The Inner City News

INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

2024’s CT Kid Governor Hopes To Encourage Students To Get Fit

by Coral Aponte CTNewsJunkie

Cristiano Almeida, a Southington 5th grader, took his oath of office as the ninth Kid Governor for the state of Connecticut. Alongside him were six new Cabinet members who were also inaugurated today at Connecticut’s Old State House.

Almeida’s campaign platform is physical activity, where he hopes he can encourage more kids to be active. In his inaugural speech he went over his three point plan: develop a fit-coins program where kids can get recognized for doing physical activity, create a YouTube channel with fitness videos called FIT4FUNKIDZ, and coordinate a poster contest that highlights fitness tips.

“I believe that making fitness fun and accessible is the key to inspiring a generation of healthy individuals. Let’s get moving together.” said Almeida in his inaugural speech.

Joining in on the ceremony was Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas, state Sen. Rob Sampson, R-Wolcott, Attorney General William Tong, Education Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker, Connecticut Supreme Court Justice Steven Ecker, and state Representative Chris Poulos.

Southington school board members along with teachers, and students from Almeida’s school were also there to sup-

port him.

Almeida was first elected by his fellow 5th graders at Zaya Oshana Elementary School. He created a campaign video that went head to head with other 5th grade nominees in the state. In November, it was announced that he would be named the Kid Governor for 2024.

Kid Governor is a statewide program that began in 2015 through which 5th graders have the opportunity to nominate a student from their school. It was created by the Connecticut Democracy Center and works closely with CTHumanities. Some 9,900 Connecticut 5th graders from 340 classes and 160 schools take part in the program.

They then all vote in a statewide election. Students watch the campaign videos of the final seven candidates and then cast their vote for who they want to be the next Kid Governor. Whoever gets the most votes becomes the next Kid Governor and the other six are a part of their Cabinet. They can only serve for a one-year term.

Almeida’s Cabinet members each offered their own campaign platforms: • Alexa Adgers, a New Britain resident who attends Renzulli Academy in Hartford,focused her campaign on mental and physical wellbeing.

• Clare Perreault, who attends Gainfield Elementary School in Southbury, focused on hobbies that bring you hap-

Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas, left, prepares to hand a sash to the state’s new Kid Governor for 2024, Cristiano Almeida, of Southington, right. His parents and young siblings are in the background. Credit: Coral Aponte / CTNewsJunkie

piness.

• Dahna Lara, who attends Grove J. Tuttle Elementary School in East Haven, did her campaign on littering.

• Ella Hawkins, who lives in New Britain but attends CREC Ana Grace Academy of the Arts in Bloomfield, campaigned against bullying.

• Max Parisi, who attends East Haven Academy in East Haven, campaigned on internet safety.

• Paula Sanchez-Barreto, who attends Ivy Drive School in Bristol, focused her platform on diversity and inclusion.

In a press conference with his cabinet members, Almeida said he is excited to be working with all of them to help build upon their ideas.

Elisavet (Ellie) Mendez, the 2023 Kid Governor from Monroe, gave a farewell speech at the inauguration. She met with Almedia in a transition meeting after he was elected in November. Almeida said Mendez had told him that she hopes he would spread the word about the Kid Governor program to get more young people involved. Mendez’s campaign focused on mental health and expressing your feelings.

The ceremony was live streamed and after there was an educational program that highlighted the three different branches of government. It also featured Almeida and his cabinet.

City Puts Radon On The Radar

by NORA GRACE-FLOOD The new haven independent Monique Ricks can breathe easy — now that she’s sure her home is radon free.

She found that out thanks to the Healthy Homes Program, a federal initiative that has sent money into cities like New Haven to make repairs and improvements to eligible housing stock.

City officials gathered outside Ricks’ Truman Street home Monday to publicize that program while emphasizing the importance of radon testing amid “National Radon Awareness Week.”

New Haven’s Health Department is distributing 50 free do-it-yourself radon testing kits as well as professional inspections until the money runs out.

Radon is an odorless, invisible, radioactive gas that’s naturally released from rocks, soil and water. It can enter buildings through cracks in walls or foundations and cause health issues like lung cancer among people who experience chronic exposure to radioactive buildup.

“I had a radon test done when I first got the house,” Ricks, who moved into her place 20 years ago, recalled. “Then I just

NORA GRACE-FLOOD PHOTO Monique Ricks on her Healthy Homes-funded porch: Don't forget to remember about radon. The city is distributing 50 free test kits this week.

never thought about it again.”

The city reminded her of radon’s potential dangers when she applied for assistance

Margaret Conable shows off various radon testing methods, such as at-home charcoal canister kits which are sent into laboratories for analysis.

from the Healthy Homes Program. Ricks learned about the program from a flyer her son brought home from Roberto Cle-

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mente elementary.

Ricks received a $10,000 grant, which allowed her to replace the broken porch leading up to her door, reseal some drafty windows, and allow a professional to test the radon levels in her basement. Fortunately, she was in the clear.

Many are not so lucky. Given the gas’ sneaky properties, many never realize the presence of the gas in their homes – which in turn increases their likelihood of becoming one of the nation’s 21,000 individuals to die of lung cancer related to radon exposure. Radon is considered the second leading cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking.

New Haveners can pick up free radon testing kits at the city’s libraries and other locations over the course of this week.

(Check out the schedule here or above to find out when and where.) The city has only 40 to 50 kits, which usually sell for around $30, available for free. Other residents, so long as they make under 80 percent of the applicable area median income (calculate whether you make the cut based on household size here), can apply for professional radon inspections

through the Healthy Homes Program.

Learn more and apply for that here.

Homeowners or landlords can receive up to $10,000 to address housing-related hazards, which can mean making structural improvements to the home or testing for and remediating issues like mold, asthma triggers, carbon monoxide, pesticides, and, of course, radon. Radon remediation can cost thousands of dollars.

