INNER-CITY NEWS 2016 August 2016 THE INNER-CITY NEWS - JuneJuly 20,27, 2018 - - June 26,02, 2018
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Volume 27 . No. 2284 Volume 21 No. 2194
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42 New Firefighters Graduate The Academy
A Banner Day FOLLOW US ON
New fire academy graduates. 1
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
42 New Firefighters Graduate The Academy by THOMAS BREEN NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT
Soon after moving to New Haven, Fire Chief John Alston went to Best Buy to pick up a new gadget. He liked the young man working in tech support so much that he encouraged him to apply for the fire department. Over a year after that first retail encounter, Alston pinned a badge on the lapel of James Hilton, that former Best Buy employee, as Hilton formally became a New Haven firefighter. Hilton was one of 42 men and women in the 61st recruit class to graduate from the New Haven Fire Academy on Monday afternoon during an hour-and-a-half ceremony held at Career High School on Legion Avenue in the Hill. Hundreds of family members and friends filled the school’s auditorium to cheer on the new firefighters as each walked across the stage and had either Alston or a family member pin a new badge to his or her lapel. Before the ceremony began, the new graduates gathered in the hallways outside the auditorium, taking pictures with family members and practicing salutes. “This is a chance at reinvesting in my community,” said Jonathan Clarke, a 25-year-old Beaver Hills native. He said he is the first in his family to become a firefighter, and that he has known since he was a child that he wanted to be a firefighter. Inside the auditorium, the new graduates marched in formation to their seats in the front row and declared in unison their commitment to “protect the lives and property of the citizens and visitors to this great city.” “This is a banner day for the entire city of New Haven,” Mayor Toni Harp said as in congratulations to the new graduates. She said a spate of recent emergencies underscored the city’s need for more first responders. She said “major events” on the New Haven Green have recently required the attention of city firefighters. Since late April, there have been about 30 trashcan fires across the New Haven Green. The department’s “Marine One” rescue boat was dispatched several times this past weekend to assist neighboring fire departments and the Coast Guard with water rescues. She also cited recent dramatic rescues of civilians on East Rock and West Rock. “It seems every season is the busy season for first responders in New Haven,” she said. The next hour saw graduate after graduate approach the stage, receive a badge from Chief Alston or a family member, and exchange a salute and a hug as they were formally welcomed into the fire department.
THOMAS BREEN PHOTO
Fire Chief John Alston, Jr. (right) with new fire graduate James Hilton.
Inside the Career High School auditorium for the Fire Academy graduation.
Fire Academy Graduate Troy Ross and his family pose for a photo before the graduation ceremony began.
New graduate Keith McMillan (right) and his grandather Donald Wilson.
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New graduate Keith McMillan was pinned by his grandfather Donald Wilson, a former firefighter and the first president of the New Haven Firebirds. When it was Hilton’s time to receive his badge, Alston kept him on stage for an extra minute to share with the audience how the two first met. Alston identified himself as a bit of a “tech geek,” and said he made a number of trips to Best Buy to purchase new electronic equipment soon after moving to New Haven in 2016. He said he was very impressed with the professionalism, intelligence and helpfulness of Hilton, then a clerk and tech support employee at the store. He said he pestered Hilton to apply to become a firefighter, but Hilton consistently declined. But lo and behold, when Alston checked the names of the new applicants applying to be a part of the Fire Academy’s 61st class last fall, he said that Hilton had applied. He passed his background check and interview, and was seated along with his 41 other classmates this April. “Here is the same young man who was so professional and polite” while working at Best Buy, Alston said. Now, he said with pride, he’s a New Haven firefighter. During his address to the entire class, Alston said that the New Haven Fire Department is in a transitional moment right now. He said this year saw 43 retirements fromt he department. “We find ourselves in a strange situation,” he said, pointing out that the department now has so many young officers and young firefighters. He said the department will have to rely on the quality of its training as never before. He gave all the graduating firefighters the day off tomorrow, and asked them not to do anything tonight or tomorrow that would result in them having to come to his office to be disciplined come Wednesday. The 42 graduates of the 61st New Haven Fire Academy class are Nicholas Andreucci, David Aniolowski, Joshua Antrum, Darryl L Arnold, Jalen Augustine, Mark Bascetta, Richard Bonilla, Louis Bosley, Terence Boyle, Jonathan Clarke, Patrick Davidson, Victoire D’Hue, Hector A Diaz, Ryan J Flaherty, Shytanya Floyd, Alexander Gonzalez, Lequane Gormany, Terrence Gould, Johnny Gregory, Kenneth A Harrington Jr, James Hilton, James F Kielar, Lawrence Levine, Ojay Lewis, Juan A Maldonado, Stephen Martin, Deron Mcelveen, Keith McMillan, William McMillian, Lisette Nieves, Neftali Ortiz, Michael Proto, Samod Rankins, Byron Roberts, Richella Rondon-Smith, Troy Ross, Dieter Scheller, Ryan P Underwood, Taurese Washington, Matthew Watkins, Joseph Wendland, Jordan White.
Backgrounds Double Checked After the ceremony, Chief Alston was asked about how background checks were performed for this class. The fire department relies on the police department’s background checkers two of whomresigned last week under allegations that they falsified over a dozen background checks for applicants for the police academy. The police department has put its own new class of recruits on hold until it can recheck their vetting. Alston said an unrelated concern towards the end of last year led to the fire department reconducting background checks and reinterviewing all fire academy applicants for the current class. He said he found out that the questionnaire that fire academy applicants were receiving during interviews was different than the questionnaire that the department had told them to prepare for. He said applicants were leaving their interviews and telling him about questions they had to answer, and documentation they had to provide, that Alston said were not intended to be a part of the fire academy interview process. Alston said he spoke with the police department, the city’s human resources department, and the city corporation counsel to sort out the miscommunication. He said the fire department was able to put the new questionnaire in place. During the process, it wound up calling back for interviews the halfdozen applicants who had already interviewed, and it reconducted background checks on all applicants. He said a whole new team from the Fire Department was called in to redo the background checks for all applicants. Allston said he is currently looking into whether or not any background checks at any step of the process were falsified. But, he said, he is confident in the end result, considering how all applicants received two background checks conducted by different personnel. Mayor Toni Harp said officials did not see a need to delay the fire class the way the police class was delayed. “I’m told with confidence that given the level of scrutiny that firefighters get ... they’re comfortable” at the fire department with the qualifications of the new cadets, Harp said on her latest appearance on WNHH FM’s “Mayor Monday” program. Harp also said she agreed with Police Chief Anthony Campbell’s decision to put the police academy class on hold pending a fresh review of all those applicants’ files. “I commend Chief Campbell for saying that he wants to make sure that there are no more surprises. Everyone who then gets into this class will know that every T was crossed, every I was dotted, and they absolutely deserve” to become a cop.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
Cop Academy Class Put On Hold by PAUL BASS
NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT
Thirty-seven would-be New Haven cops were set to receive their appointments Thursday night but now will have to wait while the department figures how much fabrication took place in their vetting process. Police Chief Anthony Campbell told the Independent Friday that he decided to have the department conduct a thorough review of the background-vetting process before proceeding with hiring new cops. That was among the latest developments since the Independent reported Wednesday that a police officer resigned from the force after officials discovered she had fabricated at least 17 background checks (including an alleged interview with a dead neighbor) on applicants to join the force. When officials first learned that the officer, Leah Russo, had fabricated a report, they ordered a review of all her reports. That’s how they discovered the 17 fabrications— all of which involved reports of neighbors or friends or relatives praising applicants. Officials then decided to proceed with a Board of Police Commissioners meeting this Thursday night at which a vote would confirm the chief’s recommendations to hire all 37 for a training class to begin June 25. But since the article appeared, according to people familiar with the process: • Officials decided to review all background reports on all applicants for the class. They informed remaining members of the background unit that the review would take place.
by PAUL BASS
A cop filed at least 17 false background-check reports on potential police officers, leading to reexaminations of their applications, an internal review found. So reported Assistant Police Chief Racheal Cain. Cain said that the officer responsible for faking the reports, Leah Russo, resigned from the force Monday once the department opened an internal investigation. Russo did not respond to calls or a text message to her cell phone seeking comment. Cain said officials discovered the problem during an executive session at a Board of Police Commissioners meeting in May when a rejected police applicant pleaded his case. The applicant told commissioners that he had reviewed his file and discovered that it included a report
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CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTO Rejected applicants line up to learn their fate at a police commissioners
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• Then a second member of the unit, Officer Kris Ramirez, turned in her resignation. Ramirez was Leah Russo’s partner. (Ramirez did not return calls to her cell phone seeking comment for this article.) • Department brass reassigned the six remaining members of the unit to patrol and brought in more experienced officers to conduct the new review of all the background checks. • At 2:17 p.m. Thursday, less than four hours before the Police Commission’s scheduled start time, Chief Campbell’s administrative aide sent out a one-sentence email message to commissioners and other interested parties: “Please be advised that the Special Meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 14, 2018 a6:00 PMPM has been cancelled and will be rescheduled at a later date.”
“I want to be methodical,” Campell stated Friday, “diagnose the real problem and properly address it, not just react.” “We’re not playing. We’re taking it very seriously,” Police Commission Chairman Anthony Dawson told the Independent. “There’s no way that we could move forward without looking at every application to see if any other fabrication has taken place.” Police union President Craig Miller praised the action. “They’re making the right choice to put it on hold” and make sure the process has integrity, Miller said. Because none of the fabricated reports involved negative comments about applicants, it is not expected that any applicants already rejected would now have a new shot of being offered positions. The 37 applicants who had made it
CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTO
Commission Chair Dawson: “We’re not playing.”
passed the vetting process and were in line for starting the academy were, according to a public meeting notice issued by the department: Christopher Chin, Margaret Luciani, Rykema Stone, Sean Connelly, Cartlon Lewis, Conley Monk, Travis Miller, Jennifer Depeano, Jennifer Giovanni, Eddie Diaz, Christopher Troche, Ginarose Vlake, Ryan Hooper, Claire Rieser, Karyn Hoffman, Jessica Esposito, Maurice Randall, Brian Kearny, Martha Alves, Nicholas Sinopoli, Marlena Ofiara, Christopher Noble, Kevin Blanco, Joesph Dinatale, Jamie Conroy, Christopher Caccomo, Tony Vitale, Jawan Haddock, Jacob Sosik, Romir King, Jean Louisgene, Aashish Katara, Jessica Mirmina, Yalexa Melendez, Alex Torres, Joseph Mortali, David Leon.
