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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

Covid Hits 8 Schools; Who Quarantines?

by EMILY HAYS

New Haven I ndependent

Officials had a dilemma after a kindergartener tested positive for Covid-19 this week at dual-language Christopher Columbus Family Academy: Who else should stay home?

In this case, one full class and multiple teachers went into quarantine.

Another class that shared the same teachers and used the same classroom later in the day as part of the school’s dual language program stayed in school.

New Haven education health officials have wrestled with these decisions — whom to quarantine, whom to keep in the building — since resuming partial in-person learning at pre-K-to-5th grade schools last week for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic hit last March.

Students or teachers have tested positive for Covid-19 since then in at least eight schools: Columbus, Beecher, Conte-West Hills, Lincoln Bassett, Nathan Hale, Benjamin Jepson, Barnard, and Ross Woodward. Officials have reported these cases in a near-daily dribble of letters to parents and staffers.

School has remained in session in the affected schools — for most of the students and teachers.

“We examine every case on a case-bycase basis. We’re looking at a lot of different factors and conduct thorough contact tracing to determine who should quarantine,” said the city Director of Public Health Nursing Jennifer Vazquez.

Some of these factors include who was within six feet of the Covid-positive person and the age of the class. Younger students are more likely to be moving around the class, meaning more students need to quarantine.

At Ross Woodward this week, for instance, 13 people were sent home, for instance, when a case was discovered.

(Principal Bob Davis had no comment when asked about the decision-making.)

The cut-offs have left teachers and paraprofessionals worried about other children who might be affected and are still in school.

“I was a little concerned. Why weren’t the other children sent home too?” said one Columbus Academy educator, who is quarantining after a case (and asked to remain anonymous for fear of work-related backlash).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that students and staff who spent more than 15 minutes within six feet of someone with Covid-19 should quarantine. That includes people who were that close to the affected individual up to two days before their illness began.

The Connecticut State Department of Education and the Connecticut Department of Public Health have clarified that the whole class cohort should go home too, depending on the circumstances of

MAYA MCFADDEN PHOTO Lino Monge gets his vaccination shot Wednesday at the Casa Otonal senior apartment complex.

the Covid-19 case.

At the same time, the CDC, state officials and schools around the country are shortening the number of days those exposed are required to quarantine to 10 days. This is in response to information that 97.5 percent of people who develop Covid-19 symptoms do so by the 11th day after exposure.

Schools that have been open throughout the pandemic have seen classes quarantining multiple times. In one district, none of the potentially exposed students ever came down with Covid, and some missed six weeks of in-person school as a result of the quarantines.

What about situations, like the Columbus Family Academy dual language program, where students share teachers and classrooms?

At Columbus, the kindergartener didn’t show any symptoms of Covid-19 on Monday or Tuesday. He spent the morning learning in Spanish with the Spanishfocused teacher and paraprofessional.

Then he switched with his classmates to the English-focused classroom for the afternoon. Meanwhile, the other class of kindergarteners swapped places and went to learn in the Spanish-focused classroom.

On Thursday, Principal Roy Araujo called the teachers and paraprofessionals exposed to the student and told them to stay home for 10 days. The kindergarteners who had direct contact with the sick child also stayed home. The kindergarteners who spent the afternoon in the Spanish classroom for the second half of the day did not.

This is what concerns the educator who spoke to the Independent.

“When somebody stays in direct contact

with the student, they have to stay in quarantine, I understand that part,” the educator said. “It’s not fair to the other kids that went to the same place and there were Covid germs there.”

According to Vazquez, the other class should be safe, thanks to all the protective measures schools have put in place: Ventilation systems pump in fresh air.

Students and staff wear masks and use sanitizer. Custodians disinfect high-touch surfaces. Students stay in one cohorts with their classmates.

The school nurses and city epidemiologist check every school Covid-19 case for slip-ups in these procedures and check whether any infections have taken place at school. So far, so good, Vazquez said.

“For the most part, people are following the guidance that has been put together: using hand sanitizer, wearing masks, doing prescreening for symptoms. We continue to reiterate to families and staff the importance of following every one of these measures,” Vazquez said.

She said that the volume of questions her department gets about all of this guidance and other safety details indicates how proactive teachers and parents are about safety.

“We do appreciate that people are thoughtful,” she said.

So far, no one has caught Covid-19 while at school, Vazquez said.

Mayor Justin Elicker, the parent of a Columbus first-grader, lauded this side of the recent case announcements. He said his team is continuing to track this question as cases get reported.

“We have over 5,700 people in schools over past two weeks—4,000 students, 1,700 staff,” Elicker said. “Given the community spread, it’s to be expected

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that people with Covid will come into the school buildings. The important thing is to minimize spread within the schools.”

Who Should Switch Classrooms?

Teachers union president Dave Cicarella had another view of that data.

“We expected to see some of this, and that’s not a good thing,” Cicarella said.

“You can say that only seven locations have been affected. You can also say that we have seven locations affected when we had none last week, and how many are we going to have next week?”

Cicarella said he is not convinced that health officials have weighed all studies equally with whether it is safe for students to be back in school. He is also concerned that students are switching classrooms rather than letting teachers move to them.

“That is a bit of a problem. If we are having kids cohort, the idea is to keep them in the same space,” Cicarella said. “I think it would make more sense to have the teacher move from one group to the next.”

He has received similar questions from teachers at Columbus Family Academy about why one class is quarantining and the other is not. He said he is following up on that with health officials.

As a pediatrician, board member Tamiko Jackson-McArthur sees students switching classrooms as an unnecessary risk, when teachers could switch between classrooms instead. She added it’s not her call, though, as a board member.

It’s not the classroom that is the problem.

It’s the movement between classes, she said.

“You’re going to catch Covid from anCon’t on page 07

65-75? Get On Vaccine Standby List

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO Nursing director Vazquez (at left): No in-school transmissions yet.

New Haven has set up a wait list for seniors between 65 and 75 years old to get Covid-19 vaccines that would otherwise go to waste.

Right now the state is vaccinating people over 75 (as well as first responders and medical workers). The next step will be to vaccinate people between 65 and 75.

But sometimes the day ends with doses that were not administered and would therefore be thrown out. So the health department has established a standy list of people in the next category of recipients. People on that list may get called at the end of the day to come use the otherwise-wasted doses.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

I Protected Myself

Part 1 of our 4-part series in celebration of Black History Month

by WANDA GOMEZ

New Haven I ndependent

As a Covid-19 survivor and first responder, I did not think twice about getting the vaccine.

After several weeks of hearing all the important health information from the doctors at the Fair Haven Community Health Center, I was ready to get the Covid-19 vaccine as soon as it was available. I knew that it would protect me, my family, the patients I work with and many others not yet able to get the vaccine.

Covid-19 almost took my life in April. By the Grace of God, I am here to talk about.it.

On Dec. 24, 2020, I received my first dose of the vaccine.

It is understandable that many people have questions about the vaccine. However, I think protecting ourselves from this deadly virus is most important.

Do we want to continue living our lives with masks, at a six-foot-distance from one another, away from our families and friends? I do not! I want to fight the vicious virus that has killed over 400,000 innocent victims and return to our normal lives.

On Jan. 22, 2021, I received my second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

My advise is to get the vaccine if you are given the opportunity. This is to protect yourself, your family, and the many people around you!

As President Joe Biden said in his first few days in office, it will take months to turn around the pandemic’s trajectory. Fatalities are expected to rise dramatically over the next few weeks.

Yes, we will continue to use our masks, maintain a six-foot distance, continue hand washing, and avoid crowds until we are all vaccinated and the pandemic is over. Until then, do your part! Protect yourself, your loved ones, and the many people that are not

BOSCOV’S CELEBRATES

BLACK HISTORY MONTH CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Wanda Gomez: You should protect

yourself too.

able to be vaccinated.

I am so grateful to my employer, Fair Haven Community Health Care, for offering its staff the Covid-19 vaccine.

I always say that the real gift of gratitude is that the more thankful you are, the more present you become. I am present! I am here as a Covid-19 survivor. We are all in this together. Stay safe and well!

Wanda Gomez is a Covid-19 survivor and a community health worker at the Fair Haven Community Health Center.

Boscov’s celebrates Black History Month and salutes the men and women whose many accomplishments and contributions have transformed our society.

Their impacts on athletics, entertainment, education, journalism, government and industry continue to influence our lives.

We look forward to the youth of today continuing to mold our world and its bright future.

PROOF 3 ROP RUN DATE 2/3/21

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

Covid Strike Team “Pops Up” At Casa Otonal

by MAYA MCFADDEN

New Haven I ndependent

A city “strike team” made its first stop in the Hill Wednesday to deliver Moderna Covid-19 vaccinations to 100 homebound seniors.

New Haven’s Health Department is sending to team to staff pop-up vaccination clinics for New Haveners included in phase 1b of the state’s Covid-19 plan. The strike team schedule will offer one-day pop-up vaccination site on Wednesdays and Saturdays at different senior centers around town.

Stop one Wednesday was the Casa Otonal senior complex on Sylvan Avenue in the Hill, where seniors aged 75 and up enthusiastically showed up for their shots.

The city formed the strike force in response to community leaders seeking a plan to better reach elderly residents who can’t visit a hospital, public health clinic or private medical practice to get vaccinated.

City Health Director Maritza Bond toured the Hill site Wednesday with Mayor Justin Elicker and Hill Alder Ron Hurt. Bond said the strike team will target senior apartment complexes to offer access to the vaccination to those eligible in phase 1b. (Phase 1a made seniors living in nursing homes or other assisted-care facilities eligible for vaccinations starting in December.)

“We reached to all of our senior housing facilities, and they answered the call of making sure that access to vaccinations is not a barrier,” Bond said.

A pop-up vaccination site Wednesday was the Park Ridge Apartments, where staff expected to vaccinate 50-80 resi-

dents, Bond said.

Residents like Ron Simmot (, 76, lined up eagerly in the Casa Otonal lobby for a hour before the vaccination room opened Wednesday. Simmot said he was delighted to get an appointment. He said he was on a wait list at Walmart’s Pharmacy and Smilow Cancer Hospital.

“The vaccine is like a shield. I had no hesitation at all,” he said. “The danger is in the virus and the protection is in the vaccine.”

Some pop-ups will be open to the public, while others will be closed to only residents of the senior apartment complexes.

Vaccinations were done in the community room on the first floor. Upon entering, the residents provided an ID and proof of insurance. One side of the room was used for four vaccination stations, each with an assisted city nurse. On the other side of the room was a waiting area for the residents to sit for at least 15 minutes after getting the shot to be monitored for any immediate allergic reactions.

Hurt said the pop-up site is like a breath of fresh air. “The Hill has been the last in everything, but now we’re finally the first,” he said.

Hurt has talked with hesitant Hill residents who are fearful of getting the vaccine due to mistrust in medical care he said. “They’re worried about the history of medicine. Many bring up what happened at Tuskegee [Syphilis Study] and have fears because of that,” said Hurt.

“Others say they’d prefer to ‘wait it out.’”

Those who got their first dose received a pin to wear like a “badge of honor” and help others feel comfortable with getting vaccinated.

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MAYA MCFADDEN PHOTO Ron Simmot gets his shot Wednesday.

Simmot suffers from two types of cancer and therefore was thrilled to get the vaccine to remain safe. “Until we have herd immunity, I’m going to keep wearing my mask and taking precautions,” he said after getting his first dose. “I feel protected.”

Eligible residents can sign up for a vaccine appointment by calling the CT Vaccine Hotline at 1-877-918-2224 or calling the New Haven Health Department at 1-203-639-2245.

The first resident to be vaccinated Wednesday at Casa Otonal was Lino Monge (pictured). The oldest resident vaccinated on-site Wednesday was 92; 93 percent of people who have died from covid in Connecticut are 60 years and older, noted Elicker.

