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My Time with the Bod Squad THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

Heart Savers:

by LARY BLOOM

New Haven Independent

It was to be my final morning at the old brownstone at the corner of Sherman Avenue and Chapel Street.

The building I had driven to every Monday, Wednesday and Friday over a three-month period is where hearts are invigorated, pounds are shed, turnip recipes distributed, where people who’ve recently been petrified learn to laugh about life again.

This past Friday, the exercise space on third floor was filled to capacity — five of us heart patients working hard on our bodies, breathing heavily but happy to be breathing at all.

The location itself provides spiritual uplift. The tall ceilings, “cathedral” in the authentic sense, marked the upper limits of the Plymouth Congregational Church, built in 1831.

Much later the edifice was sold to a Jewish congregation, Keser Israel, and lately has been, literally, at the heart of YaleNew Haven’s cardiac post-op recovery program.

Of the patients going through the hourlong physical workout, I had been through the least invasive of the surgeries.

Fellow patients, having suffered full-on heart attacks, could tell more terrifying tales of their time under the knife.

One told us that when she awoke from the heavy anesthesia, she looked with astonishment at the recovery room wall and, in her first moment of consciousness and relief, could see right through the plaster to the world beyond. It’s that kind of experience.

I, on the other hand, had gone through a “minimally invasive procedure.”

In July, I had become one of the legions of men and women in Greater New Ha-

ven and far-flung places who have trusted the YNHH team with this 21st Century advancement, referred to by the acronym, TAVR (for Transcatheter aortic valve replacement).

In my case, surgeons drove the new valve, with cells from a cow, through my groin and up an artery all the way to my faulty aortic mechanism. In short, a lifesaving adventure.

Now I was finishing the second half of that adventure. It had been both a difficult and enlightening one. Difficult because the bar and stakes were high.

The group that supervised us included a physical therapist, Skyler Ocetnik, who was part of a local team of athletes

who won this fall’s Mid-Atlantic CrossFit Championship in Baltimore and will compete next month in Miami for a $25,000 first prize.

I feared he might have little sympathy for a fellow of modest physical capacities, as I had checked my resume and found no listing of CrossFit triumphs. Of course, it’s true that three decades ago I ran the 10-mile Guilford road race and was quite pleased with myself until, in the final stretch, a group of walkers passed me.

I know at this point you’re wondering what makes the Yale Rehabilitation/Occupational building different than a typical gym.

Well, for one, there is close attention

from an expert team of registered nurses – including Jana, Sierra and Jenn – who measure each patient’s vital signs during the sessions.

The nutritionist, Nowen, asks patients to make lists of everything (even the secret 10 p.m. Cheetos) they eat over several days, and is gentle in her admonishments.

She wouldn’t think of blurting out, “You blithering idiot. If you don’t stop gorging on saturated fat, sugar and sodium this very day, you’ll fall into a coma a week from next Tuesday!”

Instead, she makes quiet suggestions for a more balanced and yet satisfying way to consider what we put in our mouths, dishing out recipes that seem influenced by the Mediterranean diet. (Although missing the broiled turkey testicles I once tried in Jerusalem. How could I not? It would have been like passing on the pickle soup in New Britain’s “Little Poland.”)

As for Skyler and the team of nurses, they jack up the physical challenge over time, and constantly remark, “You can do it.”

And you can do these aerobic machines and resistance training (mostly weights) while the sound system plays, by request from the patients, the Beatles, Carole King, the Stones, Dylan, Johnny Cash, and the Grateful Dead. We pedaled to the beat, grateful that we were not yet dead.

On that Friday, I was the only one set to “graduate” from the program, requiring in all 36 sessions. The others were still in their initial weeks.

It just so happened, too, that this was the final day for Skyler, too. This CrossFit champ had accepted a position in private industry, and would begin the following Monday, without so much as a day off between gigs.

In our final moments together, I told him of my own plan. I said, “I just rejoined the

gym I belonged to before the pandemic, mActivity, in East Rock. But, Skyler, tell me, is it enough to just join, or do I actually have to go there?”

He thought about it for a minute, consulted with the nurses, and reported that it was the general consensus of the group that going to gym would be more helpful to the soul and the flesh than plunking down on the sofa and watching dismal cable news.

Every session, we received handout sheets of bullet points about heart health, including recipes and an anatomy chart.

These pages didn’t read much like bodice-ripping novels, but are useful.

One of them was on stress reduction.

Seizing on this one day as I was going nowhere fast on the treadmill, Jana and I had the idea the training could be expanded to feature the message, “Don’t Take the Bait,” counsel on how to keep your ticker working while putting up with relatives whose political opinions nauseate you.

Maybe that’s not possible. Though the advice given at the rehab center is wise, there are limits to practical solutions in our often heartbreaking society.

To end on a positive note: Though the old brownstone hosts a gym you don’t really want to belong to, it’s so valuable when and if you need it.

As I collected my stuff for the last time, the team gave me my final score: I was exiting the programs nearly 10 pounds lighter, but had gained power, my body mass index measure improved, and my blood pressure levels finally fell into the normal range. The team also gave me a thank-you note. Me! Leaving left a bittersweet feeling, as I headed to elevator and my renewed life.

Property Sales Roundup: Elks Buy Church

by THOMAS BREEN | New Haven Independent

The Elks Club has found a new Dixwell home, after purchasing a single-story church building on Dixwell Avenue near Munson Street for $180,000.

The purchase among of the city’s most recent property transactions.According to the city land records database, on Oct. 15, the Elks Club — officially known as East Rock Lodge, No. 141, I.B.P.O.E. of W., Incorporated — purchased the church building at 329 Dixwell Ave. from Freedom Temple Holiness Church Inc. for $180,000.

The purchase comes roughly two years after the Elks Club sold their long-time home at 87 Webster St. for $900,000 to ConnCORP as part of that local redevel-

opment agency’s plans to build up Dixwell Plaza. It also comes several months after the historic African American institution won the support of the City Plan Commission in its bid to purchase vacant city-owned land at 71 and 75 County St. “One of the things we wanted to do was remain in the Dixwell area, on Dixwell Avenue,” Elks Exalted Ruler Gary Hogan told the Independent in a recent phone interview about the property transaction.

Dixwell “has been our home community for quite some time.”

Hogan said that the Elks Club has spent the better part of the last two years working with the city to try to find a new home. While ironing out the details for the potential County Street land purchase, Hogan said, Freedom Temple Holiness

THOMAS BREEN FILE PHOTO Elks leader Gary Hogan.

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Church Pastor Dorothy Mewborn came forward with an offer to sell the 329 Dixwell Ave. building — and the Elks Club wound up buying. So now the Country Street deal is off the table as the Elks plan their move to Dixwell.

“The idea is to do this in phases,” Hogan said about what comes next. “First, to open our facility for our meetings and some community events.”

Then, the Elks Club hopes to build out a new community space, commercial kitchen, and meeting rooms at the 329 Dixwell Ave. site.

“We’re in the design phase now,” he said. He said the Elks Club will ultimately have to go before the Board of Zoning Appeals before it can begin construction on any of these plans.

And he said the Elks Club is in negotiations with the city to use the adjacent vacant city-owned land at 325 Dixwell Ave. for parking.

“We’re all very excited about this,” he said. “Through this process, we’re really looking forward to getting our programs up and running for the Dixwell community.” Those programs will include “our youth team, our civil liberties team, mentoring,” jazz nights, and other community-focused events, such as food and clothing giveaways.

He said the Elks plan on building out an “energy-efficient” and “sound-proofed” building to make sure they are “a good neighbor” at their new Dixwell Avenue home.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

Is Benedict Arnold’s Smuggling Tunnel Under There?

by LISA REISMAN

New Haven Independent

A local historian met up with an archaeologist and a scientist in the parking lot of High School in the Community Monday hot on the heels of a mystery: How infamous Revolutionary War traitor Benedict Arnold lived and whether he had a secret tunnel running to his house from the harbor in order to smuggle goods.

The local historian, Robert S. Greenberg, gathered with state archaeologist Sarah Sportman, Scott Brady, president of the Friends of the Office of State Archaeology (FOSA), and soil scientist Debbie Surbaian. Benedict Arnold historian Laura Macaluso, an organizer of the expedition, was on hand as well.

Their purpose: To gather more clues about the property where Arnold lived, in preparation for a dig scheduled for spring 2022.

Noah Webster, who penned the first dictionary in 1806, lived in the house as well.

The house no longer exists. But the basement does. And historical treasures presumably lie within.

The crew collected data Monday about the underground property to plan for how and where to dig to learn more about details like the wine cellar as well as a possible entrance to the secret tunnel to the harbor.

“We live above an amazing time capsule here in New Haven, and I want to bring all these wonderful historical locations to the surface,” Greenberg, the executive director of the local history museum Lost in New Haven, told the students.

Greenberg discovered five years ago that the school’s parking lot is on land behind the 1770 house of Benedict Arnold. ”I read

On Arnold's trail: Robert Greenberg Monday with HSC students.

articles that said the basement was intact,” he said.

“I studied the maps over 10 years in the hope that someday I would be able to dig below the building that was there,” he said.

“Fortunate enough for me, [the graffiticovered building above] burned down, and they had to destroy the structure.”

Greenberg said that, with the permission of the landlord, he dug a hole five years ago. “I predicted Benedict Arnold’s house would be there.” He unearthed a foundation, as well as artifacts like a smoking pipe and some bottles from the 1800s, then left the site dormant, covering it over with boards.

“I was establishing Lost in New Haven, and I wanted to solidify the deal that the landowners would donate the site to the

museum so I could secure the site as an archaeological site and so it couldn’t get developed,” he said.

Greenberg said he and Macaluso reached out to state archeologistSportman, who arranged for the ground-penetrating radar crew and will be instrumental in organizing the 2022 dig based on data collected Monday. The property owner, Betsy Henley-Cohn, has agreed to donate the land to the Greenberg’s Lost in New Haven, who hopes to create a museum there with the artifacts.

At a taped-off area of the parking lot nearby on Monday, Surbaian was wheeling a ground-penetrating radar contraption resembling a joggling stroller that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. Sportman and Brady were chalking off grids.

“That’s why they’re here today,” Greenberg said. “To analyze what else is underneath.”

He held up a sepia photo. “It was the grandest house in New Haven, a grand Colonial style house,” Greenberg said as cars roared along Water Street in the cold, grey air. “You looked right out onto the harbor, and when Benedict Arnold was here, he had three of his ships right in front.”

The renowned traitor was also a smuggler.

“He had a secret tunnel that we think he would smuggle the goods from the house to the ships,” he said.

“So what they’re also trying to determine is possibly the entrance of that smuggling tunnel,” he said. The expedition proceeded with the unearthing of what were believed to be retaining walls for that tunnel.

The plan is to analyze the walls and foun-

dation of the house. “Some things you can see in the field, but the software can create a 3‑D image of the ground,” said Brady, the volunteer archaeologist. With the grids, “you can say we saw something really interesting five feet over and four feet in, and really zero in on it.”

“Come springtime,” Greenberg said, “we can actually start to open up areas, and dig more.”

Monday’s expedition covered not just the area of the underground house’s footprint, but a nearby area behind the house, under the current parking lot. “Artifacts from Benedict Arnold’s and Noah Webster’s days are most likely still under the ground behind the house,” Greenberg said. “I want to prove that.”

“It’s exciting,” said historian Macaluso, who has written extensively on Benedict Arnold. “I think this project is going to give us a richer sense of life.”

Laura Clarke, president of the public art nonprofit Site Projects, walked over from Wooster Square to see the action. “I love art intertwined with history, and I see this as something that will become public art, one that’s invested with many layers of meaning,” she said.

“Any questions?” Greenberg asked the students.

No hands went up.

“That’s OK,” he said, as they filed back inside. “It’s early. The more we uncover, the more they’ll understand their history.

I want these kids to have an archaeological site so that when they’re walking around New Haven, they’ll know that what’s above is not all there is, that there’s history beneath them.”

Teacher Departures Up 59%

by MAYA MCFADDEN New Haven Independent

The number of teachers leaving New Haven’s school district has grown so far this year, leading to a call for stepped-up retention efforts.

The call followed the presentation of a report given by New Haven Director of Human Resources and Labor Relations Lisa Mack at a Monday meeting of the Board of Education Finance and Operations Committee.

Mack compared statistics from Sept.

1‑Nov. 22. During that period last year, the school district saw 17 teachers leave. This year that number jumped to 27 over the same period.

Mack said most of the departures were of elementary teachers.

This year has seen a national teacher shortage, Mack noted.

Mack cited reasons some educators cited during exit surveys. The district is using data gathered from exit surveys to develop “retention initiatives.”

Several departing individuals said they “want to work closer to home” Mack reported.

The electronic survey is not required. It can be filled out anonymously, to make individuals more comfortable with providing honest feedback, Mack said.

Mack expressed interest in being a part of school-based retention committees to gain more insight into why staffers are leaving.

Finance and Operation Committee Chair Matt Wilcox asked Mack to share data of 2019 departures for additional comparison.

Wilcox encouraged the board to tackle the retention issue through a “no-fault factfinding model.”

“There’s no people to blame for any of this,” Wilcox said.

Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Leadership Keisha Hannans suggested the district also survey NHPS staff on why they remain within the district.

Monday’s report followed concerns raised at previous Board of Education meetings.

During the Nov. 22 board meeting, Wex-

Lisa Mack: Teachers want to work closer to home.

ler-Grant Community School teacher and

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NHPS parent Ashley Stockton pointed out the 12 resignations within that one session’s personnel report.

Stockton, who has worked as a educator for NHPS for 21 years, asked that the district commit to understanding why teachers are leaving New Haven.

The district must commit to “listen and provide safe space free of retaliation for us to explain our current experience,” she said. She called that “the only way for you to gain an understanding of the why.”

Last school year, she said, 13 teachers left Wexler Grant. In the past three months, she said, four educators at Wexler have resigned.

She added that several of her former colleagues shared with her that they left New Haven to move to neighboring school districts.

“Our teachers are leaving for very clear and very concrete reasons,” Stockton said.

“Recruiting teachers will not have to be the goal and lowering the bar for certification will not have to be the goal if this district

takes the long view and works to retain those of us who are here.”

Incoming teachers union President Leslie Blatteau told the Independent she welcomes the report as a start to exploring the issue further, including gathering more data and speaking more with teachers, nurses, and paraprofessionals.

“In some of the recent conversations with departing teachers, they have expressed feeling undervalued and unsupported by building leaders and supervisors,” Blatteau stated. “And they have also stated that neighboring districts offer significantly higher salaries and better health insurance options. Some teachers have also highlighted the ongoing increase to their day-to-day responsibilities without the necessary increase to their planning time or compensation. Teachers have also expressed concerns about the ongoing need for supplies and resources in their classrooms. Some teachers are still purchasing water and drinking cups because students continue to lack access to water during the school day.”

