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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Financial JusticeMinority-Contractor a Key Focus at 2016 NAACP Convention Alders Approve Program Update New Haven, Bridgeport

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Contreras and her mother Floridalama grab their giveaway boxes.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

Alders Approve Minority-Contractor Program Update

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven I ndependent

The Board of Alders voted unanimously in support of a five-year update of the city law designed to increase work opportunities for local minority- and women-owned construction companies.

Alders took that vote Monday night during the full board’s latest monthly meeting. As City Hall remains largely closed to the public because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the meeting was held online via the Zoom videoconferencing platform.

The local legislators voted unanimously in favor of a five-year renewal of Chapter 12 ¼ of the New Haven Code of Ordinances. That’s the city law that sets hiring goals for small Black, Hispanic, and women-owned businesses on publicly funded construction projects.

The update approved by the alders on Monday includes several changes pitched by the city earlier this summer with the goal of reducing barriers to underrepresented businesses interested in securing work and support through the program.

One change reduces from $50,000 to $10,000 the threshold at which department heads can select three contractors to bid for a given contract. For projects above that baseline, department heads are required to hold an open bid.

A second change allows companies that have been open for only six months to

enter the city’s small business contractor program through the creation of a new “precertification phase.” The current program is open only to businesses that have been in operation for at least a year.

East Rock Alder and Legislation Committee Chair Charles Decker noted that the Board of Alders recently voted unanimously in support of creating a working group charged with reviewing the small business contractor program in greater detail and coming up with recommendations on how to further promote local minority- and women-owned construction companies.

“These amendments tonight are an important beginning to this work,” he said.

The program has come under increased scrutiny lately as local Black-owned small contractors joined the Q House Avisory Board in criticizing the city for failing to meet its own hiring guidelines for the Dixwell Avenue community center construction project. While the city has doubled down on its outreach to such local contractors and has increased the share of work on that project going to Black-owned businesses, the Independent’s recent review of three years of primary contractor awards for city-funded projects showed that minority- and women-owned businesses make up a relatively small share of the overall work.

The newly renewed ordinance maintains the same representation goals for city

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO Local Black construction contractors protesting outside the Q House development site.

construction contracts that were included in the current version.

The law aims for at least 10 percent of the city’s construction contracts and 10 percent of subcontracts to be awarded to African American-owned businesses.

It aims for 2.5 percent of contracts and 6 percent of subcontracts to be awarded to Hispanic American-owned businesses.

And it aims for 11 percent of contracts and 15 percent of subcontracts to be awarded to businesses run by women.

The program is open to small businesses from the Greater New Haven region, not just the city proper. And its definition of “minority” is limited to African American and Hispanic.

22 percent of Connecticut’s population lives in hard-to-count areas, which are pockets that the Census Bureau has defined as having had a low census-tracked response rate. They tend to be urban areas with large transient populations, multi-family housing, and communities of color.

On Friday afternoon, Bysiewiecz approached multiple people who were lining up for or working at the food trucks to ask if they have filled out the census.

Those who had not were directed to fill it out on the spot at mobile booths, where trained census workers with tablets in hand explained what the census was and assisted them in completing the census.

She thanked Vianey Cortes, who works at El Rinconcito food truck, for filling out the form. She approached Tammi Jordan and Ashley Jordan with census 2020 water bottles. The mother-daughter duo said they had already completed the forms.

New Haven Complete Count Committee member Addie Kimbrough said she has observed that Bysiewiecz is dedicated to the New Haven area and has been working hard to encourage residents to complete the census.

“This is her baby. She is really into making the census count and getting the word out,” said Kimbrough.

One person approached by census worker Rosa Ibarra asked whether undocumented individuals could complete the form. Ibarra responded that the census is completely confidential the only identifying information that person needs to give is a name and an address and explained the importance of filling it out.

“I even said, if the bridge breaks down, they will now know they need to save the 50,000 people who live here,” said Ibarra, gesturing to the Q Bridge, which spans the Quinnipiac River mouth, in the distance.

She told people that census counts affect New Haven’s share of federal funds for services ranging from schools and afterschool programming for their children, to neighborhood parks.

The 2020 Census does not include a citizenship question, after efforts by the Trump Administration to include one were thwarted by a Supreme Court ruling.

“There is a federal law that protects any information you give from going to any other federal agency,” Bysiewiecz told one woman who had not filled out the census because she was concerned about her privacy. With some persuasion from the lieutenant governor, the woman completed the census on the spot without issue.

Bysiewicz Finds Census Takers Amid The Taco Trucks

by KO LYN CHEANG

New Haven I ndependent

Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewiecz visited the food trucks at Long Wharf Drive to encourage “hard-to-count” populations to take the once-in-a-decade census in her latest effort to boost Connecticut’s census response rate.

As of Thursday, 66.5 percent of Connecticut residents have responded to the census. 50.3 percent of New Haveners had responded, according to Bysiewiecz.

She said New Haven’s response rate is “one of the higher figures” and exceeds that of Bridgeport and Hartford.

“It is because [New Haven] has a very active complete count committee,” said Bysiewiecz. New Haven got an early start to ensuring the city counts every resident, kicking off the campaign as early as January 2019. She credited the large number of community events organized by the Complete Count Committee as a key reason for the increasing census response rate.

Bysiewiecz has made a number of these in-person efforts to encourage hard-tocount populations to fill out the Census.

Recently, she participated in two car caravan visits to the Fair Haven area, a caravan in the Hill and Dwight neighbourhoods, and a visit to knock on doors of Amity residents.

Vianey Cortes (left) fills out the census.

Census worker Rosa Ibarra (right).

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

As Vise Tightens, Food Giveways Provide Lifeline

by COURTNEY LUCIANA New Haven I ndependent

It was Yvonne Halloway’s first free-food pick-up. With hard times growing harder and with supplemental unemployment benefits expiring, she and others around her didn’t expect this visit to be their last.

Halloway was among the 250 people who showed up at a food distribution event Friday afternoon at John S. Martinez School in Fair Haven.

The event coincided with the expiration of the program that gave unemployed workers an extra $600 a month during the Covid-19 pandemic — added a new factor in the proliferation of such community giveaways in town.

Just last week Halloway, who lives on the Boulevard, attended a giveaway of sanitary supplies outside of Dwight policing substation. Her family has survived the Covid-19 pandemic on donations.

“This means a whole lot because I’m not working right now, and my pension only gets me a little bit of money. And it don’t get me nothing much. So out here, it’s a pleasure to get all of this food that’s fresh and free,” Halloway said. “The unemployment and everything. It’s not going so great for a lot of people so the food that we do get we appreciate.”

Mayor Justin Elicker participated in the giveaway by passing out boxes and bags of fresh produce, nonperishable items, and even pet food to a long line of shoppers. He acknowledged the ongoing challenges residents are up against.

COURTNEY LUCIANA PHOTO Halloway with Elicker at Martinez School food distribution event.

“It’s possible that Congress will get its act together and kind of lengthen the support for unemployment, because we’re not going to be out of this crisis for quite some time,” Elicker said. “We also have an eviction problem on the horizon; we’re very concerned about many people not being able to stay in their homes. Not only is that very bad for all kinds of economic reasons and humanitarian reasons, but it’s also bad for the spread of the virus.”

The Community Soup Kitchen, City

of New Haven, FISH, CFAN, Vertical Church, CARE, YSPH, SCSU, Fair Haven CMT, Cathedral of Higher Praise worked with the task force of the United Way of Greater New Haven and CT Food Bank on Friday’s event.

Additional services included free Covid-19 testing, voting registration, census taking, and mask distribution.

Paul Shipman, a spokesperson for CT Food Bank, said that throughout the pandemic, food industry donations have been

reduced by 60 percent.

“We’re trying to make up that gap by going out and buying food on the wholesale market. There’s not a lot to go around and the prices have gone up,” Shipman said.

“Most Americans do not have the savings that can get them through a long term emergency. We recognize that New Haven County has the highest food insecurity in Connecticut.”

Yisel Contreras, 16-years-old, who lives with her family in Fair Haven, said that without the donated fresh fruit and vegetables, their health would deteriorate.

“It helps with our health and nutrition,” Contreras said. “We’re blessed to have jobs, but at times things can get a little difficult. We love when people help us.”

Friday was the United Way of Greater New Haven’s third neighborhood pop-up pandemic pantry. The first pop-up was in the Hill neighborhood; the second one was in Newhallville. Vice President of Community Impact Aly Fox said due to it being the end of the month, folks have stretched their groceries as long as they can.

“United Way alone purchased probably close to $4,000 to $5,000 of food for today,” Fox said. “Having a walk-up and drive-up option in the community allows for a larger drop. Our walk up line is longer right now. I got here at 1:30 p.m., and there were already people lined up, when the event doesn’t start until 4:30 p.m.”

Several of the providers that attended are additionally a part of the Pantry to Pantry

Food Delivery Program, which delivers to families in the neighborhood and local areas as a result of Covid-19. That serves approximately 1,000 families a week.

Sasha Heredia waited an hour before the event officially began to secure a spot in line for her kids, nieces, and nephews.

“This could be helpful for anyone. Especially for all of the homeless people that have no home to go to. People who is really out here struggling in shelters,” Heredia said. “There’s a lot of people who need help, and this is big.”

Brett Christensen and his friend, who identified himself only as “Hans,” were on their way to the scrapyard until the long line caught their eyes. The two, who are homeless, have hit numerous giveaway events during the pandemic.

“For me, the food fills my stomach and it tastes good,” Christensen said. “Life is rough right now but the food does help with my situation. In my situation, there’s not much food when you’re not working.”

Hans, an ex-offender, said the giveaway isn’t designed for everyone.

“I mean this is great, but I don’t have a refrigerator to put the food in. If I don’t eat it or give it away to somebody, then I don’t have anywhere to keep it,” Hans said. “I mean it’s a great idea for families that have apartments. But for somebody like me, and others who are homeless, there’s not much that we can do with that.

We’d be better off trying to sell it.”

Devin Avshalom-Smith, community Con’t on page 04

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Yale New Haven Hospital is pleased to offer patients and their families financial counseling regarding their hospital bills or the availability of financial assistance, including free care funds.

By appointment, patients can speak one-on-one with a financial counselor during regular business hours. For your convenience, extended hours are available once a month.

Date: Monday, August 17 Time: 5 - 7 pm Location: Children’s Hospital, 1 Park St., 1st Floor, Admitting Parking available (handicapped accessible) An appointment is necessary. Please call 203-688-2046.

Spanish-speaking counselors available.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

Masks, Testing Top School Reopening Concerns Penfield Communications Inc

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KO LYN CHEANG PHOTO New Haven preschool teachers at a demonstration in Hartford.

by EMILY HAYS

New Haven I ndependent

Now that the state has given local governments control over whether they fully reopen schools this September, New Haven’s public schools district has questions to answer before making its own decision.

Some of these questions emerged Monday night, when Board of Education members first heard about the state relinquishing its authority over school reopenings.

“If we can’t afford to pay for safety in reopening, we shouldn’t be doing it,” board member Darnell Goldson said.

Over the past few weeks, teachers, parents and paraprofessionals have argued in op-eds, virtual meetings and a 100-person demonstration in Hartford that New Haven does not have enough resources to follow the state’s preference that every child attend school in-person every day this fall.

On Monday, in an apparent reversal of previous guidance, Gov. Ned Lamont and Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona announced that local governments would not be required to follow the state’s preference of a full reopening.

Responsibility now falls on the Board of Education and NHPS administrators to decide. The board is planning to host a special meeting on the topic later this week or the week after, with the date to be determined.

Superintendent Iline Tracey said that her preference among the school’s three reopening options is the hybrid model. In this version, students in third grade and younger would meet in smaller class sizes four days a week and learn remotely for the fifth day. Older students would attend class two days a week, alternating with their peers, and learn remotely for the other three days.

The other options are fully in-person or fully remote learning.

The teachers’ union, Local 933, has asked to start the year with remote learning and phase back into in-person teaching.

As Board of Education members consider whether they are ready to guarantee the safety of all entering New Haven schools, here are a few of the questions they hope to answer.

How Much Protective Equipment Should Schools Provide?

Face masks have proven to be one of the most effective ways to stop the spread of Covid-19. The state is requiring everyone to wear face masks within school buildings, with accommodations available for people with medical reasons why they cannot wear a mask.

New Haven Public Schools plans to have 100,000 disposable face masks on hand.

These will be for students and staff members who forget their masks at home, schools operations chief Michael Pinto said. Otherwise, students and staff should bring their own.

“We think that is appropriate. As it stands now, they are required to wear masks in public,” Pinto said.

Board member Tamiko Jackson-McArthur said that she would like the school system to provide face masks to employees. Providing face masks for children is a different story, Jackson-McArthur agreed after Tracey said that children need a wide range of sizes of masks.

“If we are requiring them for our employees, we need to be supplying at least one a week,” Jackson-McArthur said.

Tracey said that the school district does plan to provide face shields to teachers to wear on top of their personal masks as extra protection. She said that her team would ask the state whether it has a sup-

ply of face masks that the district could tap.

How Will Schools Tell Who Has Covid?

All three of the board members who aired questions about school reopening worried about how the district would know who has Covid-19.