Elicker reported that the city has vaccinated approximately 3,500 people so far.

The majority of those were vaccinated in phase 1a.

Black Americans Are Being Vaccinated at Far Lower Rates

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved two new vaccines to combat the coronavirus, the initial concern was whether African Americans would accept vaccination.

The rollout of the medicine from Pfizer and Moderna featured heavy promotion.

High-profile African Americans like former President Barack Obama, National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Coronavirus Task Force Member Dr. Ebony Hilton, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson received their shots publicly.

An African American nurse in New York earned distinction as the first person in the country to receive a vaccination, and Meharry Medical College President Dr. James Hildreth, a Black man, sat on the FDA board that approved the vaccines.

Now, concern has shifted from whether African Americans will accept the vaccine.

Many now wonder whether doses would be available to the Black community.

A new Kaiser Family Foundation report has revealed that African Americans are getting vaccinated at much lower rates than whites.

The report, released on Saturday, Jan. 16, shows that in 16 U.S. states where the vaccine is available, white residents are being vaccinated by as much as three times higher than African Americans.

One example is Pennsylvania, where 1.2 percent of white residents had been vaccinated, compared with just 0.3 percent of African Americans in the Keystone State.

Kaiser Family Foundation researchers noted that vaccine distribution is supposed to align with healthcare and frontline workers’ demographics, presumably making the vaccine equally available to all races.

Some have hinted the lack of vaccine access is rooted in racism – not an unwillingness of minorities to get vaccinated.

Dr. Taison Bell, of the University of Virginia, told NBC News that he was “hor-

rified to discover that members of environmental services — the janitorial staff — did not have access to hospital email.”

Hospital staff receives its vaccination information via email, Dr. Bell stated.

“That’s what structural racism looks like,” Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, told NBC. “Those groups were seen and not heard — nobody thought about it.”

As of Jan. 16, the U.S. had surpassed more than 23.3 million total cases and 388,700 deaths due to the pandemic, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported.

According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis, African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans are dying from COVID-19 nearly three times the rate of white people.

“With the country’s coronavirus pandemic continuing unabated as cases and deaths increase, and a more contagious variant of

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the virus spreads, there is a greater focus on vaccine distribution troubles,” Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman wrote.

The covid-19 vaccine distribution effort is in trouble, Altman demurred.

According to federal data, only about a third of the more than 25 million doses distributed nationwide have been given to people.

“Hundreds of different distribution programs are being organized across states and counties for frontline health workers, residents of long-term care facilities, the elderly and others that states are prioritizing in different sequences,” Altman continued.

“The country needs a distribution strategy that our fragmented, multilayered healthcare system can effectively implement. This will require more federal direction, a simpler priority structure, and a different role for the states.”

Contributing Writers David Asbery / Tanisha Asbery Jerry Craft / Cartoons / Barbara Fair Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur Michelle Turner / Smita Shrestha William Spivey / Kam Williams Rev. Samuel T. Ross-Lee

Contributors At-Large Christine Stuart www.CTNewsJunkie.com

Paul Bass www.newhavenindependent.org

Memberships National Association of Black Journalist National Newspapers Publishers Association Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce Greater New Haven Business & Professional Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc. The Inner-City Newspaper is published weekly

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

LEAP’s Famous Fundraiser Goes Virtual

by STAFF

New Haven I ndependent

(Odette Wang of LEAP sent in this article.)

Have you been missing opportunities for community connection and conversation in the midst of the pandemic? Look no further – LEAP has put together a unique evening of learning and community, unlike any virtual event you’ve experienced before, all to support a great cause!

On Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021 (with options for Feb. 27), LEAP will be hosting its 26th annual, first-ever virtual, LEAP Year Event fundraiser. All ticket proceeds will go directly toward LEAP’s afterschool and summer mentoring programs.

These programs serve over 1,000 children and youth living in New Haven’s low-income neighborhoods. During a year of learning loss, social isolation and economic hardship, LEAP has continued to provide essential academic, enrichment and employment opportunities for young people, as well as direct food and rental assistance to New Haven families. In such a critical period of time, ticket sales make a big difference.

LEAP Year Event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a virtual reception. Depending on your preference, you can follow that at 7:15 p.m. with a smaller, more intimate conversation with one of our guests or a larger presentation.

This year, LEAP is delighted to support

our local eateries with the option to purchase dinner. This includes your choice of meal from one of nine beloved local restaurants in the greater New Haven area: Anna’s Catering, Caffé Bravo, Camacho Garage, Quattro’s, Sandra’s Next Generation, September in Bangkok, Soul de Cuba, Union League Café, and Zinc. For those tuning in for the first time, enjoy a discounted “First Time Attendee” ticket.

Whether you are a longtime member of the LEAP family, joining from afar for the first time, or new to LEAP and our mission, we have a place for you.

For 25 years, this event has brought the community together for a fascinating evening of conversation and fine dining across the Greater New Haven area in support of LEAP. The first LEAP Year Event dinner was held in 1995, when the late Louise Endel decided to host a fundraiser in a unique way: guests would split up into several small, intimate dinners generously hosted by LEAP friends. A notable “Guest of Honor” would be invited to each dinner, providing a special theme for the night’s discussions. Now, 26 years later, the tradition of LEAP Year

Event remains. While we cannot gather in person, this year’s virtual LEAP Year Event will stay true to the original spirit of the night: learning, community, and conversation. This year’s fundraiser includes 16 separate conversations.

We are excited to have so many wonderful Guests of Honor to choose from, including Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, the first undocumented nominee for the

National Book Award, Alasdair Neale, director of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, and Elisabeth Rosenthal, award-winning journalist to discuss the implications of current events on America’s complex healthcare system. Guests of Honor also include Emily Bazelon, a New York Times journalist and author who will be discussing free speech in the era of disinformation, and Marcella Nunez-Smith, newly named head of President Biden’s health equity task force focused on the pandemic.

Some special dinners will even feature an exclusive virtual tour of Yale University Art Gallery’s West Campus, with over 42,000 of the collection’s objects on display, or a family-friendly sneak peak into the much-anticipated renovations of Yale’s Peabody Museum of Natural History.

No matter your specific passion, be it entrepreneurship or art history or cooking, you are sure to discover a conversation that you can sink your teeth into with relish. To see the full list of Guests of Honor and topics of discussion, Join us at LEAP Year Event 2021 for a wonderful evening of conversation and community, while supporting LEAP’s programs for youth and local New Haven restaurants. The deadline for buying tickets is Feb. 21. Please Conversations sell out quickly, so reserve your seat early!

Throughout Black History Month and beyond, we celebrate Black Joy. Its beauty. Its brilliance. Its variety. Its tenacity. Its resilience.

Its ability to thrive despite everything.

The power of Black Joy truly knows no bounds... it’s a Joy Supreme.

Celebrate a Joy Supreme with us at aarp.org/blackcommunity

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

New Haveners Push For Speed Cameras

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven I ndependent

Safe streets advocates fed up with the daily danger of walking or biking in New Haven “traveled” to a state hearing Wednesday to support a proposed speed camera law that would automatically send tickets to drivers who hurtle through school zones and roadrepair sites.

Roughly a dozen city residents turned out virtually to testify in support of that proposed legislation Wednesday during a virtual meeting of the state legislature’s Transportation Committee.

The five-hour-plus public hearing—the first such discussion of newly proposed bills to take place this state legislative session—was held online via the Connecticut Network (CT-N) and YouTube Live.

The primary focus of discussion and debate Wednesday was Raised House Bill 5429: An Act Concerning Pedestrian Safety, Vision Zero Council, Speed Limits In Municipalities, Fines And Charges For Certain Violations, The Greenways Commemorative Account And Maintenance Work Zone And School Zone Safety Enforcement.

The state legislative committee members must now deliberate on whether or not to change the language before voting to move the proposed bill out of committee. It would then advance to the full state House of Representatives and state Senate for more debate.

The 33-page draft bill can be read in full here. It represents the latest attempt by Transportation Committee House Chair and New Haven State Rep. Roland Lemar at wielding his committee leadership position to promote alternative transit infrastructure upgrades, increased speed enforcement, and overall improved traffic safety for people who do not use a car.

It also comes at the end of another year of street violence and deaths. Over 65 pedestrians and cyclists were killed by cars statewide in 2020, including nine pedestrians and two cyclists in New Haven.

“We are continuing to see extraordinarily high rates of speed, levels of distracted driving, and the fact that people are driving larger and heavier vehicles” means that there have been more fatal crashes, Lemar said. Roadways continue to be perilous public spaces, especially for “vulnerable users” not in a car.

The proposed bill covers quite a bit of traffic safety territory. It would grant pedestrians the right of way at crosswalks so long as they indicate their intent to cross the road; create a statewide Vision Zero Council charged with charting a path towards no more transportation-related fatalities; and increase fines for drivers distracted by phones or other electronic devices while behind the wheel.

The two most-discussed sections of the bill during Wednesday’s hearing were sections that would allow for “automated traffic enforcement”—aka speed cameras—in school zones and maintenance work zones; and that would allow municipalities the ability to reduce speed limits on locally-

owned roads to 20 miles per hour, down from the current state-mandated minimum of 25 miles per hour.

The “speed cameras” are a new iteration of a cause New Haven traffic-calmers have fought at the Capitol for over a decade: electronic enforcement of deadly speeding. The previous iteration championed “red-light cameras” that could theoretically document a wider range of offenses; civilrights and civil-liberties advocates repeatedly killed bills that would have allowed New Haven to install them.

Over 10 New Haveners spoke in support of the proposed bill during Wednesday’s live-streamed hearing; 140 New Haveners submitted written testimony in favor. One New Havener submitted written testimony in opposition.

The proposed bill would allow for the use of so-called “automated traffic enforcement safety devices” within maintenance work zones, defined as any limited access highway where maintenance work is being performed by the Department of Transportation. Any driver whose car was photographed speeding 12 miles per hour or more above the posted speed limit would receive an automated speeding ticket in the mail.

It would also allow for the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, in consultation with the state transportation commissioner, to establish a pilot program that would give up to 10 municipalities statewide permission to set up speed cameras in school zones within their respective municipalities a period of five years. Anyone whose car was photographed traveling 11 miles per hour or more through a speed camera-watched school zone would then receive an automated speeding ticket by mail.

The law explicitly states that speed cameras will record images of cars’ license plates only. They “shall not record images of the occupants of such motor vehicle or of any other persons or vehicles in the vicinity at the time the images are recorded.”

South Frontage Deaths Drive New Haven Turnout In addition to winning the vocal support of Mayor Justin Elicker and city transit chief Doug Hausladen Wednesday, speed cameras earned favorable recommendations by city residents and workers who have felt the impact of local street carnage firsthand.

Rich Belitsky, a former deputy dean for education at the Yale School of Medicine, harkened back to April 19, 2008, when 27-year-old, fourth-year medical student Mila Rainoff was struck and killed by a car while walking at the intersection of York Street and South Frontage Road.

Her view of oncoming traffic was obscured by a truck leaving the loading dock at Yale New Haven Hospital, he said. A car at the intersection sped up to beat the light.

“Mila was just steps from reaching the curb” when she was hit. She died of her injuries the following day.

