THE INNER-CITY NEWS

Free Market Returns To The Q House

By Jewel Booker

For one morning this June, the Dixwell Q House becomes a place where community members can find everything from clothing and household essentials to fresh food, health resources, and support services—all at no cost.

The 14th Annual Free Market and Health Fair returns to New Haven on Saturday, June 13, from 9 a.m. to noon, continuing a tradition that has served thousands of residents since 2012. Hosted by the New Haven Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and the Epsilon Iota Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., the event aims to connect families with essential items and resources while fostering a sense of community.

This year marks a significant expansion for the event. Free Market attendees will be welcomed with shopping bags and "Free Market Dollars" that can be used to browse thousands of donated items. Clothing, shoes, household goods, personal care products, children's clothing, and toys will all be available. In addition to connecting with health and social services providers, for the first time, they can also explore a farmers' market.

“Our mission has always been rooted in service, and the Free Market & Health Fair is one of the most impactful ways we bring that mission to life,” said Katrina Rice, president of the New Haven Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. “Every family we serve, every health screening provided, and every partnership formed represents our commitment to uplifting the greater New

Haven community.

“We are proud to continue this tradition and grateful to our sponsors, community partners, and volunteers whose dedication makes this day possible year after year,” Rice added.

The event reflects the longstanding commitment to service shared by the organizations behind it. For more than a century, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. have centered their missions on uplifting communities through education, advocacy, and service.

"This event is the embodiment of what our organizations stand for," said Ruel Dixon, basileus of the Epsilon Iota Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. "Since 1911 and 1913, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., have given back through programs focused on community service."

For many New Haven residents, the event offers more than access to free necessities. It provides opportunities to connect with organizations that can help address health, economic, and social needs.

Organizers said they hope attendees leave not only with items they need, but also with information and resources that can support their long-term well-being.

Joining the longtime partners in hosting the market and fair are the Delta Foundation of Greater New Haven and the H.A.V.E. Foundation, which are helping to broaden the reach and impact of one of New Haven's largest community service initiatives.

"The Annual Free Market and Health Fair has served thousands of people

in New Haven and surrounding areas since 2012, improving quality of life and health access," said Lisa Crutchfield Diggs, president of the Delta Foundation of Greater New Haven. "We're proud to join this tremendous effort."

At a time when many families continue to navigate rising costs and economic uncertainty, the event's organizers said community partnerships are more important than ever. The addition of the H.A.V.E. Foundation reflects a shared commitment to ensuring that residents have access to support when they need it most.

"We know that times are challenging, so this year we are especially proud that we can help the community by becoming part of this long-standing tradition," said Kevin Walton, president of the H.A.V.E. Foundation.

Ryan Phillips, a member of the Epsilon Iota Iota chapter of Omega Psi Phi and a student at Southern Connecticut State University, has been volunteering at the Free Market for two years.

He reflects upon his experiences at The Free Market. “So many people were around helping with all the clothes and other items that were being donated, we all stood out in the hot sun, and even sometimes when it rained. It was kind of tiring to do after work or after school. However, when we were able to start giving out all the items, I truly saw what it meant to volunteer. The grill was out with food for volunteers, there were raffles and other games for the younger audience, and it really made me feel encompassed in my new community.”

Nonprofits Focused On Disconnected Youth Cautiously Celebrate Free Bus Fares For Students

by Jamil Ragland

HARTFORD, CT – Advocates are lauding a new transportation program that could have a significant impact on efforts to help disconnected youth get back to school and work, although some are more cautious in their appraisal.

As part of the appropriations bill Gov. Ned Lamont signed into law, the state Department of Transportation (DOT) is required to establish a $2.5 million grant program to provide free bus passes to K-12 students and veterans. The program must be up and running by July 1.

Transportation was a major component of the 119K Commission’s Young People First report, which examined the causes of and potential solutions for 119,000 teenagers and young adults across the state who are disconnected from school or work, or at risk of becoming disconnected.

Students who were interviewed for the report shared stories of their lack of access to transportation, unsafe routes they must take, and long walks to reach bus stops. Transportation, instead of facilitating movement to great opportunities, becomes

a barrier to extracurricular activities and work opportunities, leading to disconnection, the report concluded.

Advocates from the New Haven Coalition for Active Transportation and the New Haven Climate Movement applauded the funding. In a joint statement, they called on the DOT to model the new program after the successful Hartford High School bus pass pilot program.

“We’re grateful Gov. Lamont took the seat we saved for him on this bus,” said Jay Stange of the coalition. “With a few strokes of his pen, the Governor has helped thousands of Connecticut residents to live healthier, more connected lives. Now we turn to DOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto to work with us to make sure bus passes get into the hands of high school students and Veterans in our state starting July 1.”

Hector Rivera, president and CEO of the youth development nonprofit Our Piece of the Pie (OPP) in Hartford, said that a significant number of youth who participate in OPP activities use public transportation, and providing bus passes would help those students remain active.

He also pointed out the economic benefits to the state of a more mobile youth workforce.

“Many of our high school students, and even our students who have graduated from high school, rely on public transportation to get to and from part-time or fulltime employment and job training that might lead to a workforce opportunity,” he said. “By making the cost of transportation more affordable, it helps our population participate in the local economy, gain the valuable work skills and experience that they need to be successful in economic mobility, without spending a lot of the same money that they earn back on transportation.”

In Bridgeport, the challenges that disconnected youth face may limit the effectiveness of the program. Catalyst CT, a nonprofit in the city, runs a program that works with students dealing with street and gang violence. Marc Donald, president and CEO, said in an interview that students in the program tend to avoid public transportation because of the risks of encountering someone who wants to harm

Members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. at last year's Free Market. Contributed Photos.

The following citizen contribution was submitted by Jewel Booker, a former Youth Arts Journalism Initiative (YAJI) student and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. Read more of her writing here.

Arts Council of greater New Haven

New Haven Feels One Love, As NHSO Pays Tribute To Bob Marley

Lucy Gellman

At first, the sound was triumphal, as if the symphony was welcoming royalty to the auditorium (and in a way, they were). Horns sang and bellowed, and timpani rolled beneath them. Strings and woodwinds released bright, full notes that shimmered in the air. Maestro Chelsea Tipton looked up, the brass blooming all around him. A chime rang out, echoing through the auditorium.

Then, in the purple, hazy darkness, the sound of bass guitar rose from the stage, spare and somehow resonant at the same time. “All right,” a voice half-whispered from just off stage right. From where he sat in the center of the audience, 22-yearold William Higgins was a little boy again, his dad vibrantly alive and asking, “Are you listening? Like, are you listening?”

Last Saturday, that sound filled the John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts, as the New Haven Symphony Orchestra (NHSO) fêted Bob Marley in its penultimate concert of the season. A collaboration with the Jamaican American Connection and musicians Yendi Songbird (vocals), Josh David Barrett a.k.a. Tobijah (vocals and guitar), Wahkiba ALKabir Julion (drums), Obed Jean-Louis (bass), Eric Toussaint (keyboard) and Jeff “Simba” Matthew (guitar), the two-hour program featured sweeping symphonic arrangements of Marley’s work, bringing his legacy into the present. It ended with a joyful dance party in the lobby that made the Lyman Center feel more like a good dance club in the early 1990s, playing all the right music.

The pieces, orchestrated by Rebecca Pellett, marked the U.S. premiere of the work, which grew out of a conversation that JAC President Karaine (Kay) Smith-Holness had with Inner-City News Editor Babz Rawls-Ivy, and then with Marley’s daughter, Cedella (she credited Rawls-Ivy with bringing the concept to NHSO President and CEO Elaine Carroll). The evening included an official citation from Mayor Justin Elicker, declaring June 6 “Bob Marley Day” in New Haven.

The NHSO next performs on June 27, during the second and final weekend of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, at 6 p.m. on the New Haven Green. “One of the major things about Bob Marley’s music is it instantly puts you in a good mood,” said Tipton, who has been the pops conductor at the NHSO for over a decade, before kicking off the concert with an arrangement of Marley’s “Waiting In Vain.” “It don’t matter where you’re from. It’s one of those things that brings people together.”

Saturday, that resonated from a “One Love” marketplace to the concert itself, which ended with a shoulder-to-shoulder song and dance party in the lobby of the building. In the lobby of the Lyman Center, which sits on the campus of Southern Connecticut State University’s (SCSU), several New Haven and Connecticut-based makers had set up tables

stacked neatly with their products, from screen-printed t-shirts and skincare to small-batch pikliz, a seasoned slaw kissed with vinegar and Scotch bonnet peppers that is popular in Haiti.

At a table for RNS—that stands for Real New Haven Shit—Marley’s likeness peeked out from the front of bright cotton shirts and tank tops and delicately-sewed patches, each of them printed lovingly with the image. On one, the musician turned his toward the sky, eyes half-open as he smiled. He seemed so full of life, and for a moment, it was possible to picture the old man he would have become, face joyfully etched with age. Marley, who died of cancer at 36, would have turned 81 this year.

On a nearby clothing rack, a red, screenprinted Malcolm X appeared, eyes narrowed as he leaned toward a window, one hand grasping a machine gun as his the other cautiously parted the curtains. For a moment, it was 1964 again, and both he and Marley were alive, two revolutionaries moving the world forward with their words.

For Higgins, who moved to New Haven in 2024, the designs are a way to both honor his Jamaican-born father, the late Frank Higgins, and celebrate a brand that he and his peers are building in New Haven. Growing up in Durham, North Carolina, Higgins soaked in Marley’s music “really without a choice,” learning about his easy, sometimes splintered and rising, bottomless voice through his parent’s love for each other, and for Marley’s music.

He remembered standing in his home in North Carolina as just a kid, his dad singing Marley’s “Is This Love?” to his mom as the track played in the background. “He would be like, ‘Yo, are you listening?’” Higgins remembered. “Are you listening?” He didn’t really understand what his dad meant until years later, when he heard the music with fresh, older ears and realized that Marley had mapped out a blueprint to life without capitalism, racism, and colonialism.

Fashion wasn’t really on Higgins’ radar until it was. “Like, I always wanted to look nice,” he said—but he didn’t start designing clothes until a few years ago, making mock ups on his computer. By then, he had made the move from Durham to New York, and then New York to New Haven. He met Nigel Lowndes, the child of Jamaican immigrants who grew up in the Elm City. Something clicked; it was the collaborative piece he didn’t know he was missing.

Unlike Higgins, Lowndes had always loved fashion. Part of that came from his own thriftiness: Lowndes grew up with an interest in reimagining the hand-medowns he received while growing up in Fair Haven, and a kind of know-how that gave him a knack for design. He credited Brenton Schumaker, who runs DeadBy5am out of the Henry Street arts incubator NXTHVN, and Sweets & Sounds Entertainment Founder Angel Dahfay, as two of his mentors and inspirations. “That’s who I wanna be,” he said of Dahfay.

