INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
Key Focus at and 2016 AFinancial New America Justice Dawns withaPresident Joe Biden ViceNAACP PresidentConvention Kamala Harris New Haven, Bridgeport
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FOLLOW USCourse ON Motivates Teens 1
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
Ambassador Jeff Keeps Downtown Masked Up by THOMAS BREEN
New Haven I ndependent
Jeff Lee approached a Church Street bus stop, his gloved hands carrying a plastic brochure holder stacked with 60 bright blue surgical masks. He paused six feet away from a small crowd seeking shelter from the morning cold, then posed a question. “Does anybody need an extra mask?” Lee is a Downtown Ambassador with the Town Green Special Services District, one of five employees working on the frontlines of a new mask distribution program designed to keep downtown pedestrians safe and covered up during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Since the early weeks of the pandemic, public health officials have touted masks that cover one’s mouth and nose as one of the most effective deterrents to transmitting the novel coronavirus. For the past 10 months, New Haveners without ready access to face masks have had to rely in part upon one-day pop-ups hosted by the city or by private individuals or groups. Town Green’s new free mask giveaway program seeks to change that by offering a regular, daily handout led by trusted, familiar faces — like Lee, a 57-year-old Hill native and Westville resident who has worked as a downtown Ambassador for nearly a decade. Ambassadors have distributed roughly 4,300 free masks since the program launched on Dec. 12, according to Town Green marketing manager Francesca Vignola. The district’s mask giveaway efforts — a collaboration among Town Green, the city Health Department, and CT Transit — are slated to continue through the end of March, with roughly 120 disposable surgical face masks distributed for free downtown each day. “I think the more we do this, it makes people more conscious of the need to wear masks,” Lee said during a morning shift this week. “It encourages people to be vigilant” at a time when over 400,000 Americans have already died from the novel coronavirus — and Covid-19 vaccines are slowly making their way into the arms of broader and broader swaths of the general public. Walking with Lee offered a master class in public health intervention by a softspoken, well-trusted layperson. Lee has dedicated the past 10 years of his professional life to greeting downtown visitors and passerby, cleaning city sidewalks of trash and clearing them of snow, and the manifold other welcoming tasks undertaken by ambassadors. “He’s a good man, a very good man,” Catherine Brantley said about Lee as she picked up a free mask near the southeastern corner of Church and Chapel. “Mr. Jeff, keep doing your work.” “This is beautiful,” said Crystal Cofran-
THOMAS BREEN PHOTOS Ambassador Lee on his mask giveaway shift on Church Street.
cesco as she grabbed a new mask by the Chapel Street bus stop on the southern end of the Green. “Jeff rocks. He’s amazing.” He donned disposable rubber gloves and a blue face mask of his own along with the typical wintertime Ambassador uniform—a yellow and blue jacket, a dark blue beanie, a black balaclava covering his neck and the back his head. He filled a plastic brochure holder with 60 new folded masks. “It’s gone very good so far,” he said as he headed towards the bus stop and shelter outside 55 Church St. “I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone” respond negatively. Lee headed straight to the bus shelter because he knew that that’s where people would be seeking shelter from the cold. They’d also likely be standing in close proximity, he said, making it all the more dangerous if one or multiple people were
not wearing masks. On his way down Church Street, he passed a man with no mask and a winter coat hood pulled up. “Would you like a mask?” Lee asked. Tyrone White stopped and said yes. He reached over to Lee’s plastic container and grabbed a mask. Lee kept his eyes down on White’s hands. Lee tries to give out only one mask at a time. If someone needs and asks for two, he’ll agree. He’ll also give out multiple if someone accidentally touches more than one mask. “And could you put your mask over your mouth and nose?” Lee continued. White reached into his coat and pulled up a white surgical mask he had hanging around his neck. He smiled then proceeded walking up Church Street. Lee said that a key part of his giveaway approach is not just to get masks in the hands of people who need them, but also
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to encourage them to wear those masks so as to protect themselves from potentially contracting the virus. At the 55 Church bus stop, Lee found a dozen people. He wound up handing out 20 masks. One of those masks went to Bobby Roberts, who was waiting for a bus to commute to work. “I was looking for a mask,” he said appreciatively. When asked how he felt about having someone handing out free masks downtown, Roberts replied, “I feel safer.” “Hey, I need a couple for my kids,” one man said as he saw Lee by the bus stop. Lee gave him two masks. “Keep yourself safe,” Lee said. After finding few people walking down Crown Street and up Temple Street, Lee hit the bus stop on the Green across from 900 Chapel St. Another dozen people were standing by the ticket booth or sitting on nearby benches. Roughly threequarters of those present were already wearing masks. “Anybody need an extra mask?” Freddy Brantley (pictured at right) took him up on the offer. “It’s good,” Brantley said. And then, turning to anyone within hearing distance, he said, “You’ve got to wear ‘em, at least for the next 100 days.” After picking up a new mask for herself, Cofrancesco described the new reality of having to wear a mask everywhere you go as “weird. It’s a pain in the butt.” But it’s necessary, she said, and worth it to stay safe. As Lee left the Chapel Street bus stop, there were noticeably more masks around mouths and noses in his wake. When asked about recommendations for other organizations looking to give out masks going forward, Lee offered two
takeaways: Focus on places where people often congregate in close quarters, like bus stops. And bring free masks out to the neighborhoods, not just to downtown. An Iron Worker & “People Person” Spending time with Lee Wednesday morning offered more than just a snapshot of a new public health experiment designed to keep downtown visitors safe during this extraordinary moment. It also gave an opportunity to spend time with an expert guide to downtown New Haven, past and present, and to learn about the path that led someone like Lee to this humble role of public service. Born in New York City, Lee moved to New Haven with his family when he was 3 years old when his dad got a construction job in the area. He grew up on Rosette Street in the Hill—“a really quiet area,” he recalled— and graduated from the former Richard C. Lee High School. Lee then spent 17 years as an iron worker for the company Cianbro. “We did work on the Tomlinson Bridge, the Chapel Street bridge, some Metro North bridges,” he said. Work saw him travel out of state to Rhode Island and New York for iron working jobs. He left that line of work to get a job closer to home when his 11-year-old daughter was struck and killed by a car in 2008 out by their family home in Westville. In June 2011, he landed the position with with Town Green. His wife, meanwhile, is a school bus driver for First Student, and also works for the Urban League. “I like being outside,” he said about his current work. “I think I’m a people person. This is a lot different than beating steel on a bridge. But I like being close to home.” Walking around downtown streets, Lee recalled coming to these very blocks as a kid, mostly to go to the movies on College Street at the former RKO theater or the former Roger Sherman theater. He’d visit the Chapel Square Mall to grab a meal with his parents. The pandemic has changed the feel of downtown dramatically, he said. Before Covid, he would routinely come into contact with between 500 and 700 people out on the street every day. Now that number is closer to 200. “You just don’t see the foot traffic,” he said. “It’s sad.” And yet, at this particular moment in the trajectory of the pandemic, Lee feels relatively optimistic. “We’re just trying to think about the positive aspects,” he said. “The way we were able to get a vaccine so quickly. How much better prepared we were than in 1918. It’s encouraging.” Lee then got the pedestrian right-of-way and crossed Chapel and Church, heading east towards Orange Street. Another bus stop — and more people in need of masks — awaited.
“Boss” Course Motivates Teens THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
by MAYA MCFADDEN
New Haven I ndependent
A 12-week course called “Boss Academy “taught 15 eighth-graders to “channel your inner tiger” and to never stop chasing their dreams. Students of Faith Preparatory School in New Milford were given this message at the pilot course’s graduation celebration Wednesday. Boss Academy is a newly launched program of the nonprofit student motivational program Brave Enough to Fail. It was originally developed at Hillhouse High School in New Haven; the plan is to make it available this coming year at Hillhouse, Wilbur Cross, and Amistad. The Wednesday graduation was held in person at Faith Prep which offers in-person, hybrid, and remote learning options to its students. Some students joined the graduation via Zoom. Those who attended class remotely stayed involved by sending reactions via Zoom. As students walked up to receive their graduation gifts their classmates clapped and sent hearts on Zoom. The class had many guest speakers who offered their advice for success from a variety of career fields. “These are thirteen years old that’s now have access to successful people,” said Brave Enough to Fail CEO Wayne Winsley (kneeling at front in top photo). Throughout the class each student worked to strategize a plan to one day accomplish their own goal. Veronica, for instance, wants to be an animator. Luis wants to work with animals. Robin wants to be an activist. Gabriel wants to be an engineer. Gabriela wants to be an artist. Darnell wants to be a professional athlete or a coach.
The final guest speaker of the program was the Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo Education Curator Jim Knox. Knox talked with the class about his favorite animal the Amur tiger. A tiger with the strength of 17 humans Knox said. Knox’s lesson with the class was about a tiger’s two major goals: to survive and thrive. “What do you guys think is the hunting success rate of these powerful animals?” Knox asked. The students guesses ranged between 20-40 percent. However the room filled with gasps when Knox told the students that wild Amur tigers fail to capture their prey 95 percent of the time. But “the tiger doesn’t know what quitting means,” Knox said. Knox reminded the class that they won’t always achieve their dream right away but when they fail they have to get back up and “channel your inner tiger.” The students were encouraged to have the courage and persistence of a tiger when working towards their dreams. To conclude the graduation celebration the students each received a personal road map from Winsley of their plans developed in class to chase. “Here is the blueprint for your success,” Winsley said while handing out the personalized workbooks. Winsley also presented each student with a hoodie with the phrase, “I am the boss of my dream,” as a graduation gift. Due to the success of the pilot course, Faith Prep has decided to extend its partnership with Brave Enough to Fail and will continue to offer Boss Academy to the cohort of students to dive deeper into their future plans said Winsley. Boss Academy is a 12-week course that schools can rollout as an elective or an after
school program. Twice a week the students learned to step out their comfort zones, strategize, effectively communicate their goals, and basic networking skills. By the end of the course the students learn to feel confident in their dreams and their ability to achieve them Winsley said. The course is free of cost to the school and student. Boss Academy class will be offered to other schools in Bridgeport, Danbury, and New Haven soon, said Winsley. Winsley started the nonprofit Brave Enough to Fail in 2015 with a motivational speaking and scholarship programs. The first motivational speech event was for freshmen at Hillhouse High School. “This will narrow the achievement gap by
encouraging students to take charge of their future,” Winsley said. Winsley was raised in the housing projects of Cleveland by his great-grandmother. When his great-grandmother could no longer care for him, he was placed in an orphanage. Due to moving around, Winsley said, he failed the eighth grade. During his second try around to complete eighth grade, Winsley’s total number of days in school totaled only about two weeks. “I was 14 and had no plan,” he said. “Statistically I was going to end up in one of two ways, prison or the cemetery.” Winsley was over a friend’s house one day when his friend was getting lectured by his father about his grades in school.