Balitsky was the one who had to make the call to her parents in California to let them know about her daughter’s death. “It was

LAURA GLESBY PHOTO Safe-streets advocates at recent memorial for crash victims. the most difficult and heartbreaking phone to students before Lim’s name had been call of my professional career. A feeling made public. He received text after text afthat has never left me.” ter call after call that day, asking if he was He promised them that he and the school still alive. would do everything they could to make “It was a thoroughly unnerving experience that intersection safer. Thirteen years later, to say the least,” he said. little has changed, “and this remains a very “I’ve lived in Iowa, Ohio, Illinois. The dangerous intersection,” he said. situation with traffic safety here in New He stressed his support for the speed camHaven is worse than I’ve ever seen.” eras pilot as a tool for “doing something to A pilot program for speed cameras, they decrease and hopefully stop the speeding both argued, would be a cautious and effecof vehicles, which is critical to ensure pe- tive way to deter speeding. And it wouldn’t destrian safety and many like it throughout infringe on people’s privacy by focusing the state.” solely on their license plates, and not on the Yale Law School students Helia Bidad drivers behind the wheel. (pictured) and Andrew Granato also tes- City Point resident and federal public detified in support of speed cameras. They fender Andrew Giering zeroed in on that cited another traffic-related fatality at the point in his testimony in support of speed corner of York and South Frontage as one cameras. of their primary motivations for virtually He called it a “necessary reform in policattending the state legislative hearing. ing” that would “take the human compoThe traffic death that prompted their attennent out” of traffic stops. dance took place not in 2008, but in OctoRather than having armed police officers ber 2020, when their 25-year-old classmate staked out on city streets and charged with Keonho Lim was struck and killed by a exercising their own discretion on when to truck at that very same spot while on his stop someone and when to press charges, bicycle. speed cameras would send out a ticket to Bidad said that for 15 hours she and her anyone and everyone who violates the law. classmates knew nothing about which of He called it a “consistent, fair, and comtheir classmates had died except that he prehensive” enforcement tool, and one that was 25 and a second-year student. She rehas been proven to reduce speeding in New called frantically texting and calling every- York City school zones. one she knew who fit the description to see Downtown Alder Abby Roth agreed. “The if they were OK. New Haven Police Department just doesn’t “I broke down in tears upon learning the have the capacity with all of their other news,” she said. “The next traffic death responsibilities to carry out the consistent could be you or me, through no fault of enforcement necessary to end speeding,” our own, but through the policy and infra- she said. structure inadequacies in the state of ConAutomatic enforcement reduces potentialnecticut.” ly volatile, discriminatory, and even deadly Granato said that he fit the very descriptraffic stops while still deterring speeding, tion provided by the city and the university she argued.

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She said that, in New York City between 2014 to 2018, 81 percent of drivers who received a speed ticket from cameras didn’t receive a second. Traffic-related deaths in school zones decreased by 55 percent.

“Walking to work, I daily witness the racetrack and chaos of South Frontage Road,” she said about the intersection where Rainoff was killed in 2008, Melinda Trancredi was killed in 2017, and Lim was killed in 2020.

She urged the legislature to consider expanding the pilot to not just school zones, but also areas near hospitals.

“Traffic safety is the issue I hear the most about from constituents,” she said.

After recounting his own experience losing a friend and fellow cyclist to a fatal car crash in Wallingford, East Rock resident and local safe streets advocate Max Chaoulideer said that speed cameras would “reduce speeding, greatly reduce injuries and death, and offer a transparent and datadriven” method to reducing street violence.

“Our streets are not safe,” he said.

“They’re not fair. And they’re not sustainable.” While redesigning roads to promote lower speeds and vulnerable user safety must be a long-term vision for ending traffic fatalities, he said, “in the meantime, we need to enforce the most basic traffic safety parameter: Speed.”

The only person who spoke up in opposition to speed cameras during the first four hours of Wednesday’s hearing was Andrew Matthews, the head of the state troopers union. He cautioned that automated enforcement would replace trained, professional state police officers with privately-owned cameras. Matthews argued that would represent an unconstitutional Con’t on page 20

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

Con’t on page 03

Covid Hits 8 Schools

other person. You’re not going to catch it from a desk, a pencil, or a notebook,” Jackson-McArthur said.

“I thought we weren’t supposed to be doing that type of switching classes. If students congregate or walk past each other, that movement complicates the situation if there becomes a problem.”

Jackson-McArthur said she would like to see more personalized communication with the school communities after each Covid-19 case. The board members get the same form-based letter after each case. She doesn’t know if there’s more follow-up within the school after that. “[The form letter] brings a lot of questions into play. People aren’t comforted,” Jackson-McArthur said.

She would like to see more details about how the district is supporting families and staff to quarantine safely. Can the district deliver breakfast and lunch to them, for example?

Jackson-McArthur said she is not surprised by the number of cases so far or the number of people quarantining.

“Once you start bringing people back together, we knew that was going to happen,” she said. “The literature said that usually spread should not be that great in schools. For me, my thought is: How much are we willing to accept? We know that virtual learning is not the ideal situation. There are a lot of negatives with virtual education, but we have to weigh the risks.”

Poll, Pandemic Propel Push For Election Reforms

by PAUL BASS

New Haven I ndependent

The pandemic showed it worked. A new poll shows Connecticut wants it.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill cited those two arguments Thursday as she renewed a push for laws that will make it easier for people to vote in Connecticut.

She called for the legislature to approve statewide referenda on amending Connecticut’s constitution to allow all people to vote by absentee ballot without needing an excuse, or to vote early in person, in all elections.

They were allowed to vote absentee in 2020 due to one-time executive orders in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, Merrill reported, Connecticut had its highest-ever voter turnout, 79.9 percent, including a record number of absentee ballots.

It was “one of the most successful elections in Connecticut history despite” the most difficult circumstances in a century, said Merrill, the state’s top elections official.

She noted that Connecticut is one of only six states that require an excuse for mail-in absentee voting. It is one of only two (along with Missouri) that don’t automatically allow seniors over 65 or people working during voting hours to cast absentee ballots.

“No voter should ever be forced to choose between their health and their

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO Remember seeing these boxes last fall? The secretary of the state called for making them permanent fixtures.

PAUL BASS PHOTO City/Town Clerk Michael Smart helps a voter fill out an absentee ballot outside 200

right to vote,” she said.

“I think it’s time for Connecticut to move from the most restrictive state in the country” to one enabling voters to vote without restrictions.

Merrill made the pitch during a Zoomed press conference. She was joined by representatives of the AARP, the League of Women Voters, and an advocacy group called Secure Democracy.

The latter group conducted a poll on the subject this month in conjunction with the Survey USA organization. It found that 70 percent of state voters support no-excuse absentee voting, according to Associate Director of State Affairs Secure Democracy Charley Olena; 79 percent backed in-person early voting.

(The poll included 808 voters; it has an alleged 4.3 percent margin of error.)

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Orange amid relaxed rules for 202 elections.

Connecticut voters would need to support amending the state constitution for those changes to take effect. And first each house of the state legislature would have to vote to hold such a referendum.

Merrill has pushed the legislature to do that for years. In 2014 the ideas failed in a referendum. Merrill said she hopes the combination of the pandemic success and the new poll — which shows supCon’t on page 16

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

12-year old breaks record with historic swim How a North Carolina Farmer Become an Important Part of Maryland’s Black History

By BlackNews.com

Christophe Maleau, a 12-year old swimmer, is now the youngest person to swim from the island of Saint Lucia to Martinique. He took on the challenge with the advocacy to raise awareness for breast cancer, which his mother is currently battling.

The amazing feat took Christophe 13 hours, 50 minutes and 47 seconds to cross the water from the Bay of Saint Lucia to Saint Anne in Martinique. His father followed him in a canoe along with doctors, divers and other family members in a separate boat.

Only a few people have tried and succeeded in doing so, such as 71-yearold two-time Masters World champion Jacques Sicot, who completed the trip at age 39 and again at 69, and French Olympic and European swimming champion Gilles Rondy. Christophe made history as the youngest.

“Christophe got it into his head that he wanted to help cancer patients, so he does it by swimming. It was he who ended up encouraging me. At the end, there were swell, bigger waves and of course, I was a little worried. But when he looked at me, I felt he was fine. He didn’t want to give up.

It was out of the question,” his father told Face 2 Face Africa.

Moreover, Christophe had been attempting daring challenges even before. In 2017, he completed a 6.4 km swim and in 2018, he successfully swam from Diamant to Schoelcher towns in Martinique within

only 10 hours. Still, the recent swim had not been easy. In fact, he said there were moments that he wanted to quit but he did not give up.

“I held on singing songs to myself, thinking about the encouragement I received on social media. I was hungry at times during the crossing. I sometimes wanted to stop because I was tired. But when this idea crossed my mind, I told myself that I had no right. I had to continue for the cause I was defending,” Christophe said.

Christophe Maleau, a 12-year-old swimmer, made history as the youngest person to swim from the island of Saint Lucia to Martinique. (Courtesy of Blacknews. com)

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

versity, said in the same interview with Jones.

She was born on a farm in North Carolina but made an everlasting impression in Maryland.

Verda Freeman Welcome counted among the foremost political, civil rights, and community activists of her time. After moving to Baltimore at age 23, Welcome graduated from Coppin State Teachers College and Morgan State College, and later received a master’s degree in history at New York University.

She earned honorary degrees from Howard University and the University of Maryland.

Welcome, a proud member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, taught for nearly a dozen years in the Baltimore public school system before setting her sights on the political arena where she ultimately made history.

Married to Dr. Henry C. Welcome, Freeman Welcome won election to the Maryland House of Delegates representing Baltimore City’s fourth district. Welcome became the first African American woman to win election to the state House.

She served as a Delegate until 1962 when she won election as the state’s first Black woman senator.

Johnson offered that he was hopeful that Welcome’s notoriety would change.

Welcome served in the Senate until 1982.

“She was very impactful with the legislation that she helped pass in regards to marriage equity, even smoking bans and other kinds of things we now kind of take

for granted,” Ida E. Jones, an author and archivist at Morgan State University, remarked in a televised 2019 interview.

It was Welcome’s 1975 legislation that transformed Morgan State College into Morgan State University.

“Verda Welcome is largely ignored by history, Edwin T. Johnson, assistant university archivist at Morgan State Uni-

Her legislative accomplishments were historic. She spearheaded bills to attack discrimination in public housing and other public accommodations, and she sponsored legislation that helped to fund the construction of Provident Hospital.

Legislation put forth by Welcome also addressed equal pay, harassment of welfare recipients, illegal employment practices.

Her legislation also led to the creation of the Maryland Commission on AfroAmerican History and Culture.

One of fifteen children of John and Docia Freeman, Verda Freeman Welcome died in 1990.

“She brought the entire community of those on the margins to the center of the conversation with dignity and grace,” Jones told WBAL-TV. “The Welcome Bridge” at Morgan State University was constructed in Welcome’s honor, and officials said it provides a safe path over a busy road at the campus.

“She bridged the gap between the races,” Johnson continued.

“She bridged the gap in terms of inequities between men and women in so many facets and aspects of our world.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

‘Always There’ – Dr. John Warren Honored with 2021 NNPA Lifetime Achievement Award

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

It seemed only fitting that immediately after presenting the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award to San Diego Voice & Viewpoint Publisher Dr. John Warren, legendary singer Miki.

Howard performed her classic, “Always There.”

Dr. Warren, who accepted his prestigious award virtually while battling an illness, has remained a steady hand among the more than 230 African American publishers and media company owners who are members of the Black Press of America.

On Friday, Jan. 29, the NNPA saluted the dedicated publisher and community leader for his decades-long hard and inspiring work.

“I am deeply humbled with this award and what it represents coming from those I have grown to love and respect over these decades,” Dr. Warren wrote in a statement accepting the honor.

“I see the Black Press as a sacred trust, and I am glad to be both a part of its 194year history and future now being made.”

Dr. Warren’s freedom fighting path began early, as many who know him expressed their admiration for the zeal he has always demonstrated when advocating for freedom, justice, and equality.

In 1979, Dr. Warren served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Memphis, Tenn., where he met his wife, Gerri.

For five years, the couple lived in Washington, D.C. while Dr. Warren pursued and completed his law degree.

The two returned to San Diego in 1985 and, two years later, took over the San Diego Voice & Viewpoint.

