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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

Tenants Who Escaped Deadly Fire: Smoke Alarm Slumlord Didn’t Care Financial Justice a Key Focus at Didn’t 2016Sound.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

Ansonia Unveils Permanent Tribute To Dr. Martin Luther King

by BILL BITTAR | CORRESPONDENT New Haven Independent

Sunlight peeked through the rain clouds Saturday as a large crowd gathered in front of Ansonia City Hall to celebrate the unveiling of a bronze bust of The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Diane Stroman, a retired executive from TEAM Inc. who will be receiving the Nick Collicelli Legacy Community Leader Award next month, led the crowd in a countdown before Mayor David Cassetti pulled off the cloth for the unveiling.

Cheers erupted when the likeness of the late civil rights leader came into view.

“We’ve been working on this for three years and today is the realization of a dream,” said The Rev. Alfred L. Smith Jr., senior pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church.

New Britain is the only other Connecticut town with a bust of Martin Luther King, but David Morgan, president and CEO of TEAM Inc., says Ansonia’s is one of a kind.

The bronze bust weighs more than 500 pounds. It is displayed on a black granite pedestal, boosting it nine feet off the ground, Morgan said.

“People should feel a tingle at seeing this incredible prophet for freedom and humanity that Dr. Martin Luther King was,” Morgan said. “This is a physical reminder.”

Brandon Richards, a freshman at Ansonia High School, sparked the idea for the $27,000 bust while speaking before a packed house at Macedonia Baptist Church during a Martin Luther King Day Celebration three years ago.

Smith presented Richards with a certificate of appreciation at Saturday’s ceremony.

Smith served on the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Bust Committee, which included members of community churches and TEAM Inc. The committee tapped local sculptor Vasil Rakaj, an internationally known artist whose works appeared at the White House, Buckingham Palace and the Vatican, to create the bust.

Rakaj, who was born in Boga, Albania, now lives in Ansonia and is an active member of the Valley Arts Council on Main Street.

“My language isn’t enough to explain how I feel today, but I feel great,” Rakaj said with a smile. “I thank God to be able to make a sculpture of such a great man.”

Rakaj said he was also grateful to work with area pastors and Mayor Cassetti on the project.

The Valley N.A.A.C.P. and TEAM Inc. were also instrumental in the project.

Morgan said TEAM served as the fiscal agent, volunteering, seeking donations and

applying for grants from the Valley Community Foundation and the Katharine Matthies Foundation.

On Saturday, The Rev. Edward Barnes, of Greater Evangelical Temple C.O.G.I.C., led the ceremony, which featured music from the Ansonia High School Choir and recitations of King’s own words from Joel E. Smilow Boys and Girls Club students Bondele Codrington, Kaniya Dangerfield and Navaeh Sorrentino.

Cassetti and other dignitaries made remarks, including State Rep. Kara Rochelle (D-104th), State Sen. George Logan (R17th), Morgan and Greg Johnson, president of the Ansonia N.A.A.C.P. An invocation was given by The Rev. Ophelia Smith, pastor of St. Andrews Tabernacle of Praise, and a benediction by The Rev. Samuel Levey, pastor of Williams Temple Community Outreach.

Morgan said the committee’s work did not end with the unveiling of the MLK bust, adding his hope for an event before it every year.

“We’re very proud of this monument, but we won’t spike the ball and do a touchdown dance,” he said. “This is history in the making. This is a catalyst for every year. We want people to remember the messages and convictions of Martin Luther King Jr.”

Election-Repair Crew Scopes Out Clemente

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

The Registrar of Voters office, a new consultant and a handful of moderators got to kick the tires on New Haven’s upcoming mayoral primary with the first of a series of tours of polling places.

With just four months until the Sept. 10 Democratic primary election, and with efforts underway to correct problems that have created years of botched elections, the tour pulled into Roberto Clemente at Columbus and Howard avenues in the Hill Monday.

There, Democratic Registrar Shannel Evans and newly hired consultant Jackie James along with moderators tried to imagine what it will be like for people to vote in the school gymnasium.

Ward 6 voting will take place at Clemente this year instead of at New Horizons School, where it has occurred in most recent elections.

James has been hired as a consultant to help the registrar address everything from how polling places are staffed to the mess that is Election Day Registration at City Hall.

She challenged the assembled to think through the natural traffic jams and bottlenecks that leave people standing in line, or confused about what they need to do to cast their ballots. The tours, which are going to all 30 polling places by the end of the month, are aimed at working out the many problems that have plagued previous elec-

tions before the next big one, which happens to include a hot mayoral race.

“As a voter, I hate coming into a polling place and being confused,” James said.

“When you’re not greeted by staff it gets to be very confusing, particularly for the elderly.”

At this particular polling place, voters will be entering and exiting from a side door that leads to a parking lot. Evans invited the moderators to take a look so they’d be familiar with it.

One moderator noticed that one of the doors didn’t open. Evans made a note to talk with school leadership so that it could be repaired.

During gubernatorial and presidential elections, Roberto Clemente is staged to serve two sets of voters, because of how districts are drawn: Ward lines overlap with different parts of state legislative districts, some some ward voters choose among different sets of state legislative candidates. In even-numbered year municipal elections, like this year’s, it serves as one polling place, for one ward.

Evans said that for this election that means that the polling place will be staged in only one half of the gym. The other side will be cordoned off by a divider.

When people questioned the wisdom of using only half the space, she the idea was to keep people contained and flowing in one direction to vote and back out the way they came in.

“I understand the vision you have, but

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO

Election moderators check out gym doors at Clemente School.

here’s the reality: They’re not going to go through separate doors,” said longtime moderator Cameron Davis-Taylor. The outspoken moderator said she’s been working elections since she was in her 20s; she’s now 54. She pointed out that the tabulators, which need electricity, must be where the plugs in the room are, and that they need extension cords. Davis-Taylor, who uses

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a wheelchair, also spoke up for the voters who might have physical disabilities or limited mobility and need special accommodations to vote.

After making sure that the entrance/exit would accommodate wheelchairs, James reminded everyone that all polling places need to be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“We have to be respectful of everyone,” she said.

James said she wanted to impress upon those who are working the polls this upcoming election that they need to operate with a customer service ethos. Polling places also need more signs, she said.

“I think part of it is that this system is very antiquated,” she said. “It’s been the same system, the same process for decades.”

Around they went, simulating the anticipated flow of traffic inside the halfcourt of space until everyone felt comfortable they knew where things would be. James also let people know that while there would be food for Election Day workers, they were not to be eating while they were actually working. All Election Day workers, veterans and newbies alike, must participate in a job fair session that will be announced at a later date.

James said after the first tour that in addition to increasing the staffing levels at polling places, the team will arrange more access to IT staff. She is working with registrar staff to brainstorm a contingency plan for dealing with inclement weather like the torrential rains voters faced in the election, casting soggy ballots that had to be counted by hand. She noted that Election Day Registration at City Hall and the Hall of Records polling place also need their own specific plan to make the flow of traffic easier.

“There is a lot to think through,” she said.

Only 29 more polling places to go.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

Tenants Who Escaped Deadly Fire: Smoke Alarm Didn’t Sound. Slumlord Didn’t Care

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven Independent

Dershaya Hargrove and Hasson Hallet were asleep in the groundfloor bedroom of a carved up Hill rooming house when a loud noise jolted them awake.

That noise wasn’t the blaring of a fire alarm. It was a neighbor pounding on their bedroom window, shouting “Fire!” and urging them to leave the burning house as upstairs tenants jumped for their lives out of second and third-story windows.

Hargrove and Hallet recalled that terrifying scene on Monday afternoon, less than 36 hours after the two-family house at 150 West St. burst into flames in the early hours of Sunday morning — and about their dealings with a slumlord who they said hung up on them when they called him during the blaze.

Two tenants died during the fire. A third is in the hospital in critical condition. Another 13, including Hargrove and Hallet, were displaced.

Red Cross has put Hargrove and Hallet up at the Three Judges motel in Amity through Tuesday morning, and another tenant named Rontae Hunter up at the Regal Inn for that same period.

Once that stint in the motel is over, Hargrove said, she has no idea where she and her husband will sleep at night.

“We’re homeless,” she said, standing outside the burnt-out wreck of her former home on Monday. “We’ve only got the shoes on our feet and the shirts on our back.”

Hargrove and Halley said they’ve lived on every floor of the two-and-a-half story house since moving in in 2017. The story they told about conditions there mirrored those told in court documents (described

later in this story).

Hargrove and Halley first lived in the thirdstory apartment (where Sunday morning’s fire ultimately broke out), where they paid $600 per month. They then moved into a smaller second-floor bedroom, where they paid $500 per month. They then moved into an even smaller first-floor bedroom, where they paid $250 per month.

She and several neighbors at nearby houses said that the third-floor apartment was a well known hangout for crack and heroin users and dealers at the time of the fire.

“We stay away from that drama,” Hargrove said.

She said she wasn’t woken up by a smoke alarm on Sunday morning, but rather by a neighbor who was out on the building’s front porch and banging on her bedroom’s window pane, calling for her and her husband to wake up and get out of the building.

Fire Capt. Sean Reynolds one of the firefighters who found and carted out the bodies of the tenants on the third floor — also told the Independent that he did not hear any smoke alarms during his time in the building.

Fire Chief John Alston Jr. said at a City Hall press conference Monday afternoon that smoke alarms were present in the building — but “whether or not they were effective” is an open question.

Landlord Hangs Up “Fire! Fire!” she remembered hearing people calling amidst the chaotic scene, as well as “Jump! Jump!.”

As she and her husband rushed out of bed and out the door, she looked up and saw fire coming through a vent in her bedroom’s ceiling.

When she got outside, she saw upstairs

tenants jumping out of second and thirdstory windows. And she saw the firefighters bring out the two bodies of the men who ultimately died during the fire. They laid the bodies in front of the house, she said, and tried to resuscitate them, but to no avail.

“It was the toughest thing we’ve ever had to go through,” she said.

While out on the street, as the firefighters fought the blaze and neighbors watched with terror and awe, Hargrove said she called the building’s new landlord, John Farrar of the Bronx, who bought the building in March.

She said the landlord almost immediately hung up on her after hearing about the fire.

“He said he didn’t want nothing to do with this building,” she said.

Farrar could not be reached for comment by the publication time of this article.

Sheila Ford, Hasson Hallet’s mother, told the Independent that she had been urging her son to move from the third floor because she feared he would be trapped upstairs in case of an emergency. The house was chopped up into several dwelling units on each floor, with only one exit, she said.

“I kept telling him, ‘I’m so scared something will happen, because there’s only one way out.’ It’s a two-family house, and they chopped it up in a bunch of rooms.”

New Landlord “No Better” Dara Mason, who has lived across the street from 150 West for five years, said that paramedics and police are always rushing to respond to overdoses and fights in the thirdstory apartment.

She said the new landlord hasn’t treated the building or the tenants or the neighbors with any more care than the old landlord, Dorjan Jashari of Yonkers, N.Y.. “He ain’t

Advice you need for the mortgage you want.

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO Tenants Hasson Hallet and Dershaya Hargrove describe surviving the fire — and slumlord’s indifference at 150 West (below). no better,” she said. “He fights with the tenmorning and afternoon Monday, talking ants in front of the building.” with neighbors about how they’re holding Luz DeLeon, who has lived next door to up, encouraging them to come to manage150 West for 15 years, said that, even a day ment team meetings to talk and plan with later, the trauma of having seen the house fellow community members about how to next door on fire and tenants jumping out make the Hill a happier, safer, cleaner place of upper-story windows hasn’t abated. She to live. was asleep in her groundfloor apartment “It’s a shock to the community,” he said when she heard people shouting about a about the fire. “It’s not that often that we get fire, and she and her husband rushed out to this in the Hill.” the porch to see what was going on He said he would like to start hosting “I heard people shouting, ‘Jump! Jump! workshops and community conversations Jump!” she said. through the management team about how to Howard Boyd, the chair of the Hill North tell if smoke alarms are working and active, management team, was on the block all Con’t on page 13

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

Winner of Miss Teen USA 2019 Competition Makes Black Women With Natural Hair Proud blacknews.com

New Haven Independent

Nationwide — Kaleigh Garris, an 18-year old Black woman, recently won the Miss Teen USA 2019 competition wherein she represented the state of Connecticut. The beauty queen was crowned while sporting her naturally curly hair and a lot of women couldn’t be more proud of her.

Kaleigh, who grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, is a student at Joseph A. Foran High School in Milford. She studies theater at ACES Educational Center for the Arts as well. A competitive dancer, she has been trained in contemporary, jazz, pointe, hip hop, and tap dance.

She also founded an organization called “We Are People 1st” that aims to support people with disabilities, in honor of her

older sister who has disabilities. She has been recently recognized by the Department of Disabled Services for her contributions.

Now a volunteer at the Yale New Haven Hospital, Kaleigh plans to attend Southern Connecticut State University to achieve her aspiration to one day become a trauma nurse.

Last April 28, Kaleigh defeated 51 other contestants to win the Miss Teen USA crown. She was grateful to all the people who supported and believed in her.