Cop Background-Check Reports Falsified NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT
John P. Thomas
of a conversation between one of his neighbors and a background investigator. That conversation couldn’t have taken place, the applicant said — because that neighbor is dead. Cain said the remark surprised her: “We put a lot of trust in our officers to do the right thing. Obviously, I was extremely concerned about it.” Police brass immediately removed Russo from doing background investigations and looked into the allegation, which turned out to be true, Cain said. Then she had officers review Russo’s other files. They found 17 instances in all of false reports, involving supposed conversations with friends or neighbors that never took place, involving a total of “six or eight” applicants. All those false reports involved positive alleged recommendations. Those cases (except for the one brought before the commissioners in May) involved applicants whose cases were still under review, Cain
and did not sign anything, Cain said. “I don’t believe it’s a crime.” But the department plans to forward the information to Connecticut’s Police Officer
MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO
Asst. Chief Cain: We took action.
said. Staffers redid those investigations from scratch, and all have been completed. The chief has since recommended hiring some of those applicants and rejecting the applications of some others, according to Cain. Russo filed her reports electronically
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Standards and Training Council (POST), which may decide to bar her from filling other law enforcement jobs in Connecticut. Russo’s partner did not take part in the reports in question, according to Cain. “We acted immediately. One saving grace is that there are checks and balances put in place,” she said. “The applicant had the opportunity to go to the police commissioners, tell the police commissioners what he found, and based on that process, we were able to address it.” Rank & File “Upset” Russo, a member of the academy class of 2015, had been working as a city cop for less than three years when she landed a spot in the background investigations unit last fall. That concerned some rank-and-file
cops, who consider that a coveted position. In the past, the department has generally required cops to have at Con’t on page 15
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
SOT's 10th Annual National Leadership Conference for Girls
New Haven, CT. -- Sisters of Today and Tomorrow (SOT) will for host SOT’s 10th Annual National Leadership Conference for Girls (ages 11-18), “SisterPower2.0”, Saturday, June 30, 2018, 9am-2:00pm at Yale University African American Cultural Center, 211 Park Street, New Haven, Connecticut. Conference fee: $25 (Includes: conference materials & workshops, morning & afternoon snacks). The co-conveners of this conference are New Haven natives: Carla Morrison, Founder/ Executive Director of Sisters of Today and Tomorrow and Maya Welfare, top Aide to City of New Haven Mayor Toni Harp, who will also conduct a self-esteem workshop, lead the Sisters Circle and bring in a host of professional women from around Connecticut on a Saturday morning to empower young girls and the women who raise them. The conference will include fun interactive workshops, focused on goal setting, health & wellness, self-esteem building, and leadership. Conference highlights: Vision Board Creation with Deborah Busch Wright; College Preparation with Dr. Christina Cousin of Quinnipiac University, A powerful Sisters Circle led by Maya Welfare & Former Miss Connecticut Jonet Nichelle, “Understanding My Body” with Yale New Haven Hospital, and Zumba with Body Workers LLC. In celebration of 10 years of service, Sisters of Today and Tomorrow is planning a intimate reception / fundraiser, Wednesday, June 28th, 6pm-8pm at a private location, hosted by Alderwoman Jeanette Morrison, with sounds by Beauty of the Beatz (B.O.B.) and a performance by CT’s Gem Soultress Ebony. To register for the conference, log onto: www.SOT2Girls.org or call (404) 319-2130. Conference Sponsors: Youth Sponsors:The New Haven Board of Aldermen Black & Hispanic Caucus, Bettye Morrison and Katurah Bryant. Media Sponsor: Inner City Newspaper & Chit Chat Communications.
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
Charter Didn’t Work; Then He Found Wings by CHRISTOPHER PEAK NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT
D’Angelo Rivera, whose family could barely afford clothes, was repeatedly disciplined for wearing the wrong-colored socks to the Amistad High charter school and eventually felt pushed out of the charter school. Three years later, he finished his highschool education Thursday night in the last class to graduate from New Horizons, an alternative school offering an intimate, personalized learning experience that will be closed by month’s end. Choked up with tears, D’Angelo told the crowd how he’d persevered through poverty and homelessness to get a diploma at Thursday night’s graduation ceremony, held at Betsy Ross Arts Magnet School’s Parish Hall. Processing in to the hip-hop song “I Can” by Nas, the 17 grads took their seats in a circle on the stage. The boys wore black, a white corsage pinned at their collar; the girls wore white, tiny bouquets of pink daisies in hand. Without a formal commencement speaker, each student took a turn at the microphone, sharing stories and giving thanks, as their parents wept and snapped pictures in the audience. More than at most graduations, the attendees at this ceremony knew just how hard the students had worked to earn their degrees. The city’s three alternative schools, including New Horizons, cater to students who struggled in a traditional high school settings because of behavioral challenges, special education needs or serious trauma. They’re the disengaged, the disenchanted, the discredited, Principal Maureen Bransfield has said of her students. “These kids are real. They’ve felt real things, and they’re going into a very real world,” Bransfield said after the ceremony. “We’re very proud we’ve prepared them for that.” For the first time on Thursday, D’Angelo candidly described his emotions in coming to New Horizons, saying he felt like it was the right time to share what he’d been holding in for so long. After being by ragged by poverty, separated from family and tossed out of schools, he reflected on what it meant to make it. He grew up in the Hill without much. “I remember my friends coming in with new shoes and clothes all the time, and I wore the same stuff all year round. I knew they noticed,” he said. “I tried not to let it get to me, because there’s always someone going through some-
CHRISTOPHER PEAK PHOTO Denise Cox and Maureen Bransfield shoulder D’Angelo Rivera, as he addresses New Horizon’s final graduation Thursday night.
New Horizon’s last class graduates.
Frank Alicea and his classmates.
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thing worse, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t affect me.” But he said that he remembered good times, like watching Empire with his folks. For high school, D’Angelo started out at Wilbur Cross, the district’s largest comprehensive school, where he excelled in his classes, he said. Wanting a challenge, he transferred into Amistad High, a charter school known for its rigorous classes and tight code of conduct. But D’Angelo felt that the school overlooked his dayto-day circumstances, in their drive to prove that poverty doesn’t excuse achievement gaps. His family could afford to buy only two school uniforms, which he switched off, he said. Sometimes he forgot to wear a belt or black socks and would get in trouble. “I was getting detention every day, leaving at 4 p.m.,” he said. D’Angelo said he wasn’t a bad kid, but he felt treated like one. After a student walk-out and state intervention, Achievement First has updated its policies, paying particular attention to the students considering withdrawal, Morgan Barth, who took over as principal at Amistad in 2016, reported in an email to the Independent. “Over the years we have gotten better and better at retaining students, and attrition is only 3 percent. We know that our school is harder in terms of work, length of day and expectations but we also believe that all students can be successful here.” He added that parents have told him a school uniform is more affordable than buying other outfits, and that students can a find a cabinet of clean uniforms to borrow or keep. The school has also loosened rules around shoes and socks, while still making sure kids “look sharp and professional,” Barth stated. After a few months at Amistad, D’Angelo decided to go back to Cross. Discouraged, he played hooky and chased girls, he said. His many absences landed him at New Horizons. After he arrived at the school, his grandfather died of cancer and the family lost its apartment. Homeless, he and his mom had to split, shacking up separately with two aunties. D’Angelo said the school helped, but he closed off. (He even felt he had to apologize on Thursday for not chatting up his classmates.) But he soon found he wasn’t alone. A new classmate he’d ribbed relentlessly, Malik James-Gaskin (who graduated last year and is heading to a Pennsylvania college), became one of his closest buddies after they joined the
basketball team together. And when D’Angelo ran out of cash, a girl from Waterbury he’d just started dating bought him a pair of shoes and a set of new clothes. He was stunned by her kindness; they’re still dating today. At some points, D’Angelo said, he still felt “tired of everything,” like “life was too much.” He missed a lot of school. Through conversations in the cafeteria and hours on the phone, D’Angelo worked through the emotions. “I never expected to make friends in here because it’s hard for me to say someone is my actual friend, but you are more like family,” D’Angelo told the crowd at the ceremony. “I never thought school would be this fun, but you guys always made me forget about everything outside of school, no matter how sad or mad I was.” For the last three months, D’Angelo worked two jobs and thought he could save up for college. But, he announced Thursday, he has decided to join the Army. He plans to head off to boot camp after a long summer with his family. Watching his family struggle, D’Angelo had long considered enlisting. He said he felt like it was his only option, Others told him not to rush the decision. After many nights where he sobbed in bed, “scared of going and leaving what I love,” he wavered, before committing this week. “It’s going to be hard leaving and I might cry a little like now,” he said, but “it’ll be worth it.” D’Angelo and his classmates will be the last crew to graduate from New Horizons. Last month, the Board of Education voted to consolidate all three alternative schools, contributing $1.3 million in savings toward a $19.3 million deficit. Superintendent Carol Birks said New Haven’s alternative schools have too many absences and too few graduates. At a finance committee meeting last month, she proposed replacing them with an “opportunity school” that offers more vocational training, perhaps run by Jobs for the Future or Big Picture Learning. Since then, she hasn’t publicly shared any details about where current students are headed next school year. Birks missed Thursday’s ceremony; three other administrators from central office attended.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
Robinson Sworn In As First African-American To Lead Connecticut Supreme Court by Jack Kramer CT News Junkie
HARTFORD, CT — Supreme Court Justice Richard A. Robinson was sworn in Monday as the first African-American Chief Justice in Connecticut’s history. Robinson was sworn in by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy at a jammed-packed ceremony attended by family, friends, and the legal community. Robinson was unanimously confirmed by the Senate and the House after Malloy’s earlier nomination of Supreme Court Justice Andrew McDonald to be Chief Justice failed to win enough support in the Senate. Malloy has known Robinson for close to 35 years. The two worked in Stamford together and Malloy was the one who elevated him to the Supreme Court in 2013. Robinson was first appointed to Superior Court in 2000 by Gov. John G. Rowland and was later elevated to the Appellate Court in 2007 by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. Malloy said Robinson “has served with distinction.” “He will be a great leader of our judicial system,” the governor added. Robinson, after being sworn in by Malloy, joked about the night he received a call
CHRISTINE STUART / CTNEWSJUNKIE Half the judges who were sworn in Monday from the governor about the position. Robinson was introduced to the more “When you called I thought it was an than 200 people in attendance by Jay Sanannoying robo call,” Robinson told the dak, an attorney and partner in the law firm Malloy as the audience laughed. “But my of Carmody, Torrance, Sandak & Hennessy wife told me to answer the call. She was in New Haven. Sandak was also Robinright — again,” Robinson said, turning to son’s first boss. He hired Robinson to be his wife, Nancy and thanking her “for bean attorney for the city of Stamford when ing my rock.” Sandak was that city’s top lawyer in the
early 1980s. “Once in a while you just know that someone will be a perfect hire,” Sandak told the audience. “I just had the feeling that he’d have the makings of a great attorney. Time has proven me correct.” Sandak said what makes Robinson so good as a judge is that he “views every day as a learning opportunity.” “He understands the importance of listening first and speaking second,” Sandak said, adding that Robinson also is “quick to digest what is said and equally quick to find illogic in an argument.” Sandak further described Robinson as “humble yet assertive, confident without an ego, intellectually curious and respected by all.” Robinson told Sandak that he will be forever grateful for being given the opportunity to work for Stamford, telling Sandak and the audience that trying to land a job as an African-American attorney back in the 1980s wasn’t easy. “I was unable to land a job 33 years ago,” Robinson said. By the time Sandak took a chance on him, he said his confidence had been “battered.” Referring to his wife, again, Robinson
said she often reminds him that the battle for equal rights for all “is a marathon not a sprint.” “Last December I turned 60 years old,” Robinson said. “Make no mistake this country is a much better place than it used to be,” adding that his parents would “never have been able to dream” of him being a judge let alone the top judge in the state of Connecticut. Before serving as a judge, Robinson was president of the NAACP’s Stamford chapter and served as chair of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. Later Monday, Malloy administered the oath to the following Superior Court judges: Nada K. Sizemore of Cromwell; Joseph B. Schwartz of West Hartford; Stuart D. Rosen of Avon; Maureen Price-Boreland of Durham; Peter A. McShane of Madison; Jennifer Macierowski of Windsor; Ann E. Lynch of Granby; Robert A. D’Andrea of Litchfield; Eric D. Coleman of Bloomfield; Karyl L. Carrasquilla of West Hartford; Suzanne E. Caron of Bloomfield; Tejas Bhatt of Windsor; Claudia A. Baio of Rocky Hill; Matthew Edward Auger of Groton, and; Barbara D. Aaron of West Hartford.