In the spring of 2025, he and Higgins founded RNS, which operates a storefront at 97 Campbell Ave. in West Haven, hungry to collaborate with regional partners across the arts (the brand has, for instance, an upcoming fashion show at The Devil’s Gear Bike Shop). So when his colleague Isaiah Summers, a sophomore at SCSU, saw an ad for the NHSO’s concert on social media, it felt like a no brainer for the group to collaborate. Summers reached out to learn more.

“RNS is about who we are as Black people,” said Lowndes. “Everyday experiences. We started expanding it [the name] ... It can be Real New Haven Sounds, [or] Revolutionary Negro Society. Our ultimate goal is to be a resource to the community.”

He added that his own love for Marley, whose beaming face features prominently on many of the brand’s shirts and jackets, has deepened in recent years. As a music lover, he grew up with the sounds of Sister Nancy and Barington Levy, Jamaican musicians to whom he still gravitates. Then a few years ago, Lowndes heard Marley’s album Trench Town, inspired by the neighborhood in Kingston in which the musician grew up.

He could picture his dad, vibing to the music. And it touched something in his soul.

That’s the idea behind RNS too, Higgins said. “We really want to tell a story through our clothing.”

Around him, vendors and attendees alike became a testament to the breadth of the Caribbean diaspora. Candice Dormon, who runs EKOW Body out of a first-floor studio in Erector Square, took a moment to soak everything in, paying homage to her own roots while welcoming a steady flow of customers. Since opening the space in Fair Haven last year, she’s been excited to bring EKOW into new places, and soon was fielding questions around lavender and citrus-scented body butter and whipped sugar scrub as musicians unlatched instrument cases and took their seats inside.

“This feels really good!” she said. Dormon, whose mom is from Belize and whose dad is Jamaican and British, grew up listening to reggae, soca and calypso, meaning that Marley was informally in her wheelhouse before she knew the music as his. When she met and married her husband James, who is from Ghana, and became a mom, her commitment to keeping diasporic traditions alive became even stronger. “As an adult, I'm always trying to find a way to keep my kids connected,” she said.

So when she heard about the “One Love” marketplace, she was excited to get involved. While Dormon lives just blocks away from the Lyman Center in New Haven’s Beaver Hills neighborhood, she doesn’t often go to the NHSO’s con-

Tipton: "It instantly puts you in a good mood.” Matt Fried Photo, c/o New Haven Symphony Orchestra.

Nigel Lowndes, William Higgins, and Isaiah Summers. Lucy Gellman Photo.

Lucy Gellman Photo.

From the "One Live" Marketplace. Lucy Gellman Photo.

Arts Council of greater New Haven

Biking Beats Boosted

by Adele Haeg

City police Officer Daniel Declet hopped his bike up onto a curb, pivoted, then biked fast toward a camera crew in front of the Fair Haven police substation.

Just when it seemed like there would be a collision, Declet skidded to a stop, and stood up, unfazed — he was demonstrating skills picked up from his downtown biking beat. Declet is one of the department’s best bikers, some of his colleagues said.

The New Haven Police Department restarted bicycle certification classes last Monday to prepare more officers for biking beats. Declet was certified in late 2024. Last week’s 40-hour training class was the first the department has held since then. During a press conference at 295 Blatchley Ave. Wednesday, Mayor Justin Elicker and NHPD Chief David Zannelli announced that the city would be resuming regular biking and walking beats throughout the city, by certifying more officers to bike and adding more officers to those beats.

Ten more officers were certified for biking beats last week, another nine are in training now. Should they all pass, the department will have a total of 53 bike-certified officers.

Since the new police contract was signed in 2024 amidst department shortages, the department has been able to hire and retain more officers, meaning that the department can now budget for “discretionary” walking and biking beats, according to city police spokesperson Officer Christian Bruckhart. He said walking and biking beats are popular.

There have been zero homicides in the city so far this year, and eight nonfatal shootings. “I’m just really encouraged by the work that’s been going on in the city already this year,” Elicker said. “The work we are doing is something that is effective.”

With the success of the contract, the department is looking to become more proactive and build trust with New Haveners. Zannelli has been promising to bring back biking beats since before his term as chief officially began.

Fair Haven District Manager Lt. Justin Cole described a biking beat as “an

enhanced version of a walking beat” — neighbors get a “more personal approach to face-to-face policing,” he said, and officers can get around faster. Officer Brandon Bright explained that officers on bikes do not respond to as many dispatch calls as officers in patrol cars. Instead, bike routes around neighborhoods responding to complaints and “quality of life” calls. “It’s showing presence,” Bright said.

The International Mountain Biking Association administers training for New Haven police officers, a regimen that includes drills like biking up and down stairs, mak-

ing 360 degree turns on a bike, and biking from the New Haven Police Academy on Wintergreen Avenue up East Rock, through North Haven, and back, according to Bright, who was certified alongside Declet in 2024. The training was rigorous, Bright and other officers agreed. Their biking beat shifts are usually eight hours, and most of those shifts they spend on their bikes.

Bright said he often spends shifts biking routes in circles. Being outside, and not in a car, removes a barrier between police and their constituents, he said. The most challenging part of the beat is the “unpredictability of the weather,” in his opinion.

Alberto Busto and Musa Ugurlu from the Grand Avenue Special Services District were also on hand at Wednesday’s presser. They said they know Zannelli well from when he was the neighborhood district manager, and praised his work as chief so far. “We need security,” Ugurlu said before the event. He owns two businesses on Grand Avenue: Deli Gizz and the cellphone shop Turq Cell.

As funding for police initiatives has fluctuated, he said, “it’s been a roller coaster” for businesses, especially on Grand.

When there are more officers around, stopping by restaurants and getting to know neighbors, Ugurlu said, people begin to trust the police more. “Once love is there, you forgive the small stuff,” he said.

Of 392 sworn positions in the NHPD, 356 are currently filled, meaning there are 36 officer vacancies. In February 2025, when the new police contract was signed, 329 positions were filled. The department has gained 27 positions since last year.

Auditors Note 9 Deficiencies In CT Secretary of the State’s Office

by Viktoria Sundqvist

Internal controls at the Secretary of the State’s office were not sufficient to prevent payments without purchase orders, to conduct revenue reconciliations or to accurately track unearned revenue, a recent audit details.

The audit, which covered fiscal years 2023 and 2024, noted nine deficiencies in the department, seven of which were repeats from prior audits.

The Secretary of the State serves as the chief election and business registrar and is the official keeper of public records and documents in Connecticut. The office collects fees for registering businesses, certifying them and handling other commercial transactions.

Close to $57 million is collected annually.

Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas was elected to the role in November 2022 and was sworn in on Jan. 4, 2023. She took over for Denise Merrill, who resigned in June 2022. Mark Kohler served as acting secretary of the state in the fall of 2022, during part of the audit period.

When auditors reviewed payroll, they found one employee listed as FICA-exempt who was lacking any supporting documentation. This means the department failed

to withhold $12,695 in FICA taxes during the person’s 14 months of working there, which can result in penalties and fees due, auditors noted.

Due to a clerical error, the employee’s FICA status had been entered incorrectly,

overriding the default withholding settings, officials said. Auditors recommended a biweekly review and verification of FICA-exempt employees.

Department officials in their response said they reviewed all current employees coded

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as FICA-exempt immediately upon learning of the audit finding, and that the agency now has an approval process that includes new checklists and the fiscal director reviewing and approving all new hire actions to prevent further errors.

Auditors also noted that the department did not perform revenue reconciliations between its cash receipts software, its business registration system, and Core-CT during the audited period, a requirement under the State Accounting Manual. This means the department may not be properly accounting for all receipts, something that has been noted in 10 prior reports, auditors said.

Department officials said the three different systems did not align on deposit and receipt dates, but a system upgrade in late 2025 has resolved this issue and all systems can now integrate and reconcile properly.

Other issues auditors noted were incorrectly reported unearned revenues, incorrect balances on some reporting forms and delays in sending demand notices for late or missing payments.

Department officials say the updated systems and a new deposit logging system along with new supervisory review steps should fix those issues going forward.

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Lee Cruz, chair of the Fair Haven Community Management team, said having more officers on walking and biking beats helps New Haven police proactively: "We are so glad to see that there will be more police walking and riding bikes." Credit: Adele Haeg photos

The New Haven independent

Pop-Up Pasta Dinner Is “Outrageous, But In A Good Way”

by Lisa Reisman

On a recent mid-June evening, a half-dozen servers, spiffily attired in starched white shirts and bowties, threaded through picnic tables covered in white tablecloths, and Lillian Reid was asking Louis Chiarella if he’d like another soda.

“Sure,” said Chiarella, amid lively music in the temperate late-spring air outside West Haven’s Surfside Apartments.

Someone set a plate of baked ziti before him. “I could get used to this.” He grinned.

An Army veteran who served two years in Korea, Chiarella was among the 65 residents at the 254-unit public housing complex enjoying the inaugural “Pop-Up Pasta Dinner in Our Parks.” Newhallville Fresh Starts, of which Reid is a team member, hosted the event.

For the past year, Fresh Starts — which delivers food to homeless shelters and warming centers from the excess dining hall meals of area universities, and donations of food pantries and restaurants — has been serving upwards of 60 meals to Surfside veterans and residents each Monday and Friday.

To hear Fresh Starts founder Marcus Harvin tell it, the pop-up dinner initiative, which seeks to bring people at public parks together throughout the summer for “delicious pasta, warm service, and stronger community connections,” broadens the nonprofit’s principal aim of ensuring no one goes hungry.

“We came out here today to serve those who have been of service to us,” Harvin told the residents, as he gestured to mem-

bers of his team; because of logistical challenges in New Haven, the first iteration of the initiative landed at Surfside.

“Far too often those who deserve to be honored go without honor, and are left to struggle.”

To properly honor them, “you have to serve them literally,” he said later, referring to the nonprofit’s “Dinner and a Mov-

ie” nights where’s he’s watched the residents at a women’s shelter being served dinner. “Their posture just straightened up,” he said. “It was like you could see the dignity being infused, and that’s part of Fresh Starts’ mission, to make people feel like people and not like charity, to make them feel like they’re getting a hand up, not a handout.”

Harvin said he scheduled the inaugural picnic dinner to coincide with his maternal grandmother’s birthday. Sally Mae Harvin, who died in 2021, served as a social worker for the Department of Social Service for 23 years, connecting vulnerable individuals with food assistance, housing, and healthcare.