“During the contest you know you have self-doubt because there are so many great people,” she told the New Haven Register.

“I am just happy, proud, and grateful for the support system I have.”

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18 Graduate “Fit For Business”

they show up but they had lots of questions and we enjoyed that.”

Grave said Monday’s graduates are the fourth cohort to graduate from the entrepreneurship program, joining the 360 who came through the program last fiscal year.

She said the resource center helped small businesses in the city access nearly half a million last year in loans. Graves said many of those who participate in the program are in the service industry and have never made much more than about $25,000 a year.

Mayor Toni Harp, fresh of the heels of an announcement of Yale-New Haven Hospital’s forthcoming $838 million investment in a state-of-the-art neurosciences center, said the addition of much smaller businesses like the ones the graduates will start are also key to the local economy. She said small businesses employ more people in the state. They hire locally and are part of the supply chain for the bigger businesses.

“Your businesses are critically important to the economic development of our community, our town and frankly our state,” she said. “A long time ago, I thought I wanted to go into business but nobody taught me about a business plan. Nobody told me where you go to get resources you need.”

“As a result,” Harp deadpanned, “I’m mayor.”

That line grabbed a big laugh and rounds of applause from the crowd. “The work you do, how you contribute, is critically important to our growth and development as a city,” she said more seriously.

Michael Piscitelli, Harp’s acting economic development administrator, said that graduation wasn’t the end of the collaboration between the city and the new small business owners of the city, but the beginning.

“We’re going to be with you on the journey,” he said. “We stay with you long after the program is over.”

He encouraged the graduates to exchange business cards and network so that they can become part of the small business ecosystem that will help their ventures be successful.

The 16 graduates who received their certificates Monday are as follows:

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

Heather Taylor’s nonprofit sober house was already underway when she decided to take an eight-week program at the city’s Small Business Resource Center to help her learn even more about running a business.

Now she has graduated from the Fit For Business program, ready to join the city’s newest job creators.

A graduation ceremony and networking event for 16 of the program’s 18 graduates were rolled into one Monday evening at the city resource center on Dixwell Avenue.

Wine and small bites flowed while the many graduates who have come through the program since its inception nearly four years ago mingled.

Taylor said one of the program’s teachers, Joe Williams, helped her land the property she needed to start her sober house for women at the Hamden/New Haven line on Butler Street. Then he told her he wanted her in his class.

“I was a construction worker for 26 years,” the 49-year-old Taylor said. “I had to change my whole career.”

That meant pursuing an associate degree in psychology, a bachelor’s degree in sociology at Albertus Magnus College, and starting a business while taking classes at the city’s Small Business Resource Center, simultaneously. How she did all? “By the grace of God,” she said.

For Alan Tilley, 51, who seeks to open a fitness franchise venture called Fit Body Boot Camp, said it meant working two jobs—one as an employment specialist during the day and in the hospitality industry at night—while attending the business classes. How’d he do it?

“By the grace of God,” he said echoing Taylor’s sentiments.

Cathy Graves, a city deputy economic development director, said that kind of tenacity permeated the most recent class of graduates from the small business program.

“This is a class that really showed up,” she said. “We had evenings when it was raining so hard that we thought that there wasn’t anyone who would show up. Not only did

John P. Thomas

City officials with graduate Alan Tilley.

Biz Academy alum Arthur White and Tyquan Ford enjoy wine …

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

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

Schools Make End-Of-Year Attendance Push

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

Gemma Joseph Lumpkin, Michael Fox and James Newton knocked on a door a Blake Street apartment building. A woman inside answered. No children could be heard at play.

That was a good sign. It could mean that the children who live there were in fact at school on Tuesday.

New Haven Public School officials and volunteers are fanning out across the city and knocking on doors this week as part of a, “Attendance Matters” initiative to remind parents that their children should be at school every day until the end of the school year.

Schools Superintendent Carol Birks and Lumpkin, the school district’s chief of the Office of Youth, Family and Community Engagement, delivered that message during a press conference Tuesday at the Floyd Little Athletic Center. Then they headed into neighborhoods across the city to try to connect with the parents of students who are chronically absent from school.

With just a little over a month left in the school year, they wanted to remind parents that absences — excused or not — still count toward whether a student is considered chronically absent. And that chronic absenteeism is a key predictor in student

success. Last school year 19.9 percent or about 4,000 city students were chronically absent from New Haven schools.

“Chronic absences in kindergarten and pre-K can predict lower test scores, poor attendance, and retention in later grades especially if the problem persists for more than a year,” Birks said. “Research shows missing as little as two or three days per month can translate to third graders unable to master reading, sixth graders failing courses and ultimately teens dropping out.”

Birks said in the past, the state and the district only counted unexcused absences as a cause for concern but it gave “a false understanding of how absence affects student success.”

She said further that this time of year, the homestretch before the end of the school year, the district sees a sharp decline in attendance. So, she asked teams of district personnel from the dropout prevention and truancy program and volunteers to hit the doors and get the word out. Birks said it only takes missing about 10 percent of the school year, or on average around two days per month, to be deemed chronically absent.

“Absences—even parent excused absences—can add up and contribute to academic trouble,” Birks said. “Chronic absenteeism is not just students skipping school but

those who miss school often for vacation or doctor’s appointments.

“We are encouraging families, the community to send your children to school every day,” she added. “It is vitally important for them to be present.”

Lumpkin and crew, armed with a clipboard of addresses of chronically absent students, passed that message on Blake and Dyer streets in the Beaver Hills section. When they found someone at home, they didn’t ask for anyone by name, just announced that they were from the school district and were stopping by to remind the household about the importance of attending school.

No adult or potential parent was confronted or quizzed about why their child has been missing school. But they each got a brochure about attendance and all of the services that the district provides to help make sure students get to school.

Lumpkin said most of those who actually answer the door know why the school district is knocking on their door.

“These aren’t the students who are yet over the line,” she said. “But they’re getting close.”

Fox said that students miss school for all kinds of reasons including for vacations or even incidences of homelessness. In the case of a student’s family not having

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO

Lumpkin on Dyer Street with dropout prevention specialist James Newton … a place to live, the district can help. But first, they have to find out. Tuesday’s canvas is part of the district’s year-long effort to reduce absenteeism and it will continue throughout the week.

“We like to say that no matter what, if our students are no in their seats, in their classrooms, they cannot learn,” JosephLumpkin said.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

Neuroscience Plan Seen As Game-Changer

by PAUL BASS

West River has a chance to rebuild its business core, upgrade its housing and link neighbors to good jobs.

New Haven can put hundreds of more people to work, not to mention collect a needed $11.9 million in the short term.

Those were some of the takeaways that New Haven’s top elected officials see in the decision by Yale-New Haven Hospital to build a 505,000 square-foot, $838 million neuroscience center at Sherman Avenue and George Street in the West River neighborhood.

Mayor Toni Harp and Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker offered those takeaways during the latest episode of WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday” program.

They were joined on the program by Yale-New Haven Health CEO Marna Borgstrom. The three women played central roles in discussions leading up to last week’s announcement of the planned new center, which will be New Haven’s biggest development project in a decade. All three agreed that their gender affected the tenor

of those discussions, which they characterized as built on trust and a collaborative spirit.

Borgstrom said Yale-New Haven decided to embark on the project to concentrate in one location its neuroscience care and research, which occur in various parts of the complex; to address a shortage of beds (the hospital’s 1,540 beds are usually 90 percent occupied); and to take advantage for growing support for neuroscience research and Yale’s leading role in it. The center will focus on treatment and clinical trials involving brain-related and neurological diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and strokes. Borgstrom said neuroscience represents the hospital’s fastest-growing branch.

“It’s a constant struggle to get the right person in the right space at the right time,” Borgstrom said.

In the short term the center will create 300 to 350 construction jobs over the four years it is built, Borgstrom said. She said she doesn’t yet have an estimate for the number of permanent jobs it will create.

Walker-Myers and Harp spoke of the im-

PAUL BASS PHOTO

3 women, 1 deal: Harp, Borgstrom, Walker-Myers.

portance of directing New Haveners to training programs for many of those jobs.

“This is an opportunity to get this right,” Walker-Myers said in reference to the city’s efforts to create job “pipelines.” Harp spoke of existing programs at Gateway Community College and Southern Connecticut State University for health and biomedical jobs as a good foundation to build on.

Walker-Myers grew up in West River and still lives there, representing the neighborhood on the Board of Alders. She predicted the new center will help the neighborhood bring back the businesses that once filled its commercial corridor, lift property values, and employ her constituents.

“When the hospital grows and does well, so does the neighborhood,” Walker-Myers said.

In the short term, she said, she intends to make use of the communication channels that the leaders have developed to help the neighborhood roll with the disruption during construction.

Also during “Mayor Monday,” Borgstrom responded to a question about the prospect Con’t on page 19

B.B. Gun Incident, False Rumors Clear Out Hill Health, Lock Down School

by MARKESHIA RICKS & TOM BREEN

Hill Health Center was cleared out Monday afternoon and Roberto Clemente School placed under lockdown amid what turned out to be an inaccurate report of an active shooter in the area.

The series of events started shortly before 1 p.m.

A scuffle took place at Howard and Columbus in front of Robert Clemente, where a masked man was attempting to rob a pizza deliverer, according to a witness. The masked man pulled out a b.b gun and fired a shot; a pellet struck a school nurse’s office’s window.

The pizza deliverer was able to drive off.

There was no blood in the street.

The school went into lockdown. Then the lockdown was lifted.

Until word of the incident, or a version of it, reached Hill Health Center down the street. The center went into lock-

down.

An employee texted his wife, who misunderstood the information and called 911 to report an active shooter at Hill Health. That caused Hill Health to clear out the building.

As part of protocol, employees of the clinic and patients were now told to exit the building because of a “code grey,” which stands for an active shooter.

That in turn caused Roberto Clemente School down the street to return to a modified lockdown around 2 p.m. It was lifted around 2:10 p.m.

Then around 2:20 Hill Health employees and patients returned to the building.

“We’re still looking” for the man with the b.b. gun,” Reyes reported.

It was all a misunderstanding, Acting Police Chief Otoniel Reyes reported at the scene. “There is no issue here.”

He said police are still looking for the masked b.b. gunman.

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO

Cornell Scott staff and patients out on Columbus Avenue after the “Code Grey” alert.

Interim Police Chief Otoniel Reyes on the scene.

National Medal for Museum and Library Service Recognizes the Community Contributions of the Connecticut Public Library

New Haven Free Public Library Recognized as a 2019 Recipient of Nation’s Highest Museum and Library Honor WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 7, 2019) – The Institute of Museum and Library Services today announced New Haven Free Public Library as one of 10 recipients of the 2019 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries that make significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. Over the past 25 years, the award has celebrated institutions that are making a difference for individuals,

families, and communities. The award will be presented at an event in Washington, D.C., on June 12.

To say that the New Haven Free Public Library is steeped in local history is an understatement. Some twenty-five years after its 1886 establishment by city legislation and various itinerant locations, the library became an anchor, along with the train station, in the 1910 Plan for New Haven, as envisioned by renowned architect Cass

Gilbert and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. The Ives Memorial Library, strategically situated on the historic New Haven Green, was dedicated in 1911 and recognized as one of the city’s most practical assets, the people’s university. From within those venerable walls and at all branch locations, patrons encounter library staff and services that are relentlessly forward thinking.

“It is a pleasure to recognize the 10 distinctive recipients of the National Medal

6

of Museum and Library Service,” said IMLS Director Dr. Kathryn K. Matthew.

“Through their programs, services, and partnerships, these institutions exemplify the many ways that libraries and museums are positively transforming communities across the nation.”

Selected from 30 national finalists, the 2019 National Medal for Museum and Library Service winners represent institutions that provide dynamic programming and

services that exceed expected levels of service. Through their community outreach, these institutions bring about change that touches the lives of individuals and helps communities thrive.

“Ives Squared provides a socially inclusive, trusted “third place” that fosters a culture of innovation and promotes an entrepreneurial mindset by connecting residents Con’t from page 08

5th Candidate Joins Mayoral Race THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

by THOMAS BREEN

The latest candidate to enter New Haven’s mayoral race pledges to crack down on out-of-town slumlords if elected as the city’s first non-Democratic chief executive in 66 years.

Seth Poole, a 43-year-old New Haven native and longtime labor and community health care advocate, filed his official papers to run for mayor on May 1.

Neither a Democrat nor a Republican, Poole is running as an unaffiliated candidate in the November general election. The last non-Democrat to win a mayoral election was Republican William Celentano.

He last won office in 1951 (defeated two years later by Democrat Richard C. Lee).

“Ultimately I feel like there’s a huge sec-

tion of the city that has not had its needs addressed for a long time,” Poole told the Independent Wednesday. As someone who grew up in New Haven, went to the city’s public schools, has spent decades leading community groups, and lives in Edgewood, he said, he believes he has a firmer grasp than any of the other candidates of the truly unmet needs of everyday New Haveners.

He joins a burgeoning field that already includes incumbent Mayor Toni Harp, former East Rock/Cedar Hill Alder Justin Elicker, affordable housing activist Urn Pendragon, and local philanthropist and retired nurse Wendy Hamilton. Unlike Poole, all four of those candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor.