Separated Families Get A Senatorial Promise by ALLISON PARK CT News Junkie
Maria Felicidad Guallan’s search for a better life came at a painful cost leaving her son behind at the border. Now she’s scared of being separated from her young daughter as well. Guallan and other undocumented immigrants told stories to U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal Monday at JUNTA for Progressive Action on Grand Avenue about their children being taken away from them under President Trump’s crackdown. Blumenthal in turn promised to bring their stories to Washington and push for a rollback of the Trump administration’s controversial policy of forcibly separating parents and children at the border. Guallan, who is from Ecuador, wiped away her tears as she told of her son being forcibly stripped from her three months ago. She crossed the border seeking treatment for cervical cancer. Agents seized her 19-year-old son and deported him. Guallan
made it through with her 3-year-old daughter, for now. She fears the two of them will be separated as well. “[It’s] a traumatic experience,” said Blumenthal, arguing that the new policy is based on “inhumanity and immorality.” Blumenthal said that these families are used as “pawns” for the “broken immigration system.” The Trump Administration argues that the policy serves as a deterrent to families considering crossing the border without permission. “We are preparing ourselves for an influx of parents without children,” JUNTA Director of Advocacy & Community Engagement for JUNTA Paola Serrecchia said at Monday’s event. JUNTA helps immigrants to New Haven find housing, legal assistance, food, and medicine. “We’re all human beings,” she reasoned. “It’s hurting the foundation of humanity” and it’s “causing trauma to an already traumatized family.” “I came here to make work,” said Eduvino
ALLISON PARK PHOTO Maria
Guallan with Sen. Blumenthal. living in constant fear that their disabled child, who is a legal U.S. citizen, will be
Garcia Sanchez, flanked by his wife Rosa Garcia. Sanchez and Garcia have been
separated from them because of their undocumented status. “We need this help,” Sanchez pleaded to Blumenthal. Looking at the immigrant faces filling the room, Blumenthal promised to commit “every ounce of energy” and “fiber of [his] being” to fight the “repugnant” immigration policy. “I have a flight in two hours to Washington,” Blumenthal said with a glance at the clock. He said he’ll “meet with colleagues” over the course of the week to discuss a Democratic bill for immigration reform to “require families are kept together” unless there is “tangible, persuasive proof” that there were instances of trafficking or abuse to the children. Blumenthal told the press that he is also planning a trip down to the U.S.-Mexican border in early July in order to see the immediate damage and immigration processes himself. “History will judge harshly,” he concluded.
W. Rock Senior Housing Plan Back On Track by MARKESHIA RICKS
A project that would put 124 marketrate senior apartments in the shadow of West Rock is a step closer to happening about 19 years after it was approved the first time. Jon Sullivan of Turnkey Senior Living LLC stopped by the most recent Westville-West Hills Community Man-
agement Team meeting to let neighbors know that the long-stalled project is still in the works and going forward. Originally given site plan approval in 1999, the project at 1155 Whalley Ave. stalled when the developer Larry Waldorf let his permission to build expire. He brought the project back to the City Plan Commission back in 2013 but couldn’t get it approved because of
flooding concerns and regulations that changed in the time that his original approval had expired. The proposed development would be near the West River. After multiple denials Waldorf sued the commission. A judge ruled that Waldorf and the commission had to get to the table and work it out. That 2014 ruling set the stage for another two years of wrangling between
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the city and Waldorf including an infamous dust-up . The City Plan Commission after a consultant it had to hire to deal specifically with the project said “taxpayers had to pay thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of staff time, attorney fees, consultant fees” approved the project with conditions in April 2016. Sullivan, a New Haven native who
grew up on Colony Road and now lives in Wallingford, said his company has been brought in to re-engage the city as the project finally starts to move forward. He said Turnkey isn’t the developer, though the city said Waldorf has been looking to sell the development for some time.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
Delta Free Market Draws A Crowd O.B.A.M.A. Initiative Teaches Boys They Can by STAFF
NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT
The New Haven Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, the Delta Academy, and GEMS youth program held their 8th “free market” for the community this past Saturday. The annual event, which also doubles as a health symposium where people can receive free blood pressure screening and access other resources for maintaining good physical and dental health, provides an opportunity for more than 750 “shoppers” to take home as many clothes, shoes, and household items as they need at no cost. “This event is a blessing it helps me and my five kids with clothes [and] household things,” a fifth-year attendee said. “I don’t have enough money to get [these things]. I told my neighbors to come out too.” And on Saturday the event did brisk business with shoppers, who not only got to “shop” and get health advice but they also
got to enjoy hot dogs and hamburgers, fried dough and cool sweet treats like Italian ice on one of the first hot days of the year. People also were encouraged to register to vote so that they could participate in the upcoming elections this fall. The free market is the largest community service program that the New Haven Deltas put on each year donating many hours to collecting and sorting donations in the weeks prior to the event and then staffing it from 6 a.m. until about 3 p.m. on the day of the event. Each year the event is held at the Elks Club at 87 Webster St. in the Dixwell section of the city. The Deltas host the event with the help of the Epsilon Iota Iota Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. This year’s partners included Yale-New Haven Health, the Yale African American Affinity Group, The Prosperity Foundation and the Delta Foundation of Greater New Haven.
MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTOS Deltas Keisha Redd-Hannans and Zakia Parrish help a young shopper look for toiletries.
by STAFF
NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT
A new mentoring program that bears the name of the first African-American president of the United States has wrapped up its first session of manhood training in the Elm City. The O.B.A.M.A. Initiative II is the brainchild of Jordon Johnson, program assistant for the city’s Project Fresh Start re-entry program, who started the program to provide positive role models and culturally enriching opportunities for boys in the city. Johnson, who also is a senior sociology major at Southern Connecticut State University, said O.B.A.M.A., which stands for Outstanding, Brilliant, Ambitious, Merit, Attitude, said the idea was to help the boys from Celentano Biotech, Health, and Medical Magnet School connect with successful professional African American men who came from similar inner-city roots in the community. Between 15 and 20 boys met every Thursday for four months to learn that “environment doesn’t determine character, and that the sky is the limit if you put your mind to it,” Johnson said. In addition to meeting successful men in the community, they visited college campuses like Southern’s to learn more about the opportunities they have in their own backyard, he said. They also participated in bonding and brotherhood activities and completed
COURTESY JORDAN JOHNSONJordan Johnson and the O.B.A.M.A Initiative II participants with Kermit Carolina.
weekly reflection assignments. Johnson said he wanted to open up opportunities for the boys to meet men who they could emulate as they navigate some of the pitfalls that kids growing up in New Haven can experience. He had those opportunities and he wanted to pay that forward. One of the people who Johnson considers among those who had a hand in steering him in the right direction is his former boss, and now Probate Judge Clifton Graves Jr. Graves along with local doctors, attorneys, firefighters, educators, police officers, entrepre-
neurs, and politicians visited the students over the course of the program. Johnson said the goal of the program is to influence and mentor the boys to go to college or pursue success in trade or entrepreneurship. The boys were encouraged to participate in “Manhood Monday” by wearing a button-up shirt, khaki pants, and a tie to look and act like the successful men Johnson hoped they were inspired to be. “I’m trying to steer them in the right direction just like those who did the same for me,” he said.
A Banner Day For Goffe Street Park by CARLY WANNA
NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT
Mary Brown has lived across the street from Goffe Street Park for 60 years. She has watched the plot of land, currently including a baseball field, basketball court and playground, morph into “not being kept up like when I was a kid. She and her neighbors resolved to changed that. She walked through the park with neighborhood Alder Jill Marks and remarked that children came to eat lunch in the area everyday but sat on the ground. Marks said they should, at least, have a table. More than a year later, the newly formed FOGSP –– Friends of Goffe Street Park and other community members met formally on Friday night to create a banner boasting the park’s name, kicking off the summer season and the furthering of the group’s ongoing initiative to clean, rehabilitate and bring awareness to the neighborhood’s stomping grounds. “That’s what we’re trying to bring back: unity in the park, not only for this community, but for all of the communities, so that
when you come here, you will feel safe. We need to bring that safe haven back,” said Brown. Following opening statements from Marks, attendees took sheets of paper, each imprinted with a question, such as “What does the park mean to you?” More than 30 members from the community responded to the prompt and brainstormed what they desired to plaster on the banner before painting “GOFFE ST PARK” on the sign itself. FOGSP formally began in June of 2017 with an operation dubbed “Goffe Street Park and Neighborhood Clean-up Day” and has since held meetings as frequently as once a week to set goals for upcoming projects including an intended public event in the coming weeks to hang the banner with elected officials in attendance. “We want people to catch the vision that something is happening,” said Marks. She added that the banner acts as “an eye opener for people in the community.” For Brown, the park, which includes DeGale Field, represents an opportunity for the next generation. Adult attendees
like Rebecca Corbeth, a member of FOGSP who lives about a block away from the park, expressed similar sentiments. “I’d like to see more activity here, said Corbett.“I don’t see kids running around the way I used to when I was young.” To many of the younger children painting the sign, the park serves as a place to play. Even 8-year-old Michael Acosta recognized that his playground could be cleaner. For more than a year, three teenage boys from the surrounding area 16 year-old Aveion, 15 year-old Javione and 17 yearold Shawn have traversed the park daily, not to play basketball or baseball, but to sing. They perform as part of “Ice the Beef,” the anti-violence program headquartered in a building near the corner of Goffe and Sherman, and dedicate their doo-wop style to spreading positivity throughout the community in efforts to create peace in the neighborhood. “We want the park to upgrade basically,” said Aveion. “Eventually, a stage, because the stage is like a sanctuary.”
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CARLY WANNA PHOTO Jill
Marks and Mary Brown at the banner event.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
Giving kids an outlet for performance and expression, plus a chance to grow. For a child, growing means more than gaining inches. It means gaining confidence, understanding and a sense of selfworth. It means maturing mentally and emotionally as well as physically. The kids of New Haven’s Nation Drill Squad and Drum Corps are doing just that, fostered by the support of Yale New Haven Hospital. Over 1,000 kids have gone through the program during its 30 years in existence and won 16 national and 20 tri-state championships. Its mission is to teach young people the principles of discipline, dedication and determination, which Douglas Bethea, its founder, believes are the three keys to life. At Yale New Haven Hospital, we couldn’t agree more with Mr. Bethea. And we’re proud to support his and many other programs throughout New Haven dedicated to supporting inner-city youth and changing their lives for the better. It’s another example of our commitment to caring beyond the bedside. ynhh.org/community
Members of the drill squad with Douglas Bethea, founder of New Haven’s Nation Drill Squad and Drum Corps.
Yale New Haven Hospital was awarded the 2017 Foster G. McGaw Prize for Excellence in Community Service from the American Hospital Association. The McGaw Prize is awarded annually to a single healthcare organization that provides innovative programs that significantly improve the health and well-being of its community.
