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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Noveber 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - November 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

Public Housing Renter-Voter Plan OK’d

by ALLAN APPEL

Come the next election, hundreds more public-housing tenants may discover that they are registered to vote.

That’s thanks to a new “motor voter”inspired automatic-registration policy approved Tuesday afternoon by the housing authority’s board.

The policy calls for having tenants fill out voter registration forms at each new leaseup or recertification, unless they opt out.

Elm City Communities/Housing Authority of New Haven (ECC/HANH) staffers will then bring the forms to the Registrar of Voters office. It’s the housing authority’s equivalent to registering to vote when you conduct a transaction at the Department of Motor Vehicles.

HANH Executive Director Karen DuBoisWalton came up with the idea. She noted that many tenants face barriers to registering, beginning with the fact that many don’t own cars.

At its regular meeting Tuesday afternoon HANH’s Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the policy.

“We’re excited,” DuBois-Walton said as she laid out the plan to the commissioners.

“The current system makes [registration] a challenge, especially for individuals who experience the challenges of poverty.”

DuBois-Walton said that the policy will be implemented as soon as next month, just as soon as HANH staff receives the required training from the registrar of voters.

Before the vote, in a brief discussion, Commissioner William Kilpatrick asked if the plan raises any issue with the federal government.

“We are registering, not advocating for a candidate,” DuBois-Walton replied. As long as the presentation is nonpartisan, there is no problem, she said. “It’s a progressive step to enfranchise our residents.”

Kilpatrick, who applauded the effort, con-

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO

Karen DuBois-Walton. tinued to press DuBois-Walton a bit on who would conduct the registration and how it would take place.

The answer was current housing management staff no additional staff. The forms will be included in the packet of documents being filled out by a new or re-certifying tenant. “We’ll help people complete the forms,” DuBois-Walton said, checking citizenship, address and residence, and age. If people are still on parole they cannot register.

Then HANH staff will make sure the documents are delivered to the registrar, she said.

Commissioner Foluke Morris asked if all 2,000-plus HANH residents will be involved.

No, DuBois-Walton replied, not the whole portfolio, just new tenants coming in and as people participate in the required process to re-certify to continuing renting.

Board Chair Erik Clemons pronounced the plan “terrific” and asked if DuBoisWalton’s idea was a first.

“As far as we can tell, we are the first housing authority in the nation” to be doing this, she said.

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO

Mikisha Bellamy registers Mill River Crossing tenant in pre-election drive.

In connection with the proposal, DuBoisWalton offered some fuller answers, in writing for The Independent: Independent: Where did the idea come from?

KDB: This is my idea to ensure that the voices of our residents who are too often marginalized are heard. I am not aware of any other authorities have done this. It is part of our statewide legislative agenda, however, to have this a requirement for all state funded/financed affordable housing.

Independent: Why the “opt out” approach as opposed to a straight choice?

KDB: Currently VR [voter registration] is

an opt in system. We are seeking to reverse this. Residents will automatically have the VR card completed at lease up unless they choose not to. This shifts it to an opt out system. The default is registration. Believing in choice, however, if one chooses not to be registered, this gives that option.

Independent: Any exceptions to the proposed policy?

KDB: VR will be included for all new lease ups and to all residents and HCV (Housing Choice Voucher) participants at recertification for those who have turned 18 since we last saw the family.

Independent: Why implement the idea just

now?

KDB: Leading up to the election we hosted several voter registration drives. With each one, I thought more and more about how difficult we make things that should be easy. Voting is the right of adult citizens.

It should be automatic. As soon as my sons approached age 18, Selective Service information came in the mail. No such thing occurs for voter registration. Why is that?

This needs to change. What we are doing is simply a first step toward automatic voter registration in this state and hopefully nationwide.

Blumenthal Challenges Whitaker Appointment In Court

by Peter Urban Ct. News Junkie

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal on Monday filed a legal challenge to President Donald Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting Attorney General, claiming it violates the U.S. Constitution’s Appointments Clause.

“Americans really prize a system of checks and balances. They know that checks on autocratic and dictatorial power are essential to our democratic system. President Trump’s appointment here betrays those checks and balances,” Blumenthal said.

Blumenthal is asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to nullify the appointment on the grounds that it deprives members of the Senate their right to confirm presidential appointees working at the highest level of the federal government as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. He is joined by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Sen. Masie Hirono, D-Hawaii, on the court filing.

President Trump appointed Whitaker as acting attorney general after Jeff Sessions agreed to leave the job at the request of the president.

Blumenthal says the president should have appointed Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein as acting attorney general, noting that — unlike Whitaker — Rosenstein is next in line and has faced Senate confirmation in his current role. Whitaker was Session’s chief of staff.

Blumenthal went farther in discrediting Whitaker saying he “would never pass the advice and consent test” because he is “completely lacking in qualifications.”

“He is, in fact, a lackey and sycophant. That is exactly why we have the advice and consent clause,” Blumenthal said on a conference call with reporters.

President Trump’s Legal Counsel, Emmet Flood, issued a memorandum last week defending the appointment saying Whitaker has served at the Justice Department at a significant pay level for over a year — fulfilling the

requirements to serve as acting attorney general under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. Flood noted that former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush had similarly appointed non-Senate confirmed individuals as acting agency heads. Under the law, those appointed in acting positions can serve in those roles for up to 210 days.

Blumenthal’s concern over the appointment of Whitaker appears to be driven by concerns that Trump is looking to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections. Whitaker has in the past criticized the investigation.

“What we are witnessing right now is a slow-motion Saturday Night massacre,” Blumenthal said, alluding to President Richard Nixon’s attempt to torpedo a special counsel investigation of the Watergate affair. Rather than an overnight firing of Mueller, Blumenthal suggested the Trump administration is imposing a “death by a thousand cuts” strat-

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WIKIMEDIA & CTNEWSJUNKIE COMPOSITE

Acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, left, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal

egy to undermine the special counsel.

“The consequences are largely the same — to violate the Constitution, to undermine the rule

of law and sabotage a valid special counsel investigation,” Blumenthal said.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Noveber 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

From Detroit To Dixwell, “Paradise Blue” Echoes

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

A jazz club is fighting the rising tide of gentrification before it even knows what it’s up against. Inside, patrons trickle in unaware. Strains of horn and piano filter through, unwittingly setting the soundtrack for a new chapter in forced migration. Outside, the neighborhood has started to gasp for air.

But is it Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood circa 1949, or New Haven’s Dixwell Corridor just a few years later? Or somewhere else entirely, where the story is so familiar and so American we don’t even need the city’s name?

Last week, that question hit the Stetson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library (NHFPL) as New Havener Ife Michelle Gardin and the cast of Long Wharf Theatre’s Paradise Blue spoke about the play, and its resonances in New Haven seven decades after it takes place. Close to 40 people attended the event.

The play opens Wednesday Nov. 21 and runs through Dec. 16. Tickets and more information Long Wharf Theater (203) 787-4282 Written by MacArthur Genius Award winner Dominique Morisseau, Paradise Blue unfolds in Detroit’s now-demolished Black Bottom neighborhood and Paradise Valley entertainment district in 1949, just a year before the city government razed the entire area under the guise of urban renewal and the American Housing Act of 1949. In its once thriving Paradise Club, Blue (Stephen Tyrone Williams) can already hear the grim knock of gentrification at his door, scratching the brick and paint with something that sounds like sharp nails and eminent domain.

Around him, Morisseau has built a universe that is as deeply human is it is historical. As Blue thinks about selling the club (Gardin described him as “the brother that’s in all kinds of conflict!”), we get a look into its life: club co-owner Pumpkin (Margaret Odette), musicians Corn (Leon Addison Brown) and P-Sam (Freddie Fulton), and a mysterious outsider named Silver (Carolyn Michelle Smith) who rolls into town like a rhythm no one’s ever heard before.

Every breath they take is soaked in midcentury jazz, channeling a time when Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus and many others were still alive, touring and recording.

And every breath is threatened by outside forces, waiting at the edges to dismantle the neighborhood.

“This play finds characters at a real crossroads for all of them,” said Fulton.

As the cast gathered at Stetson, Director Awoye Timpo spoke about the play’s baptism in music and history, the two inextricably linked in a story of displacement. A product of redlining, Black Bottom was built in the 1930s, as the city’s Black population boomed, but was largely excluded from other neighborhoods due to unfair housing practices.

Black Bottom became, for decades, a model of Black self-sufficiency: hundreds of Black-owned businesses, social workers, doctors and dentists populated the neighborhood, with an entertainment district dedicated to their needs. According to Detroit historian Ken Coleman and records from the Detroit Urban League, the area once laid claim to 151 physicians, 140 social workers, 85 lawyers, 71 beauty shops, 57 restaurants, 36 dentists, 30 drug stores, 25 barber shops, 25 dress makers and shops, 20 hotels, 15 fish and poultry markets, ten hospitals, ten electricians, nine insurance companies, seven building contractors, five flower shops, two bondsmen and two dairy distributors.

“There was an influx of opportunity happening in Detroit,” said Timpo. “Black Bottom, Paradise Valley … it was one of the hottest jazz places in the country.”

And then it was gone. After the passage of the American Housing Act of 1949, the City of Detroit seized and razed the area, claiming “slum clearance” and using the land to make room for the Chrysler Freeway (I-75), sprawling Detroit Medical Center, and now-historic Lafayette Park neighborhood, where apartments designed

by Mies van der Rohe now sell for a small fortune. Almost no traces of the area’s history remain.

While big venues like the Paradise Theatre ultimately saw a resurrection (it is now Orchestra Hall, where the Detroit Symphony Orchestra plays its shows), most of the area’s jazz clubs were crippled in their tracks, names wiped from the historical record. And in the intervening decades, Southeastern Michigan has become one of the most segregated areas in the country.

And the history of displacement keeps telling the same story. As a new wave of gentrification has swept over the city in recent years, Detroit’s The Downtown Development Authority has put $52.4 million back into the area—to build a 24-hour entertainment district poised to house just one tenth of the people it did over half a century ago.

“We’re in these places where history repeats itself,” Timpo said, noting protests in Long Island City over Amazon’s planned relocation there. “The play takes place 70 years ago, but it’s happening right at this moment.”

And not just in Detroit but in New Haven, where the Dixwell Avenue Corridor was the city’s own Paradise Valley. While Unsung Heroes: The Music of Jazz in New Haven notes that New Haven only had about 3,000 Black families at the turn of the 20th century, that number soon grew with the promise of employment. Like Detroit’s auto industry, the Winchester Repeating Arms Factory had the city booming, keeping whole neighborhoods in business as it churned out military-grade equipment in one hand, and signed paychecks with the other.

“Paradise was the Monterey. It was the Elks Club,” Gardin said, recalling go-to jazz spots and beloved musicians of the

Leon Addison Brown and Freddie Fulton. Lucy Gellman Photo.

Ife Michelle Gardin and Paradise Blue Director Awoye Timpo. Lucy Gellman Photo.

Stephen Tyrone Williams: from a discussion about Coltrane’s A Love Supreme to his character’s own theme.

Carolyn Michelle Smith, who plays Silver. Lucy Gellman Photo.

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time. “We didn’t have to leave this area for anything. It was safe. It was a village.”

She recalled what it was like to walk down Dixwell Avenue, and have a whole world of Black-owned businesses at one’s fingertips, stretching from one end of the avenue all the way to the other. While grocers, doctors and dentists built a thriving economic ecosystem, music pulsed at spots like The Monterey and Dinkie’s Jazz Club. Now, the Monterey stands empty at 265 Dixwell, across from the Dixwell Ave Mini Mart and Flowers By Design.

“I don’t think we realized how fortunate we were,” said Branch Manager Diane Brown, whose mother Lillian was one of the first Black homeowners in New Haven’s Newhallville neighborhood. “We just thought that was the norm.”

As the play lands in New Haven—it was performed at New York’s Signature Theatre to great acclaim earlier this year— Long Wharf has sought to recreate many of those memories. While Timpo said she considers Signature Theatre Director Ruben Santiago-Hudson a mentor, she was quick to add that this production is, in many ways, uniquely Long Wharf’s.

Working from scratch, jazz trumpeter Alfonso Horne has devised music not only for the club’s performances, but for each of the characters who inhabit the space.

Several weeks ago, he came in during a cast read-through of the script, speaking with cast members when he wasn’t listening to the words. Smith, who plays Silver, said that his presence helped her forge a connection with not just the material, but with the time period itself.

Williams, who plays Blue, recalled telling Horne about a specific scene in John Scheinfeld’s Chasing Trane, in which the guitarist Santana says he plays John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme and burns sage each time he gets to a new hotel room.

Horne took the chord structure from parts of the 1964 album and turned it into Blue’s theme, which follows the character each time he exits and enters the stage.

“It was crazy, but it was beautiful,” Timpo recalled of Horne’s whirlwind trip to the theater. She later added that it she finds it exhilarating “to think of a time when Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus would just be walking around the neighborhood.”

Fulton, who plays P-Sam, jumped in.

For the characters in this work, mastery of the music is just as important as every other aspect of the show, because the actors want to honor “the ancestors”—the jazz greats who have come before them, and graced Paradise-like venues across the country.

When crafting Paradise Blue’s world, Timpo looked critically to two other works that comprise Morisseau’s Detroit Trilogy: Detroit ’67 and Skeleton Crew, the first of which Collective Consciousness Theatre (CCT) performed in 2014. She praised the works’ timeliness, drawing a parallel with August Wilson’s heralded American CenCon’t on page 14

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - November 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

Recounts Show Logan Defeating Cabrera By 85 Votes

by STAFF

New Haven Independent

State Sen. George Logan will be returning to Hartford to represent the 17th District for a second, two-year term.

Unofficial results Wednesday from the last of seven recounts conducted this week show Logan defeated Democratic challenger Jorge Cabrera by 85 votes, according to a Facebook post on Logan’s campaign page.

The Valley Indy will post the vote total when it is available.

“It is an honor and privilege to have this opportunity to represent you in the Senate for another term,” the post read. “I look forward to working with Governor-elect Lamont and his new administration in a bipartisan manner to move CT forward in a way that improves the lives of everyone living and working in CT.” We did it. We won the CT 17th Senatatorial District by 85 votes!

It is an honor and privilege to have this opportunity to represent you in the Senate for another term. I look forward to working with Governor-elect Lamont and his new administration in a bipartisan manner to move CT forward in a way that improves the lives of everyone living and working in CT. Cabrera said he called Logan to congratulate him Wednesday.

“Of course we’d want a different outcome but it was very close and we’re happy with the work that we put in and the team we assembled,” Cabrera said.

Cabrera said he’d thinking about running for office again — after taking some time

off. “At this point I’m going to relax and enjoy Thanksgiving with my family and probably watch some Netflix with my boys and reassess at the turn of the year,” he said.

The 17th District includes Ansonia, Derby, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Hamden, Naugatuck, and Woodbridge.

Those towns had until Wednesday (Nov. 14) to conduct a state-mandated recount of the Nov. 6 vote, because the final tally was so close.

Logan won on Election Day by just 65 votes.

But the results from the Nov. 6 election weren’t finalized until Nov. 8, after Registrars in Ansonia discovered through the Logan campaign that they had initially submitted wrong vote tallies to the secretary of state.

The mistaken vote tally was attributed to a problematic machine and human error.

See the links at the bottom of this story for background.

The mistake highlights problems in the state’s antiquated methods to conduct elections. Ansonia did a recount Tuesday — in the presence of a bunch of lawyers and staffers for both political parties and the campaigns.

Cabrera and his supporters held a rally in front of Ansonia City Hall Monday to focus attention on the recount.

He said Wednesday that “the biggest thing for me was to make sure every vote was counted fairly.”