In particular, Poole said, his administration would prioritize shining a light on and

more fairly regulating out-of-state landlords who manage to evade city inspections and squeeze low-income tenants for exorbitant rents in unsafe conditions.

“Slumlords are able to pay cash for buildings because banks are selling them for cash,” he said. “So many buildings are being handed from person to person without any oversight. I think putting a spotlight on absentee landlords is completely necessary to stop a lot of this from happening.”

Poole owns a house on Sherman Avenue, where he and his family live. He also owns a rental property on Edgewood Avenue. He said he has found that LCI does a “very good job at putting the microscope over properties and holding [local] landlords accountable.” That type of accountability, he said, does not extend as consistently to-

Destined to Succeed Whatever your child wants to be is within reach when you are involved.

Your engagement in their education will prepare them for the future.

To learn more about the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and how you can advocate for your children, visit us at www.nnpa.org/essa Sign-up for our ESSA alerts at www.nnpa.org/essa

© 2019 NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION

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THOMAS BREEN PHOTO Seth Poole at a Newhallville community management team meeting.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

9-Year-Old’s Shooting Sparks Organizing

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven Independent

A dozen community organizers from a dozen neighborhood groups resolved to do that Wednesday afternoon during an emergency anti-violence planning session held three blocks from where a 9-year-old boy was shot in Dixwell.

The meet-up, organized by Ice the Beef Youth President Chaz Carmon, took place at noon at the Stetson Branch Library on Dixwell Avenue. It came on the heels of a 9-year-old being shot in the pelvis Tuesday night near the corner of Foote Street and Ashmun Street.

Wednesday’s gathering brought together organizers who have also been involved in protests that have shut down city streets following the recent officer-involved shooting of an unarmed couple in Newhallville, Wednesday’s gathering featured no less passion, hurt, and coalition-building among city activists set on eliminating gun violence in New Haven’s neighborhoods.

Amidst shelves upon shelves of biographies, children’s books, poetry, and movies made by and about African Americans, the meet up featured representatives from Ice the Beef Youth, People against Police Brutality, Black Lives Matter New Haven, New Haven Rising, the New Haven People’s Center, the S.P.O.R.T.S. Academy, and New Haven Legal Assistance Association, among others.

“The most powerful thing we have right now is momentum,” Citywide Youth Coalition Executive Director Addys Castillo said about the wave of police accountability protests.

But people can’t just take to the streets when an officer fires a gun, she said. They also have to turn out when neighbors shoot at neighbors. “It’s both/and,” she argued.

The 9-year-old boy was playing basketball on a court at Wexler-Grant School near his home Tuesday when some boys around his age showed up. One boy took the ball and left, according to police.

The boy told his parents what happened.

The boy’s father walked with him around the neighborhood seeking to retrieve the ball. The mother joined them, in a car.

The parents drove the car repeatedly around the block, slowly, dozens of times, in hopes of locating the boy who stole the ball.

As the vehicle drove down Foote Street, gunshots were fired at it around 6:50 p.m.

One bullet hit the boy in the pelvis.

There is no evidence reported at this point tying the shooting to the theft of the ball.

Numerous other theories have been advanced tied to how the slow cruising of a vehicle through the neighborhood might have been interpreted.

The family drove the boy to Yale-New Haven Hospital’s St. Raphael Campus, where he was treated. He has since been moved to Yale-New Haven’s Children’s Hospital on Park Street, where he is reported in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries.

As is customary in these cases, Yale Child Study clinicians also responded to the scene to interact with neighborhood chil-

THOMAS BREEN PHOTOS Addys

Castillo at Stetson powwow: Time to take action.

Legal aid community organizer Caitlin Maloney and Black Lives Matter New Haven Co-Founder Ala Ochumare.

Stetson Branch Manager Diane Brown.

dren who witnessed the shooting.

The boy’s family recently moved to New Haven from another community.

The activists gathered at Stetson on Wednesday knew few of those details at the time that they met. All they knew was that a 9-year-old had been shot in the neighborhood, just weeks after a 17-year-old was shot on Willow Street, which happened just days afteran unarmed 21-year-old and 22-year-old were shot at by the police on Argyle Street.

“It’s time for us to say enough is enough,” said S.P.O.R.T.S. Academy Founder Sean Reeves, who lost his own 16-year-old son to gun violence in 2011. “I need to leave

my kids something. I’m not leaving my kids this.”

“We can’t point the finger at anyone else when it comes to what happened last night,” Stetson Branch Manager Diane Brown said. “That’s us.”

Carmon said that the teens in his youth organization who learn music, dance, and political organization had already been planning an anti-gun violence march down Dixwell Avenue for the last Saturday of May after learning about the 17-year-old who was shot during a dispute at a party on Willow Street.

But when he woke up Wednesday morning and found out about the 9-year-old who

8

had been shot, he said, he knew that groups like his must start acting sooner.

So, he posed to the dozen people who showed up for the meeting at the library, what should we do?

“We need to build sustainable things,” Black Lives Matter New Haven CoFounder Ala Ochumare said. In addition to marching in the street and venting anger, community groups need to band together to provide regular spaces for discussion, grieving, and strategizing around how to end gun violence, racism, sexism, and police brutality.

Brown offered her library as a space to do just that. What if representatives from these groups, dedicated to these causes, meet at the library once a week or every other week to be together, think together, and organize?

“That relationship building is really critical,” People Against Police Brutality organizer Kerry Ellington said. She called Stetson one of the few public spaces that she truly feels comfortable and safe in.

In addition to meeting on a regular basis and marching at the end of the month, Carmon said, the group should hold a more immediate rally starting at the Stetson Library on Saturday at 5:30, and should consider flyering and doorknocking and keeping youth victims of gun violence at the front of neighbors’ minds, so that people don’t become, or remain, desensitized to these types of shootings.

After Ice the Beef Youth member Tyrick Keyes was shot and killed in July 2017, he said, organizations like his held constant rallies in Newhallville and Dixwell decrying gun violence and calling for jobs and a community center for the neighborhoods.

“We’ve got to keep making noise about it,” he said.

“It’s all needed,” Brown added. “The rally, the march, the scream, the yell. Everybody needs to do something.”

Newhallville/Dixwell top cop Lt. Manmeet Colon arrived at around 1 p.m. to tell the group that she had just been with the family of the boy who had been shot. She asked anyone present to come to the police if they have any information on what might have happened on Tuesday night.

Castillo thanked Colon for coming but said that she should try coming when she’s not wearing her uniform when she’s not on the clock. That way, she said, she will know whether or not the lieutenant is truly, personally invested in helping groups like those present combat structural inequality that leads to gun violence.

“I don’t have a problem with the police,” she said. “I do have a problem with policing.”

Colon said the police are interested in bringing justice to the family of the boy who was shot by apprehending the person or persons involved in the shooting. And to do that, she said, the police need community members to come forward with any information they may have.

“Any little bit helps,” she said.

Police have been following up on some leads. They ask anyone with relevant information to call detectives at (203) 946-6304.

Con’t from page 06

New Haven Free Public Library Recognized

with the people, tools, and resources to advance their ideas,” said City Librarian Martha Brogan. “We see this space as a way to activate the community and introduce people to new ways of working, attuned with the 21st-century economy.”

As part of the ceremony and celebration, New Haven community member Nilda Aponte will travel to Washington, D.C. with Martha Brogan to accept the National Medal on behalf of the New Haven Free Public Library and provide a personal account of the power the library has had in the community. Nilda’s involvement with the library began when she first moved to New Haven from Puerto Rico with her children where she sought its abundance of resources and children story times. Nilda currently serves as a community ambassador in the Fair Haven neighborhood for NHFPL’s partnership program with the Long Wharf Theatre.

“This is great news. This award is a true testament to the innovative work the New Haven Free Public Library (NHFPL) is providing for the New Haven community.

I nominated NHFPL for this award because of their unmatched commitment and service to Connecticut residents, and for going above and beyond to offer 21st century programming to fit the diverse needs of the New Haven community. I’m excited that the Institute of Museum and Library Services has recognized them with the 2019 National Medal they rightfully deserve,” said Sen. Christopher Murphy.

About the Institute of Museum and Library Services

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. Our vision is a nation where museums and libraries work together to transform the lives of individuals and communities. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the New Haven Free Public Library

Established by city charter in 1886, the New Haven Free Public Library welcomes more than 500,000 library users through its doors each year, realizing its mission to foster lifelong learning, inspire curiosity, and build community through shared access to resources, experiences, and opportunities for all. The library system includes the Ives Memorial Library, a community treasure, strategically located on the historic New Haven Green; four neighborhood libraries; 24/7 digital resources; and the Readmobile, bringing books to early childhood learning centers and festivals around the city. Now and tomorrow, the New Haven Free Public Library will transform lives and contribute to creating a strong, resilient, and informed community where everyone can thrive.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

It’s Time to Put People Before Drug Company Profits.

While too many Connecticut residents struggle to make ends meet, the big drug companies continue to rake in billions. It’s no wonder, considering that they make Americans pay the highest prescription drug prices in the world.

That’s why it’s critical for all Connecticut lawmakers to put aside their differences and support commonsense solutions to lower drug prices, including: • Allowing our state to negotiate for lower prices.

• Preventing brand-name drug companies from paying off generic competitors to stop more affordable medications from reaching consumers.

People shouldn’t have to choose between buying medication and buying food for our families. To all state lawmakers: It’s time to work together and pass bipartisan legislation to lower prescription drug prices—now.

Visit aarp.org/StopRxGreedCT to learn more.

Facebook.com/AARPCT @AARPCT aarp.org/CT Paid For by AARP

9

Elicker Expands The Tent THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

by PAUL BASS

New Haven Independent

Justin Elicker attracted a crowd of supporters who look like New Haven to the opening of his mayoral campaign headquarters, in part by embracing the causes of some of his opponent’s most public critics.

“When you look around the room, there are many familiar faces” from the last time he ran for mayor in 2013, Elicker said in a speech to 40 supporters Sunday afternoon at the formal opening of the headquarters inside a former barber shop across from Stop & Shop on Whalley Avenue.

Stalwarts of that 2013 campaign, such as Fair Haven community organizer Lee Cruz and Westville Democratic ward committee co-chair and legal aid attorney Amy Marx, were among those in attendance Sunday.

“There are many new people,” as well, Elicker noted. “People are ready for a change.”

Elicker has repeatedly said since launching his campaign for the Democratic mayoral nomination that he needs to build new support in New Haven’s lower-income and racially diverse neighborhoods to unseat incumbent Toni Harp, who defeated him in the hard-fought 2013 mayoral election.

Elicker, who is white, drew most of his votes in predominantly white census tracts that year. Harp is the city’s first African-American female mayor.

“We want to see new ideas,” said Mario Garcia, a state health official who served as the city’s health director from 2010-2014 and who showed up to support Elicker Sunday.

The 40 people in the headquarters Sunday were roughly divided among African-American, white, and Latino people active in the city, similar to the city’s overall racial make-up. As Elicker pointed out, plenty of them were new to the Elicker campaign bandwagon.

Some are outspoken critics of Harp’s record on public education. Elicker enlisted Board of Ed member Ed Joyner introduce him at Sunday’s event; Joyner served as Harp’s transition team co-chair after her 2013 election, then broke with her soon afterwards and became her most outspoken school board critic.

The crowd also included former school board member Carlos Torre, whom Harp did not reappoint; and retired Hillhouse educator Robert Gibson, who publicly spoke out against changes at his former school and has often testified at hearings against

Dixwell activist Valerie McKinnie, who said she did not support Justin Elicker’s previous run, with the candidate Sunday: “We need a change.”

PAUL BASS PHOTO

Harp schools critic Robert Gibson; retired city union President Cherlyn Poindexter, who battled openly with the mayor; and Shirley Joyner.

April Elicker at her dad’s campaign office kick-off, along with her mom Natalie.

10

Harp’s administration. Joyner and Gibson supported Harp’s 2017 campaign opponent as well. “It’s time for some new leadership, a new vision,” Gibson said Sunday.

In listing top campaign issues, Elicker in his speech called for a Board of Ed that is “less about bickering,” more about improving children’s education.

Training For Middle-Class Jobs Board of Ed member Ed Joyner, at left; former city equal-hiring chief Nichole Jefferson at right.

He also singled out Nichole Jefferson, who along with her family was present at the event and is volunteering for his campaign. Jefferson has been embroiled in a years-long battle against the Harp administration after getting fired in 2015. She used to run both the city’s Commission on Equal Opportunities (CEO) as well as an affiliated private job-training nonprofit called the Construction Workforce Initiative (CWI) out of the same office. The CEO is charged with enforcing a city ordinance requiring the hiring of black and and Latino and female workers and minority-owned and female-headed firms on government-funded construction projects.

Elicker told the crowd that he’d like to see neighborhood people share in the benefits of all the investment taking place downtown during the current building boom. New Haveners should be getting more construction jobs, he said, “instead of dismantling the CWI that Ms. Jefferson worked so hard on.”

