INNER-CITY NEWS

Fixing Fathers Inc., Celebrates Fatherhood at Augusta Lewis Troup School in New Haven

by Dr. David Asbery

Fixing Fathers, Inc. would like to thank Tamra Green and her incredible team for providing us with the opportunity to at tend their Fantastic Father’s Event, at Au gusta Lewis Troup School in New Haven. We celebrated and acknowledged some of the wonderful fathers from the New Haven community. We were able to con nect one-on-one with these fathers and their children and witnessed first-hand how much these men love their children. Each father talked a bit about what they are doing for their families, and what they are doing in the community. This is what it’s all about. This is why we do what we do. Of course these fathers were not sent home empty handed. Along with a hardy meal, each family received a chess set, options for chess lessons, information on how to be the best dad you can be, and a copy of Dr. Asbery’s book, My Wife, My Kids, My God.

The Fixing Father’s team would like to also thank Senator Jorge Cabrara for help ing us so that we can help others, Healthy Start of New Haven, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, The Judicial Branch, Reliant Behavioral Health and Community Services, and the Department of Economic Commu nity Development. None of this happens without partnerships.

For more information about Fixing Fathers, Inc. visit us at fixingfathers.org

Home Care Workers Fight Homelessness, Sickness To Implement Contract

by Christine Stuart

They struggled through the pandemic. They fought to win a new contract with the state and months after securing it, they still haven’t received their bonuses which has caused some to get evicted and others to forgo necessary medical treatment.

“We’re existing, but we’re barely sur viving,” Kara O’Dwyer, a home care worker from West Haven said Wednes day.

She said her mother, another home care worker, recently got a cut on her arm and it got infected. She laid in bed for three days instead of seeking medical treatment because she didn’t have health insurance.

Her mother, Carolyn Artes, also of West Haven, eventually went to the emergency room.

“I was lucky it didn’t end up in my bloodstream,” Artes said. “I went just in time.”

But there’s no money to pay for the treat ment she received and every day she was unable to work, she didn’t get paid.

That’s the reality for four home care workers who are on the cusp of homeless ness or a medical crisis.

The union representing them, SEIU 1199, is blaming Democratic Gov. Ned

Lamont’s administration for failing to act saying it has denied 10,000 workers who care for Connecticut’s most fragile residents a health insurance stipend, paid time off, and a promised bonus for hours worked between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2022.

A spokesman for the Office of Policy and Management said they have been clear with the union from the very start about what they would need to do to implement the policy.

“The health insurance premium support, paid time off, and bonuses – require ap proval by the federal Centers for Medi care and Medicaid Services,” Chris Col libee said.

“During union negotiations, the PCA Workforce Council repeatedly stated and made clear in the plain text of our con tract that these benefits are effective upon legislative and CMS approval, which are beyond the control of the Council or state agencies. There was never a commitment to an implementation date,” he added.

He said they are still exploring what opportunities may be available to the home care workers on the state’s health insurance exchange, including open en rollment, and any potential special enroll ment periods, particularly one that might be initiated in response to the anticipated

conclusion of the public health emer gency.

Workers are expected to deliver a peti tion to Lamont’s budget office later today. There are more stories.

Kyanna Ricketts, a home care worker from Hartford, was evicted from her apartment and is now living on her moth er’s couch.

“Had the state of Connecticut imple

mented the paid sick time and paid out the bonus we earned, I would not have been evicted,” Ricketts said.

Isaac Kolonziaa, a live-in, home care worker, said has a rash on his head that he needs to get biopsied, but he keeps having to put off the surgery because he doesn’t have insurance.

“Disappointed,” Kolonziaa said.

He said he had scheduled a surgery for

Oct. 5 because the payment was supposed to come on Oct. 1, but that date has come and gone.

To qualify for the health insurance sti pend, home care workers must show a denial letter from Husky and Covered CT program, and confirm that they have no other access to insurance through another job, a spouse, or a parent. In terms of the lump sum bonus, a home care worker, also known as a personal care assistant, must currently remain active to qualify for the bonus payment.

“Lamont’s inaction will leave thousands of home care personal care attendants without access to health care and without their signing bonus until the state receives approval from the federal government’s Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Ser vices,” the union said in a statement.

The state is also arguing that they have to be serving the same client they had dur ing the April 2021 through March 2022 period spelled out in the contract.

The union argues that’s ridiculous be cause many of these clients go into and out of hospitals and nursing homes and when that happens the home care worker must find a new client in order to continue to get paid. They said having the same cli ent, especially during a pandemic, is a ri diculous bar to meet.

Suzanne Clark and SEIU 1199 home care workers rally at the Capitol

Hillhouse Cheer Alumni Rally The Troops For Game Day

By Lucy Gellman

Sharp, succinct snaps filled the Floyd Little Athletic Center, the noise rising to the rafters and ringing as it ran into the walls. By the bleachers, two dozen pairs of feet hit the floor all at once. A flurry of hands lifted to chests and clapped. Hips unlocked and swayed. The cheers filled the room, full and musical as the sound carried.

Our team is red hot! We’re R-e-d-RedH-o-t-Hot! Once we start we can’t be stopped!

Welcome to the James Hillhouse High School Alumni Cheer Team, back for game day for the first time since 2012. The brainchild of 1995 Hillhouse grad Shante Teel-Williams, the group comprises four decades of Hillhouse cheerleaders, rang ing from 1982 to 2021. Over the past three weeks, the team has met each Monday and Tuesday at the Floyd Little Athletic Center, gathering at their old stomping grounds to learn new cheers.

This year, the group includes nurses, teachers, school administrators, highpowered lawyers, new moms, grandmoth ers, and at least one college student home for break. Together, members will perform this Thursday at the Thanksgiving day football game between Hillhouse and Wil bur Cross High School.

“It was a collective idea,” Teel-Williams said at a practice Tuesday night, taking a moment to answer questions before she jumped back into cheering. “Spirit, unity, support—I think that kind of sums it up. It’s a sisterhood too.”

The idea for the squad was born in the early 2000s, after a Hillhouse grad posted a photo memory to social media, and fel low alumni commented on how much they missed their cheer sisters and fam ily. Around 2005, a group came together to cheer on the school’s football team, and loved the reunion that it provided. In 2012, they gathered to do it again, and found that the group had grown. So when Teel-Williams saw a post on social media again this year, it felt like time.

This fall, the early and mid 1990s have a particularly strong showing. Teel-Wil liams gets it, she said: she adored her time as a cheerleader at Hillhouse. After she graduated, her fierce sense of school spirit followed her to Howard University, and then back to New Haven. She is now a nurse manager at Yale New Haven Health, co-founder of the CT HBCU Alumni Network and secretary for the Southern Connecticut Black Nurses Association. In between cheers, she joked that she rarely sleeps.

“It’s fun, you know, just to be able to come back,” she said. As she moved from one chant to the next, her energy seemed boundless.

Tuesday, alumni spread out beside the bleachers, four decades of Hillhouse his tory between them. Facing out into the center’s wide open space, they extended their arms and swished from side to side.

Arms went up over heads; feet lifted tem porarily off the ground. The house is so-oo bad! The house is so bad!, they cheered in unison.

As sound exploded from the group, a few toddlers ran through the space, staking their claim as future team members.

In the back row, Nakia Dawson-Douglas ran one hand through the air, practicing a move in her head before snapping into ac tion with fellow members of the team. A 1998 graduate of Cooperative Arts & Hu manities High School, Dawson-Douglas joined both cheer and track at Hillhouse to spend time with her friends and cous ins—and fell in love with team sports in the process. Sometimes “I wish I could go back to high school,” she said with a smile.

When she heard about the group from Teel-Williams, who is her cousin, she jumped in. During the day, DawsonDouglas works as a palliative care intake specialist at Smilow Cancer Hospital. At night and around the clock, she’s also the founder and president of Bereavement Care Network Inc. While the first job may end in the afternoon, she said, the second is 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“I deal with death either way,” she said. Activities like the cheer team help her leave the stress of that work for a little while. As she warmed up and jumped into action—Say hey-ey-ey-ey-ey! alumni yelled as they clapped in time with the chant—Sun Queen’s “Black Girls Are Sunshine” logo winked out from the front of her shirt.

“It’s just a blessing to be here,” she said. After two and a half years of the pandem ic—and because she deals with death on a daily basis—Dawson-Douglas said she’s acutely aware of the fact that nothing is promised. This year is particularly mean ingful for her: her daughter India Harrison is a freshman at the school, and a new member of its cheerleading team.

“It’s nice to bring everyone together,” Harrison said after walking the group through Hillhouse’s 2022 version of the “Stomp and Shake.”

The game is not just a moment for the football team, said multiple alumni Tues day: it’s a chance for current and former students alike to show their school pride, and celebrate the ability to gather after the isolation of Covid-19. While the team has included male cheerleaders—the late Chucky Brown remains one of the school’s most celebrated—this year’s con stellation is very much a sisterhood, many alumni said. The words “sisters” and “family” came up, unprompted, in every interview for this story.

Part of that magic is intergenerational pride, including a few mother-daughter duos who will be taking the field togeth er Thursday. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Tiffany Penn was a student at Hill house when she discovered cheerleading, and learned that “the camaraderie that we had” was an integral part of her high school experience. By her sophomore

year, she was the co-captain of the team. She served as captain her junior and se nior year.

Cheerleading helped her excel at Hill house, both on and off the team. In school, she was a student in the school’s Macy’s Prep Program, a now-discontinued ana logue to the AP and honors track. After leaving for North Carolina for several years, she returned to New Haven with a strong love for the city that had raised her. This year, she’s cheering alongside a favorite Hillhouse alumna of hers—her daughter Richlyn, a sophomore studying healthcare management at Howard Uni versity.

“I love it,” Penn said of the alumni team. “Each time, it just grows bigger and big ger. We’re here to show our support for our alma mater.”

For Richlyn, who graduated from Hill house in June 2021, Thursday’s game marks a second chance to show school spirit after a senior year upturned by the pandemic.

Richlyn was a junior when Covid-19 hit New Haven in March 2020, sending class es online and putting practices temporarily on hold. She was that rare student who did well with online learning, she said, but she missed the social interaction of school. When classes remained virtual that fall, the cheer team returned outdoors—but members were masked and socially dis tanced, and they had nothing to practice for, she said. There wasn’t a game in the fall of 2020.

It was a rite of passage she’d looked for ward to for years, taken away in the midst of a public health crisis. Now, she gets a do-over, with dozens of fellow graduates by her side. She’s glad that her mom, who has been her biggest cheerleader for years, is one of them.

“It was kind of sad,” she said of senior Tuesday night. “Seeing this, it’s like I have the opportunity to do it over. So this game is very special.”

Around her, graduates from the 1980s and 1990s jumped from cheer to cheer, in

constant motion. Facing the wall, they be gan to clap in unison, with a chant of Heyey-ey-ey-ey! Go! Go! Go! Go! On each word, one arm punched the air, and then the other. Their fists cut through the still space with precision, in an act that was half-practice, half muscle memory.