“It wasn’t the result we would have liked, but considering coming from virtually no-

Ct. News Junkie

HAMDEN, CT - The town of Hamden is taking the first step in trying to stop people who live in town and skip paying car taxes by registering their cars in other states.

The town recently released a request for bids for “Out of State Motor Vehicle Reporting,” asking for qualified vendors to investigate and report motor vehicles used or housed by Hamden residents which are registered in a state other than Connecticut.

Hamden Mayor Curt Leng said: “Historically, Hamden has taken a loss in motor vehicle tax collections due to the large amount of residents living in town who have not yet registered their vehicles in Connecticut.”

“This pushes the burden unfairly onto all compliant taxpayers and is a large untapped source of town revenues,” Leng said. “My hope is to get the majority of these residents to properly report their motor vehicles and file taxes so that we can collect additional revenue and work on a motor vehicle mill rate reduction.”

Hamden and many other Connecticut municipalities lose tax revenue by residents whose main residence is Connecticut but register their cars in lower tax states, such as Florida or Maine.

Hamden’s current tax rate tax is just short

of 48 mills.

Kevin Maloney, spokesperson for the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, who is also a Hamden resident, said he knows that Leng has been concerned about the issue for some time.

Maloney termed the issue “problematic for many in Connecticut.” He said it presented a “barrier to the maximum collection of motor vehicle property taxes that are owed to a town to help pay for services in a community.”

Because each municipality in Connecticut has its own vehicle tax rate they have wide variations, with the bigger cities and larger towns such as Hamden generally having much higher tax rates than more affluent, smaller, suburban towns.

During the recent gubernatorial campaign, Governor-elect Ned Lamont floated the idea of a single statewide rate for motor vehicle taxes as a fairer, more equitable way for all taxpayers.

Municipal officials have fought similar proposals in the past because they’re afraid the state wouldn’t make them whole for the lost revenue stream.

Municipal officials in Connecticut have known about the out-of-state car tax dodge problem for years. Some cities, including Bridgeport, Danbury, New Haven, Stratford and Waterbury, have also tried con-

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Editor-in-Chief Liaison, Corporate Affairs Babz@penfieldcomm.com

Advertising/Sales Team Trenda Lucky Keith Jackson Delores Alleyne John Thomas, III

Editorial Team Staff Writers

Christian Lewis/Current Affairs Anthony Scott/Sports Arlene Davis-Rudd/Politics

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Also, I want to take this opportunity to thank my entire campaign team, my mom, the rest of my family and friends/suppo...

Hamden Plans To Go After Car Tax Scofflaws

by Jack Kramer

John P. Thomas

tracting with companies in the past to track down tax evaders.

A study done by the city of Waterbury in 2016 uncovered more than 4,000 vehicles registered out of the city. The study estimated that the cost of those lost registrations approached nearly $450,000.

Part of the issue is proximity. In Waterbury for instance, most of the violators were found to be registered in New York.

In Hartford, the violators were found to be registered in Massachusetts or Maine.

City of New Haven mayoral spokesman Laurence Grotheer said Thursday that New Haven had instituted a similar program to crack down on out-of-state license plates, but discontinued it in 2014. He declined to elaborate on why.

Back in 2015 the General Assembly considered, but did not pass, a bill to create a task force to study the problem of out-ofstate car registration and recommend solutions.

Leng said the vendor that will be chosen to go after Hamden tax skippers will report on vehicles that are subject to taxation under Connecticut general statutes but to date have are not included on Hamden’s tax rolls.

Leng said the selected vendor will be tasked with: managing the process used to screen suspected tax violators; collect, in-

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vestigate, and develop sufficient evidence to support violations and ensure statutory compliance; prepare correspondences and receive phone inquiries; provide tax collector with address updates for collections purposes; provide investigative support to the town; and develop program details to ensure efficiency and standards of service.

“Hamden can no longer stand to leave this valuable motor vehicle tax revenue uncollected. We are taking concrete action to improve our ability to collect these lost funds,” Leng said.

Municipal aid is one of a handful of “nonfixed” costs in the state budget and there’s a concern that the current budget deficit will force Gov.-elect Ned Lamont to cut municipal aid.

In a letter to Lamont, Office of Policy and Management Secretary Ben Barnes suggested that it’s one of the places the newly elected governor could find savings in order to balance the budget.

Barnes suggested canceling new tax cuts promised in the budget adopted earlier this year by the General Assembly, transferring part of the Teacher’s Retirement System to municipalities, reducing the flow of money under the volatility cap to the Rainy Day Fund, reducing rates paid to certain Medicaid providers, and “reducing Municipal Aid where appropriate.”

Michelle Turner Smita Shrestha William Spivey Kam Williams Rev. Samuel T. Ross-Lee

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Contributors At-Large

Christine Stuart www.CTNewsJunkie.com Paul Bass New Haven Independent www.newhavenindependent.org

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Noveber 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

SIGN YOUR CHILD UP FOR SUCCESS! There are still openings in preschool programs for children ages 3-5 years.

Free & Low-Cost Programs located throughout the city.

What to bring to enroll: Proof of residency Proof of income Child’s birth certificate Child’s health/immunization record Call School Readiness Office for more info 475-220-1470

Discover Foote School An Independent K–9 School Where Students Love to Learn

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Open House for Grades K–3 December 8

50 Loomis Place | New Haven | CT | (203) 777-3464 | footeschool.org

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - November 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

Robert Saulsbury aulsb s h

l a

in

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Basketball Invitational

tat i o n

1:00 pm - 2:15 pm Amistad High School Vs. Kobe Cathedral High School 2:45 pm - 4:00 pm Career High School Vs. Weaver High School 4:15 pm - 4:30 pm Awards Ceremony Honoring

John Stewart • Jon Capone • Sabrina Johnson Breland Tharon Mayes • Jason Bartlett Erik Patchkofsky and New Haven Athletics Department

5:00 pm - 6:15 pm Wilbur Cross High (Girls) Vs. Mercy High (Girls) 6:45 pm - 8:00 pm Wilbur Cross High School Vs. Hamden High School

Wilbur Cross High School Robert H. Saulsbury Gymnasium

181 Mitchell Drive, New Haven, CT 06511 Thursday, Dec. 27, 2018 - 1:00 pm - 8:00 pm Donation: $5.00 Students • $10.00 Adults Proceeds to Benefit The Robert H. Saulsbury Scholarship Fund Refreshments available for sale

For More Info Contact: 203-376-1385 6

Pirelli Hotel Plan Survives THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Noveber 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven Independent

A plan to convert the long-vacant and historic Pirelli Building into a 165-room hotel received approval from the City Plan Commission despite a one-hour push by labor-affiliated alders and city staff to stall the proposal.

That was the upshot of Wednesday night’s regular monthly meeting of the City Plan Commission, which played out over nearly five hours on the second floor of City Hall.

Commissioners voted 3-1 in favor of IKEA’s detailed plan and coastal site plan for the conversion of the historic Pirelli Building at 500 Sargent Dr. into a 165room hotel with 129 dedicated parking spaces.

Only around 10 minutes of the hour-long Pirelli section of the meeting were dedicated to IKEA’s actual plans for the iconic Marcel Breuer-designed Brutalist building, which was built in 1968 and has long sat vacant in a sea of parking lots off of Sargent Drive, serving as little more than a highway-facing billboard for IKEA’s latest home furniture products.

As local attorney Jim Segaloff explained, IKEA has not yet found a developer for the site, but wants to tee up the property for any interested buyers by first receiving City Plan approval for the hotel conversion.

The approved plans call for a 165-room hotel, 129 dedicated parking spaces, 200 square feet of bicycle storage in the bottom of the IKEA sign, stormwater management and landscaping improvements, a reconfiguration of IKEA’s existing 1,241-space surface lot, and the repair and cleaning up of the building’s facade. The proposal does not call for any changes to be made to the building’s exterior.

“Drive by the Pirelli Building and for 20 years, it’s vacant,” said Segaloff. “We now all have an opportunity to fill it up. ... We have an opportunity to fill up the building, and put in a first-class hotel.”

The vast majority of the hearing was taken up instead by a passionate, repetitive, bewildered and bewildering debate among Segaloff and his colleague attorney Caleb Hamel (both of whom were representing IKEA), the City Plan Commission staff, and the five voting members of the City Plan Commission.

The debate centered on which administrative body the Board of Alders or the City Plan Commission has proper legal jurisdiction to act on the IKEA proposal.

As with debates over whether to overhaul city zoning rules and whether to withhold approval of a makeover of the Duncan Hotel, a strong sense in the room Wednesday night was that the intense wrangling had to do with unspoken as much as with spoken arguments and agendas. Hovering behind the IKEA hotel debate, though never mentioned explicitly, was Yale’s UNITEHERE labor union, a powerful local political player that has close ties to aldermanic leadership and an effective ruling majority on the Board of Alders, and that has a direct interest in hotel worker organizing. UNITE

City Plan Commission Chair Ed Mattison (center) with commissioners Adam Marchand and Jonathan Wharton.

City Plan Commissioner Leslie Radcliffe and Marchand.

HERE has sought to ensure that hotels built in New Haven have unionized workforces.

The nominal source of the debate was a Sept. 16 letter sent by the seven leaders of the Board of Alders to city Economic Development Administrator Matthew Nemerson, requesting that the local economic development chief pull IKEA’s hotel conversion proposal from the City Plan Commission’s oversight and redirect it to the Board of Alders’ purview.

The rationale the alders offered was that the proposed conversion of the vacant 108,000 gross-square-foot building into a hotel constituted a change of use within the Planned Development District (PDD) #100 zoning regulations that the alders passed in 2002 to help pave the way for IKEA’s move to Long Wharf.

“We are aware through media reports that there is proposal for a change to the current use of the Pirelli Building in the IKEA PDD,” the Sept. 17 letter reads, “and it has been forwarded tot he City Plan Commission. As you know the practice is for changes to current uses in a PDD to be communicated to the Board of Alders for review, approval, and referral.

“Given that that practice is the appropriate action for this matter,” it continues, “please remove it from the City Plan Commission agenda and communicate this proposal to the Board of Alders so that it may get proper consideration.”

The letter is signed by West River Alder and Board of Alders President Tyisha WalkerMyers, Dixwell Alder and Board of Alders President Pro Tempore Jeanette Morrison, Whalley/Edgewood/Beaver Hills (WEB) Alder and Board of Alders Majority Leader Richard Furlow, Wooster Square Alder and Third Officer Aaron Greenberg, Hill Alder and Deputy Majority Leader Dave Reyes, Hill Alder and Black and Hispanic Caucus Chair Dolores Colon, and Newhallville Alder and Black and Hispanic Caucus ViceChair Delphine Clyburn. All were elected with the support of UNITE HERE; three of them have held leadership positions in or work for the union.

Segaloff, who passed around thick packet of papers containing a copy of the alders’ letter, a legal brief he had written, and a copy of the 2002 PDD legislation, consistently criticized the alders’ reading of the law as incorrect.

A hotel falls well within the list of sanctioned uses as defined by the 2002 PDD, he and Hamel argued again and again. That means that the City Plan Commission, not the Board of Alders, is the appropriate administrative body to review the detailed plan and coastal site plan proposals.

“What’s the legal issue here?” Segaloff asked. “What’s behind this? What’s it all about?”

Marchand, the aldermanic representative on the commission, and a UNITE HERE

7

employee, asked commission Chair Ed Mattison to table IKEA’s proposal to give the alders and city staff more time to talk with Corporation Counsel about which body should take the lead on IKEA’s hotel plans.

Acting City Plan Director Michael Piscitelli agreed, saying that the City Plan staff had completed its technical review of IKEA’s submissions, but that the city was not prepared for a vote on the matter because of outstanding potential legal concerns.

Mattison was initially sympathetic to that argument.

“If there is an internal city disagreement,” he said, “we’re not going to vote on it.”

He said that he did not want the City Plan Commission to decide on what was ultimately a difference in legal interpretations of the PDD. Segaloff pushed back.

“Who doesn’t want a hotel here?” he asked.

“I think we’re getting screwed here.” He said that he helped write the PDD law back in 2002, and that the law is clear: a hotel is a permitted use of the Pirelli building.

The tide among the commissioners began to shift when City Plan Commissioner Leslie Radcliffe expressed concern about potentially abdicating the legal authority of the City Plan Commission at the mere request of seven alders.

“I’d like to see the letter myself,” she said, prompting Segaloff to distribute copies of the Sept. 17 missive from the alders.

Mattison asked about what would happen if the commission tabled the matter for a month, giving the alders and the city a little more time to pin down Corporation Counsel for a definitive legal opinion on the matter.

Hamel pointed out and City Plan Commission staffer Anne Hartjen confirmed that the commission has to act on a proposal within 65 days of its submission.

Since the commission received IKEA’s proposal on Sept. 20, Hartjen said, the commission simply could not push off a vote until December. A lack of action at Wednesday night’s meeting would by default approve the hotel conversion request.

But, Piscitelli cautioned, the city needed a little bit more time to hammer out a “timing issue” behind the scenes. The commission could always ask the applicants if they would be open to an extension of that 65day window, thereby giving the city a bit more time to decide.

“Is the use permitted in the PDD?” Radcliffe asked the City Plan staff point blank.

“We would not have written a report or even accepted an application if we did not think it fit the regulations,” Hartjen replied.

“I think we should act within our jurisdiction,” Radcliffe said.

The commissioners called a vote.

Radcliffe, Mattison, and commission alternate Jonathan Wharton, who is a Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) professor and the former chair of the Republican Town Committee, voted for the hotel

Quinnipiac business expert available

by telephone to offer tips on Black Friday

Fred McKinney Hamden, Connecticut – Nov. 20, 2018 – Fred McKinney, director of the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Quinnipiac University’s School of Business, is available to discuss Black Friday.

To arrange a telephone interview with McKinney, contact John Pettit, assistant director of public relations, at 203-582-8580 (office) or 203-415-7370 (cell).

“Despite the rising popularity of on-line shopping, consumers are still very excited about Black Friday,” McKinney said. “It remains all hands on deck for retailers, who expect to see people lining up and staying up all night – regardless of weather. Some people participate because of habit; others, for the fun and to get the best deals. Retailers are still willing to create loss leader deals to drive traffic. In the past, we’ve seen Best Buy offer a $500 television for $50 in order to generate crowds. Retailers believe if they can get consumers to the store, they will spend money on the things they came to buy and on things they were not planning to purchase.

McKinney added, “As more consumers grow comfortable buying on line, though, fewer people are willing to wait in line.

As a result, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers are trying to engage with consumers virtually. Walmart purchased a major internet company in order to compete with Amazon, while Amazon is supporting its virtual business with forays into brick-andmortar. Today’s retail market is brutal, you have to do what consumers want and the way they want it, or the company will suffer the consequences. We saw Sears collapse because it did not act in a way that conformed to consumer behavior.

“Everyone is willing to go all out on Black Friday because it kicks off the period of spending during the six weeks between Thanksgiving and the end of the year when shoppers spend the most money,” he continued. “The fourth quarter can account for as much as 40 to 50 percent of annual sales, and for retailers, it is a make-or-break time of the year. Retailers that don’t meet fourth quarter goals see lower annual profits.

“For consumers, my best advice for Black Friday is to do your homework. Know what you want; know your options; be sure to research all alternatives; and buy from the retailer that offers the best deal.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - November 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

Harp: State Must Let City Raise More Revenue

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven Independent

The city has a revenue problem.

And if New Haven residents don’t want to bear that burden through higher property taxes, then they need to lobby the state legislature for increased tax-exempt-property reimbursements, fair education funding, a slice of the state’s sales tax receipts, and other state-enabled means for cities to raise more money.