Amid the city’s affordable housing crisis, Mayor Justin Elicker said Monday that the Healthy Homes Initiative, which has brought $2 million into New Haven, “is part of an overall strategy for improving existing housing stock” and upping the overall number of people accessing safe and affordable shelter.

Margaret Conable, a contractor with Elm City Home Inspections, noted that winter months are the best time to test for radon, given that windows and doors are typically tightly shut (a requirement for accurate testing), and because of the thermal stack effect, which can draw disproportionate levels of radon into a building as warm air rises indoors.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

Enrichment ECHOes At Edgewood

by MAYA MCFADDEN The new haven independent The Edgewood Free Birds took flight on stage, dancing and singing about their dreams for love, peace, and liberty for all.

That was the scene during Edgewood Creative Thinking through STEAM Magnet School’s most recent school-wide town meeting. Students at the quarterly gathering to present the work they’ve done this past marking period as part of the school’s ECHO program, which began three years ago under Principal Nicholas Perrone as a response to the social-emotional challenges of the pandemic.

Since then, students have participated every week in a range of enrichment activities, relationship building exercises, and celebrations of student talents and interests. Many programs are staff-led while others have guest artists teach students new skills.

Past K-8 programming included graphic novel making, guitar lessons, yoga, chess, kayaking, and babysitting training.

Each quarter, the school invites a new guest artist to work with a grade level and put together an end-of-quarter project to show off what they’ve learned.

This quarter, third grade students worked with musician and arts organizer Thabisa Rich (who also lives near the school).

Wednesday’s town meeting was emceed by student senate leaders Ja’Mese Hunter, Andreus Locke, and Jonah Ssemwezi.

Thabisa Rich, who goes by her first name alone when performing and has worked with Edgewood in the past, hosted a class of third graders this quarter. With a theme of love, peace, and liberty, the South African-born recording artist taught them about different genres of music and prepared them to present a live concert performance at the quarterly gathering, which was held Wednesday.

“Love, peace, and liberty are things we all deserve and need no matter how old we are,” Thabisa said.

The class sang “I Wish I Knew How It

Fifth graders Eliana Bontly and Mateo Lopez Stevens who worked with Ms. Bianca Fiondella and Sarah Clarke on their science fair projects during ECHO choice time.

Would Feel to Be Free” by Nina Simone.

To close out the Wednesday celebration of student work, Thabisa sang to the crowd of students, staff, and parents, bringing students out their seats to join her on the dance floor.

Performance art teacher Danica Hawkins also worked as a guest artist with a group of fourth graders this quarter to teach them about theatre.

During the end of the showcase, the students held up signs reading phrases like “always build kindness,” “stay positive,” and “be the best you possible” while crossing the stage.

They each shared their dreams to be future engineers, animators, animal activists, meteorologists, soccer coaches, police officers, electricians, athletes, YouTubers, veterinarians, circus performers, lawyers, restauranteurs, chefs, doctors,

and teachers.

Other ECHO classes that showcased their work included the presentation of two science fair projects by fifth graders.

One project asked the question, “Does color influence taste?”

The other investigated which shape is the strongest. Fifth grader Mateo Lopez Stevens and his science partner tested three shapes: a triangle, rectangle, and circle. Lopez Stevens said the project idea stemmed from his interest in being an architect one day.

The students used construction paper to craft the three shapes and then tested their strength in person at Wednesday’s showcase with cement blocks.

On Wednesday and during the students’ three trials, the circle proved to be the strongest by holding five bricks.

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MAYA MCFADDEN PHOTO Edgewood students sing with Thabisa Rich.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

Connecticut’s Baby Bonds Program Sees Strong Enrollment, Aims to Tackle Poverty

by Mike Savino CTNewsJunkie

State Treasurer Erick Russell said 7,810 babies have already been enrolled in the state’s Baby Bonds program, a benefit state officials hope will put those children on a path to leaving poverty.

Enrolled babies have also been born in almost every town, a fact Russell and others said demonstrates the need statewide.

“The biggest indicator of someone’s ability to build wealth over time is having access to some capital,” he said during a press conference Wednesday at Charter Oak International Academy.

Since July 1, the state has set aside $3,200 for every baby eligible for Husky — the state’s Medicaid program — into a trust.

Beneficiaries can withdraw the money, including interest, between the ages of 18 and 30 for specific reasons, such as attending college, starting a business or buying a home.

“That will mean tens of thousands of potential homeowners and investors, entrepreneurs, educated and skilled workers in communities across the state,” Russell said.

Russell said the enrollment figures are so far in line with his expectation of roughly 15,000 eligible babies born each year.

Department of Social Services Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves said those children are spread throughout the state, though, in “an example of how widespread the need for Baby Bonds are in this state.”

The largest collections of eligible ba-

Children listen at The Bridge Family Center at Charter Oak International Academy in West Hartford on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024. Credit: Mike Savino / CTNewsJunkie

bies were in some of Connecticut’s biggest cities: 798 in Bridgeport, 621 in Hartford, 615 in Waterbury, 560 in New Haven and 376 in Stamford.

But Barton Reeves also noted towns like Ansonia had 75 enrolled babies, Bethel had 33, East Haven had 59 and Killingly had 44.

Proponents hope the program will help provide opportunities for children who are born into poverty in Connecticut.

They also hope those opportunities will encourage them to stay and reinvest in their home state.

Charter Oak School Principal Georgina Rivera recalled taking students on field trips to universities when she was a

teacher.

When students would express doubt that they could afford to attend college, she would encourage them to succeed and seek scholarships. Rivera said the program levels the playing field.

“This bill is going to do something different,” Rivera said. “It’s going to change the lives of the students that it impacts right here in the state.”

Gov. Ned Lamont said the program fits in with broader efforts to help people avoid or eliminate their debt.

The state also recently launched Time-to-Own, a down-payment assistance program, and the current budget includes $6.5 million to purchase and

eliminate patients’ medical debt.