Basketball’s Back At Farnam THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

by MAYA MCFADDEN New Haven Independent

Fair Haven’s “basketball Mecca” is returning to the Farnam Neighborhood House with the help of a New Haven native looking to give back to his city.

Victor Joshua, founder and director of RespeCT Hoops, grew up playing basketball at Farnam. Now he’s bringing the life-changing game back to the community center.

RespeCT Hoops is a basketball training program for athletes looking to learn basketball fundamentals, improve skills to try out for a league, off-season training, or a way to stay active.

Joshua, 27, founded the program in 2018 with the help of a group of friends to support up-and-coming athletes from the community. It offers one-on-one training and small group sessions for athletes of all ages.

The program’s fall and winter session kicked off at Farnam Nov. 15. It included about 40 kids a week this past summer.

The program plans to offer a men’s league, midnight basketball, and a 35+ League in the future.

A dozen kids worked out at the community center’s gym this past Saturday with instruction from RespeCT Hoops coaches William Reeves and Jomo Bartholomew.

The elementary and middle school players sharpened their skills by learning to do workouts like the back pedal with Coach Bartholomew.

While lined up on the court’s baseline, Bartholomew helped the students improve their agility and footwork with the back pedal. The players raced each other to the half court line while taking small steps backwards with their knees crouched.

“Get low and trust yourself,” Bartholomew said as the players repeated the workout.

Bartholomew, who is a fitness trainer, recently began coaching with the program after signing his son up for training to help him stay active and work on his social skills.

Bartholomew focused Saturday on helping the young players strengthen their legs.

The players did a jumping exercise to work on their body balance and awareness of space skills.

The key to teaching youth the fundamentals of basketball is building their strength, Bartholomew said. “The stronger their body is the more they can enjoy playing.”

He joined as a coach to get kids interested in fitness and passionate about staying active.

Issachar Bartholomew, 11, took up basketball to bond with his dad and learn a new skill.

Although he doesn’t enjoy basketball as much as tennis, golf, and baseball, he said, he is able to apply what he learns on the basketball court to all sports.

RespeCT Hoops coaches Will Reeves and Jomo Bartholomew and founder Victor Joshua in center.

MAYA MCFADDEN PHOTO Reeves demonstrates crossover around defender to teens.

Issachar, a sixth grader at Beecher School, has three goals to accomplish from the RespeCT Hoops program: Dribbling between his legs. Becoming a better shooter. Controlling his strength during shooting.

He added that he enjoys getting out the house with his dad to take a break from playing video games.

Joshua, who was raised in Westville, played basketball throughout college and got offers to play overseas in places like Greece and Spain but decided to take a break from the sport.

He reconnected with the game once finding an interest in coaching the youth.

“I knew basketball was going to be in my life but didn’t know how,” he said.

Joshua is the assistant coach for North Haven High School basketball team.

To bring his program to Farnam, Joshua got connected through Clifford Beers, which oversees the Farnam House. In hopes of bringing life back to what he described as the “Mecca of Basketball” he requested to make Farnam the new home base for the daily program.

Joshua recalled star players like Tavon Allen and Bobby Moore playing at Farnam House. “We have the talent and passion in the community. We have to support it more,” he said.

RespeCT Hoops works with players of all skill levels. Its programming happens Monday through Friday and every other

Saturday with free clinics.

“I grew up in rec centers. I want to bring that back and give back to New Haven with this,” Joshua added.

Athletes train throughout the week as members for conditioning lessons and training. The program also offers online trainings with personalized workout plans for athletes.

Joshua described the court as the best classroom for an athlete. “It’s a game with its own language,” he said.

While a player himself, Joshua said he learned how to network and build relationships on the court. “You don’t always realize it but the court is teaching you how to deal with all kinds of people,” he said.

Fifteen-year-old Giovanni Llanos, who attends Notre Dame High School, joined the program at Farnam a month ago to work on his strength.

He also plays baseball and football but hopes to go to college for basketball and go to the NBA. Llanos, a Fair Haven native, said now that he is a sophomore, he faces older and bigger players on the court while playing for Notre Dame. “I want to be able to take anybody on,” he said.

Saturday’s practice at Farnam was Llanos’ second of the day. He spent two hours at his team’s practice Saturday morning.

Although tired, he rushed to Farnam for a second workout.

Playing basketball “keeps me out the

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streets and outside,” said Llanos, who joined the team his freshman year and is continuing this year.

Llanos began taking basketball seriously when he was told in middle school that he wasn’t good at the sport. He has since improved his skills in an effort to prove to himself and others that he can play professionally.

“This is my way out. I do it everywhere I go,” Llanos said.

Coach Reeves, 27 worked with teens Llanos and Noah Vega, 14 at the Saturday practice learning how to shift their body weight and real-life game scenarios.

Reeves ran the teens through crossover workouts with practice dummies as defenders. “Pay attention to where your weight is going on your ankles,” Reeves said while instructing with the players.

Reeves, a close friend of Joshua, played basketball in high school for North Haven High School, Gateway Community College and played two professional tours overseas in the Dominican Republic and Romania.

Similar to Joshua, Reeves never left the court. Once taking up coaching for the program in July Reeves found a new part of basketball to love, helping others fall in love with the sport.

“Youre game will never die if you teach it to kids,” he said.

While coaching Reeves looks to give players lessons to use beyond the court, like he got when learning to play.

Basketball taught Reeves lessons like “the harder you work the better your outcome” and “how to be on the right team.”

Vega attends Eli Whitney Technical High School and plays for his school’s team.

During Saturday’s lesson, Vega worked on moving his feet more quickly, staying square to the basket, and remaining balanced while dribbling.

He learned of the program a month ago and started with attending the free clinic.

He now comes on Saturdays and at least two days a week in addition to practicing with Eli Whitney daily.

Vega has played basketball since he was 3 years old. He stopped briefly to play baseball for about three years until realizing he enjoyed basketball more.

He joined a league hosted by parks and rec. He didn’t perform well throughout the season, he said. “I spent all summer practicing, and after that someone told me I could get good enough to go pro. It gets kind of addicting when you see how different you can be when you put the effort it. I’m going to keep working for this.”

Vega, who lives in Quinnipiac Meadows, hopes to play basketball in college and professionally in the future. “Doing the thing I love and earing money is heaven to me,” he said.

He often applies what he learns on the court to his life, like, “You are the company that you keep.”

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

K‑4 Kids Start Holiday Season With Books At Q House Giveaway

by LISA REISMAN

New Haven Independent

A day or so before the New Haven Public Schools were putting on a “Holiday Children Gifts & Books Giveaway” at the Dixwell Q house, organizers realized they didn’t have enough toys.

“The turnout was going to be much larger than we expected, so we reached out to NHPS staff and they came through with at least 100 toys,” Gemma Joseph Lumpkin, the school system’s chief of youth, family, and community engagement, said at the Sunday afternoon event in the Q House gymnasium.

The event was billed as a “sneak preview” of a Reading Across New Haven Festival planned for January.

“Everyone pitched in,” Lumpkin said as “Jingle Bell Rock” played on the loudspeakers in the brightly lit gym. “Everyone saw this event as a celebration of the season and of our families, and also an opportunity for us to partner with our families to promote attendance and learning,” she said.

For Jene Flores, a NHPS dropout prevention specialist, reading is the key to learning.

“Every subject involves reading — history, spelling, even math and science,” she said, as she handed out ribbon-festooned paper bags to a seemingly endless line of families.

Inside each were books donated by the Read to Grow Foundation, as well as games and toys. Stapled to the outside with a holiday bow was a multi-colored flyer on the importance of attendance.

“If kids don’t show up for school, they

Youth, Family & Community Engagement team, with dropout prevention specialist Jene Flores (front, second from left), superintendent Iline Tracey (front, fourth from left); Gemma Joseph Lumpkin (second from right); and dropout prevention specialist Dania Torres (third from right, behind Tracey).

NHPS dropout prevention specialist Jere Flores (right) with daughter Valerie Rodriguez and grandchildren Eva Luce and Aiden Luce.

fall behind, and they get discouraged about not being able to read like their classmates, and it’s easier just not to go,” Flores said.

That’s why it’s crucial to emphasize the importance of attendance as early as possible, said Dania Torres, a longtime NHPS dropout prevention specialist.

“If you have chronic absences in kindergarten, it starts a trend where the child is much less likely to be reading at grade level later on, and then it becomes harder and harder to catch up,” she said.

That was among the reasons the organizers decided to invite families with students from kindergarten to the fourth grade, according to Superintendent of Schools Iline Tracey.

“K‑4, they’re the group whose learning was most impacted by the pandemic,” she said, as she stood with her team, greeting each family. “We’re here to show these parents that we care about their children’s future, and part of that is helping them understand the importance of attendance to learning.”

Chaz Carmon, president of the anti-violence group Ice the Beef, offered another perspective on chronic absence.

“During Covid, there were so many needs we were trying to meet that we kind of lost sight that maybe a kid wasn’t showing up for school not because they have bad parents, but maybe they don’t have lights, or gas, or someone died of Covid,” he said as his team distributed educational materials and flyers on job opportunities.

Carmon said Ice the Beef, in an initia-

tive with United Way and the New Haven Board of Education, knocked on the doors of roughly 6,000 chronically absent students this past year.

“We were delivering food, dropping off diapers, we were helping people with rental assistance, utilities,” he said.

“That’s where we learned that, sure, you need to be in school to get your education, but you’re not going to be able to focus if you have no food, no power, no lights.”

“So that’s why this event is not just about toys and books,” he said, gesturing at two nearby tables.

At one table, Tirzah Kemp, a vice president at Clifford Beers, was providing information on mental health resources.

“It’s a tough time of the year for a lot of families,” she said. “Behavioral health for the whole family is very important, especially around the holiday season. We’re here to send the message that you are not alone, and make sure these families know we’re there for them.”

At the other table was a group from Upon this Rock Ministries on Grand Avenue.

“We have a food bank, which is free, and a school academy,” Robin Burke was telling Charee Anderson. “We have an extended hours school program, we have clothing drives, a women’s support group.

We have a ton of services.”

Anderson’s daughter Layana had just taken a box of alphabet beads out of her bag. Her sister Kahleah was studying the cover of “Just Pretend,” her new book.

“Let’s go,” Kahlea said, pulling on her mother’s coat.

When Erik Johnson Heard That Factory Whistle Blow

by PAUL BASS

New Haven Independent

Erik Johnson looked at the barbed wire.

He heard the lonesome factory whistle blow. He thought: This doesn’t make sense.

And he thought: When I grow up, I’m going to make decisions about how neighborhoods work and how people live there.

Johnson did grow up to make decisions about how neighborhoods develop and operate. His latest stint in a decades-long career has brought him to serve as economic development director of the Town of Hamden.

He told the story about the barbed wire during an appearance on WNHH FM’s “Dateline Hamden” program.

Johnson grew up in New Haven’s Newhallville neighborhood. Before he was born, tens of thousands of people worked at the neighborhood’s main employer, the Winchester Arms plant. By the early 1980s, that plant had closed.

A main neighborhood thoroughfare, Winchester Avenue, runs through the Winchester complex. After the plant closed, the street was closed off at either end of the complex, choking an artery on which

neighbors depended for travel. Barbed wire protected the blocks from people entering.

Even though the plant had long ceased 24hour operation, the whistle still blew three times a day to mark the beginning of phantom shifts.

“I didn’t understand why the place was vacant,” Johnson recalled. “I didn’t understand why there was barbed wire. I didn’t understand why the whistle blew.”

It felt, he recalled, like living in a “military zone.” He resolved to be in on decisions like these when he grew older.

The city eventually reopened the street partly at the urging of a neighborhood alder.

And a new high-tech development called Science Park reoccupied the old factory buildings and new ones that replaced them.

Johnson, meanwhile, went on to study at Trinity College. A summer internship with New Haven consultant Jim Farnam opened his eyes to the possibilities of a career in government planning and development.

Johnson headed next to grad school at Morgan State University, and began a career that took him to development and neighborhood planning jobs in New Haven, Hartford, and California. As head of New

PAUL BASS PHOTO Erik Johnson at WNHH FM

Haven’s Livable City Initiative, Johnson helped rescue a failing housing cooperative on Edgewood Avenue and, with then-city development chief Kelly Murphy, launch a revival of a largely undeveloped district destroyed by urban renewal, restitching downtown, the train station area, and the Hill into a new multi-use neighborhood.

In his new post in Hamden, Johnson is looking to help local businesses launch or

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grow through a $600,000 Neighborhood Improvement Program focused on facade improvements and demolition of blighted properties.

He spoke also of how communities like Hamden should seek to seize the “infrastructure” moment, with money flowing from Washington for structural improvements like transportation upgrades, fiberoptic internet systems, and new sewer systems like the one northern Hamden needs. The money is flowing through the newly passed infrastructure law that Congress passed.

Johnson argued that communities need to think more regionally to compete for those dollars: For instance, it would make sense for New Haven and Hamden to team up on seeking money to upgrade Dixwell Avenue.

Police Chief John Sullivan appeared with Johnson on the “Dateline Hamden” episode, also charting his road to public service. The two ascended to their current positions over the past year, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He decided as Hamden High student that he wanted to pursue a policing career, he said. He saw it as a way “to help people.”

He pursued a double major in criminal justice and political science at University of Connecticut, then returned home to work for the Hamden PD. He has been with the force ever since, for 25 years.

Over that time Sullivan has worked in pretty much all aspects of the department.

He returned to Hamden High — as the first “school resource officer,” a position now at the center of debates over student safety.

He worked in patrol, in narcotics, as nightshift supervisor.

The assignment that may have best prepared him for his current job, Sullivan said, was in the ethics and integrity unit — aka, internal affairs. The job where you sometimes have to get your friends in trouble if they mess up. “You deal with a lot of personnel issues” as chief, he said.

Over the past year he has been working on a community policing effort based on a model developed by Camden, N.J., and bringing cops together with developmentally disabled youth, among other initiatives. “We want to engage with the community” to find ways other than arrests to solve problems, he said.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

National Council Of Negro Women Honor “She-roes” — & 1 “He-ro”

by MAYA MCFADDEN New Haven Independent

The New Haven section of the National Council of Negro Women Inc. (NCNW) celebrated 45 years of “triumphing together” this past Saturday with the community.

The luncheon was organized to celebrate the history of the NCNW in New Haven, honor local leaders, and encourage guests to network at Amarante’s Sea Cliff Restaurant, New Haven NCNW President Dorthula “Dottie” Green said.

The annual celebration returned this year after being canceled last year due to the pandemic.

The honorees recognized at the Saturday luncheon were Youth of the Year Areile Jowers, Individual of the Year for Community Service Work Daniel Hunt, Woman of the Year Lensley Gay, Organization of the Year Women of the Village, and Educator of the Year Felicia Williams.