Mayor Toni Harp delivered that message Tuesday night to the Downtown-Wooster Square Community Management Team (DWSCMT) during its regular monthly meeting on the second floor of City Hall.

It was the latest neighborhood stop on a tour by Harp, City Controller Daryl Jones and city Acting Budget Director Michael Gormany, who have been making the rounds of the city’s various community management teams over the past two weeks to talk city finances.

The mayor and her budget team’s recent community management team presentations have centered on the argument that the city has its fiscal house in order, and that the recent 11 percent tax increase and negative $11.09 million overall fund balance are due primarily to flat and/or falling state aid.

On Tuesday night, Harp singled out consistently low Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) reimbursements for tax-exempt properties and a decade of flat Education Cost Share (ECS) funding as the principal causes of the city’s current fiscal duress.

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO

Mayor Toni Harp at Tuesday night’s Downtown-Wooster Square community management team meeting.

“We have got to put some pressure on our legislature” to make good on its state aid promises and to enable cities to generate new sources of revenue, Harp said.

Some of the roughly 30 residents who showed up on Tuesday night pushed back

on the notion that the city only has a revenue problem, and not a spending problem.

But for the most part, residents listened and bounced ideas around about how the city, hobbled by the fact that over 55 percent of its properties are off the tax rolls, can raise

more revenue.

Neither Harp nor Jones nor Gormany nor anyone else present mentioned the city’s recent $160 million bond refunding, the largest such refunding in city history.

The unusual decision to borrow heavily to cover tens of millions of dollars in annual operating costs helped balance budgets in the short term in exchange for higher debt payments a decade down the road.

Harp began her team’s hour-long presentation to the management team by explaining that cities and towns in Connecticut have only one way to raise revenue: through property taxes.

And In New Haven, where so much of the city’s property (and most valuable property) is occupied by universities, hospitals, religious organizations, and other taxexempt nonprofits, that solitary municipal reliance on property tax revenue is a big challenge.

“Fifty-five percent of our property is tax exempt,” Harp said. “And this is a challenge given that property tax in our state is really the only revenue we have besides parking tickets” and building permits.

Harp also noted that the city’s portion of the state’s ECS grant has remained flat at roughly $143 million each year for the past decade, even though the city’s public school population has increased by over 1,000 students.

“It’s required that we have had to step up as a city to the degree that we could,” Harp said, “and make up for the dollars that should have been redistributed.” She said

she hopes that Democratic Gov.-elect Ned Lamont adjusts the current ECS formula to direct more education dollars towards cities like New Haven, even if the state’s overall ECS budget doesn’t change a dime.

Jones and Gormany then embarked on a 40-minute digital slideshow presentation that offered residents a crash course on how the city budget is made. Throughout their presentation, they highlighted the relative decrease in taxes, increase in jobs, decrease in violent crime, and increase in funding of long-term obligations like city pension funds. All the while, they criticized the state for leaving the city high and dry on PILOT reimbursements and flat ECS funding, and noted the pressures that the city feels from being able to tax so little of its available property.

Gormany said that 51 percent of the city’s $547.1 million general fund operating budget comes from property taxes, while 39 percent comes from state aid and the rest from a mix of parking tickets and tags, building permits, and other sources of revenue.

He said that the 55 percent of city property not on the tax rolls is worth approximately $6 billion. If the city were to collect taxes on Yale University and Yale-New Haven Hospital, which make up a large percentage of the city’s tax-exempt properties, the city would bring in $193.8 million more in property taxes every year, he said. Currently, the university pays the city a $11.4 million voluntary annual PILOT, and the Con’t on page 12

Contested Election Headed For Judicial Showdown

by Christine Stuart Ct. News Junkie

Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis is no stranger to election cases. She’s ordered new elections as recently as last year, but this time attorneys are telling her she doesn’t have jurisdiction.

Briefs filed both by the state and an attorney for Rep. Phillip Young, D-Stratford, who won election to the 120th House District seat by 13 votes after a recount, have argued the court can’t decide this case. Instead, it’s up to the Connecticut House.

The Stratford Republican, Jim Feehan, who lost the race, filed the lawsuit in Bridgeport Superior Court last week. He claims there should be a new election because 76 voters were given ballots for the wrong race. The result of which is 76 voters were unable to have their votes counted.

Feehan alleges that the irregularities at the Bunning High School polling place have compromised the integrity of the election.

He wants the court to call for a new election.

Feehan “wishes to assure that all properly registered voters of the 120th assembly district who were denied the right to vote in the 120th assembly district election will have the opportunity to vote and have their vote counted,” his attorney, Proloy Das,

wrote in court documents.

Feehan’s attorney argues that “a court should conclude that it has jurisdiction to reach the merits of a dispute whenever possible.”

Attorneys for Young and the state say that’s not the case.

Relying on the state constitution, attorneys for the state and Young argue that the House “shall be the final judge of the election returns and qualifications of its own members.”

“It is clear under our constitutional framework that the House of Representatives is the sole and final judge of House election disputes that involve the kind of unintentional election irregularities alleged here,” Assistant Attorney Michael Skold wrote in his brief.

Secretary of the State Denise Merrill has until Nov. 28 to certify election results, which brings a sense of urgency to the proceedings.

Attorney’s for Feehan argue he’s “not asking this Court to interfere with the House’s ability to judge election returns, and is not asking this Court to declare him a dulyelected member of the House. Indeed, at this juncture this Court could not usurp the House’s ability to judge election returns, because no returns have yet been certified

to it.”

“Instead, Feehan is asking this Court to ensure that the returns ultimately sent to the House are based on a properlyadministered election,” Proloy Das, Feehan’s attorney, argues in court documents.

“Young’s contention that Feehan must contest the election in the House itself puts the cart before the horse.”

Das cites several election cases.

But, William Bloss, Young’s attorney, said the reason Feehan’s attorney is struggling to find a similar case in which a judge has ordered relief following an election for the General Assembly is because of the state constitution.

“The overwhelming majority of out-ofstate cases cited by plaintiff hold nothing more than a state court order for a recount does not violate state or federal election clauses,” Bloss wrote. “That is a very different issue from rejecting returns upon a recount and ordering new elections.”

Furthermore, “an election challenge for every elected office in the state is provided for in Chapter 149 – except the General Assembly; that could not have been an oversight,” Bloss wrote.

Republican Party Chairman JR Romano said last week that essentially the Democrats are arguing that “not every vote mat-

8

Rep. Phil Young of Stratford

COURTESY OF THE HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS WEBSITE Rep. Phil Young of Stratford

ters.”

He said the Democratic Party goes to court to keep the polling locations open until 9

p.m. to make sure voters are not disenfranchised “unless it’s a district they might lose.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Noveber 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

Internet Sales Tax Collections

To Increase Dec. 1 125

by Christine Stuar HARTFORD, CT — Monday will be the last “Cyber Monday” before certain online out-of-state retailers who do business in Connecticut will start being required to add sales tax to every purchase.

Beginning on Dec. 1, marketplace facilitators like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy — who do more than $250,000 in business in Connecticut and have 200 separate transactions per year — will be required to start collecting and remitting sales taxes to the state Department of Revenue Services.

Amazon, because it already has a physical presence in the state, has been remitting sales taxes to Connecticut since 2013, but it also allows third-parties to sell items through its website. The law that begins on Dec. 1 is focused solely on third-party retailers.

The new law means more revenue for the state of Connecticut.

According to state officials, the new law and a Supreme Court decision that clears the way for Connecticut to enforce its economic nexus law, is expected to boost revenues by $35 million.

The new law, which was passed in May before the Supreme Court decision was handed down, means any online retailer that acts like a marketplace for third-party sellers will have to remit sales taxes to Connecticut on behalf of those sellers.

Other states who have enacted similar online marketplace laws include Alabama, Arizona, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Washington. The Supreme Court decision, however, did not specifically address the validity of these state laws.

The decision in Wayfair v. South Dakota found that retailers didn’t necessarily have to have a physical presence in a state in order to have an economic nexus.

The court ruled on June 21, 2018, that substantial nexus is established “when the taxpayer [or collector] ‘avails itself of the substantial privilege of carrying on business’ in that jurisdiction” and that this standard was satisfied in Wayfair based on the “economic and virtual contacts” remote sellers had with South Dakota.

The decision and the new law was good news for Connecticut retailers with brickand-mortar locations, who were disadvantaged by online retailers ability to skip collecting sales taxes.

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling opens the door to allow states to tax virtually all internet sales, leveling the playing field between online retailers and brick-andmortar businesses,” Senate Republican President Len Fasano said at the time.

Fasano said the ruling means Connecticut can “now further change our laws.”

It’s likely that is what will happen when a new General Assembly convenes in January 2019.

There’s currently an estimated $229 million gap between what is collectible and what is actually collected, but Connecticut has gotten more aggressive over the past few years in its enforcement of the law.

“Connecticut is extremely well-positioned, and is at the forefront of state efforts in this area,” Revenue Services Commissioner Scott D. Jackson, said Wednesday.

“Thanks to new marketplace facilitator and seller legislation, the state is poised to see a substantial increase in sales tax collections from online transactions.”

As an early indication, Jackson said compliance initiatives leading up to the Dec. 1 effective date have already resulted in more than 600 businesses registering with the Department of Revenue Services and an additional $11 million in sales tax reported.

YEARS

Chelsea Tipton, NHSO Pops Conductor

HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA Saturday, Dec 15 | 2:30pm | Hamden Middle School Sunday, Dec 16 | 3:00pm | Shelton High School Connecticut’s Holiday tradition is back… and this year NHSO Pops Conductor Chelsea Tipton is pulling out all the stops in honor of the NHSO’s 125th Anniversary. From Sleigh Ride to a sing-along with Santa and special guest performances by the Elm City Girls’ Choir, the NHSO’s take on classic and new Holiday carols will delight and enchant.

Tickets: $35-49 | Kids Under 18 Free with an Adult Ticket (203)787-4282 | NewHavenSymphony.org

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - November 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

“Next Door” Reimagines The Neighborhood Bar

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

In a town where getting a good slice is a given, Robin Bodak and Doug Coffin thought adding one more place to the apizza landscape couldn’t hurt, especially when in a place where people have good memories.

On Thursday, with snow threatening, Bodak and Coffin welcomed city officials and the press into their new restaurant, Next Door New Haven at 175 Humphrey Street.

The restaurant is in the former home of the restaurant Humphrey’s (which has a storied history dating back to a Prohibition-era speakeasy) at the corner of Humphrey and East Street. A little over a year after getting its final zoning and building approvals from the city, Next Door officially opened to the public on June 6. On Thursday city officials gathered to celebrate that opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Next Door New Haven is the brick and mortar brainchild of Bodak and Coffin, who are most known for the Big Green Truck Pizza, a fleet of six wood-fired pizza trucks based out of an adjacent building at 530 East St. Mayor Toni Harp said she was happy to be inside and near a hot pizza oven where it was warm. She was even happier to recognize the marriage of a city well-known for its pizza with business owners who know a thing or two about making pies.

“It seems like a marriage made in heaven, or in New Haven anyway, for the Big Green Truck Pizza makers to launch a new brick and mortar pizza restaurant in the piz-

za capital of the world,” Harp said. “Like so many city residents, it is my firm belief that when it comes to pizza there is no such thing as too much of a good thing.”

Wooster Square Alder Aaron Greenberg said he had the opportunity to be at Next Door for the soft opening, where he learned that the place has more than just great pizza.

“They have really great appetizers and drinks and whole wonderful menu,” he said.

Greenberg noted that the Jocelyn Square spot has hosted a variety of venues over the years “some great, some less great.”

“I’m very confident that this is going to be an incredible amenity to this neighborhood and to this whole part of New Haven,” Greenberg added. “If you come here any night of the week, you will see people in all three rooms enjoying themselves. Come for the pizza, stay for the dessert and the whole menu.”

Coffin said opening Next Door is his and Bodak’s attempt to breathe some new life into the corner and that part of the neighborhood.

“People have a lot of memories of Humphrey’s, and I’m honored to try to bring that back,” he said.

He credited Bodak, who has managed the catering end of the Big Green Truck Pizza and is now a co-owner and executive chef for Next Door.

“I would not have undertaken doing a pizzeria if I didn’t think we could also have Robin’s wonderful food to go with that,” Coffin said. “It’s a pizzeria but also a phe-

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO Mayor Harp and Alder Greenberg join owners Coffin and

Bodak, and GM Corina cutting the ribbon.

nomenal restaurant that has some of the best food anywhere.

“I would put her food up against anybody’s in the state, any day of the week.”

Bodak said she grew up being able to hang out “next door” in her neighborhood, She wanted to infuse the restaurant with the same concept of being a safe place to play, grab something to eat, and be entertained.

She said the beyond-the-pizza-pie menu skews toward an eclectic mix of Mediter-

ranean entrees to ice cream made in-house.

“We’re trying to reimagine the neighborhood bar,” she said.

Next Door also is reimagining the face of the restaurant business, with several women running the show. Bodak is joined by chef Chelsea Peterson and General Manager Maria Corina.

“There are a lot of working moms here, and that makes it special to me,” she said.

Downtown Office-To-Residential Proposal Clears City Plan

by THOMAS BREEN New Haven Independent

A Greenwich developer cleared the last administrative hurdle in his plans to convert the upper levels of two adjacent Chapel Street buildings into 29 marketrate apartments.

That happened at the most recent monthly City Plan Commission meeting on the second floor of City Hall.

At the end of a jam-packed, nearly five-hour meeting, commissioners voted unanimously in support of East River Partners LLC’s plans to convert upper-level office space at 742-750 Chapel St. and 754 Chapel St. into a total of 29 apartments.

The project is the second proposed residential development at that very corner from East River Partners, which is run

by Greenwich developer (and New Haven native) Joseph Cohen. East River Partners also plans to build a six-story, 60-unit mixed-use apartment complex atop a surface parking lot around the corner at 294-302 State St. “Good!” City Plan Commision Chair Ed Mattison said after voting in support of the Chapel Street development proposals at the meeting, which took place

Local architect Wayne Garrick and Langan Engineering Vice President Timothy Onderko.

THOMAS BREEN PHOTO

742-750 and 754 Chapel St.

10

last Wednesday evening. “That block needed some work.”

Local architect Wayne Garrick and Langan Engineering Vice President Timothy Onderko walked the commissioners through the proposal, which consists entirely of interior construction except for the addition of an emergency stairwell and covered bicycle parking in the back of the building.

East River Partners plans to convert 20,433 square feet of existing vacant office space on the second, third, and fourth floors of 742-750 Chapel and the second and third floors of 754 Chapel into 29 residential units: four onebedrooms, two two-bedrooms, and 23 studio apartments.

“Both buildings are on the Historic Register,” Garrick said. “We have no plans to adjust the facade.”

The first floors of the buildings are currently occupied by commercial tenants like a Subway sandwich shop and the U.S. Postal Service. At September’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) meeting, Cohen said that he does not have any plans to move out any of the current commercial tenants.

Con’t from page 03

“Paradise Blue” tury Cycle, which memorialize 100 years of Black life in 20th century Pittsburgh.

From those works, she said, she was overwhelmed by the sense that history keeps repeating itself, creating and recreating systems of trauma and displacement for people of color.

Attendee Sharon Brooks, who was born and raised in New Haven’s Dixwell neighborhood, pointed out that Gardin and the cast had skirted the G word—gentrification (Gardin was quick to say that hadn’t been her intention). She called out families who left the neighborhoods when they had the financial mobility to do so, heading to Hamden, West Haven, and Westville only to discover that “they couldn’t escape their skin color, that melanin.”