“You want to build wealth in this society?” Lamont said. “Nothing more important than freeing yourself from debt and then ownership.”

Russell said the Baby Bonds program also provides education and resources aimed at helping families improve their financial situations.

That will eventually include access to financial literacy and workforce training for parents of eligible children, among other tools.

“Baby bonds, by itself, is not a silver bullet, it’s not going to solve all our problems,” he said.

Other states are looking at Connecticut’s model. Russell is scheduled to testify virtually Thursday in support of a similar proposal in Vermont. A task force in Massachusetts has also studied the idea.

Connecticut’s program has funding for 12 years thanks to a deal Russell struck with Lamont last spring.

Russell was able to free up $381 million placed into a reserve account when the state borrowed money to fund teachers’ pensions. That money eliminated the need to borrow funding, something Lamont opposed.

Russell and Lamont both expressed hope that they could find funding to keep the program going after the 12 years.

Russell said he has not secured any funding yet. Options could include grants, bonding or funding from the legislature to invest in the trust fund.

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State Treasurer Erick Russell talks about the state’s Baby Bonds program during a press conference Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, at The Bridge Family Center at Charter Oak International Academy in West Hartford. Credit: Mike Savino / CTNewsJunkie

Gov. Ned Lamont speaks at a press conference at The Bridge Family Center at Charter Oak International Academy in West Hartford on Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024.

Credit: Mike Savino / CTNewsJunkie

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

Fired Cox Cop Van Driver Wins Arbitration

by PAUL BASS The new haven independent State arbitrators have overturned the firing of the police officer who transported Richard “Randy” Cox on a fateful ride that ended up paralyzing Cox and costing New Haven $45 million.

The Connecticut State Board of Mediation and Arbitration voted 2 – 1 to overturn the June 28 firing of the officer, Oscar Diaz, for his role in the Cox case. It ruled instead that Diaz should receive a 15-day unpaid suspension and collect back pay for the rest of the time missed.

The board publicly released the decision on Friday.

The city responded by saying it file a motion in state Superior Court to vacate the ruling rather than reinstate Diaz at this point.

Diaz drove Cox to the 1 Union Ave. detention center on June 19, 2022, after police arrested Cox on a weapons charge.

Diaz slammed on the brakes at an intersection that day to avoid a collision while driving above the speed limit. Cox’s head slammed a wall in the back of the van, which had no seat belts. Cox informed Diaz he’d been hurt. Diaz radioed in the report but instead of waiting for an ambulance crew to arrive took Cox to 1 Union Ave.; a supervisor there accused Cox of lying, demanded he stand up, then pulled him out of the van, placed him in a wheelchair, and dragged him across the floor into a cell. Cox ended up partially paralyzed. The case sparked national outrage.

The city subsequently agreed to a record $45 million settlement of a civil court case brought by Cox. The police arrested five

NHPD IMAGE Ofc. Diaz, Sgt. Betsy Segui, and Ofc. Ronald Pressley lifting Cox into wheelchair on June 19, 2022.

officers involved on misdemeanor charges of cruelty and reckless endangerment.

And the Board of Police Commissioners fired four of the five officers.

Including Diaz. (The fifth officer retired before the firings.)

The police union grieved Diaz’s firing.

The grievance went to the labor mediation board, which issued its finding Friday.

Diaz “did not commit all of the violations with which he was charged, including the most serious ones charged,” the decision states. It also notes that Diaz had not had previous discipline problems over his 15year career.

Yes, Cox should have received immediate medical treatment at the scene, the

arbitration panel’s statement noted. And Diaz did “misuse” his phone by texting and taking a photograph of the arrest ticket while driving and maintaining “a few nude photographs” on it.

But the city never proved that Diaz’s actions were what caused Cox’s severe injuries, the panel ruled.

The report pins major responsibility on others: A supervisor (Sgt. Steven Spofford) who should have heard Diaz’s report over the police radio about Cox needing “immediate medical treatment.” The detention center supervisor (Sgt. Betsy Segui) who decided Cox was drunk and lying and oversaw his mistreatment.

Diaz was also fired on the basis of hav-

ing committed a criminal act. But the criminal case against him is still pending, so that hasn’t been proved at this point, the arbitration panel concluded. Diaz has pleaded not guilty in the case.

It’s not Diaz’s fault that the van had no seat belts or that he had trouble “discern[ing] what Mr. Cox was saying in the back of the van,” the report states.

Further, the report credits Diaz for “treat[ing] Mr. Cox with respect” by adjusting his handcuffs to be more comfortable; and telling Segui, “If he really fell, I would not even move him. I would not even move him until the ambulance gets here, just in case.”

True, Diaz did participate in Cox’s

mishandling at the detention center by “putting his hand” on him at one point, the report states. But that just as easily be seen as “an effort to prevent injury to Mr. Cox,” the panel concluded.

Panel Chair Linda Yelmini and Labor Arbitrator Donald Sevas voted for the reinstatement. The panel’s management arbitrator, Richard A. Podurgiel, dissented.

Reached Sunday, Officer Diaz declined to comment on the decision. Police union President Florencio Cotto did not return a message seeking comment.

This is the second time in two months that the arbitration panel has voted to overturn a police firing. On Nov. 22, the panel voted to reinstate Sgt. Shayna Kendall to the force in a separate incident.

The police department has another avenue to end the careers of the officers involved: pursuing their state decertification. That process is currently underway.

Mayor Justin Elicker and Police Chief Karl Jacobson were quoted in a joint statement Sunday saying they are “incredibly disappointed” in the ruling and strongly disagree with it.

“Overwhelmingly, our police officers hold themselves to the highest standards of professionalism and put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve our residents and keep our community safe.

However, when an officer deviates from these high standards like what occurred with Mr. Cox, there must be accountability and a clear message that those actions will not tolerated by the New Haven Police Department,” the pair was quoted stating.