The community leaders sat at the celebration’s head table alongside Mayor Justin Elicker, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and NCNW state representative JoAnn Miller.

The lineup of “she-heros” and Hunt were each thanked by NCNW and awarded a 2021 Honoree plaque.

Attendees watched and listened to the legacy of NCNW founder and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune.

A certificate of recognition from the U.S Senate, a city proclamation, and certificates from U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro and U.S. Senn. Chris Murphy were also awarded to the honorees.

Throughout the pandemic, the New Haven section of NCNW hosted feminine hygiene giveaways, food distributions, and voter registration clinics. In the near future it hopes to create a NCNW youth advisory board, Green said. Its theme this year was “We Triumph Together” which aligned with the honorees’ values.

Mother Lula Morrison and daughters Jameka Jefferies and Pastor Loria Morrison joined the Saturday celebration to support the honorees. “They should know that their work is not in vain,” Loria said.

“It’s inspiring.”

As a social worker and former care coordinator for New Haven Healthy Start, Loria worked with Gay in the past to offer student mothers with services. She said her kids grew up with Hunt, and she loves him like a son.

Raffle tickets were sold to attendees to gather proceeds for the NCNW scholarship program.

Guests enjoyed lunch and conversations with the honorees and fellow guests.

The award ceremony was prefaced with remarks from Enola G. Aird, the founder and president of the Community Healing Network (CHN).

Aird “zoomed in” to the celebration virtually to discuss her work with NCNW and the legacy of Bethune and other social justice leaders.

MAYA MCFADDEN PHOTOS This year's NCNW honorees.

Areile Jowers with mom, Natasha Jowers, sister Alonna Jowers, and counselor Candice Harrell.

Lula Morrison and daughters Jameka Jefferies and Loria Morrison.

“Community Warriors” The three women behind the nonprofit food pantry Women of the Village received the Community Service Award from NCNW. Sharon Waddley-Stevens, Andrea Mastracchio, and Margaret Gainey have run the pantry since 2017 out of the Dixwell police substation every Tuesday.

It has partnered in the past with Loaves and Fishes, the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen, Varick Church, and Apostle Im-

migrant Service.

“We will feed you, and we’ll love you,” Waddley-Stevens said.

The leaders of the organization said they work not only to provide healthy food to the community but also to build relationships with residents and provide them with community services.

“The Drums of Africa Beat In Your Young Heart” Hill Regional Career High School senior Areile Jowers received the youth of the

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year award after being nominated by her school counselor.

Jowers, 17, described the accomplishment as feeling “astounding to be associated with these leaders.”

Jowers hopes to become a member of NCNW in the future she said. She is currently the vice president and co-founder of Career’s Feminism Club and plans to start a Black Student Union before the end of the school year.

When NCNW reached out to Career for potential student honorees, school counselor Candice Harrell decided to nominate Jowers because of her “go-getter” attitude.

“She knows what she wants and didn’t need much guidance,” Harrell said.

Harrell also described Jowers as organized, proactive, supportive, and approachable. Jowers is ranked in the top 3 percent of her class.

She recently helped revive the Feminism Club this year to have student-led conversations about pay gaps, sexual harassment, and biased dress codes against female students.

“My goal isn’t to make it better for me but for the underclass that still have a ways to go” she said.

Not only does Jowers plan to continue her activism after high school but she also is working to become an architectural engineer. She hopes to either attend Yale University or Rice University in Houston, Texas.

Jowers also received The Milles-Poole Academic Book award to go toward her college books’ cost The $500 award honors the late NCNW member Margery Ball Mills and Geraldine Poole.

She plans to merge her advocacy work into her career by diversifying the field and being a role model to other students of color. “My hope is that when they see me it shows them they can do it too,” she said. “My social justice work will be in architecture.”

“An Ordinary Woman Doing Extraordinary Things” Gay, a teacher at Brennan Rogers School, entrepreneur, and child and family advocate, was awarded Woman of the

Year by NCNW. She recalled getting students certified in CPR and bringing them on trips over the past 30 years to meet national leaders like Ruby Bridges, Michelle Obama, Coretta Scott King, Barack Obama, Ruby Dee, Julian Bon, Merle Evers-Williams, and Cecile Tyson.

“She doesn’t just keep information to herself. She provides exposure and opportunities for everyone,” said NCNW member Sheila Jewel of Gay. Gay said she follows in the steps of her ancestry of educators and community advocates.

“A Special Award On A Special Day” Hunt was recognized Saturday the Community Service Individual of the Year

by NCNW. He was supported by friends and family at the celebration including Fire Lt. Samod “Nuke” Rankins, Asst. Police Chief Karl Jacobson, and police Capt.

David Zannelli.

Hunt was appointed as the youngest commissioner of Hamden for the Human Services Commission of Hamden. He has organized a series of community walks in partnership with police departments in support of community policing.

Hunt celebrated receiving the award after grieving the loss of his grandmother this time last year.

“I know she’s here with me,” Hunt said while holding back tears.

Green prayed over Hunt briefly at the Saturday event.

“Doing My Job While Fulfilling My Purpose” Williams, a New Haven native, received the educator of the year award from NCNW. She is a Hillhouse High School graduate who began her teaching career at High School in the Community. For a period she also taught at Eli Whitney Technical High School. While at Eli Whitney she won Teacher of the Year in 2008.

Williams currently teaches math at H.C. Wilcox Technical High School in Meriden. She was honored again as teacher of the year at the current school in 2012.

Williams described teaching during the pandemic as “strangest two years to be an educator.”

“I decided to stick to my dream and teach,” Williams said.

She continues to work hard to teach kids to think deeper in math class and problem solve in hard times.

“When she does what she does she does from her heart, she does it with everything in her. It is never about Felicia.

It’s always about doing a better thing for someone else,” Green said of Williams.

The Saturday ceremony was closed out with a candle lighting for several NCNW members that passed in 2020 and 2021.

The late members included Geneva Pollock, Elise Blackshear, Mattie Long, and Jeffie Frazier.

"It’s Really Unreal:" THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

Wilbur Cross Students Rattled After Lockdown

in the past five years, as “a whole bunch of kids are getting their hands on guns.” He remembered feeling angry when he read about the fatalities at Oxford High School last week, and saw that the 15-year-old shooter’s parents had bought him the handgun that ended four young lives and injured seven others. He called for stronger gun control in both Connecticut and across the U.S. “Something has to be done about the gun situation,” he said. “They value guns and property more than they value people’s lives.”

“Students should not have to be worried about this,” chimed in his friend, Matthew Cain. “We should all come to school and not be afraid of school.”

Cain, who wants to study journalism next year at UConn, added that he did his best “to stay as calm as possible” while trying to get answers from teachers and filling his mom in on the situation. “It was a regular day” until it suddenly wasn’t, he said as he started the walk home down Orange Street.

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

Mikayla Torres was in her homeroom Monday morning when the announcement came on the speaker. The voice, which she thought belonged to Principal Edith Johnson, was shaking just slightly. The school was in lockdown, it said. Within seconds, the classroom’s lights were off and students were silent. She realized that it wasn’t a drill.

Torres is a junior at Wilbur Cross High School, where students were placed on lockdown and then evacuated from the building Monday morning. Officer Scott Shumway, media liaison for the New Haven Police Department, confirmed that the cause was a report of a student with a gun, called in to 911 at 8:51 a.m. Monday morning. He said that police could not comment on the source of the call while they were evacuating and “checking every square inch” of the building. He confirmed that the NHPD is working with regional partners, including the FBI. After a threat on social media, Eli Whitney Technical High School in Hamden was also placed on lockdown Monday morning (click here for a story in the New Haven Independent). James Hillhouse High School and Amistad Achievement First High School also held early dismissal Monday. New Haven Police are also evaluating whether to close Hill Regional Career High on Tuesday, after a threat appeared on social media Monday morning.

“We’ve been dealing with the need to manage the situation and the need to keep our students and staff safe,” said New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) Director of Communications and Marketing Justin Harmon in a phone call Monday afternoon. “This is a terrible circumstance and frightening for our students and staff.

We’re grateful for the New Haven Police Department and all their efforts to ensure that our students, staff, and that our community is safe.”

According to Shumway, lockdown at Cross began shortly after 8:51 a.m., when the local 911 dispatch received a call reporting a student with a gun inside Wilbur Cross High School. Students, who had just started second period homeroom, were told to stay in their classrooms. Those walking between first period and homeroom ducked into the nearest classroom, just as they have learned to do during lockdown drills at the school.

Torres said that there was initial confusion, because students had a lockdown drill last week, in the wake of a deadly shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan. As the evacuation process unfolded, some students were ultimately in their

“It was very choppy information,” he said. “I didn’t want to believe it.”

Mikayla Torres and and Saniah Peterson. classrooms for over two hours.

At 9:27 a.m., Wilbur Cross Principal Edith Johnson sent a message to staff asking them to look for a male student in a “dark hoodie, black face mask, jeans, white Timberland boots.” Students started circulating the message on social media.

Torres said that she and her peers mainly use Instagram to get information out.

“Please calmly look at students in your classrooms or the spaces where you are locking down,” read the email from Johnson. “If you have a student who matches this description … please send Mrs. Johnson and a copy to [Assistant Principal] Ann Brilliante with the room number you are located and the name of the student if you have it. This is urgent.”

Several students said they felt like they were kept in the dark, unsure of what was happening as they called and texted their parents. One student, who asked to remain anonymous, arrived late for homeroom and saw a police car outside the school.

Unsure of what to do, she stayed outside.

She was rattled when more police cars started pulling up.

She added that information came out in pieces, so she didn’t know what to believe until she started talking to other students.

“It’s a little nauseating because you don’t know what’s going on,” Torres said as she waited for her mom outside the school.

“It’s really unreal. We don’t know what’s going through people’s minds, or what something really is.”

Sophomore Keziyah Williams was in

her film editing class when the speaker system crackled to life. She was sure the voice belonged to Johnson. In the room, teacher Jim Bellantoni turned the lights down. Students fell to a hush and went “to the other side of the room,” said Williams.

She doesn’t remember how long the group stayed like that. At some point, staff members and a security guard came in, and escorted the group in a straight line outside the building.

“It’s pretty sad and scary,” she said at 11 a.m., waiting outside for her mom. “You see that stuff in other states—it’s crazy.

All I can do is pray.”

Like many of her peers, she said that last week’s school shooting in Michigan, as well as the closure of Hamden High School last Friday through this Tuesday, has been weighing heavy on her mind.

Because the threats at Eli Whitney High School started on Instagram, some students were the first to see and share them.

She said that students shouldn’t have to worry about their physical safety when they walk into a school building.

As she spoke, students and teachers continued to file out of the school building, some on their phones and others searching the crowd for their parents and friends.

A fleet of buses waited in the parking lot with their blinkers on. Sophomore Saniah Peterson scanned the parking lot until she found Torres, who was holding her coat.

She slipped it on and gave Torres a little squeeze. Around them, the pulsing red and blue of police lights continued to flash.

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Some parents, who had parked on the side streets, found their kids among huddles in the parking lot and outside of the school.

“I feel lucky to be alive, but it was very scary, especially not knowing if it was real or not,” Peterson said. She added that she worries that “people are following what they see on social media,” making copycat threats.

Fielding calls from his dad as he waited on the sidewalk, a junior who asked to be identified only as Tre said he’s frustrated by the rise in violent threats that he sees across both the district and the country. At 8:55 a.m. or so, he had just sat down in his second period homeroom class when the speaker came on. He said he couldn’t tell who was speaking, but they sounded worried.

“She sounded out of breath,” he said. “I was like, ‘This is really real.’”

When he comes to school, he said, he doesn’t want to think about whether he’s safe or not. He wants to think about his classes, including his dreams of becoming an actor. It’s why he chose Sal DeLucia, who teaches acting and video editing, as his homeroom teacher. Monday, he recalled how DeLucia turned off the lights and locked the door as the class fell into silence in one corner of the room. When his dad called, he texted a response because it was quieter.

Calling it “worrisome,” he said he feels like schools have become more dangerous

In a phone call Monday afternoon, Mayor Justin Elicker said that police, city, and NHPS officials will be holding an internal meeting Monday afternoon at 3 p.m. to discuss next steps. He added that he hopes to “find who made these threats and hold them accountable.”

After students left the school this morning, he met with NHPS Superintendent Iline Tracey, Wilbur Cross Principal Edith Johnson, New Haven Police Chief Renee Dominguez and teachers in Cross’ large auditorium. He said it was clear that teachers, who are also concerned for their own safety, are worried about their students’ physical safety and mental health.

Cross is currently one of the schools where students are asking for more counselors through a student-led “Students Over SROs” campaign. Elicker said that as of Monday afternoon, Clifford Beers had volunteered its services to the district.

At the 3 p.m. meeting this afternoon, he added, “we will be discussing how to ensure that students can remain in school, learn, and practice their safety at the same time.”

“We have to take these threats very very seriously for obvious reasons,” he said.

“We’ve also got to make sure that students are able to learn in a safe environment.”

In a press conference Monday afternoon, Elicker said that Wilbur Cross, James Hillhouse High School, Hill Regional

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

Students Speak Out On School Violence: Metal Detectors Won’t Cure Isolation

by NORA GRACE-FLOOD New Haven Independent

After three days off school due to gun violence threats, Fin Powers wasn’t sure what to expect when he returned to Hamden High.

So he prepared the best he could for the unknown. Following an anonymous Snapchat post in which a now arrested 13-yearold suggested intent to shoot up both Hamden High and Middle Schools, Powers read through a letter from his principal laying out new protocol for having students pass through a metal detector each day.

Observing the administration’s advice, he woke up an hour earlier than usual for the first day back to school on Wednesday. He made a point to leave his backpack at home, and managed to land near the front of a 1,700-student line wrapping around campus.

While he awaited his first encounter with the weapon-detecting wands, he exchanged Spongebob-themed memes making light of the situation with some close friends.

“I was anxious,” Powers recalled. During his 20 minute wait in the frigid air (for others, it took up to two hours to get inside), he thought: “If it beeps, I’m gonna cry.”

Why was he so nervous? Principal Nadine Gannon’s letter to the student body included a special note pointing out that “just because the wand may sense metal on you, this does not mean you did something wrong!”

The fear, Powers figured, probably came from the fact that “the whole school” would be watching him. And if there was one lesson Powers had learned from school and social media, it’s that kids can be “fucking mean.”

On Thursday evening, a host of Hamden teenagers experienced a macro version of the nerves felt by Powers and countless others on their first day back.

In front of television cameras, town leaders, and a crowded live audience, seven students made their way to a podium in Hamden’s Legislative Council Chambers to share their feelings and opinions regarding recent incidents of school violence and threatened violence with those who produce local policy.

