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INNER-CITY

Endorsements Collide At Polls

by LAURA GLESBY and THOMAS BREEN

After finishing up her shift at a Yale dining hall, Pamela Dear headed straight to Lincoln-Bassett School to vote.

As she neared the entrance, she was stopped by two advocates for opposing state representative campaigns.

“Vote for Abdul. He’s on Row C,” said Michael Matovu. “He has the endorsement of current Representative Robyn Porter!”

“This is Steve Winter,” interjected Barbara Vereen. “He’s been endorsed by the unions. You’ve seen him around with his dog!”

Dear accepted flyers from them both, without letting on who she would be voting for, and then headed inside the school cafeteria to cast her ballot.

Dear was part of a gradual trickle of voters entering and exiting LincolnBassett on Tuesday afternoon to vote in the Democratic primary for the 94th Assembly District’s state representative. Incumbent Robyn Porter has represented the district, which encompasses parts of northern New Haven and southern Hamden, for 10 years.

She decided this year not to run again, prompting three candidates to seek out the open seat: Steve Winter, a former alder and current city sustainability director in New Haven; Abdul Osmanu, a Hamden council member and Democratic Socialists of America activist; and Tarolyn Moore, a pastor and school family resource center coordinator.

Matovu, Osmanu’s campaign field director, and Vereen, a Yale union steward and ward co-chair representing Newhallville on New Haven’s Democratic Town Committee, frequently pitched voters side-by-side on Tuesday.

As Vereen framed Winter as a familiar face who received the Democratic Party’s endorsement, Matovu pitched Osmanu as the candidate trying to bring new insurgent energy to the political establishment.

Winter “has all these endorsements from Democrats who don’t live in this district,” Matovu told one voter. Osmanu, meanwhile, has the support of State Rep. Porter the very person he is vying to replace.

(Winter has been endorsed by a number of city and state politicians who reside outside of the district, such as State Sen. Martin Looney and Mayor Justin

Elicker, alongside those who do live in the district, such as State Sen. Gary Winfield and Alder Brittiany MaberyNiblack.)

The Democratic Party, Matovu argued, doesn’t currently maintain strong enough roots in Newhallville.

“I’m part of the Democratic Party, and I live in this district,” Vereen countered.

She argued that Winter’s relationships with politicians outside of the neighborhood are an asset. “You can’t win nothing with just one person,” she said. Vereen and Matovu were soon joined by two Democrats who don’t live in the district but retain strong family ties to the neighborhood: former mayoral candidate Shafiq Abdussabur, who came to show support for Osmanu, and Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers, who came to support Winter.

“I’m inspired by his leadership,” Abdussabur said of Osmanu, calling the candidate a “young and bright leader.”

Walker-Myers expressed support for Winter because of her experience working with him on the Board of Alders. “I’ve seen how hard he works,” she said. “Steve will call you back. If he doesn’t know the answer, he’ll try to get it to you.”

Meanwhile, candidate Tarolyn Moore manned a table of her own alongside

supporters, including her mom.

“We’re on opposite teams,” she said of Osmanu and Winter, “but we’re enjoying each other.” She pledged to work with the other candidates no matter who wins the race, noting, “There’s a lot of things that this community needs.”

When Dear emerged from the polling place, she shared that she had cast her ballot for Winter.

She doesn’t personally know him, she said, but she’s seen him around and trusts that he cares about the community. The Yale unions’ endorsement also helped tipped the scale in his favor, she added.

Dear said she’s never missed an election since she turned 18 years old. “My mother always made us,” she said, quoting: “You’re an adult, you have to stand up for yourself.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Beaver Hills Alder Brian Wingate stood outside of the Wexler Grant School polling place, stumping for his former aldermanic colleague, Winter.

Working with Winter on the Board of Alders, Wingate said, he saw firsthand his commitment to promoting affordable housing and curbing climate change.

“I’ve seen Steve really do his homework,” Wingate said, and build relationships with fellow local legislators and constituents across his district. That’s what New Haven needs in the state House of Representatives, he said, and that’s why he’s supporting Winter. A few dozen feet away, Jaylen Daniels stood under a tent supporting his preferred candidate for the 94th General Assembly district, Abdul Osmanu.

Daniels said he’s a member of a group called the Connecticut Young Democrats, which has endorsed Osmanu’s run.

An Ansonia resident himself, Daniels said he’s been inspired by Osmanu’s tenure on the Hamden town council and his support for progressive policies around renters’ rights, including stronger Fair Rent Commissions and tenants’ unions.

Daniels said he also looked to Osmanu’s run for Hamden elected office at the age of 19 as providing a model for other young Democrats interested in serving in elected office. Daniels, who just turned 25, said he ran for alder in Ansonia several years ago and lost by only a few dozen votes.

He credited Osmanu’s political work so far as “galvanizing” him and other young progressives across Connecticut to run for office.

LAURA GLESBY PHOTO Civically-engaged students at Harris & Tucker meet Osmanu-supporting Shafiq Abdussabur and Winter-supporting Barbara Vereen.

Tarolyn Moore with her mom, Annette Powell.

Board of Alders President Tyisha Walker-Myers meets local educator Kim Harris' students, many of whom are familiar faces at the Ward 20 polling place.

The new haven independent

City Readies For 3rd Black Wall Street

by THOMAS BREEN

A fashion show, film festival, investing summit, and 200-vendor fair on the Green are all on tap for this year’s third annual Black Wall Street – an example of city staff and local entrepreneurs teaming up to “turn the hate from the past into hope for the future.”

That latter quote was how accomplished local business leader and Black economic development booster Erik Clemons described this year’s coming festival, which was the subject of a crowded and celebratory press conference Wednesday afternoon on the second floor of City Hall.

The festival’s name pays tribute to the Black Wall Street of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma – a prosperous, self-sufficient Black community that in May 1921 saw hundreds of residents killed and millions of dollars worth of property damage in one of the worst anti-Black racial massacres in this nation’s history.

As city arts director Adriane Jefferson and The Breed Entertainment Co-Founders Aaron Rogers and Rashad Johnson said, this year’s fest will take place on the Green on Saturday, Aug. 17 from 12 to 8 p.m. That’s when an estimated 210 Black vendors everyone from auto detailers to “holistic wellness” business owners will set up shop, promote their work, and meet new customers and fellow entrepreneurs.

Jefferson said that New Haven’s Black Wall Street has grown from 35 vendors in 2022 to 150 last year to more than 200 this year. “We’re hoping that the attendance will continue to grow” as well, she said, noting that several thousand people turned up for last year’s fest. “This is not just a festival. It is a movement.”

Rogers and Johnson, meanwhile, noted that, for the first time this year, Black Wall Street is not just one day, but a whole week’s worth of events. Starting on Monday, Aug. 12, there will be an artist showcase at the Cambria Hotel, and then film screenings at Dixwell Plaza, and then a fashion show at The District, and then an Economic Empowerment Summit at City Hall, and more.

“The ancestors are proud. As your elder, I’m proud,” Stetson Librarian Diane Brown said, holding back tears, as she thanked Jefferson, Rogers, and Johnson for their work. “I don’t see much around me that gives me hope,” she added. “This gives me hope.”

Brown was so moved by the festival’s existence and growth that, before she took the microphone, she turned around, shook Mayor Justin Elicker’s hand, and gave him a hug. “Thank you,” she said.

Clemons commended the festival’s organizers while putting it in the context of the 1921 massacre.

“You all have turned a massacre into a festival,” he said. He praised the event as “more than the coming together of Black businesses in the marketplace.” It’s

also “about the celebration of Black selfdetermination.”

He continued: “It’s about Black people enduring all things as we realize the world

we dreamed about” while inviting in people of all cultures and backgrounds and heritages as well.

“I’m so looking forward to being in

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community with you,” he said to Jefferson and Rogers and Johnson and those assembled alongside them. “Well done.”

Erik Clemons: "You all have turned a massacre into a festival."

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO

Black Wall Street organizers Adriane Jefferson (right), and The Breed's Rashad Johnson and Aaron Rogers: "This is not just a festival. It is a movement .”

Lining up for Wednesday's presser.

The new haven independent

Early Voting Begins At City Hall

by THOMAS BREEN

Steve Winter didn’t have to walk far from his second-floor City Hall office on Monday to cast his ballot on the first day of early voting in a Democratic primary where he himself is a candidate for state representative.

Winter voted early at around 11:30 a.m. Monday in a meeting room on the very same floor of City Hall where he works as the city’s executive director for climate and sustainability. (The early voting polling place is in a second-floor meeting room in City Hall’s main building; Winter’s office is in City Hall’s secondfloor annex.)

Early voting began on Monday at 10 a.m. Eligible registered Democrats and Republicans can cast their ballots early through 6 p.m. on Monday; from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; or from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday.

The two primaries open to certain New Haven voters are a three-way Democratic race for the 94th General Assembly district in the state House of Representatives, and a two-way Republican race for the U.S. Senate. Primary day for both races is Aug. 13. Whoever wins these primaries will advance to November’s general election.

Monday marks the second time ever that Connecticut voters can cast their ballots early in-person, following state vot-

ers’ approval in 2022 of a constitutional amendment designed to make voting less of a hassle than making it to the polls on a random Tuesday.

Winter was the second New Havener to vote on Monday in the Aug. 13 Democratic primary for the 94th General Assembly district seat where his is one of the names on the ballot.

A former Prospect Hill/Dixwell/Ne-

whallville alder, he’s one of three Democrats running in this month’s Democratic primary to replace ten-term incumbent State Rep. Robyn Porter, who is not running for reelection. Also running in the Aug. 13 Democratic primary are Hamden legislative council member Abdul Osmanu and local pastor and school resource coordinator Tarolyn Moore.

The two candidates on the ballot for the

Republican primary for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by incumbent Democrat Chris Murphy, who is running for a third-term in office, are Gerry Smith and Matthew Corey.

“I’ll have a lot going on on Election Day,” Winter said with a smile when asked why he decided to vote early in the Democratic state rep race on Monday rather than on primary day itself on Aug. 13. He noted how the polling place couldn’t be more conveniently located for him, given how his office is on the same floor of City Hall.

He also recalled advocating for an early voting constitutional amendment before the pandemic at the same time that he and other New Haveners were (successfully) pushing for Connecticut to join a national popular vote interstate compact. “It’s cool to see the fruit of that whole early voting movement,” he said.

Winter checked in with Democratic Registrar of Voters Shannel Evans and deputy registrar Elizabeth DeMatteo.

He then took his ballot and an envelope to a privacy booth. There he filled out his ballot and signed a statement printed on the envelope in which he attested that he is eligible to vote early and does not plan on voting absentee. Finally, he put the ballot in the envelope, brought it over to a desk at the far end of the room for Voter’s Clerk Cynthia Cavo to scan, and then dropped off the sealed envelope and ballot in a deposit box.