SOTS Announces Candidates Appearing on Connecticut Presidential Primary Ballots

by Hugh McQuaid CTNewsJunkie Connecticut’s April 2 presidential preference primaries will represent the state’s first foray into early voting and will feature a slate of candidates from both parties including frontrunners Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the secretary of the state said Friday.

Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas announced the names that would appear on both parties’ ballots during a press conference in her state Capitol office.

On the Democratic side, voters will choose from President Biden, U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, political commentator Cenk Urgur, or author Marianne Williamson.

Republicans, meanwhile, will select from former President Trump, businessman and pastor Ryan Binkley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

Thomas confirmed Trump’s presence on Connecticut ballots last month, as of-

Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas briefs reporters on Nov. 7, 2023 Credit: Hugh McQuaid / CTNewsJunkie

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ficials in states including Colorado and Maine have sought to disqualify him based on a provision of the U.S. Constitution that bars elected officials who engaged in insurrection from serving in office. The issue is expected to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Friday, Thomas told reporters that she lacked the jurisdiction to remove the former president under Connecticut law, which generally requires that her office include any presidential candidate who has been recognized in state or national media reports.

“I don’t even get to make that decision,” she said. “If they have substantial news coverage in statewide or local media — which, I could meet that threshold if I wanted to — we have to place them on the ballot, statutorily.”

While Biden and Trump both lead their respective parties by wide margins, the presidential preference primary will mark a significant milestone for Connecticut voters, who will be permitted to cast

ballots early in-person for the first time.

The new law, which followed a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2022, will see polling places open for four days prior to the April 2 primary. That period will begin on Tuesday March 26 and run through Thursday, the 28th. Polling places will be closed for the Good Friday holiday, then open again on Saturday March 30.

During last year’s legislative session, Thomas voiced concerns that the state budget did not include enough funding for some towns to implement the new program.

She reiterated those worries during Friday’s press conference, saying that each of Connecticut’s 169 municipalities received $10,500 for early voting expenses.

“I do believe that is too little for some towns and maybe too much for others, but that is what is being given to them,” Thomas said. “I have advocated for more funding for the next fiscal year, which would include the August primaries and the actual presidential election.”

The Way We Gather THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

Ashley Makar, The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

After a work meeting, I text my colleague Madeleine and our friend, Azhar Ahmed, my best New Year’s resolution yet: Tag along to as many Sudanese parties as possible.

Azhar is a Sanctuary Kitchen Operations Manager and an interpreter at Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS). She has a gift for nurturing community among people from all walks of life.

Azhar is always inviting us. Fourth of July in her backyard. A Thanksgiving welcome party for refugee newcomers.

A South Sudanese New Year’s Eve feast and dance party that lit up the dead of winter like a meteor shower.

Imagine kids in light-up shoes trying to fly silver helium balloons like kites.

They can’t wait to watch them float up. But they don’t want to let go. Their parents part like the Red Sea to let the eldest grandmother wheel herself to a front-row seat, as everyone counts down to midnight.

I like to believe that kid magic and adult wonder and communities of care will overcome the troubles we see. But sometimes the violence stuns me dim inside.

The war that’s destroying Sudan rarely makes headlines these days. Azhar and other Sudanese-Americans are getting awful news through Whatsapp groups, and in perpetrator and victim eye-witness videos of teenage sons and young dads forced to fight in a war that is terrorizing their families; pregnant moms shot to death on their way to one of the few health clinics left; children hiding near a mass grave.

Genocide is happening again in Darfur. Azhar and her family are scared their home region, the Nuba Mountains, is next. She has lost aunts, uncles, and cousins and the land where their grandmothers and ancestors lived.

Last week, Azhar started a case with the Red Cross Reconnecting Families Program. She’s trying to find her brother Ahmed, who was captured by a ruthless paramilitary group that seized their family’s house in Khartoum. The current civil war has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced nearly 6 million, since the fighting started on April 15, 2023.

Azhar and I talk until closing time at the Stetson Library, one Wednesday night in May. We’re near the young adult section her daughter, Lameese, likes to frequent, on breaks from SAT

Community Leaders Azhar Ahmed and Fouad Dagoum, with their daughter Lameese and son Kutti outside IRIS. Rachel Peet Photo.

prep.

We’re surrounded by titles like An Ember in the Ashes; Shatter Me, Imagine Me; Each of Us a Universe. We both love arrangements of words that dart and startle us like stars. But tonight, we’re working on Azhar’s story of the beginning of the civil war that’s devastating Sudan. The house where she grew up in Khartoum, the garden her dad planted before his kidneys failed, the room where she took care of him near the end of his life, are now all occupied by fighters from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF is one of the brutal groups that is terrorizing civilians throughout the country—a new configuration of the Janjaweed militia that has committed genocidal violence in Darfur and in Azhar’s home region.

Our friends from West Darfur lost their city Al Geneina, in two massacres, targeting the Masalit tribe. But, through photos and videos and stories they share, we get glimpses of the home they long to restore: People singing with a drum circle, near a thicket of neem trees. Elders boil the bark for medicine, the leaves for tea. One friend showed me, on his phone, lightning in an aquamarine sky, signaling a downpour that will fill the valleys, making the lakes of Al Geneina that he used to swim in as a kid. He told me how beautiful it used to

Fouad, Azhar, their children and other family in Sudan, summer 2022. Fouad Dagoum Photo.

be after the rainy season: “Everything is growing and green, and the mangoes fall like leaves.”

The war has turned Al Geneina into a wasteland. A survivor of the 2003 Darfur genocide told me he’s never seen anything like it. Photos show bomb craters, mass graves, and ash. People are killed in their homes, in mosques, in the streets. Six thousand people have died in West Darfur since April. Those who survived tried to walk nearly 19 miles through a war zone to cross the border into Chad. Those who made it had to weather the rainy season with no shelter. They live, without enough water or

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food, under the threat of the violence they fled spilling over the border.

Sudanese-Americans have done at least three peace rallies in Washington, DC, urging the U.S. to take more strategic action to end the humanitarian emergency in Sudan. But they’ve gone largely ignored.