“Everything that I do—we do—is an

extension of the role she occupied and of the advice and instruction she gave me as I was growing up,” Harvin said. Under a white tent, Gwen Burke was spooning baked ziti onto a plate, adding a piece of garlic bread, and handing it off to team member Cass Cardoba; the ziti, as well as salad and bread, came from La Cucina in North Branford. Da Legna at Nolo donated several trays of penne.

“That’s a meat one,” she said, as he hurried out. She filled another plate with a helping of baked ziti. Another server took it. “There’s so many people in need and this shows them we’re here.”

Seated by himself at a picnic table, Jimmy Buccilli was sampling the penne. “This is nice,” he said, as a few residents got up to sway to Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature.” “Normally I just take something out of the freezer.”

“Look,” said a man who identified himself as WB at the next table, displaying that he had cleaned his plate. “This is outrageous, but in a good way. This is restoring my faith in humanity.”

By then, the volunteers were clearing the plates and distributing cupcakes. “Turn it up Marcus,” a woman called out as she and two other residents boogied to the Electric Slide, referring to DJ Marc Mecca, a.k.a. Marcus Carpenter, the good vibes crescendoing.

“We gotta do this again,” she said, a bit breathless, to one of the servers. “You gonna come back soon?”

Deported Mother Sues Over “Traumatic” ICE Arrest

by Mona Mahadevan

New Haven independent

One year and six days after masked federal immigration agents detained Nancy Martinez in front of her kids in the Hill, Martinez has filed a lawsuit seeking redress for the trauma caused by that arrest. That legal complaint was filed in federal court and announced on Monday by the Yale Law School’s Worker and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic.

“It pains me to know I cannot give my daughter a hug after she walks across the stage or help with her hair on her milestone birthday [quinceanera],” Martinez said through a translator on Zoom on Monday.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Mayor Justin Elicker, and National Immigration Law Center President Kica Matos were among the speakers at Monday’s press conference, which took place in a Yale Law School classroom.

On June 9, 2025, Martinez — who was 37 at the time — was detained while taking her 13-year-old daughter Monse and 8-year-old son to school.

According to Michael Wishnie, a law professor and the plaintiff’s supervising attorney, she spent around a month in immigration detention before being deported to Mexico City.

Martinez, who is originally from Mexico, has lived in the U.S. for 15 years. On Monday, she recounted the June 2025 arrest outside of her Hill home.

Moments after her kids buckled their seatbelts, masked federal agents surrounded her car and placed her in “tight handcuffs,” said Martinez. She was placed in the back of a vehicle. She only understood that she was being deported when an agent motioned a plane taking off with his hands.

“Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw looking out the window,” she said through a translator. Monse and her brother were clinging to each other and sobbing, “crying out for me as I got farther and farther away.”

The complaint, filed in Connecticut’s U.S. District Court, alleges that her son has transformed from a “bubbly child” into a nine-year-old who regularly interrupts class with sobs. Monse, now 14, has become “a shell of herself, uncharacteristically irritable, reticent, and withdrawn.” Martinez herself has started taking antidepressants and sleep medication to cope with being separated from her children.

The lawsuit seeks redress from the United States “for the abusive manner in which the agents abducted Ms. Martinez off the street, the terror and trauma they inflicted

on her family, and the reckless disregard the agents demonstrated for her and her children.”

The plaintiffs also claim that the agents employed “scare tactics” with the intention of intimidating Martinez and other migrants. They cite quotes from President Donald Trump, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem to show that federal agencies aim to “create

an atmosphere of fear” that discourages migrants from asserting their legal rights.

The complaint also says ICE targeted New Haven to “punish” the city for being a sanctuary jurisdiction.

“One second she was standing next to me.

The next second agents were taking her away,” Monse said during Monday’s press conference. She teared up as she spoke about how her brother has been affected by their mother’s deportation. “He is constant-

ly scared, and he never wants to leave my side,” she said.

“The administration said it was gonna be deporting the worst of the worst,” Blumenthal said. “Nancy Martinez did everything right. ICE did everything wrong.” DHS did not respond to requests for comment by the publication time of this article about why masked agents forcibly detained Martinez instead of issuing a notice to surrender for deportation.

Martinez had been attending state court hearings in the months prior to her arrest, according to the complaint. In March 2025, she was arrested by city police and charged with Assault in the Third Degree and Breach of Peace in the Second Degree following an altercation with her sister-inlaw over a babysitting dispute. According to the lawsuit, the state dropped all charges in exchange for Martinez attending anger management classes, which she began on May 12, 2025.

“Monse, you are a badass. Your courage, both when it came to fighting for your mom and protecting your brother, is nothing short of remarkable,” Matos told Martinez’s daughter on Monday. “Arresting a mother in front of her children and leaving [them] along on the street — that is not law enforcement. That is cruelty in uniform.”

Newhallville Fresh Starts team members, from left, Cass Cardoba, Talia Cardoba, Diamond Harvin, Lillian Reid, Gwen Burke, Michelle Brown, Marcus Harvin,

Quamayne Lloyd, Leon Joyner, Adam Rawlings, and Babatunde Akinjobi. Credit: Lisa Reisman photo

The

Nancy Martinez (right), speaking via Zoom from Mexico City: "Even if we don't have papers, we have rights." Credit: MONA MAHADEVAN PHOTO

The New Haven independent

Your Health. Your Strength.

Men’s Health

Awareness

Saturday, June 27, 2026

Rain or shine

Dixwell Community Q-House

197 Dixwell Ave., New Haven, CT

Community Walk check-in: 9 am

Walk begins: 10:15 am

Health expo: 11 am – 2 pm

Access low-or no-cost weatherization plus additional energy-saving improvements.

Free food and parking, and giveaways.

For more information, please email YNHHCommunityImpact@ynhh.org.

To schedule an appointment for a hernia screening, visit ynhhs.org/events and search “hernia.”

Call (475) 255-2143 or go to ne-smartenergy.com/newhaven

Interesado en la eficiencia de energia? llama numero (475) 255-2143

• Burial Lots (infant, single, two-grave, or four-grave)

• Monuments & Markers (black, gray, or pink granite)

• Flower placement (single or multiple placement)

• Cremation (Choose to be cremated at Evergreen.)

• Columbarium in the Most Beautiful Cremation Garden

• All orders can be placed at the Evergreen office or the website.

or evergreencem.org

With a Three-Day Community Celebration Across Greater Hartford

The Amistad Center Celebrates 35 Years of Juneteenth

The Amistad Center for Art & Culture invites the public to join its 35th annual Juneteenth Celebration Series, a three-day commemoration honoring freedom, resilience, culture, and community through family activities, live performances, wellness experiences, history, art, and fellowship.

As Connecticut's premier African American museum and cultural center, The Amistad Center continues its longstanding tradition of celebrating Juneteenth—the oldest nationally recognized commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States—through programs that educate, inspire, and unite thousands of participants from across the region.

This year's celebration includes three signature events:

Juneteenth Family Day

Saturday, June 13, 2026 | 12:00–4:00

PM | Free The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art | 600 Main Street, Hartford, CT 06103

Families are invited to enjoy a free afternoon of hands-on artmaking, cultural demonstrations, wellness activities, live entertainment, and interactive learning experiences for all ages. A vibrant cultural festival for families and youth centered around exhibitions, Wendel A. White | Manifest: Thirteen Colonies and Framing American Democracy: Rebel |

Revolt | Resist, which highlight the essential role African American history plays in the evolution of American democracy. Artistic vendors, workshops, and activities, including a community collage and an inclusive sensory-friendly art-making station. Dance with our AfroHours silent disco and take part in whole-self wellness initiatives, including sound bath meditation, chair massages, and yoga. Participate in activities that connect the contemporary community to the meaning and history of Juneteenth, and enjoy interactive programming for all ages. With a sensory-friendly viewing of the 2014 film Annie at 11 a.m., all other festivities begin at 12 noon.

35th Juneteenth Jubilee Celebration

Friday, June 19, 2026

The Amistad Center & Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

The Juneteenth Jubilee serves as The Amistad Center's premier annual fundraising celebration and cultural gathering. Guests will enjoy an evening of music, dancing, food, fellowship, and inspiration while supporting educational programs, exhibitions, and community initiatives that serve thousands throughout Connecticut each year. The event celebrates Black excellence, cultural achievement, and the ongoing pursuit of freedom and

opportunity.

Go to onecau.se/AmistadJuneteenth to sponsor the program or get tickets while they last.

Bridging Freedom: Juneteenth Community Celebration

Saturday, June 20, 2026

Mortensen Riverfront Plaza & Great River Park

In partnership with the Cities of Hartford, East Hartford, and West Hartford, The Amistad Center will help bring the community together for a free regional celebration along the Connecticut River. Featuring live entertainment, cultural performances, food vendors, community organizations, family activities, and opportunities for reflection and connection, Bridging Freedom embodies the spirit of Juneteenth by bringing diverse communities together across geographic and cul-

tural boundaries.

"Juneteenth is more than a historical commemoration—it is an opportunity to celebrate resilience, reflect on our collective journey, and imagine a more just and equitable future," said Rodneyna M. O. Hart, MBA, Interim Executive Director of The Amistad Center for Art & Culture. "For 35 years, The Amistad Center has provided a space where community members can gather to honor the legacy of those who fought for freedom while celebrating the creativity, achievements, and cultural contributions of people of African descent. We invite everyone to join us for this important celebration."

The 2026 Juneteenth Celebration Series aligns with The Amistad Center's mission to honor, preserve, and celebrate the art and cultural contributions of people of African descent while fostering education, dialogue, and community engagement.

Proceeds from the Juneteenth Jubilee support year-round exhibitions, educational initiatives, youth programs, artist engagements, and community partnerships that advance The Amistad Center's work throughout Connecticut and beyond.

For tickets, event details, sponsorship opportunities, or volunteer information, visit www.amistadcenter.org or contact The Amistad Center at (860) 838-4089

Free Bus Fares

them.

Free fares don’t aid his students, which is why Donald said he is focused on careful evaluation of outcomes from the change.

“You can give the city of Bridgeport 21,000 bus passes,” he said, “but does chronic absenteeism go down? Does truancy go down? Is there growth with a certain section of students?”

With a new school year only a few months away, he said he’d watch for ridership data to assess the impact of the free bus fare funding. In the meantime, Donald said he’s keeping in mind that reducing transportation costs for disconnected youth won’t solve all the problems.

“I think transportation is part of a much larger issue,” Donald said. “If we continue to try and address [disconnected youth] by a piecemeal effort or one-off that we think is going to work, without coordinating all the interventions, I don’t see us making much progress. And I am optimistic that we can do it as long as we’re evaluating what works, and stopping putting money in things that don’t work, quite frankly.”