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Mrs. Frazier Gets Her Due THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
by Lucy Gellman, The Arts Paper
Jeffie Frazier didn’t know why she was supposed to be on the New Haven Green on Saturday afternoon. But when Stetson Head Librarian Diane Brown told her to show up—no questions asked—she said she would be there, rain or shine. Saturday, Frazier was honored for her work in the Dixwell community at a the city’s Juneteenth celebrations, a collaboration among The Connecticut 29th, The Amistad Committee, Citywide Youth Coalition, Artsucation Academy Network, CT Core-Organize Now!, the Whitneyville Cultural Commons and International Festival of Arts & Ideas. Among sun-soaked booths, she took the stage to cheers and claps from a drop-in audience that had gathered in the green’s lush grasses. Brown and Artsucation Founder Hanan Hameen presented her with her gifts, a bolt of bright cloth and new wood-handled cane with rich carvings. “Mrs. Frazier is a beloved mother, grandmother to many in our village,” said Brown, who won the honor last year. “She’s very respected. Even though she’s retired, she continues to
do the work. She mentors teachers, she mentors students, she mentors me. She mentors so many people in the community.” Brown singled out a camera-clad staff member from the International Festival of Arts & Ideas who had been walking around the crowd, snapping photos. She told the audience that the young woman had been a student at Helene W. Grant Elementary School (it has since been renamed the Dr. Reginald Mayo Early Childhood School) during Frazier’s tenure as principal, which meant she started every day in the classroom singing James Welden Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also referred to as the Black National Anthem. It was only after the student went on to further schooling that she realized how unique that was, Brown said. “Mrs. Frazier was Black when it wasn’t popular to be Black,” Brown told the crowd. “And she had some trying times … I think the world would be a much better place if we could have more Mrs. Fraziers.” A retired educator, principal, and neighborhood matriarch, Frazier was born in 1943 in Minden, Louisiana, a town of close to 13,000 in the state’s
northwestern Caddo Parish. Placed in school almost a decade before the Supreme Court ruled on Brown v. Board of Education, she experienced a segregated system, where all of her classmates and teachers looked like her. While her neighborhood was diverse—“we had white families and Black families on the block,” she recalled—the education was not, her white neighbors whisked off to a different school each day. But her Minden education, she said Saturday, “was the best thing that ever happened.” The teachers were careful
and attentive; they spoke about Black excellence and the importance of education. Class sizes were manageable. And each morning, students began the day with “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” When Frazier relocated to New Haven in the 1966, “I brought a lot of that with me.” For her first few years in the city, she said that her family struggled to readjust to a very different part of the country, where there was growing unrest between law enforcement and the Black Panthers. She became an educator at Grant, raising a son at home as she played den mom to her students
in the classroom. After long school days, she found herself in the community, walking students home, dipping into the Elm Haven projects and seeing if parents and kids had enough to eat. and tutoring those who needed extra help. She excelled in her own life, winning a Fulbright Scholarship to travel to 10 countries in East Africa over a sixweek educators’ trip. She said she can’t remember the year, but that it was “about 30 years ago.” She also kept an eye on neighborhood kids, scrambling to find a solution as she watched fights break out over articles of clothing. In 1986, she was among the first New Haveners to push for school uniforms at Grant, helping parents and staff sew them herself at a shop in Waterbury (“We had a line going!”). On the first day the dress code—green jumper, white blouse, khaki pants—was instituted, she showed up wearing one in her size. “Everything we did, the community was involved in,” she said. That has remained true in her retirement, as she has become a vocal Con’t from page 15
THE SQUAD CELEBRATES JUNETEENTH!
On Saturday night June 16, 2018, The Amistad Cultural Center hosted JUNETEENTH----a gala celebration honoring community and the work for freedom that sustains it in Hartford, CT. The the theme of the evening JUNETEENTH! Celebrating Freedom’s Journey. High-five and shout-out to Lotta Studio Mistina Hanscom and Luke Hanscom for the concept and construct of the photo set allowing guests to step back into time with props and accessories. More than just a photo booth, a real homage to the evening and the era. Squad photo: left to right Markeshia Ricks, Babz Rawls Ivy, Sara Lulo, Michelle Turner, on the floor Ife Michelle Gardin, seated Raven Amandla Blake For more information about The Amistad Cultural Center go to www. amistadcenter.org For more information about Lotta Studio go to www.lottastudio.com
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
O 100 V
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SATURDAYS ONLY, 9 AM–NOON THROUGH OCT. 27, 2018
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CLOSED HOLIDAY WEEKENDS OF JULY 7 AND SEPT. 1, 2018
Residential Waste Only
PARTIAL LIST OF WHAT TO BRING TO HAZWASTE CENTRAL Visit www.rwater.com/hazwaste for a complete list. KITCHEN & BATHROOM Aerosols
Floor Care Products
Nail Polish Remover
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GARAGE & WORKSHOP Antifreeze Auto Batteries Auto Body Repair Products
Brake & Transmission Fluid Gasoline Latex & Oil-Based Paints*
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GARDEN & MISCELLANEOUS Batteries* Chemical Fertilizer Fluorescent Bulbs (Including CFL type)*
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Photographic Chemicals Swimming Pool Chemicals Small (1 Pound) Propane Cylinders
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visit www.rwater.com/hazwaste or call 203-401-2712 Located at the Regional Water Authority, 90 Sargent Drive, New Haven, I-95 exit 46.
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
#MeToo Founder: Do Better by MARKESHIA RICKS NEW HAVEN INDEPENDENT
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T:5.472”
Don’t know what to do in the face of the scrutiny brought to bear by the #MeToo movement? Founder Tarana Burke offered a suggestion: Use some common sense. The civil rights activist and sexual assault survivor brought that kind of straight talk and no-nonsense candor to a packed Yale Law School auditorium Monday evening for the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven’s convening of the annual meeting of the Community Fund For Women & Girls. The event was sponsored by the Community Foundation and the Yale University Office of Diversity and Inclusion along with the New Haven Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta and the Theta Epsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sororities. Burke founded the movement 12 years ago to help survivors of sexual violence, particularly those survivors who are women of color. The movement became a national conversation when the hashtag #metoo went viral on social media. As celebrities like Alyssa Milano added their voices and star power to the movement to expose the prevalence of sexual violence in the entertainment industry the careers of powerful men like former film producer Harvey Weinstein and former actor/comedian Bill Cosby have been toppled. In the cases of both Weinstein and Cosby, criminal charges have been brought to bear. Burke sat down Monday for a conversation with Khalilah Brown-Dean, associate professor of political science at Quinnipiac University and vice chair of the Community Foundation board. She told audience members that if they believe that the movement is about these bad actors losing their jobs, their reputations, their power and possibly their freedom then they’d missed the point. “MeToo” is about survivors, not perpetrators. “This was not a plot to ruin his career,” Burke said of Weinstein. “In fact, the women that spoke up thought their careers would be ruined. It was about every day regular people around the world ... making a declaration and saying, ‘I’m a victim of
MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO Burke in New Haven Monday night: “Men can say, ‘That’s bullshit.’”
sexual violence.’ “There’s never been a movement to say, ‘Me too, take him down,’” she added. “That’s not what it’s about.” She said the movement has always been about helping survivors find space for healing and connecting them with resources for that healing so that they can be advocates who help disrupt and dismantle the systems that perpetuate sexual violence. Burke noted that in the case of Harvey Weinstein the corporate response of the Weinstein Company has been to distance itself from him and his alleged actions. It has yet to acknowledge that people inside the company likely enabled him to commit his alleged crimes, she said. Brown-Dean asked Burke about a recent exchange that she had with Tony Robbins, a life coach with millions of Twitter followers who dismissed the movement by suggesting that it was about victimhood and that it had created an environment where men didn’t know how to conduct
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themselves in the workplace. Robbins ultimately apologized after a video of his interaction with a survivor of childhood sexual abuse went viral. “It makes my blood boil,” Burke said recalling the exchange. “It’s such cowardice. And it’s not just cowardice but callousness. You’re going to watch millions of people saying, ‘My life has been touched by this thing,’ and your response is, ‘Aww man, now what am I supposed to do?’ “This is the kind of thing women are dealing with,” she said. “We can’t have a conversation. I’m speaking English. and you’re speaking Klingon.” Burke said in moments like these, allyship is important, particularly from men. “This is not new,” she said. “Women have not just started talking about their treatment in the workplace. They’ve not just started talking about sexual harassment in the workplace. It’s just we usually talk to each other. “Now people are asking what can we do,” Burke said. “Stop this type of nonsense.” She said when men hear remarks like Robbins’, or suggestions that women should just be eliminated from a workplace, men must stand up and push back. “Men can say, ‘That’s bullshit,’” she said. “We have to confront the problem.” She suggested that workplaces start addressing the problem at the beginning instead of at the end. She suggested that they use a little common sense. “Common sense tells me if you’re dealing with this issue after you’ve hired people ... you’ve already messed up,” she said. “My question to corporate people is what are you doing to vet people? What kind of culture do you have at your job where Bob feels it’s OK to take his penis out and get promoted again and again?”
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
RP inner city news 5.471 x 5.1. june.qxp_Layout 1 6/15/18 4:04 PM Page 1
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
Everything that Rumbles is Not Lactose Intolerance by Constance Brown-Riggs Lactose intolerance is often a misunderstood condition. Lactose intolerance occurs when you have a lower level of the enzyme lactase, which is needed to digest milk sugar. Many African-Americans are avoiding dairy, particularly milk because they think they are lactose intolerant. Symptoms of lactose intolerance include bloating, diarrhea, gas, nausea, pain in your abdomen, stomach “growling” or rumbling sounds and vomiting. However, while gas, bloating or abdominal discomfort can be uncomfortable and disruptive to a person’s lifestyle, it is difficult to confirm lactose intolerance based on digestive discomfort alone. In fact, if you have diabetes, your gastrointestinal disturbance may not be caused by lactose intolerance. National data on people with diabetes and digestive disease indicate that people with
diabetes are more likely than the general U.S. population to report gastrointestinal conditions, including ulcers, diverticulitis, symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, and gallstones. It’s important to identify the actual source of discomfort because dairy avoidance could negatively impact your health. For example, the 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report says, that “consumption of dairy foods provides numerous health benefits including lower risk of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and obesity,”—disease states that affect African Americans in disproportionate numbers. Furthermore, The National Medical Association, the nation’s oldest and largest organization of African-American physicians, recommends that African Americans consume 3-4 servings of low-fat dairy per day. Many people who say they have trouble digesting milk have actually never been diagnosed as lactose intolerant by a health professional. If you are experiencing gastrointestinal problems, you should see your healthcare provider who can determine the
source of your discomfort. The good news is that if you are diagnosed with lactose intolerance, there are ways to enjoy dairy and its’ health benefits without the suffering. Try these DAIRY strategies to help get your 3–4 recommended servings daily. Drink milk and eat cheese and yogurt with meals, keeping in mind that up to a cup of milk may be well tolerated. Begin
with a small portion and slowly increase the serving size. For example, add a small amount of low-fat milk to your coffee or hot chocolate. Add low-fat milk to your scrambled eggs or make grits with low-fat milk instead of water. Wrap beans and lowfat cheese in a tortilla for lunch; add a littleshredded cheese to your salad. Aged cheeses such as Swiss, Colby or cheddar are low lactose and may be better tolerated. Queso fresco, fresh Mexican cheese with virtually no lactose, is a culturally specific cheese that may be well tolerated. When milk is made into cheese, most of the lactose is removed. Add low-fat cheddar to your favorite cornbread recipe or serve rice and beans with Colby. Introduce dairy slowly. Start with small amounts of dairy foods. Drink milk with meals instead of on an empty stomach. Solid foods slow digestion and allow your body more time to digest the lactose, which helps prevent symptoms. Reduce it. Consider lactose-reduced dairy products, such as lactose-free milk and lactose-free cottage cheese. Look for lactosefree or lactose-reduced milk in the dairy case. It tastes the same as regular milk. Or “spike” your milk with a few lactase en-
zyme drops that are available in most drug stores. That will reduce the lactose in the milk. Yogurt is semi-solid, contains live and active cultures, and on average has less lactose per serving than milk, all of which may make it easier to digest for those with lactose intolerance. Cultured dairy products, such as yogurt with live active cultures, contain “friendly” bacteria that help digest lactose. Incorporate non-fat yogurt into a refreshing mango and banana smoothie for a great-tasting way to start the day Finally, don’t forget to explore the dairy aisle in the supermarket. There are many varieties of milk, cheese, and yogurt including dairy-free options made from fortified soy milk. These options can also help you meet your dairy requirements. Constance Brown-Riggs, is a registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator, national speaker and author of the Diabetes Guide to Enjoying Foods of the World, a convenient guide to help people with diabetes enjoy all the flavors of the world while still following a healthy meal plan. Follow Constance on social media @eatingsoulfully
Black Press, HBCUs Key to Energy Industry’s Outreach in the Black Community By Freddie Allen, Editor-in-Chief, NNPA Newswire and BlackPressUSA.com As workers in the energy sector reach retirement age, the need to recruit, train and hire younger, more diverse talent will increase, dramatically. That’s why the American Petroleum Institute (API), “the only national trade association that represents all aspects of America’s oil and natural gas industry,” has increased their outreach and engagement efforts in the Black community. According to a report by IHS Global prepared for API, “nearly 1.9 million direct job opportunities are projected through 2035 in the oil and natural gas and petrochemical industries” and “African Americans and Hispanics will account for over 80 percent of the net increase in the labor force from 2015 to 2035.” David McGowan, the executive director of the North Carolina Petroleum Council (NCPC), said that the oil and natural gas industry “absolutely” sees the value in the ability of the Black Press to reach audiences that can benefit from learning more about opportunities in the energy sector; that’s especially true when it comes to reaching Black families with young children.