They did so as part of a community forum organized by Hamden’s Strengthening Police and Community Partnerships (SPCP) Council, featuring local youth professionals, Mayor Lauren Garrett, Hamden police representatives, social workers, and school administrators.“It’s as if we’re walking into a jail facility,” sophomore Hunmae McCollum asserted. Additional school resource officers and metal detectors are only “reinforcing the school to prison pipeline,” she said.

“I can tell you right now, I did not feel safe going to school yesterday,” shared freshman Amanda Oram. “I knew the metal detectors were there to help us … it just felt kind of invasive, you know?

Why is this happening?

In addition to asking for concrete investments in after-school and community programming, accessible and long-term mental health supports, and efforts to bring more women of color into staff and secu-

NORA GRACE-FLOOD PHOTOS Sophomore SPCP representatives Ayanna Lovieno, Alianna Wray, and Hunmae McCollum address adults at community forum.

Detective Sean Dolan, Chief of Police John Sullivan, SRO Jeremy Brewer, Superintendent Jody Goeler, and Assist. Superintendent Chris Melillo.

rity positions, many of the students asked adults in charge: Why do you think the rise in violence is happening?

“Why do students feel compelled to bring weapons to school?” questioned sophomore Ayanna Lovieno.

“Why do we wanna stab each other?”

“Why would students threaten the school?”

“Would they rather be somewhere else?”

With each student that rose to speak, the questions kept coming.

Students aimed to highlight the limited information held by school officials regarding what it’s like to be a teenager today, pointing out that a qualitative and nuanced understanding of teenage life should be informing school policy.

“You only see the social media post when they send it to you,” Amanda Oram said, illustrating a culture of consistent fighting and online harassment, and noting the awkward and severe sense of accountability held by students to inform those with power about disturbing messages that infiltrate their feeds on the daily.

A student carrying a loaded gun into the high school the previous month, McCollum told the audience, should have been a wake-up call to administration. Or, she suggested, the stabbing of a 14-year-old just off campus. Both events, like the “non-credible” social media threats, were indicative of students’ long-term mental health concerns.

Students were the first reporters of each of

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those incidents.

“The blatant disregard that staff of schools, the Board of Education, as well as Hamden as a whole has towards students is clear,” McCollum said. Action was taken, she noted, only after parents lobbied for security measures following the gun threats.

All of the incidents above might have caught the intention of the broader public, but the truth, McCollum said, is that students are struggling every day. Proactive and long-term health support systems are necessary, she argued, pointing to increasing suicide rates among youth people.

Every statement by the high schoolers revealed the same conclusion: Teens are often choosing to fight one another rather than forming community with other youth, perhaps the outcome of months alone at home during the pandemic and more time spent in — or on — substitute virtual spaces, like Discord channels and Instagram pages.

In other words, the violent events which have made headlines at Hamden High this fall are not isolated. Rather, they are tied together by an underlying and nagging sense of isolation endured by students.

Freshman Mahoganie Thompson focused on that sense of fragmentation in her public statement. She recalled how “I couldn’t come back to reality” after watching “someone that I see walking around the halls and going to class with” stabbed multiple times.

What eventually grounded her was a simple question — “How are you doing?” — from another teenage girl who noticed her dissociative state.

“From there we gathered other girls,” she said, bringing a team of teenagers together to form “The Community Alliance Against Violence,” to allow both students and teachers to come together and talk in a shared physical space within the school.

“I’ll Be Honest ...”

Thompson’s speech highlighted the skills that teens have to contribute to the search for solutions. More than just sources of information, kids are uniquely inquisitive, sensitive, and drawn to social connection.

Away from the microphones and cameras, and on their way to Panera post school dismissal Wednesday afternoon, Powers and friends debriefed and candidly compared their experiences throughout the past week.

Despite his anxieties about metal detectors, Powers said, he found the general chaos surrounding the gun threats “hilarious.”

“It’s not funny. It’s tragic,” his friend Julian Jenkins responded.

“I’m like, terrified,” pitched in Emmalie Intile, a third friend who joined the conversation.

That exchange prompted Powers to think about why he found the situation funny.

Perhaps it was the predictability of public school education — the absurd dynamic of kids risking arrest to get a day off from school or follow a TikTok trend, and the community’s reaction to what he saw as evidently false threats.

Or maybe it was his distance from the situation: “We’re not really involved,” he said, noting that he himself hasn’t been physically attacked or personally known anyone directly impacted by the recent incidents.

Also, “I’m a gemini moon,” Powers revealed. “I have a god complex.”

Really, Powers and Intile agreed, humor is a “coping strategy.”

Just as Powers and his friends recognized the dynamic and varied reasons that such a scary situation could simultaneously be read as funny to those experiencing it, they understood that no “one answer” exists to the multifaceted problems facing youth and the broader community.

The metal detectors are “truly, really unneeded,” Jenkins said, describing them as “intrusive” and asserting that security did not treat his belongings — including a school laptop — “with enough respect.”

But the detectors, Powers and Intile argued, could also be read as the administration finally deciding to take precautions.

After the stabbing, for example, “nothing happened,” Powers said. He had made a bet with his grandmother in early fall that Hamden High wouldn’t bring in metal detectors, because he had never heard of the high school making changes to disrupt the “gun, knife, gun, knife” pattern he’d observed since transferring from Sacred Heart two years ago.

“Now, I owe her twenty dollars,” he said.

From Jenkins’ perspective, metal detectors pose practical concerns. He noticed, for example, that female students seemed to be pushed into one line and boys into another, providing kids with same-sex security guards who would be wanding their bodies for weapons.

For Powers, the concern with metal detectors was linked not to practice but to anticipation. He said he worried “the beepy thingies” would go off while he was in line.

Once he got into the building Wednesday, he was comforted by the familiar faces of security guards he sees each day.

“It was like, hey, good morning, I know you,” Powers The trio of students seemed to agree that though there are reasons to be skeptical of policing, they are relatively comfortable with cops and security guards in their school because they have genuine connections with them.

“Everyone loves Lamond Battle,” they agreed. Battle is a security guard who doubles as adviser to the Black and Hispanic Student Union. Other guards are less popular, but that’s how real communities naturally are, they reflected.

In fact, they said, more students probably know the security guards, who walk around school hallways throughout the day, than they know mental health professionals.

The only reason Intile knew of school psychologists, they said, was because they’re part of the school’s “Active Minds Club.”

There is a gap, Intile asserted, between paying for school counselors and actually building bonds and trust between them and the students.

“I don’t want to go up to my teacher and say, hey, I want to talk to someone,” Powers confirmed. He might go to school counseling if he knew the staff and could find a direct line of access.

In the meantime, the group said, they

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

From The Corner Of A Dark Room, With Fear

by Dave John Cruz-Bustamante, The Arts Paper www.newhavenarts.org

The Socialist Neighborhood Action and Care Corps will be hosting an informal support circle open to all New Haven students and teachers on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021 at 3:30 p.m. at 928 Chapel St. to discuss the lockdown and threat of gun violence that happened on Dec. 6.

At around 8:54 a.m. we heard the loudspeaker announce “lockdown,” and the sound of startled teachers slamming their doors. I felt the gentle, but urgent, shove of my homeroom teacher, Mr. Loureiro, as he ran to the door. From the start, it was obvious that this was not a drill—we conducted a lockdown drill last week.

In the corner of the room, away from the windows and door, shaky seconds turned into a dreadful two hours. A small stream of rumors, text messages, and screenshots came trickling in. They soon flowed like a spontaneous river, born from a rainstorm, in the local creek.

A slow and steady anxiety gradually turned into a looming but quiet panic. A sort of panic that you normally need to get up for and shake off. But we couldn’t get up. We were stuck, sitting in the corner of the room. I, struggling to find and take in fresh oxygen, shook, fussed, shuddered, and closed my eyes, hoping that I wouldn’t hear the single bullet shot, followed by the blood-curdling screams that you hear about on the news.

Our homeroom group showed screenshots to each other: an email from the principal sent to the teachers that read: “This is a serious lockdown. Do not let anyone out.” We saw text messages that warned us to “stay put, stay quiet, and do not move.”

Pictures and videos surfaced of worried parents and endless police cars parked outside. There were Instagram accounts and copycats and another email, with the

Top: NHPS Assistant Superintendent Dr. Paul Whyte and New Haven Police Department Chief Renee Dominguez on the scene at Wilbur Cross Monday morning. Bottom: Dave John Cruz-Bustamante at a mayoral debate earlier this fall. Lucy Gellman Photos.

subject line “Urgent Request.” The body of the text described a potential shooter based on a description the police had received.

“This is urgent.” The email firmly concluded.

Truth be told, it is absolutely fucking disgusting that we had to hide in a corner, hoping we wouldn’t hear a shot, jumping at the slightest sound of the creaky cupboard behind us. It’s disgusting that we had to comfort and protect ourselves, simply because people in power, on all levels of government, are unable to do so. It’s vile that the text messages between my mother and

me, alongside almost every other student, were filled with crippling worry and the eerie, unwritten but known, possibility that some of us might have to say “goodbye,” “forgive me,” and “I love you.”

How sad is the fact that my best friend in another high school called in tears because she thought that there was an active shooter at my school? The countless messages from family abroad? How infuriating is the fact that there was only one puzzle piece missing from completing a tragedy, a new CNN headline, scripted political debate, and “thoughts and prayers?” How sad, that this will probably be the mark of renewed and more aggressive policing and milita-

rization of our places of knowledge, students, and lives.

Our class was finally able to evacuate around 11 a.m., walking in a single-file line and escorted by security. We arrived outside—riddled with police, FBI agents, and the mayor. Everyone was ordered to either go to the tennis court to wait for their busses, walk to their worried parents, or walk home. In the moment, I did not know where to go– eat with my friends at P&M? Walk or take the crowded bus home? Or go to work as planned downtown?

I ended up eating with my friends, staring at the ground as I waited in line to purchase my items, trying to process what had hap-

pened without any internal monologue. It was a bit eerie to see how relaxed some students were, as if it were a normal day.

There were groups of giggling friends and commuters walking to and from P&M on Orange Street. After a couple bites of a cookie, I moved away from my table full of friends, and boarded the bus, and overhearing a conversation between two men on the state of our schools.

This is not a narrative for entertainment or looking for pity, but a record for collective memory—and another call for liberation. There is a world in which we respond to this through increased dialogue, healing and listening, and access to care, rather than increased militarization of our schools. It is a world that will be attained through the beauty, hope, and strength of workers, of youth, students and teachers, of poor, of queer and disabled people, of activists and those who have historically been oppressed.

I do not dare compare what could’ve happened in New Haven to Michigan for I know that as long as the systems of colonialism, capitalism, and racism haunt our lives, there will be another sorrowful tragedy. That Michigan will simply be forgotten, just like the rest, to make way for the new wave of “thoughts of prayers.” It is our moral duty as organizers, students, and neighbors to work alongside our accomplices to move towards a liberated world, a healed world, an ending to the story that is not filled with new tragedy and tears in the dark corner of the classroom.

Dave John Cruz-Bustamante is a sophomore at Wilbur Cross High School. They are an Operations Apprentice and Political Education fellow at City Wide Youth Coalition (CWYC) and the founder of the Socialist Neighborhood Action and Care Corps (SNACC).

U.S. Supreme Court Asked to Flip Decision and Put Bill Cosby Back in Jail did, to satisfy the #metoo mob,” Cosby’s spokesman Andrew Wyatt said in reaction on November 29.

“There is no merit to the DA’s request which centers on the unique facts of the Cosby case and has no impact on important federal questions of law. The United States Supreme Court does not typically interfere with the rulings of a State’s high court unless it conflicts with the decisions of other state high courts or our federal court of appeals. This is a pathetic lastditch effort that will not prevail. The Montgomery’s County’s DA’s fixation with Mr. Cosby is troubling to say the least,” Wyatt added.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision in the case that would later be overturned was brought forward by Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, who alleged that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her at his

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor

Kevin Steele, the prosecutor who put legendary actor and comedian Bill Cosby, 84, in jail in 2018, has filed an appeal to the United States Supreme Court to reinstate Cosby’s conviction.

Cosby was released on June 30 after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that former prosecutor Bruce Castor’s decision not to prosecute in 2005 should have prevented Cosby from being charged in 2015.

“Unwilling to accept its epic loss in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Montgomery County District Attorney has now filed a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. In short, the Montgomery County D.A. asks the United States Supreme Court to throw the Constitution out the window, as it

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home in a Philadelphia in 2004. Steele called the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s June 30 decision on Cosby, “a dangerous precedent.”

“A prosecution announcement not to file charges should not trigger due process protections against future criminal proceedings because circumstances could change, including new incriminating statements by the accused,” Steele argued.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling, which was 6-1, found that Cosby relied on his deal with Castor that he would not prosecute.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is a political analyst who appears regularly on #RolandMartinUnfiltered. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

Reparations Rising with Robin Rue Simmons COMMENTARY:

By Julianne Malveaux, NNPA Newswire Contributor The Honorable John Conyers, who represented Detroit in Congress from 1965 until 2017, introduced HR 40 every congressional session from 1989. He worked to get cosponsors for the legislation for nearly thirty years, but not even the entire Congressional Black Caucus would cosponsor. Upon his retirement from Congress, he passed the baton to Houston Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. Thanks to her efforts and those of reparations organizations, including the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC) and the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA), the number of cosponsors approaches two hundred members of Congress. With 218, the legislation could pass in Congress.

Full disclosure. I serve as a NAARC commissioner, as does Kamm Howard, the co-chair of N’COBRA. With a Senate dominated by conservative Democrats and obstructionist Republicans, when HR 40 passes in Congress, it is unlikely to pass in the Senate. However, it is essential to acknowledge the enormous progress the reparations movement has experienced since Conyers first introduced HR 40. Then, if you mentioned reparations in some circles, including those dominated by African Americans, you’d be rewarded with an eye roll and a “reality” check. Movements don’t happen overnight, though, and the reparations movement is rising, thanks to the tireless work of committed activists, who have persistently raised the issue.

Robin Rue Simmons, a former Alderman in Evanston, Illinois, shepherded reparations legislation in that city and helped design a program that will use money from legal cannabis sales to fund reparations. The program emerges from documentation of the ways local legislation widened the wealth gap between 1919 and 1969 and explicitly targets Evanston residents and their descendants for the initial round of reparations. Within the next several weeks, 16 families will get $25,000 checks to put a down payment on a home, reduce a mortgage balance, or do repairs that increase the value of their homes. While these modest payments do very little to reduce the wealth gap, they improve the wealth position of these families. Evanston has taken a small but revolutionary step in the right direction.