Daughter Of Immigrant And Entrepreneur Nominated To Be First African-American Woman On State Supreme Court

by Donald Eng

HARTFORD, CT — The daughter of an entrepreneur and an immigrant is in line to be the first African-American woman ever to serve on the state Supreme Court.

Melanie Cradle, the chief judge of the state Appellate Court, was nominated by Gov. Ned Lamont Monday to fill a forthcoming vacancy for an associate justice position on the state Supreme Court. Lamont also nominated Superior Court Judge Glen Pierson to fill Cradle’s anticipated vacancy on the Appellate Court. The nominations must be confirmed by the state legislature.

“The responsibility of nominating judges to our courts is one that I take very seriously because these individuals are the final arbiters of justice, and we want people serving in these positions who respect the rule of law, understand the importance of our Constitution, and display a strong commitment to ensuring justice is administered fairly, equitably, and without prejudice,” Lamont said.

Lamont called the nomination of an African-American woman to the state’s highest court “a historic and long-overdue step in the right direction.” He called her an ideal candidate that brings high standards

that state residents deserve.

Cradle’s experience includes seven years as a Superior Court judge in the Bridgeport and New Haven districts, before being nominated the the Appellate Court in 2020. Chief Justice Raheem Mullins named Cradle chief judge of the Appellate Court last year.

Before becoming a judge, she was a senior assistant state’s attorney for the Ansonia/Milford Judicial District. She also served as an assistant state’s attorney in the New Haven Geographical Area courthouse.

She holds undergraduate degrees in anthropology and sociology from Adelphi University and a law degree from Seton Hall.

Pierson has served on the Superior Court since 2017 and is currently assigned to the complex cases docket in Waterbury. Prior to that he spent 17 years as a principal attorney at Loughlin FitzGerald, PC in Wallingford, focusing on civil litigation. He holds a degree in politics from Princeton and a law degree from Georgetown. “If confirmed, I look forward to continue serving the people of our great state by working tirelessly in the pursuit of equal justice under law,” he said.

Juneteenth

Melanie Cradle speaks after being nominated to the State Supreme Court on Monday, June 15, 2026 at the State Capitol in Hartford, CT. Credit: Donald Eng / CTNewsJunkie

U.S. Men's National Team Names its Roster for World Cup 2026

By BlackPressUSA Newswire

By Julia Fosah | Morgan State University

NEW YORK – Now we know.

The wait is officially over as the U.S. men’s national team revealed its 2026 FIFA World Cup roster on Tuesday afternoon during a fan celebration at The Rooftop at Pier 17 live on Fox Sports. After weeks of rumors, speculation and even leaked reports online to multiple outlets, fans finally received confirmation on who will represent the United States at home on soccer’s biggest stage.

National teams participating in the World Cup must submit their final 26-player rosters by June 1, with FIFA officially confirming and publishing the lists on June 2.

Twenty-five of the 26 players attended the roster reveal event, with defender Chris Richards absent while training with Crystal Palace ahead of the UEFA Conference League final. Richards reportedly suffered two torn ankle ligaments, putting his World Cup status into question but is expected to play when the World Cup starts June 11.

This event was meant to appeal to fans preparing for a World Cup tournament staged on U.S. soil for the first time since 1994.

Walking throughout Pier 17, fans were catered to with momentos, a festive enviornment and opportunities to create memories. There were photo booths and soccer stations. The main stage was set on the rooftop, replete with free activations, a live D.J. and a hype woman to boost the energy.

During the actual reveal, players were called up one by one to show off their jerseys before standing side by side together. Immediately after, Atlanta rapper Gunna came out to perform one of his hit songs.

The day's events appealed to fans sweating on a hot rooftop waiting to greet players and standing though a heavily produced television show by FOX Sports. Players were finally introduced through smoke plumes on stage.

In a press conference following the celebration, USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino spoke about the process of officially selecting the players for this 2026 team.

He mulled over the decision until the end.

“I think it was the day before–the day before I announced the roster–because we had all the information over the last few weeks and were working on different things,” Pochettino said. “Then the last day… at the very last moment, we decided.”

“We had an idea. It’s not that we changed 20 players, but I think we were watching, analyzing and assessing every situation, and we decided on the 26 players on the roster.”

Notable players such as midfielders Diego Luna and Tanner Tessmann were

left off the final roster. When asked about players who did not make the squad, Pochettino declined to comment.

“I think we cannot talk about the players who are not on the roster because I think it’s very disrespectful to the players who made the roster,” he said. “If we are going to talk about the players who are not on the roster, then we also have to ask which players should not be on the roster.”

The roster mixes familiar faces with new talent. Thirteen players return from the 2022 World Cup squad that reached the Round of 16 in Qatar, while the rest are preparing for their first World Cup appearance.

Returning midfielder Tyler Adams reflected on having the roster revealed in New York, where he spent much of his childhood playing soccer.

“I spent a lot of time in the city growing up, just playing in the best tournaments I could find,” he said. “It feels like everything has kind of come full circle. Having a roster announcement in your home state, where you have friends and family coming to an event like this, is really, really special.”

This year’s roster also highlights the growing influence of Black athletes within American soccer. Thirteen Black players made the 2026 squad, one more than the 2022 World Cup team.

According to For Soccer, a 2025 study found that 18 million Black Americans have at least some interest in soccer. More than half of Black soccer fans are between 18 and 34 years old, with especially strong interest among Gen Z audiences.

“It’s definitely a reason to be proud–to back those guys,” said Kevin Young, lifelong soccer fan who attended the event. “I think there should be more initiatives in the country to bring soccer and let kids know that soccer exists and the opportunities it can provide.”

With the World Cup taking place in 11 major American cities and a younger, predominantly Black core helping lead the national team, many fans believe this tournament could become a major turning point for soccer’s popularity within Black communities across the country.

“One thing I really like about the Black players on the team, outside of representation, is that they’re playing abroad,” said Qiana Martin, founder of Eat Soccer and a senior soccer coach in New York City.

“Soccer is a global sport, and it is really important for as many players of color–particularly Black players of color–to get into the sport because it is literally a global passport to communicate with the rest of the world.”

The USMNT will travel to its training location in Fayetteville, GA, for the next few days ahead of its second-to-last international friendly against Senegal national football team on May 31 in Charlotte, N.C., before its first World Cup match against Paraguay national football team on June 12 at SoFi Stadium.

“World Cup Village” Opens Downtown

by Adele Haeg

Hector Chaidez, wearing a green Mexico jersey, sat in Pitkin Plaza Thursday afternoon watching the first game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, keeping his eyes on one player in particular.

“I’m a Chivas fan, so I really like Mexico’s goalkeeper, Tala Rangel,” said Chaidez, who is originally from Mexico and played goalie as a kid. His favorite player on Mexico’s World Cup team, Raúl ‘Tala’ Rangel, is also on the Mexican Liga MX club Guadalajara.

Nine minutes into the match, Mexico scored and the 145 Orange St. plaza exploded with cheers — there were many more red and green jerseys for the North American World Cup host nation than there were for its opponent, South Africa. “For me, soccer is a very important part of my culture and my lived experience,” Chaidez said. “This is a very special event.”

Every day from Thursday afternoon’s opening match until the World Cup final on July 19, Town Green District and Trinity Bar plan to screen games — which are being played in host nations Mexico, the United States, and Canada — outside on Pitkin Plaza and at the bar, a monthlong “World Cup Village” event for which nearby restaurants are offering take-out discounts. Francesca Vignola, Director

of Marketing and Events for Town Green District, promised: “If two people come or 350, we’ll be here.”

Cousins Victor Tepi and Javier Hernandez drove from Waterbury Thursday to watch the game on the large screen set up in Pitkin Plaza. They’re optimistic about Mexico’s chances for the tournament, although the team is not favored to advance very far. “That sense of, ‘We’re Mexican, we can do it,’” said Tepi, “you’ve got to carry that, even if you have doubts in your team.” Tepi and Hernandez were excited Mexico was playing the World Cup opener, too. “We set the tone for the tournament.”

Jaden Parra thinks Mexico will make it to the quarterfinals and no further, he said, which his friend Isaac Saldame shook his head at, not so sure he agreed with Parra. “Their chances get better every year,” Saldame insisted. Parra is more hopeful about Ecuador’s squad.

Although Vignola is not much of a soccer fan herself, she said she’s “super happy” to be hosting the event — it will keep Town Green District staff busy until the final match on July 19. Trinity Bar owners Shane Carty and John Greco wait years for the business World Cup matches bring, they said. Pitkin Plaza is “the perfect place” for the screenings, Vignola said. “There is a capacity,” she said, but people will squeeze in if they have to. Carty does not care too much about the tournament, because his team Ireland did not qualify, but he said screening games will help the bar out during the “dead months” of June and July. For business, Carty said, “this is fucking great.” Trinity also hosts watch parties for other soccer tournaments like the UEFA European Championship and Copa América, which features South American teams, but the World Cup is far more popular.

Before this year’s tournament — which 48 teams are participating in, up from the usual 32 in the 2022 competition — there has been controversy over exorbitant World Cup ticket prices. Although games are showing as nearby as at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, almost everyone who came to the first match plans to keep up with the tournament from Pitkin Plaza, or home.

But Herky Cedillo, who cheered for Mexico on Thursday and is going for Ecuador in the tournament overall, was lucky enough to get tickets to a game between Ecuador and Germany at MetLife in a few weeks. “It’s a dream come true watching the World Cup,” at home in New Haven and nearby New Jersey, Cedillo said.

At the 2010 World Cup, Mexico and South Africa also played the opening match of the tournament. Brother and sister Danny and Kat Gomez said they think the repeat match-up is a “sign,” adding that they were excited the opening match featured Mexico, playing in Mexico City. Mexico tied South Africa 1-1 in the 2010 opener. But the first match of this year’s tournament, they won: 2-0.

Tatiana Ceballos (right) and her son Mateo Cardozo cheered for Mexico in their first match Thursday, but Mateo wants Portugal to go all the way: "I respect Messi, but Ronaldo's my favorite," he said. Credit: Adele Haeg photos

Cousins Javier Hernandez (left) and Victor Tepi (right) wore Mexico jerseys to Thursday’s watch party.

Soccer fans and neighbors congregated in Pitkin Plaza to watch the first match of this year’s World Cup; organizers only expect more people for the United States’ first game Friday night.