The key, McGowan said, is to empower parents and students, beginning in elementary school, with information about the importance of a rigorous education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics commonly known as STEM. “Starting that conversation early with students and encouraging them to look at fields of study that would prepare them for any type of energy industry career path, whether that path is in oil and natural gas, electric utilities, wind, solar or renewables… if they have that STEM background they’re going to be better served as students and as future professionals than if they didn’t have that background,” McGowan said. NCPC is the division of API that represents the oil and natural gas industry in North Carolina. McGowan joined API after serving as the director of regulatory affairs for the North Carolina Association of Realtors. McGowan recently met with the North Carolina Black Press Association to discuss strategies for improving energy literacy and sharing aspects of the industry that many families in the Black community don’t know exist. “It was a great first step in opening, what I hope will be, an on-going dialogue and relationship,” McGowan said. “That’s the model that we want
to employ throughout our state network, because we recognize the value in those relationships.” API partnered with the National Newspaper Publishers Association to increase the awareness about job and business opportunities in the energy sector. The NNPA is a trade group that represents more than 200 Black-owned media companies in the United States, that reach more than 20 million readers, combined, in print and online every week. “We not only have a need for a di-
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verse workforce, but also a younger workforce,” McGowan said. “We need new workers to come into the industry.” McGowan said that a critical component to NCPC’s outreach efforts in North Carolina also includes engagement with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the state. In a partnership with the American Association of Blacks in Energy, NCPC hosted an event about opportunities in the energy sector at Winston-
Salem State University. NCPC also invited HBCU students from schools like Johnson C. Smith University to attend an event focused on the oil and natural gas industry at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. “We’re not neglecting college students, that’s still an important outreach avenue for us, but we’ve seen, more recently, that it’s also important to start getting in front of these students earlier,” McGowan said. “We Con’t on page 16
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018 Con’t from page 10
Mrs. Frazier
member of New Haven’s chapter of the Sickle Cell Disease Society of America. Despite a herniated disk and help of a cane, she said she still walks with the organization and volunteers with them weekly, tutoring kids with the disease who are no longer attending school. On stage, Frazier said she’s still noticed division among New Haven’s residents, particularly between the Dixwell and Newhallville neighborhoods. As she accepted a new, richly designed cane with a round wooden handle, she urged attendees to “come together.” “As a community, I see little fragments here,” she said. “I just need to see
some more. We need to have more of us coming together holding hands, being nice and being kind to one another.” “Most of you know that I was in the Dixwell community. I need us, along with Newhallville to come together. We are so powerful—we’re just not together. Please come together. That’s a blessing for me if you would.” Lucy Gellman is the editor of the Arts Paper. To see more of the The Arts Paper Con’t from page 04
least four years experience and meet certain standards to start doing background checks. No written rule requires that four-year threshold; it was an unwritten practice. So news of these 17 false reports touched a nerve in the department. “People are upset,” said one officer familiar with the sentiment at 1 Union Ave. “A lot of people would like to be in that position, people who are more qualified. And I care who’s going to be my next back-up.” Assistant Chief Cain said the move to younger background investigators reflects the department’s youth in the face of waves of retirements. Most cops have under five years on the job, she said. “Ideally,” she said, “we like to have more experienced veteran officers in any of these units.” The Board of Police Commissioners is cheduled to meet Thursday night to vote on recommendations from Police Chief Anthony Campbell to hire 37 applicants for the academy class that starts June 25. (Thirty-one of the officers will train at the department’s training academy, six at Connecticut POST in Meriden.) The department aims to draw another 35 or so cadets from the approved civil service list for another class beginning in October.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
Here’s What Obama’s Reading Lately by By By Sean Yoes, Baltimore AFRO Editor
Donald Trump, the current resident of the White House is allegedly loathe to read anything; the polar opposite of his predecessor Barack Obama. Recently, President Obama, the author of three books, shared his current reading list via a Facebook post to his more than 55 million Facebook followers. “I’m often asked what I’m reading, watching, and listening to, so I thought I might share a short list from time to time,” Obama posted on June 16. “There’s so much good writing and art and variety of thought out there these days that this is by no means comprehensive — like many of you, I’ll miss “The Americans” — but here’s what I’ve been reading lately. It’s admittedly a slightly heavier list than what I’ll be reading over the summer,” Obama added. The former president’s current reading list of books and articles includes: Futureface: A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret of Belonging, by Alex Wagner. “What she (Wagner, a journalist) came up with is a thoughtful, beautiful meditation on what makes us who we are — the search for harmony between our own individual identities and the values and ideals that bind us together as Americans,” wrote Obama. The New Geography of Jobs, by Enrico Moretti. Of Moretti’s book, Obama said, “It’s six years old now, but still a timely and smart discussion of how different cities and regions have made a changing economy work for them — and how policymakers can learn from that to lift the circumstances of working Americans everywhere.” Why Liberalism Failed, by Patrick De-
neen. “I don’t agree with most of the author’s conclusions, but the book offers cogent insights into the loss of the meaning of community that many in the West feel, issues that liberal democracies ignore at their own peril,” Obama wrote. “The 9.9 Percent is the New American Aristocracy,” is an article by Matthew Stewart, for The Atlantic. “Another thoughtprovoking analysis, this one about how economic inequality in America isn’t just growing, but self-reinforcing…,” Obama wrote. In the Shadow of Statues: A White South-
erner Confronts History, is a book written by Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans, who has been frequently mentioned as a possible Democratic presidential candidate for 2020. In describing Landrieu’s book, Obama recalls something the late Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who along with eight of his church members, was murdered in Charleston, S.C., by a White supremacist. “Across the South, we have a deep appreciation of history. We haven’t always had a deep appreciation of each other’s history,” Pinkney said. “That’s something Mitch takes to heart
in this book, while grappling with some of the most painful parts of our history and how they still live in the present,” Obama added. Truth Decay: An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life, by Jennifer Kavanagh and Michael D. Rich, RAND Corporation, is the last entry on Obama’s current reading list. “The title is self-explanatory, but the findings are very interesting,” the former president wrote.
The Secret to Success for All Students Is Parental and Community Engagement
By Dr. Elizabeth V. Primas, Program Manager for NNPA ESSA Publ ic Awareness Campaign The National Family Engagement Summit of 2018 was held in Richmond, Va. Throughout the summit, multiple opportunities were provided for attendees to interact with some of the nation’s leading experts in parent and family engagement. Participants came from near and far. Over 300 teachers, parents, administrators, and community activists participated, presented, networked, taught and learned strategies to increase family engagement. One presenter described the difference between involvement and engagement as the level of commitment, stating, “It’s like you’ve got a ring on it! You’re not just passively attending a few parent-teacher meetings, but you’re planning, making decisions, running for the school board and more.”
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), speaks specifically to parent and family engagement. Data highlighted examples of the successful impact parents can have when they are present in their child’s school. One presenter pointed out that, “Parents tend to be extremely involved with students in the early elementary grades. They bring them to school, speak with the teacher frequently, and are more likely to volunteer for field trips, classroom activities, and attend parent-teacher meetings.” However, around the third grade, parents start to reduce their involvement. They attend fewer meetings, volunteer for field-trips and other events less, and seldom spend time in the building. In some cases, they may have only met the teacher just once. When students reach third grade and began to socialize more independently with friends, parent engagement often wanes. It’s not surprising that after requiring almost, constant supervision that parents breathe a sigh of relief when their children gain newfound independence. However, these are the times when our children require increased attention, specifically our young Black males. There is significant data to show a correlation between K-12
completion, literacy, and adulthood incarceration. The NAACP reported that African Americans are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of Whites and, nationwide, African American children represent 32 percent of children who are arrested. Blacks make up just 13 percent of the U.S. population. Patterns, such as, absenteeism, delinquent behavior, and academic apathy, correlate with high suspension rates and subsequent incarceration. ESSA places increased priority on parental engagement and requires states to provide innovative strategies to incorporate parental and family engagement into a school’s decision-making, and planning. ESSA stresses two-way communication. This requires teachers, and administrators to reach out to parents in clear, concise, relatable ways that encourage feed-back and input at every level of implementation. Some non-traditional communication strategies include social media use, e-newsletters, and short surveys. Administrators and teachers are encouraged to schedule meetings that accommodate parents with different hours of availability. ESSA does not dictate the ways in which schools are required to engage parents. However, educators should recognize the
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crucial role parental partnerships play in preparing students for college and careers. This summer, the National Newspaper Publishers Association will host its second National Black Parents’ Town Hall Meeting on Educational Excellence. The conversation on parent engagement will continue at the Gethsemane Community Fellowship Church on Tuesday, June 26th, from 6pm – 9pm ETS. This event will be livestreamed and for the first time, NNPA ESSA will host two viewing rooms in California—one in Los Angeles, and the other in San Francisco. If you are not able to join us in Norfolk, Va., you should certainly make your way to the viewing rooms in California or join the livestream online. Participants who pre-register and are present in either location are eligible to win grand prizes. Register today by visiting www.nnpa.org/essa/events. Dr. Elizabeth Primas is an educator, who spent more than 40 years working towards improving education for children of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds. Dr. Primas is the program manager for the NNPA’s Every Student Succeeds Act Public Awareness Campaign. Follow Dr. Primas on Twitter @elizabethprimas.