A state mediator and then a state judge ruled in favor of a challenge filed against Jefferson’s firing by her AFSCME local, at the time run by Cherlyn Poindexter (who also appeared at Sunday’s event). The judge’s April 2 ruling stated that the Harp administration succeeding in making its case that Jefferson acted “egregiously” under the law, but that it mishandled the firing.

The city has to prove that Jefferson’s behavior was so “incorrigible” that it had to fire her outright rather than follow a series of steps of progressive discipline. The city failed that test, in the judge’s opinion. The city is appealing his ruling.

After his speech, Elicker was asked if he disagrees with the argument that the same city official shouldn’t simultaneously run a nonprofit out of the same office dealing with many of the same people with public money.

“I don’t want to say, ‘This is the right model’ or ‘That is the right model,’” Elicker began in response. He insisted the more important point is to increase the amount of job-training supported by the city. “There’s a number of permutations of how we do it,” he said.

He pointed to the work of nonprofits like EMERGE, which helps ex-offenders obtain landscaping and other jobs; and ConnCAT, which trains phlebotomists and lands them internships at Yale New Haven Hospital. Construction and health-related jobs pay middle-class wages, he noted; he said the city should be contracting with more nonprofits to help New Haveners obtain those jobs.

Pressed on the issue, Elicker said, “I don’t support the model of people working for the city and a nonprofit at the same time.”

Asked about Elicker’s criticism, Mayor Harp maintained that her administration is fostering training partnerships.

“We have partners with the Laborers Union to develop a pre-apprenticeship program at Hillhouse High School that is every bit as effective as the previous program in getting into apprenticeship programs, if not more so,” she argued.

She added that New Haven Works — an agency created by Yale’s unions, city elected officials, and private-sector leaders — “currently coordinates the pre-apprenticeship program that Mrs. Jefferson ran. While done differently, it certainly is doing the work.”

Elicker argued that New Haven Works can be doing much more, and that it should expand to cover more construction and health-care jobs.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

Con’t from page 07

5th Candidate Joins

wards out-of-state landlords.

A frequent commenter on New Haven Independent articles, Poole recently shared that same sentiment underneath an article about last weekend’s lethal fire at a Hill rooming house owned by a series of New York-based landlords.

“We can, and will do better as a city when out-of-state purchases are limited, prevented and/or regulated with as much diligence as owner occupants and local real estate investors have been subjected to for years,” he wrote. “This is more than a quality of life issue; it is a life-threatening problem that must be addressed immediately.”

Poole works as a youth development specialist and educator at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England (PPSNE), and is a member of the Mayor’s Task Force on AIDS, serves on the board of the city’s Livable City Initiative, and is the board chair for Citywide Youth Coalition.

He’s also a former program director for the Boys and Girls Club of New Haven, a former co-chair for the Edgewood Ward 24 Democratic Committee, a former chair of the Whalley-Edgewood-Beaver Hills (WEB) Community Management Team, and one of the founding members of the local labor advocacy group New Haven Rising.

Poole attended Trinity College in Hartford, where he majored in International Studies with a concentration on Asia. Click here for a recent story in the Arts Paper about how Poole participated in this year’s local Chinese New Year festivities by recording a story at the Yale-China Association

Hillhouse Reigns In Track, Basketball

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

The Hillhouse Academics continue their dominance in track and basketball, bringing home more state championships for both sports this year. On Monday night, they were recognized by the Board of Alders for their prowess on the track, the court and in the classroom.

Teams and coaches for both sports were feted during the alders’ regular bimonthly meeting at City Hall.

It was not a first trip for the track teams, both of which are state champions.

The Hillhouse boys track and field team has been making the trip to City Hall for the last five years; this is the second year for the girls’ team.

Assistant Coach Darrell Brown said the members of the team were as talented as they were intelligent.

“In my eyes, nobody is better,” he said.

It’s been eight years since the Hillhouse girls basketball team brought home a state about his affection for martial arts movies, his lifelong interest in Chinese language and culture, his visit to China, and how he still uses Mandarin when speaking with his young daughter.

Although Poole’s official registration filing indicates that he is exempting himself from forming a candidate committee, he said he does plan on changing that status in the near future so that he can start raising money for his campaign.

… and the girls basketball team.

The Hillhouse boys and girls track teams … championship trophy. And their coach, Catrina Hawley-Stewart, said the team wasn’t even ranked in the top 10 at the start of the season. But they finished their season No. 3 in the state.

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And in March, they brought home the Class L State Championship. HawleyStewart said bringing home the trophy “allows Hillhouse to be talked about in a positive fashion.” But she said the basket-

ball program is about more than basketball, noting that two of the teams’ seniors have full scholarships to college.

Hillhouse is making New Haven so proud,” Beaver Hills Alder Jill Marks said.

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May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019 Con’t from page

Smoke Alarm

about how to know if one’s home has adequate egresses in the case of a fire.

Mayor Toni Harp said the fatal fire will spark a review at City Hall as well.

“Do we need to take another look at how we figure out how some of our buildings are being transformed into these unsafe settings for people? We absolutely do,” Harp said during her latest appearance on WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday” program. “My staff will be thinking about that and working on it. It was changes made to that building that lost people their lives. We have to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

History Of Allegations & Evictions A review of state judicial records shows that former owner Jashari filed four separate eviction suits against tenants at 150 West St. between when he purchased the property in 2017 and when he sold it in 2018. He and his Yonkers-based business partner Valbona Jashari filed an additional six eviction suits between 2016 and 2018 against tenants living at their other two Hill properties at 649 Washington Ave. and 78 Third St. In one of those suits, Jashari sued to evict a first-floor tenant named Tammie Brunson in March 2018 for not paying her $600 monthly rent.

Per Jashari’s complaint, Brunson moved into the first-floor bedroom on Feb 1. She didn’t pay her following month’s rent on March 1. Jashari filed for eviction on March 8.

In an answer filed with the court on April 14, Brunson said she had actually been living at 150 West since the previous December. She explained why she didn’t pay the $600 she owed on March 1.

“I stop paying my rent because it wasn’t no heat in the building and [Jashari] would not fix nothing in the building until we had to call LCI. And LCI say if he didn’t fix the building, they say they will shut it down.”

Beyond the five lines allotted for the defendant to provide additional information on the court form, Brunson went on to write another full page of complaints about Jashari’s indifference to both the maintenance of the building and to the drug market that functioned out of the third floor.

She said Jashari came by the building, and actually turned down the heat to such an extent that she almost “froze in the winter” and her brother had to bring her a heater.

Then, in the kitchen cabinets, she said, Jashari “spray some pepper spray in there for the rats and I told him to stop spraying that stuff because I have ashthma and bronchitis and it stay in my throat for 3 days and he does it at night when we cooking.

“Now when I move in [the] room was nice and quiet.” But now, she said, it’s a “trap house” with “drugs coming out the building in the middle of the night and he knew about it and he came around talking to the other roommate, which was working at a gun shop, and that was scary because it bad enough [with] the drug coming for the 3rd floor on down and he knew what was going on and he just [didn’t] care anymore.”

That case ended with both landlord and tenant signing a stipulation, whereby Brunson agreed to vacate her apartment by the end of May 2018 without having to pay anything further in rent.

Harris Introduces EQUAL Defense Act to Boost Pay and Resources, Limit Workload of Public Defenders

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) on Wednesday introduced the Ensuring Quality Access to Legal Defense (EQUAL Defense) Act of 2019. The legislation aims to support public defender systems, which are straining to uphold the constitutional right to counsel for indigent defendants as required by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Gideon v.

Wainwright decision.

“After spending my career around the criminal justice system, I’ve seen up close how it can fail to ensure that poor defendants receive a fair trial and due process, as guaranteed to all of us in our Constitution,” said Sen. Harris. “All too often, our public defenders are overworked and lack sufficient resources. This makes public defense unsustainable over the long haul. And the person who suffers is the defendant, whose liberty is on the line. It’s wrong, and it’s the opposite of justice.”

“I have introduced the EQUAL Defense Act to give public defenders the tools they need to ensure a more effective criminal justice system and to deliver on Gideon’s promise,” Harris added.

The EQUAL Defense Act is supported

by Jon Rapping, President & Founder of Gideon’s Promise. “Public defenders have

largely been ignored in the national conversation around criminal justice reform,” said Rapping.

“The EQUAL Defense Act of 2019 is a recognition that public defenders must be an important part of our criminal justice

reform thinking. I am hopeful that this Act prompts us all to continue to understand public defenders as a critical piece of the criminal justice solution, and to build on its important foundation to ensure marginalized communities have the advocates necessary to fulfill our democratic promise of equal justice,” Rapping added.

In 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Gideon v. Wainwright recognized the constitutional right to counsel to anyone accused of criminal wrongdoing and unable to afford their own attorney. But in today’s criminal justice system, public defenders are too often unable to uphold Gideon’s promise because they lack critical resources.

The EQUAL Defense Act will provide financial support for public defense systems and training programs that aim to improve the delivery of legal services to indigent criminal defendants.

The bill: Creates a new $250 million grant program to fund public defense, including establishing: Workload limits for full-time public defenders.

Pay parity between public defenders and prosecutors within five years.

Annual data on public defender workloads, including the number of hours worked per month and the percentage of hours worked per month across a range of tasks.

Authorizes $5 million for non-profit and government organizations to provide comprehensive training for public defenders.

Reauthorizes the student loan repayment program, increases the overall authorization amount from $25 million to $75 million, and increases per borrower repayment limits.

Requires Byrne-JAG recipients to provide data about the extent to which the state is providing public defenders to those in need.

The EQUAL Defense Act is supported by Gideon’s Promise, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), National Association for Public Defense (NAPD), National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Lawyers’ Committee for Civil and Human Rights, Color of Change, and Project on Government Oversight (POGO).

Full bill https://www.harris.senate.gov

Bank Calls Police on Black Mayor in His Own City BlackNews.com

Banking While Black: Chase Calls Cops on Mayor Richard Thomas While Professionally and Peacefully Inquiring About His City’s Signature Account Nationwide — On Monday, Mayor Richard Thomas discussed how staff at JP Morgan & Chase summoned the police on him, his staff member, and a Mount Vernon Police detective as the Mayor sought to deposit a six figure check and get access to the City’s online banking records.

A Chase employee called the police on Wednesday, April 25, after Mayor Thomas was invited into a conference room and after Mayor Thomas had introduced the two people with him, including the police

detective.

The response by the White Plains Police Department was resolved amicably after one of the responding officers recognized the Mount Vernon Police detective.

Mayor Thomas believes that race certainly played a role in the Chase employees calling the police. The two staffers who accompanied Mayor Thomas are black and Hispanic.

“As a Mayor and as a young, well-educated black man living during this turbulent time in society where police are being called on black people for going about everyday life, this is unacceptable,” Mayor Thomas wrote in a letter to Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. “We’ve seen this happen to the two black men at a Starbucks in Philadelphia.

We’ve also seen this happen to Oregon Rep. Janelle Bynum while she was campaigning. Now it happened to me.”

On Monday, Mayor Thomas will visit the Office of Currency Comptroller to file a racial profiling/redlining complaint.

Mayor Thomas was at Chase’s offices at 925 Westchester Avenue in White Plains to invoke existing rights as an authorized account signatory and enforce a recent court order giving him full access to all the City’s financial records.

Supreme Court Justice Susan Cacace recently ordered Mount Vernon Comptroller Deborah Reynolds to stop blocking Mayor Thomas’ access to the critical financial records that allow him to determine how much money the City truly has.

Mayoral Challenges Se.........

by SAM GURWITT Against a backdrop of change and controversy in the town, Hamden Councilwoman Lauren Garrett is launching a Democratic primary challenge to Mayor Curt Leng, while a Republican is planning a generalelection challenge.

Garrett plans to announce her candidacy Wednesday on the steps of Hamden Memorial Town Hall at 5 p.m.

“I want to make sure that we have a longterm plan for Hamden,” she told the Independent. She said that she will run on a platform of financial responsibility.

Jay Kaye, who is production manager at Ferraro’s Painting and Restoration, said he plans to file paperwork next week for a candidacy for the Republican mayoral nomination. Tentative plans are for a formal cam-

Democratic candidates Garrett, Leng; Republican Kaye. paign announcement on May 28.

Progressive Action Network (Ham PAN), Leng, meanwhile, has filed papers to seek a which has become a force in not just local third two-year term. but regional elections. Garrett has been an The campaign comes at a time when active member of HamPAN since its foundHamden has undergone a leftward politiing. HamPAN does not make candidate cal shift. Since 2016, former Bernie Sandendorsements, said Co-Founder Jen Pope, ers presidential volunteers have elected a and it will share information from both can(now) leading statewide progressive to the didates. However, she said that she, acting legislature — Joshua Elliott and social- as an individual, only plans to “support one change activist Justin Farmer to the Legcandidate financially at this point, and that islative Council; and formed the Hamden is Lauren.”

13

The campaign also coincides with a series of controversies from a police officer’s shooting of an unarmed woman to another officer’s threats of violence and immigration action against an unarmed Latino driver; to complaints related to diversity in schools that reflect the town’s changing demographics. Leng has found himself in the middle of social-change protestors seeking a shift to 21st century community policing and civilian review; and an old guard seeking to promote a longtime insider to the chief’s position. Leng has also found himself the subject of criticism from council members and residents over how he and previous mayors have handled town finances.