The state has not asked schools to test for Covid-19 or conduct daily temperature checks. The rationale was that these are not effective uses of resources, since a student or teacher could get swabbed for the disease and become exposed to the virus the next day.

Goldson said that he is not comfortable sending children back to school without temperature checks, testing and a system to trace whom Covid-positive individuals have come into contact with.

Board member Edward Joyner agreed that the district needs robust testing and contact tracing, among other measures, to open in-person.

“We must have safety standards that are not negotiable. I do not want to unwittingly be responsible for the misery of any child or any family in this community. I believe every one of you feels the same way,” Joyner said to his fellow board members.

Joyner argued that even though some test results might be incorrect, it is much better to know more than less about who may have Covid-19.

Jackson-McArthur, who is a pediatrician, said that she is happy to defer to school health officials on how often those coming into school buildings should get swabbed. She said the frequency will depend on how many people are getting Covid-19 in the wider community. She also said that an initial test of Covid-19 levels before school starts might be a good idea.

Jennifer Vazquez, the district’s director of

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nurses, said that NHPS is strongly encouraging all staff members to get swabbed.

Staff unions would need to approve the policy if it became a requirement.

As with personal protective equipment, more testing could carry a hefty price tag. Staff members’ tests might not be covered by insurance if they do not have symptoms. Would the Board of Education pay for tests if they require them? Tracey asked.

Tracey encouraged board members and members of the public to submit other questions in advance of the special reopening board meeting.

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

Con’t on page 03

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Food Giveways

engagement coordinator for CARE, was seen promoting an Active Transportation Plan at the neighborhood pop-up in order to make the streets more pedestrian friendly and overall safer. CARE is working with the city in soliciting community feedback. Avshalom-Smith stressed that racial and health are just as essential as food.

“I think that it’s always great to see community people and community organizations come together to serve one another. It looks from the outside in like the people in line are being served. But really the people who are giving and are here working — we’re the ones being served, because it’s an honor and privilege to be able to extend a helping hand to our neighbors,” Avshalom-Smith said. “I think it helps in a turbulent time with all of this racial tension and political tension.

It brings us together to realize that we all have the same fundamental needs.”

Contributors At-Large Christine Stuart www.CTNewsJunkie.com

Paul Bass www.newhavenindependent.org

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

Fauci Says Connecticut Is In ‘A Good Place’

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

HARTFORD, CT — Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says Connecticut is in a “good place” when it comes to the coronavirus.

“In many respects have the upper hand because you have such a low rate that when you do get new cases, you have the capability of containment as opposed to mitigation,” Fauci said Monday during Gov. Ned Lamont’s press briefing.

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Lamont, who is receiving pressure from teachers’ unions not to fully reopen schools, asked Fauci to join the press briefing to give his perspective.

Fauci is a proponent of reopening schools. He said a top priority should be trying to get children back to school for in-person learning.

“The default position should be to try as best as you possibly can to open up the schools for in-person learning,” Fauci said. “For the following reason, it’s important to the children because of the psychological benefit and in some places even for the nutrition of children who rely on the breakfast and lunches in school.”

Fauci said there’s also a “ripple effect” on the parents who have to dramatically modify their own work schedules.

Dr. Anthony Fauci

“The primary consideration should always be the safety, the health, the welfare of the children, as well as the teachers and the secondary effects for spreading with regard to the parents and the other family members,” Fauci said.

Fauci said preventing the spread can be done at the local level.

Connecticut’s two teachers’ unions are pushing back against a full reopening of schools.

Last week, teachers across the state rallied for greater safety measures before classes begin.

CEA Executive Director Donald Williams said last week that the last thing they want is for the schools to be the source of a resurgence of the coronavirus.

“At the end of every school day, students

and all the adults working in the school go home to their families,” Williams said.

That’s why getting is right in terms of safely is “incredibly important,” he said.

Fauci, the nation’s leading spokesperson on coronavirus, said, “You have to do the risk-benefit [analysis] ... depending upon what you think the risk in your community is. If the risk is very low, you might try to see if you can open the schools.

And if you can’t, then you go to the other models.”

School districts across Connecticut have asked the state for more guidance.

Lamont provided a chart Monday which says if there are fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 people then the risk is low and favors in-person learning. If the sevenday average is 10 to 25 cases per 100,000 people, then the state favors the hybrid model and if there are 25 cases per 100,000 people then it favors online-only education.

“Blips of infections” will inevitably occur in Connecticut, Fauci said.

But he maintained his position that schools should reopen.

There have been 252 new cases in Connecticut since Friday. That brings Connecticut’s coronavirus total to 50,062. As of Monday, 56 people were hospitalized with the virus and 4,437 people have died.

Connecticut has a 0.7 positive test rate.

Fired Cop Arrested For Assault

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven I ndependent

Recently fired former city police officer Jason Santiago has been arrested and charged with assault and breach of peace following a state investigation into his use of excessive force when making an arrest.

The state Division of Criminal Justice put out an email press release Tuesday afternoon announcing the arrest and filing of charges.

Santiago, 33, has been charged with third-degree assault and second-degree breach of peace. He was released on a promise to appear in New Haven Superior Court at 235 Church St. on Sept. 9. The case is being prosecuted by the Office of the Chief State’s Attorney.

“This criminal matter was thoroughly investigated by the Division of Criminal Justice,” Chief State’s Attorney Richard J. Colangelo, Jr., is quoted as saying in the press release. “The DCJ found that Mr. Santiago’s actions merit his arrest and prosecution. This officer’s actions, once

the suspect was in custody, exceeded his authority and were in violation of his training and Connecticut law.”

The incident itself occurred on Dec. 25, 2019. Santiago, an eight-year veteran of the force, responded to a call on Lombard Street in Fair Haven involving an intoxicated man and a broken-down vehicle.

The scene escalated into Santiago kicking and pulling a suspect after the latter had been handcuffed, and then punching the suspect in the face after the latter spit at the officer.

On June 16, the police commission voted to fire Santiago, at the recommendation of Police Chief Otoniel Reyes. Santiago and police union representatives stressed during that disciplinary hearing that the officer had overcome significant challenges to become a police officer and that he had an otherwise discipline-free and exemplary career on the force.

The press release states that the charges are merely accusations and Santiago is presumed innocent until and unless prov-

en guilty. Assault in the Third Degree is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year imprisonment and a fine of up to $2,000. Breach of Peace in the Second Degree is a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

The arrest comes less than a week after Gov. Ned Lamont signed a wide-ranging police accountability bill that was drafted and shepherded through the state legislature in large part by New Haven State Sen. Gary Winfield. The bill creates a new independent inspector general office charged with investigating deadly use of force by police, and includes new guidelines on when and how officers are allowed to use force on the job.

Santiago’s firing and arrest also took place two months after mass protests against police brutality swept the nation—and Connecticut—following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.

Lamont Signs Police Accountability Legislation

by CTNewsJunkie

New Haven I ndependent

Gov. Ned Lamont will hold a ceremony to sign House Bill 6004, An Act Concerning Police Accountability, into law. He will be joined by Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz; the

co-chairs of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Judiciary Committee, state Sen. Gary Winfield (D-New Haven) and state Rep. Steve Stafstrom (D-Bridgeport); state Rep. Brandon McGee (D-Windsor, Hartford); state Rep. Anthony Nolan (D-

New London), who also serves as a New London police officer; and Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary.

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DONT LET THEM COUNT YOU OUT!

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

New YNHH Prez Named Amid A Pandemic

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven I ndependent

Keith Churchwell has been tapped to serve as the next president of Yale New Haven Hospital, at a time when the healthcare giant — and the regional system of which it’s a part — grapples with the immediate and long-term consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Churchwell is currently the chief operating officer of Yale New Haven Hospital.

During a Friday morning virtual press conference, top Yale New Haven Health Systems (YNHHS) administrators and clinicians announced Churchwell’s promotion to replace current YNHH President Richard D’Aquila, who has been in the role for the past 15 years and will be stepping down effective Oct. 5.

“It’s been a whirlwind of a time,” Churchwell said about the past few months of helping lead YNHH’s New Haven hospital campuses through the public heath crisis, and about the decision by the regional health care system’s board to name him the next president of the York Street and St. Raphael’s campuses.

YNHHS President and CEO Marna Borgstrom said that, prior to his coming to YNHH in 2015, Churchwell served as the executive director and chief medical officer of the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute. He received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard, his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis.

He did his post-graduate work at the Emory School of Medicine before working at Vanderbilt for nearly two decades.

He takes over the local hospital campuses — two of seven campuses run by YNHHS in Connecticut and Rhode Island — at a time of unprecedented national crisis, with the Covid-19 pandemic transforming so much of how YNHH, and every other health care provider in the country, has operated over the past four months.

YNHHS Chief Clinical Officer Thomas Balcezak said that YNHHS continues to

see low numbers of hospitalized patients with Covid-19 when compared to the height of the first wave of the pandemic in late April.

As of Friday, there are only 21 Covid-19 patients system-wide in YNHHS hospital beds. Nine of those patients are in New Haven. Oonly one across the whole system is on a ventilator.

Balcezak said that YNHHS as a whole has conducted 127,000 Covid-19 tests and has discharged more than 3,500 people who have been treated for and survived Covid-19. He said the hospital system has had 580 Covid-19 deaths in total.

“This is something that we’ve all lived through and I hope that we all believe that we can maintain our social distance and our mask wearing so that we don’t have to repeat those numbers,” he said.

Churchwell was asked Friday about what role he would like to see YNHH play in the ongoing local and national response to Covid-19, and about his goals when taking over as president amidst the current public health crisis. Churchwell singled out for praise several aspects of the regional health system’s response.

He applauded local health care providers’ innovation in coming up with treatments and therapies for Covid-19 patients; the collaboration across disciplines among administrators, nurses, and clinicians at different YNHHS hospital campuses; the rapid expansion of intensive care unit beds and wings dedicated to Covid-sick patients’ and the well of information about the novel virus that YNHH researchers have developed along with Yale School of Medicine colleagues.

He said this moment presents YNHH with an opportunity to “redefine ourselves over the next six to 12 to 18 months.” He said that not just in regards to Covid-19, but also to how to deliver care and ensure patient health at a time of vast social and economic dislocation — let alone necessary disruptions to everyday life caused

Keith Churchwell

by social distancing and mask wearing.

“This is probably something I’ll be able to answer over the next few weeks than over the next few minutes,” he said.

He described himself as “humbled and honored” to take the role. “It’s going to be not only difficult, but also a unique opportunity as we continue to define what health care should be, not only here, but across the whole region and Connecticut.”

Keith Churchwell, MD, has been appointed as the new president of Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) beginning on October 5, 2020. Dr. Churchwell takes over the role from Richard D’Aquila who announced his retirement after nearly

15 years at Yale New Haven Health. Dr. Churchwell most recently served as chief operating officer and executive vice president for YNHH, after spending five years as the senior vice president charged with leadership of the heart and vascular service line.

Board certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease, Dr. Churchwell arrived at Yale New Haven Hospital in 2015 from Vanderbilt University Medical Center where he served as executive director and chief medical officer of the Vanderbilt Heart and Vascular Institute.

“Keith has the perfect skills to advance Yale New Haven Hospital as a great teaching hospital and a critical resource

to the greater New Haven communities,” said Borgstrom. “He has distinguished himself as a strategic thinker, thoughtful colleague and collaborator. We are fortunate to have someone with his level of clinical and administrative excellence serve as the new president of YNHH.” Dr. Churchwell received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He completed his postgraduate training in cardiovascular disease and nuclear cardiology at Emory School of Medicine.

“I am deeply honored to serve as the next president of one of the nation’s leading, nationally-ranked teaching hospitals,” said Churchwell. “From the moment I arrived here in January of 2015, I knew this was a special place, filled with outstanding talent and individuals who were fully dedicated to the patients we serve. I am extremely enthusiastic about the future and the role of YNHH can play in transforming the delivery of healthcare.”

Dr. Churchwell currently serves on the national Board of Directors of the American Heart Association. He is active in the local community, serving as president of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and he is also known for his “Walk with a Doc” sessions on Saturday mornings in Dixwell and Newhallville neighborhoods of New Haven.

“Dr. Churchwell was the perfect choice to succeed Rick D’Aquila as president of Yale New Haven Hospital,” said Mary C. Farrell, chair, Yale New Haven Hospital Board of Directors. “When we looked around the country for candidates for this position, we saw a number of exceptionally talented leaders. However, it became quickly evident that we already had the best person right here in New Haven. His skills, talents and strategic vision blended with his exceptional clinical background make Keith the smart and obvious choice.”

Police Accountability Subcommittee Looks To Dig Deeper On Immunity

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

HARTFORD, CT —A subcommittee of the Police Transparency and Accountability Task Force will be working to explain the impact of the qualified immunity portion of the legislation signed into law last week by Gov. Ned Lamont.

Under the qualified immunity portion of the law, municipalities would continue to cover the liability of police officers under most scenarios. Only if an officer performed a “malicious, wanton or wilful act,” would they not be covered under municipal liability policies.

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Former state Rep. Ken Green, a member of the subcommittee, suggested that they

invite a member of the police and a member of an insurance company to come and explain what type of insurance products are on the market for police officers.