“It was great! Super smooth,” Winter said about the early voting process, noting how there were fewer steps this time around then during the first go at early voting, which was held in the basement conference room at 200 Orange St. for April’s presidential preference primary. Reached by phone later on Monday morning, Osmanu said he too plans on voting early on Monday at his Hamden early voting polling place. He said he’s voting early to “really demonstrate my faith in the process,” given how new early voting is to Connecticut. Casting a ballot on Monday is also “really paying respect to the fact that this was fought long and hard for.”

Moore did not respond to a request for comment by the publication time of this article.

According to the Registrar of Voters office, New Haven currently has a total of 34,685 registered Democrats, 3,030 registered Republicans, 16,631 unaffiliated voters, and 534 voters registered with third parties. That adds up to a total of 54,880 registered voters.

All of New Haven’s registered Republicans are eligible to vote in the Aug. 13 U.S. Senate primary. Only the 3,771 Democrats who reside in the New Haven portion of the 94th General Assembly district are eligible to vote in that state rep primary.

Alders Approve State Grant To Slow Foxon

by LAURA GLESBY

Traffic calming medians and lighting are one step closer to coming to a six-lane stretch of Route 80, also known as Foxon Boulevard, thanks to $1.6 million in state funds that city government has now officially accepted.

The Board of Alders voted unanimously to approve that grant during its latest monthly meeting Monday night. The state grant covers the design and construction of those medians on the state-owned Foxon Boulevard between Middletown Avenue and Quinnipiac Avenue.

That was one approval among several on Monday night focused on improving city infrastructure. Another state grant to receive an aldermanic thumbs up was $8.8 million for repairs to the Floyd Little Athletic Center (see more on that below.)

The block of Route 80 in question for the $1.6 million median grant is home to the city’s newest homeless shelter at 270 Foxon Blvd., where residents have expressed concern about traffic safety by the six-lane throughway. It’s also home to such bigbox stores such as Walmart and Lowes

across the street.

At a Monday meeting in the aldermanic chamber on the second floor of City Hall, local legislators unanimously voted to accept $1.6 million from the state Department of Transportation to fund the medians’ design and construction.

According to a letter to alders submitted by City Engineer Giovanni Zinn, the medians “will provide benefits including better illumination, narrowing the roadway, pedestrian refuge, and traffic calming.” The city has agreed to complete the construction process by August 2025.

Quinnipiac Meadows Alder Theresa Morant, whose ward includes that stretch of Foxon Boulevard, celebrated the approval after the meeting.

“Yes! A safer neighborhood, finally!” she said, noting that her constituents have called for traffic interventions there “for a while.”

Alders unanimously approved several other steps toward infrastructure upgrades on Monday:

High school gym improvements — Al-

ders voted to accept a $8,769,517 grant from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development for renovations to the Floyd Little Athletic Center, right next to Hillhouse High School. Those planned renovations include a new roof with solar power generators, a new indoor track surface, and bathroom renovations.

Electric car charging stations — Alders voted to sell a 2,159-square foot stretch on the northern side of Pond Lily Avenue to the state Department of Transportation (DOT) for $4,875. In turn, the DOT will build electric vehicle charging stations by its maintenance office at 140 Pond Lily Avenue. According to a plan submitted to the Board of Alders, the DOT will build 20 such chargers.

An array of sustainable investments Alders approved the city’s application for a wide-ranging federal $20 millio Environmental Protection Agency grant that would fund numerous initiatives, from composting at public schools to bike access programs to energy efficient buildings.

Fellow state rep candidate Abdul Osmanu, voting early in Hamden.

LAURA GLESBY PHOTOS

Q Meadows Alder Theresa Morant: “Yes! A safer neighborhood, finally!”

The new haven independent

The new haven independent

Dixwell Champion Pete Gray Dies

by PAUL BASS

William “Pete” Gray, a joyful warrior for Black empowerment who crusaded to hold New Haven to its promise of grassroots participation in decisions about Dixwell’s future, has died at the age of 86. He died on Monday from a sudden illness, according to his daughter, Lisa Gray.

Gray held leadership positions in New Haven for over 50 years, including stints as an alderman, the first Black elected representative for the then-majorityBlack 19th Ward.

“Pete Gray was the Mayor of Dixwell,” said former Mayor and State Sen. Toni Harp. “He was an ardent advocate for the people who lived there. It is due to his leadership that Dixwell was transformed into the vibrant community it is today.

Gray founded the Dixwell Neighborhood Corporation in 1969. It was among a group of neighborhood-based nonprofits formed through New Haven’s “Model Cities” program to give people at the neighborhood level more of a say in economic development, housing, and public health issues after decades of Urban Renewal and Great Society programs often left them out. Gray continued running the program until 2018, the longest-serving director of that generation of neighborhood nonprofits. The corporation ran summer programs for kids, ran workforce development programs, advocated for senior services, organized an annual community Thanksgiving dinner, and launched health care programs. A sister nonprofit Gray ran built housing developments including McCabe Manor at Webster and Winchester, one of the first condominium developments aimed largely at working-middle-class African-

Americans.

A visionary who took delight in confronting citywide powers or critics from outside the neighborhood for shortchanging Dixwell, Gray helped organize cutting-edge Black-led programs like Dixwell Opposes Alcoholism and, with Yale’s schools of nursing and public health, the AIDS-focused Dixwell Preventative Health Program.

He developed a lifelong conviction that people in Dixwell knew best what they needed, and they were best equipped to run the organizations tasked with tackling their challenges.

Officials planning projects ranging in Dixwell from Science Park to infill housing could count on Gray showing up at public meetings with neighbors in tow — and speaking his mind without mincing words.

“He spoke truth to power. He had no qualms calling people out — he was a staunch advocate for Black people and the Black community,” Lisa Gray said of her father. “His heart lived in Dixwell.”

Former Mayor John DeStefano called Gray “a worthy opponent and a valuable ally, sometimes on the same day.”

“Pete Gray was an authentic Dixwell son. He fought for that neighborhood. He was uncompromising for that neighborhood. And when Pete had to make a compromise, he did so knowing that tomorrow was another day,” DeStefano observed. “Pete belonged to a different time in our politics and our City. It is a time on whose shoulders that much of what is good in Dixwell today stands.” Science Park founder Henry “Sam” Chauncey credited Gray with“keeping our feet to the fire when we started Science Park in the early 1980s. While he could be a critic, it

was always with a positive goal — making that community better. His guidance was part of why Science Park is what it is today” Gray ended up serving on the board of Science Park.

Gray mentored emerging leaders in other neighborhoods. Jackie Pullen Daniels called Gray “my inspiration” for her tenure as executive director of the West Rock Neighborhood Corporation in the 1980s and 1990s.

Gray offered her advice. He and his colleague Jack Valentine accompanied her to government meetings, chamber of commerce meetings. They backed her up when people would criticize her organization.

“I considered him my big brother,” Pullen Daniels said. “He was not a huge man. But he walked so proud! He had been there.”

One piece of advice Gray gave her — “Jackie, unless you build something in the community, you haven’t built nothing in people” — inspired her to form the sister West Rock Development Corporation, as Gray did in Dixwell. That organization build the 41-unit Valley Street complex now known as Valley Place.

William Gray was born on May 6, 1938, to Charles Gray and Mabel Brazier Gray. He and his five siblings grew up in the old Elm Haven public-housing projects, which were torn down in the 1990s to make way for what’s now the Monterey Homes. Friends started calling him Pete while playing ball on Gregory Street. The nickname stuck.

Gray attended the old Winchester School, then Troup Middle and Hillhouse High.

“I know at the gut level what the problems, needs and frustrations of our folks are,” having come up in the neighborhood, he later wrote.

After high school, he became the first Black graduate of Eli Whitney Technical School’s tool and die making program.

After serving three years in the army, he worked for seven years at Majestic Silver Company, where he organized a union and fought for higher wages and better working conditions.

On the Board of Aldermen (as it was then called), he chaired the Health Committee, where he wrote laws tackling water and air pollution and rodent control.

He once ran for the Democratic mayoral nomination. His slogan: “All the way

with Pete Gray.” He served as a commissioner on the housing authority, helping to guide the rebuilding of the Elm Haven development where he grew up.

Gray came of age when ethnic patronage-oriented politics defined New Haven government. It was an era when people of different backgrounds fought with each other for spoils one day, worked alongside each other the next — and never hid from a tough conversation. Gray understood the game, when to call the question in public, when to negotiate behind closed doors. He always offered his views with confidence and without apology.

He settled long term into his position at the Dixwell Neighborhood Corporation, where in addition to running programs he organized a boycott against the Board of Ed to call for heating system repairs. (That school’s successor is Wexler-Grant, where the same concerns persist today.)

“Today’s seeds are tomorrow’s flowers” was one of his slogans used in reference to the corporation’s youth work. He retired from the Dixwell Neighborhood Corporation in 2018. Up until his death he continued volunteering, according to Lisa: He trained Southern Connecticut State University nursing students in “how to engage with folks of color and seniors.” He fed homeless and indigent individuals at the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church breakfast pantry.

Gray was predeceased by Mildred Cuffee Gray, his loving and devoted wife of 55 years. He is survived by his daughter Lisa, his son Steven, and grandchildren Chase Gray and Synclaire Cruel. His funeral is scheduled to take place at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church at 111 Whalley Ave. on Aug. 15 beginning at 11 a.m.

Retreat Foreclosure Case Comes To Court

by Thomas Breen, New Haven Independent

An abandoned drug rehab center on Ella T. Grasso Boulevard feels a bit “like the rapture,” a foreclosure-pursuing attorney said in state court on Friday. There’s rotting food in the kitchen. There are utility-turn off notices lying around. And there’s now more than $300,000 in back property taxes due.

It’s as if “people just picked up one day and left,” the attorney said — even though the addiction treatment center has been closed for a month and a half.

Hartford-based lawyer Kevin McEleney offered that apocalyptic biblical analogy in a third-floor courtroom at the state courthouse at 121 Elm St. Friday morning during a hearing in the foreclosure case Arba Credit Investors II, L.P. v. Coal New Ha-

ven, LLC et al.

That’s just the latest foreclosure lawsuit involving Retreat Behavioral Health, and the first to be filed in Connecticut since Retreat’s implosion on June 21 amid a trainwreck of executive suicides, corporate debt, mass layoffs, and the sudden discharge of all patients.

Friday’s hearing — the first in-person hearing in this matter — focused on the defense’s motion to vacate, or overturn, a July 19 “ex parte” order issued by state Superior Court Judge Walter Spader in which he appointed Ian Lagowitz to serve as receiver for the defunct addiction rehab property at 915 Ella T. Grasso Blvd. (Update: On Monday, Spader denied the defendant’s motion to vacate. See more below.)

Spader’s receivership appointment empowers Lagowitz to protect and secure that property, even as it is still legally owned

by the Retreat-affiliated Coal New Haven LLC, as the foreclosure case makes its way through court.