As a lifelong New Havener, she said that she’s watched Yale University snap up real estate at an almost unprecedented rate, making New Haven less livable for the people who have called it home for generations. While she did not mention them by name, the insatiable appetites of local mega-landlords Mandy Management, Pike International, and Ocean Management pulsed at the edges of the room.

“We are just being swallowed up,” she said. “That gentrification is so real. And coupled with lack of opportunity, the lack of real money—with Yale’s [$29.4 billion] endowment, who can compete? Unless we pool our resources.”

She described a national Facebook group called “Buy The Block,” dedicated to fighting gentrification by pooling community resources, and reinvesting in real estate in historically Black neighborhoods.

She suggested that if enough community members pitched in, a group could buy back The Monterey, and surrounding properties.

“In small ways, that is what we will have to do to turn this tide of gentrification,” she said.

Gardin nodded. “I’d like to believe that there are people who want to preserve their community,” she said. “For us, by us.”

Dominique Morisseau’s Paradise Blue runs at Long Wharf Theatre from Nov. 21 to Dec. 16. For tickets and more info about the play, visit the theater’s website www. longwharf.org Hundreds of photos from before Black Bottom’s destruction still live in the Burton Collection at the Detroit Public Library.

Large CT Fence & Guardrail Contractor is looking for Fence Installer foreman and helpers. Foreman must have at least 5 years’ experience. Helpers-no experience required, will train the right person. Work available 10-12 months per year. Valid Ct. Driver’s license required and must be able to get a DOT Medical Card. All necessary equipment provided. Medical, vacation & other benefits included. Must be able to pass a physical and drug test. Foreman rates from $22 to $28.10/hour plus benefits, helper rates from $16 to $18.10/hour plus benefits. OSHA 10 training required.

Please email resume to pking@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Noveber 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

New Skill Up for Manufacturing Program Will Expedite Training and Job Placement

NEW HAVEN, CT (November 26, 2018) – In an effort to expand Connecticut’s manufacturing workforce pipeline and connect qualified candidates to thousands of unfilled employment opportunities, Workforce Alliance is launching Skill Up for Manufacturing. The free five-week training and job placement program is now open to high school graduates and Connecticut residents 18 years or older who are underemployed or unemployed.

The application deadline for the first Skill Up for Manufacturing session is December 7, 2018 and interested candidates are encouraged to visit http://www.workforcealliance.biz/skillup and apply as soon as possible.

Skill Up for Manufacturing will quickly channel people into entry-level manufacturing jobs by providing the fundamentals that employers need in just five weeks. The first training class begins Feb. 4 and ends March 8, 2019 at Gateway Community College. Accepted participants will attend classes six hours per

day, five days a week. Individual job search assistance is available during and after the training program. Manufacturing industry employers will have direct hire opportunities, access to hiring incentives and expect to continue training on-the-job.

Interested applicants get started by applying online, completing a Manufacturing Skills Inventory Session at the American Job Centers in New Haven and Meriden, and creating or uploading a resume. Applicants who do not score sufficiently on the initial Skills Inventory of shop math, spatial reasoning and basic ruler reading will be invited to a refresher and can retake the assessment.

Manufacturers participating in Skill Up for Manufacturing to date include Penn Globe, PTA Plastics, Wepco Plastics, Inc., Brooks & Whittle Packaging Solutions and the New Haven Manufacturers Association. Course work was developed in close coordination with participating manufacturers and includes basic trade knowledge,

workplace skills and production readiness including shop math fundamentals and semi-precise/ precise measurement.

Workforce Alliance is the policy and oversight organization responsible for creating a comprehensive, community-wide response to the challenges of building a highly skilled workforce in South Central CT. This program is based on the successful model of the Eastern CT Manufacturing Pipeline Initiative, which has placed more than 1,000 people into good manufacturing jobs over the past three years and resulted in approximately $37 million in direct annual wages and roughly $38 million in indirect annual wages. Seventy-eight percent of those placed in Eastern CT had no prior manufacturing experience.

The first Skill Up session is fully funded and can accept 20 students. Subsequent sessions are planned for 2019 in anticipation of continued funding availability. Support services are available to participants while 11

in classroom training including travel reimbursement, daycare assistance and required books, tools and clothing. Additionally, there is a cash stipend awarded to participants for successful completion of training benchmarks.

Skill Up for Manufacturing is a program of Workforce Alliance and is currently funded by U.S. Department of Labor through the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act and Temporary Aid to Needy Families (CT’s Jobs First Employment Services).

About Workforce Alliance Workforce Alliance is the policy and oversight organization responsible for creating a comprehensive, community-wide response to the challenges of building a highly skilled workforce in South Central CT, which comprises 30 towns. Board members include business owners, local elected officials and community leaders in order to meet changing local needs and shifting national economic and

workforce trends. Services are primarily funded by the Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act for low-income adults, dislocated workers and youth; and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families which mandates employment activities to help people become independent of cash assistance. Workforce Alliance oversees four American Job Center South Central CT locations in New Haven, Meriden, Middletown and Hamden. For more information visit workforcealliance.biz South Central CT includes 30 towns: Bethany, Branford, Chester, Clinton, Cromwell, Deep River, Durham, East Haddam, East Hampton, East Haven, Essex, Guilford, Haddam Hamden, Killingworth, Madison, Meriden, Middlefield, Middletown, Milford, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Old Saybrook, Orange, Portland, Wallingford, West Haven, Westbrook and Woodbridge.

Media Contact: Janette Baxter, Gaffney Bennett PR, (860) 2290301, jbaxter@GBPR.com

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - November 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

“Safe Neighborhood” Quest Looks To Year 2

by MARKESHIA RICKS New Haven Independent

One year after the long-awaited implementation of a $1 million federal grant to make Newhallville a safer place, its governance committee is examining its progress and on the hunt for a new project manager.

Current project manager Arthur Edwards is moving on to a new gig with the Board of Education. His last day with the Newhallville project was Friday.

The grant came from the U.S. Department of Justice “Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation” program to enlist Newhallville neighbors in the quest of making that section of the city safer over the long term.

This past Tuesday night the governance committee set up to oversee the grant’s implementation, which is made up of alders who represent Newhallville, the co-chairs of the Newhallville Community Management Team, and other neighborhood leaders, met publicly with city Youth Services Director Jason Bartlett and Edwards for a first-year update. Bartlett oversees the program from his perch at City Hall.

Rather than argue about sensitive issues in front of a reporter, the committee met in executive session to discuss Edwards’ departure and who might replace him. Members had a passionate discussion there about a grant that Bartlett awarded without the committee’s input to a West Haven group co-founded by the person who manages the Youth Services Department’s finances.

Alder Delphine Clyburn, who sits on the governance committee, has said that she had no idea that the group had received any of the grant money and had been asking for an accounting of how the grant has been spent in the first year.

She got that information Tuesday night, noting after the meeting that the budget narrative made no mention of the West Haven group as a recipient of a grant, and Bartlett

MARKESHIA RICKS PHOTO Outgoing Newhallvile Safe Neighborhood Initiative Project Manager Arthur Edwards (in back) with governance committee members.

did not present at Tuesday’s meeting.

“It was $5,000!” Bartlett, who controls the grant, could be heard yelling in a small conference room Tuesday in the Opportunity Center at 316 Dixwell Ave., where the meeting was held.

According to the budget narrative that the governance committee received Tuesday, the initiative spent about $169,723 in the 30-month lead up to the first year of implementation. The bulk of that covered the cost of Edward’s salary, a consulting contract with the University of New Haven and some Byrne grant-specific travel and training.

During the implementation year, which started April 25, 2107, one full-time and one part-time outreach worker was added to the staff. The initiative also got a headquarters in the neighborhood at 660 Winchester Ave. Grant money also started rolling out to several Newhallville-based

groups to the tune of about $174,651. Year one implementation costs totaled $431,773.

After the meeting, Bartlett sent the Independent this file of regular spending reports approved by the governance committee. It shows that Clyburn signed off on Byrne “mini-grants” on June 4, 2016.

The Newhallville-based groups that received Byrne Grant money the first year are: • $19,000 in sub-grants for the Newhallville Governance Committee • $70,000 Newhallville Youth Stat • $18,776 to Newhallville community programs • $20,875 Newhallville Youth Ambassadors program • $5,000 Christian Community Commission/Promise Land Initiative • $20,00 Farmington Canal • $10,000 NAFI Youth and Police Initiative • $3,000 Newhallville Neighborhood Corp.

• $3,000 Neighborhood Housing Services • $5,000 The Perfect Blend Mentoring Program With more than half the grant spent, the narrative estimates that in the second year the remainder of the grant, or about $398,505, will be spent in a similar fashion.

Edwards noted that the main purpose of the grant was to drive down crime. Crime has indeed dropped. He said that he believed the push to have more activities whether it was access to summer camps or jobs for the population of boys and young men who are at risk or have had previous contact with the criminal justice system has helped make a difference. Gun-related crimes are down more than 50 percent in the neighborhood.

The other purpose of the grant was to have more coordination and less duplication of services and programs among the groups.

Edwards said that also is happening.

F or instance, The Perfect Blend Mentoring Program, which is run by former Newhallville Community Management Team Co-chair Jeanette Sykes, serves older girls and young women in the neighborhood.

Those girls are now working with the younger girls in another program called Precious Angels, which has a similar mission.

Byrne grant funds were used to cover the cost of training provided during the One City Initiative, which united all of the city’s management teams in an effort to provide free and low-cost activities as well as skills to help people step up to leadership roles.

“The next step is how do we sustain these programs,” Edwards said.

Edwards is leaving to take a position with the Board of Education. Bartlett said he will be posting the grant manager position to find his replacement.

2 Yale Cops Now On “Community Engagement” Beat

by THOMAS BREEN

New Haven Independent

Two Yale Police officers showed up at City Hall.

They weren’t there to make an arrest.

They were there to have a conversation.

Because that’s their new full-time jobs.

During Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting of the Downtown-Wooster Square Community Management Team (DWSCMT) on the second floor of City Hall, Yale Police Officers Martin Parker and Martha Cedeno-Ross introduced themselves as the university police force’s new full-time community engagement officers.

“Our goal is to respond to the community in Yale and in New Haven and to do what it takes to build better relationships between the police department and the community we police,” Parker told the 30 neighbors assembled for Tuesday night’s meeting.

He explained that he and Cedeno-Ross, both of whom are four-year veterans of the university police force, are no longer on patrol. Their full-time job, Tuesday

through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., is to reach out to people at Yale and in New Haven more broadly and to help forge a better relationship among Yale cops, students, and city residents.

Parker, 30, and Cedeno-Ross, 39, said they started their new community engagement jobs on Sept. 9. Over the past two months, they’ve held meetings with Yale students at campus libraries and at Donut Crazy on York Street. They held a community turkey drive last Friday where they gave out 250 turkeys to New Haven families. And they’ve overseen a busing program for bringing city youth to Yale sporting events.

They’re also on tap to speak to the East Rock and Newhallville community management teams next week, and to students at Troup School and Lincoln-Bassett School later this winter.

“There are a lot of people that don’t have good relationships with police,” Parker said. “We want to be that bridge to have those conversations and answer the ques-

Parker and Ross explain their new duties to Wooster Square resident Cordalie Benoit. tions that typically normally aren’t answered by police officers, and in a relaxed setting.”

A New Haven native, Parker said the “million-dollar question” he often gets

12

asked by students and community members alike is: Do police officers have arrest quotas?

“We don’t ticket because we have quotas,” he said.

TBT: Senate Democrats

Last Leadership Battle – 1994

ALBERT H. TEICH VIA SHUTTERSTOCK

Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York

U.S.

by Peter Urban Ct. News Junkie

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats unanimously agreed on Wednesday to continue with their same leadership team headed by New York Senator Chuck Schumer – marking yet another in a series of leadership elections for the caucus that were decided without a fight.

In fact, it has been 24 years since Senate Democrats have had a contested election – that one pitted Connecticut’s Chris Dodd against South Dakota’s Tom Daschle. Dodd lost by a single vote.

Daschle began campaigning to lead the Senate Democrats in early 1994. He expected to face Tennessee Senator Jim Sasser but Sasser lost his bid for re-election to the Senate. The results of the November general election left Democrats with 47 seats. Dodd, who had supported Sasser, announced his intention to be minority leader in December as the Hartford Courant reported.

When the vote was tallied, Dodd lost 24-23.

On Wednesday, Senate Republicans also selected their leaders for the 116th Congress, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky will continue as majority leader.

House Democrats aren’t voting on their leadership until later this month but a battle is brewing for the top spot although no challenger has emerged to take on California Democrat Nancy Pelosi as she seeks to become House Speaker.

Historically, the majority party rallies behind one of their own to insure that when the House votes in January for House Speaker their candidate wins. As the numbers work, Pelosi would need 218 Democrats to defeat whomever Republicans decide to run for the position. That means she can afford only a handful of defectors as Democrats will hold between 227 and 237 seats at the start of the 116th Congress. (A handful of contests have yet to be decided.)

If Pelosi cannot guarantee the necessary support within her caucus, her opponents hope to find another member who can rally the needed numbers.

House Democrats will also be selecting other top leadership spots including: Majority Leader, Majority Whip, Assistant Democratic Leader or Caucus Chair. No one in the Connecticut delegation is vying for those positions.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Noveber 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

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10/17/18 4:36 PM

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - November 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018 Con’t from page 08

Raise More Revenue

hospital pays the city a $2.6 million voluntary annual PILOT. Gormany said that, in Fiscal Year 20172018 (FY18) alone, the city saw a $9 million drop in annual aid.

“That means the city is receiving less general fund state aid than in the past,” he said.

“That means there’s more reliance on taxpayers to make up that shift in revenue.”

Jones said that the city’s current fiscal duress isn’t just a result of dropping state aid, though. It’s also a result of the prior mayoral administration’s underfunding of long-term obligations, like the city’s two pension funds.

Jones said that the city’s annual contributions to its two city employee pension funds has increased from $29.2 million in Fiscal Year 2009-2010 (FY10) to $59.6 million in the current fiscal year.

“The prior administration for 20 years wasn’t properly putting in the right amount for the pensions,” he said.

The city’s controller also said that the city’s workforce has dropped significantly over the past decade, from 1,601 employees in FY09 to 1,508 employees in FY18.

By the end of the calendar year, he said, the administration plans to release a five-year budget plan that details projected revenues and expenses over the next five years, and further demonstrates the administration’s fiscal responsibility around paying down pension and debt obligations and keeping under control spiraling employee and retiree medical costs.

Even before Jones and Gormany began their presentation, Wooster Square resident Ed Anderson asked Harp about how much she projects she will have to raise taxes next fiscal year.

“We’re hoping not to increase the mill rate,” Harp said.

Gormany jumped in, saying that the city’s budget making process has already started, even though the mayor’s office doesn’t have to deliver a proposed budget to the Board of Alders until March 1. He said he hopes to see the new Democratic governor bolster state aid for the city.

“Our hope is not to raise taxes,” he said.

“No tax increase sounds great,” Anderson replied.

After the presentation, Anderson grilled the mayor and her budget team for scapegoating Yale University and the hospital.

Without those two institutions anchoring downtown, he said, New Haven would not be experiencing its current construction boom of primarily market-rate apartments.

“I think we’ve got our own financial problems,” he said, “and every time we deflect to Yale, saying the problem is that we’re not taxing yale, it keeps us from really dealing with the real problem, which is that we’ve got to get our house in order.”

Harp responded that she is not blaming or scapegoating Yale, but rather drawing attention to a structural problem with how cities in this state are allowed to raise money.

“The real issue is that municipalities in Connecticut only have one major way

to raise revenue,” she said, “and that’s through the property tax.”

“Do I expect the state to enable us to have other ways to raise revenue?” she asked. “I absolutely do.”