“When his father told him he has to always strive for excellence, it stuck in my head,” he said. After being disengaged in school for two years, Winsley decided to go back and got decent enough grades to graduate. At 15 he reconnected with his mother, who brought his to Stamford for a summer. He never went back to Cleveland. After high school Winsley served two Navy tours, then made a career as a radio broadcaster, motivational speaker, and middle school history teacher. “Boss Academy is here to cultivate a new generation of leaders and creators,” said Winsley. “It’s all about teaching these kids to be a person who is not afraid to go after what you want in life.”
PAUL BASS PHOTO Attorney Bowie: “Important” to give people “faith in the city.”
Bowie currently sits on the boards of Community Action Agency of New Haven and the Neighborhood Music School. “Although this board doesn’t draw the same level of attention as some other boards, it’s essential to maintaining a level of integrity in New Haven,” Bowie remarked about the ethics panel. “This board’s decisions might not always appear in [the news], but they’re important, and it’s important for people to have faith in the city.” Eckman, who lives on Chapel Street, is a program officer at the Connecticut Commission on Community Service. Eckman monitors AmeriCorps projects across the state to ensure they comply with guidelines. Eckman interned for the Connecticut Office of State Ethics in college, relevant experience which she said helped spark her interest. “Throughout my career, I have seen that
as programs stay with [ethical] standards, the quality increases,” said Eckman. Eckman also said that now more than ever, it is important for the board to not just review ethical complaints when they are submitted by members of the public, but to actively seek out potential ethical violations itself to maintain the integrity of the city. “Ethically, we’ve been in some rocky situations these past couple years,” said Eckman. “If citizens can really trust their elected officials, we’ll have a happier city.” Voting in favor of the nomination of both candidates were Chair Alder Rosa Ferraro-Santana of Ward 13, Vice Chair Alder Evette Hamilton of Ward 24, Alder Evelyn Rodriguez of Ward 4, Alder Delphine Clyburn of Ward 20, and Alder Jill Marks of Ward 28. There were no votes cast against either nomination.
Ethics Panel May Rise From Dead by DYLAN SLOAN
New Haven I ndependent
Alan H. Bowie, Jr. and Adrienne Eckman are eager to get to work reviving New Haven’s Board of Ethics. They’ve passed the first hurdle toward getting the chance. Mayor Justin Elicker has nominated the pair to serve on the often-MIA board. Monday night the Board of Alders’ Aldermanic Affairs Committee questioned the pair, then voted unanimously to recommend their confirmation to the full board, which makes the final decision. Within New Haven’s alphabet soup of boards and commissions, the ethics panel is responsible for, according to its charter, “determining whether unethical conduct has been engaged in or is likely to be engaged in by any public official or municipal employee.” But it has to meet to do that. Since 2013, the board has assembled 20 times — de-
spite being scheduled for 95 meetings. And currently, the Board of Ethics has just two sitting members In 2019, two thirds of the Board’s 18 meetings were canceled. In 2018, every single meeting was canceled. Since Jan. 2, 2020, the board has not met at all because there “has been no committee,” according to mayoral spokesperson Gage Frank. In remarks to the alders on Monday night, Bowie and Eckman emphasized their commitment to holding regular meetings and fulfilling the duties of the board’s charter. Bowie, 29, who lives on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard, is an attorney at the firm Carmody Law and president of the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association. He was born and raised in New Haven. Bowie said his grandfather’s experience as a longtime educator in New Haven helped instill in him a sense of civic duty.
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
Gritz King Is “Here To Stay” by KAREN PONZIO
John P. Thomas
New Haven I ndependent
The saxophone slides in with an almost whisper of vocals behind it that are practically an instrument unto themselves, setting the smooth as silk pajamas vibe of “Here To Stay,” the latest single by New Haven-based producer and musician Gritz King — a.k.a. Stephen King — released this week. “This is all me,” said King about the song. Described as “a little bit of vocals and saxophone” with “a nice vibe, a cruising vibe,” King added that it’s something “you might have playing cleaning or cooking, being around the house,” which is something we have all been doing more of in the past year, though King has not let it deter him from his artistic endeavors. “I’ve had more time to create,” he said. “I think the stuff I’m releasing is better, has more of a purpose behind it, more thought behind it. I take more time with it, so it’s better for me, better music. King has been able to work remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic, but like everyone else who performed live regularly, he had all of his gigs cancelled once everything shut down. “Before I was busy musically, artistically in general. I had gigs with Phat A$tronaut, with The Jam, and a bunch of private events all cancelled.” King was also involved in a play being put on by Collective Consciousness Theater — Skeleton Crew — that was shut down in the middle of its run. The church he played at regularly also closed. “I didn’t even realize how much I was doing until I wasn’t doing it,” he said. “You don’t realize how much until it’s gone.” King ended up releasing an EP in April 2020 titled Morning Music. It was still a change of plans, but mostly in timing. “With the EP, I knew I wanted to release it in 2020,” he said. “If Covid-19 didn’t happen I would have released it in the fall. The past two years I’ve gotten better at starting and finishing songs. The good thing about Covid-19 is I could sit down and say, ‘I can put out an EP.’ I saw people releasing stuff. I knew I could do it. With Covid-19 I thought, ‘this don’t have to stop, this can start something else.’” He included the song “Love In Quarantine Times” on the EP. “Covid gave me more ideas,” he said. “It had its pros through all of its cons.” Except for a guest appearance by musician Kyle Jamal, all the music on Morning Music is played by King, who produces and plays sax, keyboards, and “some drums.” “I’m teaching myself bass,” he added
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with a laugh. As a member of Phat Astronaut he has been able to keep up with music there as well. The band released a single last year, “Rare Fruit,” and has much more planned for 2021. “Phat A$tronaut is still rehearsing,” he added. “We took around one to two months off to figure out and change up how we did things.” They ended up practicing at The State House. “There’s more space, so we can socially distance, and they have a sound guy.” All of this helps the band keep their creative vibe flowing. “We’re doing a lot of virtual gigs, and there’s a recording that’s coming out this year,” he said. “It feels good, I’m grateful for them. We still move how we move. We’re not stopping. We’re still building, still growing. That train hasn’t stopped.” As far as solo shows go, King appeared at the inaugural show for the At Home In New Haven series back in May 2020, an experience for which he is grateful. “That was cool, a good experience, and really started the whole virtual thing,” he said. “That was good hope, a good thing, to see people come. I got worked up seeing who showed up. It made me really happy, especially after I was told how many people showed up (around 75). It was cool, different.” King hopes to do more livestream shows this year until he can once again
perform live in front of an actual audience, something he is more than eager to return to. “I love performing,” he said. “It’s the thing I actually have a passion for. Even At Home got a piece of that. My appreciation for performing in a room has grown. I didn’t have as much before.” King also has been teaching saxophone lessons online that he was previously teaching in person, and is in the process of building that up. “I don’t want to get stale,” he said. To that end he keeps making plans, and music. “I have a lot of songs and more projects. After I release this single, there’s another with more visuals, and one more EP with three or four songs,” he said. “When I hear ‘album’ I think it has to have a theme. It’s more than songs on a record. Before the year is over, I will have an album that’s connected and together, a purposeful project. With an EP the songs fit together but could also be released as singles. With an album it’s a journey. You gotta hear the whole thing.” King has also been working on developing his acting career. He said he “got the bug” while participating in Co-op High’s school-wide musicals while he was a student there. After taking a break from acting in college, he then got involved in community theater. “I love theater and want it to be a part
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of what I do,” said King. “It’s still kind of new to me. I still strive to be better at it. I say to myself, ‘you’re not bad, how can I become better?’” To that end, King noted that he and others from Collective Consciousness Theater have been working on “brushing up” during Covid. “We’re doing two monologues a week to keep us going,” he said. “We trade tips and motivation, so we can be already sharp when things open up.” Before appearing in Skeleton Crew, King performed in Pass Over at the same theater in 2019. In February 2020 he also performed in Sharece Sellem’s Daisies on Harlem’s Doorstep at the Norwich Arts Center. And while he is always self-motivating, he looks to his community and his friends for inspiration, including musicians Jeremiah Fuller (“he’s always creating,” said King) and Trey Moore (“dude’s just doing things.”) “They definitely get me excited,” he said. “They make me say, ‘why aren’t you doing it too?’ The locals have really put a fire in me.” Some might say King is one of those community members who get others excited as well, as he remains hopeful and creatively charged. “I’m still learning and growing,” he said. “After all of this we will come out better than before.”
Contributors At-Large Christine Stuart www.CTNewsJunkie.com
Paul Bass www.newhavenindependent.org
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
Hillhouse Mass Vaccination Opens Monday by THOMAS BREEN
New Haven I ndependent
A new gym-turned-vaccination site co-run by the city and Yale New Haven Health is slated to open Monday at Hillhouse High School’s Floyd Little Fieldhouse—where nurses and medical volunteers will administer up to 1,400 shots each day, seven days a week. On Friday morning, city Health Director Maritza Bond and Yale New Haven Hospital Vice President, Behavioral Health & Emergency Services Mark Sevilla gave a tour of the nascent public health site that is in the final stages of being set up at the 480 Sherman Pkwy. facility. Scheduled for a “soft opening” on Monday for Phase 1b-eligible residents ages 75 and up, the Floyd Little Fieldhouse clinic — along with a new mass vaccination site that opened on Friday at Yale University’s Lanman Center on Ashmun Street — represents one of the biggest steps forward yet in local healthcare providers’ bids to bring Covid-19 vaccines to the New Haven public. The site will have 22 stations — desks spaced six feet apart — in the corridor that runs from Sherman Parkway to the back parking lot near Crescent Street. One nurse per table will administer vaccines to people who have scheduled an appointment in advance. The adjacent indoor track will not be used as a vaccination site, but rather as an overflow seating area for people waiting to get a shot. At full capacity, the site will be open seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (with initial hours closer to 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.), and will be able to provide shots to upwards of 1,400 people each day. “I think it’s just so interesting to see how things can be transformed, how we can transform an athletic center into something that can provide care and access to protect the health of individuals,” Bond said about the new vaccination site. “As we go through each of the phases, it’s really giving us hope that the more we vaccinate, the closer we can get to herd immunity. ... It gives me hope that, in Connecticut, we are one of the five top states in the nation giving out vaccines. Which means that people are ready to get vaccinated. And so we want to be able to meet that demand.” Connecticut is still in Phase 1b of the governor’s statewide vaccine rollout plan. So the Floyd Little Fieldhouse (also known as the Floyd Little Athletic Center) vaccination site will be open to start only for eligible Connecticut residents ages 75 and older. Eligible seniors can schedule an ap-
pointment to get vaccinated through the state’s Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS), or by calling statewide Covid hotlines at 1-877-9182224 or 2-1-1, or by calling the city Health Department at (203) 946-6669. Sevilla said eligible patients will also be able to schedule an appointment at this site by using YNHH’s online scheduling form or by calling YNHH’s hotline at 1-833-ASK-YNHH (275-9644). “This is a good site because it’s centrally located, easily accessible, on a known street, and large,” Sevilla said when ticking off the different attributes that make for a quality mass vaccination location. In addition to the 22 nurses or other medically-trained volunteers who will be administering vaccine doses, he said, the site will also have around six people on site charged with preparing the vaccines, five working at registration tables, and four to six greeting people as they enter on Sherman Parkway, or via the handicap access through the back parking lot. “We’re working to draw in as many people as we can,” Sevilla said about the hospital’s efforts to enlist volunteers—including retired nurses and doctors. City police will provide security at the site 24/7, he said. And people who get shots at the site will almost certainly get vaccines made by Moderna, as that vaccine type can be refrigerated and does not need to be kept at the same freezing cold temperatures as the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The Floyd Little Fieldhouse site, with a capacity of 1,400 shots per day, is the smallest of the three area mass vaccination sites run or co-run by YNHH. Both the Lanman Center site on Ashmun Street and a new site at Yale University’s West Campus will have roughly 40 vaccination stations each, meaning they’ll be able to see upwards of 2,400 patients per day. Sevilla one of the biggest challenges of setting up the Floyd Little site was making sure that patients, staff, and volunteers can practice “social distancing— being able to keep everyone apart.” Signs throughout the site will direct the flow of pedestrian traffic in the corridor. Signs outside of the site will direct drivers to a parking lot off of Munson Street adjacent to Sherman Parkway. City Director of Public Health Nursing Jennifer Vazquez noted that the Health Department is still vaccinating eligible residents at its 54 Meadow St. clinic. In fact, on Saturday, the city Health Department will host a clinic for seniors 75 and over from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. People can schedule an appointment
THOMAS BREEN PHOTO Health Director Maritza Bond shows off new mass vaccination site.
