region/our-region-and-board-of-directors/.

Submit comments by email to Christine D. Reardon at creardon@workforcealliance.biz by 3 PM on Wed., Sept 23, 2020.

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

City Communities/Housing Authority of The City of New Haven, Including The Glendower Group, Inc. and Its Various Affiliates and 360 CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastCertificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates Management Group Company in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework,

The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seekSt. New Haven, CT ing Proposals for Request for Proposals for Outside General Counsel Legal Services for Elm City Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. contract Communities/Housing Authority of The City of New Haven, Including The GlendowerThis Group, Inc.is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements. and Its Various Affiliates and 360 Management Group Company.

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 A complete copy of the requirements may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal Equipment Operator & Skilled Laborer https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on AnticipatedHeavy Start: August 15, 2016 Sealed bids are invited by the Monday, Housing July Authority of the Town of Seymour Our growing construction 27, 2020 at 3:00PM Project documents available via ftp linkcompany below: currently has a few open positions available.

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

BidsOffice 28 Smith A pre-bid conference will be held Invitation at the Housingfor Authority Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, Services 2016.

Agency-Wide Elevator

All work is 1st shift and we work only in the State of Connecticut. http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

Heavy Equipment Operator

Fax or Email Questions &Ideal Bids to:candidate Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 will havedawnlang@haynesconstruction.com experience operating all types of heavy equipment on large HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses municipal construction jobsites. A minimum of 3 years’ experience required.

Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 AA/EEO EMPLOYER Skilled Construction Laborer

Bidding documents areof available the Seymour Housing OfThe Housing Authority the Cityfrom of New Haven d/b/a ElmAuthority City Communities is currently fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. seeking Bids for Agency-Wide Elevator Services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenThe Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject housing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning onany or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any Monday, August 10, 2020 at 3:00PM. informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

21

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

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

As Deadline Nears, Census Crew Hits Yale New Haven

by RABHYA MEHROTRA New Haven I ndependent

Feven Getaneh, a resident at Yale New Haven Hospital, had lost her paper copy of the U.S. census form. She wasn’t sure how and when she’d complete it.

Wednesday a crew came to her workplace, gave her a copy, and signed her up.

“It’s been on my mind, since I know how important the census is,” she said. “But I’ve just been so busy.”

Like other medical professionals, Getaneh said, she understands the crucial relationship between the results of the census and funding for local hospitals.

That’s why the crew came to the hospital’s York Street entrance for an event Wednesday morning, seeking to get more of Getaneh’s coworkers signed up.

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, coming Yale New Haven Hospital President Dr. Keith Churchwell, and Census Bureau Coordinator Eva Bunnell all gathered outside the main entrance and addressed a small crowd as healthcare workers passed by.

All three stressed the importance of the census, especially as it relates to public health.

“Part of Connecticut’s successful response to recent events, including Co-

vid, has been due to adequate funding,” said Bunnell. Beyond Covid, the federal government uses census data in funding Medicare, Medicaid, and children’s health insurance in Connecticut. Thanks to the 2010 census, DeLauro said, “Connecticut received over $11 billion for federal programs.”

The census also helps public health centers improve their services. “Public health departments use census statistics to plan out for infection rates, among other things,” Rep. DeLauro noted.

Many undercounted people are of color, exacerbating inequalities in funding and government programs, DeLauro added.

She cited a Census Bureau study from 2010, which found that over “1.5 million people of color were not included in the census.”

With less than three weeks left before this year’s census deadline, New Haven has a long way to go. “The state of Connecticut has an average response rate of 92 percent, but for the city of New Haven, that rate is only 52.8 percent,” Rep. DeLauro warned.

Terrell Fairweather works for the Laz Valet Parking, right at the hospital entrance. His manager told him about this

event, he said, and it was the first time he had even heard about the census this year.

Although he hadn’t completed the census yet, “events like this could change my mind,” he said.

“Many employees at the hospital understand why they should take the census, but they just can’t find the time,” Churchwell said. “We hope that by creating these events, they have an opportunity to get counted.”

The Census Bureau brought the MQA, or Mobile Questionnaire Assistance setup, to help do exactly that. It has been traveling around the state, offering free goodies and a few census community workers who help fill out census questionnaires. Wednesday it remained at the hospital until 2 p.m. Many healthcare workers who didn’t attend the press conference were enticed to stop for a few moments, if not for a free fan or squishy ball.

Getaneh certainly was grateful for the MQA: in less than three minutes, she finished a task she had been meaning to do for months. “I didn’t even know about this event, but its placement by the entrance was perfect,” she said. “I’m so glad I was able to be counted.”

RABHYA MEHROTRA PHOTO Census community workers at Yale New Haven Wednesday.

Police Accountability Unit Could Take A Year To Be Fully Operational

by Lisa Backus

New Haven I ndependent

The unit created by the new police accountability law to independently investigate the use of deadly force by police will not likely be fully funded or operational for another year, according to legislative leaders.