Melvin Medina, public policy director of the ACLU of Connecticut, said he understands that police officers are concerned about losing their homes, but what the conversation boils down to is “what is the value of a life.”

He said the subcommittee needs to understand what type of insurance products are on the market and what it actually means for officers and municipalities.

He said they need to clarify under what scenario an officer could lose their home.

He suggested they invite the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and the Council of Small Towns to their next

meeting to explain.

Insurance industry experts say there’s no product currently on the market that an officer can individually purchase to insure themselves for situations where they could be accused of misconduct.

There are products, however, that can be purchased by municipalities for multiple officers.

At least one member of the subcommittee said the provision will offer few consequences for police officers.

“Police are still going to shoot and kill unarmed black men,” Shafiq Abdussabur, a retired New Haven Police officer, said.

“They’re going to shoot and kill unarmed Hispanic and Latino men. They’re going to shoot and kill people.”

He said that goes along with the train-

6

ing and there are 107 police departments in Connecticut, who all have a different “use of force” policy.

Cheryl Sharp, deputy director of the Connecticut Human Rights Commission, said qualified immunity and whether or not officers act outside of the scope of their employment is not going to solve all the issues of disparities that exist in policing.

Sharp said they have racial systems in place and they need to dismantle the structural racism that creates the disparate impact on Black and brown communities.

“The real issue is the structural racism that exists in our society,” Sharp said.

“Until we deal with that issue the polic-

ing that occurs is going to have some bad apples, but you also have a system that is designed to perpetuate the racism that people have complained about.”

Sharp said the training is not taking civil rights into account because the people who are the experts on civil rights are not at the table. She said they have to understand qualified immunity and what the courts have done since it was a judicial construct.

“Is there insurance available? Because now we’re asking police officers to have malpractice insurance like attorneys do,” Sharp said.

The subcommittee has until Dec. 31 to report its findings to the General Assembly.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

CityWide Youth "Take It To The Streets”

by Lucy Gellman, Editor, The Arts Paper www.newhavenarts.org

Destin Williams remembers walking into school and feeling like there were cops breathing down her neck. Now she’s trying to make sure her peers don’t feel the same way.

Friday, Williams joined close to 20 youth organizers and 100 New Haveners for a march, rally and teach-in led by Citywide Youth Coalition and Black Lives Matter New Haven to defund the police, expand New Haven’s vision for affordable housing, and better finance public education. Citywide presented the same eight demands that it released in early June, before leading a rally that drew 5,000 people.

The demands (listen to a full list here) include moving $30 million from the police budget into the public schools, replacing school resource officers with counselors, and ending the city’s “triple occupation” by the New Haven Police Department, Yale Police Department, and Hamden Police Department. Friday, the demand to get cops out of schools took center stage.

“For me, I think that it means more possibility for deescalation, more possibilities to actually provide resources for our students,” said Jeremy Cajigas, director of organizing for Citywide Youth Coalition and a 2017 graduate of High School in the Community. “A lot of us do come to schools with issues from outside, whether it’s dealing with property and hunger, whether it’s dealing with abuse. A lot of the time, that’s what manifests itself when we’re in schools. And policing isn’t going to be what fixes or stops that. It’s what makes it even worse.”

This rally began just minutes after 3 p.m., as Gov. Ned Lamont was signing HB 6004 An Act Concerning Police Accountability (AACPA) into law in Hartford. State Sen. Gary Winfield and State Rep. Robyn Porter, both of whom represent New Haven, were vocal and fierce advocates of the bill. Back in New Haven, Citywide members gathered around the Green’s signature flagpole, chanting “Black Lives Matter” and “Take it to the streets/defund the police/no justice/no peace!”

Among the organizers were not just activists but also artists, ready to use their voices, writing skills, and work onstage to advocate for a city where schools had more money, and police had less. One of Citywide’s core principles is celebrating culture: among calls to vote, write legislators, and testify in Hartford, the group has leaned on song, dance, instrumental music and poetry to carry members through the streets and close out teach-ins from the New Havenn Green to East Rock Park.

“I think that when we talk about art and we talk about building a movement, they have to go hand in hand,” said Jamila

Jamila Washington and Mellody Massaquoi.

Lucy Gellman Photos:

Lihame Arouna.

Washington, a rising senior in choir at Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School and one of the organizers of Friday’s march. “It’s a way to express yourself and to tell your truth.”

From the New Haven Green, the group wove up Church Street, cars honking as marchers fanned out across the width of the street and kept going against the flow of traffic. A few drivers pumped their fists and rolled down their windows to show support. Cars acquiesced to the group walking towards them, pulling over to curbs and stopping in the middle of the

Members of Citywide, including Remsen Welsh, Lihame Arouna, Mellody Massaquoi, Jamila Washington and Jeremy Cajigas led the march. “Thinking about people who have been brutalized by the police, or have been killed by the police and can’t speak for themselves now that they’ve passed ... we are here to be the speakers of this movement,” said Welsh at one point.

lane.

As they turned onto Union Avenue, even a 271 bus gave a staccato toot-toot of support as it waited for them to pass. Organizer Remsen Welsh, an ECA grad who is now at Oberlin College, lifted the group with another round of chants.

“Thinking about people who have been brutalized by the police, or have been killed by the police and can’t speak for themselves now that they’ve passed ... we are here to be the speakers of this movement,” she later said.

Once at the station, several attendees

8

focused on the push to replace school resource officers with counselors and greater access to mental heath resources.

The ask is a timely one: the city’s Board of Education has formed a working group to discuss the future of officers in schools, and has suggested it will have an answer

by August. Meanwhile, a group of former school resource officers have started a petition to stay in schools, arguing that institutions of education will be less safe without them.

“I think the narrative that this is a personal vendetta against school resource

officers is completely false,” said Lihame Arouna, who is a non-voting student member on the New Haven Board of Education. “We don’t hate school resource officers. But the system as a whole is not beneficial.”

“Look to every other school in Connecticut,” she added. “What does Hopkins look like? What does Choate look like?

They’re not subject to policing in their schools, and I think they’re perfectly fine.

Black and Brown students come with a set of trauma that comes with all the systems they’ve had to deal with. That’s why, even more, they need those counselors and mental health professionals.”

Washington added her voice to that chorus, adding that she has enough to worry about when returning to school in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among calls to defund the police, she recalled watching fellow students—almost exclusively Black and Latinx—get daily pat-downs from the SROs at her school at 6 a.m., just as the day was starting. She was one of them.

“We do understand that they [school resource officers] are human beings—that they do have jobs and they have families to feed and things like that,” she said.

“But we’re talking about the whole wellbeing of a whole community of people, of students going back to school. It’s not the individuals that we’re talking about.”

Williams, a creative writer who graduated from Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School in June, recalled learning that there was one guidance counselor for hundreds of students in her school. Meanwhile, the officers in her school made her feel unsafe, because they were “on my back, every day.”

She said that she would have preferred knowing there were more counselors available, ready to listen when she came in with a concern. Instead, there never seemed to be that “listening ear” she needed to talk to. Now that she has graduated, she plans on working for a year to help her grandmother, then attending college.

Mellody Massaquoi, who graduated with Williams, said she believes that a school without police is a safer school for students, and particularly Black and Latinx students in New Haven. She lambasted school resource officers for arresting students for getting in fights at school, when schools could be offering resources in conflict resolution and restorative justice.

“No one should have to go to school with that fear,” she said. “Without SROs in schools, you don’t have that anymore.

If you invest in social workers and guidance counselors, and if students have that help in the beginning, students wouldn’t say, ‘oh, they’re bad kids.’ They’re not bad. They’re reacting to the environment that’s given to them.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

Outdoor Dining Experiment A Hit So Far

by LAURA GLESBY

New Haven I ndependent

Ray Andrewsen felt like he was in Paris.

Alana Dina, the Big Apple.

In reality, they were dining on pear and walnut salad and guacamole on College Street in New Haven — not inside eateries, but right out on the sidewalk, part of a Covid 19-sparked experiment that’s breathing new life into downtown’s battered restaurant industry.

With the help of the city, College Street restaurants have moved more tables out on the sidewalk and into the parking lane of the street, while a full lane of traffic has been claimed for pedestrians, as part of the gradual reopening of business during the pandemic.

The experiment is to continue at least through August. Some people want to see if it works as a long-term solution, here, and in other cities across the country.

Tables are open inside restaurants like Elm City Social as well; that option has been legal for Connecticut restaurants since the state’s phase 2 reopening in late June.

But the action is taking place out in the open air. The pandemic has brought about new dining restrictions and led many to avoid eating indoors.

As restaurants across the city wrestle with a resulting decline in sales, a new initiative on College Street between Chapel and Crown has taken shape: part of the road typically reserved for cars is now a pedestrian walkway, allowing for increased outdoor seating space for restaurants trying to stay afloat.

Now, on this single block of College Street, traffic cones direct cars to a solitary lane on the left. Rainbow-colored paint in the street marks where pedestrians can freely walk. Flower bed barriers separate this walkway from the new tables and chairs that some restaurants have set up. The street is a little bit louder, busier, brighter than before.

The new outdoor space isn’t a cure-all for Elm City Social, especially when the weather refuses to cooperate.

“Every time it rains, your heart drops,” said Pat Williams, the bar’s general manager. But the additional seating has helped business gradually climb amid a devastating season for the restaurant industry.

Elm City Social has been able to add about a dozen seats outside due to the street expansion, said Williams. Sales have slowly raised, and are now averaging around 25 percent of their usual levels.

The initiative sprang from a Change. org petition that Elm City Social chef and owner John Brennan created in May, asking for the city to close down parts of College, Temple, High, and State Streets so that local restaurants could expand their outdoor seating.

The petition garnered 1,273 signatures — and the attention of Eli Sabin, the

Alana Dina, Craig Gomes, and Evongee Smart outside Pacifico.

Stephen Becker and Janis Spring.

Downtown/Yale alder whose ward includes Elm City Social.

Both Brennan and Sabin noticed similar street closures in cities and towns across the country, including in New York City and Chicago. Sabin contacted the city’s Economic Development Administration and Department of Traffic, Parking, and Transportation.

They decided on a compromise: to close down part of the College Street block, leaving one lane open for supply trucks, traffic, and emergency vehicles. The

street has now been partially closed for two weeks.

“Having the streetside seating allows us to increase our capacity,” Brennan said.

He’s been able to keep people hired and moderately increase revenue. “It doesn’t bring us back to where we need to be yet in order to make us whole, but it certainly is a step in the right direction.”

The initiative has impacted the culture at Elm City Social. The outdoor seating is particularly amenable to customers who come in groups. The tables outside give

9

passersby an immediate sense of the restaurant’s environment.

Meanwhile, people coming in to drink solo, perhaps after work, might feel less comfortable at a table outside, said Williams. The restaurant staff works to ensure those customers feel welcome both inside and outside, depending on their preference.

“I’m honestly shocked that the city has never proposed something like this, even not during a pandemic,” Brennan said.

“There’s a great, European feel to it on

the street.”

Both Brennan and Sabin said they would like to see the initiative continue in future summers.

“I’ve been really excited about the results,” Sabin said. “I definitely am in favor of projects like these that maximize our street space and support local businesses,” he added, noting that community input would be necessary in order to move forward with the partial street closure in future years.

At lunchtime on Wednesday, a handful of groups filled around half of South Bay Mediterranean Kitchen’s outdoor tables.

The restaurant was able to add around 20 new seats once College Street partially shut down, increasing their capacity for outdoor diners to 35.

Philip Kent, a local attorney, sat at a table on the road with Ray Andrewsen, the director of membership services at the Great New Haven Chamber of Commerce.

“This is my first time out to lunch,” Kent said. He’s been cautious about social outings, he said, but the meal was going well.

“It’s rare to feel a little normal.”

Andrewsen praised the outdoor seating expansion, calling it a “wonderful and necessary” initiative.

“I feel like I’m in Paris,” he said.

The pair ate appetizers — a pear and walnut salad, a brussels sprout-based dish — under the shady protection of a large red umbrella.

Later that day, Cesar Poma-Rodriguez, a server at South Bay, made drinks behind the bar. Like Elm City Social, the restaurant was open for indoor dining, but customers had chosen to eat outside.

“It’s created some foot traffic,” PomaRodriguez said of the partial closure.

The opportunity to dine outside is itself an attraction, he said; “people have been cooped up.”

The recent heat wave hasn’t affected business outdoors, according to PomaRodriguez, but the rain is another story.

To some extent, relying on outdoor dining for business is dependent on clear skies above.

Next door at Pacifico, Alana Dina, Craig Gomes, and Evongee Smart shared guacamole and drinks, with sunglasses on.

Their table was located on the sidewalk, where pedestrians would ordinarily have been walking.

“We’ve been targeting places that offer outdoor seating,” said Dina. College Street feels like New York now, she added.

A few tables down, Janis Spring and Stephen Becker split a shrimp dish. They have a tradition of meeting in New Haven for dinner, halfway between their respective towns.

“We walked around town to find a place we feel comfortable with,” said Spring.

Con’t on page 10

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

The Case For Outdoor Learning

by GUSTAVO REQUENA SANTOS

(Opinion) Very early into discussions about how to reopen schools during the Covid-19 pandemic, we were presented with a choice — either continue distance learning, despite its possibility of worsening achievement gaps, or risk the lives of students and staff by bringing them back into school buildings. But are those really the only two options?