Vaccination stations set up in the fieldhouse’s corridor.
The Sherman Parkway entrance to the fieldhouse.
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not by going through the VAMS system (which has earned the ire and frustration of many for how convoluted it can be) but rather by calling 203-946-5950 or 203-946-702. The city Health Department’s vaccine delivery from the state this week consisted of Pfizer-BioNTech doses, as opposed to the typical delivery of Moderna doses that the city has been receiving since it started vaccinating on Dec. 28. Because the city will now be receiving the Pfizer vaccine brand, Vazquez said, it is storing those doses at Yale New Haven Hospital’s freezer, and is looking into purchasing its own freezer. She added that, as of Thursday, the city Health Department has vaccinated a total of 2,750 people. About That Party ... Bond also spoke with the Independent on Friday about a recent report in the Connecticut Post that she briefly attended a birthday party in Trumbull for a former colleague of hers from when she worked for the City of Bridgeport. That party ultimately turned into a 300-person birthday bash that is currently being investigated by the state’s attorney’s office. Bond told the Independent that she drove to her friend’s house to drop off a gift at around 8 p.m. Saturday night. She said fewer than 10 people were there at the time. She never went inside the building, anyway, she said. She said she left within 15 minutes to respond to two Covid-related emergency calls in New Haven. She said she was in bed by 10 p.m. — well before a midnight video was taken that showed hundreds of people partying indoors. “I am deeply disappointed that people attended a largescale gathering that potentially put their health at risk,” she said. “Everyone knows I feel very strongly about advocating against these types of gatherings.” When asked about a flurry of chatter and speculation on social media about Bond’s brief presence at that party, the city health director told the Independent that her mother had Covid, her grandmother had Covid, she herself gets tested every day, and she sees firsthand all the time the devastation wrought by the pandemic and the importance of following public health guidelines. “I thought it was going to be an intimate small gathering,” she said. “There’s nothing wrong with dropping off a gift. I was in an outdoor area. It was not ill intended.” She repeated that she left the party well before a large crowd arrived: “I would have never, ever associated myself with that.”
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
West Hills Pulls Together To Feed Families by MAYA MCFADDE
by PAUL BASS
New Haven I ndependent
New Haven I ndependent
West Hills neighbors came together to look out for each other with a food giveaway Saturday in partnership with The Gujarati Association of Connecticut (GAOCT). GAOCT partnered with Ward 30 Alder Honda Smith to distribute 500 bags donated by the organization to West Hills and West Rock residents. “Our community was left on an island alone for a long time. When Covid hit, I asked the city, the mayor, food banks, everyone for help, and they didn’t come,” said Smith. “This community was forced to come together to help itself.” GAOCT, which operates a Hindu temple hard by the Wilbur Cross Parkway on Pond Lily Avenue, allocated about $7,000 to purchase nonperishables and fresh produce. Members of GAOCT packaged the bags with enough food to serve a family of at least three. “Many people have become unemployed. We want to be here more to feed the community,” said GAOCT President Jayesh Patel. Ward 30 Democratic Committee Co-chair Iva Johnson was one of a dozen community leaders Smith called to pick up bags to deliver to seniors in the ward. Johnson picked up 30 bags for the seniors of the Wilmot Crossing public-housing complex. Smith and Johnson called about 90 residents each in Ward 30 to remind them about the distribution. Since the start of the pandemic GAOCT
Looney Begins Selling Mansion Tax
has been donating food supplies to Varick Memorial AME Zion Church’s food pantry. About 25 GAOCT volunteers gathered Saturday to help distribute the groceries. Members brought along their spouses and kids to help. Maya/Nilchil Tailor, 14 helped his mom, who is a GAOCT member, fill up community members cars with food. Tailor grew up around GAOCT and has helped with community service before; Satuday’s event was his biggest and the most valuable thus far. “I am thankful that we’re fortunate enough to help others with this stuff,” he said. Johnson and other volunteers delivered groceries to seniors at Wilmot Crossing, Hard Street, Twin Brooks, and Westville Manor. “Covid has made many needy people. Now
it’s colder and harder everyday.” said GAOCT Vice President Pragnesh Patel. James Onofrio picked up groceries Saturday after hearing about the event from Smith. “This is very helpful because Covid has made things hard for me financially,” he said. Onofrio has struggled to find work as a classroom assistant and advocate for at-risk youth. “There’s less opportunities for work now,” he said. As the drive-through neared its end, Patel and other GAOCT members loaded up their cars to make a delivery of groceries to Varick Church. The owner of Siesta Motel in Newington, Brad Rana, picked up 25 bags to drop off to his motel tenants. “This is important. It builds a good and strong community,” Patel said.
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In New Haven, here’s the pitch: If you own a $500,000 house, you’ll pay an extra $50 a year. In return, New Haven would be on its way to getting tens of millions of dollars more back from the state. Will it fly? Martin Looney began making that pitch — and other variants of the pitch for a statewide audience — at a virtual press conference Tuesday. The State Senate president, who represents the eastern half of New Haven, held the presser to make the case for his proposed new statewide property tax. You can call it a “mansion tax.” He said he’s fine with that. People would pay an extra 1 mill in property taxes each year under the proposal. But only if they own an expensive house: One worth at least $430,000 (in market value, not assessed value, which for some reason in Connecticut reflects 70 percent, not 100 percent, of market value). So the owner of a $500,000 house would pay an extra $50 a year under Looney’s plan. The owner of a million-dollar home would pay $400. In return, Looney estimated, the state would bring in an extra $73.5 million. It would spend that money on reimbursing cities and towns more for the money they lose each year on state-mandated property tax exemptions for nonprofits and on undercompensated special-education costs. It would help finance, for instance, a threetier plan Looney has for reconfiguring the state Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT)
program. That reconfiguration would bring New Haven an extra $43.6 million a year in state reimbursements, according to Looney’s office. Anyone proposing a new tax or increasing one levy as part of a broader plan faces a challenge: Opponents quickly gain traction by raising the specter of “raising taxes.” Looney insisted Tuesday that he’s not “raising taxes” with this plan. He’s proposing “property tax reform.” To make fairer a system that currently favors millionaires in Greenwich over working and middle-class families in most other parts of the state. Tipping Points? thinking of starting a GoFundMe to buy this 6-bedroom house on the most exclusive street in East Rock and converting into affordable housing units https://t.co/ K2tEAQT9EW pic.twitter.com/FUiDMAHu6K
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
YNHH, NAACP Crush Covid Vaccine Myths by THOMAS BREEN
New Haven I ndependent
Is the Covid-19 vaccine a rushed and dangerous experiment? Will the vaccine give you the virus? Are side effects worse than the disease? And — that “zombie question” that just won’t die — does the vaccine affect fertility? Top local doctors and medical researchers fielded those questions and many more Tuesday night during a virtual town hall hosted by Yale New Haven Hospital and the Greater New Haven NAACP. Under the title “Covid-19 Vaccine: The Facts vs. Fiction,” local healthcare providers who have been on the front lines of treating patients, developing a vaccine, and getting doses into the arms of eligible members of the public sought to bust some of the most common Covid-era myths. Local NAACP President Dori Dumas and Waterbury-based Rev. Leroy Perry joined in on the call to make a direct appeal to Black New Haveners — who, like African Americans across the country, have suffered disproportionately during the pandemic so far — to get vaccinated as soon as they are able to under the governor’s phased statewide vaccine rollout. “We need the Black and brown communities more than ever to get this vaccine so that we can have longer life expectancies, especially with Covid-19,” said Dumas. She recognized the mistrust that some Black people inevitably have towards novel medical interventions because of this country’s “long dark history” that includes the Tuskegee syphilis experiment and the exploitation of Henrietta Lacks. “We understand the doubts,” she said. “That’s why it’s important to acknowledge it, to talk about the concerns, and to have the experts here to to answer the questions.” YNHH President Keith Churchwell, Yale School of Medicine infectious diseases expert and local Pfizer vaccine trial principal investigator Onyema Ogbuagu, Yale University chief emergency department doctor Arjun Venkatesh, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation Director Tesheia Johnson, and Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS) Chief Clinical Officer Thomas Balcezak took turns tackling myth after myth after myth that might dissuade someone from getting vaccinated when their turn comes. Over 400,000 Americans nationwide have died from the novel coronavirus, including over 465 in the Greater New Haven area. Churchwell said everyone must do their part to protect themselves, their families, and their communities. At this stage of the pandemic, that means getting vaccinated. YNHHS Senior Vice President for Public Affairs Vin Petrini told the Independent that the regional hospital system — which includes seven campuses from Greenwich to New Haven to Westerly, R.I. — has
vaccinated roughly 33,000 people so far. That includes Phase 1a-eligible healthcare workers and emergency first responders, as well as Phase 1b-eligible Connecticut residents who are 75 or older. “It’s going to be a long year,” Venkatesh said during Tuesday’s forum. “At this point, we have such wide transmission of Covid across the US, across Connecticut, across New Haven, that the only way out of it is if we do it together” by getting shots in the arm. There are a half-dozen public vaccination sites in New Haven, including one corun by YNHH and the city Health Department at the Floyd Little Athletic Center next to Hillhouse High School. Any Connecticut resident who is 75 or older can schedule an appointment to get vaccinated by going to YNHH’s vaccine scheduling website, by calling 1-833-ASK-YNHH (275-9644), or by signing up with the state’s Vaccine Administration Management System (VAMS). Below are some of the vaccine-related myths debunked Tuesday night by YNHH’s medical experts.