The newspaper set standards in San Diego and around the country with its reporting and poignant editorials.

The Voice & Viewpoint has routinely earned journalism and innovation awards and has set standards in telling stories from the perspective of African Ameri-

A Thirst for Celebration The month of February has long shined a light on Black

Dr. John Warren

cans.

With Dr. and Mrs. Warren guiding the popular publication, the Voice & Viewpoint has grown as the city’s largest African American newspaper.

Its news features have highlighted people and events in the most comprehensive manner, while its editorial and opinion section is viewed among the most intriguing.

The newspaper, which can be found in all 89 San Diego zip codes, appears on more than 350 newsstands across the city.

Gerri Warren died in 2009, and Dr. Warren and his family have continued the mission of printing and speaking truth to power.

“Each year, a distinguished publisher is honored who has served decades to keep the Black Press of America alive,” NNPA President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., said during the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The presentation occurred during the NNPA Midwinter Training Conference on Friday, Jan. 29.

“It is indeed our pleasure to present Dr. John Warren, Publisher of the San Diego Voice and Viewpoint, with the 2021 NNPA Lifetime Achievement Award, for his contributions in leadership and

history as we honor and celebrate the achievements a lifetime of outstanding service to the community,” NNPA Chair and Houston Forward Times Publisher Karen Carter Richards announced.

In tribute to Dr. Warren, Dr. Chavis concluded, “Tonight, we are pleased to give the award to Rev. Dr. John Warren. He has done an outstanding job as the distinguished publisher of the San Diego Voice & Viewpoint. We thank you for your leadership, and we recognize your contribution to the Black Press’s sustainability.

“You are always on the frontlines speaking truth to power and publishing truth to power. On behalf of the NNPA, we are so honored to take this time to honor you for your decades of service, your decades of commitment and for opening the door and being a trailblazer for other publishes to follow. You represent the best of the NNPA.”

and culture of African Americans. At the RWA, we advocate for dialogue and action that drive progress and remove racial, cultural, ethnic, social and gender barriers and bias. During Black History Month, let us all take time to look through the lens of history at the events and people, like Dr. King, that shaped who we are as a nation.

The award contained the inscription: “For outstanding and meritorious lifetime contributions to the Black Press of America, with the highest standards of professional journalism, and the consistent voice of being a transformational freedom fighter, and NNPA publisher.”

Black Woman Astronaut Will Be the First to Visit International Space Station BlackNews.com

Nationwide — Jeanette Epps, a NASA astronaut, will soon make history as the first-ever Black woman to fly to the International Space Station on a mission into orbit. It will also be her first space flight in her career.

Epps, who is from Syracuse, New York, earned a bachelor’s degree in Physics in 1992 from LeMoyne College. She then attended the University of Maryland, College Park where she received a Masters in 1994 and a Doctorate in 2000 for Aerospace Engineering.

She was also a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Project fellow while pursuing her doctorate degree, where she authored several journals and conference articles on her research.

Jeanette Epps, a NASA astronaut,

After finishing her graduate school, she worked as a technical specialist in Ford’s Scientific Research Laboratory for 2 years, co-authoring several patents. She then served as a technical intelligence officer in the CIA for 7 years. In 2009, she was one of the nine selected people to become a NASA astronaut.

Moreover, she would have made history earlier in 2018 as the first Black woman to live on the ISS, but was later reassigned for undisclosed reasons.

Now, Epps has been assigned to NASA’s Boeing Starliner-1 mission, the first operational crewed flight of Boeing’s CST100 Starliner spacecraft on a mission to the International Space Station. She will be joining NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Josh Cassada for a six-month expedition which is set to launch in 2021.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021 IN MEMORIAM:

Cicely Tyson, a Legend Who Portrayed African Americans with Dignity and Strength, Dies at 96

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Actress and model Cicely Tyson, a legend of the stage and screen whose roles showcased the lives of famous African American women died on January 28 in New York at 96. Tyson was a much respected and revered artist. Her acting was replete with authenticity and her portrayals won her many dedicated admirers.

She was also famously married to another legend, Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1988.

Tyson iconicly portrayed Kunta Kinte’s mother in the epic television mini-series “Roots” in 1977. She played Coretta Scott King in the 1978 NBC mini-series “King.” She also portrayed Harriet Tubman, in “A Woman Called Moses” (1978) and in 1994, she won an Emmy for her portrayal of Castalia in the mini-series, “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells

All.” Her roles spanned decades and include theater, television and feature films.

Tyson stressed the importance of portraying the lives of African Americans with dignity — regardless of whether the character was rich or poor.

Tyson recently finished her memoir which was promoting at the time of her death. Her new book is called “Just as I Am.” The autobiography spans over seven decades of Tyson’s career and life experiences. Praise for a life well lived flooded in for Tyson.

“In her extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson was one of the rare award-winning actors whose work on the screen was surpassed only by what she was able to accomplish off of it. She had a heart unlike any other—and for 96 years, she left a mark on the world that few will ever match,” wrote President Barack Obama after hearing the news of Tyson’s death.

“So saddened to hear my friend #Cic-

Biden Administration in Push to Put Harriet Tubman on $20 Bill

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent After four years of push back from the administration of Donald Trump, Underground Railroad heroine Harriet Tubman may finally appear on U.S. currency.

“The Treasury Department is taking steps to resume those efforts to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday, Jan. 25. “[The Biden administration] is exploring ways to speed up that effort. It’s important that our notes, our money reflect the history and diversity of our country, and Harriet Tubman’s image on our new $20 note would certainly reflect that,” Psaki commented.

In April 2016, then-President Barack Obama announced that Tubman would replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.

Obama wanted the release of the new bill to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment in 2020 that gave women the right to vote.

However, Trump had expressed an affinity toward Confederate figures and sang the praises of Jackson, claiming that he had led the U.S. to great success during his two-terms in office from 1829 to 1837.

Jackson, a slave owner, joined the Confederate army after Virginia seceded in 1861. He served under Gen. Robert E. Lee during the Civil War. Tubman, an escaped slave, led countless people to freedom. Trump suggested that he might consider placing her image on a $2 bill, but not replace Jackson.

President Biden has vowed to right the many wrongs of the Trump administration, including working toward improving race relations in America and offering more opportunities to people of color.

Tubman would be the first African-American woman featured on U.S. currency.

Cicely Tyson

elyTyson has passed-one of the most profound, talented and celebrated actors in the industry. She was a serious actor, beautiful & spiritual woman who had unlocked the key to longevity in the way she lived her life. Forever all my love and respect,” wrote Congresswoman Maxine Waters on the actress.

“My heart is truly broken. Yesterday, we lost not only an iconic award-winning actress who distinguished herself in theater, film and television, but a true pillar of African American culture,” said Melanie Campbell, President of the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation.

Her death was announced by her longtime manager, Larry Thompson. At the time of this writing, funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist for NNPA and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is also a political strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

Arizona State University Renames Film School to Honor Sidney Poitier

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

“The $20 currently features a former president, Andrew Jackson, who not only owned slaves, but ordered the death march of thousands of Native Americans,” NNPA’s General Counsel A. Scott Bolden wrote in a 2019 editorial.

“Euphemistically called ‘Indian Removal,’ the Trail of Tears made way for white settlers to claim millions of acres of southern land,” Attorney Bolden wrote.

He continued: “The attempted erasure of Tubman represents yet another move in the Trump playbook to disconnect racial reality from white fantasy. Harriet Tubman should be a respected and lauded icon for people of every race and ethnicity. Did she not personify American ideals, at the risk of her own life? As a Black woman in antebellum times, she was vulnerable to capture, prison, assault or lynching, but did she falter? Did she not refuse to kneel to any man or any king? Did she not fight for freedom against overwhelming odds? Are these not the qualities we hold dear in our American heroes?”

Arizona State University has named its new film school after legendary actor Sidney Poitier.

According to a USA Today report, the decision to name the school after Poitier, 93, is about much more than an emphasis on diversity.

In an interview ahead of The Sidney Poitier New American Film School’s unveiling, University President Michael M. Crow said Poitier embodies everything that one would look for in an icon.

“With Sidney Poitier, it’s his creative energy, his dynamism, his drive, his ambition, the kinds of projects he worked on, the ways in which he advanced his life,” Crow asserted, according to USA Today.

The legendary actor filmed his Oscarwinning “Lilies of the Field” in Arizona in 1963. Poitier became the first Black person to win an Oscar for lead actor in a motion picture.

Crow noted the unusually scandal-free life that the superstar has lived despite being in the public limelight for decades.

“Look at his life: It’s a story of a person who found a way,” Crow added. “How do we help other young people find their way?”

As noted in his biography at Oscar.com, Poitier is both an esteemed actor and a respected humanitarian.

In addition to his Oscar for Best Actor, he received an Honorary Award in 2001. Born in Miami, he grew up both in the Bahamas and the United States and became a noted actor both on the stage and in such films as “The Defiant Ones” in 1958, which he

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earned his first Oscar nomination.

Throughout his career, Poitier provided some of the most legendary performances ever on the Silver Screen.

Among the most memorable were “A Patch of Blue” in 1965, “In the Heat of the Night” in 1967, and “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” in 1967.

Poitier also directed and starred in a series of 1970’s hits with Bill Cosby, including “Let’s Do it Again” and “Uptown Saturday Night.”

He went on to direct nine feature films.

In 2000, Poitier published the autobiography “The Measure of a Man” and earned a Grammy Award for the best-spoken word album for the audio version of “The Mea-

sure of a Man.” He followed up his autobiography eight years later when he published “Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My GreatGranddaughter.”

A recipient of numerous awards and honors throughout this career, Poitier was knighted in 1974 by the British government.

President Barack Obama awarded Poitier the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009, and in 2011, he earned the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s prestigious Chaplin Lifetime Achievement Award.

According to USA Today, Arizona University reportedly has invested millions of dollars in technology to create what’s intended to be one of the largest, most accessible, and most diverse film schools.

Crow said the film school would measure success not by exclusivity but by inclusivity.

“If it has my Dad’s name on it, it has to be inclusive because that’s the foundation of who he is and what he stands for,” Anika Poitier, the legend’s daughter, remarked.

“And it’s important to not only have inclusion but to have diversity, and to give people the opportunity to tell their stories.

I think it’s imperative to cast a wide net and allow anyone who’s called to tell their story to learn how to do that.”

President Barack Obama awarded Poitier the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009, and in 2011, he earned the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s prestigious Chaplin Lifetime Achievement Award. (Photo: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos. com from Laurel Maryland, USA / Wikimedia Commons)

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

Black History of Health: Nina Simone

HOWARD K. HILL F UNERAL

SERVICES

by Jasmine Browley, BlackDoctor.org

Arguably one of the most prolific entertainers in recent history, Nina Simone spent her career breaking barriers, shedding light, and fighting necessary battles.

Many of which she won. One, however, she fought for many years but ultimately succumbed to; breast cancer.

She died at the age of 70 on April 21, 2003, at her home in Carry-le-Rouet, France. While she may be gone, Simone left a lasting impression on the world of music, art, and activism.

Featured on BlackDoctor.

Her career began around 1958 and reached a fever pitch in the ’60s when Simone began singing out loud and clear about civil rights —well after her peers like Harry Belafonte and Sammy Davis, Jr., but still at a relevant enough time when many Black entertainers felt constrained by two worlds: commercial success and social responsibility. Simone melded both together. Sometimes inelegantly but always necessary.

Always one to point out racial disparities through music, her songs often underscored the quiet rage that Black women held due to society’s blatant disregard for their well-being. In an improvised live rendition of her song, Four Women her lyrics spoke to the anguish: “My name is Sarah…my back is strong to take the pain inflicted again and again.”

Her words can still poignantly describe what’s happening to Black women today, especially when it comes to their health.