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Black Press,
start [reaching] them at the elementary, middle and high school levels so that they are aware of the opportunities in [STEM careers] and so that they’re best prepared to take advantage of those opportunities when they get to college.” Touting the creation of job and business opportunities, McGowan said that his group advocates for expanding access to offshore environments and offshore waters off the coast of North Carolina for energy exploration and production in the Atlantic Ocean. Earlier this year, The News and Observer reported that, “Supporters and opponents of offshore drilling gathered in Raleigh for the state’s only public hearing on the Trump administration’s controversial plan to open up the Atlantic coast for oil and gas exploration.” While supporters of offshore drilling in North Carolina said that “the oil and gas industry would create goodpaying, full-time jobs to prospect and later drill for oil and natural gas,” opponents argued that “oil spills would be an ever-present threat to the state’s environment, its tourism and fishing industries, and coastal people’s way of life,” The Observer reported. The Virginian-Pilot reported that, President Donald Trump’s vision for dramatically expanding offshore exploration for oil and natural gas in the U.S., “calls for the largest auction of offshore leases in U.S. history—a total of 47 sales between 2019 and 2024, compared with 11 that had been scheduled in the 2017-2022 plan ironed out under President Barack Obama.” The plan also includes three lease sales in the region that include federal waters off Virginia and North Carolina, The Virginian-Pilot reported. Still, McGowan said that, based on research provided by API, more than 50,000 jobs would be created by 2035, if offshore drilling and exploration moved forward off the coast of North Carolina. McGowan continued: “That could be a tremendous opportunity, not only from an employment standpoint, but also from an economic development standpoint, as well.” This article was originally published at BlackPressUSA.com. Freddie Allen is the Editor-in-Chief of the NNPA Newswire and BlackPressUSA.com. You can follow Freddie on Twitter @freddieallenjr.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
Now Streaming on Amazon Prime
JeTi FILMS Premieres New Original Anthology Detective Series “Tales From the Murder Room”
New Orleans, LA — Proven independent production company, JeTi Films, premieres their new original anthology detective series, Tales from the Murder Room, available today for streaming on Amazon Prime. The project was created-by and stars the multi award-winning Hollins brothers, King Jeff and Gorio, and chronicles the activities inside one specific Louisiana police interrogation room as Homicide Detectives listen to tales told by suspects, witnesses and other individuals related to various murder cases. Each stylishly unconventional episode opens in present day with an individual reading from the popular crime anthology book, Tales from the Murder Room. The storyline quickly shifts to a black-and-white flashback scenario of the Detectives involved in an interrogation of someone uniquely involved in a murder case. Then, as each examination concludes the story cuts back to present day and the chapter is closed. Season One consists of four 15-minute episodes centered around different
interview subjects, ranging from an alleged mailman murderer, to a pompous pimp, to a hesitant hero and even a debate among the Detectives. Gorio, who plays the role of Lt. George Rook, shares, “I love the format of the show, because it allows us to go in any direction story and style wise.” Based on characters from King Jeff’s feature film, The Murder Men, the
streaming series now delivers a fresh approach. King Jeff, who plays the role of Detective Jerry July, explains, “These four episodes are completely different from each other in regards to the guest characters, the plot and even the styles of filming. I think this is what will keep audiences interested and coming back for more. Every type of genre has been done before, but it’s
Saint Aedan School
School Readiness/Pre-Kindergarten Program 351 McKinley Ave., New Haven, CT 06515 Now accepting applications for both 3 and 4 year old programs The Saint Aedan Readiness Program, based on Connecticut Early Learning and Development Standards allows children to learn based on the uniqueness of each child. Building self esteem, friendships and a sense of community, Saint Aedan School is committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment. Full Year/Full day (7:30-5:30) Parent Fees-sliding scale Care4kids Accepted For enrollment information, contact
NAEYC Accredited Dr. James Acabbo, Director
drashsp@yahoo.com 203-710-2102
our job as creators to offer a fresh take on the detective story which is different from past shows — and we have definitely accomplished that.” About JeTi FILMS Based in Louisiana, JeTi FILMS is owned by multi award-winning siblings, King Jeff and Gorio Hollins. Together, they have created and produced numerous feature and short films, most notably Bang, The Murder Men, Grip: A Criminal’s Story, Shallow Creek Cult and Zombie Bite. Their projects have earned a variety of filmmaking awards from countless film festivals, including Ocean Springs, Indie Gathering, Urban Media Makers, B-Movie, Action On Film, Eerie Horror and Terror Film Fest among others. In addition, King Jeff co-executive produced Lily Keber’s documentary Bayou Maharajah, about the tragic life of New Orleans piano player James Booker and starring Harry Connick, Jr., Hugh Laurie, Dr. John, Irma Thomas and Allen Touissant. King Jeff was proud to be the first filmmaker inducted into the Louisiana Division of the Arts Artist Roster. He is also the recipient of a Certificate of Appreciation from New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial for his efforts teaching at-risk youth the art of filmmaking. For more about JeTi FILMS, visit www.JeTiFilms.com Tales from the Murder Room is now available for streaming on Amazon Prime. For more info and to watch the Tales from the Murder Room trailer, visit www.TalesFromTheMurderRoom. com
Or call the school at 203-387-5693 18
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W. Rock Senior Housing
“Our company specializes in creating opportunities for the development of senior living facilities,” he said. “Our specialized area is here in Connecticut. So we meet with people from a lot of municipalities throughout the state but New Haven is exceptionally vibrant.” He told neighbors at the meeting, which took place last Wednesday, was the last until meetings resume in September, that New Haven is an ideal location for senior living. “The dynamics of senior living is changing,” he said. “More and more seniors are looking for rental options. [New Haven] is a very attractive area. And we’re fortunate that we were able to become involved with a project that is already approved.” Sullivan said the plan for the building is still very much the same: market rate, age-restricted apartments for seniors. “We want to do this hand and hand with the community,” he said. “We feel that this is something that can be a great thing for the development of that area. Certainly, it will provide jobs, it will provide a tax base, and it will provide sustainable residents with disposable income to spend money in local stores and local businesses. “I think the most important thing is that it is going to be an attractive addition to the neighborhood,” he added. Beverly Hills Alder Richard Furlow asked that Sullivan come back when he had more complete renderings for the project, expressing some concern that the building, which will be four stories on at least one side was large for the area. Steve Fontana, the city’s deputy director of economic development, said in a phone interview that it’s the city’s understanding that Waldorf is still looking to sell the property to someone who wants to develop senior housing. A listing at Houlihan Lawrence shows that the price on the 2.9 acres of land had dropped from $2.1 million to $1.9 million. Fontana said Waldorf has worked to address most of the 10 conditions that the City Plan Commission placed on the approval of the site plan about two years ago. He also said from the city’s perspective there is an insufficient amount of senior housing in New Haven, and Westville is a particularly attractive location for seniors in that neighborhood and the surrounding areas looking at getting out of the day-today grind of homeownership. The city is eager to see the project happen, he said.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
Kamala Harris Calls For DHS Secretary To Resign By Defender News Service -
WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 25: Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) speaks during a news conference with fellow Democrats, ‘Dreamers’ and university presidents and chancellors to call for passage of the Dream Act at the U.S. Capitol October 25, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump said he will end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) and has asked Congress to find a solution for the status of the beneficiaries of the program, called ‘Dreamers.’ (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris urged the resignation of Department Of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen Monday as the administration continues to rip families apart at the U.S.-Mexico border. “The government should be in the business of keeping families together, not tearing them apart,” Harris said in a release. “And the government should have a commitment to transparency and accountability. Under Secretary Nielsen’s tenure, the Department of Homeland Security has a track record of neither. As a result, she must resign.” Nielsen, who the Senate confirmed as secretary last December, is becoming notoriously recognized as lightning rod for the department. She has opened her mouth, to the dismay of activists, to actually try to defend the administration’s harmful immigration policies. The DHS secretary joined Attorney General Jeff Sessions to double down on their defense of the administration’s horrifying practice of taking parents away from their children, ABC News reported. Nielsen—who was nominated by President Donald Trump and vowed to carry out the legacy of her former DHS Secretary and current White House Chief Of Staff John Kelly despite his racist rants about immigration— unsurprisingly offered no apology for the administration’s actions Monday. It was Sessions that introduced a “zero-tolerance” policy in April that includes prosecuting all people, including parents, who cross the border illegally and deporting them. This socalled policy is enforced even when parents are with young children who are carted away to detention facilities. Video of a facility in McAllen, Texas, was shared Monday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, raising more questions about the safety, protection and care (or lack of) given to detainees. Dozens of children were seen
standing or sitting in cages made from metal fencing inside a deteriorating warehouse converted into a makeshift holding facility in the clip, with nearly 200 people being unaccompanied minors, The Hill reported. As of now, 1,147 children have been separated from parents at the facility in McAllen, Democratic Rhode Island Rep. David Cicilline said. U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who visited the Texas facility along with
other lawmakers and media, has joined other politicians and public figures in speaking out against the immigration policies and detention centers. It looks like Harris, who is seemingly also positioning herself as a prime presidential candidate if she decides to run, could get more support from Lee and others in pushing for Nielsen to step down and an end to the administration’s zero-tolerance immigration guideline.
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INNER-CITY NEWS July20, 27,2018 2016 - August THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June June 26, 02,2018 2016
Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Southern CT (SCDAA.SC) NOTICE Director of Operations
The role of the SCDAA.SC Director of Operations is to APPLICATIONS handle day-to-dayAVAILABLE operations with VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PREa focus on efficiency. The Director of Operations will be responsible for organizing and coordinating administrative duties, providing general administrative support to the Board HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, of Directors and ensuring the smooth running of the office. She/he will maintain adminis accepting pre-applications studioand anddevelopment one-bedroom apartments devel-to istrative and financial procedures,for identify new resources at (asthis needed) opment Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apsupport thelocated missionat of108 SCDAA.SC.
ply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y
25,position 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications 100) have The reports directly to the Board Chair to assure the (approximately efficiency, effectiveness and impact the organization to the sickle cell community. beenofreceived at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon re-
quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Minimal Qualifications: • Baccalaureate Degree marketing, finance, management and or associated social sciFloor, New Haven, CTin06510.
ence or public health degree or related experience • Moderate development experience with a demonstrated track record of success. • Experience with grant writing and grant management. • Demonstrated strength in developing partnerships and collaborative relationships associatedVALENTINA partnershipMACRI development. Ability work withPRE-SOLICITUDES a diverse group of business associates VIVIENDAS DEtoALQUILER DISPONIBLES and volunteers. • Some experience managing capital campaigns and a diverse portfolio of funding sources HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está inclusive of grants and contracts. aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un and dormitorio en estethat desarrollo • Must be versed in all contemporary social media platforms other venues benefit enour la calle 109 Frank Street, Newpublic Haven. aplican limitaciones de ingresos andubicado advance organization to the general andSestakeholders máximos. Lasofpre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 • Some degree human resource management 2016writing hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes • julio, Excellent and oral communication skills pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) • Some Sickle Cell Disease andenviadas its current relative en las degree oficinasofdeunderstanding HOME INC.ofLas pre-solicitudes serán porchallenges correo a petición to prevalence, epidemiology and fundingdurante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .
NOTICIA
Major functional responsibilities and duties:
• Significant strength relative to office administration. • Grant management and grant writing proficiency. • Donor stewardship and capital campaign fund development and management. • Overall budget oversight with strong familiarity with spread sheet analysis (e.g., Excel). • Provide strong oversight relative to community engagement and collaboration. • Provide support to appropriate board committees as directed by Board Chair. • Perform a variety of advanced financial analyses to determine present and forecasted financial health of the Association. • Present potential scenarios and outcomes to the management team that supports the All newmission. apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 organization’s highways, bus stop & shopping center on the organiza• Assure all timely and relevant near SCDAA.SC information is maintained tion’s website and 40lb all social media platforms. Pet under allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 • Oversee the preparation and submission of all compliance reports. • Collaborate with management on development and execution of funding strategies. • CT. Examine financial and legal documents verify accuracy and adherence to financial Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offerto a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10financial month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates regulations and acceptable principles. in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30• Develop and oversee our annual fundraising program. 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. • Research donor relation atDavis, local,D.D. state andoffederal art U.F.W.B. institutions (203) 996-4517 Host, Generalprograms Bishop Elijah Pastor Pitts Chapel Church 64 Brewster • Ensure timely and accurate reporting to funders. St. New Haven, CT • Collaborate with staff on the management and planning of fundraising events and donor receptions.
NEW HAVEN
242-258 Fairmont Ave 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA
SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY
For all interested candidates, please submit cover letter and resume to: admteam. scdaasc@gmail.com Only electronic submissions will beof accepted. Sealed bids areNote: invited by the Housing Authority the Town of Seymour
until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Group, Seymour, CT 06483The for Glendower Concrete Sidewalk RepairsInc and Replacement at the Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.