Robin chose not to run for reelection,

although she would have probably faced only token opposition if she had. Instead, she has been working full-time on the issue of local reparations, founding First Repair (firstrepair.org), an organization focused on helping state and local governments shape reparations initiatives. First Repair most recently (December 9-11) co-convened a symposium (along with NAARC) with state and local reparations leaders. Sixty people from twenty-five cities, including Boston, Asheville, North Carolina, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, gathered to discuss their efforts to implement local reparations. The activist Danny Glover spoke at a town hall meeting that included a telephone address by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. The fact that so many cities and states are considering reparations initiatives and appointing reparations commissions is invigorating and encouraging. As Robin Rue Simmons said, change happens from the bottom up and not the top down. The more cities and states that have reparations conversations, the more awareness those at the top will have that this is an issue that is not going away. Our nation is culpable for the exploitation of enslaved people and their descendants. We have gotten little more than a tepid apology.

Our country must do more.

While HR 40 calls for the establishment of a commission to make reparations suggestions, if President Biden really wanted to have our backs, as he so often says, he could, through executive order, establish such a commission now. I had hoped that President Obama might have done so, but that issue was such a hot potato for our then-President that he would not even consider it. The more talk there is about reparations, the more information is disseminated. President Biden, Vice-President Harris, can you take this step in the right direction?

Meanwhile, I’m lifting up Robin Rue Simmons, a 45-year-old leader, activist, and tireless reparations advocate. She has dedicated her life to the reparations movement, using the Evanston experience as a blueprint for other municipalities considering reparations. It’s important to note that reparations are not just about a check.

It is about healing, restoring, reclaiming what has been taken from the descendants of enslaved people. It’s not just about enslavement. It’s about laws passed after Emancipation that systematically robbed us of our rights, work, worth, and wealth.

Thanks to folks like Robin Rue Simmons (also a NAARC commissioner), Kamm Howard, Dr. Ron Daniels, Sheila Jackson Lee, Danny Glover, and so many others, the reparations movement is rising!

Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author, and Dean of the College of Ethnic Studies at Cal State LA. She can be reached at Juliannemalveaux.com

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

Eastern Names Science Building in Honor of Former President Dr. David G. Carter Sr.

By Dwight Bachman, Public Relations Officer Eastern Connecticut State University Dec. 7 was a glorious day at Eastern Connecticut State University, as hundreds of people, directly and via a live You Tube stream, joined Eastern President Elsa Núñez in paying tribute to the late Dr. David G. Carter Sr. by naming the Science Building on campus in Carter’s honor.

Among Carter’s many accomplishments, he held the distinction of being tapped as the first African-American to head a fouryear institution of higher education in Connecticut, when he was selected as the president of Eastern in 1988, where he spent 18 years.

In 2006, he was selected as the first African-American Chancellor of Connecticut’s well-renowned university system. During his five years as Chancellor, Dr. Carter led the university system through its greatest expansion in academic, program and campus development. Most important to him, though, was the growth in student enrollment, which translated into an expansion of educational opportunity.

Before the state-of-the-art Science Building opened in 2008, in 1992, Carter opened two major facilities in the same week!—a renovated Noble Residence Hall and the New Classroom Building, accommodating students and faculty. In 1998, two more facilities in the same year opened!—Niejadlik Hall, which provided more on-campus housing, and new state-of-the art baseball stadium/sports complex.

In 1999, four more facilities opened in the same year— the J. Eugene Smith Library, Mead Residence Hall, the new Admissions Building and the Foster Clock Tower. In 2002, Gelsi-Young Hall opened. In 2003, a much-needed parking garage opened. In 2004, Constitution Residence Hall opened.

In 2005, Laurel and Nutmeg Residence Halls opened. In 2006, the high-teach Margaret Wilson Child and Family Development Resource Center opened. Later, a

new Public Safety Building and the South Residential Village opened, more residence halls for students.

Eastern President Núñez called Carter “a genius.” She said, “The Science Building is the cornerstone of his legacy” and “a testament to his strength of will. He was absolutely committed to giving each student on this campus an outstanding education.”

Theresa Hopkin-Staten, co-chair of the citizen’s committee that initiated the drive for the Science Building naming, said Carter “saw the intrinsic value in every person . . . he led with empathy and perspective, with authentic consideration and care for those in his charge. That is why it is absolutely fitting and appropriate to name The Science Building after him. It represents a place of innovation, inspiration, creation, and action, and Dr. Carter, a man who opened the eyes, minds, and hearts of countless individuals to endless possibilities of greatness.”

Retired Biology Professor Martin Levin recalled that when Carter came to Eastern in 1988, the state legislature wanted to close the campus, but Carter “was a man on a mission with a strong and persuasive voice. He was committed to transforming Eastern into a world-class liberal arts uni-

versity.” Levin said the Science Building’s original scale didn’t suit Carter and he lobbied for a larger facility. “In 2008, we got our dream building.”

Carter’s daughter Jessica said growing up, “Education helped Dad throughout his life, and that his experience with two women— the Everett Sisters who taught in Dayton public schools, compelled him to never forget those who helped him, to always repay them. Negative encounters from professors taught him to that “appearing too intelligent could be perceived as threatening for others, so he made a habit of keeping a low profile. By the time people realized the depth of his intelligence, it was too late to stop him!” Jessica said Carter knew that education was one of the factors that led to a better life for him, and he paid it forward by helping to provide educational opportunities for others, focusing on the well-being of the students, supporting student growth and development, included securing resources to improve and build university facilities and grounds, including the Science Building.

Other speakers included Chris Abayasinghe ’02, a native of Sri Lanka and now associate vice president of business services at Northeastern University; and LaMar Cole-

man, vice president for equity and diversity, who served as master of ceremonies.

Coleman introduced what he described as “the moment we’ve all been waiting for”—the Honorable Justice Lubbie Harper Jr., a friend of Dr. Carter’s for nearly four decades.” Harper, who Carter’s children requested to share his thoughts on their incredible father, delivered a powerful and passionate speech. He reminded the audiences that we all were witnessing an historic celebration of a brilliant, visionary man in Dr. Carter.

“Dr. Carter was inspired by the potential of science, Said Harper. “He understood that we are surrounded by technology and the products of science every day. He understood that students growing up in an increasingly technologically and scientifically advanced world need to be scientifically literate to succeed. He wanted students prepared for that reality and wanted Eastern to play a leading role in that field.”

Harper said it is fitting that the remarkable and modern Science Building is a monument to a man who literally helped to build and transform Eastern’s campus. “This is a tangible expression of remembrance, a permanent and concrete expression of respect and gratitude by this university community that he held so dear.”

Harper called Carter a renaissance man, a beacon of hope and a trailblazer. “He was a shining light in the hearts of so many people. He was a man of integrity who sported an infectious smile and possessed an unmatched sense of humor. He was clear about the mission of education, particularly higher education. He was a true educational leader, a skilled administrator and a wonderful human being. He deeply cared about students and believed in giving everyone a chance, and an opportunity to succeed and become a contributing member of our society. He was respected and loved by members of the Willimantic community. He was an advocate for fairness, cared about justice and believed in treating everyone with dignity and respect. He thought out-

side of the box, had a magnetic personality and pursued excellence with a passion.

Harper said Carter was a consummate educational professional and visionary leader. “He has left a positive and an indelible mark on our state and the Eastern community. Our community felt the force of Dr. Carter’s character as a result of his accomplishments and good deeds over the years. And what resonated within him was a substance that created an amazing man, a man whose dignity was matched by his commitment to serve.”

Harper said Carter had a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love, and he illuminated our hearts with joy. He said God ordered Carter’s steps. “He gave so much to Eastern’s educational community and made a profound difference. Yes, it is fitting that this university, with the blessing of the Board of Regents, is bestowing upon his legacy the honor of naming the Science Building after him, on which it voted UNANIMOUSLY to do so. Undoubtedly, he is a most deserving recipient of such recognition that will allow his spirit to glow forever.”

Harper said yes, we all thank the late Dr. David G. Carter for his passion, vision and service, but that we thank him also for something even deeper, a more profound gift that makes this dedication of the naming of the science building in his honor so appropriate.

“It was the gift of his intrinsic goodness, his loyalty, integrity and the purity of his soul. We thank David Carter for all that he did; and for being such a vital and significant part of our state and the educational community. In so many ways, he brilliantly and faithfully served all of us. He fought the good fight and when God called him home, I know in my heart that the angels were smiling for he, undoubtedly, continued to engage in and contribute to a Heavenly community in which he had become one of God’s faithful and devoted servants.

We miss you David.”

THE HIP HOP NUTCRACKER DANCES INTO THE SHUBERT THEATRE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2021 AT 7:00PM Featuring Hip Hop and Music Pioneer Kurtis Blow

Everything old is new again. Tchaikovsky’s 129-year-old ballet is reimagined as a holiday dance spectacle in The Hip Hop Nutcracker. The show is coming to the Shubert Theatre in New Haven on Thursday, December 23, 2021 at 7:00pm.

The production – now in its triumphant return for a seventh season – features hip hop pioneer Kurtis “The Breaks” Blow, the first rapper to be signed by a major label in 1979. Forty-two years and a heart transplant later, hip hop’s founding father is still performing as MC of The Hip Hop Nutcracker. Tickets are now available online at shubert.com, by phone at 203-562-5666 and at the Shubert Box Office (247 College Street, New Haven).

Upon seeing The Hip Hop Nutcracker, ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov said, “Athleticism is one thing and artistry is another, but Jennifer Weber’s Hip Hop

Nutcracker puts the two together like I’ve never seen. It’s deeply moving, ingeniously modern and pure magic.”

Weber is the Olivier and Emmy Awardnominated choreographer for the powerhouse cast of one dozen all-star dancers, an on-stage DJ, and an electric violinist who turn the beloved Tchaikovsky score on its head, while celebrating hip hop dance culture, love, and community.

Kurtis Blow has paved the way for generations of hip-hop artists after scoring the first certified gold record rap song in 1980, “The Breaks.” Blow is also responsible for “Christmas Rappin,” the perennial first rap holiday song. His recent heart transplant has given him new perspective on life, his fans and touring.

“It’s incredible for me to meet fans, and their kids, and their kids’ kids who love hip hop music,” says Blow. “It reminds me of

how The Nutcracker brings people of all ages together too. I hope everyone makes holiday memories for a lifetime when they come to our show.”

In The Hip Hop Nutcracker, Maria-Clara and the Nutcracker prince go on a dream adventure battling a gang of mice, visiting the land of sweets, and learning the lessons of the holiday season. Innovative digital graffiti and visuals transform the landscape of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s beloved story from traditional 19th Century Germany to the vibrant, diverse sights and sounds of a colorful and contemporary New York City.

The Hip Hop Nutcracker is an authentic expression of hip-hop dance and culture that celebrates the magic of the entire holiday season on the most inclusive holiday of them all - New Year’s Eve, a time for new beginnings.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

President Biden Sounds Warning on Omicron Variant

By Stacy M. Brown, The Washington Informer

President Joe Biden cautioned Americans not to panic as omicron, the latest COVID-19 variant, threatens to further stall recovery from the nearly two-yearold pandemic.

The President called the variant a cause for concern but not panic.

“We have the best vaccine in the world.

The best medicines, the best scientists, and we’re learning more every single day,” President Biden asserted. “And we’ll fight this variant with scientific and knowledgeable actions and speed. Not chaos and confusion.”

President Biden continued: “Look, we’re going to fight and beat this new variant as well.”

The White House earlier announced that the U.S. would restrict travel from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana,

Lesotho, Eswatini, Malawi, and Mozambique. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has already declared a state of emergency, announcing that while the omicron variant hadn’t arrived, she expects it would soon.

“We continue to see warning signs of spikes this upcoming winter, and while the new omicron variant has yet to be detected in New York State, it’s coming,” Hochul insisted.

Officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) said the Omicron coronavirus variant on Monday carried a “very high risk of infection surges.”

The WHO reportedly advised its 194 member nations that any infection surge could have severe consequences but said no deaths had yet been linked to the new variant.

“Omicron has an unprecedented number of spike mutations, some of which are concerning for their potential impact on the trajectory of the pandemic,” the orga-

nization noted in a news release.

“The overall global risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron is assessed as very high,” WHO officials stated.

South African officials reportedly first detected the new variant a week ago in Botswana, with cases confirmed in Germany, Japan, Canada, and Belgium.

The Biden administration remains hopeful while still embracing the likelihood of omicron in the United States.

“While we have said that travel restrictions can slow the speed of omicron, it cannot prevent it,” President Biden stated. “Here’s what it does: it gives us time.

It gives us time to take more action. To move quicker, to make sure people understand, you have to get the vaccine. You have to get the shot. You have to get the booster.”

All of Us: Equity is the Key to HIV Epidemic Control

By Loyce Pace, Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services

The United States government’s theme for Worlds AIDS Day 2021—Ending the HIV Epidemic: Equitable Access, Everyone’s Voice—highlights a critical moment in our domestic and global HIV/AIDS response. Colleagues from across the government will share their reflections, progress, and updates on our journey to ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. and globally.

This year’s World AIDS Day theme is particularly poignant as we currently confront the dual challenges of HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. The lessons learned from the HIV/AIDS epidemic have provided a solid foundation for the COVID-19 response.

I recall when global activists marched, protested, and advocated for greater focus on equitable access to life-saving HIV therapies. During my own experiences as a community outreach worker in Western Africa, and as an advocate in Washington D.C., I witnessed firsthand the impact of everyone’s voice to affect change.

Currently, as the Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), I have the privilege of working alongside dedicated public servants to promote more equitable access to services and ensure that the communities’ voices are heard through HHS’s respective responses to HIV/AIDS and COVID-19. These efforts are made possible by leveraging the lessons learned and best practices from existing HIV/ AIDS programs such as the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

We have made enormous progress towards achieving HIV/AIDS epidemic con-

Loyce Pace

trol in many countries around the world.

This success has been possible through a whole-of-society, whole-of-government, and whole-of-globe approach – academic institutions, civil society, governments, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and regional and global multilateral institutions have all made valuable contributions. The United States Government has played a vital role. Since the launch of PEPFAR in 2003, the program has saved more than 20 million lives around the world through support for life-saving antiretroviral therapy and other proven interventions. The United States has invested more than $100 billion to combat global HIV/AIDS through

PEPFAR and U.S. contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

However, our work is not yet complete.

Despite our progress towards achieving epidemic control, there are persistent gaps in access to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services to communities that have historically been disproportionately impacted and yet underserved, such as adolescent girls and young women, children, and key populations, such as men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people, people who inject drugs, and people who are incarcerated.

In sub-Saharan Africa, which continues to bear the greatest HIV/AIDS burden, six in seven new HIV/AIDS infections among adolescents aged 15 to 19 were among girls. Young women in sub-Saharan Africa aged 15 to 24 were twice as likely to be living with HIV/AIDS than men. Globally, in 2020, key populations and their sexual partners accounted for 65 percent of new infections.

As we have learned throughout this journey, HIV/AIDS affects everyone – and we are all in this together. Reducing HIV/ AIDS-related disparities and health inequities at home and throughout the world is a public health and moral imperative.

HHS is committed to promoting health and human rights for all people, which includes addressing stigma, discrimination and harmful policies that serve as barriers to accessing vital services.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us that we are an interconnected, interdependent global community.