Azhar shows me a photo of her husband, Fouad, and his mom. She’s wearing sea green and orange and pink. Her quiet eyes speak through the screen of Azhar’s phone. She had to evacuate her home in the Nuba city Kadugli and stay in a makeshift shelter in a school.

Fouad has not been able to reach her in

two months. He keeps calling, and keeps praying she is OK. Azhar’s parents fled the Nuba Mountains before she was born and built a new life in the capital Khartoum. When her 6-year-old son, Kutti, saw news footage of Khartoum burning, he asked “Is this our Sudan?”

When the library closes, we drive up Dixwell Avenue to the Touba Lisha salon. We wait for Azhar’s friend to finish braiding Lameese’s hair. We sink into a brown pleather couch behind the shampoo chairs, and Azhar shows me a photo from their last trip to Sudan: Grandmothers and aunts, uncles and brothers, sisters and kids gathered around a platter the size of a hula hoop. Bowls of fuul and yogurt. Mounds of bread. A kettle at their feet. Lameese and Kutti spent every minute with their cousins.

“They loved it,” Azhar tells me. “The way we gather in Sudan.”

The people in the photo are scattered now. I imagine their windows and bowls are shattered. The curtains tattered and half burned. Broken furniture. Pictures and vital documents strewn on the floor.

A bomb crater where the garden was.

Three of the young cousins are stranded in another part of Khartoum, with their mom and grandmother, who lost one of her legs. Two of Azhar’s brothers had to evacuate a shelter where they’d been staying in a place called Madani, which had been a safe zone, until the RSF attacked on Dec. 15. Azhar’s mom, Husna, and other family members risked their lives to get to Cairo, Egypt, where they live in precarious limbo.

Azhar found out her brother, Ahmed, was captured in Khartoum when someone sent her a video the RSF posted on Facebook on Oct. 22, 2023. Fighters were rounding up young men, and she recognized her brother’s face. “I don’t want to look at these [videos],” she said.

“But I have to.”

“I wish this was a [bad] dream, and I could wake up.”

Perhaps because the terrible news keeps happening. Perhaps because of the frenetic pace of our days barely leaves space to grieve or be astonished, I wish I could relive the best New Year’s Eve party of my life.

Imagine lights draped between ceiling corners, making a constellation over the ground floor of the Whitneyville Cultural Commons. Toddlers in silver cardboard hats. Teens in puffer jack-

Continue on page 09

Zines Make A Scene THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

Danielle Campbell The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

Nestled in the back corner of Possible Futures a red box with a sign that reads “Zine Library,” sits. The letters of the sign are created from magazine pages.

Inside the box, a veritable treasure trove of handmade publications known as zines in various styles, sizes, colors, and topics.

Zines – the independently created publications that focus on the thoughts, ideologies and feelings of the creator – and the people who love them, gathered at the book space and community hub on Edgewood Avenue Saturday to talk about zine making and zine culture as part of New Haven Zine Scene’s latest “zinester” meetup.

Curated by Alice Prael, a digital specialist with Yale University’s Born Digital Archives and an avid collector turned creator of zines, the meetup attracted zinesters of all ages Prael said they got into zines because of the creative freedom it gave them to share political information and art. They said part of the allure of zine-making is their accessibility – anyone can make one of their own, whether they fancy themselves an artist or not.

“I am creating art and therefore, I don't have to engage with that question [of whether I am an artist] because it's just happening,” they said.

Indeed, the artistry of zine making was happening Saturday among those gathered including some of the youngest zinesters. Attendees dabbled in as much or as little zine-making as they wanted, engaged with the material brought in, and even exchanged information on zine fairs coming up.

Laura Brown brought her son, Giulio Santaro, who is a budding artist, comic book maker and zinester. He is the author of a comic series called “Pizzaman.” They brought the series to Saturday’s meetup – a Ziploc bag full of volumes, finished and not – as inspiration for the other participants, especially the other children.

“During COVID time, we did a lot of storytelling together, so he's really interested in story making,” Brown said. “I think that was a lot of his inspiration for ‘Pizzaman’.”

Brown said she became interested in zines “pre-Internet.” Once an avid reader of zines, she said she saw the interest diminish as the Internet created more digital opportunities for people to publish and create. However, she said it appears that the pendulum is swinging back toward analog creations like zines

that put ideas in peoples’ hands instead of simply at their fingertips.

Prael is among the growing group of people who are doing that in New Haven. Meetups organized by the New Haven Zine Scene have been held at both Possible Futures and Witch Bitch Thrift’s Black Box. The next meetup will be at Possible Future on Feb. 17.

When they’re not working and organizing the meetup, Prael is working on a memoir idea that has morphed into a comic series zine they call “My Mother Made Me Call This Fiction.” The series deals with family stories that may be true, depending on who you ask, Prael said. The zine is designed to work through trust in families and question stories that are lost to memory or purposely hidden.

Like Prael, Elida Paiz Pineda said they were attracted to the culture of zinemaking. The act of sharing, searching, talking about, and making them is part of the culture of this creative act. They have collected, traded, and read with friends (and strangers) zines from all over.

“It's been one of the most rewarding ways in which I've been able to develop friendships,” Paiz Pineda said. “I love the contexts, like the history of how they came to be and the really radical nature of them.”

Daniel Ramirez, also known by his artist name Silencio, brought a bunch of zines to share with the group that gathered Saturday, including a zine named “Black Photo Booth” authored by Mariame Kaba, a famed activist, grassroots organizer, and educator.

Ramirez said his introduction to zine culture is a recent one. After being exposed to Connectic*nt, a zine focused on queer identity in Connecticut, he decided to submit his own artwork in a zine and has been hooked ever since.

“I've been collecting more and more from different artists and different platforms, mainly black, brown, queer artists, to see representation and literature that I don't see in the traditional sense,” Ramirez said. “And [I have been] using it as a different platform to basically rebel against typical forms of what art is considered within like institutions.”