Fight - fight - fight - fight - fight - fight!, they bellowed, ankles crossing over each other. At the front of the group, 1992 grad Niyobe Oglesby swung her arms from side to side and snapped her fingers. Rock! Rock! Around the clock! she called, and the response was immediate and thunder ous.

In a black knit beanie and bright pink scarf, 1995 graduate Chereece Smith said that she was glad to be back among old friends—and making some new ones too. While she now works for the state’s paid leave program, she never forgot the thrill of her high school years.

Like Dawson-Douglas, Smith studied dance at Co-Op, but did cheer at Hillhouse as a way to spend time with friends. She continued cheer in college, as a student at Temple University in Philadelphia. She called the decades-spanning team a chance to “relive” the good parts of high school—maybe with fewer death-defying lifts.

“It was amazing,” chimed in Kimberly Daniley, a school administrator in New Haven who graduated in 1996. During the 1990s, Daniley was a student in the Macy’s Program and on Hillhouse’s state championship-winning mock trial team. Her experience at the school pushed her to return to New Haven, and nurture the next generations of educators.

“As alumni, we continue to have school pride,” she said. “It’s nice to come togeth er as sisters.”

Nearby, Greater New Haven NAACP President Dori Dumas showed off a navy blue hoodie that is half of the team’s blue-and-white sweatsuit uniform for Thursday. On the front, each hoodie reads “”Hillhouse Alumni Cheerleader,” with the white outline of a spirit cone. On the back, they include each member’s gradu ation year.

A 1982 graduate of the school, Dumas fondly remembered her time as a cheer leader as “full energy, full excitement,” with flips and cartwheels that she’s now leaving to a younger generation. On the team, she loved a sense of sisterhood that she has since sought out as a member of the Theta Epsilon Omega Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

“When I was a student here, we would pump them up and show out,” she said. “You could feel the energy—it was al ways full of excitement and adrenaline and school spirit.”

Now, she added, “it feels good to be back.” Three weeks ago, she didn’t know any of the cheers that the group is bringing to Thursday’s game. Now, she’s ready to bring each of them to a crowd.

“I think it’s good for everybody,” she said.

Greater New Haven NAACP President Dori Dumas.

The cheer sisterhood in action. Lucy Gellman Photos.

reSET Announces Receipt of $2.225 Million DECD Grant

by Julie Martin Banks

The best of cooks can satisfy the most demanding of palates, but all that talent alone can’t help someone bring her food to the masses through a successful business.

reSET is a Hartford-based nonprofit that has already been helping such budding entrepreneurs through their programs, and hopes to help many more with the help of $2.2 million in funding from the state Department of Economic and Community Development’s grant program to support small businesses. The grant will be over a five-year period.

Through its Food and Retail Incubator programs reSET gives participants help with everything from access to those knowledgeable in those fields to specific help coming up with a business plan and developing an online presence.

“A lot of our entrepreneurs on the food side particularly – they’re great cooks but they don’t necessarily have a food background,” said Sarah Bodley, reSET’s executive director.

Bodley added that said the group’s focus has always been helping fledgling businesses with their financial bottom line but also supporting those trying to make a positive social impact.

Some businesses make food that is friendly for those with allergies or are chemical free. Others strive to highlight their cultures through their food.

The Food Incubator started in 2019, with 62 businesses having graduated. The Retail Incubator started in 2021, Bodley said.

“Small retail businesses have a lot of folks working within that program just

trying to figure out how to access their market more efficiently and begin to think about growth,” Bodley said.

reSET also works to support Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC) and women interested in founding, launching, and scaling food and retail businesses in the Greater Hartford area.

“We are based here in Hartford which is a predominantly minority community and

we really want to make sure we are reaching out and providing these opportunities for folks that live and work in and love Hartford,” Bodley said. “That has always been a real focus.”

The grant funding will help with reSET’s food entrepreneurs through programs including a new “Digital Marketing Mastermind” training curriculum in 2023, Bodley said. There will also be a Food Accelerator and Incubator programs as well as networking events and workshops offered by the Hartford Culinary Collaborative. Over the course of the grant, reSET hopes to target over 425 entrepreneurs.

reSET will partner with Breakfast Lunch & Dinner for its retail program, “Floor–Plan Retail Activation Initiative,” which will include a 12-week Retail Incubator program. There will also be an e-commerce platform and pop-up market events. reSET hopes to target more than 450 entrepreneurs through over the five year grant.

Both the Food Business Support and the Entrepreneurial Retail Business Support programs will include grants to businesses who complete the program, totaling $170,000 over the course of the grant period, according to reSET.

Tong Opens Civil Investigation Into Altice Optimum

by Christine Stuart

Following nearly 500 consumer complaints over a five year period, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is opening up an investigation into Altice Optimum’s Internet service, including slow speeds and hidden fees.

Tong said consumers who contacted his office ran home speed tests and they discovered they were not receiving the 300 Mbps and 400 Mbps speeds. Tong’s office is also investigating a $3.50 “Network Enhancement Fee.”

“Customers have a right to expect the service and internet speed they pay for. Our office has reviewed hundreds of complaints from Optimum cable internet customers regarding slow speeds, hidden fees, and poor customer support,” Tong said. “Our investigation seeks comprehensive records dating back to January 2017 to determine exactly what Altice Optimum knew and what they were doing to deliver the internet speeds and service they promised. If our investigation finds that Optimum violated Connecticut law, we will not hesitate to hold them accountable.”

Altice says it shares the state’s goal of ensuring residents and businesses receive “high-quality service and have a positive customer experience.”

“That is why Altice has been investing across Connecticut, building and deploying a 100% Optimum Fiber broadband

John P. Thomas Publisher / CEO

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

Advertising/Sales Team

Keith Jackson Delores Alleyne John Thomas, III

Editorial Team

Staff Writers

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

Contributing Writers

David Asbery / Tanisha Asbery

Jerry Craft / Cartoons / Barbara Fair

Dr. Tamiko Jackson-McArthur

Michelle Turner / Smita Shrestha

William Spivey / Kam Williams Rev. Samuel T. Ross-Lee

Contributors At-Large

Program, which provides free high-speed internet service. We are proud to serve our Connecticut communities and will cooperate with state officials to provide relevant information,” a company spokesman said in an emailed statement.

The civil investigative demand sent Monday to Altice Optimum seeks detailed records of consumer complaints dating back to January 2017. The civil investigative demand further seeks records of how Altice Optimum marketed its internet speeds, any analysis or records regarding the speed and quality of internet they ultimately delivered, records showing Altice Optimum’s knowledge of various factors impacting the speed and quality of their internet service, records showing how Altice Optimum invested revenue from their “Network Enhancement Fee,” among other demands.

“Customers deserve the services they pay for, and these allegations indicate Altice Optimum has failed to deliver on its word for half a decade,” Sen. Norm Needleman, D-Essex, and co-chair of the Energy & Technology Committee. “As the internet has become a vital part of everyday life, households relying on these services for employment, education and entertainment can experience significant harm if they lack reliable internet service.

Christine Stuart

www.CTNewsJunkie.com Paul Bass www.newhavenindependent.org

Memberships

National Association of Black Journalist National Newspapers Publishers Association

Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce

Greater New Haven Business & Professional Greater New England Minority Supplier Development Council, Inc.

network that provides reliable infrastructure and symmetrical internet services to our communities and customers. Connecticut was one of the first areas where

we launched multi-gigabit speeds earlier this year to meet the ever-growing broadband needs of our customers, and we also participate in the Affordable Connectivity

If Altice Optimum contributed to that harm, they should face the consequences. I look forward to the findings of the Attorney General’s investigation.”

The Inner-City Newspaper is published weekly by Penfield Communications, Inc. from offices located at 50 Fitch Street, 2nd Floor, New Haven, CT 06515. 203-387-0354 phone; 203-3872684 fax. Subscriptions:$260 per year (does not include sales tax for the in State subscriptions). Send name, address, zip code with payment. Postmaster, send address changes to 50 Fitch Street, New Haven, CT 06515. Display ad deadline Friday prior to insertion date at 5:00pm Advertisers are responsible for checking ads for error in publication. Penfield Communications, Inc d.b.a., “The Inner-City Newspaper” , shall not be liable for failure to publish an ad or for typographical errors or errors in publication, except to the extent of the cost of the space in which actual error appeared in the first insertion. The Publisher reserves the right to refuse advertising for any reason and to alter advertising copy or graphics deemed unacceptable for publication. The entire contents of The Inner-City Newspaper are copyright 2012, Penfield Communications, Inc. and no portion may be reproduced by any means without the written permission of the publisher.

GlenDaja Woodard of Daja Goodies Credit: Contributed photo

Attorney General William Tong Credit: Hugh McQuaid / CTNewsJunkie

Daum Tapped As State Development Chief

by THOMAS BREEN and PAUL BASS

Gov. Ned Lamont turned to a New Havener from within the ranks of his administration to shepherd Connecti cut’s economic development for the next four years.

That newly promoted New Havener is Alexandra Daum, a local landlord and current deputy state economic develop ment official.

At a Wednesday afternoon press confer ence at the Hotel Marcel at 500 Sargent Dr., Lamont who is barely one week out from reelection to a new four-year term as governor announced that Daum will serve as the next commissioner of the state Department of Economic and Com munity Development (DECD).

She’ll replace current DECD Commis sioner David Lehman, who plans to step down from his post at the end of this year.

Daum currently serves as deputy com missioner and chief investment officer for DECD. A former senior development manager at NHR Group, in recent years Daum has grown her own local real estate business, Field Properties, by buying, fix ing up, and flipping rental properties.

Daum, who lives in East Rock, also serves as a member of the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA), a post she has not yet decided whether or not to contin ue holding.

“Alexandra’s worked hand in hand with David over the last three plus years,”

Lamont said. “She has a strong private sector background, a Harvard education, but don’t hold that against her. She’s been on both sides of the desks when it comes to these negotiations.”

The setting for the event itself served as a reminder of some of the projects that

Daum has worked on during her three years as DECD deputy. Hotel Marcel, a new net-zero hotel in the old longvacant Armstrong building, is one such state-assisted development to open up re cently.

Lamont praised Daum as being “right on the front line” of negotiations that led to other key local and state development projects, like the new 10-story biotower at 101 College St. And he praised her “en trepreneurial background” as represent ing “the future” of this state.

Lehman described Wednesday as a “bit tersweet day” for him. He praised Lamont for his commitment to “vibrant and inclu sive” economic growth. And he described Daum as “a tireless worker” who cur rently oversees “our most important in vestment programs,” such as brownfield remediation programs and the community investment program.

“With Alexandra at the helm, I believe the people of Connecticut are getting an incredibly smart, tenacious, effective, and devoted public servant,” Lehman said.