Defense attorney Richard Weinstein argued on Friday that Spader’s order violated his client’s property and due process rights — and, even further, that the underlying state statute was unconstitutional. His argument zeroed in on the “ex parte” nature of Spader’s order — which appointed Lagowitz as receiver before the defense had a meaningful opportunity to object. Spader issued such an order after agreeing with the urgency of the plaintiff’s plea that a court-empowered third party needed to step in right away to ensure that the property at 915 Ella T. Grasso Blvd. doesn’t continue to degrade through neglect, thereby hurting its potential resale value and hurting creditors like Arba.

Con’t on page 13

Gray: "Today's seeds are tomorrow's flowers.”

Retreat affiliate attorney Richard Weinstein: “You have a receiver in place. If he wants to throw out perishables, obviously, he can throw out perishables.” Credit: Thomas Breen / New Haven

The new haven independent

Candidates Pressed For Affordable Housing Answers

by JABEZ CHOI

The new haven independent

As the three Democratic candidates for Newhallville-Hamden state representative discussed key issues like teacher pay and income inequality, one issue rang especially important at Thursday’s political debate: affordable housing.

The debate, which was held by representatives from the Room For All Coalition at Albertus Magnus College, featured candidates Steve Winter, Abdul Osmanu, and Tarolyn Moore.

All three are seeking to succeed State Rep. Robyn Porter in representing the 94th General Assembly District in an Aug. 13 Democratic primary for which early voting has already begun.

All three candidates seemed to be in agreement that housing should be more affordable and that tenants should be more protected, but the three had slightly different, yet entirely connected, priorities in trying to achieve this goal.

For former Alder and Democratic Partyendorsed Winter, incentivizing the building of affordable housing is essential. Winter drew upon his own experience as an alder helping properties on West Division, Dixwell Avenue, Sherman Avenue, West Hazel Street, and more open up fixed homes for affordable first-time homeownership and affordable rent opportunities. He also pointed to his efforts supporting Beulah redevelopment of the Joe Grate lot at Munson, Orchard, and Dixwell, which combines Winter’s interests at the intersection of affordable housing and environmentallysustainable projects.

“I mean it. I’m serious. I’ve got the conviction,” Winter said, about his legislative commitment and his support for more affordable housing. “I’ve done it and I want to keep doing it on a larger scale.”

Winter emphasized the necessity of other communities and cities statewide to encourage the construction of affordable housing units and cited the 9% Low Income Tax Credit, which would incentivize those projects.

In response to a question asking if he would support a state-owned plot of land for an encampment, Winter noted that while he agreed with the “spirit” of the demand, he did not agree with the “approach,” lauding the city’s efforts in turning a hotel into a homeless shelter instead.

For Hamden legislator and Porter-endorsed Osmanu, a tenant’s opportunity to purchase is key to his vision of affordable housing. Osmanu shared that Newhallville’s Area Median Income is $55,000 a year, making housing unaffordable for the prices in the neighborhood. He echoed Winter’s sentiments about low-interest loans for housing units.

The youngest candidate in the race at 22, he drew upon his experience as a legislator in Hamden empowering tenants and reinvigorating the Fair Rent Commission in 2023. More recently, Osmanu was part of an effort to amend Hamden’s Code of Ordinances to include landlord registration, increasing accountability for landlords.

With this experience, he emphasized his connection to stakeholders, mentioning that he is close with coalition partners who fought for these issues, including just-cause eviction legislation, rent caps, and a tenant’s right to counsel.

“I’ve loved working on these issues, not only as an elected official, but as a concerned person for the people I care about the most,” Osmanu said.

Like Winter, Osamnu thought a stateowned land for an encampment was “not the best idea,” reemphasizing putting financial power into the tenants’ hands to provide more pathways to affordable housing.

And for pastor and New Haven Public Schools employee Tarolyn Moore, personal experience as a Newhalville resident motivated her approach to addressing homelessness. Moore brought up her own financial struggles in pointing out the unaffordability of housing, noting that if her mother didn’t have a house, Moore would be on the Green living in a “cardboard box.” She emphasized the need for a working wage, echoing Osmanu’s sentiments of bringing financial power to tenants.

She noted that in bureaucracy, money often does not go where it’s needed most.

“We need to start reevaluating how the money is being redistributed,” she said.

In regards to the encampment sweeps, she described them as “so anti-human,” noting that anyone in the room could be subject to homelessness if they missed a paycheck.

At one point, Moore shared an anecdote in which she suggested a plot of land be potentially used for tiny homes for people who age out of the foster care system.

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THOMAS BREEN PHOTO

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Flag Now Up, Fest Coming Soon

by DEREEN SHIRNEKHI

As rain came down, this year’s Miss Puerto Rico of Greater New Haven, Alanna Herbert, stepped to the microphone and filled the Green with her voice as she sang the national anthem. Behind her was the Puerto Rican flag, grand and waving in the wind, ready to be raised.

That was the scene on the New Haven Green at noon on Thursday, as a crowd gathered to celebrate the annual raising of the Puerto Rican flag ahead of Saturday’s Puerto Rican Festival on the Green. The festival draws thousands of visitors to downtown New Haven. From city alders to notable community figures to government officials, the center of the Green was bustling.

While Herbert a rising senior at Common Ground would have preferred to perform “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” she still had fun and was happy to put her theatre and singing experience to use.

“It felt good to be able to sing in front everyone, to have that opportunity, but also to be able to represent what I hope is a good role model for young Boricuas,” she said. She’s been going to the festival since was a kid.

Herbert has been Miss Puerto Rico since April, but since she was invited to the flag raising last year after winning runner-up, she was no stranger to the event. This year, she was joined by Junior Miss Puerto Rico and East Rock School student Lysella Pujols, and the two proudly stood

by the speakers wearing crowns, sashes, and red and green dresses, with smiles on their faces.

Puerto Ricans United the organization that puts on the annual Puerto Rican Festival President Joseph Rodriguez spearheaded the flag-raising event, and he was joined by speakers Mayor Justin Elicker, State Sen. Pro Tem Martin Looney, State Rep. Juan Candelaria, and CT LEAD Latinos for Educational Advocacy and Diversity CEO Jose Lucas Pimentel.

“Como está mis Boricuas?” Elicker asked with a grin as he addressed the crowd, before erupting into song the bolero “En mi Viejo San Juan” by Noel Estrada. The crowd cheered and sang along.

“Pero mi corazón / se quedo frente al mar / en mi viejo San Juan.”

“He’s dropping an album!” a crowd member cried.

“I love Puerto Rico, and I’ve never been,” Elicker said. Then, “But I have been, because Puerto Rico is in New Haven. Thousands of people in our community have roots in Puerto Rico.”

Looney later agreed, and expressed his appreciation for the presence of the Puerto Rican community. “Every neighborhood in this city and every community in this state has benefited from the presence of Puerto Ricans here, with the culture, with the work ethic, with the contribu-

tion to the sense of community and the sense that government should work for the people.”

When Candelaria spoke, he reflected on the song “En mi Viejo San Juan.”

“It took me back to the island, when we left as kids,” he said. “Like the song says, part of you stays on the island and you miss it. But New Haven became our home.”

Rodriguez described what the community will be able to expect for Saturday’s event. There will be live music from a lineup of performers that includes major artists like Luis Figueroa and Manny Manuel and New Haven-based Movimiento Cultural. There will also be food trucks, family activities, and arts & crafts. While New Haven’s had a rainy week, the possibility for a clear Saturday has organizers hopeful.

Finally, it was time for the flag. As Ana Garcia performed Puerto Rico’s official anthem “La Borinqueña,” Parks Department employee Edwin Rodriguez handled the ropes and raised the flag. The crowd watched and listened.

Crowd member Anais Nunec was dressed for the occasion, with a wearable and hooded Puerto Rican flag wrapped around her body. Her daughter participated in the Miss Puerto Rico pageant, and while she might have lost, Nunec still wanted to see the flag raising. She said she couldn’t miss it.

“I wanted to cry, it was so amazing,”

Summer Campers Dive Into Sports & STEAM

by MAYA MCFADDEN

Nathaniel Joyner took a quick break from reading aloud to a group of middle schoolers to spin an imaginary basketball on his finger before passing it over to eight-year-old Damien who dribbled the “ball” between his legs, and then picked up the book to resume reading with the group.

That was the scene at a sports and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics)-focused summer camp hosted by the Floridabased ALM (Alvin L. Murry) Sports organization on Dixwell Avenue in Newhallville.

Tamiko Jackson-McArthur, the former medical director for Connecticut’s ALM franchise and a former school board member, joined forces with children’s advocate and Dixwell management team member Nina Silva, who serves as the program’s director, to expand ALM’s summer camp services to New Haven youth for a second year in a row.

The camp for 5 – 14 year olds is run out of First Calvary Baptist Church at 609 Dixwell Ave. It began July 1 and runs until Aug. 23. The program has rolling admission and runs Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. The camp’s 10hour daily services cost $160 per week for families.

In the fall, the program will offer before- and after-school care. Silva and Jackson-McArthur are looking to open around Sept 3. The program will also be open during all school breaks. “Every day NHPS is closed we will be here,” Jackson-McArthur said.

On Thursday, this reporter caught up with a group of about 40 students who had just come back from the playground and splash pad at Lincoln Bassett School. Last year the camp was based out of Funz Trampoline Park in Hamden. Silva and Jackson-McArthur aimed to move into New Haven this year. They chose First Calvary, which has offered its space to the program for the summer camp and for the before- and after-school care to come

this school year.

Silva said the change in location from the trampoline park has helped to provide a less overly stimulating space for the campers. She noted that this year while at First Calvary, she’s had to make fewer calls home to parents about student behavior.

Campers under eight years old brought chairs outside to the church’s back parking lot to join Joyner in reading “The Legend of Gravity: A Tall Basketball Tale” by Charly Palmer. He called up middle schoolers Damien and Aiden to read alongside him.

As they read about a new basketball player named Gravity on the Hillside Projects basketball team, the Eagles, Damien paused at a word.

“You got it, sound it out,” JacksonMcArthur called out from behind the group.

While acting out basketball moves like spinning a ball on his finger, Joyner talked

Con’t on page 15

MAYA MCFADDEN PHOTO Nathaniel Joyner and Damien, reading side by side at summer camp.

The new haven independent

Junior Miss Puerto Rico Lysella Pujols and Miss Puerto Rico of Greater New Haven Alanna Herbert.

Alder José Crespo, Elicker, Pimentel, Candelaria.

Anais Nunec: "I wanted to cry, it was so amazing."

The new haven independent

“New Sheriff” Chris Alvarado Is In (Fair Haven) Town

by ALLAN APPEL

Fifteen-year NHPD veteran Sgt. Chris Alvarado has already seen the estimated 5 percent or so percent of Fair Haven that is troubled by drug dealing and serious crime. As the newly arrived district manager, he’s excited to be discovering the rest.

Alvarado got to know that 5 percent through his previous assignments, often in plain clothe, driving in an unmarked cruiser down Grand Avenue as a supervisor of investigations for the NHPD detective bureau.