Hamden currently has 17,107 registered Democrats, 4,049 Republicans, and 11,914 unaffiliated voters.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

Changing the game: Ice Cube’s battle to buy regional sports networks

By Bryan 18X Crawford and Barrington Salmon, Contributing Writers, The Final Call

More and more, Black athletes and entertainers are looking to expand beyond the field of expertise that gained them fame, notoriety and riches, and leverage these positions to help them make their same mark in the world of business. There are Black people who successfully transitioned from their respective art or sport, turning themselves into well-respected businesspeople and a positive example of what entrepreneurship looks like. The life of the late rapper and entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle personifies this point.

However, Ice Cube, Nipsey’s West Coast predecessor and elder—or “O.G.”—in the rap game and one of the founding fathers of the hip-hop genre known as “gangsta rap,” has been blazing big time business trails of his own for the past two decades.

Many are familiar with O’Shea “Ice Cube” Jackson, either from his days as a rapper in the group “N.W.A.,” or from his acting roles in popular movies such as “Boyz In The Hood,” and the “Friday,” “Barbershop,” and “Are We There Yet?” series of films. However, in 2017, Ice Cube decided to delve into previously uncharted business waters by getting involved in professional sports as one of the founders of the BIG3 professional 3-on-3 basketball league. The BIG3 features 12 teams coached by former NBA All-Stars and Hall of Famers, with rosters made up of players who have all competed professionally, either in the NBA or overseas. The BIG3 league has become one of the premier events for basketball fans during the summer, a time when there isn’t a lot of competitive professional basketball

going on.

Now entering its third season, Ice Cube is looking to take the next step in not only raising the profile of his professional basketball brand, but his personal profile as a Black business mogul. In early April, with his FOX Sports contract having expired at the conclusion of the 2018 BIG3 campaign, the league inked a new deal to have games televised on the CBS network. However, armed with a high-profile group of investors with deep pockets of their own, Ice Cube has a much bigger vision. But reaching that goal won’t come without challenges, or a fight.

“The BIG3 is not part of the old boys club and that doesn’t sit well with a com-

pany like Charter, which has been called out many times for unfair treatment of minority organizations and for consistent disregard of its own customers,” Ice Cube said in a statement regarding his investor group’s bid to purchase 21 regional sports networks (RSN). The channels include networks in markets such as Atlanta, Dallas, Detroit, and Los Angeles.

Ice Cube and the BIG3, should they win the bid, would then have the foundation in place to build a brand new national network with original programming, sports, and other culturally relevant content.

In an April letter written by the BIG3 to the Federal Communications Commission

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and the Department of Justice, the company accused Charter Communications of interfering with the BIG3’s investment group— which includes Ice Cube, fellow hip-hop legends LL Cool J and Snoop Dogg, basketball Hall of Famers Magic Johnson, Julius “Dr. J” Erving and Clyde Drexler, tennis star Serena Williams, comedian Kevin Hart, and other prominent figures in sports and entertainment—bid to purchase 21 regional sports networks currently owned by Disney, which the company acquired in its recent merger with FOX. Disney has until June to sell the RSNs if they want to avoid antitrust issues in the future.

BIG3 said that Charter threatened to drop the RSNs from the cable networks it owns should they come under new ownership.

Pre-emptively making this threat would effectively lower the current $10 billion price package. However, what makes the move curious is that Liberty Media, Charter’s largest shareholder, is also bidding for the RSNs. Charter has been accused before by a Black man for biased practices. In 2016, Byron Allen filed a $10 billion discrimination suit against the company, accusing them of not giving networks owned by minority groups the same broadcasting opportunities as White-owned media companies.

“In response to our filing, Charter says they are willing to talk to ‘whomever.’ Given their consistent animosity toward diverse ownership groups with inclusive messages like ours, we say we don’t believe them.

Anyone who looks at the facts won’t either.

They have done everything they can to keep us from owning these RSNs and that’s why we have asked the FCC and the DOJ to investigate,” Ice Cube said in a statement.

In response to the letter, Charter didn’t explicitly push back against the allegations, saying, “Charter currently has an agreement to carry these networks and welcomes the opportunity to discuss a future carriage agreement for these networks with whoever ultimately owns them, including Big3.

Regardless of who owns the programming, we approach all negotiations with the same singular objective of reaching carriage

agreements that best meet the needs of our customers.”

The BIG3 met on April 17 with the antitrust division of the DOJ, two days after the deadline to enter bids for the RSNs. Others in the bidding include conservative media company Sinclair Broadcast Group, Major League Baseball in partnership with Liberty Media.

At Final Call press time, it was unclear if anything regarding the sale had been resolved.

Cori Harvey, an attorney who specializes in business law, economics and entrepreneurship, said the mere fact that Ice Cube, LL Cool J, Serena Williams and other athletes and entertainers have joined forces to purchase the sports channels is deeply significant. He predicts a ripple effect on Blacks and the larger Black community.

“If this succeeds, even the attempt I think, represents movement along a much-needed path,” said Ms. Harvey, a former law professor at Florida A&M University. It shows that it takes generations to shift into this space of access and mentorship. African Americans have had to build across generations. This is also our Horatio Alger story.

Hip hop and sports is often how we pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.”

“This is a coming-of-age story. This is an example of employees buying the company.

It shows that many hands make light work.”

Dr. Wilmer Leon, III, agreed.

“This is incredibly, incredibly important if we’re ever going to have a chance of moving our situation forward,” he said. “We’re seeing major assets and more media assets falling into fewer and fewer hands.”

Dr. Leon, who teaches at Howard University, said it is gratifying to see this clique of celebrities coalescing around a common goal. It’s important, he added, that the group appears to have the financial wherewithal to withstand whatever challenges they may face.

“They are not immune (to being derailed) but their financial wherewithal gives them

Con’t on page 18

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

THIS WAY TO THE

GREAT EGRESS Oscar H. Blayton In mid-19th century New York City, at the corner of Broadway and Ann Street, stood Barnum’s American Museum. The museum was a popular tourist attraction, due principally to the ability of its owner, P.T. Barnum, to advertise and attract the public.

The museum charged 25 cents for admission and boasted possession of the trunk of a tree under which Jesus and his disciples sat. It also had on display a “Feejee Mermaid,” which in truth was the upper body of a small monkey sewn to the back half of a large fish. But as scandalous as these frauds were, they did not compare to the “Great Egress.”

Throughout the museum, signs were posted directing visitors to the Great Egress.

The prominence of the signs generated curiosity and visitors followed them not realizing that “egress” meant “exit.” Eventually the signs led to a door that deposited the curious on the street and locked behind them. And the hapless visitors had to pay another quarter if they wanted to gain reentry.

Because of these hoaxes, P.T. Barnum is closely associated with the saying: “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

Today, there is another huckster giving New Yorkers a bad name. The United States government has a chief executive who has neither a sense of morality nor an understanding of the rule of law. Having lived his entire life in an entitled bubble, Donald Trump never had to answer to anyone except, perhaps, his father. The Trump organization under Donald Trump has always been an autocracy, where the law always has been whatever he said it was.

Having moved from the private to the public sector, Trump has been unwilling to adjust his thinking and his behavior in order to conduct himself appropriately. He runs the White House – and tries to run the nation – in the same dictatorial manner that he ran his private business enterprises.

Never mind that he crash-landed on multiple occasions and engaged in nefarious conduct to cut his losses. Being an expert scam artist and spin meister, he has been able to convince many people that each of his many failures was a total success.

Now that he has been backed into a corner by the Mueller report raising numerous questions that Congress is obligated to answer, Trump has shifted his con game into high gear. While wildly attacking Congress for attempting to carry out its consti-

tutionally mandated function and demonizing the American press for trying to bring the truth to light, the chief executive officer of the federal government is instructing his subordinates to ignore congressional subpoenas.

One such subordinate is Carl Kline, the former director of Donald Trump’s White House Presidential Personnel Office, who approved security clearances for individuals not deemed fit to receive them. It is generally understood that these approvals were given at Trump’s directions.

Seeking to understand Kline’s actions, the House Oversight and Reform Committee subpoenaed him to appear before the committee on April 23 and be deposed on this issue. Trump, having contempt for everything that does not glorify him, instructed Kline to ignore the subpoena. This prompted the committee chair, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, to begin proceedings to hold Kline in contempt of Congress.

Faced with this threat, Kline has “volunteered” to appear before the committee and provide limited testimony – an offer that has not been accepted by Rep. Cummings.

Federal law states that any person summoned before Congress who “willfully makes default, or who, having appeared, refuses to answer any question pertinent to the question under inquiry” is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of $100,000 and imprisonment for up to 12 months. Kline’s refusal to respond satisfactorily to his congressional subpoena fits the definition of contempt. The question now is whether Congress has the will to exercise its power.

The House of Representatives has the authority to seize, try, convict and punish Kline. But Trump’s administration will try to raise the nonsensical argument that the purpose for which Kline was subpoenaed was invalid, and therefore there was no legitimate congressional authority to subpoena Kline or hold him in contempt.

Multiple sources, including in testimony before Congress, have accused Kline of approving “unwarranted security clearances” over the objections of professional security experts in 30 instances. Two of those clearances were approved for Trump’s daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, at Donald Trump’s insistence.

Clearly Donald Trump is instructing his minions to defy Congress in an effort to continue to obstruct justice and hide his criminal acts committed before and after occupying the White House. And the thinks he can get away with it because Trump, like P.T. Barnum, believes that there’s a sucker born every minute. So, he keeps putting up impressive signs that say, “This Way to the Great Egress.”

Oscar H. Blayton is a former Marine Corps combat pilot and human rights activist who practices law in Virginia.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

Filmmaker & Director John Singleton Dies At 51 After Suffering Stroke Derrick Lane, BlackDoctor.com

At just 24 years old, John Singleton became the youngest and the first black filmmaker to receive an Oscar nomination for best director and best original screenplay for cult classic film “Boyz n the Hood,” starring Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, Angela Bassett, Nia Long, Regina King and Laurence Fishburne.

Now, at just 51 years old, John Singleton has died due to complications from a stroke he suffered almost two weeks ago. Singleton’s family also said he had hypertension, which is high blood pressure that puts extra stress on blood vessels and vital organs.

His family announced his death shortly after they confirmed that he had been taken off life support.

“John passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family and friends,” they said in a statement. “We are grateful to his fans, friends, and colleagues for the outpour of love and prayers during this incredibly difficult time. We want to thank all the doctors

at Cedars Sinai for the impeccable care he received.”

Shelia Ward, Singleton’s mother, filed court documents late last week seeking to be appointed as a temporary conservator to make medical decisions and to handle his business affairs.

The Academy Award-nominated director was placed in a medically-induced coma after suffering a stroke April 17 while in the hospital. He reportedly had checked himself into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after experiencing weakness in his leg, according to TMZ. Stroke is a leading cause of death and severe, long-term disability. Most people who’ve had a first stroke also had high blood pressure (HBP or hypertension). Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to stroke by damaging and weakening your brain’s blood vessels, causing them to narrow, rupture or leak. High blood pressure can also cause blood clots to form in the arteries leading to your brain, blocking blood flow and potentially causing a stroke.

Weakened arteries in the brain, resulting from high blood pressure, put you at a

much higher risk for stroke — which is why managing high blood pressure is critical to reduce your chance of having a stroke.

Singleton directed a number of other iconic films that were loved by both…

Weakened arteries in the brain, resulting from high blood pressure, put you at a much higher risk for stroke — which is why managing high blood pressure is critical to reduce your chance of having a stroke.

Singleton directed a number of other iconic films that were loved by both… … African Americans and critics alike, including “Poetic Justice” and “Baby Boy.” He’s also behind the movies “Abduction,” “Shaft,” “2 Fast 2 Furious,” “Rosewood” and “Four Brothers.”

Most recently, Singleton was the creator and executive producer of the FX drama “Snowfall,” about the start of the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles and “its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it,” according to FX Networks.

In September, the show was renewed for a third season.

Congressional Black Caucus Focuses on Lack of African Americans on SIRIUS XM Board for $3.5 billion, forming the world’s largest audio entertainment company,” the letter from the Congressional Black Caucus began.

“We believe a media company of this size and reach should be much further along in ensuring diverse, equitable, and inclusive leadership and agree that Sirius XM has a great deal of work to do,” the letter pointed out.

SIRIUS XM has recently come under pressure on social media around the issue of diversity, as Mark Thompson, who hosts the popular show Make It Plain, was inexplicably taken off the air during the second week in April.

SIRIUS XM has not made it clear why Thompson has remained off the air. A social media campaign to get Thompson back on the air at SIRIUS XM has placed even more attention on diversity issues at the radio network.

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

SIRIUS XM has not made it clear why Mark Thompson has remained off the air.

A social media campaign to get Thompson back on the air at SIRIUS XM has placed even more attention on diversity issues at the radio network.

In a letter dated April 23, 2019, Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Rep. G.K. Butterfield (DNC) wrote to SIRIUS XM CEO James Meyer highlighting the issue of diversity at the billion-dollar company.