“We have a lot of good things going,” Daum said about assuming the top role at DECD. “I’m not going to rock the boat.”

With six weeks to go before she offi cialy takes on the role of commissioner, she said, “I’m very confident we’re going to have a smooth transition.”

Daum said that one of the roles she’s most eager to take on as top state econom ic development official is “chief salesper son for the state of Connecticut.”

“We spend a lot of time selling the state to developers” to try to convince them to in vest in Connecticut, she said. Same goes for trying to convince businesses to “set up shop” in the state.

“Like any good salesperson, it really helps a lot if you really believe in what you’re selling,” Daum said. “I’m really well equipped to be the chief salesperson for the state, because I could not believe more in Connecticut.”

Daum said she is not sure yet if she’ll be stepping down from her role on the city’s BZA: “I’m talking to the mayor about it.” She said she continues to own investment properties in New Haven but has shrunk her portfolio since taking on the state job.

andrew carnduff ritchie lecture: a conversation with hilton als

Tuesday, December 6, 2022, 5:30 pm

Yale Center for British Art Lecture Hall 1080 Chapel Street, New Haven, Connecticut Free and open to the public | Seating is limited

This program is jointly sponsored by the Yale Center for British Art and the Yale University Art Gallery.

On view at the YCBA through January 22, 2023 : The Hilton Als Series: Njideka Akunyili Crosby

Njideka Akunyili Crosby, “The Beautyful Ones” Series #4, 2015, private collection © Njideka Akunyili Crosby, courtesy of the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner

Hilton Als joins Martina Droth, Deputy Director and Chief Curator, to discuss the exhibitions he curated in collaboration with the Yale Center for British Art

PAUL BASS PHOTO

Newly tapped next state economic development Commissioner Alexandra Daum with Gov. Ned Lamont at Thursday's announcement at Hotel Marcel.

She said she wants current state DECD programs to “keep going” and yield all of the positive results that they can.

Relief, Frustration Follow Cops’ Arrests

by NORA GRACE-FLOOD

Richard “Randy” Cox heralded the ar rests of the five New Haven police of ficers who left him permanently para lyzed a step towards justice while the 36-year-old New Havener’s family and legal team slammed state prosecutors for not bringing heavier charges against those same cops.

Those were the takeaways of a Tuesday afternoon press conference held outside City Hall. The presser took place one day after state police arrested New Haven Po lice Sgt. Betsy Segui and Officers Oscar Diaz, Ronald Pressley, Luis Rivera, and Jocelyn Lavandier for their roles in a June 19 incident that left Cox severely injured while in police custody.

While Cox’s family members and law yers read on Tuesday from a letter writ ten by Cox, who is still paralyzed from the chest down, they also criticized state prosecutors for charging those officers with misdemeanors and not felonies. They stressed that Cox is now facing $20 mil lion in life-long medical bills after his life sentence as a quadriplegic.

“These charges were a slap in the face,” Cox’s sister Latoya Boomer stated to the crowd of reporters and community mem bers who attended the conference Tues day. She argued that if one of her children were to get seriously hurt under her watch and she didn’t take them to the hospital, just as the cops involved in Cox’s incident did not wait for an ambulance to come to his aid after he reported having hit his head in a police van following a sudden stop by a speeding police officer, “I would be arrested on the spot.”

Boomer also read during Tuesday’s press conference from a letter written by her paralyzed brother. That letter from Cox said that he is “glad to see the system working” in response to the five cops’ ar rests. “It’s only an arrest but it’s a start,” Cox wrote and Boomer read. “It’s a nice start to getting justice.”

Read more about Monday’s outcome of the state cops’ months long investigation here, which resulted in each cop charged with one misdemeanor count of seconddegree reckless endangerment and one misdemeanor count of “cruelty to per sons.”

During Tuesday’s press conference, Boomer and Cox’s mother Doreen Cole man spoke out about what caring for Cox has and will look like for his family and friends down the line.

They joined nationally prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump in arguing that the cops accountable for Cox’s condition should have faced more severe criminal charges and they pushed back against the Elicker administration’s response to a $100 million civil lawsuit filed by Cox that claims governmental immunity and that points to Cox’s “contributory negli gence.” Read more about that legal back and forth here.

Attorney Lou Rubano, who is one of the lead lawyers in Cox’s $100 million civil lawsuit in federal court, said that Cox was discharged from his bed in Gaylord Hospital after the discovery that he would never walk again. He was discharged due to the capacity of the facility and the in ability of Cox’s family to afford such steep medical expenses.

Cox is now staying at Apple Rehab in West Haven, where he is the only para lyzed individual. His family says the reha bilitation center does not have the equip ment or tools to adequately care for Cox, who needs to be turned over in bed every three hours.

“He should be getting the best care possible,” Rubano said on Tuesday, not ing that without proper medical attention Cox’s condition could quickly worsen and arguing that Cox needs 24-hour care. He also shared that a life care expert who flew into Connecticut last week to assess Cox’s condition said that it would likely cost at least $20 million over the course of Cox’s lifetime to adequately cover his medical needs.

“It’s hard for me to say this because I know Randy’s listening, but if he doesn’t get care, his life expectancy is compro mised. It is severely compromised,” Crump said.

Cox’s sister Latoya Boomer and moth er Doreen Coleman said that they spend virtually all of their time outside of work

hours with Cox. Coleman stated that she she “catch[es] the bus from one side of town to another,” which takes about an hour each day, to bring Cox regular meals and make sure he doesn’t have to wait for nurses to come by his room so he can get a sip of water.

In Cox’s case, officers denied the 36-yearold proper medical care after arresting Cox on weapons charges without incident at a Lilac Street block party on June 19. En route to the police station, the driver of a prisoner conveyance van slammed on the brakes to avoid crashing into another vehicle at the intersection of Division and Mansfield Streets. That abrupt stop sent Cox flying head first into the wall of the van, injuring his neck and spine. The driver of the van later called for medical help but, instead of asking for an ambu lance to come to the scene, the driver pro ceeded to take Cox to the detention center at 1 Union Ave. There, rather than wait ing for a medical crew to attend to Cox’s crumpled and paralyzed body, officers at the police lock-up accused Cox of lying, demanded he stand up, pulled him out of the van, placed him in a wheelchair, then dragged him across the floor into a cell. The case has sparked national outrage.

Crump said on Tuesday that he believed the officers arrested for Cox’s injuries should have been charged with felonies, such as assault in the first degree.

He said that it is common for the state to

reach out to affected family members for consultation concerning charges linked to comparatively tragic incidents. For example, Crump said that the day before Tuesday’s presser, he had been present in Buffalo, New York, “where the Black people got killed in the supermarket” in May. There, he learned that state prosecu tors, for example, had reached out to fam ily members of the individuals murdered at that scene to talk about the charges facing the mass shooter who has since pled guilty.

“They could’ve reached out to us,” he said of the state.

Crump also urged the city to retract state ments made in a recent lawsuit rebuttal that Cox had contributed to his own paral ysis: “I challenge anybody to look at that video,” he said, referencing body camera footage of the officers dragging Cox’s limp body across the police department floor into a cell, “and say what Randy did to cause this.”

Local attorney R.J. Weber, another lead lawyer on the $100 million civil lawsuit, urged members of the public to show up for the criminal court dates for each offi cer (all five are expected to appear at the state courthouse on Elm Street on Dec. 8).

He said his legal team is specifically look ing out for applications from the officers for accelerated rehabilitation, a program that could result in the dismissal of all charges based on a variety of conditions,

one of which would be that “what hap pened to Randy Cox was not a crime of a serious nature.”

He said first and foremost he and Cox’s other representatives are focused on “eliminating the opportunity for these of ficers to have their crimes ultimately dis missed.”

Mayor Justin Elicker then responded to Cox’s family and legal team. He said that the city is simply following due process by filing a rebuttal to Cox’s lawsuit and pur suing an internal investigation into how the officers should be disciplined now that the state investigation has concluded.

In the meantime, he said, the city has upgraded its transportation policies and department-wide training on “active by standership” and deescalation in hopes of avoiding a similar future incident.

Asked whether he agrees with the claims made in the city’s court filing that Cox’s own “negligence” contributed to his ulti mate paralysis, Elicker said that “I repre sent the city and the lawyers advised us that this is an appropriate legal filing.”

Crump once again stood up to speak af ter Elicker, contesting his claims concern ing the inevitably lengthy process of legal consultations. “The insurance companies need to be instructed to tender their poli cies,” he said. Turning directly to Elicker he said, “If you want something to be done, it gets done… you have it within your capacity.”

Earlier on Tuesday, city police union President Florencio Cotto sent the follow ing comment about the five New Haven officers’ arrests:

“All five police officers involved in the incident in which Mr. Randy Cox was injured were arrested yesterday at Troop F in Westbrook, Connecticut. All of the officers turned themselves into authorities and were released on a court set bond of $25,000.00. All five officers will be ar raigned at the G.A. court in New Haven on December 8th.

“These arrests are only one part of the processes these officers will face. The in ternal investigation phase is next, and the Police Union will be intimately involved in that portion of the case. The Civil Court case is ongoing and the Union, just like the Criminal Cases, plays a support role as the officer’s legal representation is either provided by the City or by private coun sel. This case, as a whole, is a continuing tragedy for all involved. Mr. Cox, the City, the Police Department and the Officers in volved all are dealing with the life chang ing events of June 19th. The Union will continue to support the officers during this ordeal. Guilt, innocence, liability or cul pability will be determined later. For now, due process and the protections it pro vides, must be honored so that this case is handled in the most prudent, proper and professional manner possible.

“The Union will make no further com ments at this time as the internal cases are active and underway.”

Cox's mother Doreen Coleman with Crump.

1 Month In, Crisis Team Has Responded To 60 Calls So Far

by ALLAN APPEL

New Haven’s new COMPASS team of social workers and “peer recovery spe cialists” has responded to 60 calls so far in its nascent effort to provide nonpolice help for people in crisis and the city should know by this spring just how successful this intervention initiative has been.

Jack Tebes and John Labiniec offered those updates Monday night during the latest regular monthly meeting of the East Rock Community Management Team. They presented on the latest with COM PASS, or Compassionate Allies Serv ing our Streets, a city-run program that launched on Nov. 1 that sends social workers and people who know addiction and mental health struggles first-hand out to certain 911 calls related to homeless ness, mental health, or substance abuse.

The two COMPASS team leaders spoke about how the city likely won’t know un til the spring just how well the recently launched effort is working.

That’s because success will be defined not only by whether the team gets some one suffering from a mental health or addiction crisis to an emergency service doorway, but, as importantly, if and how longer-term services are effectively pro vided, and if they stick. And that takes longer evaluation time.

That was the hopeful if sobering report

that COMPASS Program Director (and Yale Psychiatry Professor) Jak Tebes and services director (and Continuum of Care Vice President) John Labieniec provided Monday night to two dozen management team participants gathered both in-person at mActivity gym on Nicoll Street and on line via Zoom.