Now he’s returning to the uniform as the new district manager for Fair Haven, along with the East Shore.

Alvarado said he’s excited to get to know the other 95 percent, which is engaged neighbors working together, raising families and taking care of each other. Alvarado offered that mesage Thursday at his first Fair Haven Community Management Team meeting.

Twenty people attended the meeting in the community room of the Fair Haven Branch Library, with a dozen more online. Departing District Manager Lt. Michael Fumiatti introduced Alvarado, and said his goodbyes.

“I used to be the ‘fire department,’” quipped Alvarado. “They call me when bad things happen. This is very different. It is good to be on the other side of investigations.”

Alvarado has been on the job for about a month. Fumiatti reported the transition has been good.

“I’m incredibly busy,” Fumiatti said of his new assignment as the police department’s first-ever mental health and wellness coordinator, “but not as busy as Sgt. Alvarado.”

The two policing districts Fumiatti handed to Alvarado covers not just Fair Haven but Bishop Woods and Fair Heaven Heights and The Annex and Morris Cove — from the North Haven border down to the harbor. Or, as Fumiatti, put it, “everything the light touches east of I-91.”

In a chronically short-staffed department, that means that Alvarado at this point has focused his patrol officers on “hot spots” like the open drug dealing around Ferry and Chatham. Neighborhood Alders Frank Redente, Jr. (Ward 15) and Sarah Miller (Ward 14) said they’ve seen results.

Redente said an upcoming new focus on his list is to eliminate the public drinking occurring near the liquor store on Clinton Avenue across from the school. The site has already quieted in the past month, he said, as if locals knew “a new sheriff is in town.”

“He’s got a strong track record,” said

Alvarado said that another focus during the month of transition has been cleaning up the public drinking violations occurring around Fort Hale Park.

He knows the Annex. The 41-year old sergeant said he enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school and served for

ten years, mainly in the U.S. Marine motor transport unit housed in facilities on Woodward Avenue.

Alvarado said his unit was deployed for three tours in Iraq, in 2003, 2005, and 2007. He began his application process to join the NHPD during his last tour.

“I always want to do different things,” he said.

Alder Miller. “He’s very smart and knows the scene.”

The new haven independent

East side Baton passed: Fumiatti with successor Alvarado.

Warrant: Cameras Captured Midday Murder

by THOMAS BREEN

A man dressed all in black walked west on Wolcott Street, pulled a gun out of his waistband, and fired shot after shot after shot killing 42-yearold New Havener Peter Arroyo, whom police believe was not the shooter’s intended victim.

That fatal gunfire took place in broad daylight in Fair Haven on a Monday afternoon in May, in full view of a number of witnesses and crucially, for the police investigation to follow in full view of surveillance cameras.

That scene is described in harrowing detail in a 14-page arrest warrant affidavit written on July 9 by New Haven Police Det. Allyn Wright.

The Independent obtained a copy of the warrant following a press conference held on the third floor of police headquarters Thursday afternoon, during which police brass and the mayor joined members of Arroyo’s family to announce the arrest of his alleged killer.

Police Chief Karl Jacobson and Lt. Pedro Colon said that the suspect, a 29-year-old Bridgeport man, had been extradited from Georgia to New Haven on Tuesday.

State court records show he has been charged with murder, carrying a pistol without a permit, criminal possession of a firearm, and second-degree assault. He hasn’t yet entered pleas to any of those charges, and is currently being held on a $2.5 million bond.

Mayor Justin Elicker said during Thursday’s press conference that Arroyo had five children and five grandchildren.

“My dad was a family man,” said one of Arroyo’s daughters, Jay’na Estrada. “He lived for his kids.”

Wright’s July 9 affidavit provides a detailed account of what police believe happened on May 20 before, during, and after Arroyo was shot to death. It describes evidence police believe points to the arrested 29-year-old man as the shooter.

While detectives spoke with a handful of witnesses over the course of the three-month investigation, what emerges again and again across Wright’s write-up is just how important video surveillance footage was to helping police understand what happened.

Videos referenced in Wright’s affidavit came from surveillance cameras at corner stores, a gas station, even aboard a CTTransit bus.

Perhaps most important were pri-

vately owned Ring cameras affixed to a house near where the shooting took place. Those cameras provided a complete view of the shooting itself and pointed cops towards the man they wound up apprehending months later who had fled all the way down South.

Wright wrote in the arrest warrant affidavit that, on May 20 at around 12:38 p.m., police responded to the area of Wolcott and Ferry streets in Fair Haven after multiple people called 911 to report hearing numerous gunshots.

ShotSpotter, the city’s gunfire detection system, also indicated that 12 rounds had been fired in the area.

Upon arrival, officers found Arroyo. He was lying on Wolcott Street, partially in the roadway, partially on the grass, with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.

He was taken by ambulance to Yale New Haven Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.

City detectives subsequently collected seven 9mm fired cartridge casings and two bullet jacket fragments at the scene.

Footage from the privately owned Ring cameras on a nearby home showed that, at around 12:37 p.m., a man dressed all in black including a black hooded sweatshirt, a black baseball hat, black jeans, and black sneakers walked west on Wolcott from Ferry. Police later identified that man, nicknamed “Magic,” as the one they would arrest and charge with murder.

The man in black approached a black

Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck on Wolcott.

Arroyo exited the rear passenger side of that truck and the man in black reached into his waistband with his left hand and pulled out a gun.

He then began to fire towards Arroyo and the truck. Two women who had been walking nearby hit the ground for cover. Another man exited the truck’s front driver’s side, pulled out a gun, and started shooting in response.

The man in black then turned and ran east on Wolcott. The man in the truck got back in his car and started driving in the same direction.

With the help of the state’s parole office, police found out that the 29-yearold man whom they’d ultimately arrest had been in that area of Fair Haven at the time of the shooting as recorded by his GPS ankle monitor.

The man would later cut that GPS ankle monitor off and apparently toss it out the window of a moving bus as he headed downtown. Another camera, aboard the bus, would record that alleged GPS toss.

Police tracked down the man in Georgia with the help of the U.S. Marshals Service and an emergency ping notification for the suspect’s phone.

A day after the shooting, law enforcement received a “ping” for that phone near a bus terminal in Washington, D.C.

Another day later, they received another “ping” by a bus terminal in Atlanta. The warrant ends with Wright explaining why police believe the suspect should be charged with murder, among other offenses.

The writeup does not include details about how the suspect was found and apprehended in Georgia.

The warrant also does not provide a clear explanation as to why the 29-year-old arrestee allegedly shot and killed Arroyo. Colon made clear during Thursday’s press conference that police do not believe Arroyo was the intended target. Wright’s warrant also quotes one anonymous witness as saying that “Magic,” the alleged shooter, was a crack cocaine dealer with connections to prostitution.

During Thursday’s press conference, Colon singled out the surveillance camera footage “that captured the entire incident” as particularly helpful for police investigators.

“It was on video, which was extremely helpful,” Jacobson agreed. He also praised community members for coming forward to talk with the police about whatever they knew.

Murder victim Peter "PJ" Arroyo.

Police Chief Karl Jacobson (right): Shooting death "was on video, which was extremely helpful" for investigators.

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO

Isael Arroyo, Y'madelis Arroyo, Jay'na Estrada, and Yesenia Arroyo mourn their father's death, and commend police for arresting his alleged shooter.

The new haven independent

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Art Meets Basketball On The Carrigan Courts

By Alisha Martindale

The weather? Hot. The atmosphere? Electric.

That was the vibe on a recent Sunday, as the third annual Best of the West Basketball Tournament took place at Carrigan Intermediate School in West Haven. Friends, fans, and family lined the perimeter of the small double court between noon and 6 p.m. in support and anticipation of their chosen teams and favorite players in what has become a highly anticipated community event.

According to event founder Levi Jordan, who owns Best of the West LLC, the tournament consists of 25 to 30 teams from different towns including, West Haven, New Haven, Bridgeport, Hamden, and Middletown that compete in knockout matches leading up to one final round.

Throughout the six hour event, youth teams, adult teams, city all-star teams, girls only teams, and “local celebrity” teams compete for the grand prize, including both trophies and the accolades of being dubbed the "Best of the West."

This year, with the help of American Rescue Plan Act pandemic relief dollars (redistributed by the Arts Council of Greater New Haven and ArtsWestCT) the tournament included a special collaborative feature—artistic performances, live art, and vendors curated by Maxine Bowden of Paradigm Events. Advertised as “a fusion of artistry and athleticism,” the event invited artists to participate alongside the free throws and rebounds happening on the court.

“The Arts & Basketball event was one of 18 projects and organizations to receive a microgrant,” said Elinor Slomba, president of ArtsWestCT.

“We were so glad to see it on the calendar the same weekend as West Haven's Savin Rock Festival and hold its own. To see the community meet and reward the organizers' ambition by turning out so strong was amazing. It speaks to an appetite here for artistled, community driven initiatives and I believe we'll keep seeing more of them.”

“Basketball influences movies, literature, poems, and music because the community gathers around basketball,” Bowden added of the game’s fusion with the arts. “It is the catalyst between someone making it in life, it's how we measure success. It's how we determine someone's fate, essentially. I wanted to showcase the connection

between the sport, the art surrounding it, and how it influences someone's future growing up in black culture.”

Jordan, meanwhile, emphasized how empowering basketball can be. “When I reflected on putting my own kids in sports, I realized all the attributes that sports gave me, the characteristics, the will to fight through adversity, the teamwork, learning how to lose well,

learning how to win well,” he said.

When asked why he started this event, he added that he saw the need among his own kids, and wanted to give back to his hometown on a larger scale. “They needed education, they needed mentorship, they needed fun things to do, so I strove to think of an idea that would be worthy to give them each season,” he said.

Between matches, event goers enjoyed and participated in live performances such as poetry readings by poet Mansa Musa, original R&B music by Jelin Tyler, live covers and original instrumental music by saxophonist Corey Staggers, and even a whole set by Massachusetts R&B, Hiphop, Funk and NeoSoul band, Malado! New Haven Artist Alberto Colon also

produced a live mural on the spot.

In addition to enjoying art, event goers also had the opportunity to support local black-owned businesses such as Rich Fitness, Kittys Missy Tshirts, and Treasure Beads, a previous Arts West Micro Grant recipient. Local meal delivery business, Edibolic Kitchen, provided snacks to all tournament participants.

Event organizers Maxine Bowden and Levi Jordan (brother and sister in-law) pose for a celebratory portrait together after a year-long effort to plan the 3rd Annual Best of the West Basketball Tournament and Arts event.

Alberto Colon of New Haven designs a live spray paint graffiti mural at the Best of the West Basketball Tournament. Essence Miller of New Haven prepares for a jump shot. Alisha Martindale Photos.

Desmond Lymon poses with one of the the youth basketball teams during the Best of the West Basketball Tournament.

Corey Staggers drove the crowd wild with his covers on the electric saxophone. Shortly after performing, he competed in the tournament.