“We write to express our deep concern about the lack of African American representation in the C-suite and on the board of Directors at SIRIUS XM Radio. In February 2019, Sirius XM announced the finalization of its acquisition of Pandora Media

The last segment Thompson completed before his unexplained absence focused on DiversityInc.com’s upcoming reveal of the Top 50 Companies for Diversity. SIRIUS XM did not participate in the survey for the DiversityInc analysis.

“We find your corporation’s lack of diversity especially problematic given the fact that African Americans and Hispanics drive consumption among streaming services. According to Nielsen, 52% of African Americans and 45% of Hispanics drive consumption among streaming services,” the Bass, Lee, Butterfield letter detailed.

The letter also pointed out that their staffs met with SIRIUS XM officials in late January.

The issue of corporate diversity in a changing America is becoming a key priority of the CBC agenda. The largest Congressional Black Caucus in U.S. history is also the largest in Congress. In an increas-

ingly diverse nation, they have been pushing for demographic representation with increasing success. Back in the 1990s, when Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. highlighted diversity within media companies, he had little political leverage behind him.

For the 116th Congress, the CBC has a historic 55 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. Those 55 members represent 25.3 percent of the total U.S. population, and more than 17 million African-Americans, 41 percent of the total U.S. African-American population. In addition, the CBC represents almost a fourth of the House Democratic Caucus.

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

Dr. Common! Rapper/Actor Common Awarded Doctorate!

Derrick Lane, BlackDoctor.com

For hip-hop fans, Common‘s intelligence, lyricism and artistic skill speak for themselves. With hip hop classics like “I Used To Love Her” and movies like “Just Wright,” Common has cemented himself as a hip hop legend. But when the MC, actor, writer and philanthropist agreed to speak at Florida A&M University’s commencement, he had no idea what he was in store for.

“Once I started to pursue my entertainment and my music career, I never thought about the fact that ‘Man, I can get a doctorate,’” said Common.

On Saturday, FAMU honored the awardwinning entertainer with a doctorate in fine arts.

The rapper was there to speak to students from the College of Science and Technology, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities and School of Environment.

ated from the university this Spring.

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) is a public, historically black university in Tallahassee, Florida.

Founded in 1887, it is located on the highest geographic hill in Tallahassee. It is the 5th largest historically black university (HBCU) in the United States by enrollment and the only public historically black university in Florida. It is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, as well as one of the… … state’s land grant universities, and is accredited to award baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral degrees by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

Common says that his activism started in undergrad.

“It was things that I experienced here that I didn’t experience in my hometown of Chicago,” Common explained to ABC 27 WTXL. “Meeting people from other parts of the country. I was able to keep an open mind. I learned a lot.”

In all, more than 12,000 students gradu-

17

The 2019 edition of the U.S. News & World Report college rankings placed the university 9th among all HBCUs and 2nd among all public HBCUs. The university is classified as an R2 Doctoral Research University under the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, which denotes higher research activity.[6] For 2017, the National Science Foundation ranked Florida A&M University 216th nationally and 2nd among HBCU for total research and development expenditures.

FAMU sports teams are known as the “Rattlers”, and compete in Division I of the NCAA. Congrats to Common and all of the graduates!

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

SPECIAL REPORT:

May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

Mass Incarceration of Women and Minorities a New Crisis

Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent

Although the number of people in prisons and jails in America has slightly declined, numbers released on Thursday, April 25, by the Bureau of Justice Statistics still show that nearly 1.5 million individuals were in prison by the end of 2017.

The statistics also note that the U.S. continues to lock up more people than any other nation. And, despite a narrowing disparity between incarcerated black and white women, females have emerged as the new face of mass incarceration.

“I don’t think this should be much of a surprise as two of the main for-profit prison companies were founded around the same time,” said Ron Stefanski, whose website prisoninsight.com, works to hold prisons accountable for the treatment of current, former and future inmates.

“When these for-profit companies were created, they found a way to generate revenue off of inmates and this led to a huge influx of prisoners, both male and female,” Stefanski said.

In 2000, black women were incarcerated at six times the rate of white women, but in 2017, black women were imprisoned at less than double the rate of white women, according to the latest information.

The number of white women in prison has increased by more than 40 percent since 2000 while the number of black women incarcerated has fallen by nearly 50 percent.

The most recent report from the Prison Policy Initiative revealed that, looking at the big picture shows that a staggering

number of women who are incarcerated are not even convicted with one quarter of the women behind bars having not yet gone to trial.

Sixty-percent of women under the control of local authorities have not been convicted of a crime and adding to the picture of women in local jails, aside from women under local jurisdictions, state and federal agencies pay local jails to house an additional 13,000 women, according to the Prison Policy Initiative.

For example, ICE and the U.S. Marshals, which have fewer dedicated facilities for their detainees, contract with local jails to hold roughly 5,000 women – so the number of women physically held in jails is even higher.

According to the Prison Policy Initiative,

avoiding pre-trial incarceration is uniquely challenging for women.

The number of un-convicted women stuck in jail is surely not because courts are considering women, who are generally the primary caregivers of children, to be a flight risk, according to the Prison Policy Initiative report.

The far more likely answer is that incarcerated women, who have lower incomes than incarcerated men, have an even harder time affording cash bail.

When the typical bail amounts to a full year’s income for women, it’s no wonder that women are stuck in jail awaiting trial, the report’s author said.

Even once convicted, the system funnels women into jails: About a quarter of convicted incarcerated women are held in jails, compared to about 10 percent of all people incarcerated with a conviction.

Also, while stays in jail are generally shorter than in stays in prison, jails make it harder to stay in touch with family than prisons do.

Phone calls are more expensive, up to $1.50 per minute, and other forms of communication are more restricted – some jails don’t even allow real letters, limiting mail to postcards.

This is especially troubling given that 80 percent of women in jails are mothers, and most of them are primary caretakers of their children.

Thus children are particularly susceptible to the domino effect of burdens placed on incarcerated women, the report’s author said.

Black and American Indian women are markedly overrepresented in prisons and jails, according to the report.

Incarcerated women are 53 percent White, 29 percent Black, 14 percent Hispanic, 2.5 percent American Indian and Alaskan Native, 0.9 percent Asian, and 0.4 percent Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander.

“While we are a long way away from having data on intersectional impacts of sexuality and race or ethnicity on women’s likelihood of incarceration, it is clear that Black and lesbian or bisexual women are disproportionately subject to incar-

18

ceration,” Prison Policy Initiative Author Aleks Kajstura said.

Three out of four women under control of any U.S. correctional system are on probation, according to Kajstura.

Probation is often billed as an alternative to incarceration, but instead it is frequently set with unrealistic conditions that undermine its goal of keeping people from being locked up, she wrote for the Prison Policy Initiative.

For example, probation often comes with steep fees, which, like bail, women are in the worst position to afford.

Failing to pay these probation fees is often a violation of probation.

Childcare duties further complicate probation requirements that often include meetings with probation officers, especially for women with no extra money to spend on babysitters or reliable transportation across town.

“All of these issues make women particularly vulnerable to being incarcerated not because they commit crimes, but because they run afoul of one of the burdensome obligations of their probation supervision,” Kajstura said.

Still, she noted in the report that the picture of women’s incarceration is far from complete, and many questions remain about mass incarceration’s unique impact on women.

“Based on our analysis in this report, we know that a quarter of incarcerated women are un-convicted,” she wrote in the report.

Kajstura continued: “But is that number growing? And how do the harms of that unnecessary incarceration intersect with women’s disproportionate caregiving to impact families?

“Beyond these big picture questions, there are a plethora of detailed data points that are not reported for women by any government agencies, such as the simple number of women incarcerated in U.S. Territories or involuntarily committed to state psychiatric hospitals because of justice system involvement.”

Con’t on page 14

Ice Cube’s

a definite mechanism to withstand challenges,” said Dr. Leon, the political scientist, author, columnist and talk show host.

“These resources put them at another level.

They’ll have resources to pay an attorney like Willie Gary.”

The most immediate challenge is apparently Channel Communications and Liberty Media. According to the New York Post, BIG3 accuses Charter Communications of conspiring with Liberty Media and the owner of the Atlanta Braves and was trying “to pollute the bidding process.”

Ms. Harvey said, without knowing all the details, if Charter and Liberty Media may have engaged in, these tactics, it may be simply cut throat business as usual.

“I think a part of this is learning how to function in this environment,” she said. “It may not necessarily be a race-based issue.

This may be a competitive obstacle. Some people may react viscerally to Black people seeking to jump into the bidding, but the Black celebrities are dealing with people who have had generations of exposure to this playing field. We see people battling for six inches of land, not willing to give up an inch of ground. Business is no different.”

“This is the cost of doing business. Throwing money to thwart the opposition isn’t unusual. It’s a part of the game, a part of the business. They are creating barriers to entry for all competition.”

Dr. Leon said those entering business and other arenas should come prepared to make a difference. “The only way to change the game is that you gotta play the game,” he said. “And the only way to win the game is to play the game. It may be a White man’s game, but I’m not ready to give it to them yet.”

Ms. Harvey said she’s struck by the positive turn this development represents.

“What jumps out is this is a shining light because many of these ills in the Black community are because of the impact of the hip hop culture of consumerism and violence,” said Ms. Harvey, a former Philadelphia public defender. “This a good foil.”

Dr. Leon argued the ownership group should seek to use the venture as more than a more investment. “If your belief system is not focused on the liberation of your people, it’s a waste of time,” he said.

Ms. Harvey disagreed with Dr. Leon’s premise, while noting the importance of what the ownership group is attempting to do. “We don’t have enough archetypes,” she said. “I’m sick of the fact that the only available archetypes are the drug dealer, hip hop artists and athletes. We often don’t have enough role models at high levels.

Fourteen-year-old Black boys’ role models need to be a Black man in a suit. The image of Barack Obama and his beautiful, strong, Black family is something all of us can aspire to. All we can imitate is what we see.”

In early April, with his FOX Sports contract having expired at the conclusion of the 2018 BIG3 campaign, the league inked a new deal to have games televised on the CBS network. However, armed with a highprofile group of investors with deep pockets of their own, Ice Cube has a much bigger vision. But reaching that goal won’t come without challenges, or a fight.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

Con’t from page

Neuroscience

of a “Medicare for All” system currently proposed by some members of Congress.

She called the prospect “a bit terrifying.”

“I think most people don’t understand what Medicare for All is,” she said.

“If we want to see a two-class system of care emerge which is very contrary to our values at Yale-New Haven Health Medicare for All will move us in that direction.

You have a lot of providers who simply can’t afford to take more governmentally paid patients. I think you’re going to see providers allocate a certain part of their practice for people who can pay. You’re going to have a private insurance market develop just for the most affluent people.

“My personal values and our values in the health system are that we don’t provide care based on your payer source. Whatever bed you’re in, you’re being seen because of your medical necessity. I don’t want to see us move away from that.”

Medicare reimbursements fail to cover the full cost of care patients receive, Borgstrom said. “We lose about 12 cents on the dollar of cost for every Medicare patient,” and 40 cents on the Medicaid patient dollar.

She was asked if it’s unrealistic to try to accompany a Medicare for All plan with far greater reimbursements for hospitals as well as doctors accepting a slightly lower standard of living.

Yes, she said; that’s unrealistic.

Why Are Blacks More Likely To Die From Stroke?

BlackDoctor.org

In a study recently published in the American Heart Association journal Stroke, investigators in the Reasons for Geographical And Racial Differences in Stroke Study, or REGARDS, found that blacks are four times more likely to die of stroke at age 45 than their white counterparts because blacks have more strokes, not because blacks who have a stroke are more likely to die than whites who have a stroke.

Important insights from the study and risk factors that lead to stroke indicate changes that are needed in Americans’ health habits and in primary health care to reduce the excess number of deaths from stroke in the black population.

“Since the driving force of the racial difference in stroke deaths is the larger number of strokes in blacks, to reduce this disparity we have to focus on factors prior to the stroke’s ever happening,” said George Howard, Dr.P.H., lead author and professor of biostatistics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health.

“We need to do more to focus on prevention and control of risk factors before they result in a stroke. While it is important to ensure that blacks and whites receive the same care once a stroke happens, any differences in care once the stroke happens do not appear to be the reason that blacks die more from stroke.”

Most research focuses on treating stroke

patients and preventing recurrent stroke.

Few studies look at whether an elevated stroke rate in blacks is the predictor for more stroke deaths.

“We need more aggressive prevention efforts for stroke risk factors, particularly focusing on why blacks have more strokes,” said Virginia Howard, Ph.D., professor in the UAB School of Public Health Department of Epidemiology. “Racial differences in the development and control of risk factors are to blame.”

Traditional and nontraditional risk factors that lead to stroke are more common for blacks, particularly high blood pressure and diabetes. According to study authors, more must be done to address the racial differences and prevention methods for risk factors and reduce the disparity in stroke.

At age 45, the risk of a black person dying from a stroke is four times greater than the risk in a white person; but by age 85 the black-white differences go away. The risk of having a stroke followed a remarkably similar pattern, but there were no blackwhite differences in the risk of dying once a stroke occurred. Earlier research from the REGARDS study shows that blacks are at a higher risk for a first stroke.