The two vaccines that have been approved for use in the U.S. so far—one by Pfizer-BioNTech and one by Moderna— did indeed receive emergency use authorizations (EUA) rather than going through the federal government’s typical approval process for new vaccines. But New Haveners should rest assured as to the safety and efficacy of these novel treatments. “There’s still the same rigor and multiple phases to the clinical trial,” said Johnson. Roughly 75,000 people have participated in the Pfizer and Moderna trials, which have shown both vaccines to be close to 95 percent effective at protecting people from catching or getting seriously sick from the novel coronavirus, said Venkatesh. Over 70 million people worldwide have been vaccinated so far, including over 24 million Americans. “This is really different” from a typical clinical trial that enrolls a few hundred patients for, say, an experimental cancer treatment, Venkatesha said. “This is something that’s happening globally.” “These kinds of technologies have been around for more than 10 years in making vaccines,” Balcezak added about the mRNA-based vaccines. “We’re lucky that this was on the shelf when this pandemic came along so it could be repurposed to get this virus.” Perry recalled one of the participants in his Waterbury-based fatherhood program asking him, “Why don’t we just wait and find out how everybody else makes out when they take the vaccine?” “I said, ‘My brother, you may not be around,’” Perry remembered replying. “We don’t really have the luxury of waiting and seeing. There’s an urgency here. Every 30 seconds, someone dies from Covid. We’ve got to push the envelope.” Will the vaccine give you Covid? Are the
THOMAS BREEN PHOTO City Health Commissioner Darnell Young gets vaccinated on Meadow St.
THOMAS BREEN PHOTO Board of Ed member and local doc Tamiko Jackson-McArthur gets vaccinated
on Meadow St.
vaccine’s side effects really bad? No, Venkatesh said, none of the Covid-19 vaccines work by infecting people with the novel coronavirus itself. “You’re not putting any of the actual virus in your body.” Instead, these Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines “give your body the playbook” on how to fight the virus by providing a picture of a protein which looks like the novel coronavirus, and causes one’s body to start building up anti-bodies to fight Covid. “There are no microchips in it,” Venkatesh said. Instead, the vaccine trains your body to remember how to fight Covid. And, after a two-dose treatment, recipients have enough antibodies to successfully ward off the virus. Venkatesh cited his own personal experi-
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ence getting vaccinated as representative of the side effects experienced by most recipients. “After the first shot, my arm was sore, maybe for the afternoon.” Any discomfort was gone by the end of the day. “The second shot is the one where we see more of these side effects,” he said. “You feel things like a fever, you feel a little achy, you feel sleepy and a little tired.” While uncomfortable in the moment, and even for a few hours or an entire day, these side effects do pass, he said. And they should be welcomed. “They’re proof that the vaccine works” by causing one’s body to fight off what it believes to be the virus by developing necessary antibodies. “The side effects are totally worth it” if they mean that people can return to pre-pandemic life sooner than
they would be able to without a vaccine. Balcezak agreed. “The side effects of not taking it, which is the risk of Covid, is incredibly, incredibly dangerous,” he said. Ogbuagu stressed the importance of getting both shots, not just the first. “The protection after the first dose is suboptimal,” he said. It’s only around 52 percent effective in protecting one against Covid. One week after the second dose, recipients are 95 percent protected. “This is the zombie question,” Balcezak said. “This is the question that won’t stay dead.” There is zero data that show that the vaccine has any affect whatsoever on one’s fertility, he said. “There is no scientific basis” to that concern. He said that pregnant women couldn’t join the initial vaccine trials because of special federal requirements concerning testing drugs and pregnant participants. But, he and Ogbuagu said, the 75,000 people who made up the Pfizer and Moderna trials inevitably included some pregnant women. “A large number of women became pregnant while getting vaccinated” as part of the trials, Balcezak said. “They did perfectly well, and their babies did well.” “There were pregnancies detected at the study entry,” Ogbuagu said. “There were pregnancies between doses one and two. And there were pregnancies many weeks after dose two.” There is no scientific data from the trial or from the mass vaccinations going on around the world today that show that Con’t on page 14
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
COMMENTARY:
Democracy Survived an Insurrection and America Now Needs Unity
By Roger Caldwell, NNPA Newswire Contributor “Few people in our nation’s history have been more challenged or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we’re in now,” President Biden said referring to the ongoing coronavirus. This is an accurate statement, but many American historians would say that is why there is an election every four years for president. During the last pandemic, 100 years ago, there were 625,000 Americans who died, and the responsibility of the president was to solve the crisis. Twelve years ago, when President Obama took office the country was bankrupt, and there were monumental financial problems, and he solved them. This is the role and responsibility of the president to resolve insurmountable issues, with a vision that brings about change, and success. America almost lost Democracy on January 6, 2021, with the storming of the Federal Capitol building. After the election in 2020, President Donald Trump continued to promote one huge lie. Essentially, he told the country and the world, that he had really won the election. Even though millions of Americans and the former President all believed this huge lie, there was a peaceful transition of power, and President Joe Biden took his oath of office on January 20, 2021. The focus of this great inauguration speech was unity and trying to bring back
together a divided country after four years of political turmoil. “Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, distinguished guest, and my fellow Americans. This is American’s day. This is democracy’s day. A day of history and hope. Of renewal and resolve,” said President Biden during his inauguration speech. It didn’t matter whether or not you voted
for the president, this speech was powerful, because it made you believe in America again. “Today we celebrate the triumph not of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy. The will of the people has been heard and the will of the people has been heeded,” said President Biden. What a beautiful day and a beautiful speech. America is at a crossroads and there is a tremendous amount of work to be done. But the new president is ready to
do the work, and all around the country and the world people are smiling. “We have learned again that democracy is precious. Democracy is fragile. And at this hour, my friends, democracy has prevailed,” said the president. It is very easy to talk that talk, but to execute is where the rubber meets the road. During the first day on the job, President Biden issued a slew of executive orders that dismantled the policies of Ex-President Trump.
In his first official day, President Biden got busy with no hesitation, and let the Republicans know there was a new sheriff in town –Washington, DC. He rejoined the World Health Organization, rejoined the Paris Climate Accord, implemented a mask requirement in the Federal government, ended a Muslim traveler ban, paused student debt until September 30th, delayed housing foreclosure until March 31st, ended the building of the Border Wall, preserved DACA, and much more. The push back has started from the Republicans, before the ink could dry on the Executive Orders. On the second day in office, controversial House Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene filed articles of impeachment against President Biden. In certain states around the country, Republican Party members are saying leftists are taking control of both houses and the White House. On the federal level, many Republican Congressmen and women are saying that President Biden’s big stimulus plan is too expensive, and it is doomed to not pass on the Senate floor. President Biden wants unity, but it does appear that the Republicans are ready to fight for power. The most we can expect from Republicans at this time is bipartisan politics that are not controversial and they can agree with. This must be done in incremental steps, with positive conversation and dialogue, which everyone is committed to and believes in.
Celebrating Diversity Daily J O I N T H E T E A M T H AT T R A N S F O R M S L I V E S
www.aces.org
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
A New America Dawns with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Absent the routine large crowds, and with snow flurries helping to push the tens of thousands of American flags that blanketed the National Mall in Washington, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took the oath of office before an enthusiastic gathering that featured more law enforcement than spectators. After Chief Justice John Roberts swore him in, President Biden spoke about the importance of a unified America after four years of an administration that orchestrated perhaps the most profound divide in modern history. “My whole soul is in this,” Biden pledged. “To overcome these challenges, to restore the soul and secure the future of America requires so much more than words and requires the most elusive of all things in a democracy, unity. “Uniting to fight the foes we face. Anger, resentment and hatred, extremism, lawlessness, violence, disease, joblessness, and hopelessness. With unity, we can do great things, important things.” As former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton – along with their wives – looked on, President Biden proclaimed that “this is democracy’s day.” “A day of history and hope, of renewal and resolve,” Biden remarked. “Through a crucible for the ages, America has been tested anew. And America has risen to the challenge. “Today we celebrate the triumph, not
of a candidate, but of a cause, the cause of democracy. The people, the will of the people, has been heard, and the will of the people has been heeded.” Before the President’s swearing-in, Vice President Kamala Harris made history when she took the oath of office. Vice President Harris becomes the first female, first African American, and first South Asian to hold the office. Accompanied by her husband, the nation’s first second-gentleman Doug Emhoff, Vice President Harris sported a purple overcoat to honor Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman to run for President. An HBCU graduate, Vice President Harris also proudly sported the pearls of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. The blustery D.C. day began under the ominous cloud that was stirred up by the Jan. 6 insurrection egged on by former President Donald Trump. More than 25,000 members of the National Guard descended upon the area, along with countless officers from various law enforcement agencies. Members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), and new Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), were escorted into the Capitol by bus surrounding by D.C. Police and federal cops. Before the festivities, Trump unceremoniously left the White House via Marine One. He landed at Joint Base Andrews, where he would fly to Florida.
African American Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman Performs at Inauguration By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent Amanda Gorman was born in Los Angeles and studied sociology at Harvard University. In 2017, the now 22-year-old became the first national youth poet laureate. On Wednesday, Jan. 20, Gorman, an African American, was the youngest poet to perform at a presidential inauguration. Gorman performed alongside Lady Gaga, who sang the national anthem, and Jennifer Lopez. The young poet delivered “The Hill We Climb,” which included lines about the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. “We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it, / Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. / And this effort very nearly succeeded. / But while democracy can be periodically delayed, / It can never be permanently defeated,” Gorman has written. It is not the first time Gorman will have a national stage. In 2017, she read at the inauguration of the 22nd U.S. poet laureate, Tracy K Smith. She has also performed for Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Malala Yousafzai, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Reportedly, Dr. Jill Biden selected Gorman to perform during President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’
inauguration. “I wasn’t trying to write something in which those events were painted as an irregularity or different from an America that I know,” Gorman told the Los Angeles Times. “America is messy. It is still in its early development of all that we can become. And I have to recognize that in the poem. I cannot ignore that or erase it. And so, I crafted an inaugural poem that recognizes these scars and these wounds. Hopefully, it will move us toward healing them.”
in now.