Amplifying global health equity is essential to unlocking opportunity for us all. As we enter this next phase of the global HIV/ AIDS response, we must hold fast to our shared vision, purpose, and determination to end HIV/AIDS.

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with Legendary Hip Hop Pioneer

Kurtis “The Breaks” Blow A Holiday Treat for the Entire Family!

Thurs., December 23, 7:00pm

TICKETS: shubert.com • 203.562.5666 Visit or call the box office Mon–Fri Noon–6pm

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

World AIDS Day 2021: Ending the HIV Epidemic: Equitable Access, Everyone’s Voice

By, Dr. Angeli Achrekar, Acting U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Special Representative for Global Health, The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and Kaye Hayes, Executive Director, Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, and Acting Director, Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy, Office of the Assistant Annually on December 1st, we commemorate World AIDS Day and reflect upon our worldwide response to the HIV/ AIDS epidemic. This year has been especially poignant as we mark 40 years since the first five cases of what later became known as AIDS were officially reported and honor the more than 36 million people, including 700,000 in the United States, who have died from AIDS-related illness globally since the start of the epidemic.

The U.S. Government’s theme for World AIDS Day 2021—Ending the HIV Epidemic: Equitable Access, Everyone’s

Voice—highlights the Biden-Harris Administration’s strong commitment to ending the HIV epidemic globally by addressing health inequities and ensuring the voices of people with HIV are central in all our work. As we prioritize leading the COVID-19 response, including becoming an arsenal of vaccines for the world, and helping every country and community build back better, we must at the same time forge ahead, innovate, and invest in communities to end the HIV epidemic everywhere.

We have made remarkable progress in preventing and treating HIV domestically and globally. Scientific discovery has yielded HIV advances that were unavailable and even unimaginable just a decade ago, supported by people with lived experience, communities affected by HIV, and cooperation among governments, private companies, and academic and research institutions. New discoveries and innovations in HIV research, prevention, care, and treatment have contributed to

reducing new HIV transmissions and ensuring individuals with HIV can live long, healthy lives. We have taken important steps to addressing HIV stigma in communities and health care systems.

Despite this tremendous progress, our work is not finished, and the COVID-19 pandemic has threatened hard-won gains.

HIV remains a threat domestically and globally, with certain populations and regions of the country and the world bearing most of the burden – and persistent inequities serving as critical barriers – signaling where we must focus our efforts. Informed by voices from the most impacted communities, we remain deeply committed to ensuring equity in our programs, research, and policies and to serving those most in need of support.

This includes through concerted efforts to reach key affected populations, such as gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men; racial and ethnic minorities, especially Black/African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos; cisgender and

transgender women and girls; the LGBTQI+ community; those who use drugs; and other marginalized populations.

Globally, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has saved more than 20 million lives, prevented millions of HIV infections, and supported numerous countries to achieve epidemic control of HIV. Led by the U.S. Department of State, and leveraging the expertise and comparative advantages of seven other USG agencies, over the past 18 years, PEPFAR has delivered peoplecentered HIV services to millions of people in 55 countries. These efforts have only been possible because of the strong and sustained bipartisan leadership across U.S. presidents and from the U.S. Congress, and the generosity of the American people.

The Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative continues to implement community-driven solutions by addressing racial, ethnic, and geographic disCon’t on page 16

Entrepreneur and Iconic Singer Jody Watley Releases Surprise New Dance/Club Remix Album on Her Avitone Recordings Label Imprint on everything I’ve done and quality music can be freshly discovered for the first time, especially in the digital age. All of the curated selections are danceable with meaningful lyrics from the empowering “A Beautiful Life”, the thought-provoking “Clouds”, the relationship angst of “More”, the uplifting “Whenever” and the poignancy of “Not A Single Day” it’s a well-round mini collection.”

Following up on recent critically acclaimed releases, The Healing, and the Top 5 UK Soul release, Winter Nights EP, Jody Watley brings on Renderings EP – The Alex Di Ciò Remixes, a collection of uplifting songs penned by Watley and longtime collaborator Rodney Lee. The iconic singer, songwriter, producer, and respected entrepreneur is one of the architects of 21st-century pop. From her groundbreaking marriage of rap & R&B

By BlackNews.com The new Jody Watley Dance/Remix EP has arrived, just in time for the holidays and a ‘must-have’ in your playlist!

Watley recently dropped a special collection of Alex Di Ciò Dance/Club remixes to the surprise of her fans under the umbrella of her very own Avitone Recordings label imprint. Alex Di Ciò is a world-renowned producer and remixer.

When asked about the creative process behind her latest project, ‘Renderings,” Watley says, “One of the definitions of a rendering is an interpretation or translation of art that’s what I thought about as I listened to Alex’s mixes that he was inspired to do on songs from my critically acclaimed “The Makeover’ and ‘Midnight Lounge’ electronic soul fused projects. I recognize that not everyone is up

(1987’s “Friends,” a collaboration with hip-hop legends Eric B. & Rakim) to her vision-forward marriage of high fashion, street fashion, and music in the ‘80s (long before it became the norm), to her fusion of jazz and underground club culture with keen pop instincts, and the ease with which she crossed and still crosses genre, Jody Watley forged the standard that is now everybody’s playbook.

This month, she is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the release of her solo debut blockbuster single, “Looking for a New Love”. The platinum-selling single was nominated for American Music Awards, NAACP Image Awards to name a few.

The success was on a global scale becoming a hit in many countries beyond the USA, including the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Japan, and beyond.

Watley’s debut album produced three top-ten singles on the US Billboard Hot 100: “Some Kind of Lover,” large Grammy Nominated, “Looking for a New Love” and “Don’t You Want Me,” 4 Top 10 R&B Singles including “Still A Thrill: All Top 10 Hot Club Play” Singles countless nominations and subsequently garnering the Best New Artist Grammy and becoming an instant influential style template for many.

“Renderings,” the mini collection of dance mixes is now available on all digital platforms.

The limited-edition copy of Jody Watley – Renderings -The Alex Di Ciò Remixes is exclusively available at JodyWatleyShop.com Be sure to connect with Jody Watley on all her social media platforms: @jodywatley

Symone Sanders, VP Harris’ Chief Spokesperson and Senior Advisor, Plans to Leave the Administration

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent Symone Sanders, Vice President Kamala Harris’ chief spokesperson and senior advisor, plans to leave the administration later this month.

“I’m so grateful to the VP for her vote of confidence from the very beginning and the opportunity to see what can be unburdened by what has been,” Sanders wrote in a letter to Vice President Harris’ staff.

“I’m grateful for Tina [Flournoy] and her leadership and confidence as well,” Sanders continued.

“Every day, I arrived at the White House complex knowing our work made a tangible difference for Americans. I am immensely grateful and will miss working for

her and with all of you.”

In November, Ashley Etienne, who served as Vice President Harris’ communications director, also stepped down. Prominent news reports suggested major issues between the White House and Vice President Harris’ staff, but officials have dismissed such claims.

The daughter of Omaha Star Publisher Terri Sanders, Symone Sanders earned acclaim as “a champion for women.”

A seasoned political strategist, Sanders gained national prominence in 2016 as the National Press Secretary for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ then-presidential campaign.

At 25, she became the youngest presidential press secretary on record and was named to Rolling Stone Magazine’s list of 16 young Americans shaping the 2016

election.

Sanders also worked as the principal of the 360 Group LLC, providing strategic communications guidance to organizations, businesses, individuals, campaigns and candidates and helps clients find sound solutions to tough political and social problems.

According to her biography, Sanders counts as “a communicator with a passion for juvenile justice,” and served as the former chair of the Coalition of Juvenile Justice Emerging Leaders Committee and former member of the Federal Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice.

She worked diligently to raise the profile of young voices in the fight for juvenile justice reform and bring millennial perspectives to policy conversations.

14

Sanders, 31, once worked as a political commentator for CNN and served in 2018 and 2019 as a resident fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School and the University of Southern California’s Center for the Political Future respectively.

“Symone has been working at the highest levels and in an extraordinarily intense environment for three years for Joe Biden and now Vice President Harris,” Anita Dunn, a former top aide to President Joe Biden, said in a televised interview this week.

“When you look at the three years, two on the campaign, one in the White House, nobody can question her decision that she needs a break and it’s time to move on.

And she’ll always be a member of the Biden-Harris family,” Dunn asserted.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

IN MEMORIAM:

‘Godfather of Hip‑Hop Journalism’ Greg Tate Dies at 64

“This hurts,” radio host and music journalist Errol Nazareth exclaimed on Twitter. “I worshipped his writing. His book, ‘Flyboy in The Buttermilk,’ hugely impacted how I approached writing about music. And ‘Everything but the Burden: What White People Are Taking from Black Culture’ is essential,” Nazareth wrote.

Badu, Ice Cube, Jill Scott, and Chuck D. His pen went beyond politics and music, writing for prominent museums like The Whitney and the Museum of Modern Art. Of course, Tate also proved himself as a great author.

His books included “What White People Are Taking from Black Culture,” “Flyboy In The Buttermilk,” and “The 100 Best Hip Hop Lyrics.”

An active member of the Black Rock Coalition and the leader of the Burnt Sugar ensemble, Tate leaves an astounding legacy.

“Impossible to mimic, though we all tried,” Hua Hsu, author of “A Floating Chinaman” and “Stay True.”

Public Enemy founder Chuck D retweeted Nazareth’s post.

“A giant, a good and big-hearted person, the realest one,” Hsu continued.

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent

Greg Tate, the renowned godfather of hip-hop journalism, has died.

The music and culture writer, who excelled as a musician, was 64.

“Hurts indeed,” Chuck wrote in response. “Greg Tate, a giant just like you, Errol.”

In Tate’s widely popular “Flyboy in The Buttermilk,” he wrote about Ice-T, Miles Davis, Public Enemy, and others. In one of his many prolific pieces, Tate dissected the power of Chuck D.

photos: Black Enterprise and talkcelnews.com

“Those who dismiss Chuck D as a bull [crap] artist because he’s loud, pro-black, and proud will likely miss out on gifts for blues pathos and black comedy,” wrote in a 1988 piece on Public Enemy’s “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.”

“When he’s on, his rhymes can stungun your heart and militarize your funny bone,” Tate proclaimed.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, Tate wrote for The Village Voice from 1987 to 2003.

He received global acclaim for his writ-

Added Columbia Journalism Professor and New Yorker writer Jelani Cobb: “Hard to explain the impact that ‘Flyboy in the Buttermilk had on a whole generation of young writers and critics who read every page of it like scripture. It’s still a clinic on literary brilliance.”

ings on culture and politics, featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, VIBE, and many other publications.

He interviewed a who’s who of celebrities including Richard Pryor, Erykah

Robert Saulsbury

l

vi

a

CONNCORP INCUBATOR 496 NEWHALL STREET

in

DECEMBER 28 2PM-6PM

aulsb hs

y ur

coac

Basketball Invitational

tat i o n

1:30 pm - 2:30 pm Career High Vs. Eli Whitney High 3:00 pm - 4:15 pm Wilbur Cross High (Girls) Vs. Hamden High (Girls) 4:15 pm - 4:35 pm Awards Ceremony Honoring

Coach Larry S. Kelly • Mrs. Jacqueline Bracey Coach David Pringle

5:00 pm - 6:15 pm Windsor High Vs. East Hartford High 6:40 pm - 8:00 pm Wilbur Cross High Vs. Bishop Hendricken School of R.I.

Floyd Little Athletic Center

480 Sherman Ave., New Haven, CT 06511 Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021 - 1:30 pm - 8:00 pm Donation: $5.00 Students • $10.00 Adults

Proceeds to Benefit

The Robert H. Saulsbury Scholarship Fund Refreshments available for sale

Access the lot via Morse Street; entry from the parking lot.

Contact elmcitylitfest@gmail.com or call 203-850-7629

For More Info Contact: 203-376-1385

15

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

First Anti‑Critical Race Theory Complaint in Tennessee Targets Martin Luther King, Jr. Book

By Lauren Victoria Burke, NNPA Newswire Contributor A group called Moms for Liberty has filed an 11-page complaint alleging that the book “Martin Luther King Jr and the March on Washington” is “anti-American.”

The complaint is the first to be filed under Tennessee’s new anti-critical race theory law. The new law specifically targeted a book about Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement, calling it “anti-American.”

The group Moms for Liberty is in Williamson County, Tennessee. The complaint would forbid the book to be used by teachers at Williamson County Schools, a district south of Nashville, Tenn.

The Tennessee Department of Education refused the request. The department declined to investigate the allegations because the lessons referenced were not taught during the 2020-21 academic school year.

“The relentless nature of how these divisive stories are taught, the lack of historical context and difference in perspective, and the manipulative pedagogy all work together to amplify and sow feelings of

resentment, shame of one’s skin color, and/or fear,” the complaint from Moms for Liberty read.

Moms for Liberty protested a photo of segregated water fountains and images showing Black children being blasted with water by firefighters during the civil rights movement.

Though “critical race theory” is a part of college level curriculum at law schools, the term has become a wide-ranging catch all in conservative circles. Many have loosely defined to mean any curriculum that includes efforts towards greater di-

versity and equity as well as discussions about how exclusion and bigotry has played a role in the shaping of American history and present-day events.

“Critical race theory” gained energy as an answer to the publication of the New York Times’ 1619 Project by journalist Nicole Hannah Jones. That project greatly centered the history of African Americans and the impact of slavery in American history, politics and culture.

On November 19 in New Hampshire, the New Hampshire Department of Education made it easier for citizens to help en-

First Six of One Hundred and Seventy‑Five Students on the Ladder to Leadership WASHINGTON, D.C. – This Fall, six students from four colleges lived at the HBCU National Center on Capitol Hill whilst completing internships for distinguished members of Congress.

The Center was established in 2021 to foster experiential learning, mentorship, and networking for students attending historically black colleges and universities.

The Foundation awards each participating school at least one $5,600 housing grant per academic semester to address lack of diversity in the intern population and structural inequity of housing costs by getting next generation leaders to the resource ladder in Washington— and then, getting them up on it. In addition to the housing grant, the Center assists in placing the participating students in an internship and connects them with a local alumni mentor.

At the Center, the inaugural class of students participated in professional development activities which included a reception for Delegate Briana Sewell, tour with president of the National Press Club and AP, Speaker Series with Rep. Cheri Bustos, and Career Night, among others.

Graduating in the inaugural class are following students: • Anyiah Chambers, Kentucky State University, interning in the office of Congresswoman Nanette Barragán • Brionna Greer, Kentucky State University, interning in the office of Congressman Jim McGovern • Nina Jones, Kentucky State University, interning in the office of Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan

• Deja Mayfield, North Carolina A&T State University, interning in the office of Congresswoman Alma Adams • Malik Singleton, Harris-Stowe State University, interning in the office of Congresswoman Karen Bass • Kyle West, Grambling State University, interning in the office of Senator Tom Carper The Center was founded to provide students from underserved schools with resources that make an internship in Washington, D.C. affordable, access to career development opportunities, and a helping hand to the first step on the ladder.