Anderson asked her to name some potential alternative sources of revenue for the city.

“If we could have a portion of the sales tax,” Harp said, “and that it be distributed regionally so that we’re not pushing things out to our suburban neighbors.” She said that some cities, like New York City, are allowed to levy their own income taxes on people who work in those cities. There are 80,000 people who work in New Haven on a daily basis, she said; picking up a cityspecific income tax from that employment base could go a long way towards lightening the property tax bills on city residents.

She said she would also like to see the state make it easier for cities like New Haven to directly bill insurance companies and Medicaid whenever local Fire Department emergency responders go out on a medicl call.

“We have one tool,” she said about the property tax. Other cities in other states “have five or six tools. ... There is an obligation of the state to give us the tools we need to raise the revenue.”

Wooster Square resident Cordalie Benoit suggested two ways for the city to raise additional revenue. One: it should start sending bills to surrounding towns whenever local emergency responders treat a suburban resident for a medical emergency.

Two: it should look into issuing higher property assessments on multi-family residences and apartment complexes so that big out-of-state landlords are not paying less in property taxes than local owners of single-family homes.

“We need to have an aggressive assessment program that fairly returns value to the City of New haven,” she said.

Anstress Farwell, the founder of the New Haven Urban Design League and a member of the DWSCMT’s executive board, said that the Harp administration should pressure the new governor on changing the state’s plans to build a new seven-level parking garage at Union Station.

She said the land is a prime target for a corporate headquarters or some other transit-oriented development that would actually bring money and people and jobs into the city, as opposed to little to no money and lots more vehicle traffic.

“What we would get out of one of the most valuable pieces of land in the city,” she said, “is almost nothing” if the parking garage is built.

Harp said that the city has already fought, and lost, that battle with the state about whether to build a new parking garage and about whether the city or the state should run it. But, she said, with a new administration heading to Hartford, she promised to revive the issue.

50th Anniversary Gala: Reflections on 50 years of Timeless Service Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated Theta Tau Omega Chapter

Photo credit: Chefren Gray, Gray Matter Photography

Saturday, December 1, 2018 7:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m., The Theta Tau Omega Chapter, of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, will host their 50th Anniversary Gala; a celebration of the chapter’s service to the Greater Bridgeport Area. The evening will consist of live melodic sounds from ANDJAM, the sultry Rahsaan Langely Project and award winning DJ Juan Coon, sumptuous food, award presentations, special honorees, silent auction, distinguished guests, and much more.

Saturday, December 1, 201 7:00 p.m. – 12:00 am Trumbull Marriott Shelton 180 Hawley Lane, Trumbull CT 06611 Tickets: $100.00 per person We invite other organizations and individuals to join us in our efforts by at-

tending Jamie Cook hotmail.com gmail.com

E-mail: jamiegrace@ E-mail:akabridgeport@

Through the vision of Theta Tau Omega’s 16 charter members: Laura Almore, Magalene L. Bowling, Marjorie R. Brown, Janice Evans, Ann Echols, Mary Evans, Mildred Gissentanner, Donna L. Hardy, Gladys L. Hll, Brownie L. Johnson, Janet L. Knighton, Elenda London, Jacqueline Montague, Rudy Motley, Patricia W. Suber and Jackie A. Willis, and the dedication of a group of visionary Sorority Sisters, the Fairfield County Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Inc. was established. to serve Fairfield County on November 23, 1968. An Installation Luncheon was held at the Holiday Inn in Darien, Con-

necticut, thus marking the official beginning of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated Theta Tau Omega Chapter.

The chapter has thrived for 50 beautiful years. Some of our charter members are now deceased, others have moved away and one, Marjorie R. Brown, remains a constant force of guidance for the chapter. In 2018, we continue “By Culture and By Merit.”

Mission: to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards, to promote unity and friendship among college women, to study and alleviate problems concerning women and girls in order to improve their social stature, to maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be of “SERVICE TO ALL MAN KIND”

Michelle Obama Sold 725,000 Copies of Her New Book... In One Day!

Crown Publishing Group has confirmed that First Lady Michelle Obama sold more than 725,000 copies of her newest book Becoming in just one day.

The sales figure includes hardcover, audio and e-books editions for the United States and Canada, but the book is available in 24 languages around the world including Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese and Hebrew!

Mrs. Obama has broken a record - already surpassing the first day sales of other memoirs also written by first ladies. For example, Hillary Clinton’s Living History, which was released in 2003, sold only around 600,000 copies in it’s first week!

In Becoming, a work of deep reflection and mesmerizing storytelling, she invites readers into her world, chronicling the experiences that have shaped her - from her childhood on the South Side of Chi-

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cago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address.

With unerring honesty and lively wit, she describes her triumphs and her disappointments, both public and private, telling her full story as she has lived it in her own words and on her own terms.

Warm, wise, and revelatory, Becoming is an unusually intimate reckoning from a woman of soul and substance who has steadily defied expectations - and whose story inspires us to do the same.

Helping to kick off the book’s launch, Mrs. Obama launched a U.S. and international book tour that sold out almost instantly. Each of her appearances was moderated by one of her many friends like Oprah Winfrey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Valerie Jarrett, Reese Witherspoon, and more.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Noveber 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - November 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

Marian Wright Edelman Stepping Aside From CDF

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent @StacyBrownMedia Marian Wright Edelman, a trailblazer, freedom fighter and champion of causes that affect the nation’s young, has announced that she’s stepping aside from the Children’s Defense Fund, an organization she founded 45 years ago.

“Dear colleagues, supporters, partners and friends, after 45 years as President of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), I have decided to transition into a new role as President Emerita in the Office of the Founder,” Wright wrote in a letter posted on the organization’s website.

“I will step away from CDF’s day-to-day responsibilities and will focus all my energies towards building a lasting movement for children to end child poverty and inequality through servant leadership development at key spiritual retreats and convenings at CDF’s Haley Farm and continue to provide a moral compass for CDF,” she

said.

Born on June 6, 1939, in Bennettsville, South Carolina, Edelman was the youngest of five children and credits her father with instilling in her an obligation to right wrongs.

When African Americans in Bennettsville were not allowed to enter city parks, Arthur Wright, her father, built a park for African American children behind his church, according to her biography on The History Makers website.

A graduate of Spelman College and Yale Law School, Edelman became the first African American female admitted to the Mississippi State Bar while working as director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund office in Jackson.

She also became nationally recognized as an advocate for Head Start, according to her biography.

In 1968, Edelman moved to Washington, D.C., and subsequently became counsel to the Poor People’s Campaign that was organized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She founded the Washington Research Project (WRP), where she focused on lobbying Congress for child and family nutrition programs and expanding the Head Start program. In 1973, the Washington Research Project became the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), the United States’ leading advocacy group for children.

As president of the CDF, Edelman has worked to decrease teenage pregnancy, increase Medicaid coverage for poor children, and secure government funding for programs such as Head Start.

Edelman also has served as the Director of the Center for Law and Education at Harvard University and is the first African American female to have been on the board of directors of Yale University.

She’s written many articles and books, including the autobiographical New York Times best-seller, “The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours.”

To get just a sense of what Edelman has meant to her countless admirers, one need only look at the tributes that have flooded social media before and since her announcement this week.

Most of the tributes contained motivational thoughts shared by Edelman over the years.

“Never work just for money or power, it won’t save your soul or help you sleep at

night,” and “Education is a precondition to survival in America today,” were among the many Edelman quotes that various social media users posted in her honor.

Other classic quotations by Edelman that social media users posted included, “Don’t assume a door is closed; push on it. Do not assume if it was closed yesterday that it is closed today;” and “You’re not obligated to win. You’re obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.”

The mission of CDF has never been more important than it is today during these perilous times for children and for the nation,” Edelman said this week.

“Though we face unprecedented challenges and threats to the safety and well-being of America’s children, we refuse to go backwards. No matter who holds the reins of political power, CDF will move forward in our mission to Leave No Child Behind and ensure that every child has a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful

passage into adulthood,” she said.

Edelman said she’s proud of CDF’s groundbreaking work over the past 45 years and the significant progress the organization has made for millions of children and families.

However, she said, there is still much work to be done.

“I look forward to supporting the Board of Directors in the search for a new President to lead CDF into its next chapter; someone who is committed to taking on the challenges children face today and those that will emerge in the future,” Edelman said.

“I am confident that CDF will not miss a beat during this transition and as the national search commences for a new CDF President. On December 31, 2018, CDF’s Chief of Staff, Max Lesko, will become National Executive Director overseeing CDF’s day-to-day operations and reporting to the Board of Directors.”

Clark Sisters Biopic Produced By Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige And Missy Elliott Coming in 2019

ARTS FUNDING NEIGHBORHOOD CULTURAL VITALITY GRANT

RDS GRANT AWA 00 $2,500-$5,0

grant DEADLINES Letter of Intent: November 21 | Application: December 19 MORE INFO/APPLICATION: 203.946.7172 UPCOMING INFORMATION SESSIONS Nov. 8 - Ives (Main) Library. 6:00pm.

Nov. 13 - Mitchell Library. 5:00pm.

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CITY OF NEW HAVEN, TONI. N. HARP, MAYOR

By Jacksonville Free Press The story of the Clark Sisters is coming to television in 2019 as a Lifetime movie will follow the gospel legends’ rise to fame.

The legendary gospel siblings will be the subject of an upcoming Lifetime biopic produced by heavyweights Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, and Missy Elliott. You Brought the Sunshine, which will tell the story of their rise to fame, will air early 2019.

The Detroit-based Grammy Award winners are credited for helping to bring gospel music to the mainstream.

“It is with great anticipation that we

16

share with you the story of the Clark Sisters,” the group announced in an Instagram post.

No actresses have been attached to the project as yet.

Daughters of the legendary Dr. Mattie Moss Clark, these dynamic trailblazers have given us hits such as, “You’ve Brought the Sunshine”, “Endow Me”, and “Is My Living in Vain.”

The five sisters—Karen Clark Sheard, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Twinkie Clark, Jacky Clark Chisholm and Denise Clark Bradford—have inspired many of today’s divas includ-

ing Mariah Carey, Beyonce and Faith Evans. Denise is no longer associated with the group, though there has been talk of the group performing with her again.

The Clark Sisters were honored at the 2016 Essence Music Festival. They also performed at Aretha Franklin’s funeral earlier this year.

You Brought The Sunshine is the title of The Clark Sisters’ eighth studio album, which was the group’s first album to be certified gold.

This article originally appeared the Jacksonville Free Press

First Black NHL Player

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Noveber 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame

Nationwide — William O’Bree, the first African-American player to play in the National Hockey League, was recently inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, nearly six decades since he joined the league. Now 83 years old, O’Bree will be honored not just for his historical significance but also for his contributions in spearheading numerous youth programs across North America.

O’Bree made history when he started playing for the Boston Bruins in 1958. In his 24 seasons in professional hockey, he had to endure several offensive insults just because of the color of his skin.

In one incident, he had his teeth purposely knocked out by his opponent’s hockey stick. Another time, he had been yanked and attacked by a mob of hostile fans. He was often put on minor leagues, too. Despite that, he still loved the game and continued playing it.

“I heard that N-word so many times that I just let it go in one ear and out the other,” O’Ree told The New York Times. “I never fought because of racial slurs or remarks.

I fought because guys speared me, buttended me, crosschecked me and things of that nature. Otherwise I would have spent every game in the penalty box.”

O’ree persevered all those challenges and paved the way for other Black athletes who want to follow in his footsteps. After retiring from hockey, he also spent decades of

working with young players across North America through different youth hockey and outreach programs.

“Willie O’Ree’s story must not be forgotten,” Karl Subban, a father of three Black NHL draft picks, told Sports Illustrated.

“He has made it possible for my boys to have the NHL dream and to believe they could achieve it. He changed hockey which is now for everyone. Hockey needed him and so does the Hockey Hall of Fame. The time is right!”

OP-ED: Veterans Deserve Your “Thank You”

By Rosetta Miller Perry (Navy) and Ms. June (Air Force)

Veterans that have had to endure the American flag being bastardized, the national anthem being politicized, and constant disrespect has become a sad part of life. It is extremely disappointing that citizens who have never served in the military have so many opinions and have become emboldened to disrespect Veterans of yesterday, today and tomorrow.

The observance of Veterans day represents individuals with courage and enough love for their country to volunteer to put their lives on the dotted line. Outside of the draft period the military of today is truly an allvolunteer force. A force that loses dignity, goes through humiliation and degradation beyond belief in the form of basic training only to rise and become a soldier. An individual can be a doctor, a lawyer, a pastor or a pilot but unless they have served their country and worn the military uniform, then a soldier will remain as one of the most honorable and dignified jobs on the planet.

The world’s largest bully that hails from the White House is beneath the newly minted soldier without rank, the leading double triple free throw player in the NBA is nothing compared to a petite female soldier with a M-16 assault weapon and at the

l-r; Mrs. Rosetta Miller Perry, Navy and Ms. June, Air Force end of the day, not everyone can do it. But to eliminate the politics from football and those who can and have served deserve keep the knee and the police brutality isbetter acknowledgement and gratitude than sue in proper context. Other than those that what the United States is serving them. die in battle, some soldiers get to retire and Veterans Day is a time to thank the fami- hang their dog tags on the mantle, some are lies that gave all as their military member still here but homeless on the street due to lies beneath a headstone in a graveyard, a politics and closure of VA medical centers time to thank the Veterans that have lost vi- while others have thriving careers as civilsion and arms or legs and even those so full ians but are still soldiers to the core. One of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) thing for sure is the fact that from the Army from military experiences they could snap to the Navy, the Air Force to the Marines anytime and kill everyone in sight. This is and the Peace Corps, soldiers don’t die, a time to pay it forward and check on the they fade away. Veterans represent freemilitary widows, read to the children that dom, values and liberties enjoyed by every has lost their military father or even buy a American and the least one can do is say hot meal for a Veteran at Operation Stand “thank you.”

Down. It is the responsibility of every This article originally appeared in The American that knows a Veteran to “thank Tennessee Tribune. them for their service” on Veterans day,

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Author Returns with Novel Detailing the Complicated Connection between Familial Love and Romantic Choices

TAMPA, Fla. – Author and educator Casey Curry understands the pressure of teaching creative writing while forging a career as a creative. Four years ago, Curry wrote and published a debut novel, Promises, which was so highly-received and acclaimed requests for a sequel were immediate. This month she released A Pillar of Fire, her second novel, and the answer to questions posed in Promises.

“Life can challenge a writer’s time, and I am no exception,” says Curry. Time proved to be an ally for the author who would decide not only how to tell the story but which character would narrate it. Unlike the first novel, which was narrated by the heroine, Pamela, A Pillar of Fire is narrated by Pamela’s deceased father, Jonas. “The story is still Pam’s but it is an important part of her backstory, which only Jonas can tell.”

Casey Curry’s debut novel challenged representations of the black military family and especially the wives of officers. The sequel is a continuation of Curry’s advocacy for dimensional and diverse imagery of African Americans. She says, “I wanted to shatter a few stereotypes about aging and our elders as well as the complicated ways we love as a people.”

Readers are treated to rare depictions of romantic love between black senior citizens and baby boomers that deal with the sometimes questionable choices we make in relationships tied to family and upbringing. Curry chose Jonas, the patriarch, to narrate as a form of explanation. She says, “Pam Sloane and her sister Ella Jean processed the love Jonas had for their mother in two entirely different ways. One sister fares better in love than the other. We see it in black families all of the time, but why?”

The author believes readers will gain valuable insights through the characters and storylines.