Craig Strang, associate director for learning and teaching at the University of California, Berkeley, offered another option during a recent call with environmental education organizations across New England: outdoor classrooms.

“The greatest challenge is overcoming the assumption that there is only one way to solve this problem, and it is with staggered schedules in hybrid learning,” Strang said.

By using outdoor spaces as classrooms, schools can bring more kids to in-person learning experiences, Strang explained.

“On those days when kids were supposed to be at home with remote learning, they could be back at school, working outdoors ... in learning opportunities that are safer, healthier, more engaging, less likely to transmit the virus. This is a more promising solution than any of the solutions that the school systems are proposing at the moment,” Strang said.

Doable In New Haven New Haven Public Schools has been planning to start September with a hybrid of days of remote learning and days of inperson lessons. This is neither the preference of Gov. Ned Lamont’s office, which has pushed schools to host every student every day this fall, nor of the many parents, teachers and paraprofessionals wary of the safety of returning to school buildings.

Distance learning offers a low-risk of Covid-19 transmission. At the same time, it requires adult supervision at home, compromises the access of some students to meals and health care, and may aggravate the digital divide and the achievement gap.

Outdoor learning solves these problems.

Outdoor activities have better ventilation, fresh air, and more opportunities for social distancing than the same activities indoors, particularly inside poorly ventilated classrooms.

Outdoor summer camps in Connecticut were allowed to run their programs under Center for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, and the vast majority of them across the state have reported no Covid cases among campers and staff.

Such good news in the middle of a crisis should not be ignored.

Across the nation caregivers, students, educators and school staff are flooding school meetings and organizing petitions with thousands of signatures demanding that school districts shift to outdoor learn-

GREEN SCHOOLYARDS AMERICA Picnic tables set on school ground to serve as outdoor classrooms.

ing in the fall. Is it too late for New Haven to adopt outdoor learning?

Outdoor learning does not require a field trip to remote, wooded areas. Instead, caregivers, students, and educators can take advantage of green areas in our neighborhoods.

In the past decade, the New Haven Public Schools have been investing and collaborating with many local, regional and national partners to develop wildlifefriendly urban oases for children and the local community. Partnerships with other sectors have resulted in schoolyard habitats present in one in every four schools in the district, helping educators better integrate place-based environmental education into their curriculum. Together with parks, open spaces, and gardens, these living outdoor classrooms are readily accessible or at a walking distance from several schools in New Haven and should be enjoyed by everyone.

So, let’s talk budget: can we afford to shift to outdoor learning?

School districts willing to work with environmental educators have found outdoor learning to be much less expensive than the redesign of indoor spaces that they were considering. Strang shared an example from Plumas County, California.

An environmental education organization in the area put together a plan that increases in-person learning from two to five days a week through outdoor activities, while the costs per pupil only rose 10 percent. Facing a tight budget during the pandemic, the school district has decided to partner with the organization to seek additional funding and philanthropy, Strang said.

Although not every school in New Haven has easy access to open, green ar-

eas, the use of outdoor learning in those schools that do provides a starting point for more creative, inclusive and equitable ideas.

New York City is considering closing streets around school buildings for use as car-free outdoor space. More detailed plans for safe and cost-effective outdoor learning have come from environmental organizations.

Strong coalitions are also appealing for federal support. More than 450 national, state and regional environmental and outdoor education organizations have recently urged Congress to give special consideration in providing funding towards outdoor learning during school reopening.

Longterm Benefits There’s a tremendous amount of research that testifies to the impact of outdoor learning on student development and academic success. Students learn quickly and demonstrate better focus and longer retention of skills when learning outdoors, even if they are just reading, writing or doing math under a tree or on a picnic table. Being in contact with dirt, seeing greenery and breathing fresh air during the learning process increases their creativity, leadership and problemsolving skills.

Yet the most important effect of outdoor learning, after its contributions to safety during Covid-19, is its benefits for mental health.

Educators are deeply concerned about their students’ well-being, particularly after their recent experiences with Covid-19 and racial injustice protests and conversations. Both situations have disproportionately traumatized Black and brown communities. Contact with nature relieves

10

stress, fosters warmer and more cooperative interactions, and boosts a sense of enjoyment that can help students (as well as educators and school staff) overcome emotional and mental distress.

Public school teachers and paraprofessionals have done a very impressive, time-sensitive job transitioning to distance learning. They absolutely deserve to be praised (and fairly compensated) for that.

But staring at a screen for long periods of time and interacting virtually with peers and educators will never be a substitute for experiential, group learning activities and their long-lasting effects on child development and social skills. More than ever, we need to help our kids in their healing process, and outdoor learning can provide safe, healthy learning environments for face-to-face experiences that overcome the digital divides that have greatly impacted low-income families.

This piece is also meant to echo a shared sentiment that so many have expressed in our area, from students and caregivers challenging the importance and the validity of standardized tests to local youthled movements advocating for climate education and structural changes that go beyond curriculum. These are not crazy, untested ideas. They are based on years and years of great results observed around the globe.

It’s reassuring to know that I am not alone in advocating for a dramatic change in our education model that invites students, caregivers, educators, administrators and partner organizations to participate in real, transformative learning experiences.

It’s time to re-think, re-evaluate and reimagine our schools.

Con’t from page 09

Outdoor Dining

They came upon the outdoor plaza and were satisfied with the setup.

“There’s a happy, lively feeling,” Spring said. “We’re both so tired of being indoors.”

Becker expressed gratitude for the servers and chefs working to keep the restaurant open.

Business at the Owl Shop, a cigar cafe open for both indoor and outdoor seating, is doing all right given the 50 percent capacity limit for restaurants.

Justin, a bar manager who declined to be photographed or provide his last name, said he felt “neutral” about the partial street closure.

In the middle of the day on Wednesday, Owl Shop customers mostly remained indoors, where thick smoke filled the room; some outdoor tables gradually filled by evening.

“The extension only helps us so much,” Justin said.

He added that traffic has tightened. When emergency responders are required at one of the establishments along the block — something he said happens multiple times a week — the street is blocked off.

Later that day, at the Anchor Spa bar next door, the partial street closure received more effusive reviews.

Bartender Raasikh Muhammad praised the new outdoor seating. “I love it,” he said. “It creates more of a festival feel.”

Outside, Anchor Spa’s owner, Karl Franz Williams, sat at a table by the door with Valarie Wong and their son, Stone.

The family had just finished “everything on the menu” — all of it delicious, Wong said.

“I hope they can keep it,” Wong said of the new outdoor dining space. As a nurse working and living in New York City, she prefers to eat outside, cautious about the pandemic.

Many customers feel the same, Williams noted. He has successfully advocated for expanded outdoor seating for his Harlem restaurant, 67 Orange Street, as well. New York City has not allowed indoor dining yet. The process of getting the new seating approved was easier in New York, he said — but there, the rules keep changing, whereas New Haven regulations have been more stable.

Williams compared the new outdoor seating to a “moving billboard” — as opposed to the “static billboard” of a restaurant facade under ordinary circumstances.

Pedestrians can witness the workings of the restaurant for themselves as they walk by. They get more of a glimpse than usual of what a meal there might be like.

This “moving billboard” is helpful at a time when “every seat counts,” Williams said.

Other restaurant owners and workers on the block echoed this sentiment.

“We’re in what seems like a losing battle, but we’re doing what we can,” said Brennan.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

Rhythm Brews “Black Is Beautiful” Stout Brewing can go. It lets us know to keep going,” said Bowens-Mercado, who started her brewing company in 2018.

Bowens-Mercado worked with the Two Roads brewmaster, Phil Markowski, to develop their variant of the Black Is Beautiful recipe, an imperial oatmeal stout. They spent all day chatting as they worked about their lives and current events.

“It was so enjoyable that at times I lost track of the underlying seriousness of our effort, to produce a beer that will help fund two very meaningful charities,”

by EMILY HAYS

New Haven I ndependent

This stout tastes like oats, chocolate — and social justice.

Rhythm Brewing Co. and salsa dancing entrepreneur Alisa Bowens-Mercado offered these notes on her latest beer, a product of the Black Is Beautiful beer campaign.

The limited-edition beer launched on Friday with the Two Roads brewery in Stratford.

“It’s a really beautiful dark brown, dark chocolate color,” Bowens-Mercado said.

“You might think you are smelling vanilla or chocolate. It’s a classic stout that is really well developed.”

A brewer in San Antonio, Texas, Weathered Souls co-owner Marcus Baskerville, started the campaign. Moved by recent Black Lives Matter protests, Baskerville chose to brew a stout for the range of dark colors it can embody and published his recipe and the Black Is Beautiful label design online. He asked other brewers to join him and use 100 percent of the beer’s proceeds for organizations supporting police reform and legal aid.

Bowens-Mercado, one of the few women of color in a white, male-dominated industry, heard about the campaign and reached out to the Connecticut Craft Brewer’s Guild. The guild connected her with one of the giants in craft beers, Two Roads Brewing Co. “It was nothing short of amazing to walk into Two Roads and see where Rhythm

Alisa Bowens-Mercado with husband John Mercado (right) and Two Roads’ Phil Markowski (left)

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Alisa Bowens-Mercado’s latest beer, a collaboration with craft beer giant Two Roads.

Markowski said in a press release about the collaboration.

The charities the two companies chose are not quite the police reform and legal aid organizations Baskerville requested, but they still help the movement, Bowens-Mercado said.

The proceeds from the beers will go partially to Two Roads’ pick, the Stratford Education Foundation, to help with area schools’ Teaching Tolerance efforts. The rest will go to Bowens-Mercado’s pick, the Boys and Girls Club of New Haven.

“We were focused on our future, that our youth can come out of this and be resilient,” Bowens-Mercado said.

Plus, she had just finished a fundraiser for Black Lives Matter New Haven and wanted to try a different angle.

Over 1,000 breweries in every U.S. state, including 14 in Connecticut, have joined the Black Is Beautiful campaign.

Breweries in other countries have gotten involved too, including companies in Tokyo and Jakarta. View the full list on the campaign website.

Bowens-Mercado and Markowski’s contribution to the campaign will be available from the Two Roads brewery starting Friday. Bowens-Mercado urged those who want to try the beer to order online.

The two companies brewed enough for a few hundred cases of stout and she expects them to sell out quickly.

“If I didn’t brew it and order online, I might not get my hands on it either,” she said.

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Sun Ra Shines Over Cafe Nine THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

by KAREN PONZIO

New Haven I ndependent

Paul Mayer, owner of Cafe Nine on the corner of State and Crown, looked up at the mural of jazz legend Sun Ra that now graces the side of the building that houses his bar.

“I’m blown away,” he said. It was his first time seeing it in person, along with the accompanying boom box painted on a Dumpster.

The project, initiated just over one week ago and completed on Sunday, was the brainchild of Michael Pollack of Visual Cut, commercial cinematographer and resident of the same building.

The project came to fruition while Pollack and artist M. Deangelo (also known as @ refractualism) were planning projects together.

“Then Covid struck,” said Pollack. “I had thought about a mural on the wall” — the side of the building facing the parking lot on Crown Street next to Cafe Nine — “so I said let me see what Mike and Paul say.”

“Paul” meant Mayer, Cafe Nine’s owner.

“Mike” meant Mike Reichbart, who owns the building and used to own Cafe Nine.

Much to Pollack’s delight, both said yes.

“Next I thought, ‘What do we do?’ and Paul suggested Sun Ra, the avant-garde jazz bandleader who “traveled the spaceways from planet to planet.” Reichbart OK’d the plan.

The Dumpster in the front also caught Pollack’s eye. “I had the idea of the boom box, so I asked the dumpster company,” All American Waste. They said yes as well.

Mayer felt Sun Ra was a good choice “because he encompasses the past, present, and future. That open-mindedness of Cafe Nine: where it was, where it is, where it’s going.” Mayer pointed out

Mural in process.

MICHAEL POLLACK/VISUAL CUT PHOTOS

that Pollack — the man behind the aerial photos of the New Haven protesters that went viral — is all about “experimentation, art, and music…. He led the charge, did all the work to make it happen. We all worked together, but he did the leg work to get it going.”

Mayer continued to look up at the mural.

“This fuels positivity into the neighborhood,” he said.

Pollack said that people were already coming out of the building and down the street expressing their appreciation for the new work. The mural was finished

on Saturday over a span of 12 hours. The dumpster got its paint job on Sunday in the neighboring garage due to the rain.

According to Pollack, @refractualism has been involved in other group projects before, and is now partnering with Pollack, who has more of an art director role, managing projects and “coming up with visions” that the two can complete.

“It reminds me of the DIY bands,” said Mayer, “people creating their own content and staying true to themselves.”

With the paint on the side of Cafe Nine barely dry, Pollack has already been ap-

proached about doing other work in a similar vein elsewhere. He’s gearing up to pitch other installments as well, including places where other dumpsters are prominently displayed.

“People are going to want to take pictures in front of dumpsters,” he said with a big smile.

Pollack hopes this is just the beginning — not just for his own projects, but for artists everywhere who have a desire to create public art.