Willie, Tony, and AJ came out to support their great nephew who competed in the tournament, and Maxine Bowden, who curated the arts portion of the event.

youth basketball teams during the Best of the West Basketball Tournament .

The new haven independent

Foreclosure

Lagowitz subsequently filed an affidavit on July 25 in which he stated that a representative of his was able to push through the property’s back door, and found inside the abandoned drug rehab center a host of patient medical records, narcotics, prescription medications, personal belongings, and piles of mail all apparent evidence that the real estate at the center of this case was at risk.

Weinstein framed the receivership order, supported by state statute 52 – 630, as granting Lagowitz an unconstitutionally wide range of responsibilities in regards to the Ella T. Grasso Boulevard property including the ability to hire a real estate broker and even sell it.

“It is in my opinion unconstitutional,” Weinstein stressed, and “violates Connecticut foreclosure laws.” The property in question is still owned by his client, he said. “The fact that he has the power to take my client’s property without my client having a meaningful” hearing and opportunity to contest the receivership appointment represents “a terrible deficit in terms of the statute.”

McEleney countered that the court needed to, and appropriately acted quickly when Judge Spader issued the ex parte receivership order on July 19.

“The business was abruptly closed,” he said. Two of the company’s principals had died by suicide. “We really had no idea what was going on. … This is an important and exigent matter that needs to be addressed promptly.”

Neither the receiver nor the plaintiff would be able to sell the property without coming back to the court for a subsequent order, he said. The temporary receivership appointment currently on the books simply allows the receiver to secure the property and protect it from further degradation before additional hearings before the court take place.

“There’s a very clear difference,” he said, “between what is a granted right today up front” and what actions the court would have to sign off on in the future. Hiring a broker and selling the property are not covered by the ex parte order, he said. “There’s going to be plenty of judicial process.”

But, he stressed, the property is in dire condition. And it does need a receiver who can intervene to keep it from losing more value.

McEleney said he had visited the property recently, and found leftover food in the kitchen and refrigerator, as well as utility turn-off notices. He also noted the $300,000 and rising in back taxes owed.

“Leaving it in limbo is not good for anybody,” he said in support of the receivership appointment. “How do we make sure this property is a viable asset for all stakeholders, including the community, going forward?”

He said that the one action the receiver has taken so far is changing the locks. That does not constitute a deprivation of the defendant’s rights, especially given that the

the audience.

Heirs of slave owners apologize to descendants of slaves at Jamaica’s annual Emancipation Day

by Michael Hammond,

Jamaica’s celebration of the Emancipation Day on August 1, 2024, took an emotional turn as some individuals and families rendered apologies to people whose ancestors were adversely affected by slavery.

Emancipation Day is celebrated across the Caribbean every year on the first of August, and is recgonised as a public holiday in many of the islands. The event, held at the Seville Heritage Park in Saint Ann, has been a feature of the celebrations since 1997.

This year’s celebrations came with an unexpected twist; it presented an opportunity to the individuals and groups whose family members enabled, partook of or profited from the transatlantic slave trade to apologise in person to the descendants of those affected by the incident.

The event was organized by the Jamaica National Commission on Reparations, the Jamaica National Heritage Trust and the country’s Ministry of Culture.

Significant features of the program included re-enactments and poignant poetry that set the scene and erased the centuries between the audience and the enslaved men, women and children who once stood on Jamaican soil.

At midnight on the day of the celebration, a hush fell over the crowd gathered, espe-

cially as the pageantry and performances that led up to that charged silence had been designed to evoke the anguish of slavery. The silence was, however, broken by a reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, signaling freedom, hope and the definitive end to the centuries-long transatlantic slave movement that allowed Europeans to abduct, traffic, murder and inflict suffering on Africans.

Speaking at the event were Joseph Harker, the Guardian’s Senior Editor in charge of Diversity and Development, who delivered an apology via a video message, and members of the Heirs of Slavery, a group of people who have discovered that their ancestors facilitated or profited from transatlantic slavery.

Harker reiterated the commitment made a year ago during an apology from the Guardian’s owner to “raising awareness of this brutal and dehumanising era, and to creating a 10-year programme of restorative justice in full consultation with communities still affected by its legacies”.

That which caused substantial emotional turmoil was an apology from Kate Thomas and Aidee Walker, two New Zealand sisters who had travelled to Jamaica to address the atrocities of their ancestors, the clan Malcolm of Argyll.

A part of their presentation read: “We acknowledge the wealth created by our an-

cestors through the chattel enslavement of your ancestors, and the injustice of financial compensation paid by the British government to the enslavers. The enduring and damaging legacy of this injustice continues to the present day. We share a history as descendants of both enslavers and the en-

slaved. Our history is intertwined with your history, and your history is intertwined with ours.”

They went ahead to pledge to continue working hard in order to turn their apologies into concrete reparative action, an act which was followed by an applause from

Laura Trevelyan, a British journalist and member of the Heirs of Slavery group, supported the sisters through the reparations process. She said their apology “shows how global the influence of the transatlantic slave trade truly was, reaching across the Pacific Ocean”. She hoped their actions would open up a debate in Oceania region about the region’s historical links to slavery.

The story of the sisters demonstrates the intrigue and complexities of the reparations movement. Available details show that their fourth great-grandmother, Mary Johnson, was of African descent and a housekeeper in the Malcolm household. She had five children with John Malcolm, including their third great-grandfather, Neill Malcolm.

Earlier on Wednesday, July 31, Walker and Thomas noted that their involvement with New Zealand’s Māori people had prompted them to explore their ancestry. Walker, a film-maker, spoke about thae trauma of having one’s identity stolen by colonisation: “My partner is Māori and his grandparents were beaten for speaking Māori in school, and we have seen the effects that losing their language has had on his family.”

Olivia Grange, Jamaica’s Culture Minister asserts that “these apologies may be small steps, but they are important steps on the journey towards reparatory justice.”

Study Reveals Shifts in Economic Mobility for Black and White Americans

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent@StacyBrownMedia

A new study from Opportunity Insights has revealed significant shifts in economic mobility trends in the United States over the past few decades, highlighting a narrowing economic divide between Black and white Americans and a widening gap between low- and high-income white individuals.

First published by the Harvard Gazette and researched by Raj Chetty, Crystal S. Yang, and Will Dobbie of Harvard University, Benjamin Goldman of Cornell University, and Sonya R. Porter of the U.S. Census Bureau, the study revealed that for white children born between 1978 and 1992, earnings increased for those from high-income families. Still, they decreased for those from low-income families, resulting in a 30% increase in earnings gaps by parental income. Conversely, earnings for Black children increased at all parental income levels, reducing the earnings gap between low-income Black and white children by 30%. The researchers observed similar trends in non-monetary outcomes such as educational attainment, standardized test scores, and mortality rates. For example, the white class gap in early adulthood mortality more than doubled, while the white-Black race gap in early adulthood mortality decreased by 77%.

Economic mobility fell the most for

low-income white families in the Great Plains and coastal areas, regions with relatively high mobility rates for the 1978 birth cohort. By the 1992 cohort, these areas had levels of economic mobility comparable to the Southeast and industrial Midwest, which had low levels of mobility for all cohorts. Meanwhile, economic mobility for low-income Black families increased sharply in the Southeast and the industrial Midwest, with modest changes on the coasts. Despite these improvements, low-income Black families still had significantly lower levels of eco-

nomic mobility compared to their white counterparts in most regions.

The study attributes these divergent trends to changes in childhood environments, particularly parental employment rates within local communities defined by race, class, and childhood county. Researchers found that outcomes improved across birth cohorts for children who grew up in communities with increasing parental employment rates, with more significant effects for children who moved to such communities at younger ages.

“This is the first big data study to look

at recent changes in economic opportunity within the same place over time,” said Goldman, a research affiliate with Opportunity Insights. “And what we see are shrinking race gaps and growing class gaps.”

The findings suggest that community changes in one generation can propagate to the next, generating rapid changes in economic mobility. The outcomes for children were most strongly related to parents’ employment rates within their own birth cohort, indicating the role of social interactions in mediating economic opportunities.

The study also places current trends in the context of historical factors such as slavery, Jim Crow laws, redlining in credit markets, and the migration of Black Americans from the South to the North. These historical influences continue to impact present-day economic mobility.

“This work reinforces the importance of childhood communities for outcomes in adulthood, consistent with our prior findings,” said Chetty, co-founder and director of Opportunity Insights. “But it shows that it is possible for these communities to change rapidly—within a decade — in a way that has significant causal effects on children’s long-term outcomes.”

The analysis, drawn from 40 years of tax and Census records, included 57 million Americans born between 1978 and 1992. The researchers used anonymized records provided by the federal government to compare earnings at age 27 with

socioeconomic factors from childhood. The study found that Black millennials fared better than Black Gen Xers, with individuals born in 1978 to low-income families averaging $19,420 per year in early adulthood compared to an inflationadjusted $21,030 for poorer members of the 1992 cohort.

Meanwhile, white Gen Xers from poorer families averaged $27,680 per year versus $26,150 for their millennial peers. The gap between the poorest and richest white people ballooned by 28% over the same period as those born at the top watched their fortunes climb.

Results varied widely by region, with Black Americans making the most significant strides in the Southeast and Midwest, areas traditionally associated with high rates of Black poverty. For example, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, poor Black children born in 1992 earned $4,700 more at age 27 than those born there in 1978, according to co-author Will Dobbie, a professor of public policy at Harvard Kennedy School.

The researchers also found that moving to areas with solid parental employment was associated with higher earnings in early adulthood, especially for those who moved before age 10. “Growing class gaps and shrinking race gaps did not result from unequal access to a booming economy,” Goldman said. “Instead, what matters is how many years of childhood were spent in a thriving environment.”

Sports & STEAM

with the students about the scientific force of gravity.

“He once jumped so high that his teammates went out for ice cream before he came back down,” Joyner read aloud to the group.

Across from the parking lot on Hazel Street, neighbors watched and listened along to the students reading.

Joyner and the students reenacted spinning a ball on each others’ heads and dribbling. He randomly picked students from the crowd to show the group their best moves.

Joyner read only the first 15 minutes of the story and promised to continue during his next visit. At the end of the reading he asked students at random to recall parts of the book.

During the week, the campers also make use of Amistad High School’s sports field and the Learning Corridor on the Farmington Canal trail. In late July the students went on a field trip to the movie theater and this week will visit Quassy Amusement.

This year’s camp received grant funds allowing for it to provide its youth with daily hot lunches. On Thursday at around noon, the students enjoyed spaghetti and meat balls with a side of orange slices. The students ate their lunch after a morning playing in a nearby splash pad.

Five-year-old Liannah sat at a table of other five-year-olds to eat her spaghetti. She shared that she enjoys walks to the splash pad and going on field trips by riding a bus. Despite it being Thursday, she couldn’t help but think about a trip to the trampoline park on Friday.

Around 1 p.m, another group of young students worked with health educator Ruth Gibson during her weekly lesson on nutritional health.