Since Promises’ debut, the retired military spouse and mother has enjoyed reception as an author across the nation as a speaker, and signing books for book clubs. She has been the invited guest at history conferenc-

Casey Curry es, and events hosted by women’s groups such as The Links, Inc. and her sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha. She has also shared the stage with Walter Mosely and Pamela Samuels Young.

“The experience has been phenomenal and life-changing but not nearly as phenomenal and life-changing as finishing something I began as a passion.”

A Pillar of Fire can be purchased at Amazon(dot)com or via Casey’s website at CaseyCurry(dot)org, where you can also learn more about the author and her work.

About Casey Curry Casey Curry is an award-winning author and the director of creative writing at a fine arts magnet school in Tampa, Florida. Since her debut as a novelist, Casey has showcased her work and expertise alongside historians, scholars, and writers such as Walter Mosley. As a sought-after writing coach, she assists emerging writers in their efforts to tell their stories. Mom to four daughters, Casey spends her spare time entertaining with her husband and enjoying their empty nest.

FILM REVIEW: Creed II THE INNER-CITY NEWS - November 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

themed music blares loudly to no avail.

The visuals (cinematographer Kramer Morgenthau, Game of Thrones) lack the splendor DP Maryse Alberti (The Wrestler) brought to Creed. The exception would be a dazzling entry in to the final brawl, when a stunning lighting affect forms a triangle and the Creed team enters.

Cocker’s script is competent and respectful of all the characters, some of which have been around for over 40 years. That said, nothing in his screenplay takes the individuals’ storylines to a new place that’s worth a trip. Adonis and Bianca’s partnership evolves. The Dragos’ father/son dynamics is of mild interest. Adonis’ conflicts with Rocky cause a bit of a stir. But none of it will make you cry, impose fear or instill anger. Of course, Rocky still has his words of wisdom, “If you want to give pain, you have to take pain.” But nothing he says is truly profound. The best dialogue is reserved for the repartee between apprentice and crusty coach as they casually joke with each other like old friends.

If this sequel has a savior, it’s the superb acting, which is so good it should be captured and taught in acting classes. Almost single-handedly, Michael B. Jordan takes this film the distance. In gestures, attitude and a wide range of expressions, he makes Adonis far more complex than the film itself. His performance never blinks, even when the film flounders. He is always on the beat, firm, determined and authentic to the character.

Jordan’s unflinching portrayal rubs off on every actor he encounters. Scenes with Tessa Thompson and Phylicia Rashad, who plays his adoptive mom Mary Anne Creed, feel intimate and warmly familial.

Stallone stumbles around the sets like an aged punch-drunk boxer. He’s convincing throughout, and his acting goes up a notch in his sequences with Jordan.

Director Steven Caple Jr. doesn’t do anything wrong. Most of what’s on view, from the drama to the fights, is competent.

It’s just not magical. That’s the intangible force that Ryan Coogler brings to every film he makes. Once you leave the theater after a Coogler movie, you feel touched by his genius, drawn into his values, artistry and dedication. After a Coogler movie you want to know what happened to the characters. You want more. The direction, script and technical credits for this followup do not have that staying power.

Considering the history and popularity of the first Creed, which was also released around Thanksgiving, its successor should pull in a sizable crowd. After viewers see

By Dwight Brown, NNPA Newswire Film Critic

his follow up to the very popular boxing film Creed (worldwide gross $174M) throws a lot of left hooks, right jabs and uppercuts, but only a few connect and none land a knockout punch. Count on the mass appeal (young, old, urban, male and female) of Creed II to put viewers in seats. But, will they enjoy what they see?

Yes, somewhat, if patience is one of their virtues.

There’s a key difference between the first and the second chapters in this franchise.

The exceptional director/writer Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station, Black Panther) left his imprint all over the first one: heavy emphasis on relationships, emotions, performances, pacing, style. The second one is directed by Steven Caple Jr., whose resume is filled with short film and TV credits. His interpretation of Cheo Hodari Coker’s (TV’s Southland and Luke Cage) script has a similar feel, but not as organic or fresh.

Adonis Johnson (Michael B. Jordan) has finally become the Heavyweight Champion of the World. He’s got his significant other Bianca (Tessa Thompson), the singer/songwriter, by his side. The mentorship he received from his coach Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) is tight. Life is good on the outside, but something eats at him from within. It’s an insecurity that flares when a skeezy boxing promotor, Buddy Marcelle (Russell Hornsby, Fences), tempts Adonis into a fight with Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu, a German-Romanian boxer/actor), the son of boxer Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren, Rocky IV), the man who beat Adonis’ dad Apollo Creed to death.

The taunting that ensues gets into Adonis’ head, stirring up old thoughts he hoped he was over. With the press, Marcelle and the Dragos baiting him, the young boxer has some far-reaching choices to make that could make or break his career and test his bond with family and friends.

Audiences will wish that this fight film started with an explosion. It doesn’t. The footage rolls, the plot is disseminated and the mundane, everyday drama on view goes on for way too long. For a boxing movie, a lack of action is the kiss of death, and little of note arises until Act III. The languid pacing (editors: Dana E. Glauberman, Saira Haider and Paul Harb) will leave audiences tapping their toes collectively and waiting for an adrenaline injection. The boxing choreography is unoriginal—never electric. The Rocky-

18

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Noveber 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

The True Story of the ‘Green Book’ Movie Jazz, race and an unlikely friendship inspire the new film about navigating Jim Crow America

came an actor—but they remained friends.

As a child Vallelonga visited Shirley in his studio in Manhattan and heard stories about their trip. “That’s an unbelievable movie,” he remembers thinking. “I’m gonna make it one day.” In his 20s, Vallelonga, an actor and occasional screenwriter, interviewed his father and Shirley about how these two men from starkly different backgrounds navigated the racism they encountered. But Shirley stipulated that he didn’t want the story told until after his death.

Both men passed away in 2013, and those conversations, along with letters Lip wrote his wife, form the basis of Green Book, which stars Mahershala Ali as Shirley and Viggo Mortensen as Lip. The title is a reference to The Negro Motorist Green Book, a travel guide for African-Americans published from 1936 to 1967 that promised “vacation without aggravation.”

Making the film more than half a century after the events it depicts hasn’t muted its powerful message about overcoming prejudice. Lip “was a product of his times. Italians lived with Italians. The Irish lived with the Irish. African-Americans lived with African-Americans,” Vallelonga says. The trip “opened my father’s eyes...and then changed how he treated people.”

Printed with permission of the Smithsonian magazine.

By Anna Diamond

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2018

It was well after dark on a Saturday night in January 1963 when the Don Shirley Trio took the stage in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

The program of show tunes, jazz and classical music, the local paper reported, was “brilliant and exciting and warmly received by the large crowd.” But its famed leader and pianist, Don Shirley, who was black, knew his welcome was conditional. A hateful sign stood at Manitowoc’s city limits: “N-----, don’t let the sun go down on you in our town.”

When the trio set out on another tour later that year, Shirley hired a white driver, a gregarious Italian-American bouncer known as Tony Lip, to handle problems that might arise in the “sundown towns” of the North and the Jim Crow-era South.

“My father said it was almost on a daily basis they would get stopped, because a white man was driving a black man,” recalls Lip’s son Nick Vallelonga, who has turned their journey into Green Book, a new film garnering Oscar buzz.

Vallelonga was 5 years old when his father headed out on the road with the pianist.

After they returned more than a year later, the men lived their separate lives—Shirley played to acclaim in Europe and Lip be-

Airbnb Offers More than Just a Place to Stay

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Correspondent@StacyBrownMedia

After more than a decade in business, Airbnb has gone beyond being recognized as just a worldwide accommodations platform that folks use as an alternative to hotels.

The company was founded in 2008 by Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia and Nate Blecharczyk; it’s very first listing was Chesky and Gebbia’s Rausch Street San Francisco apartment. During a weekend where hotel rooms were completely sold out for a design conference, the duo decided to host guests on air beds and serve them breakfast in order to make enough money to pay their rent.

Today, Airbnb boasts more than 400 million guest arrivals with an average number of 2 million people staying with Airbnb per night, in an excess of 1,000 cities. But, the company offers more than just a room to sleep in.

Airbnb also offers “Experiences,” which are one-of-a-kind activities designed and hosted by locals that you enjoy both when you’re traveling or when you’re at home.

Unlike a typical tour or workshop, Experiences go beyond the activities themselves.

They offer a deep-dive into the local host’s world through their passion.

Hosts offer their guests special knowl-

edge, unique skills, and inside access to local places and communities that guests couldn’t find on their own, creating lasting connections and treasured memories.

Experiences tell the story of the host’s unique perspective and passion, whether it’s their love of street food, sewing, or the history of their neighborhood.

For instance, an Airbnb Experience in Paris could be visiting the Louvre with an art historian who’s also a comedian.

In Harlem, it’s a jazz concert with a local musician or in L.A., a concert featuring music from the African diaspora. In Cape Town, mountain biking can be experienced with views of Table Mountain and in Barcelona, making paella based on an old family recipe can be experienced in a private garden.

Cassidy Blackwell, who works on the company’s Communications Team as the Director of Strategic Projects, said there are also more than 15,000 Airbnb experiences worldwide which also includes diversity-filled events and attractions.

“Our company’s mission is to ensure anyone can belong anywhere,” Blackwell said “It’s really important for us to make efforts to bring different communities onto the platform and to dispel myths around the world about Airbnb,” she said.

The folks at Airbnb have counted on people being inherently good and the more

that the company can use travel as a way of breaking down barriers, the better everyone can be as a global community.

The Experiences on Airbnb include classes, tours, concerts and a host of other exciting activities. Most are designed for people to discover an easy way of doing or even learning something different.

One Experience is hosted in New Quay by Gerry, a marine biologist who has worked in the world of oysters for many years – breeding, growing, marketing, opening, and eating them. Gerry offers a tour that’s informal, informative and entertaining. He says the humor dictates the script.

“We welcome you into our premises and give you a tour through a working oyster warehouse on the seashore. We introduce you to the area with particular emphasis on the sea outside and how the tides work to provide us with very clean water,” said Gerry, whose full description is available on the Airbnb website.

“We will show you our pet/touch tank that holds some of the fascinating sea creatures that inhabit the sea floor right outside our window and watch them as they do their thing.”

In South Africa, Martin guides tourists on a hike to the summit of the iconic Table Mountain where they can experience why it’s one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature.

“We will take some of my favorite more

19

easily missed paths to the top. There are many routes that go up and together we will find one that suits your skill and confidence level,” Martin says.

The trails all include a combination of hiking, varied levels of scrambling and exposure to heights that will allow everyone to reach incredible viewpoints of Lion’s Head, Twelve Apostles, Camps Bay, Back

Table and the Mother City.

“I will take you into the world of the breathtaking Fynbos Floral Kingdom and the very first occupants of Southern Africa who named the mountain ‘Hoerikwaggo’ – or Mountain in the sea,” Martin said.

“Once we reach the summit we will go to one of my awesome viewpoints to take Con’t on page 22

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - November 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Noveber 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

Stacey Abrams Ends Historic Gubernatorial Run

By Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., NNPA Newswire Contributor

The State of Georgia’s Democratic Gubernatorial nominee has ended her historic run for governor in a controversial political race that has captured the attention of the country. In a press conference held today at 5 p.m. at her Kirkwood headquarters, Abrams acknowledged GOP candidate and former Secretary of State Brian Kemp will be Georgia’s next governor but failed to concede the race. “I will not concede because the erosion of our democracy is not right,” she stated.

Abrams announcement comes days after post-election lawsuits demanding that all votes be counted in the face of voter suppression tactics used by the Secretary of State’s office. Kemp, who was the Republican candidate for governor, failed to step down from the office while running for office, which was a clear conflict of interest.

During the campaign, it was reported Kemp’s office had removed 300,000 registered voters from the rolls in Georgia, 70 percent of which were voters of color.

The Georgia legislature’s reinstatement of the exact match rule, which had previously been ruled unconstitutional in a previous lawsuit, resulted in the removal of voters from the rolls for missing a hyphen or leav-

ing out a middle initial. A recent lawsuit found that those reasons could not be used to remove voters from the rolls or to discount provisional or absentee ballots.

Kemp declared victory on election night, stepping down from office two days later to begin what he called his transition to the Governorship.

Abrams refused to concede insisting all absentee and provisional votes should be counted, filing several lawsuits. The former Democratic leader of Georgia’s House of Representatives needed an additional 17,000 votes in order to force a run-off with Kemp but decided to end the election in order to work on reforming the voter registration and participation process in Georgia.

In her speech, she criticized the voting process and the state of Georgia’s mismanagement of the gubernatorial election, saying she will be filing a major lawsuit against the state of Georgia for the “gross mismanagement of this election and to protect future elections from unconstitutional actions” in the coming days.

The voter protection crusader says she will continue fighting for reform as a private citizen announcing the launch of Fair Fight Georgia, an operation that will “pursue accountability in Georgia’s elections and integrity in the process of maintaining voting rolls.”

Georgia’s GOP leadership has been mocking Abrams’ quest for justice. Kemp Spokesman Ryan Mahoney stated, “Radical Stacey Abrams is beyond desperate with her latest publicity stunt. Georgia voters made their decision at the ballot box. It’s time for

Stacey Abrams to end her ridiculous temper tantrum and concede.”

Paul Bennecke, director of the Republican Governors Association has said Abrams antics “will come back to haunt her if she runs for something again,” and Clay Tippins

who ran for the GOP Gubernatorial nomination stated, “To call Abrams’ move childish would be insulting to children.” Kemp thanked Abrams for her “passion, hard work and commitment to public service.”

Mississippi Senate Race May Be Defining Moment for Black Voters

By Khalil Abdullah, Ethnic Media Services

Mississippi Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith’s remark to a colleague that “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row” puts the Magnolia State at center stage for Black voters in the 2018 mid-term elections.

Mississippi had the highest number of lynchings in the United States between 1882 and 1968, according to NAACP records.

Hyde-Smith’s explanation that her phrase “was an ‘exaggerated expression of regard’ drew outrage from Dr. Maya R. Cummings, president and CEO of Global Policy Solutions, veteran Capitol Hill staffer and former vice president of research and programs at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. “[It] shows how little regard her forebears had for Blacks they murdered and mutilated and how their atrocities are still accepted in her culture,” Cummings said.

In the Nov. 6 mid-terms, Hyde-Smith finished in a dead heat with former Mississippi congressman Mike Espy, an African American who was the Clinton administration Secretary of Agriculture, in a four-way Senate race.

The two now will face each other in a runoff special election on Nov. 27. HydeSmith was appointed by Mississippi’s governor to fill the remaining two years of the Senate seat when Thad Cochran vacated it due to illness.

As a Trump-endorsed candidate, she is in lockstep with the president’s agenda, one Cummings finds polarizing.

According to initial Pew Research data, in the 2018 mid-terms, African Americans voted at 90 percent for Democratic candidates; nine percent for Republicans.

“African Americans and other people of color were motivated to turn out in record numbers for mid-term elections due to the desire to see Trump’s power curbed,” Cummings observed.

“African Americans know exactly what

Trump is and what he means for our future.

Indeed, he has made no effort to hide his disdain for African Americans and other historically marginalized groups.”

Some Black analysts argue that a tax-cutdriven bump in personal income should prompt African Americans to vote Republican.

But in Mississippi, in precincts where well-to-do and middle-class African Americans reside, Trump’s tax cuts had no measurable impact in the mid-terms, according to Charles Taylor, principal and founder of

21

Peyton Strategies, LLC, based in Jackson, Miss. Though he has provided consulting services for the Espy campaign, he is not a spokesperson.

“Precinct 83 is an affluent Black precinct in Jackson. Espy got 97.67 percent of the vote,” Taylor said. “In Precinct 84, 95 percent. Precinct 85, predominantly Black middle class, 97.2 percent.”