“I hope it will motivate and inspire others,” he said. “We have such an art-

inspired city here, with its own art museums and galleries, but there’s barely any art on the buildings. They’re the perfect canvases.”

“This went from idea to mural in a week,” he continued. “We wanted to create a positive art vibe and want the art to do all the talking. The use of the dumpster was to show how we can bring the city alive. It doesn’t have to be a wall or a building, it can be anything.”

Mayer agreed. “This brings hope that art is flourishing, even in the down times,” he said.

Lamont Signs Police Accountability Into Law

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

Gov. Ned Lamont signed the police accountability bill into law Friday, but the work is just beginning.

The bill caused an uproar among police officers in Connecticut, who were concerned with a number of provisions, including changes to qualified immunity. The bill was crafted in the wake of George Floyd’s death to address policing issues here.

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“I think at the end of the day we all understand how important it was and what a big step this is,” Lamont said before signing the bill.

Paul Mounds, Lamont’s chief of staff, met with four police unions Thursday. He said, “There’s going to be continuous conversa-

tions as it deals with the bill, particularly on the implementation.”

Both sides agreed that more work needs to be done to clear up misunderstanding.

Police worry that it would increase their personal liability on the job and perhaps cause officers to reconsider the profession.

“I want to emphasize that this was not a bill that was done in haste or unnecessary rush,” Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, said. “In fact, the bill was done purposefully to respond to the call for change and the need for quick change.”

Floyd’s death prompted widespread, sustained protests in Connecticut and across the globe.

However, Sen. Gary Winfield, D-New Haven, who has been working on this issue for more than 20 years, pointed out during the debate earlier this week that the bill was

about Connecticut, which is not immune from the issue.

In 2019, 24 deadly use-of-force and incustody death investigations were conducted by state and municipal police and the Department of Correction, according to Chief State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo.

There were at least 19 similar investigations in 2018, he said.

On Friday, Waterbury Mayor Neil O’Leary, who is a retired police chief, said he believes there’s still “an enormous amount of misinformation about this bill.”

He said it will be incumbent on lawmakers to make sure law enforcement understands what this law does and doesn’t do.

He said senior officers eligible to retire may consider it if they aren’t well-informed about what this bill actually does. O’Leary said it won’t inhibit younger officers from

13

being officers.

O’Leary said he believes the bill will protect good police and protect them from “rogue officers whose actions erode the public trust.”

Police are still largely opposed to the law, though.

It requires them to display their names and badge numbers on the outside of their clothes. It allows cities and towns to create civilian review boards that have subpoena power; requires body and dashboard cameras; and creates a new independent office of inspector general to investigate deadly use-of-force incidents.

“You know us, we have no problem with transparency and accountability,” Andrew Matthews, president of the Connecticut State Police Union, said. “We’ve had body cameras, dashboard cameras, our name

tags and badges being required to be displayed for a long time. We have no problem with training. We have no problem with oversight of our membership.”

However, there are provisions in the bill that the state police don’t like, including qualified immunity.

Matthews said, “This bill has a psychological impact on every police officer.

And they’re worried about not just being disciplined. They’re worried about being terminated. They’re worried about being arrested or prosecuted and sent to prison.”

The qualified immunity portion of the bill doesn’t go in effect until next July. The use-of-force provision doesn’t go into effect until next April.

“It’s always been my intent to work on language tweaks as we implement this bill,” Stafstrom said.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

Haley Endorses

Streicker Streicker, Haley Nikki Haley, one of the national Republican Party’s leading female political figures, has endorsed Margaret Streicker’s campaign for Congress.

Streicker, a Republican, faces incumbent Democrat Rosa DeLauro and Green Party candidate Justin Paglino in the Nov. 3 general election for New Haven’s Third U.S. Congressional District seat.

Streicker’s campaign announced the Haley endorsement in a press release issued Wednesday. Haley, a former South Carolina governor and then Donald Trump’s first U.N. ambassador, is often mentioned as a future presidential candidate.

“As a single mom, a businesswoman who’s created hundreds of jobs for her state, and a community leader, she’s ready for any challenge that comes her way,” the release quoted Haley saying of Streicke

Elm City Lit Fest Channels Spirituality & Resilience

by Rachel Ababio, The ARTS Paper www.newhavenarts.org

“In our culture, a dad can leave,” Shamain McAllister took a deep breath. “It’s only when a mother’s gone that reality sets in— we can create villages, yes, but being able to call your mom is priceless.”

Black representation, motherhood and resilience set the tone Sunday evening, as Elm City LIT Fest premiered its fifth podcast installment, “The Spirituality of Writing Poetry” with New York-based poet Keisha-Gaye Anderson and Connecticut-based poet Antoinette Brim-Bell. Festival founder IfeMichelle Gardin and Co-coordinator Shamain “Sha” McAllister moderated the event over YouTube and Facebook.

The duo manages the Elm City LIT Fest beside Co-coordinator Emilie Mayo. The program is produced with Baobab Tree Studios and multiple community partners.

Sunday’s discussion covered gender roles, racial relations, and mental health in the Black community.

“It’s a happy Sunday to celebrate the literature and literary artists of the African diaspora!” Gardin began. “We’re based in New Haven, Connecticut, but we’re global … as everybody else is in this time of pandemonium.”

“I created this forum because it’s so important for our voices to be heard, so important for our continuation and inspiration—and ladies, we are so full tonight,” she later added.

Modeled in homage to both current Black authors and the Harlem Renaissance, the

Elm City LIT Fest seeks to elevate Black voices across the African diaspora. In the future, the group aims to form an “African Diaspora Artists Collective” in the Greater New Haven region to keep that sentiment alive year-round. The podcast is part of a virtual shift Gardin has made in response to COVID-19.

Sunday, McAllister opened the discussion with a poem about motherhood.

“Miss Keisha, Miss Keisha, Miss Keisha—the poem ‘Stones!’” McAllister opened with a smile towards Anderson. “I can’t read every line on this, but I’ll just read a little bit.” shape thoughts / that forge a new world / from our burning hearts / destroy the illusion / custom fit for our vision / imitations of life / clowning at the risen / stand on the foundation / of my soul / my children / and make me molten / once more / so I can explode / into new worlds / paint colors / your eyes can’t see/let the captives free / let the captives free.

“It took me back in time, and I just felt a beloved spirit wash over me!”

“Thank you! What a compliment!” Anderson replied. “For me, this really is talking about something big—women and their power of creation. Quite literally, we can create children, but I feel that in our role as mothers, we are inventive and creative in certain ways, sort of like making something out of nothing.”

Anderson recalled the matriarchal ingenu-

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ity in her own family. She’d learned from the best, she said: her mother wore a cool guise of blunt practicality throughout her life. It wasn’t insensitivity—the facade hid a deep desire for Anderson to adapt, persevere, and overcome. She’d need all those things as a Black woman in a white man’s world.

As Anderson reminisced, a lone figure filled her mind’s eye—her grandmother.

Anderson only knew her as a feeble, older woman with dementia. Her mother told of her own mother’s ingenuity. She’d been barred from everything but a second-grade education. In turn, her grandmother spent her life as a domestic worker to feed her family.

The household never wanted for anything.

Anderson’s grandmother had sewn her daughter’s wedding dress with no patterns.

She’d sent an infant Anderson fashionable dolls and doll clothes made out of scraps in the mail. She “made it work,” wanting nothing more than for Anderson and her mother to live a better life than she had. That desire inspired Anderson’s book Gathering the Waters, published in 2014. The poetry collection is a current of generational struggle and trauma—the water, while cold and biting, still cleanses Anderson’s soul.

Her 2018 publication Everything is Necessary has a cover adorned with Anderson’s childhood face; that face would overcome the trials and tribulations set upon it. Anderson’s victory and her family’s sacrifices gave her agency. She will publish another book, A Spell for Living, that explores that agency later this year.

“You know, that’s how Black women, we are naturally,” Anderson remarked. “A problem approaches us, and it’s, ‘Okay, well, how are we going to flip this, because this isn’t working, so we need to figure out how to make it work. Throughout time, our ancestors have made it work and have blossomed and excelled with little to nothing at times.”

McAllister launched from Anderson’s assertion onto the feminine virtues found in Brim-Bell’s own work. Brim-Bell began by breaking down These Women You Gave Me, her 2017 poetry collection set in the Garden of Eden. The title represents Adam’s cries to God and the only male voice found in the book. The narrative is an interplay between the perspectives of Eve, a personified Garden of Eden, and the controversial theological figure Lilith, or “first Eve.” Brim-Bell said she was initially nervous about publishing the work due to its subject matter: she felt it would be far too easy for religious institutions to admonish a woman’s perceived heresy. But she believed in the collection, and pressed on.

“A lot of how women see themselves are because these iconic figures are in front of us. They have shaped the patriarchal perspective of what a woman is, and subsequently, we have to fit ourselves into that mold,” Brim-Bell said. “I grew up with this whole notion of how Eve caused The Fall of creation, and it was because she wasn’t submissive or obedient. I wondered what these literary women would say for themselves if they had an opportunity to tell

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

Wifi Gap Worries Waverly As Fall Looms

by KO LYN CHEANG

New Haven I ndependent

Kyasia Parker is a wanderer who loves Justin Bieber music, dancing, and is dyslexic. She likes to sing her math problems and has a hard time focusing when other students are around. But the biggest challenge she faced when she had to take online classes during the pandemic was the unstable internet at home.

Kyasia, who is 7, is one of 23 kids living at the Waverly Townhouses, a publichousing complex on Day Street that is less than half-occupied now as the units are undergoing remodeling. Residents said that the property-provided Wifi is too slow. If you step off the porch, you lose internet connection.

The company that manages Waverly, 365 Management Group, does not allow residents to install a satellite dish, which would help them improve their internet speed, or do anything that would involve drilling a hole in the roof.

New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) students face a fog of uncertainty about the fall, with resumption of either part-time or full-time distance learning a real possibility. Superintendent Iline Tracey has stated a preference for a hybrid model, which will involve some home-based distance learning, although the Board of Education has yet to decide.

Tynicha Drummond, the volunteer youth advisor at Waverly Townhouses, said she worries that students like Kyasia who live

in public housing and those who lack reliable internet access at home will struggle if school moves online again.

The sudden shift to distance learning in March highlighted a “digital divide” amongst New Haven public school students, with 15 percent of 12,500 respondents in an NHPS-administered survey saying they did not have an internet connection at home.

A recently-released school reopening plan makes reference to a “series of activities” to ensure that the school district becomes “one-to-one” with technology, which means that every student gets one computer. Students have questioned the logic of giving them a device when they have no internet.

NHPS Chief Operating Officer said Michael Pinto told the Independent that they are in the process of installing Wifi hotspots on top of 13 public schools in the Hill and Fair Haven neighborhoods, with negotiations for internet providers to give basic internet packages to students underway. Some students may be able to access these Wifi hubs to do distance learning at home, giving them a much-needed reprieve from the internet drought at home.

Ray Dalio’s philanthropic group Dalio Education also announced last Monday a new collaboration with the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities to provide students with internet access and bridge the “digital divide” in the state.

In the Spring, Kyasia’s mom said said,

KO LYN CHEANG PHOTO

Kyasia Parker with aunt and youth advisor, Tynicha Drummond.

Kyasis would sit at the kitchen table from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. to take classes on her mother’s small black laptop. Her mom, Nikiniyia Cooke, noticed that every time she turned on the television, which also runs on Wifi (because cable was too expensive), Kyasia’s online classes would stall.

“It was kind of hard, because it didn’t work,” Kyasia, her braided hair adorned with pastel-colored beads, told the Independent one evening this past week. The second-grader attends Mauro-Sheridan Interdistrict Magnet School.

Five or six times while she was completing an assignment, the website would

hang. It could take anywhere from 15 seconds to 10 minutes to refresh the page, Drummond said. It would disrupt the flow of her online lesson, making it even harder for her to focus.

Drummond noticed that the internet was too slow for her to even get to the next question on her assignments. “She was getting frustrated, hitting the keys a little harder than she needed to,” she said.

Kyasia still managed to turn every single one in.

To boost the property-provided internet, which Nikiniyia said is very slow, she had to buy a Comcast modem, which she installed in the laundry room, to boost the connection. Comcast provides internet service for $9.95 a month to qualifying individuals — those eligible for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, rental assistance assistance, and Medicaid.

But even then, the “affordable highspeed internet” plan isn’t really “highspeed,” Nikiniyia said.

Drummonds said that families she works with found the access provided under the Internet Essentials package far too slow to do home-based learning. “Even if it’s affordable, it’s slow,” said Drummond.

Rising sixth-grader Nazir, who also lives at Waverly, took many of his classes at his cousin’s house instead of at home at Waverly housing project. The internet was better there.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

Part Two of a Four-Part NNPA Exclusive Feature News Series

“Motorsports in America: Do Black Lives Matter?”

Washington, DC — On July 4th, the motorsports world was exploding with action in Austria with Formula One, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway made history by hosting INDYCAR and NASCAR, on the same race weekend.

In the wake of George Floyd’s death, and the civil unrest that ensued, each racing series has been in the news regarding their interest in supporting the abolishment of racial injustices, racism and police brutality by having their respective sport create diversity and inclusion initiatives to welcome a new generation of fans, industry professionals and sponsors.