Request for Proposals Market Research A pre-bid conference will be held and at theBrand HousingPositioning Authority Office 28 Smith Street Seymour, CTIncatan10:00 am,ofon Wednesday, 2016. The Glendower Group, affiliate Housing AuthorityJuly City20, of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seeking proposals for Market Research and Brand Positioning. A complete copy of are the available requirementfrom may the be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor OfColBidding documents Seymour Housing Authority laboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. on Monday, May 21, 2018 at 3:00PM The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any
The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport Invitation for Bid (IFB) Phineas T. Barnum Apartments Ventilation Upgrades Solicitation Number: 109-PD-18-S The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is requesting sealed bids for P.T. Barnum Apartments Ventilation Upgrades. A complete set of the plans and technical specifications will be available on June 11, 2018. To obtain a copy of the solicitation you must send your request to bids@ parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicitation number and title on the subject line. A MANDATORY pre-bid conference will be held at 96 Bird Street, Bridgeport, CT 06605 on June 26, 2018 @ 10:00 a.m., submitting a bid for the project without attending conference is not in the best interest of the Offeror. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunities. org no later than July 5, 2018 @ 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities. org. All bids must be received by mailed or hand delivered by July 12, 2018 @ 2:00 PM, to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Director of Procurement, 150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604, at which time and place all bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. No bids will be accepted after the designated time.
EXP, welder for structural steel, misc. metals shop Send resume: hherbert@gwfabrication.com
Union Company seeks: Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipment. Must have a CDL License, clean driving record, capable of operating heavy equipment; be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rateor& excellent benefits BA/BS in Civil Engineering Construction Management. Contact: Dana Briere Phone: 2-5 yrs. experience. OSHA Certified. Email: Proficient 860-243-2300 in reading contract plans and specifications. dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Resumes to RED Technologies, LLC, 10 Northwood Dr., Women & Minority Applicants are Bloomfield, CT 06002; Fax 860.218.2433; encouragedRED toTechnologies, apply LLC is an EOE. Email resumes to info@redtechllc.com. Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity EmployerRemediation Division Project Manager Environmental
Field Engineer
3-5 years exp. and Bachelor’s Degree, 40-Hr. Hazwoper Training Req. Forward resumes to RED Technologies, LLC, 10 Northwood Dr., Bloomfield, CT 06002;
Fax 860.218.2433; or Email to HR@redtechllc.com
RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.
Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks: Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing and clean driving record. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860243-2300 Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming Inc Employer
seeks: Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training Asphalt on equipment we operate. The Deep River Housing Authority will open its waiting list for Senior/ Garrity Reclaiming Inc Disabled Housing on June 1st. This list will remain open until June 30th. Location: Bloomfield CT seeks: Construction Equipment Mechanic To request an application, please call 860-526-5119. Applications will Contact: experienced James Burke Phone: 860preferably in Reclaiming and be accepted by mail (must be postmarked or date stamped by June 30th). 243-2300 to Bid: Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory Housing is available to anyone over 62Invitation or handicapped/disabled that email: jim.burke@garrityasphalt.com training on equipment we operate. meet the income guidelines. Monthly rate 2 isndbased Noticeon income with a minimum base rent requirement of $944.00. Women & Minority Applicants are Location: Bloomfield CT Contact:encouraged James Burke Phone: 860to apply Deep River Housing 243-2300 OldAuthority Saybrook, CT Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity 60 Main Street email: jim.burke@garrityasphalt.com Employer We offer excellent hourly rate & (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Deep River, CT 06417 Women excellent & Minoritybenefits Applicants are Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Cast-We offer excellent hourly rate & Employer Heavy Equipment Mechanic (Bristol, CT) in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, excellent benefits
DEEP RIVER HOUSING AUTHORITY OPENING WAITING LIST FOR SENIOR/DISABLED
SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE
Flooring, Painting, Division Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Heavy equipment and diesel10truck mechanic needed. Mechanical, Electrical, and Fire Protection. 5 years experienced required. WePlumbing are a well-estabThiscompany contract iswith subject to state set-aside andBackground contract compliance requirements. lished a medium size fleet. Union Company seeks: Tractor Trailer with diesel, hydraulic and electronic experience very Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction helpful and weldingBid experience a plus. a Extended, Due Date: Must Augusthold 5, 2016 Equipment. Must have a CDL License, valid/current CT Driver's License andAugust Medical Card. clean driving record, capable of operating Anticipated Start: 15, 2016 Union Company seeks: Tractor Trailer heavy equipment; be willing to travel CDL a plus. This Project position is for aavailable person who documents via ftpislinkverbelow: Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer satilehttp://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage in repair and maintenance work from light duty Equipment. Must have a CDL License, excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits trucks to heavy construction equipment. Position reclean driving record, capable of operating Contact: Dana be Briere Phone: quires and passing drug test and background heavy equipment; willing to travel Faxtaking or Email Questions & Bids to:aDawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com 860-243-2300 Email: the Northeast & NY. We offer Businesses check. HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certifiedthroughout dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com hourly rate & excellent benefits Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483excellent Women & Minority Applicants are Contact: Dana Briere Phone: AA/EEO EMPLOYER encouraged to apply Women and Minority applicants are encouraged to apply 860-243-2300 Email: Apply by emailing or faxing your resume. No phone calls please. Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Email = trademarkllc@att.net Employer Women & Minority Applicants are Fax = 860-314-1428 encouraged to apply EOE/AA
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Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer
INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 -- August 02, 2016 THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 June 26, 2018
Request for Proposals IT and Computer Support Services The Housing Authority ofNOTICE the City of Bristol
Dispatcher
SOON ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR HARBOUR TOWNHOME APARTMENTS
Galasso Materials is seeking a motivated, organized, detail-oriented candidate to join its truck dispatch office. Responsibilities include order entry and truck ticketing in a fast paced materials manufacturing and contracting company. You will have daily interaction with employees and customers as numerous truckloads of material cross our scales daily. We are willing to train the right individual that has a great attitude. NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE. Reply to Hiring Manager, PO Box 1776, East Granby, CT 06026. EOE/M/F/D/V.
The Housing Authority of the City of Bristol is seeking a qualified VALENTINA company, firm or team to provide Information MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- Technology APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE and Computer Support Services throughout the agency. ProposalsHOME must be stamped received by 1:00 House p.m. onand Julythe 6, New 2018.Haven Housing Authority, INC, on behalf of Columbus is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develStarting 11, 2018, copy Street, of the request for qualifications opmentJune located at 108aFrank New Haven. Maximum income limitations apand of services will can be be available obtained from at the9AM Bristol Housing ply.scope Pre-applications TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y Authority, 164 Jerome Ave., Bristol, CT 06010 during business 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately have vehicles, office furniture & electronics Surplus100) equipment, hours 8:30a-1:00p, Thurs. 1:00been(M/W/F received8:30a-4:30p, at the officesTues. of HOME INC. Applications will beThe mailied uponAuthority reHousing of the City of Bristol is holding a silent 4:30p), or at projectdog.com, or by contacting Yvonne Tirado, for various quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours.auction Completed pre- surplus items including fleet vehicles, mainteSpecial Projects & Procurement Mgr. at ytirado@bristolhous- nance equipment, and electronics at 59 Vance Drive, Bristol, CT. applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third ing.org/(860) 585-2039, or by contacting Carl Johnson, Direc- This is a public auction. A list of items available for auction will Floor, New Haven, CT 06510. tor of Capital Funds at cjohnson@bristolhousing.org/(860) 585- be available in the main office at 164 Jerome Avenue, Bristol CT 2028. 06010 (860) 582-6313. All items are sold AS-IS. Appointments to
PUBLIC AUCTION NOTICE
NOTICIA
view vehicles and large items will be held between 2:00-4:00 p.m. on June 25, 2018. Bidder numbers will be handed out and silent will between 2:00-4:00 p.m. on June 26, 2018. Winning VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDESbidding DISPONIBLES bidders will be notified immediately after. Payment and removal of CARPENTER items is required by next business day. Additional information can HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, be obtained byestá contacting Yvonne Tirado at (860) 585-2039 or at Large CT Fence Company looking for a carpenter for our aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorioytirado@bristolhousing.org. en este desarrollo Wood Fence Shop. ubicado en la Production calle 109 Frank Street,Experience New Haven.preferred Se aplicanbut limitaciones de ingresos
Affordable Rental Housing – Studio & 1 Bedroom Units 1645 Black Rock Turnpike, Fairfield CT 06825 The application period will begin later this summer 2018. We will be following up this mailing with at least 2 more over the coming months updating you on the status of everything.
Owner: Harbour Townhomes, LLC Managing Agent: ARG Consulting Applicants will need to meet certain income requirements based on family size for 60% and 80% of Area Median Income. Applications will be received during the to-be-determined application period and placement on the wait list will be made through the random selection method, once the period has ended. The maximum number of applications to be placed on the wait list is twenty (20).
1.5 person family 60% AMI Max limit $42,210 1.5 person family 80% AMI Max limit $56,280
An Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer
will train the person. Must familiar 09 with carpentry máximos. Lasright pre-solicitudes estaránbedisponibles a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes The 25 Bristol Housing Authority is an hand & power tools and be able to read a CAD drawing and julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Employer tape measure. This is anINC. in-shop production position. Du- por correo a petición en las oficinas de HOME Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas ties include building fence panels, posts, gates and more. llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse Some pickup de & HOME delivery may alsotercer be required. . a las oficinas INCofenmaterials 171 Orange Street, piso, New Haven , CT 06510KMK Insulation Inc. Must have a valid CT driver’s license and be able to obtain a 1907 Hartford Turnpike North Haven, CT 06473
ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Request for Proposals
NEW HAVEN
Payroll & Other Human Resource Management Systems and Services
Mechanical Insulator position.
Applications will be provided to any & all interested persons when the application period begins. All units are studio or 1 bedroom units with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Individuals interested should email harbourtownhomes@gmail.com with their name, email, phone number, current address, and what style of unit (studio or 1 bedroom) they are interested in. We will follow up with you as the application period nears. For Additional Information Contact Anthony: Email: harbourtownhomes@gmail.com
DELIVERY PERSON NEEDED
Insulation company offering good pay and benefits. Please mail resume to above address.. MAIL ONLY This company is an Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer.