Ramirez said he is currently using printmaking and zines to explore themes around nostalgia. Topics like play, love, and even despair are used to remember the past but also cherish the now, he said.

“As a person, I'm usually more reserved,” he said. “I prefer my art to represent myself rather than my words.”

Zinesters of all ages gathered at Possible Futures for the most recent New Haven Zine Scene meetup . Danielle Campbell Photos.

April Prael's traveling zine library.

Continue from page 07

The Way We Gather

ets. Dads in dapper suits, or gallabiyas, ironed from collar to hem. Moms in elegant dresses and heels. Aunties, draped in bright toubs: green and turquoise fabric, gold beads, shades of peacock and sea. Platters of lamb and goat. Stewed greens. Chicken simmering in tomato gravy. Stacks of kisra, crepe-thin layers of bread to sop up the stew. Before we eat, a South Sudanese church leader blesses the food. And Azhar recites verses from the Qur’an.

During the last ten minutes of 2023, a woman named Apajok invites people to offer wishes for the new year. She passes the mic from table to table. I can’t remember exactly what was said. But I have a collage of phrases in my ear: “To encourage each other; to keep our hope awake; that is our assignment… We are Nuba and Dinka. We are Kakwa and Kuku. We are Masalit and Fur. We are all Sudanese, and we need peace.”

Just before midnight, Azhar revs up a playlist she compiled with songs from all the tribes.

“See what happens when you take away borders and make space for community?” my co-worker Isabella said.

We’re sitting at a table with a couple from Ethiopia and Darfur, and two IRIS colleagues: Akram, our data coordinator, who got back from JFK just six hours before, after a trip to visit family in Iraq. Linda, the senior case manager, whom Fouad told, soon after the family arrived in New Haven, how they got through their years living as refugees in Egypt.

“You have to do picnics,” he said.

“Otherwise you will get depressed.”

“You must be tired, after working yesterday," I said to Azhar when she comes to our table. "And cooking and decorating for the party.”

“Yes, I am tired,” she said. “But music!”

I notice her earrings, iridescent silver birds. She turns, and they catch a certain angle of light. For a moment, I see swallows flashing like stars.

Soon after the playlist begins, a dance circle forms. People alternate moving to the middle to do a few signature moves. The Dinka hop-march. The jubilant Nuba stomp. The Masalit jump.

Kids show off their break-dance moves.

The circle around them keeps moving.

Some people do their own thing: jazz hands and swivel hips; syncopated elbow bends; smooth slights of knee.

There’s a special resonance, a particular rhythm, to all these moving parts circling the dance floor, a lithe march, so buoyant it seems we could launch into a wheeling arc, like swallows at dawn.

Prael, the meetup curator, checking out some of the zines attendees brought in to share.

8

Continue on page 09

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024 Continue on page 08 I hope we can carry that kind of magic into manic Mondays. Working with refugees and immigrants is a whirlwind mix of quick action, navigating bureaucracy and meaningful connection. Sometimes, on the margins of paperwork–reams of it, just to apply for Medicaid and SNAP food assistance, you discover the particular, difficult freight someone carries: The dad who feels uneasy eating because rations have been cut in the camp where he had to leave his parents and siblings. A single mom whose hometown was bombed, who doesn’t know if her mom is alive. A teenager grieving his grandmother, who died because she couldn’t get dialysis since the war started. You listen, with hold muzak in the background, as you wait to talk to a human at the Department of Social Services (DSS) to troubleshoot a monthslong delay in getting vital assistance.

Every twenty-seven minutes or so, an automated voice tells you the estimated wait time to talk to a representative.

Maybe, during that long muzaked limbo, as you scramble to work on other applications together, that single mom tells you about the songs that take her home. And how much she loves English class and can’t wait until morning to go back. Maybe she shows you a photo of her son sporting his Spiderman backpack on his first day of school. And you get to witness how she delights in her kids. And you remember joy is a survival skill. And these hours and minutes are life-giving.

January is a time of commemoration for South Sudan, the youngest country in the world, since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011. Jan. 9, 2024 was the anniversary of a global referendum in which 98% of South Sudanese–refugees throughout the world, and survivors within South Sudan, voted to become a sovereign nation. But independence has not brought lasting liberation. The current war in Sudan is moving closer to the border with South Sudan.

I remember talking with our friend Atem after Lake Victoria floods devastated his hometown Bor. “How are you coping?” I asked.

He laughed.

“Sudanese people sing too much,” he replied. “We have no choice.”

It reminds me of Elie Wiesel’s questions: How can you sing? How can you not?

Ashley Makar is the community liaison for Integrated Refugees & Immigrant Services (IRIS) where she engages volunteers with refugee and immigrant newcomers in Connecticut. If you would like to contribute to Azhar’s efforts to help her family fleeing the war in Sudan and those who’ve made it to Egypt, visit her crowdfunding page

The Early Childhood REGISTRATION OFFICE is located at:

New Haven Public Schools

Early Childhood Programs Programs for 3 and 4 Year Olds in New Haven

SCHOOL READINESS NEW HAVEN

Free 6-hour early childhood programs for low-income New Haven families in the following New Haven Public Schools:

• Benjamin Jepson Multi-Age School • Dr. Mayo Early Childhood School (Immediate Openings) • Fair Haven School • John Martinez Sea & Sky STEM School ••Lincoln-Bassett School T• ruman School (Immediate Openings) Additional community locations also participate in the program.

Contact:

Head Start Registration Office Tel. 475-220-1464 HeadStartNewHaven.com 475-220-1464

NEW HAVEN Sliding scale, fee-based 6-hour early childhood programs for New Haven families in the following New Haven Public Schools:

• Augusta Lewis Troup School • Columbus Family Academy • East Rock Community School • Hill Central School • Nathan Hale School • Additional community locations also participate in the program.