But a key question remains unanswered: “Given the continuing economic gains and sphere of public influence of professional motorsports in America, how much do Black Lives Matter to the industry?”

The NNPA is the global media partner for the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network (ARDN), an advocacy and marketing partner of the United Nations, and we had an opportunity to interview an African American leader in motorsports, Chris Miles, Global Motorsport Marketing Advisor and Diversity & Inclusion Strategist for ARDN, as well as principal owner of Starting Grid, Inc., to get his opinion on the diversity initiatives happening now in the world of motorsports.

NNPA: Well given your history with INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, you must have been pretty excited with the announcement on Saturday, July 4th regarding their “Race for Equality and Change” initiative?

Chris Miles: With all due respect to your question, no. I would not say I was completely excited at all — but more so frustrated, disappointed and skeptical.

And what I mean by that is, I have been actively pursuing any and all possibilities to align with INDYCAR and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the better part of 20 years.

There has never, ever, been any kind of established diversity program by INDYCAR or IMS, similar to NASCAR’s Driver for Diversity created in 2004.

I have presented diversity motorsport initiatives to all of the Hulman & Co. executive leadership eras that include Tony George, Joie Chitwood, Randy Bernard and Mark Miles.

Speaking of Mark Miles, no relation by the way, he and I met on March 3, 2014, when he was then President & CEO of Hulman & Co., to discuss Starting Grid, Inc.’s interest to develop a motorsport diversity initiative with INDYCAR and IMS, utilizing resources from the $100 million dollars that was to be given to the private familyowned Hulman & Co. for capital improvements to IMS, by Vice President Mike Pence, who in 2013, was the Governor of Indiana.

With the $100 million dollars provided

by Indiana state taxpayers, House Enrolled Act 1544 stated the Hulman & Co. must ensure [that] 15% of the funds are allocated to securing the services of African Amer-

purchase, Roger acquired the INDYCAR series and IMS Productions.

Mark is who announced the “Race for Equality and Change,” on behalf of Penske Entertainment Corp., during the NBC Sports NASCAR broadcast on July 4th.

NNPA: This interview just became more intriguing.

Chris Miles: (Laugh) Sorry to throw you.

NNPA: We note that your story is much more detailed and fuller of important insights. So please continue.

Chris Miles: OK. This is just the madness I live with each and every day, and you were simply unaware, as most people are. So, to have this opportunity to explain the facts with NNPA, openly, is greatly appreciated.

And for the record, I have emails to back up what I just shared with you.

NNPA: Good for you. Let’s keep going.

Black Lives

ican-owned businesses, 8% to womenowned businesses and 3% to veteran- and disabled-owned businesses.

The plan I discussed with Mark showcased a three- to five-year platform that could have utilized the $15 million dollars made available to African Americanowned businesses.

NNPA: And what happened?

Chris Miles: Well, obviously, nothing. He said to me, after I explained the concept and how to fund it, “well that is not the spirit in which the bill was written.” Quote, closed quote.

I responded back with something to the effect of, that may not be the spirit in which the bill was written, but what I presented clearly falls within its guidelines of how the bill is actually written.

NNPA: Come on, he said that?

Chris Miles: I kid you not. I cannot make this stuff up.

Now, I will say this, and this is something Mark does not know. Although, I guess he will find out for the first time if he reads this interview.

Before I met with Mark on March 3, 2014, I met with Adarsh Mantravadi, Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s Economic Policy Director. on December 12, 2013 at 1p in the Indiana Governor’s office Room 206, to ask for an interpretation of House

Matter!

Enrolled Act 1544, also known at the time as House Bill 1544, in order to identify if what I would present to Mark, as an African American-owned entity, would fall under the State’s guidelines stipulated in the bill.

NNPA: And did it?

Chris Miles: 100%!

NNPA: Please continue.

Chris Miles: Yeah, well, welcome to my world.

NNPA: So, what made you think to contact the gentleman who worked for Governor Pence?

Chris Miles: Interestingly enough, I was encouraged to meet with Adarsh by Governor Pence’s Senior Policy Director, Ryan Streeter. I met Ryan at a function on the campus of IUPUI in Indianapolis where he was speaking about the Indianapolis Motorsport District, which was created to support the $100 million dollars that would be given to Hulman & Co. for capital improvements of IMS. Ryan asked what I did for a living, and I shared my background in motorsports, my aspirations with Starting Grid and our diversity efforts. He enthusiastically wanted to exchange contact information, because he said he has something I will be interested in — but he could not elaborate at that time.

16

He said he would be in touch and share with me what he was referencing as soon as he was able.

It turned out to be House Enrolled Act 1544.

It was actually Ryan Streeter who initially told me 15% — or $15 million dollars of the $100 million — was to be allocated to securing services of African Americanowned businesses, and he emphatically encouraged me to get in front of Mark Miles as soon as possible, because Mark was spearheading the “ask” of the money from Governor Pence — and that it would also be a good idea to get in front of Adarsh to have him interpret the bill to make sure I fell within the guidelines.

NNPA: Whoa, wait a second. So, when Mark Miles said to you that that was not the spirit in which the bill was written, you already knew the answer?

Chris Miles: Yep! NNPA: For the record, who is Mark Miles again?

Chris Miles: Mark is now the President & CEO of Penske Entertainment Corporation, owned by billionaire businessman Roger Penske. Penske purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from the Hulman family in November of 2019, having owned the legendary facility since 1945. Within the

Chris Miles: Thank you.

NNPA: You mentioned Willy T. Ribbs a moment ago and that you have had a friendship for over 25 years. Tell me how you met your racing hero?

Chris Miles: To make a long story short, after Willy qualified and raced in the Indy 500 in ’91, I called his parent’s plumbing business in San Jose, California.

NNPA: Just like that?

Chris Miles: What you have to remember is, back in the day, you used to call the operator for phone number assistance. You would give them a name and/or address and the operator would provide you with a phone number, as long as it wasn’t unlisted.

So, I would call to the plumbing business and his mom would always answer.

So, I would ask to speak with Willy, and she would say he’s not here — but I will give him the message. Which she always did. Well this went on for a few times, until one day he finally called me back. My parents happened to be visiting me in Orlando, where I lived at the time, and I could not believe I was now talking to my racing hero Willy T. Ribbs.

He and I talked every once in a while, the remainder of 1991. It wasn’t until 1992 when our calls became a bit more frequent and we arranged to meet face-to-face for the first time in May of 1992 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

NNPA: That is a great story. How often do you talk to him now?

Chris Miles: (Laugh) Nearly every day.

The Inner-City New is a member of NNPA Newswire Service and BlackPressUSA. com

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

Is the Postal Service Slowing Mail Delivery?

offer faster shipping.”

Harris added that USPS priority mail had enabled his company to offer free shipping on all orders. He noted that UPS and FedEx are more expensive options and are much slower.

“For many minority businesses, we have to compete with much larger companies, and we need every advantage that we can get. If I can at least offer free shipping, then it’s one less customer objection that we have to overcome,” Harris said.

Elizabeth Weatherby, who works for the integrated marketing development company, Youtech, recanted a recent move across the country from Massachusetts to Arizona.

She said she sent her security deposit overnight via the post office and expected it to arrive long before her week-long journey.

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent

Already frustrated with late, delayed or lost mail?

Residents who depend on the U.S. Postal Service can expect even more frustration.

As first reported by the Associated Press, mail deliveries could be delayed by a day or more under cost-cutting efforts being imposed by the new postmaster general.

“The plan eliminates overtime for hundreds of thousands of postal workers and says employees must adopt a different mindset to ensure the Postal Service’s survival during the coronavirus pandemic,” The Associated Press reported, citing a confidential memo circulated throughout the postal service.

Late trips will no longer be authorized.

If postal distribution centers are running late, “they will keep the mail for the next day,” Postal Service leaders wrote in a document.

“One aspect of these changes that may be difficult for employees is that — temporarily — we may see mail left behind or mail on the workroom floor or docks,” another document says, the AP reported.

In a livestream interview, Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) told BlackPressUSA that Congress had approved new funding for the U.S. Postal Service and hoped to do more.

Congress authorized a $10 billion loan to the postal service as part of a coronavirus relief package. Still, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin steadfastly has refused

to hand over the money until the USPS turns over much of its operations to him.

Reports of significant problems at the postal service under newly appointed postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, a major Trump donor, has exacerbated claims that the slowdown is intentional.

“The Week,” an online publication, called it “yet another example of how Trump’s authoritarian rot is dissolving the American state – and raising the possibility of interference with the 2020 election.”

Trump has voiced strong opposition to mail-in voting.

Additionally, many said the slowdown impacts minorities more than anyone else.

“As a small business owner who utilizes USPS to ship many of our products to customers, this will significantly affect us,” Calvin Harris, the founder and managing director of Reveille Trading Company, a coffee importing operation that offers specialty coffee and single-origin

by partnering directly with farms around the world.

“It is my opinion that it will disproportionately harm minority businesses.

Black-owned businesses often have harder times securing financing, and we generally secure financing at higher rates than white-owned companies,” Harris opined.

“This means that we run on tighter margins, so many businesses will be forced to either have slower shipping or decrease our already small margins if possible, to

“By the time I had arrived in Arizona, the check was still not delivered to my housing management company. What’s even more strange is that when I called USPS, no matter what number, what office, what location, I could not get through to anyone,” Weatherby stated.

“I was waiting on hold forever and couldn’t even speak with a representative. In-person, I had to go to every single post office in my new town to track down my check. I am lucky my housing management still let me move in. I definitely think this could be due to the Trump Administration slowing down the ability to vote by mail.”

Push Back by Republicans After Trump Floats Idea of Delaying Elections

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

With polls tanking and prognosticators openly stating President Trump is likely to lose to former Vice President Joe Biden on November 3rd, the President floated the idea delaying the November 3rd election.

Trump’s suggestion lines up with several other comments he has made undermining the legitimacy of mail-in ballots. Massive job less since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which the Trump White House has offered no sustained plan to confront, has led to a record-breaking 9 percent loss in gross national product.

Over 150,000 Americans have died during the COVID-19 pandemic. Infection numbers continue to spike in many states.

No comprehensive federal plan for testing, treatment and funding has been put in place by the Trump Administration.

Trump’s suggestion regarding delaying the November 3 election arrives after more evidence.

“Never in the history of the country, through wars, depressions and the Civil

War, have we ever not had a federallyscheduled election on time. We’ll find a way to do that again this November 3rd,” Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell during an interview with WNKY. “I think that’s probably a statement that gets some press attention, but I doubt it gets any serious traction. I think we’ve had elections every November since about 1788, and I expect that will be the case again this year,” Thune said.

Early on July 30, Trump tweeted, “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”

What has been less inaccurate are polls and other indicators leading many to believe Trump is staring into an electoral college and massive popular vote loss.

Many fear he may not recognize the legitimacy of the election but few have a specific answer regarding who will enforce his departure if he loses which is followed

by a formal change of power at noon on January 20, 2001.

“It has become increasingly clear, at least to me, that the majority of Republicans in Congress and in the White House are an existential threat to this Republic,” wrote Princeton professor Eddie Glaude on July 30.

“Over the past 20 years there’s been .00006% cases of fraud in all mail-in ballots cast in presidential elections. Trump wants to delay the election because he knows he has a .00006% chance of winning,” wrote Ron Perlman on social media.

“The inability to imagine Donald Trump has always been one of Trump’s greatest strengths,” said Republican strategist Stuart Stevens who is part of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project.

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

17

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

Imogene McDaniel Harris, November 20, 1931 – July 22, 2020 IN MEMORIAM: NNPA Salutes the Memory and Legacy of Publisher Imogene McDaniel Harris Washington, DC, August 1, 2020: The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) expresses sincere condolences to the family of Mrs. Imogene McDaniel Harris (R.I.P.), the distinguished publisher of the Gary INFO Newspaper (founded in 1963) who passed on July 22, 2020.

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., President and CEO of the NNPA stated, “I have personally known the Harris family in Gary, Indiana for decades. Today, our extended NNPA families of Black-owned newspapers across the nation pause to salute the outstanding memory and legacy of NNPA publisher Imogene Harris. We pledge to keep her spirit alive as we rededicate to continue to sustain the Black Press of America during these challenging times.

Newspaper publisher, educator, community activist, matriarch Imogene Harris, 88, of Gary, Indiana, completed her earthly assignment Wednesday, July 22, 2020 after a lingering illness.

Imogene was born in the city she devoted a lifetime of love to: Gary, Indiana, on November 20, 1931, the child of Lohney L. and Geneva Scott McDaniel. She grad-

uated from Gary Roosevelt High School and briefly attended Hampton Institute (University) in Hampton, Virginia. Imogene continued on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University, in Bloomington, Indiana.

Imogene joined in nuptial bliss with her soulmate James Templeton (J.T.) Harris, Jr. on September 1, 1951. Their blessed union lasted 51-years until J.T.’s transition to glory in 2001.

Imogene taught in the Gary Public School System for many years, first, at Froebel School, followed by Norton Elementary School as a third-grade teacher, and then she served as Head Librarian at Lincoln Elementary School.

Imogene’s calling in life was partnering with J.T. to run the family businesses – Harris Printing Company (established in the 1950s) and Gary INFO Newspaper (founded in 1963). They diligently produced a publication that became the voice of African Americans throughout Northwest Indiana for more than four decades.