During their health lesson students learned to read the ingredients on cereal boxes, pancake mix, and crackers. They learned to look for whole grains over refined grains.

The students next did a two-minute work out doing several exercises for 20 seconds each.

The camp has about eight counselors that rotate between the day’s morning and afternoon shifts. It also gets support from Youth@Work students. All staff at the site are trained in CPR and first aid.

Silva added that out of the camp’s estimated 55 total students, several youth enrolled have disabilities, providing the full group with a chance to interact with the students their age.

The camps sports component is led by Metropolitan Business Academy senior Amare Jackson, 17, who plays football for Hillhouse. He said many of the students in the camp have a passion for football and running. He typically organizes relay races for the campers in the park or

Republicans Call For Special Session On Energy Policy

by Doug Hardy

HARTFORD, CT – A few dozen Republican members of the House and Senate held a news conference at the Legislative Office Building on Thursday to call for a special session on energy policy following the arrival of the latest round of electricity bills in their constituents’ mailboxes.

With people complaining that their bills had gone way up and in some cases nearly doubled, Senate Minority Leader Stephen Harding, House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, and their party’s two ranking members on the Energy and Technology Committee blamed Democrats for the rate hike – despite reporters pushing back with evidence that both parties contributed to the decisions that led to this moment in various ways. And the Republicans outlined their ideas to change the state’s energy policies.

The focus of their anger about the rate hike is on a specific portion of the Public Benefits section of the electricity bills that went out over the past few weeks. The Public Benefits section of the bill comes from an annual accounting called the Rate Adjustment Mechanism, or RAM, which is what the utilities use to request rate changes from the Public Utility Regulatory Authority (PURA) based on the cost of mandated public programs.

In this case PURA voted 2-1 in April to allow Eversource to increase rates to cover $800 million owed to the company for two things: First, about 77% of the $800 million represents the cost of keeping the Millstone nuclear power plant running under an agreement requiring the state to buy electricity from the plant at a flat rate of 5 cents per kwh for 10 years. That deal was originally pitched by Republicans but also got some needed votes from Democrats in both chambers to pass.

Second – and this is the issue that Republicans focused on Thursday – ratepayers are splitting the cost of paying back Eversource for all the electric bills that went unpaid during the state’s Covid-era moratorium on shutoffs. It’s about $184 million, or 23% of the $800 million.

But they also derided the overall condition of the state’s energy policies as well, and said they wanted to “put aside blame” and start working toward solutions to make electricity more affordable.

Harding opened up the news conference highlighting Republican efforts to propose new policies six months ago.

“We told all of you in this room, we told the majority in the legislature, that we had to do something then, immediately. That our ratepayers, our neighbors, our constituents couldn’t afford to live in what is already an unaffordable state to begin with,” he said. “We begged for them to take up these proposals. Most of these were completely rejected, summarily, most of which never even got a public hearing. They were not interested in ad-

dressing the issues we felt had to be addressed.”

Harding continued: “And we’re here today to say enough is enough. Our ratepayers are paying too much. There is zero reason – zero reason! – Connecticut should be the second highest state in the United States of America when it comes down to electricity rates. It has to end.”

Harding and Candelora also talked about Republican efforts to use American Rescue Plan Act funds to mitigate the RAM costs that everyone knew was coming this summer, but instead, Candelora said, most of those funds went to higher education and other operating costs.

“We are all just as outraged as our residents when they opened up their electric bill and saw the massive inflation to their bill,” Candelora said. “And now we see electricity joining the chorus of other items like gas and groceries that are hitting Connecticut residents. And to me, when we see the wake of surpluses and money overflowing into the pension funds, our higher education institutions receiving the bulk of the ARPA funding, government is the beneficiary of itself, not the people.

Harding summed up the introduction to the event Thursday:

“So we’re here once again to call on the governor, call us in this special session now. This is an emergency. Let’s address this issue. Let’s stop the bleeding. And let’s once again make our electric rates in this state affordable,” Harding said. “It is ridiculous where we’ve gotten to where we’ve gotten. The majority has done nothing about it. And we’re once again here telling them let’s do something about it. We’re here today to do some-

thing about it.”

The Republican proposals include the following:

• Limit all future Power Purchase Agreements to rates that are no more than 150% over the wholesale electric market price;

• Study moving public policy charges off ratepayer bills and into the state budget for better transparency;

• Redefine Class I renewable energy sources to include all forms of hydropower and all nuclear power to lower the cost of these energy sources;

• Separate the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), and;

• Cover the portion of rate increases associated the moratorium on electric service shutoffs by reallocating remaining end-of-year American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, and examining budgetary options that could make available as much as $1 billion.

Prompted by the premise of a reporter’s

“We hope the ongoing statewide conversation about exorbitant energy rates will not only prompt immediate action during a special session but also ignite fresh dialogue and innovative ideas among members of the Energy and Technology Committee,” they said. “We are prepared to take action and stand ready to collaborate with the majority party to start helping our residents and address this pressing issue.”

Fazio responded to several questions Shortly before the news conference and immediately following Thursday’s Bond Commission meeting, Gov. Ned Lamont did not rule out a call to special session to discuss energy policy.

Lamont reiterated his comments from earlier this week, saying that keeping Millstone running is the biggest piece of the Public Benefits charge by far.

“We locked in a power purchase agreement at about five cents a kilowatt hour. That was following the lead of the legislature led by the Republicans who said it’s very important we keep Millstone going,” Lamont said. “It’s a big source of our base-load power and a big source of our carbon free power. So I think it was the right thing to do. We kept that going. That’s 78% of that so-called Public Benefits charge.”

Asked about the Republican proposal to move the Public Benefits costs into the state budget, he said he was open to the discussion. But then he added that “paid for by the General Fund” is another way of saying paid for by taxpayers, and he offered an example:

“You either want to make houses more efficient, which drives down electricity costs for those homes,” Lamont said. “You do it with the rate payers subsidizing, or you do it with the taxpayers. There’s no such thing as a free subsidy there.”

question that suggested that green energy projects are part of the public dialogue already, Candelora pushed back and suggested that they are not.

“I want to just touch on PURA. We talked about needing to separate PURA, but even more specifically, to make the appointments that are statutorily obligated to make. We are supposed to have five members on that commission. Right now we have three,” Candelora said. “There’s one new appointment. I believe there might be someone retiring. The other two are serving at the whim of the governor. And the significance of that is now we’ve seen our electric decisions go from an autonomous body to an organization that has moved into a spare room in the governor’s office where they’re making decisions behind closed doors and it’s being micromanaged by our governor’s office.“

Sen. Ryan Fazio and Rep. Bill Buckbee – the Republican ranking members on the Energy committee, said the current crisis should be taken as a catalyst for change.

As for the possibility of a special session, Lamont said he would have “to hear if they have real recommendations that would make an immediate difference for ratepayers. We all feel the pain of high electric prices. Fortunately, [natural] gas prices are down, but now electric prices are up quite a bit. So if they are real things that would make a difference, something I would consider. If we’re just quibbling about how many PURA commissioners we have or something, probably we don’t have to rush to that.”

Prompted with a suggestion that the utility companies say they tried to warn PURA that a price shock was coming if they didn’t raise rates sooner, Lamont said, “Look, we knew what the Millstone subsidy was going to cost us. By the way, the Millstone trade we did paid big dividends for our ratepayers two years ago. Well over $200 million we were able to credit back. This year we’re on the other side of that trade because the price of natural gas is so inexpensive. None of this was really unanticipated.”

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Stephen Harding opens Thursday’s news conference at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford with “spirited” comments about the high cost of electricity in the state on Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. Credit: Doug Hardy / CTNewsJunkie

Sen. Ryan Fazio, ranking member of the Energy and Technology Committee, discusses ideas to reform the state’s energy policy Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024, at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. Credit: Doug Hardy / CTNewsJunkie

Beyonce’s Nonprofit Donates $500K to Support Black Cowboys and Cowgirls

By BlackNews.com

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is making a significant impact by shining a spotlight on Black cowboys and equestrian culture, not just through her music but also through her philanthropic efforts. Her foundation, BeyGOOD, has taken a deep interest in supporting the rich, yet often overlooked, history of Black cowboys, cowgirls, farmers, and ranchers. This history is vital to understanding the full narrative of the American West, yet it has been largely ignored in mainstream media and history books. By focusing on these communities, Beyoncé is helping to preserve and celebrate a crucial part of Black heritage that has shaped the American landscape.

In an effort to uplift and sustain these traditions, BeyGOOD has been partnering with the annual Bill Pickett Rodeo, a historic event that has been the heartbeat of Black cowboy culture for four decades. The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, recognized as the longest-running Black rodeo in the United States, is a crucial gathering for Black cowboys and cowgirls to showcase their skills and preserve their legacy. Through its Equestrian program, BeyGOOD has committed $500,000 in grants to support these communities, demonstrating a strong commitment to ensuring that this important cultural heritage is not lost to

According to WBLS, the BeyGOOD Foundation has already made a tangible impact by participating in the Los Angeles and Atlanta stops of the Bill Pickett Rodeo. At these events, the foundation awarded $25,000 in grants to various organizations that are deeply rooted in the

Black equestrian community. Among the recipients were Urban Saddles, Love This Equine and Horse Rescue, The Black Cultural Enlightenment Society/Black Cowboy Festival, the South Carolina Black Farmers Coalition, and SOOFA Ranch. Each of these organizations plays a vital role in promoting and

sustaining Black equestrian and agricultural traditions.

Founded by Beyoncé in 2013, BeyGOOD started as an initiative to support global causes and has now evolved into a 501(c)(3) public charity, known as the BeyGOOD Foundation. Over the past decade, BeyGOOD has engaged in

numerous humanitarian efforts, from providing scholarships to addressing the water crisis in Burundi, and aiding families affected by Hurricane Harvey in Houston. Beyoncé’s vision for the foundation is to continue building partnerships through innovative programs that have a lasting impact on communities around the world.

One of the youngest beneficiaries of the BeyGOOD Equestrian Grants is nine-year-old Kendall Rae Johnson, the youngest farmer in Georgia and the owner of Green Heart. Her success story is a testament to the importance of nurturing the next generation of Black farmers and equestrians. The support provided by the BeyGOOD Foundation is crucial in helping young entrepreneurs like Kendall Rae continue their work and inspire future generations.

The significance of this initiative cannot be overstated. By supporting these grants, the BeyGOOD Foundation is not just providing financial assistance; it is affirming the value of Black agricultural and equestrian traditions in the broader American story. These efforts ensure that the legacies of Black cowboys, farmers, and ranchers are recognized and celebrated, rather than forgotten. To learn more about the recipients and the work of the BeyGOOD Foundation, visit BeyGOOD.org

The New Haven Equitable Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (NHE3) is a business-support network partnering with entrepreneurial support organizations (ESOs) to build an inclusive and equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem for historically marginalized entrepreneurs in Greater New Haven.

With a focus on funding BIPOC-and Woman-owned businesses, NHE3 intentionally provides grants to help small businesses thrive.