The New Haven independent

A Cheeky American Weekend

by Lary Bloom

Saturday Night, June 13

By 7:30 p.m., Battell Chapel had reached its customary summer swelter. The audience fanned itself with programs. Collars were loosened. Brows were dabbed. It was, after all, a 150-year-old building that remains one of Yale’s architectural treasures and one of New Haven’s most reliable hotboxes.

On this particular evening, however, “hotbox” carried a second meaning.

The Greater New Haven Community Chorus, in its 61st year, had assembled an ambitious program celebrating America’s immigrant heritage. Given that our self-described “Welcome City” has lately found itself in the crosshairs of the U.S. Department of Justice for the supposed offense of treating vulnerable human beings with dignity, the concert felt less like entertainment than a spirited reply.

In that sense, it was both necessary and more than a little impudent. The evening moved through familiar and lesser-known works that chronicled the nation’s long, complicated history of newcomers seeking a place at the table. The most recognizable words belonged, of course, to Emma Lazarus, whose poem inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty was set to music by Irving Berlin, himself an immigrant:

Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…

The lines have become so familiar that they risk becoming invisible. Yet heard in a crowded chapel on a warm June evening, they regained their force.

The chorus’s artistic director, Alysoun Kegel, pointed to another feature of the Statue of Liberty that is often overlooked. As Dave Eggers notes in his book Her Right Foot, Lady Liberty is not standing still. She is depicted in motion, one foot stepping forward. She is still walking.

The image lingered as the concert unfolded.

At one point sirens echoed along College Street. In the current climate, it was impossible not to wonder, if only for a moment, whether someone had decided that a chorus celebrating immigrants posed a threat to national security.

Fortunately, the only assault taking place was musical.

Among the evening’s highlights was Lorre Wyatt’s rhythmic “Somos El Barco” (“We Are the Boat”), whose refrain transformed the audience from spectators into fellow travelers. By evening’s

end, those gathered in Battell Chapel left with something increasingly difficult to sustain in modern America: a measure of hope.

Sunday Morning, June 14

West Haven’s terminal was awash in Puerto Rican flags. They fluttered from backpacks, hats, jackets and shoulders as travelers boarded Metro-North trains bound for Manhattan and the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade. The celebration has become one of the largest cultural events in the United States, and judging by the crowds, this year’s version would be no exception.

Suzanne and I were headed to New York for another purpose entirely. We had tickets to see the much-praised Broadway revival of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. But for a while we found ourselves swept into the parade-bound enthusiasm.

There were families spanning three generations, teenagers dressed in dazzling red, white and blue, and smiling travelers eager to celebrate the heritage

of a U.S. territory that has contributed enormously to American life while often receiving less than full American respect in return, including a presidential assessment: “An island of floating garbage.”

What we failed to appreciate was how thoroughly the parade would overtake Manhattan.

After arriving at Grand Central, we attempted the relatively modest walk to Joe Allen’s, the longtime theater district restaurant. Instead, we spent nearly ninety minutes navigating around parade crowds, barriers and detours — a challenge made more adventurous by our advancing years. By the time we arrived, we were exhausted.

Fortunately, Joe Allen’s greeted us warmly and seated us at what appeared to be the very same table we had occupied on a previous visit. That memory was notable because Billy Bush and his family had been seated across from us. Yes, that Billy Bush. The same Billy Bush whose inadvertent contribution to presidential history remains among the

The tragedy, after all, is not simply about one failed salesman. It is about illusion, self-deception, family secrets, economic insecurity and a society that too often measures human worth by commercial success.

Miller reportedly considered calling the play Inside His Head, which may be the most accurate description of what unfolds. We watch a man trapped inside a story he has spent decades telling himself.

The play feels especially timely today. Americans confront widening economic inequality, anxieties about job security, and the unsettling possibility that artificial intelligence may soon replace work once thought indispensable.

Seventy-seven years later, Miller’s questions remain stubbornly unresolved.

As one friend once described her husband’s reaction to the play’s conclusion: “He had to be scraped off the floor.” I understood exactly what she meant. Leaving the theater, I felt both exhilarated and saddened.

This, too, is America.

On our walk back toward Grand Central, we encountered a family of four wearing New York Knicks jerseys. One parent appeared to be of Asian heritage, the other European. Their children, perhaps eight and six years old, carried themselves with the confidence of young fans whose team had just delivered a thrilling victory.

As I often do, I accosted the children. “So,” I asked them, “what positions did you play in last night’s game?”

more regrettable recordings ever made, considering the emergence of a political candidate’s pussy reference.

History has treated the two participants in that conversation rather differently.

One turned the oval office into a cash machine. The other became a podcaster.

Sunday Afternoon, June 14

I was about to ask the host at Joe Allen’s about the best way to get to the Winter Garden Theater, but I was afraid he would answer, “Audition, audition, audition.”

Our seats were in Row R — comfortably distant from the stage and considerably less expensive than the prime locations that currently command sums approaching $500 per person.

We were far enough away, in any case, to eliminate any danger of Nathan Lane’s perspiration landing on us during his astonishing performance as Willy Loman.

Death of a Salesman has been revived repeatedly since its premiere in 1949, and each generation discovers anew how contemporary it feels.

They instantly recognized the joke and laughed. We exchanged smiles and continued on our separate ways.

Yet I found myself thinking about them long afterward.

Over the course of a single weekend, I had listened to immigrants celebrated in song, watched thousands of Puerto Ricans claim Fifth Avenue as their own, sat through Arthur Miller’s enduring examination of the American dream, and encountered two young basketball fans who seemed blissfully unconcerned with the categories adults use to divide one another.

None of these experiences solved our national problems.

But together they offered a reminder that America remains a work in progress — much like the Statue of Liberty herself, still striding forward. Not finished with her work. And neither are we.

Among the revellers who caught a Metro-North train to Manhattan to watch the Puerto Rican Day Parade. Credit: Lary Bloom photo

The New Haven independent

New Haven Feels

certs (she did have high praise for the organization’s annual holiday extravaganza, to which she took her boys last year). As new customers—and some EKOW Body faithfuls—surrounded the table, she wove the symphony pop-up into her journey from early childhood educator to small business owner, personal trainer and line dancing teacher.

“It was just one of those things I didn’t think was possible,” she said of the growth of her business. “And the universe conspired to make it happen.”

As she buzzed from one vendor to another, Smith-Holness savored the moment too, already buzzing with energy a good 45 minutes before the music had started. While pausing for hugs gevery few minutes—everyone seemed to know her, and she knew everyone—she stopped by Lakay Cuisine, a blend of Jamaican and Haitian cooking that sells spicy, vinegary pikliz and gem-colored épis, a seasoning blend of vegetables and spices that can become a foundation for meals.

Lakay owner Leticia Jarrett, whose husband is Haitian, started the business as a meal service in 2020 (she also does natural hair braiding), and has watched it grow from there, traveling in both Connecticut and Massachusetts to get the word out about her products. As the child of two Jamaican immigrants, Jarrett pointed to the motto for the business, “One Love,” as an homage to Marley’s impact and legacy. For her, it also dovetails with Haiti’s motto, “L’union fait la force!” showing how much continuity there is between the cultures.

“I love being here!” Jarrett said. “I love community.”

Inside a nearly-full auditorium, that sense of community radiated from the stage to the rows and rows of attendees, their faces aglow with purple light. On a screen behind the orchestra, the word “Roots” flashed brightly in all capital letters, musicians sweeping onto the stage to cheers and applause. Somewhere in the mix, violists Marvin and Carol Warshaw prepared to say goodbye to a group that they’ve called home for decades, a dedication for which they received their literal flowers. After comments, Tipton raised his hands, and musicians began.

At first, it took musicians a moment to find their musical footing, the sound in lockstep with the symphony, but somehow momentarily distant from it too. And then, something clicked. Brass and strings rose up gently to meet Songbird’s vocals, with layers of honeyed sound that bloomed across the space. From the stage, she was radiant, in a blue dress patterned with pink flowers that seemed to climb towards the ceiling.

She exhaled, and began to move in a way that let the audience know she was feeling the music from her head to her feet. And around her, every musician on stage followed suit. By Marley’s 1977

Con’t on www.theinnercitynews

Community Leaders Honored At Annual Freddy Fixer Gala

by Lisa Reisman

Newhallville’s Fred Christmas is the kind of neighbor known for rolling up his sleeves and jumping into any problem posed to him, and if he can’t, finding someone who can. He can’t abide people being hungry or cold, or babies going without diapers. And he recognizes the civic pride that can come from well-maintained neighborhoods, working with businesses on Dixwell to make sure their sidewalks and storefronts are clean.

So it seemed fitting that the community activist, local organizer and businessman was honored with a Community Service Award at the 8th annual Freddy Fixer award gala last Friday night at Anthony’s Ocean View. The annual parade grew around a broom that community activist Edward Grant used to clean up Dixwell Avenue in 1962; the name Freddy Fixer is a riff on Dr. Fred Smith, Grant’s comrade in community-rousing.

“I’m from here, I know what we need, and I’m passionate about trying to get us where we need to be,” Christmas, a native New Havener who grew up in the Elm Haven projects, told the New Haven Independent in 2023. (With the exception of Man of the Year Ray V. Boyd, there were no speeches by award winners Friday.)

The practice of going above and beyond was, it seemed, the unofficial theme at the gala, which was emceed by Levon “Majesty” Whitaker, with DJ Too Much spinning tunes that kept the spirits high and the energy pulsing through the dressed-to-the-nines crowd of 400 throughout the evening.

As the founder of the Total Joy Are You (TJAY) Autism Foundation, Tracey Foskey accepted the Trailblazer Award. Foskey, a social worker, started the group in 2015 amid the behavioral challenges of her son TJay, who was diagnosed with autism at 3. As a throng of well-wishers snapped photos, TJay, who’s now 21 and an entrepreneur with a business, The Motivation Collection, appeared beside her, beaming.

“This award belongs to my son, TJay, my inspiration, my purpose, and the reason the Total Joy Are You (TJAY) Autism Foundation was born,” Foskey, who plans to attend law school, wrote on Instagram after the event. “Because of you, I found my voice. Because of you, I found purpose in advocacy and service. Because of you, I learned that challenges do not define us. Love, faith, and perseverance do.”

Samantha Myers-Galberth, long-time co-owner of Whalley Avenue’s Style 2000 Beauty Salon and Community Service Award winner, was honored for quietly providing complimentary hairstyling services to women’s shelters, detox centers, and local high school

students getting ready for prom while affording a sanctuary for her clients.

“The ladies [of Style 2000] are pillars of the community,” a customer told the New Haven Independent in 2025.