Tebes said Monday night’s presenta

tion was the first edition of taking the COMPASS presentation on the road to all the city’s management teams and other venues both to inform and also to recruit participants in the program’s important community advisory board.

The COMPASS (Compassionate Al lies Serving Our Streets) program is the fruit of two years of community planning

and coordination among city service pro viders following mass protests sparked by the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

It is in a pilot phase that features one team in action responding to calls eight hours a day; 911 dispatchers do not call them at first, but wait for a referral from a cop or firefighter on scene.

The plan is to expand the program to de ploy a second and hopefully a third team next year, said Tebes, with around-theclock shifts, and to have the teams called out directly when police or firefighters aren’t needed or aren’t the responders best trained for a mental-health, addic tion, eviction, or homeless crisis. Click here for a story about how the team responded to a mental health crisis occa sioned by an eviction earlier this month.

In a press conference after the first week, the city reported 23 incidents had been re sponded to. On Monday night, Tebes said that by close to the month’s end the team has already logged 60 interventions.

Other cities where COMPASS-type pro grams have been implemented report that the social work and peer recovery teams are successfully handling upwards of 10 percent of calls that previously might have been answered by police services.

Among the many types of calls responded to thus far in New Haven, Labieniec of fered on Monday night as general exam ples and scenarios: “suicides, depressed folks needing someone to talk to, but not the police, intoxication calls, outreach to the homeless, and helping when a child is being removed from home.”

Labieniec said he has been working with Continuum of Care for 20 years and he finds the COMPASS program one of the most exciting and promising initia Con’t on page 08

Apartments-Above-Arts-Shop Plan Pitched

by NORA GRACE-FLOOD

The vacant second floor above a Chapel Street arts supply shop may soon become an empty canvas for developers and rent ers to fill as a plan to convert the space into five new apartments advances.

That plan has been proposed by local architect Fernando Pastor and his firm, SEEDnh. Pastor’s taking the lead on converting the second-floor commercial space atop Artists and Craftsman Supply at 813 Chapel St. into five new apart ments. The building is owned by an affili ate of Pike International.

On Tuesday night, the Board of Zon ing Appeals (BZA) heard an application by landlord-hired attorney Ben Trachten seeking a special exception to allow 0 offstreet parking spaces where five are re quired and 0 loading spaces where one is required for the creation of five new apartments in that second-floor down town space on Chapel between Church and Orange Streets.

The BZA referred the requested zon ing relief to the City Plan Commission, which in turn gave a recommendation of approval during its own meeting on Wednesday. night.

Tracten said during Tuesday’s BZA

meeting that because the arts store takes up the entire lot on which it is situated, “there’s simply no way to accommo date parking and loading” for planned new apartments.

According to the zoning books, five park ing spots and one loading space are man dated for the residential conversion. But, Trachten argued, the site’s proximity to bus routes and transit lines like the State Street train station as well as nearby park ing lots should exempt the project from parking requirements.

The project was then heard by the City Plan Commission on Wednesday.

“It’s a busy commercial district,” Com missioner Adam Marchand said on Wednesday. “It’s worth noting that the residential density in the area is about to be increased,” he added. He was referring to a now under-construction plan to build 166 apartments across 848, 842, and 812 Chapel St.

“But given the track record of this com mission in terms of how it views dense residential development downtown, we’ve generally been supportive,” he reflected. “Given that it’s downtown and given our track record, I’m comfortably advising ‘yes.’”

City Plan Commission Chair Leslie

Radcliffe agreed. “We’re talking five units, we’re talking downtown… there’s plenty of public transportation and there’s also parking in the neighborhood,” she reasoned.

The commission ultimately put forward a unanimous favorable recommendation.

The BZA will discuss and vote on wheth er to grant the developer parking relief at its next meeting. Trachten and Pastor will then return to the City Plan Commission to seek standard site plan approval.

Once all the necessary approvals are granted, the conversion and any re

lated construction are expected to take six months.

In the zoning relief application, Trachten details the scope of the planned commer cial-to-residential conversion, as well as the site’s history of similar such requests.

“The relief requested in this application is for the sole purpose of converting the sec ond floor from vacant commercial space to 5 residential apartments,” Trachten wrote. “This property has an extensive zoning and site plan history going back to 2013. The applicant previously ob tained approval for 8 residential units on the second and third floors. Prior to the expiration of all approvals, the applicant constructed the third floor as 4 residential apartments but did not convert the sec ond floor. The Board of Zoning Appeals has previously granted greater relief than the relief requested herein for parking, specifically to allow zero parking spaces where 8 were required. Due to a change in the zoning ordinance over the years, the required parking load has decreased from 1 space per unit to 1/2 space per unit, making the requested relief less intense than what has previously been granted. As to the loading space relief, there is no space on site to accommodate a loading space.”

NORA GRACE-FLOOD PHOTO

Five new apartments coming to Artist & Craftsman upstairs?

PAUL BASS PHOTO COMPASS crew members Yichu Xu and Nanette Campbell help out Ollie Cooper at crisis team's launch on Nov. 1.

New Haven Independent

How Michelle Obama Balances Menopause, Fitness & Body Positivity

by Jasmine Smith, BlackDoctor.org

Menopause is something that all women will experience, typically between the ages of 45 to 55. Unfortunately, when this time comes for many women, they find that information is sparse. This is some thing former First Lady Michelle Obama found to be true during her own journey with menopause.

In fact, when she was 50, she found her self trying to learn as much as she could in preparation for the inevitable.

“I want to know what I’m getting into,” Obama told PEOPLE at the time. “My mom is like, ‘Menopause? Yeah, I think I went through it.’ She doesn’t remember anything.”

Eight years later, the information is still sparse.

“There’s a lot we don’t know,” Obama, 58, says in an interview previewing her upcoming new book “The Light We Car ry“.

Fortunately, she found comfort in her group of friends who are also experienc ing menopause.

“There is not a lot of conversation about menopause. I’m going through it, and I know all of my friends are going through it. And the information is sparse,” she shares.

The good news is the same girlfriends, who used to gather together for regular fitness “boot camps” when she was in the White House have given her more than just moral support, PEOPLE notes.

“I find that when we get together and we’re moving and we’re laughing, then we spend a little time talking about what we’re going through. ‘What’s a hot flash?’ We have girlfriends around the table who

are OBGYNs, who have real information. All of that keeps us lifted up,” she says.

The 58-year-old also opened up about the symptoms she begin experiencing, which include hot flashes (also known as vasomotor symptoms) and weight gain.

On “The Michelle Obama Podcast”, which airs on Spotify, she opened up about her decision to use hormone replacement therapy under her doctor’s guidance. Hor mone replacement therapy helps restore hormone levels in the body, is effective at treating menopause symptoms and can significantly improve women’s quality of life, according to Healthline.

“I’ve had to work with hormones, and that’s new information that we’re learn ing. Before there were studies that said that hormones were bad. That’s all we heard. Now we’re finding out research is showing that those studies weren’t

fully complete and that there are benefits to hormone replacement therapy,” she shares. “You’re trying to sort through the information and the studies and the misin formation. So I’m right there.”

Obama, who earned the name “drill master” for her fitness boot camps still ex ercises regularly, which may be why she hasn’t experienced any significant weight gain that typically accompanies meno pause. However, she admits that some of her workouts have changed.

“Some of it is menopause, some of it is aging,” she says. “I find that I cannot push myself as hard as I used to. That doesn’t work out for me. That when I tear a muscle or pull something and then I’m out. The recovery time is not the same.”

Today, her fitness routine focuses on flexibility, less cardio, and more stretch ing. “You wind up balancing between staying fit enough and being kind enough on your body to stay in the game,” she adds.

The author also finds it helpful to be mindful, but not obsessive about her weight.

“I never used to weigh myself. I’m not trying to stick to numbers, but when you’re in menopause, you have this slow creep that you just don’t realize. We’re all in menopause with stretchy [waist] bands and our athleisure wear on, and you look up and you can’t fit the outfits you had last year. I have to be more mindful, not obsessive, but more mindful,” she shares.

Obama is looking on the positive side: she’s been spared any major mood swings and she’s “blessed” to be healthy.

“I think my skin still feels healthy. My hair is still in my head. These are the things that I have to count my blessings

for,” she says. “I am still physically ac tive, and my goal now, instead of having ‘Michelle Obama arms,’ I just want to keep moving.”

Instead of trying to compete with oth ers, she’s focused on being the healthiest version of herself that she can be. “If I can walk and move, I don’t have to run. I don’t have to beat everyone,” Obama tells PEOPLE. “I’ve had to change the way I see myself in my health space.”

Menopause and hormone replacement therapy

During menopause the body ramps down the production of the hormones estrogen and progesterone resulting in a decline in these hormones. While you are going through menopause, you may ex perience symptoms like hot flashes, mood swings, reduced sex drive, cognitive is sues, and problems sleeping.

Hormone replacement therapy can help replace the estrogen —and in some cases progesterone — that the body stops pro ducing after menopause and even im prove some of your menopause-related symptoms.

Hormone replacement therapy can be administered through pills, injections, skin patches, and creams.

However, hormone replacement therapy can have side effects including: weight gain, acne, fatigue, mood swings, head aches, bloating, cramping, or spotting.

These side effects typically subside once the body has had time to adjust, however, it is still wise to weigh the pros and cons with your doctor. He or she can help you develop an individualized treatment plan that consists of the dose, type, and dura tion of your treatment.

Meet the 21-Year Old Black Genius Who Created Key Algorithms Used by Uber, Instagram, and Snapchat

BlackBusiness.com

Iddris Sandu is only 21-years old, but he has quite a few major accomplishments in the field of technology. He has created his own software development firm, devel oped key algorithms for tech giants Ins tagram, Snapchat, and Uber, worked with the likes of Kanye West and Jaden Smith, and has even been recognized by former U.S. President Barack Obama!

A very early start

Born in Accra, Ghana, Iddris’ parents migrated to the United States when he was 3. He started learning how to do pro gramming on his own at the age of 10. At age 13, he got his first working experi ence at Google where he worked on many programming projects.

Within his two years at Google, Iddris designed an app for his classmates to help them navigate their classrooms easily. He was just 15 years old at that time! His app, which was used by his high school

in California, has earned him a meeting with then-President Obama at the White House where he received the Presidential Scholar Award.

However, Iddris decided not to go to college. His reason, besides not being able to afford it, is that he didn’t want to “wait four years; I wanted to make an impact now,” he told CNN. And that’s ex actly what he did.

After first developing key algorithms for Instagram and Snapchat, Iddris was 18-years old when he started working for Uber, where he created the software called Autonomous Collision Detection Interface to detect driver’s hand motions and positions for their self-driving cars.