• Free 4-hour programs available at East Rock Community and Nathan Hale Schools.

Contact : School Readiness

Registration Office Tel. : 475-220-1482

Celentano Observatory 400 Canner Street New Haven, CT 06511

In person REGISTRATION is Available

We are Accepting Applications NOW! How to Apply

The Office of Early Childhood is accepting applications electronically.

Parents of 3 and 4 year olds are encouraged to apply online.

English: https://registration.powerschool.com/family/gosnap.aspx? action=24982&culture=en Spanish: https://registration.powerschool.com/family/gosnap.aspx? action=24982&culture=es

What you will submit with your Application 1) Proof of Age

Child’s Birth Certificate OR Legal Custody/Guardianship Papers

2) Proof of Address

Current utility bill (Gas, Electric, Phone, Cable) in your name

3) Proof of Income

• 2 months of Current & Consecutive pay stubs OR W-2 or 1040 Tax Return • Budget Statement from the CT Department of Social Services or Social Security Office or Child Enforcement Bureau • Notarized Statement indicating Parent is unemployed • Additional forms may be requested 4) Proof of a Physical (within one year-to-date)

• CT Department of Education Early Childhood Health Assessment Record • Anemia and lead level test results • TB assessment • Immunizations records • Seasonal flu vaccination • Health insurance card 5) Proof of a Dental Exam (within 6-months-to-date)

Dental Exam record

9

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

Book Club Kicks Off Year Of Baldwin

by KAREN PONZIO The new haven independent The vibe at Possible Futures was lit Thursday night — more specifically Kulturally Lit, as the literary-focused arts organization’s 100 Years of Baldwin Book Club had its inaugural meeting exploring the works of author, playwright, thinker, and civil rights icon James Baldwin.

Celebrated in his lifetime and only revered more with each passing year, James Baldwin has emerged as one of the most important American writers of the 20th century and one of the most incisive, excoriating, and illuminating thinkers about race in America. His novels — among them Go Tell It on the Mountain, Giovanni’s Room, and If Beale Street Could Talk — are already American classics, exploring the Black experience at home and abroad from multifacted, complex angles.

He was also a prolific essayist, publishing steadily from 1949 until his death in 1987. His longform piece The Fire Next Time, published in 1963, remains one of the most powerful accounts around about racial tension and the possibility for violence and revolution in the United States.

If that were not enough, Baldwin was also a truly brilliant interview subject, his command of language as powerful when he spoke as when he wrote. In conversations, he usually danced circles around everyone else in the room. It was easy to see why he was so prolific as a writer. Seemingly every sentence that fell from his mouth was a gem. Few people could think so fast, and so deep, as he did. Thanks to his novels, essays, and interviews, he has become one of the architects of our understanding of the dynamics and con-

11 more of Baldwin’s books once a month over the entire year.

Gardin then welcomed everyone and explained that Kulturally Lit was an arts organization in its fifth year that presented events focusing on the literary arts, including the annual Elm City Lit Fest. She expressed her excitement over celebrating a whole year of Baldwin, who would have been 100 years old this August.

“His body of work is so timeless,” she said, adding that he was “forward thinking” and “impactful.”

KAREN PONZIO PHOTOS Baldwin books available at Possible Futures. struction of race and racism in America.

The conversation about all of that today, whether people know it or not, is infused with his astonishing insight and intellect, his passion, his anger, and his despair, but also his determination, his beauty, and his hope.

Slated to meet every third Thursday at the bookstore and gathering space on Edgewood Avenue, the 100 Years of Baldwin Book Club is one of many events scheduled in 2024 by Kulturally Lit to celebrate The Year of Baldwin, in which they plan to “engage the power of Black history and culture through the lens

of James Baldwin.”

I Am Not Your Negro, the book that was the focus of Thursday night’s book club, is the companion book to the documentary of the same name directed by Raoul Peck. Both the book and the film include published and unpublished pieces from books, essays, letters, interviews and notes Baldwin took for a book he had planned on writing called Remembering the House, which focused on three civil rights icons and friends of his who were all assassinated: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr. The movie is being screened at Mitchell Library

on Monday, Jan. 29, with a talkback afterwards with Kulturally Lit’s founder and director IfeMichelle Gardin and ConnCORP CEO Eric Clemens.

On this chilly night, under the glow of candlelight and the smiling face of Baldwin on one of the storefront windows, around 30 people gathered to discuss the book, the film, and the man himself.

“What a joy,” said Possible Future’s Lauren Anderson as she welcomed everyone to the space that she called both a bookstore and a “community reading room.” She explained how the book club would go mostly chronologically through

Gardin and Anderson both outlined what the book was about and how the night would progress, with Gardin adding about the discussion, “we got to get into it.”

And get into it they did, starting with participants introducing themselves and saying why they were there. Many had read Baldwin’s works before, but there were just as many who had not and were more familiar with his interviews, or had only read smaller bites of his work.

A couple of participants noted that they had read Baldwin when they were younger, and his work “hit different” as they had aged. Others who had not read any of his books noted their excitement at doing so with community and “learning in the spirit of conversation.”

Gardin expressed her joy after the introductions, saying she was “so full” and “in tears” at the opportunity to do such an event, noting that events such as these are “key” in a time when books are being Continue on page 11

Former Enfield School Board Member Wins Discrimination Lawsuit

by Christine Stuart CTNewsJunkie Sarah Hernandez, a former member of the Enfield Board of Education and one of the first openly autistic individuals elected to public office, won a federal jury verdict against the town and the board last week.

The lawsuit alleged that the board discriminated against her by failing to provide necessary accommodations for her participation on the board. For example, she requested communication via text or email between meetings and permission to use a whiteboard for note-taking during executive sessions. However, the lawsuit asserted that the board and town denied these requests for basic accommodations over two years.

The town and the school board have not said whether they plan to appeal .