In late 2022, Celeste Coleman, recipient of the gala’s Business Award, founded Connecticut Balloons, a luxury balloon design company that transforms “ordinary spaces into extraordinary experiences.” Its success, with gigs that range from a recent nurse-pinning ceremony at Gateway to weddings to landmark birthdays to prom send-offs, led her to create The Balloon Blueprint, an educational balloon experience designed to empower aspiring entrepreneurs “to turn their talent into income and their ideas into ownership.”

“You belong in every room you enter, even the ones you weren’t invited into,” she recently wrote on Facebook.

“And if there’s space for you at that table, walk in confidently and make room for others too. Keep your head up. The work will always speak for itself.”

Woman of Inspiration Award winner Shay Taylor-Allen, having watched doctors at Yale New Haven Hospital attributing her mother’s health issues to mental illness, grew determined to do something about it. As it happened, she was mopping floors at that same hospital full-time while taking steps toward medical school, which she followed through to an incoming anesthesiology residency at Yale.

“I read all these studies about how doctors don’t hear Black women or see their pain,” she told the New Haven Independent last November. “I want to be in a position to help people like my

mom.”

Honoree Lindy Lee Gold grew up in a Jewish family, absorbing from her father the principle of “tikkun olam,” which means repair the world.

Her philanthropy has included M.A.T.C.H., which creates pathways to careers in manufacturing for individuals with barriers to gainful employment; the Women in Business program at SCSU, which offers networking, etiquette lunches, and one-on-one coaching for female business students; and most recently a new delivery vehicle for Sanctuary Kitchen, which provides culinary training and professional development for immigrant and refugee chefs.

“Everything I’ve tried to do has been to promote self-esteem,” she told News at Southern in 2024. “I think self-esteem is the cornerstone for a successful career and a successful life.”

Jacob C. Padrón, artistic director of Long Wharf Theatre, celebrated his Arts and Culture Award by dancing the salsa with Freddy Fixer President Reese L. McLeod.

In 2023, Padrón took the momentous step of leaving Long Wharf’s physical building and recreating it as an “itinerant” theater, recognizing that storytelling in theater doesn’t just have the power to bring people together; it can happen anywhere.

That’s consistent with his programming, which reflects the full breadth of New Haven’s people and stories. “We are committed to building a theater that belong to all people who call this city their home,” he told the Independent in May 2022.

Man of the Year Ray V. Boyd, who was released from the Connecticut Department of Correction after being incarcerated at 19, spent his three decades of incarceration remaking himself into a force for change, co-founding, among other initiatives, the T.R.U.E. Re-entry Program, which has older inmates serving life sentences acting as mentors to younger offenders, to break cycles of violence and learn practical life skills.

With his wife Jacqueline James, Boyd — the author of “The Model Inmate” and program manager at the Law and Racial Justice Center at the Yale Law School — has helped transform James’s childhood home into a transitional home for people re-entering society through their nonprofit, Next Level Empowerment Program, which is focused on providing resources for formerly incarcerated people and their families.

“Speech, speech,” partygoers called out to Boyd when his name was announced. “I’m not big on big public displays of myself, but this is our life’s work, and this means a lot,” he said to cheers and applause.

Man of the Year Ray V. Boyd, with wife Jacqueline, addressing crowd at last Friday's Freddy Fixer gala.

Shay Taylor-Allen.

TJay Wylie with award winner Tracey Foskey.

The New Haven independent

By courtesy of HBCUNews.com

BOSTON — A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Friday to reinstall exhibits and signs on topics like slavery and climate change that it had removed from parks and monuments nationwide because they “do not align with its preferred narrative.”

U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley in Boston issued a preliminary injunction at the behest of groups representing park conservationists, historians and scientists, who argued that the U.S. Department of the Interior has been engaged in a “sustained campaign to erase history and undermine science.”

Removing these signs not only undermines “the integrity of the National Parks; it sets a dangerous precedent of censorship and sanitization,” Kelley said. Kelley said she was ordering the government to restore the signs within 21 days, “by the 250th anniversary to properly honor the remarkable achievements of the United States.”

Attorneys for the plaintiffs — the National Parks Conservation Association, American Association for State and Local History and four other groups — did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did an Interior Department spokesperson.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 targeting what he called a “revisionist movement” that portrayed the U.S. as “inherently rac-

ist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.”

Trump’s order directed the Interior Department to make changes to parks, monuments and memorials to address any “false revision of history” that the White House said had occurred in recent years.

The plaintiffs had argued that the Interior Department was removing signs and exhibits from parks in violation of con-

gressional mandates governing how more than 430 national park sites should be operated, and had adopted an unlawful policy lacking any reasoned explanation for why various signs and exhibits must be removed.

An Interior Department spokesperson previously said the policy required the country’s parks to “tell the full and accurate story of American history.”

Take me, take me, take me . . . to the Palace of love through september 13, 2026

britishart.yale.edu @yalebritishart 1080 Chapel Street New Haven, CT 06520

Rina Banerjee, Take me, take me, take me . . . to the Palace of love 2003, plastic, antique Anglo-Indian Bombay dark wood chair, steel and copper framework, floral picks, foam balls, cowrie shells, quilting pins, red colored moss, antique stone globe, glass, synthetic fabric, shells, fake birds, Yale Center for British Art, purchased through the generosity of Allison K. and Larry Berg; Laura and James Duncan, Yale BA 1975; Adam R. Rose, Yale BA 1981 and Peter R. McQuillan; and Yale University Art Gallery, Heinz Family Fund © The Artist. Photo: Richard Caspole

COMMENTARY: Black Alliance for Just Immigration Supports Black Voting Rights!

By normanrich | Oakland Post

The Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI) condemns the continued gutting of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and the broader assault on Black political power unfolding across the United States.

Black immigrants in the United States — whether citizens or not — share a common condition with Black Americans. Our ability to access housing, healthcare, education, labor protections, safety, and political representation is deeply tied to the political power of Black communities in this country.

When Black communities lose political power, all Black people across the diaspora become more vulnerable to displacement, criminalization, disenfranchisement, and state violence.

The U.S. cannot claim to be a multiracial democracy while systematically dismantling Black political representation and participation. An attack on Black voting power is an attack on all Black people across the diaspora and on the very possibility of a just democracy.

Voting is more than a civic exercise. Voting is about representation, access to resources, and the ability of communities to shape policies that determine whether we survive, thrive, or are left vulnerable to harm. It is both a right and an expectation of participation in public life.

For generations, however, Black people in the United States were systematically excluded from that right through both legal and extralegal violence — especially across the Deep South. The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 was won through bloodshed, sacrifice, organizing,

and mass resistance led by Black communities demanding full participation in democracy.

The VRA sought to remedy generations of racial exclusion by requiring states with histories of racist voter suppression to receive federal approval before changing election laws or voting procedures, a process known as preclearance. Section 2 of the VRA also created protections to ensure that Black voters and other historically marginalized communities could elect candidates who would represent their interests.

Historically, white conservative forces have sought to suppress Black political participation because Black communities have consistently organized, voted, and fought for policies rooted in justice, equity, and collective survival.

For more than a decade, the Supreme Court has steadily dismantled the VRA protections.

In 2013, the Court’s Shelby v. Holder decision removed the federal preclearance requirement, opening the floodgates for states to pass voter suppression laws and redraw districts designed to dilute

Black political power.

On April 29, the Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana’s congressional map was unconstitutional because it included two majority-Black districts. In a state where more than one-third of the population is Black, the Court has effectively declared that Black political representation itself is suspect.

This is not simply about maps or district lines. Gerrymandering is one tactic in a much larger project to weaken Black political power, undermine multiracial democracy, and consolidate power away

from working-class communities and communities of color.

What the Supreme Court has done is allow racial gerrymandering to exclude Black people from political power, while the effort to ensure Black communities have representation is now considered unconstitutional. Gutting of the VRA is simply the latest chapter in a long history of efforts to silence Black voices and roll back the gains of the Civil Rights Movement.

At the same time, the rise of authoritarian, xenophobic politics under Pres. Donald Trump and the broader far right seeks to codify anti-Blackness, anti-immigrant policies, attacks on women, LGBTQ+ communities, and other marginalized groups into law. These attacks are interconnected.

“The United States cannot claim to be a multiracial democracy while systematically dismantling Black political power,” said Nana Gyamfi, executive director of BAJI. “Black immigrants understand that our conditions are tied to the conditions of Black Americans; together then, together now. When Black communities lose political power, all Black people become more vulnerable to displacement, criminalization, disenfranchisement, and state violence. Protecting Black voting rights is not just about elections. It is about protecting the possibility of collective freedom and self-determination for our communities.”

BAJI remains committed to defending Black political power, strengthening Black migrant civic participation, and building a future rooted in Black freedom, dignity, and collective liberation.

Not Just a Southern Issue: Advocates Say SCOTUS Voting Rights Decision Has Already Star ted to Reshape Black Political Power

By normanrich | Oakland Post Edward Henderson

U.S. Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (DCA-37), a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) whose district spans parts of Los Angeles County, joined fellow CBC member U.S. Rep. Troy Carter (D-LA-2) for a May 21 briefing with Black media outlets in California.

The lawmakers highlighted what they describe as a mounting threat to Black political representation resulting from an April 29 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened key protections under the federal Voting Rights Act.

Kamlager-Dove and Carter warned that the decision, which narrowed the role of race in redistricting, is already reshaping congressional districts across the South and undermining Black voters’ ability to elect candidates of their choice.

“While we are a super blue state, we have far to go when it comes to Black representation; we tend to take that for granted,” Kamlager-Dove said of California, noting that the Golden State has the fifth largest Black population in the country and only has three Black members of Congress.

“While I support building coalitions, we have to make sure that as a Black community we are not yielding our power,” she

added.

Calling the fight “not unique to the South,” Carter urged Black communities nationwide to recognize the broader implications of the legal and political battles unfolding in Southern legislatures and courtrooms.

The Supreme Court ruling centers on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the portion of the law that prohibits voting systems or district maps that dilute the voting strength of racial minorities.

For decades, Section 2 allowed civil rights groups to challenge district maps that weakened Black political representation even when lawmakers did not openly state discriminatory intent.

Now, advocates fear that standard has fundamentally changed.

“You have to have smoking gun evidence,” said Mitchell Brown, senior voting rights counsel at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, during a recent media briefing hosted by American Community Media on May 15. “Legislators are not going to say the quiet part out loud.”

The implications could stretch far beyond congressional elections, Brown said.

Section 2 protections have historically applied not only to U.S. House districts,

but also to state legislatures, school boards, county commissions, judgeships, and local governing bodies. Voting rights

advocates warn that weakening those protections could reshape political representation throughout the South, particularly

in states with large Black populations. “This is not just a Southern issue,” said Amir Badat, manager of Black Voters on the Rise and voting special counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Badat described the current moment as part of a much longer historical pattern.