Simone’s fatal illness, Breast cancer, for example, is diagnosed at lower numbers in Black women, but they have a significantly higher mortality rate than their white counterparts.

Per Cancer Connect: Black women have the highest breast cancer death rates of all racial and ethnic groups and a 41 percent higher rate of breast cancer death than White women.1,2 That is not a typo—it’s a staggering statistic: Black women with breast cancer are 41 percent more likely to die from the disease than White women. What’s more, African-American women are less likely to survive for five years after diagnosis.3 But the disparity doesn’t stop there.

African-American women are more likely to develop breast cancer at a younger age (under 50) and often have a more aggressive form of the disease called triplenegative breast cancer, which means the cancer does not express the gene for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, or HER2 that can stimulate breast cancers to grow—and therefore is immune to many of the targeted treatments that can be used to block tumor growth. Triple-negative breast cancer tends to grow and spread more quickly than other types of breast cancer. Black women are three times more likely to develop triple-negative breast cancer than their White counterparts. In fact, research indicates that 20

to 30 percent of breast cancers diagnosed in African-American women are triplenegative.

What are the treatment options?

Breast cancer is treated in many ways as more research is done. Of course, treatment plans are tailored to each patient’s condition, the rate at which the cancer spread, and the state of the patient’s current health. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control) here are some of the typical treatments: Surgery. An operation where doctors cut out cancer tissue.

Chemotherapy. Using special medicines to shrink or kill the cancer cells. The drugs can be pills you take or medicines given in your veins, or sometimes both.

Hormonal therapy. Blocks cancer cells from getting the hormones they need to grow.

Biological therapy. Works with your body’s immune system to help it fight cancer cells or to control side effects from other cancer treatments.

Radiation therapy. Using high-energy rays (similar to X-rays) to kill the cancer

cells.

Hybrid treatment. Doctors from different specialties often work together to treat breast cancer. Surgeons are doctors who perform operations. Medical oncologists are doctors who treat cancer with medicine. Radiation oncologists are doctors who treat cancer with radiation.

BDO’s Black History of Health series is designed to show the correlation between the health of historical black figures and Black Americans today. Many of the health disparities we currently experience have been in our community for centuries. This series is meant to bring these conditions to the forefront and provide blacks with preventative and management steps to reduce these disparities and improve the overall health of the Black American community. It’s time to change the narrative.

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.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

Do We Ask Too Much of Black Heroes?

Imani Perry

This is the first piece in “Black History, Continued,” a series that will explore pivotal moments and transformative figures in Black culture and examine how the past shapes the present and the future.

In the early 20th century, before Negro History Week had turned into Black History Month, African American teachers and children in schools throughout the segregated South would paste images of celebrated figures of Black history on the walls of their schools. It was a public affirmation that greatness existed among their people despite oppression.

As a woman born post desegregation, in 1972, I remember the photocopied programs featuring a list of names to celebrate: Sojourner Truth, W.E.B. DuBois, Daniel Hale Williams, with facts to go along with each. Even then, I knew these models of aspiration were meant to guard me against any feelings of inferiority that might come from not seeing my story in textbooks or on screens.

Although the world has changed a great deal over the past century, celebrating heroes remains an important and familiar part of the Black History Month ritual.

It is consistent with the way Americans celebrate history. As historian Benedict Anderson notes in “Imagined Communities,” his examination of the rise of nationalism, in a national imagination the solitary hero is possessed of qualities and abilities that exceed what we expect of a human being and he (and it is usually a he) invariably succeeds. In the history of the United States, dominating the landscape and vanquishing all opponents (think George Washington and Davy Crockett) are classic hero’s traits. The hero becomes a proxy for the nation.

Black historic and political figures have been rendered as vanquishing heroes as well. Noble, brave and transcendent, they have remarkable stories. We tremble in awe before the recounting of Frederick Douglass escaping from slavery and Ida B. Wells narrowly evading the Klan in Memphis, saving her own life — then, through her investigative journalism into the practice of lynching, saving the lives of countless others. Martin Luther King Jr., who survived threats, bombs and jail cells before falling to an assassin’s bullets, has been rendered as the ultimate hero. His depiction is messianic. And although he was a key member of a vast and complex movement, he is often presented as singular. This is the way we tell history in the American public sphere.

The Black American hero is necessarily more complicated than the mainstream “Great American heroes.” Both American and Black in a racially oppressive nation, he is a figure of double consciousness, often put to cross purposes. His greatness is trumpeted in order to reject the concept of Black inferiority and to assert belonging

A bronze statue of abolitionist Harriet Tubman is seen during a private viewing ahead of its unveiling at the Maryland State House, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, in Annapolis. The statue, along with a statue of Frederick Douglass, will be unveiled Monday night in the Old House Chamber, the room where slavery was abolished in Maryland in 1864.

in the nation — a sign of legitimacy. “I, too, sing America,” he sings, as Langston Hughes once put it.

Or the hero might instead be a salvific figure, someone like Malcolm X or Huey Newton, who rejects the racist nation.

See, for example, the embrace of Marcus Garvey, Garveyism and the Back-to-Africa movement in the early 20th century.

Another type of Black hero is one who survives untold brutalities and lives to tell the tale, indicting white supremacy by his very existence.

Heroes, as historians and activists have noted for generations, are often made mythic in ways that are troubling. Social change is never wrought by individuals.

Movement is a collective endeavor, and the romantic ideal of the hero obscures that truth. Recent social movements like the Movement for Black Lives have been deliberate about describing themselves as leaderless or “leader-full,” in order to emphasize the importance of collective organizing while rejecting the model of the charismatic male leader. “We’re not following an individual, right? This is a leader-full movement,” Patrisse Cullors, a co-founder of the Black Lives Mat-

ter Global Network, told NPR in 2015.

“There [are] groups on the ground that have been doing this work, and I think we stand on the shoulders of those folks.”

These organizers look to the tradition of the Civil Rights movement as inspiration, such as the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, which oriented itself toward participatory democratic models, rather than the model of King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was organized in ways consistent with the Protestant Church. They have taken a lesson from the words of Ella Baker, the often-overlooked architect of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee: “Strong people don’t need strong leaders.”

The decision to choose leaderless or leader-full models is a refutation of the ideal of the traditional hero: martial, dominant and authoritarian in style, if not substance. It also recognizes the ways in which so many important figures have been excluded from being cast as heroes because they don’t fit the standard image, whether because of queerness, gender nonconformity, femininity or mental or physical disability. The practice of over-

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looking these heroic people is ironic, given that navigating disadvantage often requires heroic labors. And although a few such outsiders make it into the annals, generally it is only if they are seen as “transcending” their very human qualities.

The traditionally constrained ideal of the Black hero is a challenge both within Black communities and in the society at large. These lauded individuals are anointed as proxies for all Black people and interpreters of Black thought — which flattens the widely divergent ideas among Black people about the political economy, social values, theology, racism, law and so forth. Groundbreaking figures like Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, President Barack Obama and Vice President Kamala Harris are subject to intense political debate, both within Black communities and without, over their ideologies, their roles in American policy and their relationship to communities of color even as we recognize the significance of being a trailblazing “first” of such consequence. No one person can tell the whole story, no matter how heroic that person

might be.

That said, heroes remain. They resonate with people for good reason. Human beings organize knowledge through storytelling. We create ourselves in light of the stories we hear and tell. Having stories that give us courage and inspiration are always necessary but especially so when we face injustice. In trying times — and we are mightily tried — we need inspiration. Rather than an absolute rejection of the idea of the hero, we would do better to tell fuller and truer stories about those we place in those ranks, to deepen our understandings of them as fallible human beings. And we must include critically important people who are often left off the rolls.

Ella Baker stands as a heroic figure and a model for how to organize using a deeply democratic approach. Fannie Lou Hamer, a sharecropper who by many accounts was the moral center of the struggle in the Mississippi Delta for voting and economic rights, and who was physically disabled after facing violent retaliation for her organizing work, is not a household name — yet I have listened to Civil Rights organizers describing the emotional fortitude that came from hearing her sing, a woman beaten and bloodied near to death who nevertheless remained a soldier for freedom. Only recently has there been a revival of public recognition that Bayard Rustin, an openly gay Black man, was the architect of the March on Washington.

And as young organizers have defined their own politics, people like trans-liberation organizer Marsha Johnson, have become heroes of our time.

However, even as we expand the pantheon of who counts as heroes, the heroic figure remains a juggernaut. As we freeze them on an altar of adoration, we run the risk of losing our critical perspective regarding who they were or are as full, complex human beings. In the world of social media and an information age with a 24hour news cycle, heroes rise and fall in spectacular fashion on a daily basis.

In the end, perhaps we will find it necessary to refuse rendering any individuals as heroes uncritically and instead settle on what we can agree about: There is an undeniable heroism in refusing and transcending the narrow boxes that racism creates and the barriers it erects. We can acknowledge human fallibility and the sociological landscape out of which acts of heroism emerge. Heroes fail, and they succeed, and sometimes they fall short of our hopes. Perhaps they betray them. Our hearts leap when they exceed them. The valleys as well as the heights of anyone’s story must be deliberately attended to, including the stories of our heroic figures.

Rather than serving as empty vessels into which we pour our fantasies, these figures can be taken on their own terms, including their full humanity.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

OP-ED:

NFL’s 2021 Opportunity to Diversify Team Ownership

By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., President and CEO,

National Newspaper Publishers Association

As we approach the 55th NFL Superbowl next Sunday in Tampa, Florida amidst the continued national spread of COVID-19, I believe that the time has come for the close-knit group of team owners in the National Football League (NFL) to take the necessary steps to open the door to African American business leaders who hope to join that exclusive club of owners.

Given the large number of outstanding African American players today on NFL teams and the growing racial and ethnic diversity of NFL fans and supporters in all the cities where NFL teams are located, the ownership of NFL teams should begin to become as diverse as its fan and support base. Today, nearly 70% of NFL players are African American but there are no African American NFL owners. I see this as an opportunity for the leadership and owners of the NFL. I speak not only as a fan of professional football but also as someone who has a direct interest in helping the NFL fulfill its laudable and historic commitment to building a diverse and equitable league for players, coaches, owners and the thousands of others who make professional football one of the most popular sports in the world.

Indeed, the NFL recently became a trusted partner and sponsor of the Na-

tional Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), which represents 230 African American-owned newspapers who deliver news to our communities across various platforms, including print, digital and social media formats.

Our member publications cover the news, sports, entertainment, and culture pertaining to our excellence of performance in all aspects of human endeavor in the United States and throughout the world. And the NFL’s sponsorship will help enable our media properties to continue serving our communities at a tumultuous and confusing time when there is a great need for honest and accurate reporting.

For that support, we at NNPA are profoundly grateful.

But there is more that could be done to advance the cause of social justice, particularly on the question of opening the NFL’s Owners Club to African Americans.

We have a unique opportunity to address this matter, given that America is focused on the inequalities in our culture – from economy to the delivery of health care – that the pandemic has laid bare for all Americans to see.

In this context, the NFL, a sports business giant, should begin taking steps toward diversifying the ranks of NFL team owners. More than that, the league should

leverage the current debate about social justice to ensure greater diversity and inclusion in all aspects of American corporate life.

It does appear that the NFL is slowly making some progress on the hiring of African American and other persons of color in the top executive positions of NFL general managers and head coaches.

I know, for example, that Rod Graves, former general manager of the Arizona Cardinals and current executive director

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of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, is working hard on this issue of inclusive executive hiring. Brother Graves is to be saluted for his consequential work.

I am also aware that overall, Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president, and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell have stated their resolve and commitment to social and racial justice, and as well to leading the NFL forward on the issues of diversity and inclusion. We wish them well.