“It’s not going to happen all in one shot,” said state Rep. Toni Walker, DNew Haven, co-chair of the Appropriations Committee who favors a “phased in” approach. “It’s probably going to take us over a year given the nature of what we’re trying to do.”

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The unit, which will be headed by the newly created position of inspector general, would investigate all incidents involving the deadly use of force by police and in-custody deaths.

The inspector general position may be filled as early as Oct. 1, which is the timeline laid out in the law.

But there are more than a few hurdles to clear, including who is paying the estimated $1.1 million tab to create the specialized unit, and how long it will take to get enough staff on board to begin investigating.

“This is an important position to get back the trust of the community and hold officers accountable for their actions,” said Chief State’s Attorney Richard M. Colangelo Jr. The unit falls under the Division of Criminal Justice, which Colangelo heads, but

will be considered independent to ensure the integrity of the investigations. Candidates applying for the position must be working within the division and submit their application by Sept. 10.

As of Tuesday, Colangelo and Walker don’t know how the cost of creating and maintaining the unit will be paid. The state Office of Fiscal Analysis pegged the cost of running the unit in 2021 at $1.1 million. That includes $167,183 for the salary for the inspector general.

There will also need to be inspectors and prosecutors within the unit and office space where the unit will work, Colangelo said.

The Office of Fiscal Analysis estimated that the unit will need nine employees, Colangelo said. He felt it would need 11 employees, including legal staff. He can absorb two positions of the 11 within the division, but otherwise, “I have no idea where the positions or money is coming from,” Colangelo said.

Colangelo’s division has some flexibility to fill positions but the unit may be looking at getting $500,000 in funding as the inspector general works out the parameters of how the unit will work, Walker said.

“We’re not going to be able to fill all the positions at once,” Walker said. “I don’t see that happening overnight because we’re creating something that doesn’t exist.”

It’s unclear if the $500,000 would come from Colangelo’s budget or the state budget. Walker said it could take until the

CTNEWSJUNKIE FILE PHOTO

Reps. Brandon McGee and Matt Ritter converse during debate on Police Accountability.

next legislative session for the unit to be fully funded. She wants the unit “planned and designed so they can be effective,” she said.

“We need to make sure it’s done appro-

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priately,” Walker said.

It’s also unclear if the Inspector General could hire staff since it will be an interim position until the person is vetted and confirmed by the legislature, said state Rep. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, the co-chair of the Judiciary Committee, who largely crafted the police accountability law.

“We’ll have to figure that out once the person is chosen,” Winfield said. “The only date the law says is Oct. 1 for hiring the individual.”

Advocates had called for an independent body to investigate several highly publicized deaths by police, including the Jan. 15 fatal shooting of 19-year-old Mubarak Soulemane as he was sitting in a car surrounded by police after a multitown chase.

The police accountability law has drawn fire from some officers who say portions of the law are anti-police. But the legislation, which was crafted after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, is supported by groups like the Connecticut American Civil Liberties Union, which have been calling for more transparency and accountability by police.

The law calls for more transparency from state police through the release of all internal affairs investigations, not just the allegations that have been substantiated, which is already being challenged in court. The law also calls for more training in de-escalation and more use of body cameras by officers.

The accountability law also created the

Office of the Inspector General to independently investigate the use of deadly force by officers and in-custody deaths throughout the state. Previously, municipalities and the state Department of Correction investigated their own in-custody deaths, and in cases where officers used deadly force, a state’s attorney from a different jurisdiction would investigate with the help of state police gathering evidence.

There were 25 similar investigations in 2019 and at least 19 in 2018, Colangelo said.

Candidates for the position must have at least three years of experience as an attorney and be employed within the Division of Criminal Justice, in accordance with the law. The state’s Criminal Justice Commission will select which candidates they want to interview for the position and choose a candidate. That person must then be approved by the legislature.

The commission is meeting Sept. 24, but it’s unclear if they will interview candidates during the meeting or make a hiring decision.

The law calls for the appointment of an Inspector General by Oct. 1.

Once hired, the Inspector General will pick staff. It could take up to six weeks for the staff to be chosen, Colangelo said.

The unit could start work in early 2021 if the Inspector General was able to hire staff immediately, Colangelo said.

“The reality is that the budget is going to have an impact on everything we do,” Winfield said. “But we’ll figure it out.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - September 09, 2020 - September 15, 2020

Been avoiding seeing your orthopedic specialist?

Maybe it's time to stop putting it off.

At Yale New Haven Health, we’ve instituted a comprehensive 10-step safety program in all of our facilities to ensure that everything is clean, safe, and ready to treat you at a moment’s notice.

There's never been a better time to take advantage of our world-class medical expertise in the presence of new, world-class safety measures. ynhh.org

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