“The magnitude of the public health burden of the racial disparity in stroke is staggering,” George Howard said. “We estimate that thereB:9.25” were 22,384 additional stroke events in blacks occurring in 2014 T:9.25” above what would be expected relative to

rates in whites.”

In addition to the human impact of health challenges associated with stroke, there are also economic implications. With a lifelong estimated cost of stroke of $104,000, the black-white difference in stroke costs America more than $2.3 billion annually.

“Efforts that would even marginally reduce this burden would pay remarkable dividends for the United States,” he said.

Co-authors are Claudia S. Moy, Ph.D.;

Virginia J. Howard, Ph.D.; Leslie A. McClure, Ph.D.; Dawn O. Kleindorfer, M.D.; Brett M. Kissela, M.D.; Suzanne E. Judd, Ph.D.; Fredrick W. Unverzagt, Ph.D.; Elsayed Z. Soliman, M.D.; Monika M. Safford, M.D.; Mary Cushman, M.D.; Matthew L. Flaherty, M.D.; and Virginia G. Wadley, Ph.D. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke funded the study.

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1. To qualify for this offer, you must have a new or existing Platinum Savings account and enroll the account in this offer between 03/25/2019 and 05/31/2019. This offer is subject to change at any time, without notice. This offer is available only to Platinum Savings customers in the following states: AR, CT, DC, FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, NJ, NY, SC, TX and VA. In order to earn the Special Interest Rate of 2.08% (Special Rate), you must deposit $25,000 in new money (from sources outside of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., or its affiliates) to the enrolled savings account and maintain a minimum daily account balance of $25,000 throughout the term of this offer. The corresponding Annual Percentage Yield (APY) for this offer is 2.10%. The Special Rate will be applied to the enrolled savings account for a period of 12 months, starting on the date the account is enrolled in the offer. However, for any day during that 12 month period that the daily account balance is less than the $25,000 minimum, the Special Rate will not apply, and the interest rate will revert to the standard interest rate applicable to your Platinum Savings account. As of 02/15/2019, the standard interest rate and APY for a Platinum Savings account in AR, CT, DC, FL, GA, MD, MS, NC, NJ, NY, SC, TX and VA with an account balance of $0.01 and above is 0.05% (0.05% APY). Each tier shown reflects the current minimum daily collected balance required to obtain the applicable APY. Interest is compounded daily and paid monthly. The amount of interest earned is based on the daily collected balances in the account. Upon the expiration of the 12 month promotional period, standard interest rates apply. Minimum to open a Platinum Savings account is $25. A monthly service fee of $12 applies in any month the account falls below a $3,500 minimum daily balance. Fees may reduce earnings. Interest rates are variable and subject to change without notice. Wells Fargo may limit the amount you deposit to a Platinum Savings account to an aggregate of $1 million. Offer not available to Private Banking or Wealth customers. 2. Annual Percentage Yield (APY) is effective for accounts opened between 03/25/2019 to 05/31/2019. The 11-month New Dollar CD special requires a minimum of $25,000 brought to Wells Fargo from sources outside of Wells Fargo Bank N.A., or its affiliates to earn the advertised APY. Public Funds and Wholesale accounts are not eligible for this offer. APY assumes interest remains on deposit until maturity. Interest is compounded daily. Payment of interest on CDs is based on term: For terms less than 12 months (365 days), interest may be paid monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or at maturity (the end of the term). For terms of 12 months or more, interest may be paid monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. A fee for early withdrawal will be imposed and could reduce earnings on this account. Special Rates are applicable to the initial term of the CD only. At maturity, the Special Rate CD will automatically renew for a term of 6 months, at the interest rate and APY in effect for CDs on renewal date not subject to a Special Rate, unless the Bank has notified you otherwise. 1,2. Due to the new money requirement, accounts may only be opened at your local branch. Wells Fargo reserves the right to modify or discontinue the offer at any time without notice. Minimum new money deposit requirement of at least $25,000 is for this offer only and cannot be transferred to another account to qualify for any other consumer deposit offer. If you wish to take advantage of another consumer deposit offer requiring a minimum new money deposit, you will be required to do so with another new money deposit as stated in the offer requirements and qualifications. Offer cannot be combined with any other consumer deposit offer, except the Portfolio by Wells Fargo $500 offer, available from March 25, 2019 until May 31, 2019. Offer cannot be reproduced, purchased, sold, transferred, or traded. 3. The Portfolio by Wells Fargo program has a $30 monthly service fee, which can be avoided when you have one of the following qualifying balances: $25,000 or more in qualifying linked bank deposit accounts (checking, savings, CDs, FDIC-insured IRAs) or $50,000 or more in any combination of qualifying linked banking, brokerage (available through Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC) and credit balances (including 10% of mortgage balances, certain mortgages not eligible). If the Portfolio by Wells Fargo relationship is terminated, the bonus interest rate on all eligible savings accounts, and discounts or fee waivers on other products and services, will discontinue and revert to the Bank’s then-current applicable rate or fee. For bonus interest rates on time accounts, this change will occur upon renewal. If the Portfolio by Wells Fargo relationship is terminated, the remaining unlinked Wells Fargo Portfolio Checking or Wells Fargo Prime Checking account will be converted to another checking product or closed. © 2019 Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. All rights reserved. Deposit products offered by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. NMLSR ID 399801

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INNER-CITY THE INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS July - May 2019 - May 14,2016 2019 27, 08, 2016 - August 02,

Black & Boucher, LLC is looking for experienced milling

EMPLOYMENT SPECIALIST - (P/T)

machine operators for our Wirtgen W220’s and W50 machines. Po- Assist individuals receiving services in identifying and making sitions are full time seasonal work. Starting pay is $38.87 an hour choices about their social, vocation and personal goals. Duties in(W220) and $38.20 (W50), includes benefits (Health, Pension, An- clude case management, job development/placement/retention sernuity). Must be willing to work nights and some weekends. Year- vices and job support as needed. Requires use of personal vehicle. in a related field; plus 2 yrs’ related experience or equivalent VALENTINA MACRIWe RENTAL PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE end Bonus also included. are anHOUSING equal opportunity employer, B.A. minority, female and veterans are encouraged to apply. Work is combination of education and experience. Pay rate $16.61/hr.

Apply to:Authority, GWSNE, 432 Washington Ave., North Haven, CT 06473/ in HOME the Southern England (Connecticut, and Housing INC, onNew behalf of Columbus HouseMassachusetts, and the New Haven Fax (203) EOE/AA - M/F/D/V Rhode Island) area.

Please emailforblackandboucher@earthlink.net is accepting pre-applications studio and one-bedroom apartments at this495-6108/hr@goodwillsne.org develif interested! opment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations ap-

The Glendower Group, Inc

NOTICE

DELIVERY PERSON NEEDED

ply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y

The Group in when N. Stonington, CT has Temporary, 12 25,Cooper 2016 and ending sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have

week positions for Finish Painters, starting 6/3/19. Requires min. been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon re2 years experience, ability to prep surfaces, brush paint and glaze quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed prewindows. Must have own tools and transportation. Fluency in Engapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third lish. We are an Affirmative Action/EOE. Send resume and referFloor, New Haven, CT 06510. ences to Employment@thecoopergroupct.com

Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week,

NOTICIA Tree Company New Haven County looking for a bucket op-

Must Have your Own Vehicle

erator, climber and groundmen with Class B CDL. 2-4 years experience with large residential and commercial treePRE-SOLICITUDES removal. Full VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER DISPONIBLES time with work year round. Experience with using a bobcat with grapple and everyday tree de removal equipment.

HOME INC, en nombre la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está Sign on bonus to the right person! Call (203) 466-2400 or email aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo PCSLANDSCAPING@AOL.COM

If Interested call

(203) 387-0354

ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 julio,Housing 2016 hasta Authority cuando se han of recibido pre-solicitudes The the suficientes City of Norwalk, CT(aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición Accounting Department has two immediate openings for full is requesting proposals for Financial Advisory Services. llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse time Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable professionals Request for Proposal documents can be viewed and printed at a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 . in a fast-paced office environment. Must be highly organized, www.norwalkha.org under the Business section RFP’s/RFQ’s possess good computer skills, be detail oriented, and able to Norwalk Housing is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Adam Bovilsky, Executive Director. manage multiple projects. Benefits include health, dental & LTD insurance plus 401(k). Send resume to: Human Resource Dept. P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.

Listing: Accounting

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Request for Proposals

CONSTRUCTION MANAGER AT RISK FOR WESTVILLE MANOR The Glendower Group, Inc an affiliate of Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Construction Manager at Risk for Westville Manor. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, April 24, 2019 at 3:00PM

Water

Electrical Technician – The Town of Wallingford Water Division is seeking a responsible and skilled individual to maintain, repair, and calibrate all of the electrical or electronic equipment pertaining to water treatment and distribution systems and operations. The position requires a high school diploma or GED and (2) two yrs. of college level education or specialized maintenance training and (4) four yrs. of experience in the repair and maintenance of electrical equipment or graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering or related field and (1) one yr. of experience. Salary: $27.32 - $33.20 per hour (contract currently under negotiations) plus an excellent fringe benefit package. Apply to: Human Resources Department, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492.

Fax #: (203) 294-2084. Closing date will be May 28, 2019 or the date the 50th application is received, whichever occurs first. EOE.

The Cheshire Housing Authority

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer********** is currently accepting application for Foote Commons non-subsidized family one, two and Invitationthree to Bid: in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory bedroom apartments. All applicants must meet the Income Limits set annually by the nd 2 242-258 Fairmont Ave Notice training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). To qualify you must have a The GUILFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY gross annual income of $50,350-one person $57,550-two people, $64,750-three We offer hourly rate 1.5 & excellent benefits1 levelis, currently 2BRexcellent Townhouse, BA, 3BR, 1BA accepting applications for its efficiency and one maximum people, $71,900-four people, $77,700- five people, $83,450-six people, $89,200-seven peoContact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860243-2300 bedroom apartments at Guilford Court and Boston Terrace All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 Old Saybrook, CT ple, $94,950-eight people or be able to pay a rent of $794-$1,090 for a one bedroom, $930Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com or on $1,278 for a two bedroom, and $1,075-$1,500 for a tree bedroom. highways, near bus stop & shopping centerin Guilford, CT. Applicants must be age 62 and over (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply 100% social security or federal disability and over the age Interested parties may pick up an application at 50 Rumberg Road or may have one mailed.

Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 Exempt Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer of 18. Applications maybe obtained by Tax calling the & applicaCompleted applications must be returned to the Cheshire Housing Authority 50 Rumberg

NEW HAVEN

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

tion line at 203-453-6262, ext. 107. Applications will be ac- Road, Cheshire, CT 06410. The wait list will open for 90 days (July, 19) or until the wait listSelective has 60 applications the required number by the State of Connecticut. If there are New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Demolition,orSite-work, Cast3:00 p.m. Credit, police, and units and wait list does not have the required number of applications, The Housby the authority.

Smoke free in-place Concrete, Asphaltopen Shingles, VinyltheSiding,

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s cepted until May 30, 2019 at Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates checks in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday,landlord August 20, 2016 1:30- are procured 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon J. Davis, Operators M.S., B.S. Reclaimer Operators andJoeMilling with current housing.

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

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300

For more information call (203)272-7511 ext1 or 2

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

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

ing Authority may fill those units on a first come first serve basis. Section 8 vouchers are

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

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY HOUSING Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

licensing and clean driving record, St. New Haven, CT Be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 Invitation for Bid (IFB) Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Elevator Maintenance Services Project documents available via ftp link below: Solicitation Number: 126-AM-19-S http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

KMK Insulation Inc.

Town of Seymour until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the 1907 Hartford Turnpike The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is SmithfieldUnion Gardens Company Assisted Livingseeks: Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

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

currently seeking bids from qualified elevator companies to provide full-service elevator North Haven, CT 06473 Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran,maintenance S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses there is a mix of elevator types and locations. Soliciand repair agency-wide, Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 Equipment.

Must have awill CDL driving record, tation package will be available on April 29, 2019. To obtain a copy of the solicitation you A pre-bid conference beLicense, held atclean the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith must send your request to bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicitation capableSeymour, of operating equipment; be willing to travel AA/EEO EMPLOYER Street CT heavy at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Insulation company offering good pay number and title on the subject line. A pre-bid conference will be held at 150 Highland Ave, throughout the Northeast & NY. Bridgeport, CT 06604 on May 15, 2019 @ 10:00 a.m. Although attendance is not mandaand benefits.

Please mail resume to We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Oftory, submitting a bid for the project without attending conference is not in the best interest Contact Dana at 860-243-2300 above address. of the Offeror. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunifice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com ties.org no later than May 22, 2019. Answers to all the questions will be posted on PCC’s Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org. Seal bids will be received until May 30, 2019 @ This company is an Affirmative Action/ The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer 10:00 at which time the bids will be publicly opened and read aloud.

Mechanical Insulator position.