Invitation to Bid:
Part Time Delivery Needed One/Two Day a Week,
242-258 Fairmont Ave 2nd Notice The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Must Have Own Vehicle If Interested call GUILFORD HOUSING AUTHORITY 2BR Townhouse, BA,Bids3BR, 1 levelisThe ,currently 1BA SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE Communities is currently1.5 seeking accepting applications for COUPLES ONLY for its one
(203) 435-1387
for Payroll & Other Human Resource Management All new apartments, new appliances, newSystems carpet,and close to I-91 & apartments I-95 bedroom at Guilford Court and Boston Terrace inOld GuilSaybrook, CT Services. A complete copy of the requirement be obtained social highways, near bus stopmay & shopping centerford, CT. Applicants must be age 62 and over or on 100% (4 Buildings, 17 Units) from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavensecurity or federal disability and over the age of 18. Applications Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 housing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Monday, & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project may be obtained by calling the application Tax line Exempt at 203-453-6262, April 16, 2018 at 9:00AM.
ext. 107. An information packet will also be provided with the application. Applications willNew be accepted until end of Framed, business Housing, day Construction, Wood Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castare procured
POLICE OFFICER in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Competitive examinations will be held for the Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. position ofrequirements. Police Officer in the Guilford, This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance
CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s on July of31, 2018. Credit, police, and landlord checks Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30the authority. Smoke free housing. Large CT fence &The guardrail contractor looking for by 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. a (203) shop 996-4517 welder. Duties include but are not limited to welding & fabricating Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster EQUAL OPPORTUNITY HOUSING
Welder:
gates, plating posts, truck and trailer repairs. Must be able to weld steel St. aluminum. New Haven, CT and Some road work may be required. All necessary equipment provided. Must have a valid CT driver’s license and be able to obtain a DOT medical card. Required to pass a physical and drug test. Medical, vacation & other benefits included. Please email resume to pboucher@atlasoutdoor. com AA/EOE-MF
NEW HAVEN EARLY CHILHDOOD COUNCIL REQUEST FOR QUALITY ENHANCEMENT PROPOSALS
North Haven, Orange, Seymour, West Haven and
Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, Woodbridge 2016 SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY Police Departments. The New Haven Early Childhood Council isAnticipated seeking toStart: August 15, 2016
Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of quality Seymour fund enhancement (QE) projects for the period available via ftp link below: Project documents Candidates may register for the testing process until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28July Smith Street, 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019 for the following services: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage with06483 3 years for min. Concrete exp. HAZMAT Endorsed.Repairs and Replacement at the Seymour, CT Sidewalk www.policeapp.com/southcentral. • on-site education consultation to prek programs (Tractor/Triaxle/Roll-off) Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour. • mental health resources for children and families in prek programs; Some overnights may be required. FAX resumes to RED Technologies, at Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com
Class A CDL Driver
860.342-1042; Email: HR@redtechllc.com Mail or in person: 173 Pickering Street, Portland, CT 06480. RED Technologies, LLC is An EOE.
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 lkelly@redtransfer.com RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.
Application deadline is Wednesday, June 20, 2018. Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483
• professional development trainings related to CT Early Standards, HCC encourages theLearning participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses trauma informed care and topics required
A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. by School Readiness and NAEYC.
TRANSFER STATION LABORER
at
An info session will be held Monday, May 12th from 2-3pm at 54 Meadow
Street, conference Ofroom 3B. To receive the RFP and for established rates for each Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority service type, contact the School Readiness office fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. Denised@nhps.net 203-946-7875.
The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any
The physical performance, written, and oral board exams will be administered by the South Central Criminal Justice Administration.
AA/EEO EMPLOYER
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THE DEPARTMENTS PARTICIPATING IN THIS RECRUITMENT DRIVE ARE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYERS.
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
Fillmore District’s Own London Breed Elected First African American Woman Mayor of San Francisco By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Contributor
London Breed has made history, becoming the first African American woman elected mayor in San Francisco after her opponent conceded in what had been a razor-close race. Breed, who had been appointed mayor last December following the death of Mayor Ed Lee, was forced out of the post after officials cited a conflict with her position on the city’s Board of Supervisors. She defeated former State Senator Mark Leno in a close race that came down to 14,000 provisional ballots counted, over the past week. “I am London Breed, I am president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and soon to be mayor of the city and county of
San Francisco,” she told a crowd gathered downtown after Leno conceded. “I am truly humbled, and I am truly honored.” Born in San Francisco, Breed was raised by her grandmother in the city’s public housing. Breed praised United States Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), among others, as being an influence. She said she wanted to emulate her grandmother, who took care of the community and looked after everyone. “It’s really amazing, and it’s really an honor and I know it means so much to so many people,” she said, responding to a question about being the first African American female to earn election to the city’s mayor’s office. “This is my home and I grew up in some of the most challenging of circumstances.” Breed continued: “I think the message that
this sends to the next generation of young people growing up in this city, that no matter where you come from, you can do anything you want to do.” In a January interview with NNPA Newswire, Breed said she planned to remain the same outspoken, 43-year-old who was raised on the hard knock streets of the Fillmore District, just southwest of Nob Hill. “People sometimes say about me, ‘I can’t believe, she said that.’ I remind them, I’m from Fillmore, but I say it in the way we say it in the streets—‘Fill-Mo,’” Breed said. “When you come from the kind of community that I come from and experience a lot of frustration, if you are not outspoken you can’t get the things done that you need to [get done].” After first being appointed to take over for Lee after his death on December 12, local
London Breed
media noted that Breed has been criticized for being “headstrong” and “outspoken,” once even announcing to her peers that she “was no shrinking violet.” “I am who I am, and I didn’t think I’d ever run for office, because I am who I am,” Breed said. “I say what I feel like I need to say and that’s how I’ve always been, and I couldn’t live with myself, if I felt that I have to change to be an elected official.” This article was originally published on BlackPressUSA.com. Stacy Brown is an NNPA Newswire Contributor and co-author of “Michael Jackson: The Man Behind the Mask: An Insider’s Story of the King of Pop.” Follow Stacy on Twitter @stacybrownmedia.
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Asks President Trump to Pardon His 28-Year Sentence — Says God Has Pardoned Him! Detroit, MI — Kwame Kilpatrick, the former mayor of Detroit who was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison, wants President Trump to commute his sentence. In a long Facebook post, he enumerated the reasons why he feels he should be pardoned. In 2013, Kilpatrick was sentenced to 28 years of imprisonment after being convicted of over 24 felonies which included extortion and racketeering. It was also discovered that he had several exchanges of sexually explicit text messages with his chief of staff Christine Beatty… while they were both married. For a total of seven years, he has been in county, state, and federal prisons on several charges. He is now in a New Jersey prison. In a Facebook post published through The
Kwame Kilpatrick
Freedom and Justice Trust on June 12, he asks for clemency while stating the lessons he learned and what he has endured during his imprisonment. “I accepted Christ as my Lord, my Savior, and my Redeemer that day; June 9, 2014. And everything in my life changed! Not just in my life, but also in the lives of my parents, my siblings and my sons. “Yes, I have been punished severely. I have been chained like a wild animal, shacked around my ankles, waist and wrist, with a black box to keep my hands at my side many times. I have spent more than 5-Months in Solitary Confinement at different periods in this journey because they wanted to do that to me. I have experienced ridicule, scorn, and disrespect from prison
staff that you couldn’t imagine.” He also stated that he has been taking various courses and is now teaching in public speaking, employability skills, and Bible study, and even serves as a worship leader for the prison’s church services. All in all, he is saying that he has been a model prisoner and that he’s copping his own previous bad behaviors. “Yes, I have made some very bad decisions in my life. Yes, I betrayed my wife and family because of my own lust and sin. Yes, I failed to deliver on the promises and opportunities that was given to me by the people of Detroit, Michigan. And yes, I have been severely punished for it.” Finally, he claims that the people of Detroit, his family, and even Jesus has par-
doned him and so must Trump as well. “My family has forgiven me. I have asked the people of the city of Detroit for forgiveness many times. And most Detroiters have forgiven me as well… By God’s grace, I have received a pardon from Him, through Christ Jesus. I pray that I will receive the opportunity for Pardon/Clemency from the President of the United States as well.” Just recently, President Trump granted clemency to Alice Marie Johnson who was serving a life sentence for a non-violent drug offense. Trump also previously commuted the sentences of Dinesh D’Souza, Joe Arpaio, and Scooter Libby. So far, Trump has not yet responded to Kilpatrick’s request.
Prayers Up! Gregg Leakes, NeNe Leakes Husband, Diagnosed With Cancer Gemma Greene, BDO Staff Writer
Real Housewives of Atlanta Star, NeNe Leakes is known for voicing her opinion, telling it like it is and being funny and just being herself. In true NeNe fashion she’s transparent about the things that she likes and doesn’t like and what’s going on in her life. This time, she touches on a subject that’s close to her heart. Recently, the married RHOA star revealed that her husband Gregg was diagnosed with cancer. “Our New Normal and the fight begins,” Leakes posted on Instagram with a photo of Gregg sitting in front of a computer screen that read “Cancer” with a red line through it on Wednesday, June 13. “#f—kcancer #mdandersoncancercenter #yougotthis#iloveyou.” NeNe announced in May that she was canceling her upcoming comedy shows because Gregg, 63, had been in the hospital for more than two weeks. NeNe and Gregg tied the knot in 1997 and separated in 2010. Their divorce was finalized in 2011, but the duo later reconciled and remarried in 2013. Their second wedding was featured on a RHOA spinoff titled I Dream of NeNe: The Wedding.
“First of all, I just want to say that I feel very blessed and extremely lucky to be able to do what I do. I’m so grateful that you guys purchased tickets to see me everywhere,” she said in an Instagram video on May 22. “I have to cancel my Albany, New York, show and my New York City Caroline’s show. Today marks the 15th day straight that Gregg has been in the hospital.” “I find it very difficult to stand on stage and laugh and have a good time and give you guys your money’s worth knowing that my husband is in the hospital not feeling well. He has said to me over and over again, ‘Go on, go out there, have a good time, do the show, I’m going to be fine.’ But I find it mentally very hard for me to do that,” NeNe continued. “Gregg will be out of the hospital this week. He will be stronger, he will be better and we will be out here doing this show again in no time. Thank you for loving me! Thank you so much.” Gregg’s health issues were also documented on a November 2017 episode of RHOA when he was hospitalization for a “dangerously low” heart rate. While we don’t know what kind of cancer Gregg has, we do know that African Americans have the highest death rate and
shortest survival of any racial and ethnic group in the US for most cancers. A continuous reduction in cancer death rates in blacks since the early 1990s has resulted in more than 300,000 cancer deaths averted over the past two… … decades. Death rates have dropped faster during the most recent time period in
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blacks than in whites for all cancers combined and for lung, prostate, and colorectal cancer (in women only). As a result, racial disparities for these cancers have narrowed. In contrast, the racial disparity has widened for breast cancer in women and remained constant for colorectal cancer in men, likely due to inequalities in access to care, includ-
ing screening and treatment. “I heard his voice on the phone and I knew that he was afraid,” the Glee alum said during the episode. “Oh my God, what if Gregg doesn’t come home? What will they find? Is this something that Gregg’s not telling me? I can’t even imagine Gregg not walking on this earth. I can’t do this. Gregg has to get better.” “We have been so overwhelmed with the outpouring of love, support, thoughtfulness and prayers,” NeNe said. “Some of you have educated us on cleanses, diets and holistic health care. We wouldn’t know some of these things if it wasn’t for the reach we have been blessed to have. So far, Gregg is doing great! He feels good with the exception of not being able to eat a lot. The cancer was removed!” She also took a moment to give her former co-stars, including Kim, a sweet shout-out. “Thank you so much to the ladies I work with and have worked with in the past for sending gifts, love and just good ole words of encouragement,” she wrote, tagging friends Cynthia Bailey, Phaedra Parks and Kenya Moore, among others. “And yes, Kim Zolciak,” she added. “We hope you all know that this really means a lot.”
THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
NEW HAVEN’S GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY RADIO STATION! www.newhavenindependent.org
JOE UGLY IN THE MORNING Weekdays 6-9 a.m.
THE TOM FICKLIN SHOW Mondays 10 a.m.
MAYOR MONDAY!
MERCY QUAYE
Mondays 11 a.m.
Mondays 1 p.m.
“THE SHOW”
“DJ REL”
MICHELLE TURNER Tuesdays 9 a.m.
“WERK IT OUT”
ELVERT EDEN Tuesdays at 2 p.m.
MORNINGS WITH MUBARAKAH
“JAZZ HAVEN”
Wednesdays 9 a.m.
Wednesdays 2 p.m.
STANLEY WELCH
“TALK-SIP”
LOVEBABZ LOVETALK
Thursdays 1 p.m.
Mondays-Fridays 9 a.m.
ALISA BOWENSMERCADO
FRIDAY PUNDITS Fridays 11 a.m.
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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - June 20, 2018 - June 26, 2018
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5/21/18 4:04 PM