Tech meets hip-hop

Last year, Iddris met rapper Nipsey Hussle at a local Starbucks and they im mediately turned the chance encounter into a collaboration. In just three weeks, the pair transformed an abandoned store front in Los Angeles into The Marathon

Store which sells clothing, accessories, and music. Through its companion app, referred to as the “smart store,” custom ers can also download exclusive music and digital content.

The store, which highlighted Iddris’ tech excellence and Nipsey’s cultural in fluence, has caught the attention of sev eral celebrities and icons such as Russell

Westbrook, Vegas Jones of Roc Nation, Diddy, Jay-Z, among others.

Most recently, Iddris has partnered with Kanye West and Jaden Smith to create augmented-reality experiences involving music, clothing lines, disaster relief proj ects, and others for the tech festival Com plexCon next year in Chicago.

Going back to his roots

Definitely, a bright future awaits Iddris and he wants to share it to others as well.

Next year, he is set to visit Lagos, Nigeria to host student workshops where he wants to teach African kids to build platforms as he himself believes in the Black excel lence.

“The next tech leaders are going to come from Africa. Why? Because they are exposed to problems which they have the solutions to,” he said.

For more information about Iddris San du and his work, visit www.iddrissandu. com or follow him on Instagram @iddris sandu

tives he’s worked on.

To a very attentive and supportive East Rock audience he described other sce narios that have occurred or most likely will: “We can be helpful with persons talking to themselves, those who want the police to step away. We’ve also been able to take people out of the woods and get them to services and the police and fire have been very supportive. We have a van and we’ve transported people to the soup kitchen, to the shelter, to a program.” What the team cannot do, he added, is admit someone to a hospital without con sent.

“We are also following cases with peo ple who fall between the cracks. We’re effective with those folks and with work ing with family members, for example, to help them navigate a system with rela tives who have a child with mental ill ness.”

When an East Rocker asked whether the management team will receive a kind of monthly incident report, of the kind that the police district managers gen erally provide to the CMT, Tebes and Labieniec’s answer was complicated, because the cases and the programs are, well, complicated.

“We’ve had 60 crisis responses,” said Labieniec, “but we don’t know yet ex actly what’s happened to them. There’s been a 24-hour follow-up, but we need to do a 30-day follow up, and that’s going to be very useful. We won’t have the 30-day follow-up until February.”

That 30-day follow-up will tell the pro gram directors not only if the immediate crisis has been addressed, but as impor tantly, “Did people get the services need ed? Were there barriers? We have already many complex cases requiring follow-up and we’re doing that piece. That’s impor tant data to show it’s working.”

“Then we want to go back to the service providers,” added Tebes, “’Here is what we are learning about the service, or how it doesn’t stick.’ And then [the service providers] start to do things to deal with or alter what they do, and then there is another report on what they do. So there is a kind of staging and building a better system.”

And that’s why, Tebes concluded, COMPASS’s hoped-for success can’t be determined immediately, because the is sue is not just responding to people in the moment of crisis but improving the pro vision and coordination over time of lon ger-term care and solutions that “stick.”

Developing a community advisory board, which will see the results right after they are presented to the mayor and the alders –and then the public – is also critical to evaluating the success of COMPASS, Tebes added.

“We will present findings, to come in stages, and you should expect something in the spring.”

What Must Be Done with White Reconstruction OUR VOICES

offices that can change voting results and select Electoral College delegates when they don’t like voter’s choices.

By Dr. John E. Warren

While many are watching 47 out of the 50 States propose and enact Voter Suppression Laws, the question becomes one of what can we as individuals do to counter such attacks against us?

First, we must acknowledge the real agenda of those hiding behind the Republican Party’s control of state legislatures, embracing Donald Trump’s lie that the election was stolen.

The reality is that conservative white republicans are engaged in attempts to recreate the conditions that existed by 1901 when all Black elected officials were removed from office at both the national and state level. This was the result of the deal made with the South to have no national interference with State’s Rights. The result was there were no Blacks elected to Congress between 1901 (John Roy Lynch from Mississippi) and 1928 (Oscar De Priest from Chicago).

Today in 2022, it is the Republican Party (GOP), under the out-of-office leadership of Donald Trump, that is using voter suppression laws in 47 states and the soon-tobe redistricting of congressional districts under the 2020 Census, as required by the U.S. Constitution every ten years, that will seek to usher in a modern day “Reconstruction.”

This modern-day reconstruction will once again have limited voting by people of color and election officials in state

With state courts and the U.S. Supreme Court stacked with judges appointed by a Republican Senate, clearly the stage has been set for court decisions that will further solidify the suppression of civil rights decisions at all levels.

Unlike one hundred years ago, we know what’s coming and what we can do to stop such actions. We know that from the increase in hate crimes and racism, much of it fueled by the actions of our former President, that racism on the part of conservative and right-wing whites is fear of the “browning” of America.

This “browning” exists in an America in which Whites are a minority among other ethnic groups such as Blacks, Latinos and Asians. Blacks, Whites and all people of color who believe in our democratic form of government for what it does mean under a Constitution that guarantees human and civil rights, must come together to help each other.

We can do this by registering to vote, selecting and funding people to run for office against the Republican “Reconstruction” program described here. We must replicate the state of Georgia’s experience in both voter turnout and election of the right people at all levels of government. We must not lose sight of the real plan behind voter suppression and the Republican Party. Let’s call the Republican Party’s agenda for what it is, The New Reconstruction 2022, and let’s get busy dealing with it at all levels.

Dr. John E. Warren is publisher of The San Diego Voice and Viewpoint.

Study Reveals Crisis in New Recruit Police Training Across America

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

A comprehensive new report asserted that American authorities have tradition ally trained police officers on the cheap, noting that more than 71% of agencies devote less than 5% of their total budget to recruit training.

Issued by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), the report found that nearly half of the agencies responding to the survey agreed that spending on recruit training had increased over the past five years.

However, that was before police bud gets faced the dual challenges of cuts related to the COVID-19 pandemic and calls to “defund” the police.

The 84-page exposition noted that in vestments in training could be stalled or reduced at the very time they need to in crease to bring about changes required in American policing.

Researchers found that in many juris dictions, “the goal seems to be moving as many recruits as possible through acad emy training as fast as possible and at the lowest possible cost.”

They argued that this approach had been driven partly by the desire to quickly get more officers on the street – a challenge that became particularly acute as officer hirings declined and retirements and res ignations increased because of the CO VID-19 pandemic and as homicides and other violent crimes surged.

“Besides recruiting and hiring, there is perhaps no activity that is more crucial to the success of police departments and sheriffs’ offices than how they train re cruits,” researchers wrote.

“Recruit training is where new officers acquire the basic knowledge and skills to do their jobs. It’s where they learn the right way to do things and have an oppor

tunity to make mistakes and learn from them, without the serious consequences of making those mistakes in the field.”

They continued:

“It is where new officers acquire the foundation of technical know-how that will stay with them throughout their ca reers. But recruit training is about more than just technical instruction.

“Recruit training is where prospective officers are introduced to the concept of public safety and public service. The training academy is where police agen cies can articulate their philosophy and vision and begin to instill their core val ues.

“Finally, recruit training is where agen cies build and reinforce their culture through the next group of frontline em ployees.”

While policing has changed in many respects throughout the years, officers struggle with challenges on several fronts, including dealing with individuals in crisis.

The report contended that, far too of ten, police recruits are trained as warriors, not as guardians and partners intended for civil communities.

To effect change, new officers should receive new and adequate instruction sensitive to the communities they serve, researchers wrote.

“The current state of recruit training demands that we rethink – and remake –the system for how new police officers is trained,” the researchers argued.

“We need national consensus and na tional standards on what the training con tains, how it is delivered, and by whom.

“This report may present a grim pic ture of the current state of recruit training,

but it also puts forth a series of principles that can help guide the transformation of training to meet the challenges of policing for today and tomorrow.”

Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the PERF, said one could ascertain much about a police training academy from the moment an individual walks in the door and encounter a group of recruits.

“If the recruits immediately back up against the nearest wall, look straight ahead, and bark out in unison, ‘Good morning, ma’am!” or “Good afternoon, sir!” you pretty much know the culture and operating philosophy of that acad emy,” Wexler stated.

“If, on the other hand, the recruits pause, look you in the eye, and offer a more con versational, “Good morning, sir” or “How are you today, ma’am,” that tells you something else.

“Academies have traditionally followed a paramilitary, boot camp-like model that emphasizes discipline, deportment, following orders, and a strict hierarchy where recruits are often on the lowest rung.

Wexler continued:

“Discipline and following the chain of command are certainly important and necessary aspects of police training and operations. But when those elements be come so pervasive that they overshadow almost everything else, it can undermine the academy’s mission, which is to pre pare new police officers to serve and pro tect their communities with compassion and humanity.”

Researchers concluded the report by noting that American policing needs to re-imagine and retool recruit training.

They recommended that officials re think how academies are operated and staffed, what the recruit curriculum con tains, and how the training is delivered and by whom.

They also suggested authorities rethink how to use reality-based scenario training more broadly and effectively and how re cruit training integrates with field training once recruits leave the academy.

“Re-imagining policing begins with tackling how police officers are taught. This report is a blueprint for fundamen tally rethinking the current way we train new police officers – for dismantling the existing model and building a new ap proach,” Wexler asserted.

“The goals are ambitious and far-reach ing. But we hope that if police agencies can attract those who possess the ‘right stuff,’ we can provide them with the kind of training that will take us into the future guided by a new way of thinking.”

Navigating ‘unprecedented times’: Carver Bank’s CEO advises how to cope with the Fed’s climbing interest rates

Special to The Inner-City News By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, Report for America Corps Member

With inflation and interest rates at an all time high, one thing is clear for Carver Federal Savings Bank CEO and President Michael Pugh, we are living in unprec edented times.

Throughout 2022, the Federal Reserve (Fed) has raised interest rates six times in an effort to curb record-high inflation that has continued to plague families and businesses across the nation since the CO VID-19 pandemic.

The most recent hike of 75 basis points took the interest rate to the 3.75 to 4 per cent range in November. A year ago, it was .25 percent.

Pugh said the rise will most significantly impact homeownership and small busi nesses, especially for Black and Brown communities.

“If you consider the fact that the way

wealth is typically accumulated in this country, it’s done through equity and that equity often happens through homeowner ship or growing a small business and being able to build it to something that is sustain able, scalable and having an impact over generations,” said Pugh. “For many small businesses and entrepreneurs, it’s not un common that they use their own personal credit to help fund their business, particu larly within Black and Brown communi ties.”

Because interest rates make homeown ership less affordable and present signifi cant challenges to financing business op erations, Pugh thinks the racial wealth gap will be compounded.

The U.S. government rolled out several relief programs to assist families during COVID-19, artificially inflating the coun try’s economy, and now, the Fed is at tempting to curtail a recession by combat ing inflation with higher interest rates.

Pugh, however, said the recession has already started for some communities.