Grant round dates:

2nd round opens on Dec 1st and closes on Jan 31st (review and awards: end of February)

3rd round opens on Mar 1st and closes April 30th (review and awards: end of May)

4th round opens on June 1st and closes July 31st (review and awards: end of August)

4 Tips To Help Your Child’s Back-To-School Anxiety

by Jason Hughes, BlackDoctor.org

Back-to-school season is upon us – if you couldn’t tell by the uniforms and school supplies strewn all over every department store. And, as the yearly routine goes, there are a few tykes somewhere in the world begging their parents not to leave them at school.

There may be an actual reason behind your child’s unwillingness to go to school besides what some parents perceive as cute stubbornness. Ever heard of school refusal? According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, your child’s refusal to go to school or stay in school may be the first sign of a mental disorder.

This anxiety-based illness usually affects two to five percent of all school-age children. Experts say the refusal occurs during those transitional –sometimes scary – school years, such as entering kindergarten, middle and high school. The main symptom is complaining of physical illness shortly before it is time to head to school.

Your child was feeling fine last night. But all of a sudden, around six a.m., as you all prepare for the school day, your little one is complaining of a headache or stomachache. Then, if you let your child stay home, the symptoms disappear without any treatment only to return the next morning.

Here are four ways to help your child: Talk to your child about their feelings and fears.

Sometimes, especially at early ages, children may have developed a fear that something will happen to their parents while they are at school. It’s best to have an open discussion with your little one to find out what’s bothering them and how that may be triggering their fear of going to school.

It’s important to create an environment where your child feels comfortable expressing their concerns and worries. You can start by initiating open conversations

about school, addressing their fears and acknowledging their feelings. Let them know that their emotions are valid and that you’re there to support them. Help your child establish a support system.

It’s great if your child comes to you for advice on any and every topic. But some children may feel like they can’t have deep discussions with their parents. Help your child create a list of family members and teachers who can step in and give trustworthy advice when needed.

You can also reach out to friends from their previous school year or arrange playdates with classmates they’ll see again. Reconnecting with familiar faces can help ease the fear of the unknown. Expose your child to school in small doses.

Dropping off your little one at kindergarten can be frightening if they haven’t had any exposure to school before. If your child didn’t attend preschool, find some extracurricular activities that could get your child acclimated to the social ele-

ments of a classroom setting. It may also help to arrange a visit to the school before the academic year starts. Walking through the hallways, locating classrooms, and meeting teachers can help alleviate some of the unknowns and reduce anxiety associated with the new environment.

A consistent daily routine provides a sense of predictability that can ease anxiety, but remember to start small so you don’t overwhelm your child. For example, you can gradually adjust their sleep schedule and meal times to align with the school routine. Having a structured plan can help reduce uncertainty.

If your child’s stress is particularly intense, consider creating a transition plan. Start with shorter visits to school, gradually increasing the duration until they feel more comfortable.

Involve your child in back-to-school preparations. Let them choose their school supplies, backpack, and even their first-day outfit. This sense of ownership and control can boost their confidence and excitement.

Speak with a therapist.

I f your child’s school refusal continues for more than a couple of weeks, it may be best to speak with a therapist. There could be some other event that triggered your child’s anxiety about school that only a professional can detect and help treat.

Back To School Is The Perfect Time To Make New Friends…For Black Moms!

by Naomi Mackenzie, BlackDoctor.org

Whether you are a new mom, single mom or a seasoned mommy, there are times you are bound to feel isolated and without the support of those who understand what you are going through. I am not a mommy, but I have several mommy friends and I watched my mom raise my brother and I all on her own, and when I say a support system is definitely how they made the most of their situations it is the TRUTH!

Are you yearning to get out and meet new people, or do you desire to talk to other women who understand why you are so obsessed with your baby’s newest habit, etc.? Well, if you are struggling to find other mommy friends try any of these suggested ideas:

Take a Class

Mommy and me classes are becoming the newest trend for mothers who want to take a hobby or athletic-based class, but can’t leave their children behind. Look up classes that both you and your young one can enjoy together such as local music, art, swimming, yoga, gymnastics, cooking, etc. Not only does this give you a chance to bond with your child, but you can also meet other mothers and their children.

Find a Park

Taking your kiddos to the park is the perfect place for you and them to find friends. Kids can become friends after a few shared jumps down the slide. This is the perfect time to plan play dates and get to know their newfound friend’s parents. Many times kids are the reason for their parents’ friendships.

Stroller Strides Sign Me Up!

Fitness can be a priority on a new mommy’s checklist, but can often get pushed to the side as they focus on motherhood and all that it entails. Why not multitask? Stroller Strides is a new national program geared toward keeping mothers and their kids active. They host 60-minute group classes that rotate between power walking, toning and strength training weekly. You are bound to find a friendly face, or two, or even three! The best part is you all have something in common already!

Go Searching

Technology has made it so easy to connect with others and there is no reason mothers shouldn’t take full advantage. Websites like Meetup.com are great places to meet people with similar hobbies and in-

terests as you. They even have a section of groups for people just like you under their Parents and Family filter. The great thing about Meetup.com is that they keep the site organized by city and zip code so you can see groups that are in your local area. You can also see the groups’ calendar of events, meet and chat with individuals from the group, and even host your own group and events!

Tinder for Mommy?

Tinder truly started the swiping trend. Now there are several apps available at your fingertips on your smartphone that allow you to find new friends. Hello Mamas, MomCo, Kinnecting and Smile Mom are just a few of the many apps out there that you can utilize to find your new mommy girlfriends. The apps do all the pre-screening work for you by matching you with other moms with similar interests and those with children of similar ages. The best part, most of these apps are free! Other options haven’t hit the app scene yet, but can easily be found online such as MochaMoms. org, CafeMom.com, BabyCenter.com, and CircleofMoms.com. Visit KissTheChaos.com and follow me on Instagram: @Ooolala_laa.

THE GLENDOWER GROUP, INC.

NOTICE

Request for Proposals AE Services

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

295 Wilmot Road, New Haven CT

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

Invitation for Bids

Pest Control Services for Low Income- Agency Wide

The Glendower Group, Inc. is currently seeking proposals for architectural engineering services for the 295 Wilmot Road located in New Haven CT. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Glendower’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https:// newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway

beginning on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, at 3:00PM.

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have 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 preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

360 MANAGEMENT GROUP, CO.

NOTICIA

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting for a Budget Analyst Trainee (Leadership Associate (Confidential))

The Housing Authority of City of New Haven b/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking bids for Pest Control Services for Low Income Public Housing- Agency Wide. A complete copy of the requirements may be obtained from Elm City Communities Vendor Collaboration portal https:// newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway

beginning on Monday, August 5, 2024, at 3:00PM.

360 Management Group, Co. is currently seeking proposals from a qualified licensed for driveway crack filling, sealcoating, and pavement sriping, agency wide for 360 Management Group Properties. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from 360 Management Group’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing. cobblestonesystems.com/gateway

beginning on Wednesday, July 31, 2024, at 3:00PM.

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 ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510

The Housing Authority of the City of Bristol

Request for Proposal (RFP)

NEW HAVEN

Construction Manager at Risk at Cambridge Park

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

The Housing Authority of the City of Bristol (BHA) is seeking a qualified firm to serve as a Construction Manager at Risk (CMR) for its proposed rehabilitation of Cambridge Park. The relationship will initially be for an advisor that may lead to an at-risk relationship.

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

A pre-bid walk through will be held on Aug. 7, 2024, at 10:00 AM (EDT) at 164 Jerome Ave., Bristol, CT. Proposal date and time is Thurs., Aug. 22, 2024, at 2:00 PM (EDT) at BHA’s Central Office, 164 Jerome Ave., Bristol, CT 06010. All proposals will be publicly opened and read aloud. No electronic bids will be accepted. A full copy of the Request for Proposal and access to drawings are available by contacting Luis Velazquez, Director of Capital Funds electronically at lvelazquez@ bristolhousing.org.

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates 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 ofPitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster St. New Haven, CT

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and application instructions are available at: https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/ sup/bulpreview.asp?b=&R1= 240726&R2=5989VR&R3=001

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

WANTED TRUCK DRIVER

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

In accordance with the requirements of Federal Regulation 24 CFR Part 903, the Housing Authority of the City of Danbury will conduct a public hearing to receive public comments on its proposed FY 2025 Annual and its Five-year Agency Plans. The PHA Annual Plan and 5YR 2025-2029 Agency Plans describe the mission of the Agency and its’ long-range operating, capital, and redevelopment goals and objectives over the next five years. The PHA Plan provides details about the Agency's immediate operations, programs and services, and the strategy for addressing the needs identified in the 5-year plan for the upcoming year.

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

HACD will hold a public hearing on Thursday, September 5, 2024 at 2:00pm - 4:00pm and invite public comment on the proposed Annual and Five-Year Plan. The Hearing will be held at the office of the Agency located at Two Mill Ridge Road, Danbury, Connecticut 06811. Written comments may also be submitted to HACD at the following address:

Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

Housing Authority of the City of Danbury

Two Mill Ridge Road

Danbury, Connecticut, 06811

This project is federally assisted. Therefore, bidders must comply with the following requirements: Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968; Equal Opportunity provisions of Executive Order 11246; Non-Discrimination provision of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; Labor Standards provisions of the Davis-Bacon Act and related acts and Contract Work Hours Standards Act; prevailing wage determinations as issued by the United States Department of Labor; and all applicable provisions under Title I of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. The Housing Authority of the City of Bristol is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. SBE, MBE, W/DBE, and Section 3 businesses are encouraged to respond.

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castin-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

The public may inspect copies of the plan and all information relevant to the public hearing at the address noted above between the hours of 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Questions on the plan can be directed to the Housing Authority at the above address or by calling 203-744-2500 ext. 1110.

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016

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, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

Listing: Full Time Receptionist

Fence Installers: Large CT Fence & Guardrail Contractor is looking for Fence Installation helpers. Must have at least 2 years of experience installing chain link, wood, PVC and ornamental iron fencing. Work available 10-12 months per year. All necessary equipment provided. Medical, holiday, 401K, vacation & other benefits included. Must be able to pass required physical and drug test. An OSHA 10 Certification is required. A valid CT driver's license is required and must get DOT Medical Card. We are an AA/EOE company. Send resumes/inquiries to: rhauer@atlasoutdoor.com.

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Office, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

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 informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the

Petroleum/HVAC company has an immediate opening for a Full Time Receptionist. Must have customer service experience, strong organizational skills, ability to multitask, and be capable of handling multiple telephone lines. Computer knowledge is required. Must have a valid driver’s license to run company errands. Petroleum or HVAC knowledge preferred. Send resume by email to: HRDept@ eastriverenergy.com or send resume to: Human Resource Dept. P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.

***An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer including Disabled and Veterans***

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

NOTICE

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training on equipment we operate.