Imogene was a compassionate mentor, sage, and friend to people of all ages.

Harris Printing Company and Gary INFO

Imogene McDaniel Harris

generated opportunities that contributed to the growth of existing Black businesses as well as the aspirations of budding entrepreneurs, writers, photographers, and printers.

From newspaper boys and girls trying

to earn pocket change, to eventual affluent and successful individuals around the nation, “The Shop,” as Info’s midtown location was affectionately known, was more than a place for workers to hone their craft, it was a launching pad for life.

A lifelong resident of Gary, Imogene was a member of Delaney Memorial United Methodist Church which is now Christ Memorial Methodist Church.

Memberships included the Gary branch NAACP, the Gary Urban League Guild, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Betu Nu Chapter (1962). Imogene was recognized by the NNPA and maintained a collegial relationship with the founding members of the (NNPA) that was founded in 1940.

Harris was also a founding member of the Lake County Association of Black Communicators.

Her many lifetime accolades included the Drum Major Award presented to her and J.T. by the Gary Frontiers Service Club, for their commitment to eliminate inequality, prejudice, and racism. They also proudly received a Congressional Record from the Hon. Indiana State Representative Peter J. Visclosky in 1994 for

their commitment to instill equality and justice throughout the City of Gary.

Imogene will be fondly remembered by all for her dedication to excellence, her deep compassion, unswerving principles, thoughtful leadership, devotion to family and community, and loyal friendship.

Imogene is survived by two loving and devoted daughters Temple-Jene Harris Fleming (Joseph) and Gaylyn Harris. The pride of her heart, her five grandchildren, Lavon Robin Fleming, Lateefah Shariene Fleming, Joseph Harris Fleming, and Terilyn Marshelle Fleming; greatgrandson Nathaniel Joseph Williams; sister-in-law Emma Harris (Lorenzo), godchildren Calvin, Daresia and Cheryl Pruitt, committed goddaughter Djuana Anderson, and a host of nieces, nephews, and friends. Imogene is preceded in death by her parents and her sister Levevian McDaniel Benton (Norman).

The family will hold a Memorial Service to remember the life of Imogene at a future date where her transition will truly be celebrated. Arrangements are being handled by Guy & Allen Funeral Home in Gary, IN.

NFL Chief Doctor Says Teams, Players Must Be Educated About Risks of COVID

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior Correspondent

Following a disastrous re-opening by Major League Baseball, where as many as 17 Miami Marlins players and personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 forcing the postponement of several games, the National Football League remains cautiously optimistic as training camps open.

“It’s about education and understanding,” NFL Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills told BlackPressUSA. “I think people are trying to be really thoughtful about this, and I think people do look at risk and risk mitigation in dif-

ferent ways. But I feel like it’s the right thing to do, to try to learn to live with this virus.”

A big part of the challenge remains findings ways to carry on safely, Sills agreed.

This week the heavy contact sport reopened camps, but officials have decided not to hold traditional pre-season games to help keep risks at a minimum. All players are scheduled to report by August 4, but as many as 22 already have opted out of the 2020 season.

The season is scheduled to kick-off on Thursday, September 10.

“Players and coaches [and other personnel] have to make the best decisions for

them,” Sills stated. The league announced that it has put in place safety measures that include increased sanitizing. Social distancing would be enforcement, including in player treatment rooms, weight rooms, mealtime, and on the playing field.

Reportedly, training camps are equipped with proximity tracking devices that will alert players or staff when they are too close to one other. The device also collects data, making contact tracing easier if someone does become infected with the coronavirus.

NFL players will live in and travel from their own homes, a contrast to the National Basketball Association, which has isolated all teams and personnel at one

location in Orlando, Florida.

“If they’re around each other each day, they’re going to share risk. They also share a responsibility to each other, which means that they’re each making good choices when they’re away from the facility,” Dr. Sills said.

“We’ve tracked the CDC risk guidelines, made decisions on which ones put our players at high risk, and players can rely on those risk factors to make decisions about whether they’re going to play or not,” he added.

Dr. Sills conceded that much is still unknown about the basics of COVID-19, so everyone has “to make the best decision for themselves.”

Relearning: What Does Financial Freedom Look Like Today?

The road to recovery from this crisis is full of unexpected twists, turns, and financial challenges. As you start having new questions, Wells Fargo is here to provide you with information to help you manage your finances in today’s world and develop a better picture of your financial reality.

How might consolidating my debt help lower my monthly payments?

Debt consolidation may be a good option if you’re trying to pay off higherinterest loans and credit cards while managing multiple payments. Paying off debt with a new lower-interest loan and a single monthly payment may help you

lower your overall monthly expenses and create more flexibility in your budget.

How can I start to rebuild my savings?

While the effects of the ongoing health crisis may have drastically changed your budget, it is possible to get back on track.

Creating and maintaining a savings plan that matches your current financial situation may be the best way to build towards the future. If you don’t have 3-6 months of cash savings to fall back on, now is the time to redirect your attention to creating a cushion for yourself. Start by taking a look at your expenses to determine what’s necessary and what you may be able to cut back on.

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How should I approach saving for retirement in today’s climate?

Saving for the future, especially retirement, is a well-known best practice for building financial stability. When developing your retirement savings plan it’s best to base your investment decisions on when you’ll need access to your money.

Generally, it’s best not to pull investments when the market is down. If you’ve already begun investing in a retirement account think carefully about whether or not it’s the right time to withdraw from it.

Is now a good time to invest?

During an economic downturn there are often unique opportunities for high-risk

and potentially high-reward investments.

If you’re feeling confident about your financial picture (including your savings and debt repayment plan) and would like to take advantage of such opportunities, now might be a good time to meet with a financial advisor for guidance. However, if you are generally risk-adverse, close to retirement, or have limited savings accrued, now may not be the right time to take on new investments.

Wells Fargo is with you as you embark on your road to recovery. To learn more about our COVID-19 relief efforts visit wellsfargo.com/heretohelp. © 2020 Wells Fargo Bank N.A. all rights reserved. Member FDIC.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

FAXON LAW NEW HAVEN ROAD RACE SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 - SEPTEMBER 7, 2020

VIRTUALÂ RACES HALF MARATHON | RELAY | 20K | 5K | KIDS FUN RUN

T-shirt and race bib to all participants!

New Haven kids run free in the fun run courtesy of Town Fair Tire.

WWW.NEWHAVENROADRACE.ORG

19

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Listing: Customer Retail Assistant

WATER Maintainer II

Performs tasks required in the maintenance, installation, repair and construction of roadways, services, hydrants, and structures relating to facilities, lines and equipment of the water system. Requires at least three (3) years employment as a Maintainer in the Water Division or in construction involving the installation maintenance of pipe lines related equipment OR two (2) years training in VALENTINAand MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE-andAPPLICATIONS AVAILABLE plumbing plus one (1) year of employment as a Maintainer in the Water System OR an equivalent combination and training. offers a competitive pay rate of $24.43 - $29.66 HOME INC,ofonexperience behalf of Columbus HouseThe andTown the New Haven Housing Authority, perishour plus an excellent fringe benefit package.

Applications or resumes accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this devel-will be accepted until August 25,located 2020 at(or108 theFrank dateStreet, of receipt of the 50th application) at the following address: Human opment New Haven.

Maximum income limitations apResources Department,will Town of Wallingford, 45TO South St., Wallingford, ply. Pre-applications be available from 9AM 5PMMain beginning Monday Ju;yCT 06492, (203) 2942080.

294-2084.

25, Fax: 2016 (203) and ending when EOE sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preTown of Bloomfield applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Lead Building Maintainer - Facilities Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

Petroleum Company has an immediate full time opening. Excellent customer service skills a must.

Requirements include: answering billing questions, assisting in sales calls received, scheduling service calls as well as assisting in collections and account set ups. Previous petroleum experience and/ or experience in a very busy office environment a plus. Applicant to also perform administrative/ clerical tasks as assigned. Please send resume to: H.R. Manager, Confidential, P O Box 388, Guil-

NOTICE

ford CT 06437.

********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**********

CITY OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT - REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Q-House Launch and Management RFP # 2020-07-1340

Full Time - Benefited $31.26 hourly NOTICIA

RFP due date: Tuesday September 29, 2020 at 11:00 AM EST.

Pre-employment drug testing.

For VIVIENDAS more details, visit ourPRE-SOLICITUDES website – www.bloomfieldct.org VALENTINA MACRI DE ALQUILER DISPONIBLES

DOT Certified Welder

RFP can be downloaded at https://newhavenct.bonfirehub.com/portal/?tab=login Michael V. Fumiatti Purchasing Agent

DELIVERY PERSON

HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo Applicants have a Street, minimum of 3 Seyears ubicado en lamust calle 109 Frank New Haven. aplicanorlimitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 equivalent experience as aestarán CT DOT Certified Welder. julio, 2016 hasta cuando seto hanlreopell@cjfucci.com recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes Please email resumes or fax(aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas deattention HOME INC. LasReopell. pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición #203-468-6256 Lee llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse C.J. Fucci, Inc. is an affirmative action/equal oppora las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT Delivery 06510 .Needed One/Two Day a Week, Part Time

tunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

NEEDED

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Request for Proposals

Request for Proposals for Outside General Counsel Legal Services for Elm City Communities/Housing Authority of The City of New Haven, Including The Glendower Group, Inc. and Its Various Affiliates and 360 Management Group Company

Must Have your Own Vehicle If Interested call

(203) 387-0354

The Housing Authority of the City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Request for Proposals for Outside General Counsel Legal Services for Elm City Communities/Housing Authority of The City of New Haven, Including The Glendower Group, Inc. Invitation to Bid: nd and Its Various Affiliates and 360 Management Group Company.

2 Notice A complete copy of the requirements may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on Monday, July 27, 2020 at 3:00PM Old Saybrook, CT

NEW HAVEN Electric

242-258 Fairmont Ave

General Line Foreman – The Town of Wallingford Electric Division is seeking a highly skilled supervisor Townhouse, 1.5skills BA,to3BR, level , 1BA with strong2BR administrative and leadership oversee1the utility’s overhead and underground line installation, repair and maintenancenew functions.

The utility a 50+ square mile distribution All new apartments, appliances, new serves carpet,25,000 closecustomers to I-91 & in I-95 area with a peak demand of 130 near MW.bus Thestop position requires center an A.S. degree in electrical, civil, or mechanical highways, & shopping (4 Buildings, 17 Units) engineering plus eight (8) years of progressive experience in the construction, maintenance, and operation of Pet under 40lbdistribution allowed. Interested contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 utility-grade electric facilities,parties or an equivalent combination of education and qualifying experi- Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project ence substituting on a year-for-year basis. One (1) year experience as a supervisor is preferred. Must possess under its instrumentality Baldwin Holdings, Inc. is requesting sealed bids for Re-Construction of and maintain a valid Motor Vehicle Operator License. Salary: $92,405 - $118,227 plus an excellent fringe CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s ThreeFramed, – Three FamilySelective Homes Demolition, located at Site-work, 344-346, Cast350-352, 354-356 Hanover St. A complete set New Construction, Wood Housing, benefit package. to:month Department of Human Town of Wallingford, Certificate Program.Apply This is a 10 program designed to assistResources, in the intellectual formation of Candidates 45 South Main Street, of the plans and technical specifications will be available on July 27, 2020. To obtain a copy of the in response toCT the 06492.

Church’s Phone Ministry needs.

The294-2080; cost is $125. Classes Saturday, AugustThe 20, 2016 1:30- date will be the date the in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Wallingford, #: (203) Fax #: start (203) 294-2084. closing 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. solicitation you must send your request to bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicita50th application or resume is received or September 2020 whichever occurs first. EOE Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of2, Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport

CITY OF MILFORD St. New Haven, CT

tion number and title on the subject line. A MANDATORY pre-bid conference will be held at 344

Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

Hanover St., Bridgeport, CT 06604 on August 11, 2020 @ 11:00 a.m., submitting a bid for the project This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements. without attending conference is not in the best interest of the Offeror. Additional questions should be

Seeking qualified condidates to fill numerous vacancies to include, Engineer Technician, Secretary and more. For information and detailed application instructions, visit www.ci.milford.ct.us Click on SERVICES, JOBS and JOB TITLE.

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunities.org no later than August 18, 2020 @ 3:00 p.m. Answers to the questions will August be posted on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org. All bids must Bidall Extended, Due Date: 5, 2016 be received mailed or hand

by August 27, 2020 @ 10:00 a.m., to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, AnticipatedbyStart: August 15, delivered 2016 Director of Procurement, 150 Highland Ave, Project documents available via ftp link below: 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.

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Construction Faxindividual or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com PROPERTY MANAGER TAX CREDIT F/T - Bristol Housing Authority is seeking an Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, operator and teamster HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses with working knowledge of the general management of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, 06483 trades for a heavy outside work CT statewide.

Reliable personal transportation and a valid A HUD pre-bidPrograms. conferencePreferred will be held at the Housing Authority 28 Smith and at least 3 years’ experience asOffice tax credit property manager and posAA/EEO EMPLOYER drivers license required. To apply please call (860) 621-1720 or send resume to: Personsess LIHTC certification.