For consumers, Pugh emphasized the importance of having and sticking to a budget during this time. Budgets provide a compass, helping consumers make finan cial decisions and differentiate their wants versus their needs, which is critical when disposable income is at a low.

He also recommended that consumers, as well as small businesses, seek credit before they need it, rather than waiting until they are in financial distress. If they delay ap plying for loans for too long, it may be too late to recover.

While first-time home buyers and small businesses commonly choose their banks based on access and convenience, Pugh said it’s also important for them to con sider building relationships with Commu nity Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs).

“CDFIs have been established by the

trepreneurs to identify their CDFIs within their local neighborhoods and start to le verage them for information and resources to help their businesses grow.”

Carver Federal Savings Bank, headquar tered in Harlem, N.Y. and founded in 1948, is one of the largest African-American-op erated financial institutions in the country, and it’s also a CDFI. Over the past few years, it has provided more than 15,000 people with financial tools to grow busi nesses and prepare for homeownership.

In Maryland, CDFIs, like Baltimore Community Lending and FSC First, pro vide comparable services.

As for the fate of the Fed’s interest rate, Pugh said it wouldn’t surprise him if there was another hike before the end of the year.

“I think we’re all a little bit white-knuck led hoping that the economy is leveling off so that we don’t continue to have the rate hikes, but if it happens, it certainly wouldn’t be a shocker,” said Pugh.

United States Treasury to be advocates and supporters for small businesses, entrepre neurs and underserved communities across our country,” said Pugh. “What I would encourage, and what I’ve continued to encourage is for small businesses and en

Lee Rubin, MD

Your joint replacement calls for the greatest of care.

If you’ve been putting off joint replacement surgery, it’s time to stop living with pain and start feeling like yourself again. At Yale New Haven Hospital, our renowned orthopedic surgery specialists offer a comprehensive range of joint replacement techniques, including minimally invasive surgery that uses tiny incisions to help protect soft tissues and ligaments from damage and accelerate your recovery with less pain. Because Yale New Haven Hospital is committed to treating you with the greatest of care.

Find your Orthopedic Specialist today: 888-700-6543

African American Enrollment at Highly Ranked American Universities Increasing

By: Jennifer Magdalene

The number of black men and women accepted at top U.S. universities has in creased last year compared to 2020 ac cording to the annual survey of The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (JBHE). It should be noted that progress has been substantial in the past decades. In 2021, 18 high-ranked universities have first year classes that were more than 10% black. The uptake of African Americans stems primarily from the desire of higher educational institutions to increase di versity on their campuses. Black student enrollment at the nation’s top universities and colleges is also an important indicator that educational equality in the country is moving in the right direction.

What Motivates Black Men and Women to Pursue Postsecondary Education

The U.S. Department of Education fig ures indicate that the number of African Americans pursuing a college education has increased significantly in the last 50 years. According to the dissertation of Crawford of Rutgers, education is viewed as a ‘catalyst for positive change’ in view of its benefits to the individuals and communities. Duster also confirms that it opens doors from employment to economic control. DuBois, in his work,

‘The Education of Black People,’ cred its higher education in the production of character that would produce educated in dividuals to help develop the community. However, even though African Ameri

cans are motivated to pursue higher edu cation, there are many barriers that they have to overcome. One such barrier is the teachers’ perception of student abilities. For example, instructors have lower ex

pectations for black students, according to findings by MSU. Introverted students may also not be appreciated versus those who are outgoing and sociable. However, an introverted personality is linked to a higher academic achievement compared to an extroverted personality. Introverted students may be reserved, but they are deep thinkers and therefore, introverts excel in higher education. However, a student’s decision to continue with educa tion is dependent, too, on social support in addition to financial ability.

Areas for Improvement

This year’s data revealed that six uni versities saw an increase of over 40% in black first-year enrollment, while Carn egie Mellon University nearly doubled its

acceptance of African American students. It should also be noted that overall enroll ments were down at most schools for the 2020-2021 academic year. Due to the pan demic, many students took out a gap year. On the other hand, Notre Dame reported that the increase of first-year enrollments among blacks increased because of active efforts in recruitment and expansion of financial assistance. So yes, these factors can increase the participation of African Americans at highly ranked universities and colleges in the nation.

Positive educational experiences can also influence the decision to pursue high er education and aim to get into the top schools. It’s very important that students have positive relationships with teachers and feel secure in their environment.

Black Panther Costume in New Exhibit

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

A new exhibition debuting next spring at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) will celebrate Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther hero costume.

“Afrofuturism: A History of Black Fu tures,” opens on March 24, 2023, and fea tures the late actor’s iconic gear.

Black Panther counts as the first super hero of African descent to appear in main stream American comics, and the film is the first major cinematic production on the character.

“Investigating Afrofuturist expression through art, music, activism and more, this exhibition explores and reveals Afrofutur ism’s historic and poignant engagement with African American history and popu lar culture,” Smithsonian officials wrote in a news release.

“From the enslaved looking to the cos mos for freedom to popular sci-fi stories inspiring Black astronauts, to the musical influence of Sun Ra, OutKast, P-Funk and more, this exhibition covers the broad and impactful spectrum of Afrofuturism.”

Through the 4,300-square-foot tempo rary exhibition, visitors will view a vari ety of objects from Afrofuturism pioneers, including Octavia Butler’s typewriter,

The exhibition also utilizes select objects to elevate stories that speak to Black liber ation and social equality, such as Trayvon Martin’s flight suit from Experience Avia tion, and his childhood dream of being an astronaut.

“Trayvon Martin’s flight suit tells the story of a dream of space flight ended tragically by earthbound violence,” said Kevin Young, the Andrew W. Mellon Di rector of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

“We are honored to tell more of Tray von’s story, exploring his love of flight and mechanics and his fondness for sci ence and technology. Afrofuturism charts the joy of a rich, imagined future, often in the face of injustice.”

Since its opening in 2016, NMAAHC has supported conversations, collections and initiatives surrounding Afrofuturism.

“Afrofuturism: A History of Black Fu tures” will be on view in the museum’s Bank of America Special Exhibitions Gal lery from March 24, 2023, through March 2024.

For more details about the new exhibi tion and to sign up for additional updates, visit the museum’s Afrofuturism website.

HISD Superintendent Herbert O’Neil is Alpha’s Founders Day Speaker GOP Insanity Enough is Enough

Smithsonian African American Museum Honors Chadwick Boseman’s

Nichelle Nichols’ Star Trek uniform as the character Lt. Nyoto Uhura and Nona Hen dryx’s spacesuit-inspired costume worn while performing with LaBelle.

March Against Fear: When ‘Black Power’ Became Mainstream

By Tamara Shiloh

It was June 5, 1966.

James Howard Meredith (born 1933), on a mission to encourage Black voter registration and defy entrenched racism in the South, set out on a solitary walk from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi.

On the second day of his journey, Aubrey Norvell, a white gunman, waited on a roadside a few miles south of Hernando, Mississippi. He ambushed Meredith, shooting him in the neck, head, and back.

Within 24 hours, the nation’s three principal civil rights organizations vowed to continue the march: the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Congress of Racial Equality, and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Success of the event could not be predicted. Leaders were aware that last-minute planning of a march could be dangerous, and the route chosen was not without uncertainty. The three-week march led to death threats, arrests, and the use of tear gas. Internal tensions surrounding leadership swelled and use of the slogan “Black Power” became a revolutionary phrase urging self-determination and Black pride.

The Deacons for Defense and Justice, a group of Black veterans from World War

II who believed in armed self-defense, provided protection for participants. Founded in Jonesboro, La., in 1964, The Deacons for Defense had already protected civil rights activists from the Ku Klux Klan. About 20 chapters were created throughout Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

The march ended on June 22, 1966. Meredith, sufficiently recovered, had been able to rejoin the event. Participants supporting Meredith along the way joined in, making the total number of marchers arriving in Jackson about 15,000. The March Against Fear was one of the largest marches in history for that geographical area. It was during the post-march rally

that Stokely Carmichael first used the phrase “we want Black Power” during a public speech.

Carmichael sought to define the quest for Black Power in constructive terms, explaining to supporters in Detroit that “Black votes created Black Power…That doesn’t mean that we are anti-white. We are just developing Black pride.”

Meredith had become well known when he successfully challenged the Kennedy administration to protect his civil rights. His application for admission to the University of Mississippi, dubbed Ole Miss, had been twice denied. With backing from the NAACP, he filed suit for racial discrimination.

After heavy negotiations with U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy, Meredith was permitted to enroll at Ole Miss but only under escort of federal troops. He graduated in 1963 with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

What began as a solitary peaceful protest for voter registration became one of the South’s most important demonstrations of the civil rights movement. Leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Carmichael formed unlikely alliances that resulted in the Black Power movement. This ushered in a new era in the fight for equality.

Understand the complex issues of fear, injustice, and the challenges of change in Anne Bausum’s “The March Against Fear: The Last Great Walk of the Civil Rights Movement and the Emergence of Black Power.”

The post March Against Fear: When ‘Black Power’ Became Mainstream first appeared on Post News Group. This article originally appeared in Post News Group.

New York Film Festival that Centers the Black Experience turns 30

By Lenore T. Adkins, Special to The Inner-City News

The African Diaspora International Film Festival will celebrate its 30th anniversa ry in New York City in style — with its largest film festival ever.

The film festival, running November 25 through December 11, boasts 89 docu mentary and fiction films from 44 differ ent countries on seven silver screens. Di arah N’daw-Spech, who is Afro French, founded the festival with her Afro-Cuban husband, Reinaldo Barroso Spech, to challenge stereotypes about Black people. They do this by scouring film festivals, trade shows and submissions for socially relevant films that illuminate Black peo ple’s richness, diversity, and human expe rience. The couple prefer films that aren’t commercially available and tell stories that are difficult to find elsewhere.

“We are really a festival of discovery,” N’daw-Spech said. “Thirty years ago, those films did not have a lot of visibility and now 30 years later, there’s still a lot of discovery.”

Over the course of 30 years, the festi val has become even richer by includ ing stories about other people of color, including indigenous stories from places like Samoa. The film festival started in New York City, and through the years, the couple added several other cities includ ing Chicago, Paris, and Washington, D.C. for annual film festivals.

The couple widened the festival’s reach this year by partnering with various New York organizations to screen seven films across the city — for free. These com munity screenings boost access to people who didn’t know about the festival or wouldn’t have been able to attend other wise. These partnerships mean screenings will commence at: Cinema Village, the Schomburg Center, the Baruch Perform ing Arts Center at Baruch College and the Boys & Girls Club of Harlem. Paid screenings will take place at Columbia University’s Teacher’s College, Thalia

Village and Cinema Village.

Prices per movie range from free to $30, depending on the screening or event. This festival marks the first one the couple has held since the pandemic that will be in person, without an online component.

“It’s really something different when people are together, when there’s an ex change of ideas,” N’daw-Spech said of the decision to hold the festival in person.

Masks are recommended at all venues.