“We will be back in some form,” Trump, still refusing to accept the reality of his defeat, promised a small gathering of family and supporters at the airport. He left behind a splintered nation and a country suffering its worse pandemic in more than a century with over 400,000 deaths. Upon arrival at the White House, President Biden went out of his way to greet D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and immedi-
ately went to work attempting to beat back the pandemic. “We’ll press forward with speed and urgency, for we have much to do in this winter of peril and significant possibilities,” Biden said. “Much to repair, much to restore, much to heal, much to build, and much to gain. Few people in our nation’s history have been more challenged or found a time more challenging or difficult than the time we’re
He continued: “A once-in-a-century virus that silently stalks the country. It’s taken as many lives in one year as America lost in all of World War II. Millions of jobs have been lost, hundreds o alongside Lady Gaga, who sang the national anthem, and Jennifer Lopez. The young poet delivered “The Hill We Climb,” which included lines about the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. “We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it, / Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy. / And this effort very nearly succeeded. / But while democracy can be periodically delayed, / It can never be permanently defeated,” Gorman has written. It is not the first time Gorman will have a national stage. In 2017, she read at the inauguration of the 22nd U.S. poet laureate, Tracy K Smith. She has also performed for Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, Malala Yousafzai, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. f thousands of businesses closed, a cry for racial justice some 400 years in the making moves us. The dream of justice for all will be deferred no longer.”
Black Clergy Leader, Rev. Dr. Sylvester Beaman, Delivers Historic Inaugural Benediction By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent The African American community at large can trust President Joe Biden to fulfill his campaign commitments of ensuring that Black people would be better positioned to prosper in the U.S., according to the man chosen to give the benediction at the Jan. 20 inauguration. “We need a president who is after the heart of God,” Rev. Dr. Sylvester Beaman, of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilmington, Delaware, told NBC News. “In these terrible times, if anybody can bring healing and reconciliation to a divided country, if we give him room to work, Joe Biden can be that person,” Rev. Beaman continued. Born in Niagara Falls Memorial Hospital in upper New York and raised by a single mother in a family of nine children, Rev. Beaman rose through the African Methodist Episcopal Church ranks. His Bethel AME Church in inner-city Wilmington counts as an intergenerational congregation with 50 ministries. Rev. Beaman arrived at Bethel AME in 1993 after serving at St. Paul AME Church in Hamilton, Bermuda. Shortly after he arrived in Delaware, Rev. Beaman and then Sen. Joe Biden became friends. According to the Royal Gazette in Bermuda, Rev. Beaman said President Biden telephoned him on a late Sunday evening to ask whether he would pronounce the benediction at the inaugural. “If I weren’t [available], I would have changed everything to be able to deliver
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that benediction,” declared Rev. Beaman, who rode in the presidential motorcade during the second inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2013. “I was immediately humbled, surprised.” He added that he supported President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “from the very beginning.” “I knew his temperament, his experience, his commitment to family, to his faith,” Rev. Beaman noted. “I felt that he would be right for this time. President Biden’s choice of the Black clergyman to wrap an inspirational bow around the event speaks to the incoming commander-in-chief’s connection to Black Americans and his trust in Beaman, NBC
News reported. The news outlet noted that in President Biden’s November victory speech, he acknowledged that Black people “have my back,” both during the campaign and throughout his career and that as president, he will have theirs. In a February 2020 interview with National Newspaper Publishers Association President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., President Biden reiterated his commitment to Black America. “I got started in the African American community. I got involved in the Civil Rights Movement when I was a kid. I helped de-segregate a movie theater, that kind of thing,” President Biden told Dr. Chavis. “I was the only guy who worked in the projects on the East Side who was White. That is how I got started, and the Black community is the community that, as we say, brung me to the dance. That’s how I got elected.” Rev. Beaman said the Black community could trust President Biden. “As an example, when George Floyd protests occurred,” Rev. Beaman said, “Joe Biden called and asked: ‘Can I come to your church and hold a meeting with community leaders and clergy? I just want to hear what people think.’ Contrast that with President Trump bypassing protesters and having them cleared out to go stand in front of a church to pose for photos with a Bible.” Rev. Beaman arrived at Bethel AME in 1993 after serving at St. Paul AME Church in Hamilton, Bermuda
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
How COVID-19 uniquely affects sickle cell patients by Jasmine Browley, BlackDoctor.org
We all know that COVID-19 affects people differently depending on their preexisting health condition. Now researchers are saying that those with sickle cell disease may be at an even higher risk of not only contracting the virus but serious complications and even death. This comes from the results of two studies presented at the ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition last month. Lana Mucalo, MD, postdoctoral fellow at Medical College of Wisconsin, and her team wrote in their study’s findings that sickle cell patients faced 6.2 times the risk for COVID-19-related mortality compared with the general Black population. Mucalo said there are several different factors that came into play here.
ya l e i n st i t u t e o f s a c r e d m u s i c joins the
i n n e r city news in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans to the cultural and spiritual life of New Haven and the world.
e v e n t l i st i n g s at ism.yale.edu
“Patients with sickle cell disease are more likely to have a high prevalence of the various comorbidities that can put individuals at high risk [for] severe illness and death,” she said. “Also, previous studies show that [patients with sickle cell disease] have worse outcomes due to influenza infection compared with the general population, so respiratory viral infections, potentially COVID-19 too, are a significant source of morbidity and mortality for them.” Ashima Singh, MS, Ph.D., research scientist in the department of pediatrics at Medical College of Wisconsin, and colleagues concluded that patients with sickle cell disease and COVID-19 are more likely to be hospitalized with pneumonia and pain than Black individuals with COVID-19 but without sickle cell disease. Of course, patients with preexisting conditions are known to have more dyer outcomes from COVID-19 diagnoses, but these studies made the link between that and sickle cell patients. Also, the researchers pointed out that COVID-19 has been shown to disproportionately impact Black people, with a 22.2% death rate among them compared with a 13% death rate for the general population. “There is really very limited knowledge of COVID-19 outcomes among individuals with sickle cell trait,” Singh said in an interview with healio.com.
During their research, Mucalo and her team collected information from the international SECURE-SCD Registry — a voluntary reporting system developed at Medical College of Wisconsin to collect data on children and adults with COVID-19 and sickle cell disease — to analyze COVID-19 hospitalization rates compared with Black patients with the virus. Researchers also took a close look at factors linked with more severe COVID-19 illness and hospitalization among those with sickle cell disease. Their report showed 152 children (mean age, 10.9 years; 46.7% female) and 214 adults (mean age, 34 years; 58.1% women) with sickle cell disease and COVID-19, most of whom (n = 324) were from the U.S. Of them, the findings stated that hospitalization rates of 46.1% among children and 66.8% among adults, and death rates of 0.7% among children and 7% among adults. Overall, these data showed patients with sickle cell disease were 6.2 times more
likely to die of COVID-19 infection, according to Mucalo. These data may be limited by selection bias, with an overrepresentation of patients with more severe illness and underrepresentation of areas with a lack of testing, according to Mucalo. Also, the case fatality rate for the general population was derived from only one state. Overall, the researchers found that sickle cell patients should be following recommended precautions such as mask-wearing, hand hygiene, and social distancing because it does significantly decrease the likelihood of contracting the virus. But, sickle cell patients should be sure to get tested frequently and keep a close eye on symptoms of COVID-19 and associated with sickle cell flare-ups. Jasmine Browley holds an MA in journalism from Columbia College Chicago, and has contributed to Ebony, Jet and MADE Magazine among others. So, clearly, she knows some stuff. Follow her digital journey @JasmineBrowley.
AARP Connecticut: Governor Lamont Needs to End, Not Extend, Civil Immunity for Nursing Homes AARP Connecticut issued the following statement in response to recent news that Governor Ned Lamont has informed legislative leaders he intends to extend the state’s Executive Orders until April 20: AARP Connecticut applauds the State’s successful efforts to prioritize nursing home residents in its vaccine rollout, but lawmakers must do more to protect residents’ health and safety. Governor Lamont should not renew his Executive Order that provides civil immunity to nursing homes, and if he does, legisla-
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tive leaders must act quickly to restore liability. Since May we have been raising concerns with the Lamont Administration and the Legislature about civil immunity. We are well past the point in this pandemic where it is appropriate to grant nursing homes civil immunity for “acts or omissions undertaken in good faith while providing health care services in support of the State’s COVID-19 response.” We appreciate the difficult work that nursing homes have had to undertake during this
pandemic, and we believe that most facilities have taken extraordinary measures to protect residents. That said, we find it difficult to understand why any of these facilities need continued protection from liability when nearly all residents have received the vaccine and most staff have had the opportunity to be vaccinated. Any “acts or omissions” leading to harm from this point forward suggest underlying issues in the operation of a facility, and families deserve the right to hold those facilities accountable.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
COMMENTARY:
Vice President Kamala Devi Harris, We See You!
By Amelia Ashley-Ward, Publisher, San Francisco Sun-Reporter
Black President. But on this day, the feeling was even more magical.
men who had occupied the seat before her.
I lost a lot of sleep this week, anticipating the Inauguration of Kamala Devi Harris as the most powerful woman in American history. I was anxious and I was happy. I was in disbelief, but also in awe. I was emotional and teary. I was full of praise, love, and respect for the woman and sisterfriend I decided to support and feature in the Sun-Reporter for her San Francisco District Attorney, California Attorney General, and United States Senator campaigns. We also supported her run for President. I rose early Wednesday to take a seat in front of my large television set. I had nervous energy, as I rocked back and forth. I couldn’t wait for the first glimpse of her. I was eager to see what see was wearing. I wanted to see her walking side by side with President Joseph R. Biden. I mean, I kind of felt like this when President Barack Obama was inaugurated back in 2009 as the First
It was personal. This was our home girl, a girlfriend, someone with whom I had laughed and cried. She is now the most powerful woman in the country. Another first for the woman who has been the first in every political office she’s held. I guess over all the years, Camelot and Cinderella had only been the fairy tales reserved for others and not meant for us. But with an obsession for freedom and justice and a spirited heart full of ambition, Kamala flipped the script. After all, female action figures like Wonder Woman and Barbie dolls on display rarely represented us. At last, we have a real Wonder Woman who represents strength and beauty. She’s the real deal: strong, fearless, mighty, brilliant and she looks like us. Her name is Kamala Devi Harris, Madame Vice President of the United States of America. At last, the day had come. There she
This moment in time will live forever within me. Her victory is our victory. She stands on the shoulders of Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Shirley Chisholm, and Rosa Parks. I must admit, I dedicate the Sun-Reporter to fighting for equal opportunity and the election of Black women. It is my belief that if we work for them, they will also work for us. I plead their cause over and over and time and time again. I guess favoring candidates is not the rule for real journalism, but the rules of this country have never favored us. The election of Vice President Kamala Harris to the second highest office in the land is my vindication. In other words, I raise my right hand and place my left on the Bible and swear to do it again. Vice President Harris said it best: “I may be the first, but I will not be the last.” Next!?