Following the Civil War and Reconstruction, constitutional amendments expanded Black citizenship and voting rights across the South, leading to dramatic increases in Black political representation. But those gains were quickly met with violent backlash and the rise of Jim Crow laws designed to suppress Black voting through poll taxes, literacy tests, and other “race-neutral” restrictions.

“This is the same move,” Badat said. Advocates also emphasized that the consequences of weakened voting protections extend into everyday life.

Local elected offices such as school boards, city councils, county commissions, and judgeships often determine funding priorities, public safety policy, education standards, and infrastructure investments.

“These are not abstract numbers,” Badat said. “These have real political consequences and policy consequences on people’s day-to-day lives.”

The logo for Black Alliance for Just Immigration uses an image of Kwame Toure (Stokely Carmichael), who fought for Black civil rights in the 1960s. Courtesy image.

26 Monroe Street: Architectural Services RFP

Sound Communities Inc., an affiliate of the Norwalk Housing Authority, and its development partner National Housing Trust are seeking proposals from qualified architectural firms for a multi-phase, transit-oriented, mixed-use affordable housing development adjacent to the South Norwalk Metro-North Station. The project is anticipated to yield approximately 200 units across two phases, with ground-floor office space, community amenities, and a public plaza component. Firms must have demonstrated experience in affordable and mixed-income multifamily housing, LIHTC-financed projects, mixed-use design, and stakeholder engagement.

Submission Deadline: July 2, 2026 · 5:00 PM EST

Request For Information accepted through June 22, 2026

Submit via email only. No hard copies. Contact: Leala Marlin, Project Manager lmarlin@soundcommunitiesct.org

360 Management Group Invitation for Bids

Trash Collection Services

360 Management Group is currently seeking bids from qualified contractors to perform Trash Collection services and Recyclable collection services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

June 2, 2026, at 3:00PM.

Mechanic III

The Town of Wallingford is accepting applications for Mechanic III. Wages: $35.42 to $43.00 hourly. For additional information and to apply online by the June 8, 2026 closing date please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/government/departments/human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF NEW BRITAIN

Public Notice The Housing Authority of the City of New Britain (NBHA) is seeking bids for Landscaping Services - Spring & Fall Cleanup and As-Needed Services

(Solicitation No. 2026-04-LAND).

Issue Date: April 22, 2026

Submission Deadline: May 13, 2026 at 3:00 p.m. (Local Time)

RFP and all addendas and answers will be posted at www.nbhact.org<http://www.nbhact.org/>.

The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting for a Connecticut Careers Trainee, target class Planning Analyst in the Intergov

Listing: Night Dispatcher

Locally owned and operated in Guilford, CT since 1984, East River Energy provides heating oil, diesel fuel, gasoline, and propane to thousands of customers locally. East River Energy is also a major distributor of petroleum products across 13 states and counting. Additionally, East River Energy is a growing full service HVAC/Home Services company in both commercial and residential sectors. This is a full-time dispatching position for nights (which includes on call and weekend coverage). At least one year of dispatching experience is required. We are looking for someone who is detail oriented and is comfortable working in a fast-paced environment.

Benefits include: Competitive Hourly Wage, Medical, Dental, and Vision Plans, Vacation & Sick Time, Paid Holidays, Retirement Plan 401(k), Wellness Program, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance Options

Send resume to: HR Manager, P.O. Box 388, Guilford, CT. 06437. Email: HRDEPT@eastriverenergy.com

*An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, including Disabled and Veterans*

UNION

CONTRACTOR SEEKS:

Construction Equipment Mechanic

(preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment) We offer factory training on equipment we operate. Job is in Bloomfield, CT.

Contact: Tom Dunay Phone: 860-243-2300 Ext. 122 Email: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com

Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators

(must have current licensing and a clean driving record; be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY)

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860-243-2300 Ext. 133 Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com

Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway

Construction Equipment

(must have a class A CDL license with Tank Endorsement and a clean driving record; be capable of operating heavy equipment and willing to travel throughout the Northeast and NY)

Contact: Brian McKee Phone: 860-558-6189 Email: bmckee@garrityasphalt.com

• We offer Excellent hourly rates and benefits.

• Women and Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply.

• Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer

Members of the public are invited to

CONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

HYBRID PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETINGS

DRAFT 2027-2030 STATEWIDE TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM

Wednesday, June 3, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.

Connecticut Department of Transportation Headquarters 2800 Berlin Turnpike, Newington CT 06111

Register to Attend Virtually & Learn More: portal.ct.gov/STIP

The purpose of these meetings is to provide the community with an opportunity to learn about the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program and allow an open discussion of any views and comments concerning the program. A Q&A session will immediately follow the presentation. CTDOT staff will be available in-person 30 minutes prior to each meeting to informally discuss the draft STIP with members of the public.

The Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) compiles all highway and public transit projects that CTDOT intends to pursue over the next four years, utilizing Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding. STIP documents can be found at portal.ct.gov/STIP, CTDOT Headquarters, and at all Councils of Government offices. It is suggested to schedule an appointment at these locations. To make an appointment at CTDOT, please call (860) 594-2040.

The draft STIP will be available for review for a 30-day public comment period from Wednesday, May 13, 2026, through Friday, June 12, 2026. Comments should be submitted to (860) 594-2020, DOT.STIPComments@ct.gov, or mailed to: ATTN: Rose Etuka, 2800 Berlin Turnpike P.O. Box 317546, Newington, CT 06131-7546 Please refer to the 2027-30 STIP in the correspondence.

ACCESSIBILITY

Parking is available in the rear of the building. The meeting facility is ADA accessible, and persons with disabilities can access the building from the main entrance of the building.

Non-English language closed captioning will be available on Zoom. The recording will also be posted following the meeting in CTDOT’s public meeting playlist at portal.ct.gov/ctdotVPIMarchive

For limited internet access, call (877) 853-5257 with Meeting ID 862 1358 6028 for the 1:00 p.m. meeting, or Meeting ID 820 5097 2071 for the 7:00 p.m. meeting. Project information can be mailed within one week by contacting Rose Etuka at Rose.Etuka@ct.gov

For hearing/speech disabilities, dial 711 for Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS). Request language assistance from CTDOT’s Language Assistance at (860) 594-2109 at least five business days before meeting.

Request for Qualifications

The South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG) seeks the services of one or more consultants for the following transportation planning studies during the 2026 and 2027 Fiscal Years (July 1, 2025June 30, 2027): Metropolitan Transportation Plan Update and Local Bridge Inspection Study. Responses are due by June 2, 2026 (12 noon local time). Selected firms will be interviewed on June 9, 2026. The full RFQ document can be viewed at the Council’s website: www.scrcog.org or can be made available upon request. Contact James Rode at (203) 4668623 with any questions.

LaRosa Earth Group LLC, a Site/Excavation Company, is currently looking to add the following full-time positions to our Team: Heavy Equipment

Operators Skilled Laborers

Please submit resumes to HR@LAROSABG.COM or stop by our main office to fill out an application: 163 Research Parkway Meriden, CT. Salary will be commensurate with experience and best fit for the positions. Health plan; 401K; company-paid holidays in addition to paid time off.

LaRosa Groups is an Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer who values diversity and encourages all qualified applicants to apply.

The Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities

Request for Qualifications

Architectural Engineering Services for the Clock Factory

The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities acting through its instrumentality, The Glendower Group, Inc. Is soliciting request for qualifications (“RFQ”) for selection of a qualified and experienced A & E Firm to serve as the Project Architect for the Clock Factory. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from New Haven Housing Authority Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/ gateway beginning on

Wednesday,

June 10, 2026, at 3:00PM.

The Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities

Request for Proposals (RFP) Construction Manager at Risk (CM@R)

Construction Manager at Risk (CM@R) Clock Factory Redevelopment

The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities acting through its instrumentality, The Glendower Group, Inc. in partnership with the City of New Haven (the "City") as Co-Applicant and Neighborhood Implementation Entity, is issuing this Request for Proposals (RFP). for selection of a qualified and experienced CM@R Firm to serve as the Project Manager for the Clock Factory Redevelopment. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from New Haven Housing Authority Vendor Collaboration Portal https:// newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at 3:00PM.

360 Management Group

Invitation for Bids

360 Management Group is currently seeking bids from qualified contractors to perform Extermination Services Agencywide. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

June 8, 2026, at 3:00PM.

Galasso Materials LLC,

a quarry and paving contractor, has positions open for the upcoming construction season. We are seeking candidates for a variety of positions, including: Scalehouse Dispatcher/ Equipment Operators and Laborers. NO PHONE CALLS. Please mail resume and cover letter to “Hiring Manager”, Galasso Materials LLC, PO Box 1776, East Granby CT 06026. Galasso Materials is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

LEGAL NOTICE

The South Central Regional Council of Governments is accepting proposals for:

RFP #027-01: For the Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan Update

The South Central Regional Council of Governments (“SCRCOG”) is soliciting proposals from qualified consulting firms to update SCRCOG’s Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan for the region that includes our fifteen member municipalities. The selected firm will incorporate existing datasets and planning resources to support the update of the regional Hazard Mitigation Plan, including the analysis of hazards, vulnerabilities, stakeholder coordination, and preparation of planning documents and related materials. Areas of expertise may include but are not limited to hazard mitigation planning, geospatial analysis, regional and municipal planning, and technical report.

The complete request for proposals (“RFP”) document can be obtained on the SCRCOG website, www.scrcog.org/

RFPs shall be submitted in the manner specified to Brendon Dukett, Director of Regional Planning & Municipal Services, 127 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor West, North Haven, CT 06473, until 12:00 P.M. eastern standard time on Thursday, July 30th.

For questions concerning this RFP, send questions to purchasing@scrcog.org.

SCRCOG is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

LEGAL NOTICE

The South Central Regional Council of Governments is accepting proposals for:

RFP

#027-02: Regional Plan of Conservation & Development Update

The South Central Regional Council of Governments (“SCRCOG”) is soliciting proposals from qualified consulting firms to assist and update SCRCOG’s Regional Plan of Conservation and Development for the region that includes our fifteen member municipalities. The selected firm will support the update of the Regional Plan of Conservation and Development through data collection and analysis, stakeholder coordination, technical planning support, GIS mapping and visualizations, and preparation of planning documents and related materials. Areas of expertise may include regional and municipal planning, land use, housing, environmental planning, and technical reporting.

The complete request for proposals (“RFP”) document can be obtained on the SCRCOG website, www.scrcog.org/

RFPs shall be submitted in the manner specified to Brendon Dukett, Director of Regional Planning & Municipal Services, 127 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor West, North Haven, CT 06473, until 12:00 P.M. eastern standard time on Thursday, July 30th, 2026.