Raynard Jackson, a Black Republican, is president and CEO of a government affairs and public relations firm in Washington, D.C. who has worked on numerous Repub-

lican campaigns, including Ron DeSantis’ gubernatorial campaign in Florida against the Democrat candidate, Andrew Gillum, mayor of Tallahassee.

Though not an ardent Trump fan, Jackson criticizes the Democratic party for failing to deliver policies that enable African Americans to reach economic independence.

“I carried this message across the state to black communities, ‘how much are you willing to pay to make history?’” Jackson explained.

He says Gillum’s vow to increase the minimum wage and raise taxes to accomplish policy objectives make Florida’s costs for electing its first African American governor too high.

“I’d ask a Black businessman, ‘Which of your employees are you going to lay off?’

They’d stop and say, ‘I hadn’t thought of it like that.’”

Jackson derides African American candidates he claims are fearful of being openly vocal advocates for their own people.

“Obama said he was going to be president of all the people. We hear it over and over from Black candidates, Gillum included.

But if you speak to a Latino candidate, he will tell you exactly what he will do for the Latino community.”

Kevin McNeir, editor of the Miami Times during the hanging chad controversy in the Bush-Gore 2000 election and now editor of the Washington Informer, finds some truth in Jackson’s assertions, but takes each canCon’t on page 22

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - November 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

Pinkett Aims to Inpsire Next Wave of Black Entrepreneurs

By Tylan Nash

With over 2.6 million Black-owned businesses in the U.S., many entrepreneurs launch into their work never even knowing the first thing about running a business.

They learn through the mistakes they make, and through the successes they create, and this is what Randal Pinkett figured out early on when he decided to launch his own business.

“But that’s okay,” Pinkett said, “neither did I when I first started. I just knew I wanted to accomplish something great.”

“I’ve always been doing things entrepreneurial, I just didn’t know it was entrepreneurship,” Pinkett told Xavier University of Louisiana college students on Nov. 13th about his journey to success.

Pinkett grew up in a single-parent household in Philadelphia, Pa., after his father passed away at a young age. Pinkett would grow up with an entrepreneurial mindset from selling things like lemonade and cookies, and even his toys. However, he did not have someone to look up to while accomplishing these things. It was not until he saw a fellow classmate at Rutgers University selling t-shirts that he felt inspired to pursue entrepreneurship.

Pinkett earned five academic degrees in areas like engineering to business, and he holds a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He became the first Black man to become a Rhodes Scholar in 1994, an international scholarship given to postgraduate students who would like to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. He even became the first Black man to win The Apprentice, a reality show that was hosted by President Donald

COMMENTARY:

Trump that measured a person’s business skills through certain tasks. He went on to work in Trump’s business operations in Atlantic City, N.J., and later became the Chairman and CEO of his own company, BCT Partners, a multi-million-dollar consulting, research and technology operation headquartered in Newark, N.J. He told students that it wasn’t easy balancing his personal life and starting his own business.

“I had to prioritize, and work, and pray. It wasn’t easy, but I got it done. I started it while I was in school, just like all of you,” Pinkett said.

With a story like this one, Mark Quinn, Professor of Business at Xavier hoped Pinkett would serve as a role model for the business students he trains in entrepreneurship.

“He brings a perspective from the real world, and it’s important for college students to hear his story, because these are possible role models for them,” Quinn said.

One student, Marloes Booker, is already following in Pinkett’s footsteps. As a senior at Xavier, Booker is the founder of RedBeans Nola, which sells bracelets and T-shirts, giving a large amount of the profit to charities that feed the homeless. He discussed how he felt motivated by Pinkett’s story and how it really gave him inspiration to work even harder in his business.

“Sometimes, I’m feeling down because of just the stress of school and my small business, and he just really motivated me to keep going and to stay focused,” Booker said.

Pinkett told the young students that he believed that people of color naturally embody unique, strong tendencies and talents, like the ability to endure no matter what

Mississippi Senate Race May Be Defining Moment

didate on his or her own merits.

“I’m an independent. Democrats haven’t done a damn thing for me, including Barack Obama. I’ve been Black all my life, so I don’t care about your color. I’m not going to vote for you just because you’re Black.”

the issues are, which are important to establishing entrepreneurial mindsets.

“As African-Americans, we are naturally creative,” Pinkett said. “We are naturally resilient, passionate, and courageous.

We’ve gone from chain links to cufflinks.

From the slave house to the White House.”

Pinkett aimed to inspire the next wave of business leaders. He took his audience on a journey through African-American entrepreneurial history by showing them different entrepreneurial personalities of color: like Oprah Winfrey, who went from owning her own talk show to owning her own TV network to Michael Jordan, who sold over 10 million of his self-named brands of shoes. By doing this, Pinkett hoped to provide young Black future entrepreneurs that

they have role models they can look up to.

“I think it is very important to see this representation in entrepreneurship, because there’s not a lot of Black people that we see in powerful positions, and seeing them, will really pushed a student like me to want to accomplish great things,” said Ayanna Brown, a business major at Xavier, who attended Pinkett’s talk.

Visiting a Black university was part of Pinkett’s goal to inspire the next generation of innovators. “I didn’t have anyone who could be an example for me,” Pinkett said. “So, it’s important for me to get out to HBCUs, because I want to inspire young Black men and women.”

This article originally appeared New Orleans Data News Weekly.

Election 2018 and A Free Press

By Ed Gray, North Dallas Gazette Senior Columnist

The midterm election results have been processed, and now I have had some time to evaluate the results. One take away from these elections was that President Donald Trump’s attack on the American free press, must end. The Trump Era remains, and uncivility is the norm. This Trump Era led by ruffians, or more precisely Trumpian is only here for a season. It is up to the press to report the truth and stand up to those who distort it.

The Biblical scriptures say, “and this too shall pass,” all across the south from Florida where Andrew Gillum is contesting the governor’s race, Stacey Abrams in Georgia is contesting the governor’s race, and in Mississippi where Mike Espy is in the Mississippi senatorial runoff. AfricanAmerican Democrats are doing what black folks have done from centuries. Resist Oppression. This no doubt made President Trump angry.

The thought of black candidates beating Trumpian acolytes of his political idiocracy must have unnerved President Trump.

In his post-election remarks, he seemed to

Con’t on page 21

African American female journalists Abby Phillip of CNN, Yamiche Alcindor Cline of PBS and April Ryan of American Urban Radio Networks and CNN have been directly attacked

by President Trump unfurl frustration on minority reporters. it look good as if it was not only women, he The mere sight of minority reporters, spe- also attacked Jim Acosta. cifically black women, put Trump in anger The routine shaming, degrading, humilimode. In rapid succession, he directed his ating and demonizing the free press comes ire over black voters on black female re- with consequences. These consequences porters, Yamiche Alcindor from PBS; April are as sharp as the pen. To negatively report Ryan from American Urban Radio; and news regarding President Trump is leaving Abby Phillip from CNN. I suppose to make yourself open to being verbally attacked by

22

him or even possibly be attacked by the President’s supporters. Even writing opinion piece columns can result in harm coming to the author.

The recently attempted threats directed toward our free press by Trump supporters are emblematic and symptomatic of the violent broadsides coming out of the White House. The era of anarchy that has descended upon America is a result of the facts being treated as if they are no longer relevant in our political discourse.

In early November, the people spoke and did what President Trump asked him to do.

He was on the ballot, and he lost. It is now up to us, the People to support a free press.

The press has a legitimate Constitutional reason to report and question President Trump. After all, this isn’t Trump Tower.

I am Ed Gray, and this is Straight Talk.

Ed Gray, the host of The Commish Radio Show airing Saturdays 3-5 p.m. on FBRN. net, can be reached at eegray62@att.net.

NDG was awarded NNPA’s 2018 Robert S. Abbott Best Editorial for Gray’s “Confederate Statues: The White Man’s Burden” column.

Regardless of African American voters’ views on Trump, McNeir attributes the Democrats’ success in the mid-terms to their expansive field of qualified candidates.

“From women, to Muslims, to Native Americans, to transgender, to veterans — all those numbers went up. The result is the most significant increase in Democratic House members since Watergate. That’s truly noteworthy. Now, Trump can spin it all he wants to.”

But McNeir does believe Trump’s influence in Florida was significant because he elevated DeSantis’s visibility by “giving him a shoulder to lean on, much like with Supreme Court Judge Kavanaugh.

“Had Gillum been White, he would have won by 99 percent, he’s that much more qualified than DeSantis.

“He was too progressive. And he was going to raise taxes. It was honest for him to say, but you don’t talk about raising taxes with White folk. He should have done what white folks do, lie; raise taxes once he got in.”

Tax cuts were also in play in the predominantly Democratic state of Maryland, where Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous, African American and a former NAACP president, was defeated by Republican incumbent Larry Hogan, who won a second term.

African American Democrats crossed party lines, not en masse but in significant numbers, in part because they felt Hogan’s tax reduction initiatives had improved their personal finances.

Yet, as The Baltimore Sun noted the day after the election, “No coattails: Maryland voters backed Republican Gov. Hogan, but also showed their disdain for Trump.”

In exit polling, and across racial lines, voters rejected what they perceived as Trump’s divisiveness, apparently despite whatever personal gain they may have derived from his tax cuts.

Charles Taylor described this year’s mid-terms in Mississippi as historic. “In the 2014 mid-terms, for all voters, we had 631,000 voters; in this one, close to 900,000.”

Indeed, the Hyde-Smith versus Espy contest may be the defining moment for how Black voters view the political landscape in 2020.

Echoing Cummings, McNeir said, “The hatred that has been under the radar in America has gotten an invitation from Trump to express yourself.”

This article originally appeared in the Los Angeles Sentinel.

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INNER-CITY July28, 27,2018 2016 - August 02, 05, 2016 THE INNER-CITY NEWS - NEWS November December 2018

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The Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk, CT

is seeking BIDS FOR (1) F250 pickup truck or equivalent, (1) Transit Cargo Van or equivalent and (2) Transit Connect Vans or Equivalent.

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

Common Ground is looking for an Assistant Manager of Facilities and

Petroleum Company has an immediate full time opening. Previous Grounds to assist the Site Manager with the care, upkeep and maintenance of experience helpful in answering multiple telephone lines and in Common Ground’s site and facilities in order to ensure they effectively meet dealing with customers. Personable customer service skills a must.

Public Notice of Common Ground’s programmatic needs. Click here for a full job deInvitationall to Bid: The Manchester Housing Authority will open the waiting list for Previous petroleum experience a plus. Applicant to also perform scrtipion and how to apply: http://commongroundct.org/2018/07/commonadministrative tasks such as typing proposals, scheduling appointnd the Federal Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Ave Program.

2 Notice 242-258 Fairmont ground-is-seeking-an-assistant-manager-of-facilities-and-grounds/ Applications will be available at 8:00 AM Monday November 5th, ments and ordering parts and materials. Please send resume to: Manager, Confidential, P O Box 388, Guilford CT 06437.

Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA 2018- Friday2BR November 5th, 2018 at 4:00PM in person and on the H.R.

NEW HAVEN

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer********** Property Management Company is seeking a Resident Services CoorMHA website http://manchesterha.org and may be carpet, returnedclose to to I-91 All newatapartments, new appliances, new & I-95 Old Saybrook, CT dinator in New Haven, CT. Part time- 16 hrs/wk. Must have experience 24 Bluefield Drive Manchester, CT 06040 in person or by mail highways, near bus stop & shopping center (4 Buildings, 17 Units) 8:00AM Monday November 26th, 2018 - 4:00PM Friday Novemworking w/ senior and disabled community. Social Services background Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project ber 30th, 2018. Important Information: This is not first come first preferred. Please call (860) 951-9411 x238 for inquiries.

Insulation company offering good pay and benefits. serve, The MHA will place all applications into a lottery process thatCT.and select 400 applications to be placed on the waiting list.

Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Construction, WoodONLY Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castmail resume New to above address.. MAIL Once the lottery isThis performed theprogram 400 chosen will re- formationPlease Certificate Program. is a 10 month designedapplicants to assist in the intellectual of Candidates This company is an Affi rmative Action/ in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, in response to the Church’s Ministry needs.

The cost is $125.

Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30ceive a letter informing them that they have been placed on the 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. Equal Opportunity Flooring,Employer.

Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, HCV waiting list. Due to the anticipated volume of applications,

Mechanical Insulator position

The Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk, CT

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

theSt.MHA will not contact applicants who are not chosen.

New Haven, CT .

The Manchester Housing Authority does not discriminate based upon race, color, disability, familial status, sex or national origin

is seeking BIDS FOR MAINTENANCE UNIFORMS.

Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

Bidding documents can be viewed and printed at www.

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

Town of Bloomfield

norwalkha.org under the Business section, RFP/RFQ. Norwalk is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Adam Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5,Housing 2016 $38.03 hourly Bovilsky, Executive Director.

For details and how to apply, go to www.bloomfi eldct.org. Start: August 15, 2016 Anticipated

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

FT Assistant Building Official

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of SeymourPre-employment drug testing.

Public Notice Project documents available via ftp link below: AA/EOE The Manchester Authority will open the waiting list for at 28 Smith Street, until 3:00 pmHousing on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage theSeymour, Federal Low Housing (LIPH) program (Elderly/ CTIncome 06483Public for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Disabled) 2 BR units at 8:00 AM November 1, 2018. Applications Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.The Town of East Fax Laborer: Haven is currently accepting applications for are available in person and on the MHA website at http://manchesor Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com the position of Laborer in its Public Works Department. Qualified candidates must Fixed Route Driver and ADA Driver – terha.org and may be returned to 24 Bluefield Drive Manchester, possess a High School Diploma or GED,HCC encourages of labor all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section P/T 3 Certified Businesses some experiencethe in participation heavy manual CTA06040 in person or by mail.

Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 MUST HAVE CDL A/B & P and endorsement S, V, A or and CDL. Current base pay for this position is $40.782/year.

The application is pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith available at http://www.townofeasthavenct.org/civil-service-commission/pages/ .

AA/EEO EMPLOYER Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

“IMMEDIATE OPENINGS!! PAID TRAINING!!” $21.10hr.

The Manchester Housing Authority does not discriminate based

upon race, color, disability, familial status, sex or national origin

job-notices-and-tests or The Office of the Mayor, 250 Main Street, East Haven CT. The Town of East Haven is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Minorities, Females, Veterans and Handicapped are encouraged to apply.

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Ofof Bloomfi fice, 28 Smith Town Street, Seymour, CT eld 06483 (203) 888-4579.

Full Time Assistant Assessor $39.96 hourly Class A driver F/T Experienced

The Authority reserves right to accept or reject any or all bids, to Email-Hherbert@gwfabrication.com ForHousing details and how to apply go to the www.bloomfi eldct.org reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any 24 informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the Housing Authority.

Pre-employment drug testing. AA/EOE

F

Operate vehicles in the Transit District’s Fixed Route OR ADA /Shuttle department, providing Commuter Shuttle service between the rail stations and places of employment and Door-To-Door services.