Six students now return to campus to promote their professional experience to others.

ABOUT THE FOUNDATION: The HBCU National Center Foundation was established with a gift of $1M

by Honorable Jacqueline Lewis, educator and philanthropist. 30 years ago, Lewis founded Washington Intern Student Housing (WISH) and set up foundations to help struggling students.

This year, Lewis was inspired by President Biden’s call for diversity in the Federal Government and Mackenzie Scott’s gifts to underfunded schools. This initial gift provides for 175 students to participate. For additional information, visit HBCUNC.org.

Pictured above (left to right): Kyle West, Grambling State University; Nina Jones, Kentucky State University; Anyiah Chambers, Kentucky State University; Dayna Kent, United Negro College Fund; Malik Singleton, Harris-Stowe State University; Deja Mayfield, North Carolina A&T State University; Brionna Greer, Kentucky State University

16

force a law passed during the summer that restricts how teachers can discuss race with an online questionnaire to prompt investigations.

The state chapter of Moms for Liberty added a cash reward of $500 for those reporting violations.

Lauren Victoria Burke is an independent journalist and the host of the podcast BURKEFILE. She is a political analyst who appears regularly on #RolandMartinUnfiltered. She may be contacted at LBurke007@gmail.com and on twitter at @LVBurke Con’t from page 14

Equitable Access, Everyone’s Voice parities that continue to impact people’s lives. The Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP) continues to work with partners to create and implement programs, tools, and funding to help communities address HIV. OIDP’s new HIV Viral Suppression national campaign will work with communities to spread messages related to individual and community benefits of HIV care. “Messages related to viral suppression and Undetectable = Untransmittable are powerful tools to fight misinformation and to counter the HIV stigma that continues to persist in the U.S. and around the world,” says Dr. Timothy Harrison, Deputy Director for Strategic Initiatives and Senior Policy Advisor, OIDP. As the World AIDS Day theme reminds us, to end HIV domestically and globally, the U.S. government cannot act alone. We will continue to strengthen our relationships with community-based organizations; networks of people with HIV; clinicians and researchers; and state, local, and foreign governments and support innovations that address individual, community, and structural factors and inequities that drive the HIV epidemic. Critically, we will ensure that people with lived experience are valued and at the center of the planning, development, and implementation of our efforts.

On this day, as we reflect on those we have lost to AIDS and we honor the nearly 38 million people living with HIV, we renew our commitment to work with our diverse stakeholder communities to end the HIV epidemic across the United States and around the world.

Con’t from page 08

Takes Flight

Career High School, Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School, Riverside Academy, Conte West Hills Magnet School and Edgewood Magnet School all received threats. Assistant Schools Superintendent Paul Whyte said that there will be additional emotional support staff present for students and faculty in the coming days.

As of Monday afternoon, Dominguez said that the 911 caller, a 17-year-old Wilbur Cross High School student, has been arrested for a breach of peace and interference. New Haven Police also found that three of the Instagram posts came from a juvenile in a separate state. The department is still investigating multiple social media posts and one email message.

“At this time, we have not found that any of those threats are credible,” Elicker said. “We take things very seriously ... and cherish the safety of our young people and the people who are working in our schools.”

“I want to be clear that when someone makes this kind of threat, it is illegal, you will be arrested, and we will find you,” he added. “It creates a significant amount of trauma in a community that is already quite traumatized.”

Con’t from page 09

Metal Detectors

confide in their favorite gym teacher rather than unknown counselors.

But, Powers said of school administration, “I honestly do believe they’re trying their best.”

Jenkins, who expressed skepticism about security guards dividing kids by assumed gender, agreed that those in charge were at least doing so in hopes of protecting students, not consciously perpetuating intentional harm against minorities.

They all praised Nadine Gannon, saying that she sent out a Google form after the threats allowing students to select whether or not they would want to meet with a counselor, including an option to do so “in a few days” rather than immediately.

“She’s listening to us,” Powers said.

More importantly, he added, Gannon was being real with them. “I’ll be honest,” Powers said Gannon wrote in a letter to the students. “I don’t have all the solutions.”

Alongside her self-produced instructive video showing school staff going through the metal detecting process, which Powers said reminded him of a Kesha music video, Gannon’s statement of vulnerability made Powers actually feel safer. He liked knowing that Hamden High teachers, staff, and leadership were grappling with changing circumstances rather than just giving into parents’ lobbying for severe changes.

Gannon’s confession invited students into the process and made space for their perspectives. An it confirmed their gut recognition that “there really is no perfect solution,” as Powers put it, just as all human beings — even those in positions of authority — are flawed individuals.

INNER-CITY NEWS July 27,15 2016 THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December , 2021 - December 21, 2021 - August 02, 2016

ELM CITY NOTICE COMMUNITIES

MECHANIC TRACTOR TRAILER

Request for Proposals

Apply:Pace, 1425 Honeyspot

HOME INC, on behalf ofisColumbus House and the New Authority, Elm City Communities currently seeking proposals for Haven residentHousing owned business is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom at this develsupport services.

A complete copy of the requirement may beapartments obtained from Elm City opment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven.

Maximum income limitations apCommunities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesysply. Pre-applications willtems.com/gateway be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y beginning on 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon re20, 2021 3:00PM. quest by callingMonday, HOME INCDecember at 203-562-4663 duringatthose hours. Completed preapplications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

THE GLENDOWER GROUP NOTICIA

forALQUILER Qualifi cations VALENTINA MACRI Request VIVIENDAS DE PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

Project Architect for the Repositioning of Elm City Communities Scattered Sites Properties

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 The Glendower Group is currently seeking Proposals for ap.m. project architectMartes for the25 remáximos.

Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 comenzando positioning Elmcuando City Communities properties. (aproximadamente A complete copy of the julio, 2016of hasta se han recibidoscattered suficientessites pre-solicitudes 100) requirement maydebeHOME obtained Collaboration Portal https:// en las oficinas INC.from Las Glendower’s pre-solicitudesVendor serán enviadas por correo a petición newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on deberán remitirse llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .

Monday, September 27, 2021 at 3:00PM.

Rd. Ext., Stratford, CT EOE

Town of Bloomfield

TO THE CITIZENS OF NEW HAVEN: The City of New Haven will initiate the funding application process for its 2022-2023 Consolidated Plan for Housing and Community Development Programs – utilizing US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnership (HOME), Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funding.

This year the application process will occur online through the City’s Bonfire portal. To begin the process the city will be hosting a public informational meeting via Zoom on:

Administrative Clerk

Tuesday, December 7, 2021 at 10:30am

Salary $32.78 hourly Deadline to apply 12/22/21 Pre‑employment drug testing.

AA/EOE. For Details go to www. bloomfieldct.org

Links to the Zoom meeting specifics, as well as the applications for funding can be found on the City’s website at www.newhavenct.gov.

Attendance at the informational meeting is not mandatory but strongly encouraged. Meeting materials and links to application materials and funding criteria will be posted on the city website at www.newhavenct.gov

by December 9, 2021. Applications will be due Tuesday January 11, 2022 by 5:00pm EST. Applicants must be certified 501(c)3 agencies working in New Haven to apply for funding, but all interested individuals are welcome to attend the informational meeting.

Technical Assistance will be available to all applicants throughout the application process. If assistance is needed to access the online application or to attend the informational meeting please contact Mr. Ron Gizzi at conplanapp@newhavenct.gov

DRIVER CDL CLASS A

Justin Elicker, Mayor

Full Time – All Shifts Top

Pay-Full Benefits

EOE Please apply in person: 1425 Honeyspot Rd. Ext. Stratford, CT 06615

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

NEW HAVEN

Listing: Commercial Driver

Full time Class A driver for petroleum deliveries for nights and weekends. Previous experience required. Competitive wage, 401(k) and benefits. Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437. ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**********

to Bid: APPLY NOW!Invitation 2 Notice

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

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!"#$%&'&(")*&+','*"+(,+-('.&(/,)&&)($)&$,),'*"+(/"0)1&1(2"0( +&&-(3")(2"0)('),*+*+45(,%%("+%*+&6(7.&+(8"*+(01("+(/,#$01('"(4&'( '.&(.,+-19"+(&:$&)*&+/&(2"0(+&&-(3")(,(10//&1130%(/,)&&)6(;0)*+4( !"#$%&$'(%)*%+,!'%"-%"./0.1%/1,$.0.23%!"#%40//5 All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95

December 4, 2021

NOTICE OF THE 2022‑2023 CONSOLIDATED PLAN APPLICATION PROCESS

Full Time, Benefits, Top Pay

VALENTINA MACRI RENTALBusiness HOUSING PRE-Support APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Resident Owned Services

TOWN OF EAST HAVEN

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATOR Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Old Saybrook, CT GRANTS AND BUDGET COORDINATOR

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

highways, near bus !" #$%$&'$"())"*+$"*$%+",$(-".$$/$/ ! #$%$&'$"())"*+$"*$%+",$(-".$$/$/" !" !

Publication Date:

stop & shopping center Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 0$(-."*+$"1(2&%2"34"*+$"531"63-72"7-3,-(894-38"" 0$(-."*+$"1(2&%2"34"*+$"531"63-72"7-3,-(894-38"

(4 Buildings, 17 Units) TheWage Town of East Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Rate ProjectHaven seeks qualified candidates to fill 2 positions:

Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

+(./2:3."*-(&.&.,"*3"%(87;2")&4$"(./"83-$" +(./2:3."*-(&.&.,"*3"%(87;2")&4$"(./"83-$ !" <./$-2*(./"=3;-"-3)$2"(./"-$273.2&1&)&*&$2" <./$-2*(./"=3;-"-3)$2"(./"-$273.2&1&)&*&$2"" !

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s (2"("531"63-72"2*;/$.*" (2"("531"63-72"2*;/$.*

Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30!" 63..$%*">&*+"3*+$-"2*;/$.*2"(./"2*(44" 63..$%*">&*+"3*+$-"2*;/$.*2"(./"2*(44"" !

3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. >+38"=3;?))"8$$*"3."%(87;2" >+38"=3;?))"8$$*"3."%(87;2 (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

!" @&2%3'$-"*+$"-$23;-%$2"('(&)(1)$" @&2%3'$-"*+$"-$23;-%$2"('(&)(1)$"" !

St. New Haven, CT *3"=3;"ABCD

Grants and Budget Coordinator: This is a highly responsible position involving the DPW Truck Driver New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, accurate record keepingSite-work, of Grants,CastLoCip and other special and Capital Funds for the in-place Concrete, AsphaltTown.

Shingles, VinyledSiding, Qualifi candidates should possess a Bachelor's Degree in business adminFull‑time position istration or accounting or aCasework, minimum of five (5) years' experience in an accounting, Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential municipal finance office or bookkeeping setting. Must have valid class 3 Connecticut Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

Driver's License. The salary for this position is $52,963/year, 35 hours per week and This contract is subject to state set-aside the andTown contract compliance requirements.

Go to www.portlandct. offers an excellent benefit package.

org for details

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY Sealed !"#$%"&'($C/8'($1/0206/1%7)8%(9$"#29%:;8!1,$8"/+'%21(%(91%'<0//'%,.+% bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour &-0/,'*"+('.&2(+&&-(3")(,(10//&1130%(30'0)&,$P)0C$"=1$%7**%($,0.0.2% until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016.,+-19"+('),*+*+45('""%15(,+-( at its office at 28 Smith Street, ,)&,1Q$0C/$'&"<&*1$'&"@)?/($:"7$B)0C$0C/$.,+-19"+('),*+*+45('""%15(,+-( ,)&,1Q$0C/$'&"<&*1$'&"@)?/($:"7$B)0C$0C/$ Q$0C/$'&"<&*1$'&"@)?/($:"7$B)0C$0C/$.,+-19"+('),*+*+45('""%15(,+-( '&/.+"%"42('"($0)10&(2"0)(-&1*)&-(/,)&&),$! '&/.+"%"42('"($0)10&(2"0)(-&1*)&-(/,)&&),$ Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the !

Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour. %"22/A0$B)0C$*2$*?1)(()"2($A"72(/8"&$0"$?)(A7(($C"B$:"7$A*2$(0*&0$! %"22/A0$B)0C$*2$*?1)(()"2($A"72(/8"&$0"$?)(A7(($C"B$:"7$A*2$(0*&0$ !"#$%"&'($@)&07*88:,

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith !"#$%&'(%&)"*+&,+(-./&0(%&'"/%&1#&%2(&/2*34(5 Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. !"#$%#&'#"($)*(&+,$$EFGGH"DII:5JKL"MNOADP"3-"53163-72Q,3' !"#$%#&'#"($)*(&+,$$

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Office, 28 !"#$$#% Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. &$'()*+$#$ !"#$%"&'($)($*$+,-,$./'*&01/20$"3$4*#"&$567*8$9''"&072)0:$51'8":/&$;&"<&*1,$=7>)8)*&:$*)?($*2?$(/&@)A/($*&/$*@*)8*#8/$ 7'"2$&/67/(0$0"$)2?)@)?7*8($B)0C$?)(*#)8)0)/(,$D..EDDF$0/8/'C"2/$271#/&$)($GHIIJ$HHKLMNOI,

!"#$%

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

Information Administrator: This is a highly responsible position that Extended, Due Date: August 5,Technology 2016 Deadline to applyBid is 12/17/21 oversees the development, implementation and use of technology throughout the Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 town. Qualified candidates should possess a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science Project documents available via ftp link or a related fieldbelow: from an accredited college or university and five (5) years of progreshttp://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage sively responsible information technology experience including at least 4 years in a supervisory capacity, or an equivalent combination of training and qualifying experiSeeking qualified condidates to ence substituting on a year-for-year basis. Must have valid class 3 Connecticut Driver's Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com fill numerous vacancies to insalary for this position is $75,235/year, 35 hours per week (flex hours) HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran,License.

S/W/MBE &The Section 3 Certified Businesses clude, DeputyHaynes Assessor, Mechanic and theAve, Town offersCTan excellent benefit package.

Construction Company, 32 Progress Seymour, 06483

CITY OF MILFORD

Sewer Line, Public Health Nurse AA/EEO EMPLOYER Please send cover letter and resume to: Town of East Haven, Michelle Benivegna, Huand more. For information and man Resource Department, 250 Main Street, East Haven, CT 06512 or MBenivegna@ detailed application instructions, townofeasthavenct.org. Deadline December 17, 2021. The Town of East Haven is visit www.ci.milford.ct.us committed to building a work force of diverse individuals. Minorities, females, handiClick on SERVICES, JOBS and capped and veterans are encouraged to apply. The Town of East Haven is an equal JOB TITLE. opportunity employer.