Sun Reporter publisher, Amelia Ashley Ward and Vice President Kamala Harris
stood, regal in purple, after exiting from her official limousine. All eyes were on her. I watched in admiration and cried Hallelujah! as she raised her hand to take the oath of office administered by the first Hispanic Supreme Court
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Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Little Black girls and girls across the country stood with raised hands, too. There’s glass everywhere with openings for them to enter and reach for the sky. Thank you, Madame Vice President Harris! She is now equal to all the white
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
IN MEMORIAM:
Baseball Icon Henry ‘Hank’ Aaron Dies at 86
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Baseball’s recognized home run king and an African American hero, Henry “Hank” Aaron, has died at the age of 86. Aaron, who broke Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record on April 8, 1974, was not just a baseball legend but a hero to superstars. “He’s the one man that I idolize more than myself,” the late boxing legend Muhammad Ali once said about Aaron. While with the Atlanta Braves, Aaron tied Ruth’s mark of 714 homers on April 7. A day later, he slugged No. 715 against the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Al Downing. Before and throughout his chase of Ruth’s longstanding record, Aaron was subjected to racism and hate. Death threats were common, and even some teammates and those throughout baseball despised Aaron as he approached their white hero’s record. Despite beefed up security at Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium, some fans breached the outfield walls as Aaron trotted around the bases following his recordsetting dinger. Legendary footage shows at least two fans were able to physically greet Aaron as he rounded second base and fireworks exploded in the Atlanta night. “A Black man is getting a standing ovation in the Deep South for breaking a record of an all-time baseball idol,” Dodg-
ers announcer Vin Scully, who called the game, proclaimed as Aaron’s mother, family, and teammates greeted him at home plate. Born Henry Louis Aaron on February 5, 1934, in a poor Black section of Mobile, Alabama, called “Down the Bay,” Hank Aaron was the third of eight children born to Estella and Herbert Aaron. Aaron’s father made his living as a tavern owner and a dry dock boilermaker’s assistant. According to biography.com, Aaron and his family moved to the middle-class
Toulminville neighborhood when he was eight years old. Aaron, who became known as “Hammering Hank,” developed a strong affinity for baseball and football at a young age and focused more heavily on sports than his studies. During his freshman and sophomore years, he attended Central High School, a segregated high school in Mobile, where he excelled at football and baseball. Aaron first starred in the Negro Leagues in 1952 and again in 1953, batting .366, with five home runs and 33 RBIs in 26 official games. He began his Major League Baseball career in 1954 with the Milwaukee Braves and spent 23 seasons as an outfielder with Milwaukee – the franchise eventually moved to Atlanta. Aaron finished his career with 755 home runs, a record topped by Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants in 2007. However, many baseball purists recognize Aaron as the true record holder, alleging that Bonds used performance enhancing drugs to bolster his power. Bonds has denied those allegations.
Aaron’s biography at the Baseball Hall of Fame, where he earned induction in 1982, noted that he was “a consistent producer both at the plate and in the field, reaching the .300 mark in batting 14 times, 30 home runs 15 times, 90 RBI 16 times
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and captured three Gold Glove Awards enroute to 25 All-Star Game selections.” The Hall biography notes that 1957 was arguably Aaron’s best season. He hit .322 that year with 44 home runs and 132 RBI, captured the National League MVP Award, and led the Braves to their first World Series Championship since 1914. The U.S. Postal Service once honored Aaron for receiving nearly 1 million pieces of mail, more than any non-politician. On the 25th anniversary of Aaron’s 715th home run, Major League Baseball created the Hank Aaron Award, given annually to the players with the best overall offensive performances in each league. Aaron received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, from President George W. Bush in 2002. According to the New York Times, the Baseball Hall of Fame opened a permanent exhibit in 2009 chronicling Aaron’s life. His childhood home was moved on a flatbed truck to the grounds of Hank Aaron Stadium, which was the home of the Mobile BayBears, a former minor league team, and opened as a museum in 2010. “Through his long career, Hank Aaron has been a model of humility, dignity, and quiet competence,” former Atlanta Mayor and U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young noted in a statement. “He did not seek the adoration that is accorded to other national athletic heroes, yet he has now earned it. “
Con’t from page 10
YNHH, NAACP
pregnant women are put at risk by getting vaccinated, he said. “I hope that myth is busted.” That’s all the more important to busy because roughly 80 percent of healthcare workers in this country are women. “They’re a huge part of the healthcare workforce,” he said. Balcezak said that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine have all agreed that pregnant and breastfeeding women who are eligible for vaccination should be vaccinated. Ogbuagu said that the Pfizer vaccine, which he has spent so much time studying and overseeing trials for, definitely works against the British variant known as B.1.1.7. As far as one of the other variants, from South Africa, he said, that variant’s mutations appear to have decreased that virus’s susceptibility to antibodies by five- or tenfold. Nevertheless, the current vaccine should be able to cover it. “We should expect future variants,” Ogbuagu said. After all, that’s what viruses do. They adapt. “The quicker we’re all vaccinated,” he said, “the quicker we end things and don’t have to worry about” how effective the next variant may be at eluding the current vaccines.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
THE HORSE HE RODE IN ON by Oscar H. Blayton “Good riddance to bad news and the horse he rode in on.” That’s a saying in the corner of the world where I spent my early youth. We have rid ourselves of the bad news that was the Donald Trump presidency, but more bad news could ride in on that same old horse. America will make no real progress unless we ask ourselves how we came to stumble so badly into “the age of Trump” and how we prevent it from ever happening again. This nation cannot bury its head in the sand and ignore the fact that 74 million Americans voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election despite his dismal failure as a national leader – or even as a decent human being. What did those 74 million Trump voters expect to gain from four more years of Donald Trump setting the national agenda and steering the ship of state? With Trump’s disastrous response to the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens, it is unlikely that his supporters believed that he would ensure their personal safety. The Trump presidency wrecked our economy, trashed America’s reputation as a world leader and thumbed its nose at both the international efforts to save the planet from environmental disaster and the need for sober diplomacy to avoid nuclear holocaust. Donald Trump’s presidency left most Americans poorer, less safe and facing a bleak future of internal strife. So, what were his 74 million supporters voting for when they cast their ballots for him in 2020? The answer to this question is ingrained so deeply in the DNA of the body politic of this nation that we must cut into the very marrow of our cultural bones to expose the cancer that has inflicted this land for more than 400 years. When Donald Trump gave his famous “What Do You Have to Lose” speech during the 2016 presidential campaign, he was not trying to convince African Americans why they should vote for him. Instead, he was reminding bigoted whites that they needed to put him in the Oval Office to protect white supremacy. Donald Trump mounted the horse of racial hatred when he announced his candidacy in 2015 and falsely declared that Mexicans coming to America were drug dealers and rapists. He galloped through the land espousing American exceptionalism while calling professional football players “sons of bit***s” for quietly kneel-
Rise
ing during the playing of the national anthem and accusing Black Lives Matters marchers of being “thugs” for peacefully demonstrating against police brutality and the racial hatred he promoted. Trump’s capacity for spewing racist venom was further demonstrated when he declared that there were “very fine people” among the neo-Nazis and rabid racists whose protests in Charlottesville, Va., resulted in the murder of a counter protester. Now that Trump has left Washington and the White House has been fumigated, Republican politicians want us to pretend that these past four years never happened. Taking a page out of the old South’s playbook that submerged the historical fact that 11 states mounted a treasonous rebellion to continue to enslave human beings, most of today’s Republican officeholders want to rewrite recent history to exonerate themselves from any wrongdoing. But the elected Republican officials are just the tip of the iceberg. No longer constricted by the expected norms of human decency, those 74 million voters who put their support behind Trump, and now comprise the base of the Republican Party, will continue to demand racial, ethnic and religious intolerance in return for their votes. And they will want the LGBTQ community labeled “Enemy No. 1.” The white supremacy nag Trump rode in on is no more a noble steed than the mounts bearing the four horsemen of the apocalypse who bring war, famine, pestilence and death to the world. Riding atop his white supremacy beast, he more deeply inflicted those four horrors that have always stalked communities of color in America. For Blacks, Latinx, people of the First Nations and other non-white people in America, the realities of our lives are murderous police waging war on innocent men and women, food deserts resulting in empty stomachs, inadequate health care leaving people susceptible to disease and illness and diminished life expectancies bringing untimely deaths. Even now, white supremacy remains saddled and ready to run. And Trump wannabes like U.S. Sens. Joshua Hawley of Missouri and Ted Cruz of Texas have already tried to mount it. History has taught us you cannot fix a problem until you admit you have one – and the widespread race-based hatred and bigotry within American culture is our greatest problem. But armed with rampant denial, whitewashing and gas lighting, and astride white supremacy, the worst of America’s politicians will fight to protect white privilege. Their disarmament will be neither swift nor easy. The time to begin our resistance is now, or the next storming of the U.S. Capitol may succeed. Oscar H. Blayton is a former Marine Corps combat pilot and human rights activist who practices law in Virginia.
NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA VIRTUAL GALA SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2021 6:00PM RECEPTION • 7:00PM EVENT World Premiere: RISE | written by Anton Kot, piano Nikki Claxton, choreography | Jah’lil Jeffries, dance Original music by Wilbur Cross students, performed by the NHSO Harmony Quartet Red-carpet cocktail hour hosted by Broadway Star Linedy Genao HONORING: Burton Alter, The Wattles Award QUARTET AWARDEES: Soprano Harolyn Blackwell, Librarians Diane Brown & Xia Feng, Composer & Pianist Helen Hagan, Yale School of Public Health
Join the Party! Tickets start at $30. NewHavenSymphony.org/Gala
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016
Construction
Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:
Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory operator and teamster trades for a heavy outside work statewide. Reliable personal transportation and a valid drivers license retraining on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT quired. To apply please call (860) 621-1720 or send resume to: We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Contact: Tom Dunay Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.
NOTICE
Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V Phone: 243-2300 HOME INC, on behalf of860Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, Drug Free Workforce is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develEmail: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com opment& located at 108 Frank Street, Haven. Maximum Women Minority Applicants are New encouraged to apply income limitations apply.Affi Pre-applications willEqual be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y State of Connecticut rmative Action/ Opportunity Employer 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have Office of Policy been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed pre- and Management Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Incoffices seeks: applications must be returned to HOME INC’s at 171 Orange Street, Third Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing Floor, New Haven, CT 06510. and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the NorthThe State of Connecticut, Office of east & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Policy and Management is recruiting for
NOTICIA
Invitation for Bids Cornell Scott Ridge II 425B Eastern Street Fire Damage The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Bids for Cornell Scott Ridge II 425B Eastern Street Fire Damage. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on
Wednesday, January 20, 2021 at 3:00PM.
ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Invitation for Bids
Lead Abatement at McConaughy Terrace
an Agency Labor Relations Specialist position.
Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300 VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com
ELM CITY COMMUNITIES
Further information regarding the duties,
HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing eligibility Authority, estárequirements and application Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply instructions are available at: aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando https://www.jobapscloud.com/ Martes 25 CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1= julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en lasTrailer oficinasDriver de HOME INC. & Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas petición Tractor for Heavy Highway Construction Equip- por correo a201214&R2=5257MP&R3=001 llamando HOME INCLicense, al 203-562-4663 duranterecord, esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse ment. Must ahave a CDL clean driving capable of State of Connecticut is an equal . a las oficinas de equipment; HOME INCbe enwilling 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, 06510 operating heavy to travel throughout theNew Haven , CTThe opportunity/affirmative action employer Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities. Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com
The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Bids for Lead Abatement at McConaughy Terrace. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on
Union Company seeks:
Contact Dana at 860-243-2300
Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply
NEW HAVEN
242-258 Fairmont Ave REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA
Professional Construction Program Services All new apartments, new appliances, new Management carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 New Haven Parking Authority Capital Projects highways, near bus stop & shopping center New Haven, CT Pet under 40lb allowed.NHPA Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 Project #20-055
Proposals due February 10, 2021 at 3:00 P.M.
CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Proposal Documents will be available beginning January 20, 2021 at no cost by emailCertificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates ing Fortunata Houde, Executive fhoude@nhparking.com . 1:30in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The Secretary cost is $125. at Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. New Haven Parking Authority is an equal opportunity/affi rmative action employer. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster St. New Haven, CT
The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport Request for Proposal (RFP)
SEYMOUR AUTHORITY PaintingHOUSING Services Agency Wide
Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour Number: 158-AM-21-S until 3:00 pm on Solicitation Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.
is currently seeking proposal from qualified contractors for Painting Services Agency Wide. Solicitation package will be available on January 25, 2021 to obtain a copy of pre-bid conference will your be held at the Authority Office 28 Smith theAsolicitation you must send request to Housing bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicitationCT number and title subject line. A Pre-proposal Street Seymour, at 10:00 am, on on the Wednesday, July 20, 2016. conference call will be conducted on February 10, 2021 @ 10:00 a.m. Although attendance is not mandatory, submitting a proposal without attending the pre-proposal conference may Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Ofnot be in the best interest of the Offeror. Additional questions should be emailed only to fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CTthan 06483 (203)17, 888-4579. bids@parkcitycommunities.org no later February 2021 @ 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org. Proposals shall beAuthority e-mailed,reserves mailed, or 25,or2021 @ 3:00 The Housing thehand rightdelivered to acceptbyorFebruary reject any all bids, to p.m., to Ms.the Caroline Director of Procurement, Highland Ave, Bridgeport, reduce scope Sanchez, of the project to reflect available150 funding, and to waive any CT 06604. or bids@parkcitycommunities.org. Late proposals will not be accepted.
informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.
Wednesday, January 20, 2021 at 3:00PM.
ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Invitation for Bids Snow Removal Services at McConaughy Terrace
Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is curInvitationThe to Bid: rently seeking Bids for snow removal services at McConaughy Terrace. A complete nd Town of Bloomfield2 Notice copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE
Lead Building Maintainer - Facilities
ning on
Old Saybrook, CT Full Time - Benefited Wednesday, January 20, 2021 at 3:00PM. (4 $31.26 hourly Buildings, 17 Units) Taxdrug Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project Pre-employment testing.
For more details, visit our website –
begin-
APARTMENTS FOR RENT
www.bloomfiWood eldct.org New Construction, Framed, Housing, Selective241 Demolition, Site-work, Cast-Avenue, New Haven Quinnipiac in-place Concrete, AsphaltSpacious Shingles,2 Vinyl Siding, bedroom townhouses with hardwood floors. 1.5 baths. Select with basements and washer/dryer hookups. On-site laundry facility. Off street parking. Close Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, proximity to restaurants, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.shopping centers and on bus line. No pets. Security deposit Seeking qualified condidates to fill varies. $1,425-$1,450 includes heat, hot water and cooking gas. Section 8 welcome. This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements. numerous vacancies to include, Call Christine 860-985-8258. Benefits & Pension Coordinator Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 and more. For information and The15,Housing Authority of the City of New Britain Anticipated Start: August 2016 detailed application instructions, Is seeking a highly motivated individual to become a member of our team in our Project documents available via ftp link below: visit www.ci.milford.ct.us Operations Department as Maintainer I. For more detailed information and the http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Click on SERVICES, JOBS and complete job description, please visit the Authority's website at www.nbhact. org<http://www.nbhact.org> . The closing date for this positon is February 18, JOB TITLE. Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com
CITY OF MILFORD
QSR
2021 at 2:30 p.m.3 Certified NO PHONE HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section BusinessesCALLS WILL BE ACCEPTED. An EEO/AAA Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 STEEL CORPORATION AA/EEO EMPLOYER
APPLY NOW!
Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
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The Housing Authority of the City of New Britain
Is seeking a highly motivated individual to become a member of our Operations Department as HVAC Maintenance Technician/Maintainer. Hourly rate is $30.92/per hour. For more detailed information and the complete job description, please visit the Authority's website at www.nbhact.org<http://www.nbhact.org> . NO PHONE CALLS WILL BE ACCEPTED. An EEO/AAA
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January , 2021 - February 02, 2021 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27,272016 - August 02, 2016
Healthy Older Volunteers Needed For a Blood Specimen Collection Clinical Research Trial. NOTICE ONE Visit And Receive a Gift Card Up to $75 Upon Completion.
Call Chase Medical Research in Hamden,AVAILABLE CT VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS at 203-419-4404 For More Information.
HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have Shop Welder/Fabricator: Large CT Fence & Guardrail Contractor is lookbeen received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon reing for shop welder/fabricators. Individual will be required to weld, cut and fabricate quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed presteel and aluminum products. Must be able to read basic drawings and fill out daily applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third reports. All necessary equipment provided. Required to pass a physical and drug test. A Floor, Haven, CT 06510. valid CT New driver's license, OSHA 10 card and DOT Medical Card also required. Medical, holiday, vacation & other benefits included. Starting pay based on experience level. We are an AA/EOE company. Send resumes/inquiries to: pboucher@atlasoutdoor.com.
NOTICIA
Assistant Production Manager
VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está
Large CT Fence and Guiderail Contractor looking for an experienced Assistant Proaceptando pre-solicitudes apartamentos shop de un and dormitorio en este desarrollo duction Manager to assist para withestudios vehicley inspections, yard management, and ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones ingresos support of daily operations of residential and commercial fence divisions.deDuties inmáximos. Las pre-solicitudes estaráncontrol disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. activities, comenzando Martes 25 clude: Monitor and manage quality for shop and yard including lahasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes 100) borjulio, hour2016 utilization, Process staff paperwork in a timely manner,(aproximadamente Assist with Inventory en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas porSuperintendents correo a peticiónto Management, Attend daily meetings with Scheduling Manager and llamando HOME INC 203-562-4663 durante esasand horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse plan future amaterial and al production requirements participate in weekly sales meeta las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orangeand Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 . ings. Qualifications: Previous construction personnel supervisory experience, Valid CT Driver’s License, DOT Medical Card, Demonstrate good time management skills, OSHA 10 certification and required to pass a physical and drug test. Medical, holiday, vacation & other benefits included. Starting pay based on experience level. We are an AA/EOE company. Submit resumes to: gforshee@atlasoutdoor.com.
HAVEN Fence Installers: LargeNEW CT Fence & Guardrail Contractor is looking for
Fence Installation Crews. Crews must have at least 5Ave years of experience installing 242-258 Fairmont chain link, wood, PVC and ornamental iron fencing. Work available 10-12 months per 2BR 1.5 BA, 3BR,provided. 1 level , 1BA year, highest labor Townhouse, rates paid. All necessary equipment Medical, holiday, vacation & included. be able to pass required physical drug test. Allother new benefits apartments, newMust appliances, new carpet, close to I-91and & I-95 An OSHA 10 Certification is required. A valid driver's license highways, near bus stopCT & shopping centeris required and must get DOT Medical Card. Foreman rate starts at $29.50 / hour plus benefits. Helper rate Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 starts $19.10 / hour plus benefits. Bonuses paid weekly for jobs completed under budgeted labor hours. Potential to double hourly rate. We are an AA/EOE company. Send resumes/inquiries rhauer@atlasoutdoor.com. CT. Unified Deacon’sto: Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. Large CT Fence & Guardrail Contrac(203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster
Fence Erecting Subcontractors:
tor is looking for Experienced Fence Subcontractors with at least 5 years of experience New Haven, CT in St. commercial fence. Work available 10-12 months per year, highest labor rates paid. OHSA 10 safety training required and valid CT driver’s license. Rates start at $39.60 / hour for Non-Rate work and $55.00/ hour for Davis Bacon projects. Must have a reliable truck, proper insurance coverage and your own tools. We are an AA/EOE company. Send resumes/inquiries to: rhauer@atlasoutdoor.com.
SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY
Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour until Worker: 3:00 pm onLarge Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Yard CT Fence Company is looking for individuals for our stock yard. We are CT looking for for individuals with previous Repairs warehouse receiving and Seymour, 06483 Concrete Sidewalk andshipping, Replacement at the forklift experience. Must have a minimum of 3 years of material handling experience. Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.
Duties include: Loading and unloading trucks, Fulfilling orders for installation and retail counter sales, Maintaining a clean and organized environment, Managing inventory A pre-bid conference willpanels be held the Housing Authority Office 28diploma Smith control and Delivering fence and at products. Qualifications: High School orStreet equivalent, Must be to read/write demonstrate good time management Seymour, CTable at 10:00 am, onEnglish, Wednesday, July 20, 2016. skills, able to read a tape measure, have the ability to lift 70 pounds and have forklift experience. Must have a valid CT Driver’s License, Obtain DOT Medical Card, and Bidding documents Seymour HousingDriver’s Authority Ofpass company physical are and available drug test. from Class the A CDL (Commercial License) and Class B CDL a plus. We are an AA/EOE company. Send resumes/inquiries to: fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. pboucher@atlasoutdoor.com
The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any
DELIVERY PERSON
NEEDED
Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week,
Must Have your Own Vehicle If Interested call
(203) 387-0354
POLICE OFFICER City of Bristol
$67,170 - $81,648
Required testing, registration info & apply at www.bristolct.gov DEADLINE: 12-13-20 EOE
QSR STEEL CORPORATION
APPLY NOW!
Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay.