MAIL ONLY

reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

20

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

Selective Boiler Replacement at Cambridge Park INVITATION TO BID

Bristol, Connecticut The Bristol Housing Authority will receive sealed bids on or before 1:00 p.m. EDT, Friday, May 31, 2019 at their offices at 164 Jerome Avenue, Bristol, Connecticut 06010 and said bids will be publicly opened and read aloud immediately thereafter.

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

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

Adam Bovilsky, Executive Director.

HELP WANTED: Large CT guardrail company looking

Bids will be received for furnishing all labor, materials, tools and equipment necessary to complete “Selective Boiler Replacements at Cambridge Park” in Bristol, Connecticut 06010. The scope of work shall include but is not limited to Boiler replacements, new gyp. bd. ceilings and door replacements. Sealed bid packages to be clearly marked “Selective Boiler Replacement. Attention: Mitzy Rowe, CEO.”

for Laborer/Driver with valid CT CDL Class A license and able to get a medical card. Must be able to pass a drug test and physical.

Compensation based on experience. Email resume to dmastracchio@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE M-F

A pre-bid walk through will be held on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. Please meet at the Bristol Housing Authority Office, 164 Jerome Avenue, Bristol, Connecticut 06010.

Attendance is strongly recommended for all bidders.

Project Engineer (Connecticut):

Contact Documents including Plans and Specifications, as prepared by J ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS, 84 Market Square, Suite 3, Newington, CT 06111, will be on file at the Bristol Housing Authority 164 Jerome Avenue, Bristol, Connecticut. Contract Documents can be reviewed and purchased within the on-line plan room of Advanced Reprographics, Plainville, CT at www.advancedrepro.net or by calling (860) 410-1020. Project information can also be obtained online at Projectdog.com.

The Bristol Housing Authority reserves the right to reject any or all bids and/or to waive any informalities in bidding, when such action is deemed to be in the best interest of the Bristol Housing Authority. All bid documents must be filled out completely when submitted.

A satisfactory Bid Bond or Certified Check in an amount equal to five percent (5%) of the base bid, shall be submitted with each bid. The Bid Bond shall be made payable to the Bristol Housing Authority and shall be properly executed by the Bidder. A 100% Performance, Labor and Material Bond is also required. All sureties must be listed on the most recent IRS circular 570.

“Attention of bidders is directed to certain requirements of this contract which require payment of Davis-Bacon wages, and compliance with certain local, state and federal requirements. This is a Federally funded project.”

No bids shall be withdrawn for a period of sixty (60) days after the opening of bids without the consent of the Bristol Housing Authority.

For further information, please contact Carl Johnson, Bristol Housing Authority, Director of Capital Funds at (860) 585-2028 or Jay R. Victorick, J ASSOCIATES ARCHITECTS at (860) 665-7063.

"AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER MBE’s, WBE's, SBE's AND SECTION 3 DESIGNATED ENTERPRISES ARE ENCOURAGED TO SUBMIT"

Request for Proposals

Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) Project- Based Assistance Program to Support the Development of Affordable Housing Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) Project- Based Assistance Program to Support the Development of Affordable Housing. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 at 3:00PM.

The Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk, CT is requesting proposals for Utility Allowance Study.

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

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

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

Help Wanted: Galasso Materials LLC, a quarry and paving contractor, has positions open for the upcoming construction season. We are seeking candidates for 1) Quality Control (experience preferred), 2) Office clerks, 3) Truck/Scalehouse Dispatcher (experience and computer knowledge preferred) and 4) Equipment Operators and Construction Laborers. NO PHONE CALLS. Please mail resume and cover letter to Hiring Manager, Galasso Materials LLC, PO Box 1776, East Granby CT 06026. EOE/M/F/D/V.

Town of Bloomfield Truck Driver/Maintainer II Full Time - Benefited $27.31 hourly Pre-employment drug testing.

For more details, visit our website – www.bloomfieldct.org Deputy Finance Director, Town of Groton, $85,753 - $98,616. Bachelor’s in Finance/Accounting and six years’ experience, including 4 years supervisory, or a Master’s in Business Administration, Public Administration or related, and four years, including 3 years supervisory. Applications at Groton Town Hall, Human Resources, 45 Fort Hill Road, Groton, CT 06340 or www.groton-ct.gov and must be returned by 4/24/19. EOE m/f

The GUILFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY

Elm City Communities

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

is currently accepting applications for its efficiency and one bedroom apartments at Guilford Court and Boston Terrace in Guilford, CT. Applicants must be age 62 and over or on 100% social security or federal disability and over the age of 18. Applications maybe obtained by calling the application line at 203-453-6262, ext. 107.

Applications will be accepted until May 30, 2019 at 3:00 p.m.

Credit, police, and landlord checks are procured by the authority.

Smoke free housing.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY HOUSING

TRANSFER STATION LABORER Off load trailers, reload for trans/disp. Lift 50 lbs., operate industrial powered trucks and forklift. Asbestos Worker Handler Training a +. Resumes to RED Technologies, LLC, 173 Pickering St., Portland, CT 06480; Fax 860-342-1022; or Email to hr@redtechllc. com RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.

Town of Bloomfield

Library Director $90,364 – $139,476 For more details, visit our website – www.bloomfieldct.org 21

APPLY TODAY Town of Bloomfield

Youth & Family Program Assistant Part Time – Non benefited (5-15 hrs. wkly) $11.87 hourly Pre-employment drug testing.

AA/EOE For details and how to apply go to www.bloomfieldct.org

Large CT. Fence Company is looking for an individual for our stock yard. Warehouse shipping and receiving and Forklift experience a must. Must have a minimum of 3 years’ material handling experience.

Must be able to read and write English, and read a tape measure. Duties will include: Loading and unloading trucks, pulling orders for installation and retail counter sales, keeping the yard clean and organized at all times and inventory control. Individual will also make deliveries of fence panels and products, must be able to lift at least 70lbs. Required to pass a Physical and Drug test, have a valid CT. Driver’s License and be able to obtain a Drivers Medical Card. CDL B & A drivers a plus. Send resume to pking@atlasourdoor. com AA/EOE/MF

CARPENTRY SHOP

Large CT Fence Company looking for a full-time carpenter for our Wood Fence Production Shop. Experience preferred but will train the right person. Must be familiar with carpentry hand & power tools and be able to read a CAD drawing and tape measure. This is an in-shop production position. Duties include mortising & drilling wood posts for fence panels, building fence panels, gates & more. Must have a valid CT driver’s license and be able to obtain a Drivers Medical Card. Must be able to pass a physical and drug test. Please email resume to pking@atlasoutdoor.com. AA/EOE-MF

THE INNER-CITY NEWS -

May 08, 2019 - May 14, 2019

Crown History! Miss USA, Miss Teen USA & Miss America Are Black Women

by Derrick Lane, BlackDoctor.com

Remember when you used to watch pageant shows and you’d be rooting for the Black woman to win, but knowing in your gut, that she wouldn’t get it. But over the years, we have seen the shift change with more and more women of color getting the top spot. And now, for the first time ever, three Black women simultaneously hold titles from America’s biggest pageants!

Cheslie Kryst, who was crowned Thursday night, Kaliegh Garris, Nia Franklin, have been named Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss America, respectively.

Both Kryst and Garris received props on social media from fans and celebrities alike for rocking their natural hair throughout the national competition.

Cheslie Kryst, a 28-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, was crowned as the pageant’s 2019 winner Thursday night at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada.

For her last question in the final round, she was asked whether the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have gone too far.

“I don’t think these movements have gone

too far,” she said. “What #MeToo and #TimesUp are about are making sure that we foster safe and inclusive workplaces in our country.

“As an attorney, that’s exactly what I want to hear and that’s exactly what I want for this country. i think they’re good movements.”

Kryst practices civil litigation for a law firm and also does free legal work for prisoners who may be sentenced unjustly, helping them to seek reduced punishments, one of her biographies on Miss USA’s website reads.

Garris revealed in a recent interview that when she entered the pageant world, people would often try to dissuade her from rocking her natural curls.

“The night before, I finger curled every single piece of my hair in the shower, which led to a very long shower, but it was for the greater good,” the 18-year-old Connecticut native told Refinery29. “I know what I look like with straight hair, with extensions, and with my curly hair, and I feel more confident and comfortable with my natural hair.”

At competition time, Garris walked on the stage proudly wearing her curls, and she

walked away with… … the Miss Teen USA title, marking the first time in two decades that the crown was placed on natural hair.

“There was one day when my friend saw my curls coming in from my roots because I didn’t straighten my hair very well that

day, and she was like, ‘You have beautiful curly hair, you should go natural.’” That one conversation encouraged Garris to grow out her hair and then go for the big chop. “My mom thought I was only going to get a little trim, but I actually chopped all the straight ends off, and ever since

then, I’ve been natural,” the beautiful Garris adds.

“Being able to spread the message of diversity, being yourself, and being confident in your curly, natural hair is something that I’m really looking forward to with my new national title.”

28-Year Old Mayor is Giving Low Income Residents in His City $500 a Month Stipends ing at or below the city’s median income line (around $46,000 annually) through the basic income policy, which primarily pays people for being alive. The trial is set to last for 18 months and the stipends are provided through the mail in the form of debit cards.

While the program aims to help lift families out of poverty, many are saying it will only discourage people to find jobs. However, Tubbs said it already showed signs of success within the two months since it was launched. In 2012, the city of Stockton declared bankruptcy, the first city in the US to do so. Now, about a quarter of its population is still under the federal poverty line but Tubbs believe a lot more could be done.

BlackNews.com

Stockton, CA — Michael Tubbs, the Mayor of Stockton, California, has started a basic policy that distributes $500 monthly stipends to low-income residents in the city. According to him, the program could be considered a solution to poverty.

Tubbs, who was 28 years old, was elected mayor of Stockton in 2017 making him one of the youngest mayors in the country. Two months ago, he started a contemporary basic income policy with hopes of alleviating the poverty problem in the city.

Since February, Stockton distributed $500 monthly stipends to its 130 residents liv-

“I came into doing the pilot without a fully formed perspective — or as fully formed as it is now — but really more out of curiosity,” Tubbs told Business Insider. “If this was a solution that could work, I wanted to test it out.”

According to reports, most people who were given the stipend uses their money to pay their gas and electric bills, get their cars fixed, and take their children to the movies.

“I was very excited to see it already working and making a difference in so many people’s lives,” he said. “I’m now much more resolute in this idea that, if it’s not a panacea… it should be considered as one of the many solutions to ensure that people

have an economic floor.”

The basic income pilot has been tested in some European countries and Canada as well. However, Tubbs didn’t think other American cities would consider the idea because most people still find it hard to empathize with people who look different.

Tubbs believe it is important that a city or country be homogenous in order for basic income pilot to work but the US still struggles with diversity.

Meanwhile, the city of Chicago is also looking to launch its own basic income pilot, which would give $1,000 monthly stipends to 1,000 residents for 18 months.

Texas School Implements Dress Code For Parents — No Hair Rollers, Bonnets, and Shower Caps Allowed!

BlackNews.com

Houston, TX — Carlotta Outley Brown, a high school principal in Texas, has implemented a new dress code — not for students or school staff but for parents who come into the school. The controversial decision came after she allegedly did not let a parent enroll her child because she was wearing a headscarf and short dress.

On April 8, Joselyn Lewis went to James Madison High School in Houston, Texas to register her daughter for class while wearing a T-shirt dress and a headscarf. However, she was turned away by a school official. She initially thought she was mistaken for a student but even when she explained that she’s a parent, she still wasn’t allowed to enter.

“She went on to say that she still couldn’t let me on the premises because I was not in dress code and I still didn’t understand what that meant,” Lewis told KPRC. “She

said that my headscarf was out of dress code and my dress was too short.”

Disappointed, she asked to see the parent dress code. She said, “I wanted to see proof of where it says parents can come dressed a certain way, but it wouldn’t show me that.

I wouldn’t leave, so they called the police department. They called them on me and I guess he was coming to tell me to leave, but I was already on the phone with the school board.”

The next day, Principal Carlotta Outley Brown sent a letter to parents containing a list of dress code policies. Banned clothing includes bonnets, shower caps, hair rollers, sagging pants, and pajamas.

“Parents, we do value you as a partner in your child’s education,” Brown, who is an African American, wrote in the letter.

“However, please know we have to have standards, most of all we must have high standards.”

Parents and activists are saying the new

rules are discriminatory.

“I’m almost insulted,” Tomiko Miller, a student’s mother, told the Houston Chronicle. “I really think it was discriminatory, the language that was used. It was demeaning. And I’m African American — and if it’s misty outside and I have a hair bonnet on, I don’t see how that’s anyone’s business.”

Zeph Capo, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, called the dress code “classist.”

“Who are you to judge others who may not have the same opportunities that you do?”

Capo said. “Having a wrap on your head is not offensive.”

Meanwhile, Brown stood her ground and said the dress code for parents was necessary because the school “is a professional place, where learning is taking place. A hair bonnet is permissible in the home, with your family. It’s not permissible in the school setting,” she told Inside Edition

22

when asked specifically about hair bonnets.

“We have to have high expectations for

all,” she continued. “The students are looking at us.”

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