Yet, if I have learned anything during my long 60-year career in civil rights and in the freedom struggle in America, it is that the issue of equity requires ownership and investment in order to sustain social transformation.

I also know that if given the genuine opportunity from the NFL fraternity of owners, there are African Americans who are financially endowed and desirous to become NFL team owners. One such person who comes to mind is Robert F. Smith, the chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners who in 2019 pledged to donate $34 million to pay off loan debt for 400 students who graduated Morehouse College that year.

But there are plenty of other capable African Americans whom the NFL can tap for those positions. The point is that if the league makes this a priority, the opportunity is here to open the doors of this elite club to people from historically underrepresented groups.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr. is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and Executive Producer & Host of The Chavis Chronicles on national PBS TV network.

He can be reached at dr.bchavis@nnpa. org Today, nearly 70% of NFL players are African American but there are no African American NFL owners. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

Black History of Health: Prodigy

by Jasmine Browley, BlackDoctor.org

You wouldn’t be able to tell that he was in as much pain as he was by the way Prodigy commanded stages and studio sessions. The founding member of legendary rap group Mobb Deep was not only from one of the toughest boroughs of New York City, but he’d suffered intense physical pain since he was an infant as a sickle cell anemia patient. The blood disease marked by debilitating bouts of bodily discomfort often caused painful spasmodic flare-ups at any moment.

Despite immense challenges, Prodigy née Albert Johnson still managed to produce some of the most impactful moments in hip hop and even launched a second career as a chef and author in 2016. However, in 2017 after being hospitalized in Las Vegas for complications from the disease, Prodigy died at the age of 42. Although the cause of death wasn’t clear initially, eventually it was confirmed that it was the sickle cell that finally claimed his life.

The murky cause of death is in keeping with the mysterious disease. Medical researchers still have no cure and no explanation for why it disproportionately affects Black people. But they are actively working to find treatments to ward off its painful symptoms. However, there’s no way to completely stop them.

What is Sickle Cell Anemia?

According to the Mayo Clinic, Sickle cell anemia is one of a group of disorders known as sickle cell disease. Sickle cell anemia is an inherited red blood cell disorder in which there aren’t enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout your body.

Normally, the flexible, round red blood cells move easily through blood vessels. In sickle cell anemia, the red blood is shaped like sickles or crescent moons. These rigid, sticky cells can get stuck in small blood vessels, which can slow or block blood flow and oxygen to parts of the body.

Symptoms Signs and symptoms of sickle cell anemia usually appear around 5 months of age. They vary from person to person and change over time. Signs and symptoms can include: Anemia. Sickle cells break apart easily and die, leaving you with too few red blood cells. Red blood cells usually live for about 120 days before they need to be replaced. But sickle cells usually die in 10 to 20 days, leaving a shortage of red blood cells (anemia).

Without enough red blood cells, your body can’t get enough oxygen, causing fatigue.

Episodes of pain. Periodic episodes of pain, called pain crises, are a major symptom of sickle cell anemia. Pain develops when sickle-shaped red blood cells block blood flow through tiny blood vessels to your chest, abdomen and joints. Pain can also occur in your bones.

The pain varies in intensity and can last for a few hours to a few weeks. Some people have only a few pain crises a year. Others have a dozen or more pain crises a year. A severe pain crisis requires a hospital stay.

Some adolescents and adults with sickle cell anemia also have chronic pain, which can result from

Rise

bone and joint damage, ulcers, and other causes.

Hand and feet swelling. The swelling is caused by sickle-shaped red blood cells blocking blood flow to the hands and feet.

Constant infections. Sickle cells can damage your spleen, leaving you more vulnerable to infections.

Doctors commonly give infants and children with sickle cell anemia vaccinations and antibiotics to prevent potentially life-threatening infections, such as pneumonia.

Stunted growth and puberty. Red blood cells provide your body with the oxygen and nutrients needed for growth. A shortage of healthy red blood cells can slow growth in infants and children and delay puberty in teenagers.

Problems with vision. Tiny blood vessels that supply your eyes can become plugged with sickle cells.

This can damage the retina — the portion of the eye that processes visual images — and lead to vision problems.

Per the Mayo Clinic, sickle cell anemia is usually diagnosed in infancy through newborn screening programs. Here are some of the symptoms you should look out for: Fever. People with sickle cell anemia have an increased risk of serious infection, and fever can be the first sign of an infection.

Unexplained episodes of severe pain, such as pain in the abdomen, chest, bones, or joints.

Swelling in the hands or feet.

Abdominal swelling, especially if the area is tender to the touch.

Pale skin or nail beds.

Yellow tint to the skin or whites of the eyes.

Signs or symptoms of stroke. If you notice onesided paralysis or weakness in the face, arms, or legs; confusion; trouble walking or talking; sudden vision changes or unexplained numbness; or a severe headache, call 911 or your local emergency number right away.

Prodigy was open about his constant battle with the disease and stressed the importance of mental health due to the stress-inducing effects that sickle cell has on its patients. Before his death, he was a staunch advocate for people with sickle cell anemia, offering advice on eating a proper diet and staying hydrated.

In a video campaign with Sickle Cell Foundation of Georgia, Prodigy told a 13-year-old boy that his eating habits were extremely important and the “disease didn’t have to be a death sentence.”

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

For more information on sickle cell anemia visit the Sickle Cell Disease Foundation.

Join the Party! Tickets start at $30.

NewHavenSymphony.org/Gala

BDO’s Black History of Health series is designed to show the correlation between the health of historical black figures and Black Americans today.

Many of the health disparities we currently experience have been in our community for centuries.

This series is meant to bring these conditions to the forefront and provide blacks with preventative and management steps to reduce these disparities and improve the overall health of the Black American community. It’s time to change the narrative.

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.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

Louisiana chef brings culinary creativity to Food Network

By Frances Y. Spencer, The Drum contributing writer

BATON ROUGE, La. — The world was recently introduced to the Baton Rouge area’s newest television star. He’s been involved in some hot, steamy scenes and then created quite a stir. Brandon “Chef B” Williams has expanded his brand to the Food Network after his debut appearance on “Supermarket Stakeout: Greeks, Sweets, Open-face Eats.”

The popular cable channel, formed in 1993, has been the backdrop to stardom for cooking legends Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, and Paula Deen so, when talent scouts came sniffing for the talented Baton Rouge native, he had one idea: this must be a joke.

A Food Network casting agent sent a direct message to Williams and he avoided the inquiry like a piece of gas station sushi. “They first reached out to me at the beginning of March of last year,” Williams said. “I didn’t respond until the end of April, because I really didn’t believe it was them, right?”

A year fraught with a pandemic and tragedies was the opposite for Williams.

Good things were happening and when doors closed, even better opportunities were waiting immediately. After months of COVID restrictions, the “Food Network prank” came knocking two more times. “They reached back out to me again in August of last year asking me if I still interested because they had plans to start filming the show again,” he said.

Williams felt the heartache of a failed restaurant venture and landed a chef’s position with L’Auberge Casino that was quite promising. When the cards lined up in his favor, he had to chose between the L’Auberge position and television stardom. He took the gamble and agreed to become a contestant on Supermarket Stakeout.

The cooking show mixes one-part cooking skill with one-part luck. Celebrity chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli hosts the show that pits four chefs in a competitive

pop-up kitchen outside a grocery store.

Each round is assigned a theme and the chefs “stalk” shoppers as they left the store and made attempts to buy ingredients from the strangers’ grocery bags.

The skill challenge was easy. Williams trained in his nanny’s kitchen before his classic gourmet training at the Louisiana Culinary Arts Institute. Lady luck was not as kind when the chef was left to create a fruit-theme dessert with Fig Newtons and a box of Fruity Pebbles.

Williams showed the artistry of his gour-

met training in the first round themed “It’s Greek to Me.” He took a bag of mystery and created honey roasted baklava. All the shopping and cooking was done in the parking lot and even when the ingredients were unfriendly, Williams got very high marks from the judges for presentation and creativity.

Life’s ups and downs prepared Williams, a private chef, caterer, and culinary arts instructor, for his moment in a Los Angeles parking lot. The Culinary Arts Institute has opened some notable doors for

his craft from Louisiana-based ventures to the celebrity diners of the Augusta National Golf Tournament.

When he was a very young man, he helped an aunt with a catering business.

He stepped out on his own in 2008 and established Big B’s Barbecue, a food truck on a busy corner or Airline Highway. It was a new concept and helped pave the way for similar business models. “That was how that whole thing started,” he said. “And I never turned around. I just said that I wanted to keep going.”

Honing his skills and developing successful business models can’t hold a candle to the rewarding efforts of teaching and passing on the craft. Williams finished culinary school in 2018 and secured a position at Broadmoor High School as a Culinary Arts instructor. The ProStart program offers classes and a certification program for high school students that prepares them for the workforce immediately after graduation. “Once they graduate, they can go straight to the industry, and they don’t have to get minimum wage jobs,” Williams said.

When Williams looked into the camera, he realized how many of his current and future students would be looking at him and being inspired to seek their own success. Chef B might give them their start, but he knows his students make him better in return. “Even though I went to culinary school, even though I’m classically trained, by me teaching it, it reinforces everything that I learned,” he said. “I learn something new every day because I have to sit with the information, I have to study the information, because in order for me to teach the information, I have to literally absorbed information, which makes me a better chef.”

ONLINE: ChefBFoods.com Recasts of “Greeks, Sweets, Open-face Eats” can be found on Amazon Prime Video Brandon “Chef B” Williams competes on the set of Supermarket Stakeout that aired on January 19 on the Food Network

NNPA President and CEO Dr. Ben Chavis Named Among 100 Most Influential Blacks Today

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., was named to the inaugural CORE Multimedia Group’s 100 Most Influential Blacks Today.

The CORE 100 honorees, which include changemakers like Stacey Abrams, Attorney Ben Crump, NBA superstar LeBron James, and Oprah Winfrey, mark and remind the world of the beauty, boldness, and brilliance of Black Excellence at a time when the cultural, economic, and political landscape in the United States has grown increasingly more hostile towards Blackness.

“I am grateful for the recognition from the respected CORE Magazine,” remarked Dr. Chavis, who in addition to his tireless work for

the NNPA, hosts a weekly national talk show on PBS and PBS World called “The Chavis Chronicles.”

“On behalf of the NNPA, representing the Black Press of America, and on behalf of The Chavis Chronicles on PBS TV, I accept with rededication the global struggle for freedom, justice, and equality,” Chavis concluded.

The CORE 100 was unveiled in a series of communications that led to the full presentation in the CORE 100 Special Issue Magazine on Feb. 1, 2021.

The addition of the CORE 100 Most Influential Blacks Today to the CORE brand supports the vision of former professional baseball player, coach, and executive; and magazine founder, Bo Porter, to address the void of Black-owned, historical and culturally diverse publications.

“CORE Magazine blazes a trail with up-

lifting articles and a showcasing of unsung heroes often not found in mainstream media outlets,” the magazine noted in a news release.

CORE – Champion of Real Excellence – debuted on Oct. 1, 2020.

Each quarterly issue contains distinct and

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recurring feature stories like “Ball2Business,” former athletes who successfully transitioned to the business sector; and “ME2me, professionals providing inspiration by sharing their lessons learned to their “younger selves.”

Poll Con’t from page 07

port across the board, among Democrats, unaffiliated voters, and Republicans (in descending order) —may change the equation. For instance: 69 percent of Republicans polled, 79 percent of unaffiliated voters, and 86 percent of registered Democrats supported early in-person voting, according to Olean.

Even as Republicans nationwide have attacked mail-in voting, 48 percent of registered Connecticut Republicans supported no-excuse mail-in voting in this latest poll. (So did 75 percent of unaffiliated voters and 89 percent of Democrats.)