Proof of vaccination will be required at Columbia University’s Teacher’s College and Baruch College.

The 44 countries represented include: Algeria, Cuba, Germany, Guadeloupe, France, New Zealand, South Africa, Peru, Senegal, the United Kingdom, and Zam bia.

But if you can’t make it to the film festi val for all of its 17 days, here are six films

N’daw-Spech says you shouldn’t miss.

As far as I can walk (2021) is a fic tional story about a young couple from Ghana who flee to Serbia in search of a better life. While he adjusts to life there, learns the language and becomes a suc cessful soccer player, she opts to leave the country and try her luck elsewhere, leav ing him to decide whether to continue his success or chase after her. The film earned the top prize at the Karlovy Vary Interna tional Film Festival, as well as dozens of awards elsewhere. N’daw-Spech said, calling it an interesting and provocative work. “It’s really timely as well because it deals with the issue of immigration,” she said. “It shows the story of people who are refugees from their perspective.”

Set in 1962 in Mali soon after the coun try earns its independence from France, Dancing the Twist in Bamako (2021) is

a fictional story following a woman stuck in an arranged marriage who falls in love with a socialist. This happens against the backdrop of rock and roll music from the West wafting into Mali’s capital city and encouraging the youth learn the twist.

“The story of this young man who is so enthusiastic because Mali just got inde pendence and so he believes in the revo lution and the society that’s going to be open for all and where there’s going to be progress,” she said. “(But) everything unravels, both the revolution and the love story.”

In Executive Order (2022), an authori tarian government in a dystopian, future Brazil signs an executive order that sends all citizens of African descent to Africa to repay debts from slavery. But the order creates chaos, protests, and launches an underground resistance that spreads all

over the country. The movie is a literal representation of the phrase, “Go back to Africa,” a common, racist phrase nonBlacks level at Black people, regardless of where they’re born, to suggest Black people don’t belong in a particular coun try. “This time they mean it actually,” N’daw-Spech said of the fictional govern ment. “Can you imagine you have three generations who don’t know the language and they want to ship you away? That’s really crazy.”

Get Out Alive (2021) is an autobio graphical musical about depression from Nikki Lynette, a Chicago artist and ac tivist. In it, the multi-talented performer raises awareness about depression in Black women and how to survive it. “She uses her art to show how she went through depression and came out of it, so it’s also very inspirational,” N’daw-Spech says.

Byron Hurt, the filmmaker behind the documentary Hazing (2022), investigates the dangerous practice on American col lege campuses by interviewing the loved ones of people who died from and sur vived hazing. It dives into the psychologi cal impact of people who haze and those who are being hazed, why the tradition still persists and how racism can infiltrate the process. “Some folks are not happy he made that film because (Hurt’s) putting it out for everyone to see, some things that are sacred,” N’daw-Spech said.

The Woodstock of House (2021) is a documentary about the birth of House music on the South Side of Chicago and how it morphed from disco music that, by the 1970s, mainstream America had de monized for being too Black, too Latin, and too gay. Several Chicago-based DJs created and popularized the genre now known as House music The film also highlights the annual Chosen Few Pic nic & Festival. The House music festival takes place in July and draws more than 40,000 House heads to Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side. “It’s very informa tive, very entertaining,” N’daw-Spech said of the film.

Founder of Black-Owned Natural Beauty Brand Expands, Opens First New Distribution Center in Delaware

Nationwide — Jocelyne Firmin, found er and CEO of Kiyamel, a Black-owned company that creates natural bath and body products for babies and adults, has opened its first new distribution center in Dagsboro, Delaware. The distribution center officially opened in July, and the company has since also hired new staff members to assist with business profi ciency.

With this new distribution center, Ki yamel will be able to expand its opera tions, creating more opportunities for the company to conduct big business with retail stores in the upcoming months. Ki yamel’s distribution center stands as the headquarters for the company’s many natural products including oils, body

butters, and soaps. The distribution cen ter also features a new storefront, Ecze ma Store. Kiyamel celebrated the grand opening of the storefront with customers and the community.

“The opening of this distribution center is huge for Kiyamel. With the distribu tion center, we now have the capacity to increase our rates of production. We will be able to expand our distribution to meet our growing demand and we will even be able to fulfill retail store orders throughout the country,” said Firmin.

About Jocelyne Firmin says that Kiyamel started as a first-time mother’s quest to find an all-natural solution to skin sen

sitivities that she and her child were fac ing. The company was founded in Mary land in January 2021 before it moved to Millsboro, Delaware. Kiyamel creates safe and healthy plant-based products that are effective for children and parents with skin sensitivities. Kiyamel products are clinically tested and accepted by the National Eczema Association. With the new distribution center in Dagsboro, Kiyamel plans to continue to produce high-quality natural products for babies and parents.

For more information about Kiyamel, visit Kiyamel.com To keep up with the latest updates from Kiyamel, follow their Instagram at

Joceylne Firmin, founder of Kiyamel

NOTICE

State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting for a GIS Coordinator (Associate Research Analyst) & a Policy Development Coordinator

Building Maintainer

$25.37 hourly (40 hrs weekly)

THE GLENDOWER GROUP, INC.

Request for Proposals

Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and application instructions are available at:

https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/sup/ bulpreview.asp?R1=221102&R2=6856AR&R3=001 and

https://www.jobapscloud.com/CT/sup/ bulpreview.asp?R1=221103&R2=1581MP&R3=001

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

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

NOTICIA

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

Public Health

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

Senior Sanitarian: Seeking a responsible individual to oversee the inspection and enforcement of public and environmental health statutes, codes and regulations. Requires a Bachelor’s degree in environmental health, biology, public health or closely related field plus 2 years’ experience in regulatory environmental public health. Must possess State of CT certifications in Food Service Inspection, Subsurface Sewage Phase I & II, and a valid CT Drivers’ license. Salary: $84,586 to $108,221 annually plus an excellent fringe benefits package. A complete job announcement and application may be downloaded from the Department of Human Resources Web Page and can be mailed to the Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492, or emailed to: wlfdhr@wallingfordct.gov by the closing date of December 23, 2022. Phone: (203) 2942080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

Pursuant to Teamsters Collective Bargaining Unit This position has a 9-step hourly range ($25.37 to $28.54) Pre-employment drug testing. For more details, visit our website – www.bloomfieldct.org

Consultant with Project Rental Assistance Contract (PRAC) Experience for the Redevelopment of 34 Level Street

The Glendower Group, Inc. is currently seeking proposals for a consultant with PRAC experience for the redevelopment of 34 Level Street. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Glendower’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway

beginning on Monday, November 21, 2022 at 3:00PM.

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport (HACB) d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is seeking proposals from developers and owners of New Construction, substantial rehabilitation projects, or existing units that desire to enter into an Agreement for a Housing Assistance Payment (AHAP) Contract for Project Base Vouchers (PBVs) for Contract Units under PCC’s Project Based Voucher Program. Under this Request for Proposals, PCC will make available PBVs for units that will house extremely low and very low income households. A complete set of RFP documents can be obtained on October 24, 2022, by emailing your request to bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicitation number and title on the subject line. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunities.org. Proposals shall be mailed, or hand delivered to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Director of Procurement,150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604. This RFP will remain Open until Completion of PBV.

Request

Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at 3:00PM.

Finance Director

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

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

The Housing Authority of the City of Norwalk, CT. is currently seeking bids from qualified electrical companies for Electrical Service Lateral Replacement at Leroy Downs Apartments, 26 Monroe Street, Norwalk, CT 06854 Copies of bidding documents including plans & specifications can be purchased starting 11/30/2022 from Technical Reproductions Inc., 326 Main Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06851 from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday. Bid proposal are due at 2:00 PM on 12/20/2022

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

The Norwalk Housing Authority is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Adam D. Bovilsky, Executive Director

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the

PCC will make available PBVs for units that will house extremely low and very low income households. A complete set of RFP documents can be obtained on October 24, 2022, by emailing your request to bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicitation number and title on the subject line. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunities.org. Proposals shall be mailed, or hand delivered to Ms. Caroline Sanchez, Director of Procurement,150 Highland Ave, Bridgeport, CT 06604. This RFP will remain Open until Completion of PBV.

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Construction

NOTICE

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits

Contact: Tom Dunay Phone: 860- 243-2300

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, operator and teamster trades for a heavy outside work statewide. Reliable personal transportation and a valid drivers license required. To apply please call (860) 6211720 or send resume to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

LEGAL NOTICE Request for Proposals (RFP) for Services

The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management, is seeking proposals to provide certain services related to a Community Engage ment Training Program.

Email: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

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

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

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

0

PVC FENCE PRODUCTION

The intent of the request is to identify individuals or firms with the neces sary expertise to provide administration of the Community Engagement Training Program within a stated timeframe.

The RFP is available online at: https://portal.ct.gov/DAS/CTSource/ BidBoard and https://portal.ct.gov/OPM/Root/RFP/Request-ForProposals or from Emily Burnett, Office of Policy and Management, Criminal Justice Policy and Planning Division, 450 Capitol Ave., MS#52C JP, Hartford, Connecticut 06106-1379. E-mail: Emily.Burnett@ct.gov Telephone (860) 418-6365. Deadline for response submission is 5:00 P.M., December 1, 2022.

NOTICIA

Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300

Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Large CT Fence Company looking for an individual for our PVC Fence Production Shop. Experience preferred but will train the right person. Must be familiar with carpentry hand & power tools and be able to read a CAD drawing and tape measure. Use of CNC Router machine a plus but not required, will train the right person. This is an in-shop production position. Duties include building fence panels, posts, gates and more. Must have a valid CT driver’s license & be able to obtain a Drivers Medical Card. Must be able to pass a physical and drug test. Please email resume to pboucher@atlasoutdoor.com. AA/EOE-MF

Commercial Driver CLASS A

Union Company seeks:

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

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

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

Email: dana.briere@garrityasphalt.com

Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer

Construction

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

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

Immediate opening for a Class A full time driver for petroleum/like products deliveries for nights and weekends. Previous experience required. Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437 or email: hrdept@eastriverenergy.com

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

Project Engineer

job opening available for a growing / established Heavy Highway Construction Contractor based out of Avon, CT. Tasks include takeoffs, CAD drafting, computations, surveying, office engineering, submittals, other miscellaneous engineering tasks. Competitive compensation package based on experience. Many opportunities for growth for the right individual. We are an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Please email your resume to Dawn@rothacontracting.com.

State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management

The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting for a Business Intelligence (BI) Program Manager (Information Technology Manager 1).

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castin-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

LAROSA GROUPS IS GROWING

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

Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and application instructions for this position are available at: https://www.jobapscloud.com/ CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1= 221110&R2=1561MP&R3=001

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

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Project documents available via ftp link below: http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage

earth

etc.

and have knowledge of required daily equipment maintenance. CDL preferred.

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

Construction Laborers:

Laborers needed for immediate start for winter work for local site work company. Responsible for movement of earth materials, cleaning and removal of job site debris. Must be able to lift, carry and use hand tools.