Location: Bloomfield CT We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

Finance Director

Salary Range -

$101,455 to $156,599 (expected starting pay maximum is mid-range)

NOW HIRING FOR 2024-2025 SEASON

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

Contact: Tom Dunay Phone: 860- 243-2300

Email: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply

Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have 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 preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300

Fully Benefited – 35 hours weekly Pre-employment drug testing. For more details, visit our website –www.bloomfieldct.org

Portland

Roma Construction, Inc. has openings for Laborers, CDL Drivers with Class A & B Licenses and Operators. We are an Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

NOTICIA

Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply

Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

Union Company seeks:

Police Officer full-time

Go to www.portlandct.org for details

Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipment. Must have a CDL License, clean driving record, capable of operating heavy equipment; be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com

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 ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply

Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Construction

NEW HAVEN

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

242-258 Fairmont Ave

2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA

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

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center

Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

WANTED TRUCK DRIVER

Truck Driver with clean CDL license

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

Please send resume to attielordan@gmail.com PJF Construction Corporation AA/EOE

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units)

Senior Sales Representative Wanted

Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

Advertising and the cultivation of existing and new advertising clients is key to the growth and continued success of The Inner-City News. The paper is delivered weekly to businesses, schools, shopping outlets and wherever newspapers can be found. This is a remote sales position.

Work closely with the Publisher and editor to create a successful sales strategy. Must be a self-starter and highly motivated.

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Salary

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, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Knows effective ways to

and

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castin-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016

Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

and learns about new offerings

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Works well independently and has advanced time management and organization skills. Potential to manage sales representatives and has good leadership skills. Builds relationships with customers and coworkers and has strong interpersonal skills. An associate or bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, or a related major is a plus but not required. At least [number] years of sales representative experience is preferred. Interested candidates should apply to John Thomas, JThomas@penfieldcomm.com

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Office, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

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

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 AA/EEO EMPLOYER

Galasso Materials LLC, a quarry and paving contractor, has positions open for the upcoming construction season. We are seeking candidates for a variety of positions, including: Scalehouse Dispatcher/ Equipment Operators and Laborers. NO PHONE CALLS. Please email resume and cover letter to “Hiring Manager”, Galasso Materials LLC, PO Box 1776, East Granby CT 06026.

Galasso Materials is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS

Laboratory Technician

NOTICE

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

Town of Bloomfield

Salary Range:

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have 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 preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

The Town of Wallingford Sewer Division is seeking qualified applicants to perform tasks in the sampling and physical, chemical and bacteriological laboratorial analysis of raw (untreated) and potable (treated) water and wastewater. The position requires 2 years of experience in the laboratory analysis of water and wastewater, plus an A S. degree in biology, chemistry or related field from an accredited college or university, or an equivalent combination of experience and training may be substituted on a year-for-year basis. Must obtain and maintain during the course of employment any required local, State and federal certifications in laboratory analysis work. Must possess and maintain a valid State of CT driver’s license. Wage rate: $30.20 to $36.31 hourly, plus an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, medical insurance, life insurance, and 13 paid holidays. To apply online by the closing date of August 29, 2024, please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/government/departments/human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

NOTICIA

PURCHASING AGENT

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

$87,727 to $136,071 Deputy Finance Director/Controller Pre-employment drug testing. AA/EOE. For Details go to  www.bloomfieldct.org

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

APPLY NOW!

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders

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 ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510

The Town of Wallingford is seeking a highly motivated manager to lead its purchasing program in accordance with the Town charter and ordinances. Applicants should possess 5 years of progressively responsible experience in purchasing work, plus a bachelor’s degree in business administration or related field, or an equivalent combination of education and qualifying experience substituting on a year-for-year basis. Salary: $93,647 to $118,963 annually. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, individual and family medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and voluntary deferred compensation plan. To apply online by the September 3, 2024 closing date, please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/government/departments/ human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

RECREATION

NEW HAVEN

Recreation Programs Specialist – The Town of Wallingford seeking applicants to assist in the coordination of a variety of recreation programs and activities that include athletics, teen, youth fitness, trips and special events. Applicants should have a Bachelor’s Degree in recreation administration, leisure services, physical education, therapeutic recreation or a related field, plus 1 year of responsible recreation program experience, OR, an Associate’s Degree in one of the above-referenced fields with 3 years of responsible recreation experience. Must possess and maintain a valid State of CT driver’s License. Salary: $70,658 to $89,550 annually plus an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and deferred compensation plan. To apply online by the September 3, 2024 closing date please visit: www.wallingfordct.gov/government/departments/human-resources/. Applications are also available at the Department of Human Resources located in Room #301 of the Town Hall, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 2942084. EOE

242-258 Fairmont Ave

2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center

Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates 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 ofPitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster St. New Haven, CT

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

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, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay.

Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT AFFIRMATIVE

Construction

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

LAROSA GROUPS IS GROWING

LaRosa Building Group LLC, a General Contractor is currently looking to add the following full-time positions to our Team:

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

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

General Office Administrator Assistant Project Manager/Project Engineer Construction Accountant Superintendent

Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

LaRosa Earth Group LLC, a Site/Excavation Company is currently looking to add the following full-time positions to our Team:

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castin-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

Heavy Equipment Operators

Diesel Mechanic

Skilled Laborers

Please submit resumes to HR@LAROSABG.COM or stop by our main office to fill out an application: 163 Research Parkway Meriden, CT.

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016

Salary will be commensurate with experience and best fit for the positions. Health plan; 401K; company- paid holidays in addition to paid time off.

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016

Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

LaRosa Groups is an Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer who values diversity and encourages all qualified applicants to apply.

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Office, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking proposals for IT Consulting Services. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from ECC’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/ gateway beginning on Monday, July 15, 2024, at 3:00PM.

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses Haynes Construction Company, 32

White House Initiative Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Diverse 2024 HBCU Cohort

By Stacy M. Brown

NNPA Senior National Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia

The White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) has announced the 2024 cohort of HBCU Scholars, marking the 10th anniversary of this transformative program. This year, 110 students from 77 HBCUs across the nation and around the world have been selected for their exceptional academic achievements, leadership potential, and dedication to their communities.

“For 10 years, the HBCU Scholars program has celebrated the exceptional academic talent and achievements of students at our Historically Black Colleges and Universities – a recognition that reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s determination to fight for our nation’s HBCUs and their immense contributions to excellence and diversity in higher education,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “This year’s 110 outstanding students exemplify Black excellence – and fill us with hope for the promise of tomorrow. We couldn’t be prouder to support them on their journey.”

Among the selected scholars are:

• Ashley Anderson from Howard University, Washington, D.C.

• Sarah Amanda Owusu from Bowie State University, Bowie, MD

• Yassin Alallaq from Delaware State University, Dover, DE

• Michael Kevin Crossley Sr. from Virgin-

ia Union University, Sydney Lewis School of Business, Richmond, VA

• Olivia Johnson from Spelman College, Atlanta, GA

• David Liu from Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA

• Fatima Zahra from Xavier University, New Orleans, LA

• Carlos Mendoza from Texas Southern University, Houston, TX

• Nia Thompson from North Carolina A&T State University, Greensboro, NC

• Emmanuel Okafor from Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, FL

• Anaya Singh from Claflin University, Orangeburg, SC

• Maria Gonzalez from Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX

• Thomas Mburu from Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL

• Lian Li from Dillard University, New Orleans, LA

Officials said their inclusion highlights the remarkable talent fostered within HBCUs and reflects strong educational foundations and community spirit. Officials added that these students “exemplify the academic excellence and leadership potential the HBCU Scholars program seeks to recognize and support.”

“For ten years, the HBCU Scholars program has celebrated the exceptional academic talent and achievements of students at our historically Black colleges and universities—a recognition that reflects the Biden-Harris Administration’s deter-

mination to fight for our nation’s HBCUs and their immense contributions to excellence and diversity in higher education,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “This year’s 110 outstanding students exemplify Black excellence – and fill us with hope for the promise of tomorrow. We couldn’t be prouder to support them on their journey.”

Since its inception in 2014, the HBCU Scholars program has helped over 500 students, providing them invaluable opportunities for personal and professional growth, mentorship, and networking. Representing 23 states and 11 countries, this year’s cohort includes students from diverse disciplines, including science, technology, engineering, math, humanities, social sciences, and the arts.

Throughout the year, the HBCU Scholars will engage in workshops, leadership development programs, and networking events designed to enhance their skills and expand their horizons. They will connect with industry leaders, policymakers, and program alumni, further enriching their educational experience. Aligned with the U.S. Department of Education’s mission to “Raise the Bar,” students in the program are encouraged to lift their communities, unite others around student success, work to strengthen democracy and grow the economy.

A critical component of the HBCU Scholars Program is a partnership with NASA to foster innovation and opportunity for the cohorts. The partnership includes the Minority University Research and Education Project Innovation Tech Transfer

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Idea Competition (MITTIC). Through the Mini MITTIC program, HBCU Scholars will collaborate to develop ideas to commercialize technology derived from NASA intellectual property that can improve their campuses and surrounding communities. HBCU Scholars will also be invited to the 2024 HBCU Week National Annual Conference, held on September 15–19, 2024, in Philadelphia, PA. This year’s conference theme is “Raising the Bar: Where Excellence and Opportunity Meet.” During the conference, HBCU Scholars will participate in sessions designed to “engage a spirit of innovation, leadership, and personal and professional development.” Most importantly, officials said HBCU Scholars will have opportunities to engage, and showcase their individual and collective talent. Following the conference, officials said HBCU Scholars will participate in programs, events, and monthly master classes designed to enhance their professional development and create greater access to post-graduation opportunities within nonprofits, businesses, and federal agency partners to help ensure America remains globally competitive.

“I am delighted to announce the 2024–2025 HBCU Scholars, representing 77 of our nation’s HBCUs. These students exemplify the excellence and leadership that is characteristic of the HBCU community,” said Dietra Trent, Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. “I anticipate and look forward to our partnership over the next academic school year.”

Questions about your bill?

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 in-person at Yale New Haven Hospital once a month.

Date: Monday, August 19, 2024

Time: 5 - 7 pm

Location: Children’s Hospital, 1 Park St., 1st Floor, Admitting

Parking available (handicapped accessible)

An appointment is necessary. Please call 855-547-4584

In light of COVID-19, patients may call 855-547-4584 any time during regular weekday hours to speak with a counselor on the phone.

Spanish-speaking counselors available.

Where personal breakthroughs are powered by medical ones.

At Yale New Haven Health, we’re delivering pioneering research from Yale School of Medicine to improve people’s lives every single day. Like Dr. Roy Herbst, an international leader in innovative research, who leads clinical trials that have advanced the use of immunotherapy and gene-targeted therapies to personalize treatment for lung cancer. Together, we’re powering breakthroughs with the greatest of care.

S E P T E M B E R 2

L A B O R D A Y

New Haven kids run FREE in the Kids Fun Run courtesy of Town Fair Tire. USATF 20K National Championship

Post-race party on the Green features live music, great food, East Rock Brewing beer, and the ACES Kids Fun Zone!