To apply visit Norwalktransit.com/employment

INNER-CITY July 2016- - August THE INNER-CITY NEWS -NEWS Noveber 28,27, 2018 December 2018 02, 05, 2016

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

NOTICE Request for Proposals

Youth Development Program Services- Eastview and Fairhaven

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

Housing Authority City of New Haven d/b/a Elm city Communities is HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus the New Haven Housing Services Authority, currently seeking Proposals for House Youthand Development Program is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this at Eastview and Fairhaven. A complete copy of the requirementdevelmay located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apbeopment obtained from Elm City’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://neply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y whavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have beginning on Monday, November 2018 at 3:00 will PMbe mailied upon rebeen received at the offices of HOME26, INC. Applications quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third ELM CITY COMMUNITIES Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

Request for Proposals NOTICIA Master Lease Agreement Services

MACRI VIVIENDAS ALQUILER DISPONIBLES The VALENTINA Housing Authority of the DE City of NewPRE-SOLICITUDES Haven d/b/a Elm City Communities is currently seeking Proposals for Master Lease Agreement HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está Services. complete para copy of the requirement be obtained from aceptandoA pre-solicitudes estudios y apartamentos de unmay dormitorio en este desarrollo Elm City’s Portal ubicado en laVendor calle 109Collaboration Frank Street, New Haven.https://newhavenhousing.cobSe aplican limitaciones de ingresos blestonesystems.com/gateway máximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 julio, 2016 on hastaMonday, cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) beginning November 26, 2018 at 3:00PM. 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 Luxurious in aStreet, Primetercer Location - Augustine Street a las oficinasResidential de HOME INCComplex en 171 Orange piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

Property Management Office is 122 Wilmot Road. We are located on the Hamden town line – Twin Brook Properties. This spectacular apartment complex is located on the foothills of West Rock – just minutes from Yale, Quinnipiac University, Southern CT State University, highways, shopping and all that Downtown New Haven has to offer. These spacious, bright one bedroom 242-258 Fairmont Ave apartments start at $1,300 plus utilities and include large tiled bath2BR Townhouse, BA,& 3BR, 1 level , 1BA central rooms, fabulous new kitchens,1.5 range full size refrigerators, All new apartments, appliances, newclosets, carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 air conditioning, garbagenew disposal, walk-in dishwashers, washer/ highways, near bus stop & shopping center dryer hook ups and off street parking.

NEW HAVEN

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

To find out more information, please call at 203-389-2100 or 203-920-4819 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. NOTICE OFDavis, INVITATION BID U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah D.D. Pastor ofFOR Pitts Chapel St. New Haven, CT

HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF DANBURY REFUSE AND RECYCLING SERVICES IFB No. B18003

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY Contact: Ms. Devin Marra

HOW TObids OBTAIN THE IFB Sealed are invited by DOCUMENTS:

Telephone: 203-744-2500 x 141 of Seymour the Housing Authority of the Town E-Mail: dmarra@hacdct.org until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Housing Authority of the City of Danbury Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the 2 Mill Ridge Rd, Danbury, CT 06811 Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Envelope Facility, Must 26 Smith Street IFB Seymour.

Be Marked: No. B18003 Refuse and Recycling Services

BID SUBMITTAL RETURN

BID QUESTIONS DUE DATE A pre-bid conference will be

30, 2018 by 2:00Office PM (EST) held atNovember the Housing Authority 28 Smith onDecember Wednesday, Julyby20, 2016.

7, 2018 10:00 AM (EST)

Street Seymour, DEADLINE/BID CT at 10:00 am, BID SUBMITTAL OPENING

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Of[Minority- and/or women-owned businesses are encouraged to respond] fice, 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

Field Engineer

State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting for an Information Technology Analyst 1 position, a Municipal Assessment Professional position and a Research Analyst position.

BA/BS in Civil Engineering or Construction Management.

2-5 yrs. experience. OSHA Certified.

Proficient in reading contract plans and specifications.

Resumes to RED Technologies, LLC, 10 Northwood Dr., Bloomfield, CT 06002; Fax 860.218.2433; Email resumes to info@redtechllc.com. RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.

Project Manager Environmental Remediation Division

For information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and application instructions, please visit https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT and click on:

3-5 years exp. and Bachelor’s Degree, 40-Hr. Hazwoper Training Req. Forward resumes to RED Technologies, LLC,

Information Technology Analyst 1 (40 Hour) Recruitment #180815-7603FD-001

RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.

Municipal Assessment Professional Recruitment #180817-5864AR-001 Research Analyst Recruitment #180822-6855AR-001 The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

Administrative Assistant

10 Northwood Dr., Bloomfield, CT 06002;

Fax 860.218.2433; or Email to HR@redtechllc.com

Must have DOT Construction Exp. Involves traveling to Job Site for record keeping.

Reliable transportation a must. NO PHONE CALLS EMAIL RESUME TO michelle@occllc.com EOE/AA Females and Minorities are encouraged to apply

Project Manager

InvitationDivision to Bid: Environmental Remediation nd 2 Notice

3-5 years exp. and Bachelor’s Degree, 40-Hr. Hazwoper Training Req. Forward resumes to RED Technologies, LLC, 10 Northwood Dr., Bloomfield, CTOld 06002; Fax 860.218.2433; or Saybrook, CT Email to HR@redtechllc.com RED(4Technologies, LLC is an EOE. Buildings, 17 Units)

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

Common Ground High School

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc

seeks: 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 Contact: Dan Peterson Phone: 860- 243-2300 email: dpeterson@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 Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300 Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Union Company seeks:

is looking for a Part Time After-School Recreations Programmer.

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition,Tractor Site-work,Trailer Cast- Driver for Heavy & Highway ConFor job details and how to apply, please visit http://commonstruction Equipment. Must have a CDL License, in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, groundct.org/2018/08/common-ground-seeks-a-part-time-afterclean driving record, capable of operating heavy Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, school-recreations-programmer/

Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. equipment; be willing to travel throughout the Northeast & NY. Listing: Transportation - Immediate Openingcompliance requirements.

This contract is subject toAssistant state set-aside and contract

We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

High Volume petroleum oil company is seeking a full time TransContact Dana at 860-243-2300.

Bidtime Extended, Due6:00AM. Date: August 5, 2016 portation Assistant. Work begins at Previous peEmail: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com troleum oil, retail or commercial dispatching experience a plus.

Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply MUST possess excellent attention to detail,available ability tovia manage Project documents ftp linkmulbelow: Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer tiple projects, excel proficiency and good computer skills required. http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Send resume to: Human Resource Dept., PO Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437. ********An rmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer********** Fax or EmailAffi 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 Large CT Fence & Guardrail Contractor is looking Scale House Operator, Data Entry, Print,EMPLOYER Copy & Scan DocuAA/EEO for experienced, responsible commercial and resiments. Working knowledge of Haz. Waste Regs., & Manifests. dential fence erectors and installers on a subcontracDOT & OSHA certification a +. Forward resumes to RED Techtor basis. Earn from $750 to $2,000 per day. Email nologies, LLC Fax 860-218-2433; or Email to HR@redtechllc.com resume to pking@atlasoutdoor.com AA/EOE RED Technologies, LLC is an EOE.

FENCE ERECTING SUBCONTRACTORS

25

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - November 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

Holiday Home Entertaining Tips to Avoid Stress

by Anthony Rodell is the co-principal and Chief Architect Officer of Reid Rodell It’s not too late to re-think the next 30 days of festivities. If your chest is sinking at the thought of traveling across town for dinners and parties, while packing for a trip out of town for family holiday events, then it is time to take control of the holidays before they take control of you. Here are a few tips to decrease the anxiety and increase the joy.

Redefine and reassign hosting duties Everyone showers you with platitudes about the way you host the entire family and their friends for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Do not be taken in by the flattery. Consider they know you put in a lot of work, which means less work for them.

This year, make everyone work and redefine what it means to be a great host or hostess. Instead of being the one responsible for the main event, decide to host people for dessert within a three-hour window. Once that window of time closes, they will not have to go home, but they will have to leave yours. Choose three or four desserts, serve punch and other non-alcoholic beverages (alcohol makes people want to stay longer), play festive music, and wind it all up by handing each guest a small gift bag

filled with a dessert and nuts – to go. Another alternative is to hand over hosting to another relative, offering to clean or help with expenses.

Host a post-holiday brunch Scrambled eggs and quiche are great accessories to leftover holiday ham, turkey, and veggies. Add in a champagne punch, sparkling water, and coffee and teas, and you have the beginning of a memorable event that doesn’t require the sweat equity. Purchase mini fruit tarts, muffins, and cookies from a local bakery. Need vegan and vegetarian options? Create a luxurious salad filled with nuts, berries and greens, and you can even ask non-meat and dairy eating guests to bring what they would like to eat and share. The day or two after a

holiday gives you an opportunity to breathe a bit, especially if travel is in your holiday plans.

Make reservations Restaurants can be your dining room.

In fact, many have private and extended dining spaces for large groups as well as pricing plans for fixed menus. They create the menu - with your assistance - for your group and you work out payment (self-pay as in a gift or group-pay as in each person pays for their own participation). Make the reservation and show up for great service that does not require you to clean or entertain for long hours. All you have to do is exchange gifts, swap a few stories, and pass out hugs. Keep home a haven of rest.

We are a tradition-loving people, but our

lifestyles are not meeting the demands of those traditions. Our health is not meeting the demands of stress and anxiety for what comes down to about 40 days a year. Of course, it is okay to say no too. However, managing activities can alleviate fatigue and a few headaches.

These tips will assist you in creating new traditions that are not only memorable but healthy.

Anthony Rodell is the co-principal and Chief Architect Officer of Reid Rodell, an event partnership in the greater Washington, D.C. area. For over a decade, Anthony has planned meetings, corporate, gala, and wedding events around the globe. His clients are both well-known and people simply in need of his assistance in organizing and planning events with a unique vision.

Shorter Preps Commencement for First Cohort of Incarcerated Learners HBCU News Wire

Shorter College is one of just two institutions in the state of Arkansas participating in the Second Chance Pell program, a federal initiative granting funding for non-violent inmates to earn college degrees and professional certificates while incarcerated. On Nov. 30, the school will award 25 graduates serving sentences in the Arkansas Department of Correction and Arkansas Community Correction with associate degrees in entrepreneurial studies.

According to officials, Shorter is playing a significant role in reducing recidivism and empowering offenders to productive

lives through work and rehabilitation through education.

“The 25 inmates who have earned an associate degree will have a bonafide second chance at life because they will return to freedom with an education and skills they didn’t have when they entered prison,” Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said in a release. “They will leave with the pride of this accomplishment and the confidence that they can succeed in life. Thanks to the Pell Grant program and Shorter College, these men and women have the opportunity to improve life for their families and their community.”

According to the Vera Institute of Jus-

tice, incarcerated citizens who participate in prison education programs are 43% less likely to return to prison than non-participants.

“Shorter understands the critical role it plays in assisting the state as it works to return men and women back to their communities with education and skills to live as productive citizens. “As the only HBCU in Arkansas to participate in this program, we are proud to have been selected,” Shorter President O. Jerome Green said. “Second Chance aligns perfectly with our mission of providing an accessible, affordable and high-quality education.”

Courtesy: Stephen B. Thornton (Arkansas Democrat Gazette)

BREAKING: Romaine Lettuce Recall–“It’s Not Safe”

by Bryana Holcomb, BlackDoctor.org

The CDC is advising that U.S. consumers not eat any romaine lettuce, and retailers and restaurants not serve or sell any, until they learn more about the outbreak.

This investigation is ongoing and the advice will be updated as more information is available.

where romaine was stored. Follow these five steps to clean your refrigerator.

remainder in Connecticut, Maryland, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Restaurants and retailers should not serve or sell any romaine lettuce, including salads and salad mixes containing romaine.

If you our a loved one have symptoms of an E. coli infection:

Illnesses started on dates ranging from October 8, 2018, to October 31, 2018. Ill people range in age from 7 to 84 years, with a median age of 24. Sixty-six percent of ill people are female. Of 26 people with information available, 13 (50%) were hospitalized, including one person who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure. No deaths have been reported.

Illnesses that occurred after October 30, 2018, might not yet be reported due to the time it takes between when a person becomes ill with E. coli infection and when the illness is reported. This takes an average of two to three weeks.

• Talk to your healthcare provider.

• Write down what you ate in the week before you started to get sick.

• Report your illness to the health department.

• Assist public health investigators by answering questions about your illness.

Consumers who have any type of romaine lettuce in their home should not eat it and should throw it away, even if some of it was eaten and no one has gotten sick.

This advice includes all types or uses of romaine lettuce, such as whole heads of romaine, hearts of romaine, and bags and boxes of precut lettuce and salad mixes that contain romaine, including baby romaine, spring mix, and Caesar salad.

As of November 20, 2018, 32 people infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157: H7 have been reported from 11 states. California has the highest number of reported illnesses, with 10, followed

by Michigan with seven, New Jersey with three, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New York with two each, and the

If you do not know if the lettuce is romaine or whether a salad mix contains romaine, do not eat it and throw it away. Wash and sanitize drawers or shelves in refrigerators

26

This investigation is ongoing, and CDC will provide more information as it becomes available.

SOURCES: www.cdc.gov

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - Noveber 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

a music-infused drama Collaborating SponSor

By DOMINIQUE

MORISSEAU

DIREctED By AWOYE

TIMPO

noV 21 – DEC 16 203.787.4282 longwharf.org

RP inner city news 5.471 x 5.1. oct rev.qxp_Layout 1 10/12/18 1:35 PM Page 1

THE RIDGEFIELD PLAYHOUSE Non-profit 501 (c) (3)

Gladys Knight

Grammy Award-winner known for “Midnight Train to Georgia,” “Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me” & more!

November 9

Stephen Marley Band - Acoustic

Grammy Award-winning son of the legendary Bob Marley!

November 13

Kool & the Gang

Valentine’s Day Celebration

Ronnie Spector & The Ronettes

Steppin’ Out for the Holidays

Ben Vereen

Performing with The Ronettes for the first time since the 1970s!

Ben’s Broadway hits, Frank Sinatra tribute, Christmas & Hanukkah favorites!

Best Christmas Party Ever!

November 30

Special 4pm show –

December 2

Presented by Ethan Allen Hotel

“Celebration,” “Jungle Boogie,” “Ladies Night,” “Get Down On It” “Hollywood Swinging” & more!

February 14

203.438.5795 • RIDGEFIELDPLAYHOUSE.ORG

27

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - November 28, 2018 - December 05, 2018

IT’S NOT THE

WE’RE ALL CONNECTED.

The best connections have always been wireless, and you can stay connected this season with Xfinity. Watch Netflix and YouTube right on your TV. Even stream your holiday favorites on any device with the Xfinity Stream app — all powered by the best WiFi experience. Plus, save money when you switch to Xfinity Mobile. That’s how Xfinity makes the holidays simple, easy, awesome.

SPECIAL OFFER Get Started With TV | Internet | Voice

$

79

99

a month

DVR service FREE for 1 year

Ask how to add Xfinity Mobile with up to 5 lines included

FOR 2 FULL YEARS with a 2-year agreement Equipment, taxes, and fees extra, and subject to change. See below for details.

Call 1-800-xfinity, visit an Xfinity Store or go to xfinity.com

Offer ends 12/9/18. Restrictions apply. Not available in all areas. New residential customers only. Limited to the Standard Triple Play. Early termination fee applies if all Xfinity services (other than Xfinity Mobile) are canceled during the agreement term. Equipment, installation, taxes and fees, including Broadcast TV Fee (up to $10.00/mo.), Regional Sports Fee (up to $8.25/mo.) and other applicable charges extra, and subject to change during and after agreement term. After agreement term or DVR promotion, or if any service is canceled or downgraded, regular rates apply. Comcast’s charge for DVR service is $10.00/mo. (subject to change). Service limited to a single outlet. May not be combined with other offers. TV: Limited Basic service subscription required to receive other levels of service. Voice: If there is a power outage or network issue, calling, including calls to 911, may be unavailable. Mobile: New Xfinity Internet customers limited to up to two lines pending activation of Internet service. Netflix® streaming membership required.

Call for restrictions and complete details. NPA220503-0001 DIV18-4-AA-A10V

130725_NPA220503-0001 Holiday N Sale_A10_9.25x10.5.indd 1

28

11/21/18 2:08 PM