The early-voting constitutional amendment passed both chambers in 2019, but without a 75 percent supermajority needed to put the referendum on the 2020 ballot. It needs a second vote this year or next, with a simple majority, to put the referendum on the 2022 ballot.

No preliminary approval has occurred yet for no-excuse mail-in absentee voting. So it would need either a 75 percent supermajority vote in both houses this year or next to put the referendum on the 2022 statewide ballot; or a simple majority in this term and in either 2023 or 2024 to make the 2024 ballot.

State Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney of New Haven later told the Independent that he’s “confident” the early-voting measure will win its needed second simple-majority approval this term.

“No-excuse absentee voting is more controversial,” Looney noted. He expressed confidence that that measure, too, will pass, “but not necessarily” with the needed supermajority.

Senate Republican Leader Kevin Kelly issued a statement saying his party “welcome[s] the dialogue” on the proposals.

“Let’s discuss concerns about the possibility of fraud, concerns about early voting, concerns about the timeliness of poll results, and concerns about changing the constitution,” Kelly stated. “What would the limitations on early voting actually be? Would there be any limitations at all? A key question that must be answered is: How can you guarantee that fraud cannot occur? These issues must be vetted.”

Merrill also called on the legislature Thursday to pass laws to make absentee ballot drop-off boxes permanent fixtures in the state and to allow voters to request absentee ballots electronically rather than have to download forms and then mail or deliver them to local city clerk offices. Those proposals would not need to go before a voter referendum.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

‘A Sorority of Pain’ Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor Family Push for New Laws

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 (DCalif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

“We hope that there will be federal charges against the officer,” Blake Sr. interjected.

“But, more importantly, we’re going to be taking this all the way to Congress so that we can change some of these laws and address some of these problems that allow police officers to shoot Black people down like this.”

Blake Sr., his brother Justin, and Austin declared the need for Congress’ support.

Each said law enforcement officers must begin to realize the consequences of indiscriminately discharging their weapons – particularly toward Black people.

“You’ve got to take away the immunity that the police possess,” Blake Sr. stated.

“If you don’t, they will always be able to

out a search warrant and erroneously tied Taylor to an ex-boyfriend’s alleged drug activities.

While a grand jury indicted Officer Brett Hankison on charges of wanton endangerment because he discharged his weapon through the window of a nearby apartment, none of the other officers involved were charged.

“It’s been tough,” Bianca Austin remarked.

“The two families have been supportive of each other, and it’s genuine. There’s so much concern and the pain that both of our families are going through – we are like this sorority of pain.”

Austin echoed Blake’s remarks about their trip to the nation’s capital.

Jacob Blake Sr. sits with NNPA member publication, the Chicago Defender’s Interim Managing editor, Danielle Sanders, for an interview in October 2020.

do whatever they want to and get away with scot-free.”

Blake and Breonna Taylor’s families have supported each other since the August shooting of the younger Blake, who grew up in Evanston, Illinois, and moved to Kenosha just a few years earlier to build a better life for him and his children.

At the time Sheskey shot him, Jacob

Blake was training to become a mechanic.

Taylor was 26 at the time police shot and killed her.

She worked as an EMT when Louisville, Kentucky, police officers burst into her apartment in March 2020, shooting wildly and killing her.

The officers claimed they were carrying

“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 Con’t on page 19

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17

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

Africa United Project to Enable You to Go

Anywhere on the African Continent Without a Visa

Nationwide — Almost all people groups in America have another country or destination they can travel to and call home.

However, we African Americans are not sure whether to call Africa home. When we try to call Africa home, we suddenly realize we are defective in that claim because we cannot call a place where we seek permission (visa) to enter, home. The time has come to change that condition, and the Africa United Project is leading the front. This not-for-profit organization is leveraging its contacts on the continent to make it possible for African Americans to travel anywhere on the continent of Africa without a visa.

African Americans have continued to apply for, and wait for approved visas to go to Africa; our ancestral home and we say once and for all that, the status quo is unfair and untenable. It is unfair to Africa as a continent and to Africans as a people and to the descendants of Africans (such as African Americans) as a consequence.

Fees paid by African descents for visas to travel to Africa does not benefit the continent or the countries that collect them

because they remain largely in the countries in which they were paid. Imagine the economic activity that could be generated on the African continent during the two weeks waiting to receive a visa.

Africa United project as an organization has begun to take this issue up with African leaders and is poised to solve this wrong once and for all. Could you imagine how beneficial to us and Africa it will be if we are able to travel to Africa without any restrictions? At least, no one will take us for granted.

Africa United project’s solutions to the issue are strong and winning positions.

They are honest positions that African leaders in good conscience are unable to dismiss. After more than 400 years, the time is ripe to have full access to our ancestral home.

A place can only be called home when one has unrestricted access. Join Africa United project to make Africa your home too. Show your support by registering on their website at AfricaUnitedProject.org or AfricaUnitedProject.net Registration is free.

Biden, Harris have experiences needed to heal country’s wounds, Bishop Barber says in inaugural prayer service Both the new president and vice president have the personal experiences with the breaches in America that will help them heal the country’s wounds, Bishop William J. Barber II said in the sermon he delivered as part of the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service.

“The breach is when we say ‘one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all’ with our lips while we see the rich and the poor living in two very different Americas.

And every now and then, a nation needs breach repairers to take us forward,” Bishop Barber, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, said during the recorded sermon.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris invited Bishop Barber, president and senior lecturer of Repairers of the Breach and minister of Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Goldsboro, North Carolina, to deliver the homily during the interfaith service hosted by the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. President Biden knew the breach of economic struggle in his childhood and the breach of a broken heart, while Vice President Harris has known the political and social breach of racism, which tried to place a breach between her intelligence and the school she could attend, Bishop Barber said.

Bishop Barber, who also is a visiting professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, noted prophet Isaiah’s conviction that “We don’t have to put up with things as they are. We can contradict the breach with every prayer, every policy, every sermon from every pulpit, and every call to the people.”

“No, America has never yet been all that she has hoped to be. But right here, right now, a Third Reconstruction is possible if we choose,” he said.

The Poor People’s Campaign is a move-

ment of people who also know the nation’s breaches with state activists and leaders who organize around an agenda that includes a living wage, health care for all, union rights, paid sick leave, housing and just COVID relief.

When then-candidate Joe Biden joined the Moral Monday Mass Assembly on the voting power of poor and low-income people in September front of over 1 million viewers, he vowed that, “ending poverty will not just be an aspiration, it will be a theory of change — to build a new economy that includes everyone, where we reward hard work, we care for the most vulnerable among us, we release the potential of all our children, and protect the planet.”

In December, more than 30 leaders of the Poor People’s Campaign, including poor and low-income people, economists, public health officials, clergy, organizational partners representing millions across the country, met online with members of the Biden-Harris domestic policy team.

The Poor People’s Campaign also released 14 policy priorities for the first 50 to 100 days of the Biden-Harris administration, including the establishment of a permanent president council to advocate for its agenda.

In his sermon, Bishop Barber said the nation cannot accept that 140 million Americans were poor or low-income even before the pandemic.

“We must address the five interconnecting injustices of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, war economy, and the false distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism,” he said.

“These are breaches that must be addressed, and, according to the text, repairing the breaches will bring revival,” Bishop Barber said. “If we the people, with God’s help, repair the breach, revival and renewal will come. Weeping and mourning may endure in this night of our discontent, but joy will come in the morning.”

Biden Signs Executive Orders Aimed at Tackling Racism in America

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

President Joe Biden signed a series of executive orders that his less than twoweek-old administration hopes will be a catalyst to tackling America’s longstanding race problem.

Biden’s action focused on equity and included police and prison reform and public housing.

“America has never lived up to its founding promise of equality for all, but we’ve never stopped trying,” President Biden wrote on Twitter just before signing the executive orders.

“I’ll take action to advance racial equity and push us closer to that more perfect union we’ve always strived to be,” the President proclaimed.

Within hours of taking the oath of office on Jan. 20, President Biden signed 17 executive orders to reverse damaging policy put forth by the previous administration.

Throughout his campaign, President Biden pledged to do his part in the fight against systemic racism in America.

One of the Jan. 20 executive orders charged all federal agencies with reviewing equity in their programs and actions.

President Biden demanded that the Office of Management and Budget analyze whether federal dollars are equitably distributed in communities of color.

On Tuesday, Jan. 26, the President reinstated a policy from the Barack Obama administration that prohibited military equipment transfer to local police departments. The President noted the disturbing trends he and the rest of the country reckoned with in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others.

The order prevents federal agencies from providing local police with military-grade equipment, which was used

by Ferguson, Missouri officers after police shot and killed an unarmed Michael Brown.

The previous administration reinstated the policy to allow federal agencies to provide military-style equipment to local police.

Like Obama, President Biden has said he also would attempt to eliminate the government’s use of private prisons where unspeakable abuses of inmates – mostly those of color – reportedly occur almost daily.

President Biden also issued a memo that directs the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to promote equitable housing policies with the executive orders.

He also signed an order to establish a commission on policing.

One of the Jan. 20 executive orders charged all federal agencies with reviewing equity in their programs and actions.

(Photo: The first portrait of Joe Biden as president of the United States. The White House / Wikimedia Commons)

18

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

Con’t from page

Taylor Family Push for New Laws 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.”

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,” Dodgers

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 Toul-

19

minville 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 and cap-

tured 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. “

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021 Con’t from page 06

outsourcing of necessary state police work.

The only New Havener to submit written testimony in opposition to the proposed bill was Chris Garaffa. They cited privacy concerns around speed cameras as the primary source of their opposition.

“My fears regarding this bill center around the storage and access by private entities and government agencies of the location of a person at any given time,” they wrote.

“While the privacy aspects of the bill are a good start, they could be much stronger to guarantee privacy of people using public roadways in Connecticut.”

Lower Speed Limits? Or Better Infrastructure?

The New Haveners who attended Wednesday’s virtual committee hearing also overwhelmingly backed the proposal to allow municipalities to reduce speed limits on locally owned roads to 20 miles per hour.

Mayor Elicker described the proposed bill as “a major step in giving in giving our city the tools it needs to enforce the law.”

Current Stamford public transportation chief—and former New Haven top transit official—Jim Travers took the opposite line.

He warned against giving municipalities the unfettered ability to reduce speed limits without going through the current approval process required with the state DOT, which he said provides necessary “checks and balances.”

Travers also argued that reducing speed limits is not the most effective approach to reducing speeds. Better traffic infrastructure is, he said.

During his time in Stamford, the local administration invested in retiming traffic signals to correspond to the city’s base 30 mile-per-hour speed limit.

“This has singlehandedly been one of the most successful endeavors of this administration,” he said. It’s reduced travel speeds by 14 percent across the city overall, and by 42 percent in some of the areas that previously saw the most egregious driving.

“Allowing municipalities to lower speed limits without any oversight in my opinion is dangerous,” he said. He encouraged the committee instead to “provide funding options for improved signalization work, to redesign roadways and particular intersections in a safe and efficient manner.”

“Enforcement alone will not fix these problems,” he concluded. “It has been proven that we must look at the entirety of the transportation network to fix this problem.”

Later in the committee hearing, Lemar said that the state Office of the State Traffic Administration (OSTA) itself recently concluded that local transportation departments are better suited to determine the unique needs—including speed limits—of local roads than is the state.

The New Haven legislator stressed that this section of the bill does not require municipalities to change their speed limits. It simply gives them that option if they feel that they have the local talent and expertise.

“Not everyone has to use it,” he said. “We wouldn’t want to force Mr. Travers’s hand if he doesn’t feel like he’s capable of coming up with” his own speed limit plan for his city. “A lot of communities do have the capacity and engineering talent,” he said, and should be allowed to act on their own.