Construction Administrative Office Position. FT-Exp required.Email- Hherbert@ gwfabrication.com
PUBLIC NOTICE The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport (HACB) d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) Will be opening its Low Income Public Housing Waiting Lists for 1BR Elderly/62 and over individuals and our 2BR & 3BR family units beginning Monday, February 1, 2021. To qualify for Elderly, you must be 62 years or older; for 2BR & 3BR units a family size MUST be a minimum of two (2) AND the annual gross income may not exceed the income limits shown below for the household size. To apply ONLINE you should go to https://www. cafe.parkcitycommunities.org or visit www.parkcitycommunities.org and follow the links. Only one pre-application per family will be accepted; duplicate pre-applications will be disqualified. This housing authority does have a preference point system: disabled, homeless, elderly, working, displaced, domestic violence, veterans, elderly congregate and witness protection. A waiting list with preferences means that applicants who qualify for the preference will receive assistance before applicants who do not. Household size Income Limits
1
3
2
Very Low (50%)
$35,950
$41,05 0
$46,20 0
Extremely Low
$21,600
$24,650
$27,750
Low (80%)
$54,950
$62,800
$70,650
If you require a reasonable accommodation for this process, a designated help line will be available to receive your requests at (203) 337-8804 PCC Does not discriminate based upon race, color, disabilities, religion, sex or national origin.
NOTICIA PUBLICA
Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport (HACB) KMK Insulation Inc. d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE 1907 Hartford Turnpike North Haven, CT 06473 Old Saybrook, CT abrirá sus listas de espera de viviendas públicas de bajos ingresos para 1dorm. para perMechanical Insulator position. (4 Buildings,sonas 17 Units) de edad avanzada, 62 y mas y nuestras unidades familiares de 2 Dorm. & 3 Dorm. Insulation company offering good pay comenzando el Lunes, Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project1 de Febrero 2021. Para calificar como persona de edad avanzada, and benefits. Please mail resume to
usted debe tener 62 años o más; para las unidades 2 Dorm. & 3 Dorm. un tamaño de faabove address. MAIL ONLY milia debe ser un mínimo de dos personas (2) y el ingreso bruto anual no puede exceder are an AA/EO Employer NewWe Construction, Wood Framed, Housing,losSelective Demolition, Site-work, Cast- a continuación para el tamaño del hogar. Para límites de ingresos que se muestran aplicar debe iniciar sesión en la pagina web al: www.cafe.parkcitycommunities.org o in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, visitar www.parkcitycommunities.org. Sólo se aceptará una pre-solicitud por familia; las Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, pre-aplicaciones duplicadas serán descalificadas. Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. TOWN OFMechanical, PORTLAND, CT Town of Portland has amended its Citizen ParticiLa Autoridad de Viviendasrequirements. tiene un sistema de preferencias: personas sin hogar, discapacThis contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance pation Plan for the purpose of informing the public itados, mayor de edad, empleados, víctimas de violencia domestica, veteranos, ancianos about its intent to apply for CDBG, Covid-19 fundcongregados y protección de testigos. Una lista de espera con preferencias quiere decir ing. For a copy of the amended Plan go to www. Bid Extended, Due Date: 2016 portlandct.org. que August personas5,que cualifican con su preferencia recibirán asistencia antes de personas sin Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 preferencias.
LEGAL NOTICE of
http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage DELIVERY PERSON Project documents available via ftp link below:
NEEDED
Household size Income Limits
1
Very Low (50%) Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com $35,950 HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 $21,600 Extremely Low AA/EEO EMPLOYER Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week, Low (80%) $54,950 Must Have your Own Vehicle If Interested call
(203) 387-0354 17
2
3
$41,05 0
$46,20 0
$24,650
$27,750
$62,800
$70,650
Si necesita un ajuste razonable para este proceso, una línea de ayuda designada estará disponible
para recibir sus peticiones al (203) 337-8804
PCC no discrimina basado en la raza, color, discapacidad, religión, sexo u origen nacional.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
‘A Sorority of Pain’ Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor Family Push for New Laws their trip to the nation’s capital.
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Jacob Blake Sr. will never forget the long and anxious drive from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shortly after the August 2020 police shooting of his son. “The longest 13 and a half hours of my life,” Blake told NNPA Newswire. “It was pure dread as a father having heard what had just happened to my son.” Blake, 29, was left partially paralyzed after a police officer shot him seven times in the back in a residential area of Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 23, 2020. The officer, Rusten Sheskey, is white, and Blake is Black. Some reports suggested that Blake, whose three young children watched Sheskey shoot their father, was a peacemaker. Others indicated that a former girlfriend had reported a domestic disturbance and implicated Blake. Either way, Blake Sr. said his son should not have been so viciously filled with bullets –brutally being shot in the back in front of his small children. Earlier this month, local prosecutors declined to bring charges against Sheskey. That is one reason why the elder Blake, his brother Justin, and Bianca Austin, the aunt of Breonna Taylor, traveled to Washington, D.C., during the week of the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. The three told NNPA Newswire that they were there to finalize a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (DN.Y.).
Photo: Jacob Blake Sr. sits with NNPA member publication, the Chicago Defender’s Interim Managing editor, Danielle Sanders, for an interview in October 2020. The officers claimed they were carrying “We hope that there will be federal charg- “If you don’t, they will always be able to out a search warrant and erroneously tied es against the officer,” Blake Sr. inter- do whatever they want to and get away Taylor to an ex-boyfriend’s alleged drug jected. with scot-free.” activities. Blake and Breonna Taylor’s families While a grand jury indicted Officer Brett “But, more importantly, we’re going to have supported each other since the AuHankison on charges of wanton endangerbe taking this all the way to Congress so gust shooting of the younger Blake, who ment because he discharged his weapon that we can change some of these laws and grew up in Evanston, Illinois, and moved through the window of a nearby apartaddress some of these problems that allow to Kenosha just a few years earlier to build ment, none of the other officers involved police officers to shoot Black people down a better life for him and his children. were charged. like this.” At the time Sheskey shot him, Jacob Blake “It’s been tough,” Bianca Austin reBlake Sr., his brother Justin, and Austin was training to become a mechanic. marked. declared the need for Congress’ support. Taylor was 26 at the time police shot and “The two families have been supportive Each said law enforcement officers must killed her. of each other, and it’s genuine. There’s so begin to realize the consequences of inmuch concern and the pain that both of our discriminately discharging their weapons She worked as an EMT when Louisville, families are going through – we are like – particularly toward Black people. Kentucky, police officers burst into her this sorority of pain.” “You’ve got to take away the immunity apartment in March 2020, shooting wildly Austin echoed Blake’s remarks about that the police possess,” Blake Sr. stated. and killing her.
“We are here trying to make a change. We’ve got to get these laws passed so that other families will not have to go through what we are going through,” she announced. Blake reflected on the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and offered a comparison of law enforcement’s reaction to the mob of former President Donald Trump’s supporters who left death and destruction in their wake, to the peaceful Black Lives Matter protestors. “Look, my three grandchildren were in the car when they shot my son. Breonna Taylor was in her house, and George Floyd wasn’t doing anything to anyone,” Blake remarked. “All three of them – Breonna, George, and my son, were shot for a lot less than what those [insurrectionists] who ran up into the U.S. Capitol did.” Blake added that his son currently is “holding up.” “We take it one day at a time, one step at a time,” Blake said. “We have to be able to accept everything that happens, so you have to learn how to deal with everything accordingly.” Austin said there remains a vital message all Black America needs to heed. “We need to start teaching our kids the tools they need to be successful. I am raising a young king, and I get scared for him every day. I can’t imagine him being the next Jacob Blake” Austin stated. “We have to stand up and come together as a collective. There’s so much work to be done, but we have got to start somewhere. The time is now. We have resources, and we have the tools. We just need to start using them to our advantage.”
Dave Chappelle Tests Positive for COVID; Cancels All Shows
by De’Laney Rowland, BlackDoctor.org
Comedian Dave Chappelle tested positive for the coronavirus just before his comedy show scheduled for Thursday, forcing his upcoming appearances to be canceled, a spokeswoman said. Chappelle was expected to perform Thursday through Sunday at Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheater in Austin, Texas. Those shows have been canceled and Chappelle is quarantining, his representative Carla Sims said in a statement. The comedian is asymptomatic. According to the Associated Press, Chappelle had been performing sociallydistanced shows in Ohio since June, and moved his shows to Austin during the winter, Sims said. Rapid testing for the audience and daily tests for Chappelle and his team were implemented. While refunds are granted to all of the
ticketholders, many were bummed that they couldn’t see the comedy giant, yet are thankful that he’s keeping his audience’s safety and health at the forefront. “Dave Chappelle is quarantined after testing positive for COVID-19. His remaining shows at Stubbs Waller Creek Amphitheater in Austin, TX have been canceled,” Carla Sims, Chappelle’s representative, said in a statement to the press. “Chappelle implemented COVID-19 protocols which included rapid testing for the audience and daily testing for himself and his team. His diligent testing enabled him to immediately respond by quarantining, thus mitigating the spread of the virus. Chappelle is asymptomatic,” the statement continued. Earlier this week, photos of fellow comedian Joe Rogan, billionaire Elon Musk, musician Grimes and other celebrities including Chappelle were pictured hanging out at Stubb’s went viral. In the
(Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images)
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photos, no one is seen wearing masks or practicing social distancing. There hasn’t been any word if anyone else in the photo tested positive. Dave isn’t the only comedian who tested positive for COVID-19. During late summer 2020, Kevin Hart admitted that he secretly battled with the novel coronavirus. The stand-up comedian and Jumanji star finally spoke out about his diagnosis after a full recovery months later. “The problem is that I had it around the same time as Tom Hanks, and I couldn’t say anything because he’s more famous than I am,” Hart told guests at Dave Chappelle’s An Intimate Socially Distanced Affair show in Yellow Springs, Ohio. According to the CDC latest regulations, If you’ve been exposed to COVID at an event like a comedy show, you can be around others after: 10 days since symptoms first appeared and
24 hours with no fever without the use of fever-reducing medications and Other symptoms of COVID-19 are improving* *Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation Most people do not require testing to decide when they can be around others; however, if your healthcare provider recommends testing, they will let you know when you can resume being around others based on your test results. Note that these recommendations do not apply to persons with severe COVID-19 or with severely weakened immune systems (immunocompromised). These persons should follow the guidance below for “I was severely ill with COVID-19 or have a severely weakened immune system (immunocompromised) due to a health condition or medication. When can I be around others?”
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 27, 2021 - February 02, 2021
Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to the brave, the brilliant, and the selfless. Even with the promise of the new vaccine, COVID-19 continues to affect us all deeply each and every day. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why our talented and tireless doctors, nurses and staff are doing everything in their power to research, diagnose and treat this virus in the cities and towns we all hold dear. Because our community deserves world-class care, right here. Learn more about COVID-19 and the vaccine at ynhhs.org/covid19
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