For questions concerning this RFP, send questions to purchasing@scrcog.org. SCRCOG is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

For Immediate Hiring: Operations Specialist

This is a full-time position in a fast-paced environment. The candidate must be highly organized, analytical and detail-oriented. This opportunity offers exposure to all areas of the business and plays a critical role in driving operational excellence and supporting company growth. A college degree is required.

Benefits include: Competitive Hourly Wage, Medical, Dental, and Vision Plans, Vacation & Sick Time, Paid Holidays, Retirement Plan 401(k), Wellness Program, Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance Options.

Send resume to: HR Manager, P.O. Box 388, Guilford, CT. 06437. Email: HRDEPT@eastriverenergy.com

*An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, including Disabled and Veterans*

The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting for a Connecticut Careers Trainee, target class Planning Analyst in the Intergovernmental Policy and Planning Division. Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and application instructions are available at: https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/ sup/bulpreview.asp?b=&R1= 260427&R2=2292AR&R3=001

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities and persons with disabilities.

POLICE OFFICER ENTRY LEVEL

City of Bristol

$78,813/yr.

Required testing, general info, and apply online: www.bristolct.gov

DEADLINE: 12-07-25 EOE

360 Management Group Invitation for Bids Temporary Personnel Services

360 Management Group is currently seeking bids from qualified contractors to provide Temporary Personnel. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing. cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

June 15, 2026, at 3:00PM.

LAND USE SPECIALIST / ZONING ENFORCEMENT OFFICER

The Town of Wallingford is accepting applications for Land Use Specialist/Zoning Enforcement Officer. Wages: $74,236 to $94,083 annually. For additional information and to apply online by the July 6, 2026 closing date please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/government/departments/ human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

LEGAL NOTICE

The South Central Regional Council of Governments is accepting proposals for:

RFP #027-03: Open Space & Recreational Trail Map Inventory Update

The South Central Regional Council of Governments (“SCRCOG”) is soliciting proposals from qualified consulting firms to update SCRCOG’s Open Space & Recreational Trail Map inventory for the region that includes our fifteen member municipalities. The selected firm will support the update through data collection and analysis, GIS mapping, direct stakeholder coordination, and preparation of necessary materials. Areas of expertise may include open space and trail planning, geospatial analysis, municipal and regional planning, recreational connectivity, and technical reporting.

The complete request for proposals (“RFP”) document can be obtained on the SCRCOG website, www.scrcog.org/

RFPs shall be submitted in the manner specified to Brendon Dukett, Director of Regional Planning & Municipal Services, 127 Washington Avenue, 4th Floor West, North Haven, CT 06473, until 12:00 P.M. eastern standard time on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2026.

For questions concerning this RFP, send questions to purchasing@scrcog.org. SCRCOG is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

On the voting rights trail, bus riders to Montgomery retrace old steps while fighting a new fight

by BILL BARROW Associated Press

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — In 1965, Black Americans peacefully demonstrated for voting rights and were beaten by Alabama state troopers before returning two weeks later to complete their march under federal protection. Keith Odom was a toddler then.

Now 62, the union man and grandfather of three retraced some of those final steps — on Saturday, he came from Aiken, S.C., to Atlanta, where he joined several dozen other activists on two buses to Montgomery, Alabama. A few hours later, he stepped off his bus and onto Dexter Avenue, where the original march concluded.

“The history here — being a part of it, seeing it, feeling it,” said Odom, who is Black.

His voice trailed off as he saw the Alabama Capitol and a stage roughly where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. concluded the original march.

Odom lamented that he and his fellow bus riders were not simply commemorating that seminal day in the Civil Rights Movement. Instead, they came to renew the fight. The 1965 effort helped push Congress to send the Voting Rights Act to Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson to sign, securing and expanding political power for Black and other nonwhite voters for more than a half-century. Today, that has changed.

Saturday’s “All Roads Lead to the South” rally was the first mass organizing response after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that severely diminished that landmark law. Striking down a majority Black congressional district in Louisiana, the justices concluded in a 6-3 ruling that considering race when drawing political lines is in itself discriminatory. That spurred multiple states, including Alabama, to redraw U.S. House districts in ways that make it harder for Black voters, who lean overwhelmingly Democratic, to elect lawmakers of their choice.

“I’m not trying to live a life that’s going backward,” Odom said. “I want to go forward, for my grandchildren to be able to go forward.”

Old political battle is new again

The passenger rosters and the scene when riders arrived in Montgomery this time sounded the echoes and rhymes of past and present.

“I talked to my grandmother before I came, and she was so excited,” said Justice Washington, a Kennesaw State University student named because her mother and grandmother had faith in the American system. “My grandmother told me she did her part, and now it’s time for me to do mine.”

No one on the Atlanta buses had reached voting age when the Voting Rights Act became law. The youngest attendee was born as Democrat Barack Obama was elected the first Black president in 2008. Kobe Chernushin, who is 18, white, just

graduated from high school in Atlanta’s northern suburbs, and is an organizer with the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition, spent the day filming Khayla Doby, a 29-yearold executive for the organization, doing standups for the group’s followers on social media.

“I believe in the power of showing up,” Chernushin said.

The buses launched from the congressional district in Georgia once represented by John Lewis, who was bloodied on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, when he was 25. Lewis died in 2020, but some on the buses Saturday celebrated that a proposed federal election overhaul is named for him. If some

Democrats get their way, the bill would override the U.S. Supreme Court, reinvigorate the Voting Rights Act, and outlaw the kind of gerrymandering competition that Republican President Donald Trump has instigated.

“I’m here because of the same forces that pulled on John Lewis when he was a student,” said Darrin Owens, 27. He has worked for former Vice President Kamala Harris and now trains Democratic candidates.

“Political activism is personal,” Owens said, explaining that he attended Saturday as a citizen, not a political professional.

“Sometimes those lines are blurred, and as a Black person in America, a Black person living in a Southern state, I’m committed to action that stops what I consider to be un-American — this possibility that the person who represents me is someone who is not from my community and does not understand me or my community.”

When he arrived, Owens saw no federal authorities on Montgomery’s streets, although a wounded, recovering Lewis did during the second march in 1965. This time, many of the Alabama troopers and

local officers who walked the area were Black.

The buses and sandwich lunches were arranged by Fair Fight Action, a legacy of the political network built by Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, who became a national figure in her unsuccessful runs in 2018 and 2022 to become the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history. No Black woman has yet achieved that feat.

Different generations share their stories At different points, Montgomery has branded itself as the cradle of the Confederacy and the cradle of the modern Civil Rights Movement.

“It feels like our country is stuck in this pattern of making progress, then there’s a huge backlash, and then people have to go through the same battle again just to get to where we were,” said Phi Nguyen, the 41-year-old daughter of Vietnamese refugees who is a civil rights lawyer in Atlanta.

She stood across from the church where a young King led the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and not far from where Jefferson Davis took the oath of office in 1861 as the slavery-defending Confederate president.

Nguyen and her sister Bee, a 44-yearold who served in the Georgia General Assembly and ran for statewide office, met two other women as they walked. Carole Burton and Tondalaire Ashford are 72-year-old Montgomery residents who have been friends since they were in a segregated junior high school and then newly desegregated Sidney Lanier High School.

“I don’t call it ‘integration,’” Ashford said, pointing at her dark skin. “It was never real integration, and it’s not like we can ever just blend in.”

Burton described them as being “in the second wave” of Black students. “It

California Birth Rate Falls Below “Replacement Level”

By normanrich | Oakland Post Bo Tefu, California Black Media

wasn’t easy,” she said, “and we had to support each other.”

They remember their parents not being able to vote in the era of poll taxes, literacy tests, and other racist restrictions that the Voting Rights Act eventually outlawed, but they smiled as they swapped family histories with the Nguyens.

Burton said immigrants, descendants of enslaved persons and Native Americans, have different but overlapping paths. “We just want to be treated like people with the same rights and opportunities the country has promised us,” she said. “They’ve never fully lived up to it.”

Conflicting legacies are at stake

To Odom, who began his journey Saturday in South Carolina, the current U.S. Supreme Court reinforced that history by refusing to see some race-conscious election policy as a way to ensure fair representation, not simply the “technical right to vote.”

He recalls being represented decades of his life by Strom Thurmond, a segregationist Democratic governor who became a “Dixiecrat” presidential candidate and U.S. senator — by now as a Republican — into the 21st century. Odom said he fears his state losing U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, a senior member of the Congressional Black Caucus, through redistricting. “They want to take away that legacy when we’re still living with Strom’s?” Odom said.

Odom said he is also worried that the young people who participated Saturday are not a vanguard but outliers.

“I was talking to a 20-year-old co-worker about this trip,” he said. “She told me she supported me but didn’t want to do it or work for anybody running for office. She wondered what any of them are going to do for her.”

Nonetheless, he said on the way home, “I’m still going to tell her what I saw and what I heard.”

California's birth rate has fallen to its lowest level on record, dropping well below the threshold needed to maintain population growth and signaling a major demographic shift that could reshape the state's economy, schools, workforce and political influence in the decades ahead. A new report from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) found that the state's total fertility rate declined from 2.21 children per woman in 2007 to 1.48 in 2023 — far below the "replacement level" of 2.1 children per woman needed to sustain a population without migration. “The significance of falling so far below replacement level cannot be overstated,” the report states. “It signals a fundamental shift in the state's demographic trajectory.”

Researchers project that by 2038, deaths will outnumber births in California, ending a long period in which natural population growth helped drive the state's expansion. Without increased immigration or a rebound in birth rates, population growth could stagnate or decline. The report found that declining birth rates among younger women are largely responsible for the trend. Birth rates among women ages 20 to 24 fell by 54% between 2008 and 2023, while teen birth rates dropped nearly 90% since 1991. Researchers described the decline in teen births as a major public health success.

Birth rates declined across all racial and ethnic groups, with the steepest drops occurring among Latina women, particularly those born outside the United States. The phenomenon is not unique to California. Birth rates have fallen in all 50 states, and every state now has fertility rates below replacement level.

“The decline in birth rates is one of the most important developments of recent decades and will structure policy debates for decades to come,” the report concludes.

Among the most immediate impacts could be shrinking school enrollment. PPIC projects California's public school population will decline by roughly 630,000 students by 2038, while longer-term concerns include labor shortages, an aging population and the potential loss of congressional representation.

Kobe Chernushin, right, records Khayla Doby for the Georgia Youth Justice Coalition during a voting rights rally in Montgomery, Ala., Saturday, May 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Bill Barrow)