Management administrative experience Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on and Wednesday, July 20, 2016. helpful. Experience in contract negotiation, budget preparation, fiscal oversight, analyzing and managing a property portfolio is bennel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410. eficial.

Salary will commensurate with experience.

Excellent benefit package.

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Of-Send resume and references by August 14, 2020 to Mitzy Rowe, Chief Executive Officer, Bristol Housing Authority, 164 Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

Jerome Avenue, Bristol, CT 06010. The Bristol Housing Authority is an equal opportunity employer.

Drug Free Workforce

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY

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

20

THE INNER-CITY - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020 INNER-CITYNEWS NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Listing: Commercial Driver

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Full time Class A driver for petroleum deliveries for nights Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT and weekends. Previous experience required. Competitive We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits wage, 401(k) and benefits. Send resume to: HR Manager, VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Contact: Tom Dunay P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437.

Phone: 243-2300 HOME INC, on behalf of860Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer********** is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develEmail: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com opment& located at 108 Frank Street, Haven. Maximum Women Minority Applicants are New encouraged to apply income limitations apply.Affirmative Pre-applications willEqual be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y Action/ Opportunity Employer 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon re-Field Operations quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preManager - Facilities Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Incoffices seeks: applications must be returned to HOME INC’s at 171 Orange Street, Third Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing Full Time - Benefited Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

NOW ACCEPTING PRE-APPLICATIONS FOR THE HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER PROGRAM (Rental Assistance) Fairfield Housing Authority 15 Pine Tree Lane, Fairfield CT

NOTICE

Town of Bloomfield

and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

$75,909 - $117,166 Pre-employment drug testing.

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300 For more details, visit our website – www.

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES Email: rick.toubloomfieldct.org signant@garrityasphalt.com

NOTICIA

HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply aceptando pre-solicitudes estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo Affirmative Action/ para Equal Opportunity Employer

Town of Bloomfield

ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzandoVehicle Martes 25 Mechanic Technician julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) Full Time - Benefited en lasTrailer oficinasDriver de HOME INC. & Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas Tractor for Heavy Highway Construction Equip- por correo a petición llamando HOME INCLicense, al 203-562-4663 duranterecord, esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse ment.

Must ahave a CDL clean driving capable of $30.49 hourly with CDL or $29.59 hourly a las oficinas de equipment; HOME INCbe enwilling 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, operating heavy to travel throughout theNew Haven , CT 06510 . without CDL Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

Union Company seeks:

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply

Pre-employment drug testing.

For more details, visit our website – www. bloomfieldct.org

HELP WANTED:

Town of Bloomfield

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

NEW HAVEN

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

Preliminary Applications will be accepted beginning on 07/31/2020 AND ENDS with a postmark date of 08/13/2020. Pre-Applications received after the end date as postmarked will be automatically rejected. Pre-Applications are to be mailed only and sent to the Fairfield Housing Authority’s (FHA) offices - 15 Pine Tree Lane, Fairfield, CT 06825.

Applicants will need to meet the income requirements based on family size for 80% of Area Median Income, or less. Preliminary Applications will be received during the period noted above and placement on the wait list will be made through the random selection method, once the period has ended. The maximum number of pre-applications to be placed on the wait list is two hundred (200). Pre-Applications will not be accepted by hand-delivery, facsimile, email or any other electronic transmission.

80% of Area Median Income

1 Person max income $54,950

2 Person max income $62,800 3 Person max income $70,650 4 Person max income $78,500

5 Person max income $84,800 6 Person max income $91,100 7 Person max income $97,350 8 Person max income $103,650

Pre-Applications will be provided to any & all interested persons. Individuals or families may receive a hard copy of the pre-application by contacting the FHA offices at 203-366-6578 and we will mail out an application to you or online at http:// millennium-realty.com/.

For Additional Information Contact Carol Martin: Phone: (203)366-6578 TRS/TDD: (800) 842-9710

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

Ducci Electrical Contractors, Inc. seeks a Diversity Compliance Man-

SAYEBROOKE agerVILLAGE to oversee and implement the company’s Diversity Policy and Program. apartments, new appliances, close to I-91 & I-95 Finance Director Large All CTnew guardrail company lookingnew for carpet, Laborer/ Duties Old Saybrook, CTwill include guidance for all diversity programs, reviewing bid docunear bus stop & shopping Driver with validhighways, CT CDL Class A license and ablecenter to managing supplier outreach efforts, reviewing contracts and monitoring Full Time - Benefited (4 Buildings,ments, 17 Units) get a medical Must Interested be able to passcontact a drug test@ 860-985-8258 DBE, MWBE, SBE goals. Send resume to Ducci Electrical Contractors, 74 Scott Pet undercard.

40lb allowed. parties Maria $96,755 - $149,345 Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project and physical. Compensation based on experience.

Swamp Rd. Farmington, CT 06032 ATTN: Jackie Ducci OR via e-mail to jaPre-employment drug testing. For more details, visit our Email resume to dmastracchio@atlasoutdoor.com ducci@duccielectrical.com; EOE/M/F/D/V website – www.bloomfieldct.org CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastAA/EOE Certificate M-F Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

LEGAL NOTICE of TOWN OF PORTLAND, CT

Town of Portland has amended its Citizen Participation Plan for the purpose of informing the public about its intent to apply for CDBG, Covid-19 funding.

For a copy of SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY the amended Plan go to www.portlandct.org.

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour St. New Haven, CT

until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 for CITY ConcreteCOMMUNITIES Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the ELM Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Request for Proposals

Housing Choice Voucher (Section Based Assistance Program to A pre-bid conference will be held8)atProjectthe Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Support the Development of Affordable Housing

Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is currently seekdocuments areChoice available from(Section the Seymour Housing ingBidding Proposals for Housing Voucher 8) ProjectBased Authority Assistance OfProgram Support Development Affordable Housing.

A complete copy of the fice,to28 Smiththe Street, Seymour,ofCT 06483 (203) 888-4579. requirement may be obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to cobblestonesystems.com/gateway

reduce the scope of the on project to reflect and to waive any beginning Monday, Julyavailable 13, 2020funding, at 3:00PM. informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, CITY OF MILFORD Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Seeking qualified condidates to fill numerous vacancies to include, Engineer Centrally Located Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

Technician, Public Health Nurse and more. For information and detailed applicaConstruction Company This contract is subject to state set-aside tion and instructions, contract compliance requirements. visit WWW.ci.milford.ct.us Click on SERVICES, JOBS and JOB

in Connecticut has positions available TITLE. for experienced project managers, Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 laborers and truck drivers.

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 This company is an Affirmative Action /

ROTHA Contracting Company

Project documents Equal Opportunity Employer M/F. Females and

available via ftp link below: ROTHA Contracting Company, Inc. is a Union contractor that has various job openings Minorities are encouraged to apply. http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage throughout the year for Bricklayers, Carpenters, Laborers, and Operating Engineers. We Please fax resume to ATTN: Mike to

have contracts with the following Unions: Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com

HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran,· United S/W/MBEBrotherhood & Section 3 Certified Businessesand Joiners of America, New England Regional Counof Carpenters Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 cil of Carpenters Locals 24, 43 and 210 QSR STEELHaynes CORPORATION AA/EEO EMPLOYER

International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers AFL-CIO Local 1

860-669-7004.

APPLY NOW!

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

21

· Connecticut Laborers’ District Council of Laborers’ International Union of North America, AFL-CIO

· International Union of Operating Engineers Local 478 and its Branches AFL-CIO

Please contact your Union Local to apply for open positions. ROTHA Contracting Company, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer and welcome minorities, woman, and trainees in our workplace.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

The Work Must be Done: Women of Color and the Right to Vote

The New Haven Museum

The free program will be held via Zoom in conjunction with NHM on Wednesday August 26, 2020, from 1 to 3 p.m. Register cthistsoc.yapsody.com August 26 is Women’s Equality Day, commemorating the day on which the 19th Amendment was made law. While celebrating the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote this year, the New Haven Museum (NHM) recognizes that women of color remained largely disenfranchised despite passage of the 19th Amendment. In fact, it was not until the Voting Rights Act was passed on August 6, 1965, that African American women were able to vote. The Connecticut Historical Society (CHS) will present exciting new research on the women of color who worked for women’s suffrage and advanced voting rights in, “The Work Must be Done: Women of Color and the Right to Vote.” The free program will be held via Zoom in conjunction with NHM on Wednesday August 26, 2020, from 1 to 3 p.m. Register cthistsoc.yapsody.com Inspired by the words of notable African American reformer and political activist, Mary Townsend Seymour, “The work must be done,” the program includes conversation on the importance of having a history that is inclusive. Ilene Frank, CHS chief curator, Karen Li Miller, CHS research historian, and Professor Brittney Yancy of Goodwin University will raise up the stories of women such as Seymour, Rose Payton, Minnie Glover, Sarah Brown Flemming, and others.

Participants will gain a broader understanding of the role women of color played in the women’s suffrage movement and of the restrictions, stemming from systemic racism, that limited women of color from

Beatrice Saxon

Linna Saunders

being more officially involved in the movement, notes Frank. “We also hope to inspire professional historians, historical societies and community historians to engage in history research on this topic.”

Franks adds that the presenting historians themselves have been gaining additional insight as they offer this presentation at locations around the state. “We’ve had feedback from participants who have identified other places where the research

team can look, including church archives, and key individuals to track down.”

“The Work Must be Done: Women of Color and the Right to Vote” was made possible with support from Connecticut Humanities.

About Connecticut Historical Society A private, nonprofit, educational organization established in 1825, the Connecticut Historical Society is the state’s official historical society and one of the oldest in the nation. Located at One Elizabeth Street in Hartford, the CHS houses a museum, library, and the Edgar F. Waterman Research Center that are open to

the public and funded by private contributions. The CHS’s collection includes more than four million manuscripts, graphics, books, artifacts, and other historical materials accessible at our campus and on loan at other organizations. The CHS collection, programs and exhibits help Connecticut residents connect with each other, have conversations that shape our communities, and make informed decisions based on our past and present.

About the New Haven Museum The New Haven Museum has been collecting, preserving and interpreting the history and heritage of Greater New Ha-

ven since its inception as the New Haven Colony Historical Society in 1862. Located in downtown New Haven at 114 Whitney Avenue, the Museum brings more than 375 years of New Haven history to life through its collections, exhibitions, programs and outreach. As a designated Blue Star Museum, the New Haven Museum offers the nation’s active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve, free admission from Memorial Day through Labor Day. For more information visit www.newhavenmuseum.org or Facebook.com/NewHavenMuseum or call 203-562-4183.

With 150,000 Dead and Polls in Free Fall, Trump Seeks a Culture War

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

With less than 100 days left until Election Day, President Donald Trump has increased his references to uncertainty around the election results.

Trump responded, “I have to see” after journalist Chris Wallace asked him if he would respect the results of the 2020 election. Trump has disparaged mail-in voting at a time when it looks as if in person voting may not be possible because of COVID-19.

“If Trump does try to hang on to a presidency he’s lost. However, he can’t actually do very much all by himself. Running the executive branch requires help.

Thankfully, there are laws that stop others from using the authorities of the executive branch on behalf of anyone other than the legitimate president,” read an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

“He’s gonna run a racially-tinged cam-

(Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

paign unlike anything we have seen before, like George Wallace,” said Stuart Stevens of The Lincoln Project on July 26 during a television appearance.

“He’s always over promised and underdelivered. That’s what he’s done his entire life,” Stevens added on July 26.

Trump’s poll numbers indicate he will have an uphill battle defeating Joe Biden.

In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost the electoral college but won the popular vote over Trump by 2.8 million votes. Trump’s poll numbers in vital battleground states are in freefall and he continues to ratchet up conflict in the U.S. in what appears to be an attempt to drive bring out Republican base voters.

A Fox News poll from July 23 showed

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Biden was ahead of Trump in Michigan 49% – 40%, in Pennsylvania 50% to 39% and in Minnesota 51% to 38%. On July 26, with 100 days until the election, President Trump was behind in CNN’s polls conducted in Arizona, Florida and Michigan.

In a tumultuous year dominated by a deadly pandemic that has taken the lives

of over 150,000 people and created massive job loss and economic uncertainty, Trump is slowly creating an environment of hostility and suspicion around the coming election. States are now grappling with the question of in-person voting vs. mail in ballots. Recent primary day controversies in Georgia and Kentucky have alarmed voting rights advocates.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist for NNPA and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is also a political strategist as Principal of Win Digital Media LLC. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke A Fox News poll from July 23 showed Biden was ahead of Trump in Michigan 49% - 40%, in Pennsylvania 50% to 39% and in Minnesota 51% to 38%. On July 26, with 100 days until the election, President Trump was behind in CNN’s polls conducted in Arizona, Florida and Michigan.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

Stay at least

SIX FEET from others.

Social Distancing is simple and can help you and others stay safe.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - August 05, 2020 - August 11, 2020

Inaction is not an option.

Complete the 2020 Census to shape the next ten years for your community.

The power to change your community is in your hands. We can help inform funding every year for the next ten years for public services like healthcare, childcare programs, public transportation, schools, and job assistance. And our responses determine how many seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives. But time is running out, so complete the census today online, by phone, or by mail.

Complete the census today at:

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