17

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

360 MANAGEMENT GROUP COMPANY NOTICE

Invitation for Bid Snow Removal Services

VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE

360 Management Group Co. is currently seeking bids for snow removal services. A complete copy on of behalf the requirement mayHouse be obtained Management’s Vendor HOME INC, of Columbus and thefrom New 360 Haven Housing Authority, Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beis accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develginning onlocated at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apopment

ply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y Monday, 25, 2021 at 3:00PM. 25, 2016 and ending when October 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.

Full time Class A driver for petroleum deliveries for nights and weekends. Previous experience required. Competitive wage, 401(k) and benefits. Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437.

Listing: Commercial Driver

NEW ISSUE $800,000,000* State of Connecticut

General Obligation Bonds (2022 Series A) General Obligation Bonds (2022 Series B) (Social Bonds) Preliminary Pricing Dates Retail Order Period: Monday, December 13, 2021* Institutional Pricing: Tuesday, December 14, 2021* Closing Date: Thursday, January 6, 2022* Expected Tax Status** Interest on the Bonds is exempt from State taxes for Connecticut residents; interest on the Bonds is federally tax-exempt For more information on these Bonds, including the Preliminary Official Statement, please visit www.BuyCTBonds.com or contact any of the firms below

Senior Underwriter

NOTICIA

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**********

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

THE GLENDOWER GROUP

Request for Proposals Lender/Investor for Scattered Sites

The Glendower Group is currently seeking proposals for a lender/investor for Scattered Sites. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Glendower’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway

beginning on Monday, December 6, 2021 at 3:00PM.

NEW HAVEN

242-258 Fairmont Ave Listing: Risk Safety 2BR Townhouse,and 1.5 BA, 3BR, 1 Manager level , 1BA

All new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 Petroleum company has a need for a full time Risk and Safety Manhighways, near bus stop & shopping center ager. Schedule includes weekends and night coverage. Job requires Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested parties contact Maria instate travel throughout the week.

Candidate must@be860-985-8258 detail oriented, have a strong logistics background, knowledgeable in OSHA, DOT, CT. Unified Deacon’s Association isPrevious pleased to offer a Deacon’s EPA, WC regulations. petroleum, transportation or manageCertificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. cost is $125.

Saturday, August 2016 1:30ment experience a plus.

SendTheresume to:Classes HRstart Manager, P.O.20,Box 388, 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. Guilford, CT. (203) 996-4517 Host,06437.

General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster St. New Haven, CT

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

******

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY 360 MANAGEMENT GROUP COMPANY 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 06483Invitation for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement at the for Bid Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour.

Snow Removal Services

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith 360 Management Group Co. is currently seeking bids for snow removal Street Seymour, CT atcopy 10:00ofam, Wednesday,may Julybe 20,obtained 2016. from 360 services.

A complete theon requirement Management’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.

cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housingon Authority Office, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579.

Monday, December 6, 2021 at 3:00PM.

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

Barclays 212-528-1115 Co-Senior Underwriters Jefferies 800-567-8567

Ramirez & Co., Inc. 800-888-4086

Stifel 800-679-5446

Co-Managing Underwriters American Veterans Group, PBC 646-933-8387 AmeriVet Securities. Inc. 646-809-6940 Baird 800-792-2473

REQUEST FOR BIDS Sale of Surplus Rolling Stock

Bancroft Capital 484-546-8000 BofA Securities 888-768-6999 Citigroup 855-644-7252 FHN Financial Capital Markets 800-934-8025

New Haven, Connecticut

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC 917-343-7900 Janney Montgomery Scott 800-822-2014 Mesirow Financial, Inc. 800-558-7290

New Haven Parking Authority Project #22-020 Bids due December 21, 2021 at 3:00 P.M.

Invitation to Bid: Bid Documents will be available beginning December 9, 2021 at no cost by emailing Fortunata 2nd Notice Houde, Executive Secretary at fhoude@nhparking.com .

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE New Haven Parking Authority is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer.

Morgan Stanley 203-967-7001

Old Saybrook, CT (4 Buildings, 17 Units) Piper Sandler & Co. 800-552-0614 Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project Construction Workforce Needed Experienced

Multi-Bank Securities, Inc. 888-857-6963

PNC Capital Markets 800-622-7086

Site Laborers - Min 3yrs Exp RaymondWood James Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastNew Construction, 877-295-9116 Hvy Equipment Operator in-place Roberts & Ryan Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, 5+yrs Exp & Versatile 866-884-9959 Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, CDL Drivers (A&B) 5yrs Exp moving/hauling Hvy Eq over road UBS 860-727-1527 Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

HazMat/Tanker Endorsement Encouraged to Apply Bank, N.A. This contractUMB is subject to state set-aside and contract Workingcompliance Foremanrequirements.

– 3yrs Exp w/HazWoper & Conf Space Entry 888-718-1556 Wells Fargo Bank, National Association Proof of Current Credentials when applying 866-287-3221 Bid Extended, Due Date:Drivers August 5,License, 2016 OSHA 10, OSHA 40 HazWoper, Confined Space Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 No Phone Calls – No In-Person Application Project documents available via ftp linkEmail below: resume to: careers@ciscoenv.com http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage Cisco LLC - 525 Ella Grasso Blvd, New Haven, CT 06519 We are an Equal Opportunity Employer/AA

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 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.

*Preliminary, subject to change. **Before purchasing any Bonds, contact your tax advisor to determine any applicable federal, state and local tax consequences. These Bonds may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the Official Statement delivered in final form. Under no circumstances shall this announcement constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of the Bonds in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities law in any such jurisdiction. Bonds are subject to availability. The Bonds will only be sold by means of an Official Statement.

18

Listing: Commercial Driver ********An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer**********

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December , 2021 - December 21, 2021 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27,152016 - August 02, 2016

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Listing: HVAC Technician

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory Fast paced Petroleum Company is hiring for a full time, CT training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield CT HVAC Technician. License required – S-10,S-2 or S-1. ApWe offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits plicant must have experience in oil, propane, natural gas and Contact: Tom Dunay VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE A/C. Competitive wage, 401(k), sign on bonus and benefits.

Send resume to: Attn: HR Manager, Confidential, PO Box 388, Phone: 860‑ 243‑2300 HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Guilford,Authority, CT 06437.

Email: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develWomen & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Affirmative opment locatedAction/ at 108 Frank New Haven.

Maximum income**An limitations ap- Action/Equal Opportunity Employer** Affirmative EqualStreet, Opportunity Employer ply. 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 reGarrity Asphalt Incduring seeks: CT Fence quest by calling HOMEReclaiming, INC at 203-562-4663 those hours.Large Completed pre- Company looking for an individual for our Reclaimer Operators and Milling Operators with current licensing PVC Fence Production Shop. Experience preferred but will applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third and clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the Northtrain the right person. Must be familiar with carpentry hand Floor, New Haven, CT 06510. east & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits & 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 poContact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860‑ 243‑2300 sition. Duties include building fence panels, posts, gates and Email: rick.touMust have a valid CT driver’s license & be able to obtain signant@garrityasphalt.com VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDESmore.

DISPONIBLES a Drivers Medical Card. Must be able to pass a physical and Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply drug test. Please email resume to pboucher@atlasoutdoor.com.

Affirmative Action/deEqual Opportunity HOME INC, en nombre la Columbus House y Employer de la New Haven Housing Authority, está AA/EOE-MF 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 Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipjulio,Must 2016have hastaacuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes ment.

CDL License, clean driving record, capable of (aproximadamente 100) en las oficinas HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas porSeeking correo atopetición operating heavyde equipment; be willing to travel throughout the employ experienced individuals in the labor, foreman, llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberánand remitirse Northeast & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits operator teamster trades for a heavy outside work statewide. a las oficinas de HOME INC en 171 Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT personal 06510 . transportation and a valid drivers license reReliable

NOTICE

PVC FENCE PRODUCTION

NOTICIA

Union Company seeks:

Contact Dana at 860‑243‑2300

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

NEW HAVEN

Construction

quired. To apply please call (860) 621-1720 or send resume to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

LEGAL NOTICE INVITATION TO BID WELLINGTON AT MADISON MINORITY CONTRACTOR OPPORTUNITY – Wellington at Madison, Madison, CT SOLICITATION OF SBE/MBE CONTRACTORS: Enterprise Builders, Inc., an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, seeks certified SBE/MBE Subcontractors and/or suppliers and local business enterprises to bid applicable sections of work/equipment/ supplies for the following construction project: Wellington at Madison, Madison, CT. This project consist of new construction of 23 units spread across 4 buildings as well as a new clubhouse and renovations of 1 existing historic building consisting of 4 units.

Anticipated start date is 2023. Bid Date and Time: 12/15/2021 by 4:00PM. Electronic Plans and specifications can be obtained at no charge by contacting the Estimating Department at Enterprise Builders at (860) 466-5188 or by email to jcaporiccio@enterbuilders.com. Project is Taxable and Prevailing Wage (Residential) applies. This project is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements. EBI encourages the participation of certified SBE/MBE contractors. EBI is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

THE GLENDOWER GROUP, INC. Request for Proposals Construction Manager at Risk for the Redevelopment of Elm City Communities Scattered Sites Properties The Glendower Group, Inc. is currently seeking proposals for Construction Manager at Risk for the Redevelopment of Elm City Communities Scattered Sites Properties. A complete copy of the requirement may be obtained from Glendower’s Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway

beginning on Monday, November 29, 2021 at 3:00PM.

Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V

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

We allhighways, have near bus stop & shopping center

DREAMS.

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

Drug Free Workforce

Invitation to Bid: State of Connecticut 2nd Notice Office of Policy and Management

Let Job Corps help you achieve yours.

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

St. New Haven, CT

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour Now enrolling! until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, August 2, 2016 Tuition-free at its officecareer at 28training Smith Street, school programs Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk High Repairs anddiploma Replacement at the College credit opportunities Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility,Housing, 26 Smith Street Seymour. meals and medical care provided

A pre-bid conference will be held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith For more information, visit jobcorps.gov or call (800) 733-JOBS [5627] Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

New Haven County - Jesselica Rodriguez – Rodriguez.Jesselica@JobCorps.org !"#$%&'(")*+,$*-+#".&/$*0(1,)2*3*4&//2*0(,,&"*5*Conner.Kelly@JobCorps.org Waterbury and Surrounding Areas – Abdul Shabazz – Shabazz.Abdul@JobCorps.org

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

Job Corps is a U.S. Department of Labor Equal Opportunity Employer Program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. TDD/TTY telephone number is (877) 889-5627.

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

The Bristol Housing Authority is developing its 2022-2026 Agency Plan in com-

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE pliance with the HUD Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998. A

PublicCTHearing will be held by telephone conference (due to public health and Old Saybrook, safety concerns) on February 1, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. Dial-in Number: (929) 205The State of Connecticut, Office(4ofBuildings, 17 Units) 6099 / Meeting ID: 872 5656 1104 / Participant ID: (just press #) / Passcode: Policy and Management is recruiting Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage An Ratein-person Project meeting may replace the telephone conference should 983639. for a Staff Attorney 1 (confidential) position.

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:303:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, D.D. Pastor of Pitts Chapel U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster

Notice of Public Hearing

government guidelines permit – such a change will be duly posted.

New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, Site-work, CastFurther information regarding the duties, eligibility requirements and Concrete, applicationAsphaltInformation is available in-place Shingles, Vinyl Siding, for review and inspection at Bristol Housing Authority, instructions are available at: 164 Jerome Ave., Bristol, CT during regular business hours.

Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, https://www.jobapscloud.com/ Please call (860) 582-6313 for an appointment.

Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?R1 =211124&R2=1637CR&R3=001 This contract is subject to state set-aside and contract compliance requirements.

Certified Police Officer

The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encouragesBid the Extended, applications Due Date: August 5, 2016 of women, minorities, and persons Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 with disabilities.

The via Town ofbelow: Wallingford is currently accepting applications for curProject documents available ftp link rent Connecticut P.O.S.T.C Certified Police Officers. Applicants must http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage be active P.O.S.T.C Certified Police Officers in good standing with QSR STEEL CORPORATION their current department, or have retired in good standing, still having Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran,a S/W/MBE Certified Businesses current& Section certifi3 cation status with P.O.S.T.C. This Process will consist Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, 06483 of Written, Oral,CTPolygraph, Psychological, Medical Exam, and BackSteel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders AA/EEO EMPLOYER ground Investigation.

The Town of Wallingford offers a competitive Top pay for top performers. Health pay rate $73,569.60- $ 81,619.20 annually. Application deadline will Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. be January 6, 2022 Apply: www.policeapp.com to complete the apEmail Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT plication process. EOE. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

APPLY NOW!

19

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - December 15, 2021 - December 21, 2021

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Offer requires enrollment in both automatic payments and paperless billing. Must enroll within 30 days of placing the order. Without enrollment, the monthly service charge automatically increases by $10. The automatic payment and paperless billing discount is for a period of 24 months and will appear on the bill within 30 days of enrolling. If either automatic payments or paperless billing are subsequently canceled during the 24-month term, or if services are added or Internet tier changes, the $10 monthly discount will be removed automatically. Ends 12/21/21. Restrictions apply. Not available in all areas. New residential customers only. Limited to Performance Internet service. Early termination fee applies if all Xfinity services (except Xfinity Mobile) are canceled during the agreement term. Guaranteed rate applies to monthly recurring service charge. Includes standard installation on up to four outlets. Equipment, non-standard installation, taxes and fees, and other applicable charges extra, and subject to change during and after agreement term. After term contract, regular charges apply. Comcast’s service charge for Performance Internet is $80.95/mo. and Blast! Internet is $100.95/mo. (subj. to change). Service limited to a single outlet. May not be combined with other offers. Internet: Actual speeds vary and not guaranteed. For factors affecting speed visit www.xfinity. com/networkmanagement. 4x speed comparison based on monthly recurring charge for Xfinity Performance Internet 100 Mbps and Xfinity Blast! Internet 400 Mbps with discount for adding new Xfinity Mobile Unlimited line. Must sign up for Xfinity Mobile and activate a new line within 90 days of Internet order and maintain the line to receive mobile discount for 24 months. Discount will appear on your Internet bill within 30 days of Xfinity Mobile activation.

Must keep one line of Xfinity Mobile with Unlimited data and Blast! Xfinity Internet service for 24 months to receive $30/mo. discount. If you cancel Xfinity Mobile or change to By the Gig data, or cancel Blast! Internet, or Blast! Internet is downgraded within 24 months, you will no longer receive the Xfinity Mobile discount. Xfinity Mobile: Requires residential post-pay Xfinity Internet. Line limitations may apply. For Xfinity Mobile Broadband Disclosures visit: www. xfinity.com/mobile/policies/broadband-disclosures. Call for restrictions and complete details. © 2021 Comcast. All rights reserved. NPA238717-0001 V14

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11/24/21 10:20 AM