20

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February , 2021 - February 09, 2021 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27,03 2016 - August 02, 2016

REQUEST FOR BIDS NOTICE

Repairs and Improvements at the Crown Street Parking Garage and Temple Street

Parking Garage New Haven, Connecticut VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE-Project APPLICATIONS New Haven Parking Authority #17-006AVAILABLE

Bids due March 1, 2021 at 3:00 P.M.

HOME INC, will on behalf of Columbus the New Authority, Bid Documents be available beginning House Februaryand 1, 2021 at no Haven cost by Housing downloading from the BuildingConnected FTP system website.

Contactand Maryann Bigda of Turner Construction is accepting pre-applications for studio one-bedroom apartments at thisCompany, develwhich is the New Haven Authority’s construction program manager, at (203)ap712opment located at Parking 108 Frank Street,professional New Haven.

Maximum income limitations 6070 for BuildingConnected FTP system access information. ply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y The work includes, but is not limited to, concrete repairs, waterproofing, installation of new storefront 2016 and ending sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have and25, related flashing materials,when drainage improvements, cleaning of floor drains and sand/oil separators, and parking stallatand striping. project is funded by the State its Department been received thelineoffices of This HOME INC. Applications willthrough be mailied upon re-of Economic andcalling Community Development (DECD) and, as such, is subject certainCompleted requirements preof the quest by HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those tohours.

State Grant. As a prerequisite, all Bidders must be pre-qualified by DAS. Additionally, all subcontracapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third tors with a subcontract value in excess of $500,000 must be pre-qualified by DAS. Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

Bidders must submit with their Bid on forms provided a list of their Intended Subcontractors, together with CHRO contract compliance requirements, including:

NOTICIA

. the set-aside use of DAS-certified Small Business Enterprises (“SBE”) for a requirement of at least 25% of the Bidder’s entire contract value; VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES . the set-aside use of DAS-certified Minority owned Business Enterprises (“MBE”), Women

owned Business and/or Disabled Enterprises forestá a reHOME INC,Enterprises en nombre(“WBE”) de la Columbus House yowned de la Business New Haven Housing(“DisBE”) Authority, quirement of at least 15% of the Bidder’s entire contract value, but no less than 25% of the SBE contract aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo value in the event that the total SBE contract value exceeds 60% of the Bidder’s entire contract value.

ubicado en the la calle Frank Street, Haven.

Se SBE; aplican of the Please note that MBE,109 WBE, and/or DisBENew are part

limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 . Independent of the SBE/MBE/WBE/DisBE requirements herein, a minimum of 10% of the julio, 2016 cuando han include recibidobusinesses suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100)of Bidder’s entire hasta contract valuesemust having a place of business within the City enHaven las oficinas New limits. de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse New Haven Parking Authority is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. Minority/Women/ a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

Disabled Business Enterprises are encouraged to apply. This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

LEGAL ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS

NEW HAVEN

The Housing Authority of the City of Middletown (MHA) is seeking sealed bids for: Sbona Tower 40 Broad Street, Middletown, CT Front Lobby Renovations

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

Bid Opening date and time at the MHA, 40 Broad Street, Middletown, CT 06457 Thursday February 25, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. All bids will be opened remotely via zoom and read aloud.

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95

The work of the contract includes but is not limited to: Replacement of existing entry storefront glass, nearstorefront bus stop shopping relocating mailboxes, highways, adding additional glass&entry systems,center new kitchenette, upgrading and floor façadeparties improvements associated site work.

Petwall under 40lb finishes, allowed.exterior Interested contactand Maria @ 860-985-8258 Site review by all bidders will be on Tuesday February 9, 2021 at 10:00 am. Meet at Sbona Tower.

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Contract Documents including plans & specifications can be viewed on-line and purchased from Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates Advanced Reprographics. http://www.advancedplanroom.com, “Public Jobs” in response to the Church’s Visit Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes startselect Saturday, August 20, and 2016select 1:30“Sbona Tower or call 860-410-1020 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J.Lobby Davis, Renovations” M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

Note: Addenda to this bid will be issued via email. Contractors intending to bid must be registered on St. New Haven, CT the Advanced Reprographics Planholder’s list to receive direct email of all addenda.

5% Bid Security and 100% Performance/Payment Bonds required.

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Bidders will note requirements of minimum wage rates, nondiscrimination/equal opportunity rules (Executive Order 11246), Section 3, and related provisions in the General Conditions.

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour Complete bidding requirements are noted in the Contract Documents. until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, The Housing Authority the right to rejectRepairs any or all and bids or to waive any at the Seymour, CT 06483 for reserves Concrete Sidewalk Replacement informality in the bidding. No bid shall be withdrawn for a period of 90 days Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour. subsequent to the opening of bids without the consent of the Housing Authority.

Housing Authority of the City of Middletown is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action AThe pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Employer and conducts its business in accordance with all Federal, State and Local laws, regulations, and guidelines.

Section 3, Minority, Business Enterprises and Disabled Street Seymour, CTSmall, at 10:00 am,Women on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. are encouraged to participate in this process.

HOUSING of the the CITYSeymour OF MIDDLETOWN Bidding documents areAUTHORITY available from Housing Authority OfWilliam A. Vasiliou fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour,Executive CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

Director

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 21

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 - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Construction

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, operator and teamster Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in trades for a heavy outside work statewide. Reliable personal transportation and a valid Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory drivers license required. To apply please call (860) 621-1720 or send resume to: Persontraining on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT nel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Drug Free Workforce VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Contact: Tom Dunay

NOTICE

Phone: 243-2300 HOME INC, on behalf of860Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, 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.Affirmative Pre-applications willEqual be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y Action/ Opportunity Employer 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have The Town of East Haven seeks a qualified candidate to serve been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon rein the position of Purchasing Agent. This is a highly responquest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed presibleStreet, administrative position involving performing and diGarrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Incoffices seeks: applications must be returned to HOME INC’s at 171 Orange Third Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing recting the purchasing functions of the municipality. The Floor, New Haven, CT 06510. and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the North- Purchasing Agent is responsible for developing and admineast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits istering the Town's purchasing programs in accordance with

TOWN OF EAST HAVEN PURCHASING AGENT

THE GLENDOWER GROUP Invitation for Bids

Charles T. McQueeney Commercial Elevator Modernization The Glendower Group is currently seeking Bids for Charles T. McQueeney Commercial Elevator Modernization. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Glendower’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Monday, February 1, 2021 at 3:00PM.

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Request for Proposals Physical Needs Assessment

NOTICIA

the Town Charter and Ordinances. The Purchasing Agent Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300 works under the direction of the Finance Director. QualiVALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES Email: rick.toufied candidates should possess a Bachelor's Degree in Busisignant@garrityasphalt.com ness Administration or a related field from an accredited HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply college or university and five (5) years of progressively aceptando pre-solicitudes estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorioresponsible en este desarrollo Affirmative Action/ para Equal Opportunity Employer purchasing work, or an equivalent combination ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos of training and qualifying experience substituting on a yearmáximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 for-year basis. The salary for this position is $51,776/year, julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) 30 hours per week and the Town offers an excellent benefit en lasTrailer oficinasDriver de HOME INC. & Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas Tractor for Heavy Highway Construction Equip- por correo a petición package.

Please send resume with references to: Michelle llamando HOME INCLicense, al 203-562-4663 duranterecord, esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse ment.

Must ahave a CDL clean driving capable of Benivegna, Assistant Director of Administration & Managea las oficinas de equipment; HOME INCbe enwilling 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, operating heavy to travel throughout theNew Haven , CT 06510 .

Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits ment, 250 Main Street, East Haven, CT 06512. Deadline February 17, 2021. The Town of East Haven is committed Contact Dana at 860-243-2300 to building a work force of diverse individuals. Minorities, Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com females, handicapped and veterans are encouraged to apply.

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply The Town of East Haven is an equal opportunity employer.

Union Company seeks:

NEW HAVEN

242-258 Fairmont AveAssistant Listing: Receptionist/Retail 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95

Petroleum Company has an immediate full time opening. Excellent customer service highways, near bus stopand/or & shopping center skills a must. Previous petroleum experience experience in a very busy office handling telephone and dealing customers a plus.

Applicant to Petmultiple under 40lb allowed.lines Interested partieswith contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 also perform administrative/clerical tasks as assigned. Please send resume to: H.R. Manager, Confidential, P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.

CT. Unified Deacon’s 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 is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity 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.

Elm City Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Physical Needs Assessment.

A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Monday, February 8, 2021 at 3:00PM.

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Invitation for Bids Snow Removal Services at McConaughy Terrace The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is cur-

Invitationrently to Bid:seeking Bids for snow removal services at McConaughy Terrace. A complete nd copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor ColNotice 2 Town of Bloomfield laboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway begin-

SAYEBROOKE ningVILLAGE on

Lead Building Maintainer - Facilities

Old Saybrook, CT Full Time - Benefited $31.26 hourly (4 Buildings, 17 Units)

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 at 3:00PM.

Taxdrug Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project Pre-employment testing.

Heavy/Highway general contractor is looking to hire a Carpenter with willFor more details, visit our website – ingness/eagerness to become a Carpenter Foreman. Training will be provided. Prefer www.bloomfieldct.org candidate to Demolition, be familiar with ConnDOT New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Site-work, Cast-procedures, bridge, and road construction work.

communicate effectively with clients, be well organized and safety conscious, and in-place Concrete, AsphaltMust Shingles, Vinyl Siding, must be able to read plans. This is hands-on field leadership position. Top compensation Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, and benefits are available. Full Time position. We are an Equal Opportunity Employer Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

Seeking qualified condidates to fill and encourage qualified woman and minorities to apply.

This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements. numerous vacancies to include, Benefits & Pension Coordinator Bid Extended, Due Date:Healthy August 5, Older 2016 Volunteers Needed For a Blood Specimen and more. For information and Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Collection Clinical Research Trial. detailed application instructions, Project documents available viaONE ftp Visit link below: And Receive a Gift Card Up to $75 Upon Completion. visit www.ci.milford.ct.us http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Call Chase Medical Research in Hamden, CT Click on SERVICES, JOBS and at 203-419-4404 For More Information.

JOB TITLE. Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com

CITY OF MILFORD

QSR

HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 STEELHaynes CORPORATION AA/EEO EMPLOYER

APPLY NOW!

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

22

Construction

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

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

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

We all have

DREAMS. Let Job Corps help you achieve yours.

Now enrolling!

Tuition-free career training High school diploma programs College credit opportunities Housing, meals and medical care provided

For more information, visit jobcorps.gov or call (800) 733-JOBS [5627] New Haven County - Jesselica Rodriguez – Rodriguez.Jesselica@JobCorps.org !"#$%&'(")*+,$*-+#".&/$*0(1,)2*3*4&//2*0(,,&"*5*Conner.Kelly@JobCorps.org Waterbury and Surrounding Areas – Abdul Shabazz – Shabazz.Abdul@JobCorps.org

CAREERS BEGIN HERE

Job Corps is a U.S. Department of Labor Equal Opportunity Employer Program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. TDD/TTY telephone number is (877) 889-5627.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - February 03, 2021 - February 09, 2021

Introducing WiFi speeds over a gig.

More than enough speed to power every device in the house.

Nothing is more important than fast WiFi. That’s why we’re bringing you WiFi speeds faster than a gig. Plus, our gig-speed Internet now includes 20 percent more speed for the same price as before. With a wide range of options to choose from, Xfinity is sure to have the speed you need for all your favorite devices.

Go to xfinity.com, call 1-800-xfinity, or visit an Xfinity Store to check out our latest speed innovations today.

Restrictions apply. Not available in all areas. Actual speeds vary and not guaranteed. For factors affecting speed, visit www.xfinity.com/networkmanagement. NPA234217-0001 NED AAQ1 GIGNOV11

139373_NPA234217-0001 N Gig 1.2 ad 9.25x10.5 V11.indd 1

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