For all positions listed above please fax resume to 203-630-1998, email to HR@LaRosaBG.com or apply in person at LaRosa Earth Group, 163 Research Parkway, Meriden, CT. AA/EOE.

Human Resources Assistant

NOTICE

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport Invitation for Bid (IFB)

PT Barnum Windows Replacement Solicitation Number: 226-MD-22-S

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon request by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

The Town of Wallingford is seeking a highly motivated individual to perform a variety of confidential human resources support activities. Requires a H.S. diploma or equivalent and 3 years’ responsible office experience that includes performing human resources work. $23.68 to $28.36 hourly plus an excellent fringe benefits package. Applications may be obtained at the Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Forms will be mailed upon request from the Department of Human Resources or may be downloaded from the Department of Human Resources Web Page or emailed to: wlfdhr@wallingfordct.gov by the closing date of December 9, 2022. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084.

EOE

NOTICIA

State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management

The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting for a Business Intelligence (BI) Program Manager (Information Technology Manager 1).

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is requesting sealed bids for Windows Replacement at PT Barnum Apartments. Solicitation package will be available on November 14, 2022. To obtain a copy of the solicitation you must send your request to bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicitation number and title on the subject line. A pre-bid conference will be held at 96 Bird Street, Bridgeport, CT 06605 on December 1, 2022 @ 11:00 a.m. Attendance is mandatory, submitting a bid for the project without attending conference will be REJECTED. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@ parkcitycommunities.org no later than December 8, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org. Seal bids will be received until December 20, 2022 @ 2:00 p.m. at which time the bids will be publicly opened and read aloud.

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

360 MANAGEMENT GROUP, CO. Invitation for Bids

Agency Wide Roofing Repairs/Replacement

360 Management Group, Co. is currently seeking bids for agency wide roofing repairs/replacement. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from 360 Management Group’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

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

Monday, October 24, 2022 at 3:00PM.

Commercial Driver CLASS B

Further information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and application instructions for this position are available at: https://www.jobapscloud.com/ CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1= 221110&R2=1561MP&R3=001

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

EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIAN (EMT)

The Town of Wallingford is accepting applications for EMT. Must possess a H.S. diploma or G.E.D., plus one (1) year of recent experience as an EMT. Must be 18 years old and be a Connecticut or National Registry Certified EMT with CPR Certification and a valid State of Connecticut motor vehicle operator’s license. Starting wage $632.56 (weekly), plus an excellent fringe benefits package. Apply: Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Forms will be mailed upon request from the Department of Human Resources or may be downloaded from the Department of Human Resources Web Page. Phone (203) 294-2080. The closing date will be the date of the 50th application or resume is received or November 28, 2022, whichever occurs first.

HAVEN 242-258 Fairmont Ave 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 level , 1BA All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 highways, near bus stop & shopping center Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258

Full Time Class B driver for a fast paced petroleum company for days and weekends. Previous experience required. Competitive wage, 401(k) and benefits. Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437 or email HRDept@eastriverenergy.com

State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at its office at 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

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

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

and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

The Housing Authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to reduce the scope of the project to reflect available funding, and to waive any informalities in the bidding, if such actions are in the best interest of the

1425 Honeyspot Rd. Ext. Stratford, CT 06615

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport Invitation for Bid (IFB)

PT Barnum Roofs Replacement Solicitation Number: 225-MD-22-S

The Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport d/b/a Park City Communities (PCC) is requesting sealed bids for Roofs Replacement at PT Barnum Apartments. Solicitation package will be available on November 14, 2022. To obtain a copy of the solicitation you must send your request to bids@parkcitycommunities.org, please reference solicitation number and title on the subject line. A prebid conference will be held at 96 Bird Street, Bridgeport, CT 06605 on December 1, 2022 @ 10:00 a.m. Attendance is mandatory, submitting a bid for the project without attending conference will be REJECTED. Additional questions should be emailed only to bids@parkcitycommunities.org no later than December 8, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. Answers to all the questions will be posted on PCC’s Website: www.parkcitycommunities.org. Seal bids will be received until December 19, 2022 @ 2:00 p.m. at which time the bids will be publicly opened and read aloud.

Study Reveals ‘Crisis’ in New Recruit Police Training Across America

by NNPA

A comprehensive new report asserted that American authorities have tradition ally trained police officers on the cheap, noting that more than 71% of agencies devote less than 5% of their total budget to recruit training.

Issued by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), the report found that nearly half of the agencies responding to the survey agreed that spending on recruit training had increased over the past five years.

However, that was before police bud gets faced the dual challenges of cuts related to the COVID-19 pandemic and calls to “defund” the police.

The 84-page exposition noted that in vestments in training could be stalled or reduced at the very time they need to in crease to bring about changes required in American policing.

Researchers found that in many jurisdic tions, “the goal seems to be moving as many recruits as possible through acad emy training as fast as possible and at the lowest possible cost.”

They argued that this approach had been driven partly by the desire to quickly get more officers on the street – a challenge that became particularly acute as officer hirings declined and retirements and res ignations increased because of the CO VID-19 pandemic and as homicides and other violent crimes surged.

“Besides recruiting and hiring, there is perhaps no activity that is more crucial to the success of police departments and sheriffs’ offices than how they train re cruits,” researchers wrote.

“Recruit training is where new officers acquire the basic knowledge and skills to do their jobs. It’s where they learn the

right way to do things and have an oppor tunity to make mistakes and learn from them, without the serious consequences of making those mistakes in the field.” They continued:

“It is where new officers acquire the foundation of technical know-how that will stay with them throughout their ca reers. But recruit training is about more than just technical instruction.

“Recruit training is where prospective officers are introduced to the concept of public safety and public service. The training academy is where police agen cies can articulate their philosophy and vision and begin to instill their core val ues.

“Finally, recruit training is where agen cies build and reinforce their culture through the next group of frontline em ployees.”

While policing has changed in many respects throughout the years, officers struggle with challenges on several fronts, including dealing with individuals in crisis.

The report contended that, far too of ten, police recruits are trained as warriors, not as guardians and partners intended for civil communities.

To effect change, new officers should receive new and adequate instruction sensitive to the communities they serve, researchers wrote.

“The current state of recruit training demands that we rethink – and remake –the system for how new police officers is trained,” the researchers argued.

“We need national consensus and na tional standards on what the training con tains, how it is delivered, and by whom. “This report may present a grim picture

of the current state of recruit training, but it also puts forth a series of principles that can help guide the transformation of training to meet the challenges of policing for today and tomorrow.”

Chuck Wexler, the executive director of the PERF, said one could ascertain much about a police training academy from the moment an individual walks in the door and encounter a group of recruits.

“If the recruits immediately back up against the nearest wall, look straight ahead, and bark out in unison, ‘Good morning, ma’am!” or “Good afternoon, sir!” you pretty much know the culture and operating philosophy of that acad emy,” Wexler stated.

“If, on the other hand, the recruits pause, look you in the eye, and offer a more con versational, “Good morning, sir” or “How are you today, ma’am,” that tells you

something else.

“Academies have traditionally followed a paramilitary, boot camp-like model that emphasizes discipline, deportment, following orders, and a strict hierarchy where recruits are often on the lowest rung.

Wexler continued: “Discipline and following the chain of command are certainly important and necessary aspects of police training and operations. But when those elements be come so pervasive that they overshadow almost everything else, it can undermine the academy’s mission, which is to pre pare new police officers to serve and pro tect their communities with compassion and humanity.”

Researchers concluded the report by noting that American policing needs to re-imagine and retool recruit training. They recommended that officials rethink how academies are operated and staffed, what the recruit curriculum contains, and how the training is delivered and by whom.

They also suggested authorities rethink how to use reality-based scenario training more broadly and effectively and how re cruit training integrates with field training once recruits leave the academy.

“Re-imagining policing begins with tackling how police officers are taught. This report is a blueprint for fundamen tally rethinking the current way we train new police officers – for dismantling the existing model and building a new ap proach,” Wexler asserted.

“The goals are ambitious and far-reach ing. But we hope that if police agencies can attract those who possess the ‘right stuff,’ we can provide them with the kind of training that will take us into the future guided by a new way of thinking.”

Founders of Yellow Banana

Three African American entrepreneurs Michael Nance, Ademola Adewale-Sa dik, and Walker Brumskin — who met while attending Yale Law School are now the founders of Yellow Banana, a Cleve land, Ohio-based retail firm that owns and operates 38 Black-owned grocery stores with annual revenues in excess of $130 million. Most recently, Chicago’s City Council’s Finance Committee has granted them a $13.5 million subsidy to buy and transform six more grocery stores.

Having only started just a year ago in 2021, their company has become very successful very quickly with more than 400 store employees and grocery stores located across the Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Jacksonville, and Dallas met ropolitan areas. Even more impressive is their core mission which is to deliver essential nutrition to working families in underserved communities at affordable prices.

All of their stores are independent Save A Lot franchises, and Yellow Banana is proud to be Save A Lot’s third-largest re tail partner across the country. The major

ity of their stores are located in food des erts, that is, in census tracts with limited access to affordable, quality food. The trio commented, “We recognize the

impact that the non-availability of nutri tion has on individuals, families, and communities... In addition to our daily work, we are also committed to donat

ing a percentage of our annual profits to non-profit organizations that address food equity issues in the United States.”

All three of them earned a law degree from Yale Law School. However, Walker and Ademola have also earned MBAs from Harvard Business School. In run ning their company, they are also joined by Joseph Canfield, a seasoned operator and also one of the co-founders of 127 Wall, their venture capital firm.

The $13.5 million investment that they will be receiving from Mayor Lightfoot and the City of Chicago will be used to purchase the underlying real estate for six new locations in the South and West sides of Chicago. The funds will also be used to complete full internal and external re models, including new flooring, lighting, HVAC, dairy and meat cases, interior and exterior painting, new décor, and signage.

Learn more about their grocery stories at Yellow-Banana.com or their venture capi tal firm at One27Wall.com

Ellington

Jazz

Series

Coleman

| 7:30 p.m. | Morse Recital Hall A performance by “one of the most fluent and inventive tenor saxophonists around” (The Observer, London), an artist whose career has featured collaborations with Betty Carter, Miles Davis, Lionel Hampton, B.B. King, and Max Roach. Tickets from $23, Students $10 | music-tickets.yale.edu

Put

your heart to work. A job with the State of Connecticut is a way to put your compassion into action. We have open roles in healthcare and direct support, with great benefits and opportunities to grow your career. If you’ve got the heart for it, join us. Apply today at ct.gov/ctstatejobs

when

ends. Subscriptions required to access all other streaming services. Viewing will count against any X nity data plan. © 2022 WarnerMedia Direct, LLC. All Rights Reserved. HBO Max™ is used under license. © 2022 Comcast. All rights reserved. NPA243803 0002 NED AA Black Friday V10