While the jury did not award compensatory damages, they did grant Hernandez

Sarah Hernandez and U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) (Courtesy of the Enfield Democrats Facebook page)

$10 in nominal damages. The judge has yet to rule on potential injunctive relief for Hernandez.

“All people deserve equity in access

to serve in government and have laws, policies, and procedures created of the people, by the people, for the people,” Sarah Hernandez said in a statement.

10

“This includes the disability community, and especially multiply marginalized intersections such as nonspeakers and people of color. Protecting the disability community is a moral imperative. Communication and accommodation rights are protected by the ADA, and it was my literal privilege to step to the line and affirm those protections.”

Hernandez served on the board from 2017 to 2019. She filed the lawsuit in 2019 because her motivation for running for a position on the board was to be a voice for people with disabilities, and the voters of Enfield elected her to fulfill that role. In addition to her autism, Hernandez has disclosed that she is hard of hearing and faces auditory processing challenges, which make it difficult for her to comprehend telephone and in-person conversations.

To ensure effective communication, Hernandez repeatedly informed the school board of her need for written ma-

terials, the ability to read lips, and notetaking during executive sessions.

Hernandez was represented in the case by attorneys Anthony May and Eve Hill of Brown, Goldstein & Levy, along with Kasey Considine and Deborah Dorfman of Disability Rights Connecticut.

“At every step of the way, the Defendants have fought against Ms. Hernandez, who was simply asking to serve on the Board in the same capacity as her peers; to do the job for which she was elected,” Anthony May of Brown, Goldstein & Levy, said. “In reaching its decision, the jury sent the message that people with disabilities have the right to participate equally in government, and that they have the right to have their voices heard.”

Disability Rights Connecticut supervising attorney Kasey Considine said “Hopefully, the jury’s verdict in Ms. Hernandez’s case serves as an example for other public offices to accommodate elected officials with disabilities.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024 Continue from page10

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banned by people who don’t read.

“What an opportunity to move forward,” Anderson added. She noted that they were hoping for “organic conversations” about Baldwin and the book throughout the next hour. Babz Rawls Ivy, who was also in attendance, added that she wanted people to feel “safe in the space” regarding their participation.

“No matter how you came to him, there is equal footing here with sharing and speaking,” she said. “Listen with open hearts and open minds,” noting that “real authentic conversation and camaraderie” is “how we build community.”

The conversation then began with Rawls Ivy saying she thought the title of the book was “provocative” and that she was interested in what spoke to others about it.

This led to a discussion about Baldwin’s famous decision to leave the United States to go to Paris, and his decision to return.

There was also discussion of how he was recognized in his time. Gardin — noting the “layers” in his work — mentioned how his plays have been performed in Black theaters for years. She noted that Kulturally Lit would be presenting a reading of one of his plays at the Beinecke Library in conjunction with Collective Consciousness Theater later this year.

(No date is set yet.)

Some participants had taken notes or highlighted quotes from the book, and those were discussed. There was also a discussion about the film and how its visuals changed the impact of the words for some who had already seen it.

Everyone seemed to agree that in 2024, Baldwin and his words were still “relevant and pertinent” and in some ways, prescient. The discussion went over the allotted hour mark, but it felt like there was so much more to talk about. Fortunately, there will be 11 more opportunities to discuss 11 more books over the next year, and Anderson and Gardin noted that if someone either couldn’t make it to the group or wanted to dig in even further, there was most likely “always someone here” at the space who would be into talking about it, or they were welcome to set up a smaller meet up to chat further.

“The goal is to read the work, engage with the work, and discuss it,” Anderson added.

For someone (like this reporter) who thrives off of the discussion of books, films — any art really — the environment created by Anderson and Gardin as well as the rest of the participants could not have been warmer or more inviting. People lingered after to chat further, to buy more Baldwin books, and to simply be in the company of like-minded individuals.

And there was so much more Baldwin, and “book joy,” to come.

For more information about the The Year of Baldwin and/or the 100 Years of Baldwin Book Club please visit the Kulturally Lit website and/or social media pages. You can also find out more via

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

Dexter Scott King Died of Prostate Cancer (Why it Disproportionately Impacts Black Men)

By BlackHealthMatters.com

Dexter Scott King, the youngest son of Coretta Scott King and the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., died after a “valiant battle with prostate cancer,” according to a statement released by The King Center.

The 62-year-old died in sleep at his home in Malibu, California. The civil rights leader and humanitarian was among the 1 in six Black men to be diagnosed with the disease each year, according to ZeroCancer.org.

The American Cancer Society says prostate cancer begins when cells in the prostate gland start to grow out of control. The prostate is a gland found only in males. It makes some of the fluid that is part of semen. When the cancer has not spread outside of the prostate, it is localized. When it has spread to lymph nodes and surrounding areas, it is categorized as regional, and if it has reached the lungs, bones, or liver, it is a distant stage.

It is the second leading cause of death among American men. However, African American men and Caribbean men of

African descent have higher risks. Men in our community are 1.7 more likely to develop prostate cancer and also 2.1 times more likely to die from it. And like many other cancers that impact us, there is a higher chance that they might be diagnosed with an advanced stage of the disease.

Dexter King received his diagnosis at a younger age than most men. 60% of men are diagnosed at 65 or older. Even when Black men are diagnosed early, however, they may not receive treatment, a recent study reported. Researchers analyzed more than 300,000 patients with localized prostate cancer and found that Black men were 27% less likely to receive treatment (radical prostatectomy, external beam radiation therapy, brachytherapy, or cryotherapy) than white patients.

It is imperative that we encourage the men in our lives to get screened for prostate cancer annually. The Prostate-Specific Antigen, or PSA, is a protein produced by normal and malignant prostate gland cells. The PSA test measures the level of PSA in the blood, and the level will be el-

Dexter Scott King

evated in men with prostate cancer.

While the screening age is 50, Black men should begin getting screened at 45, especially if they have a father or brother who was diagnosed with the disease before age 65. If he has had more than one first-degree relative diagnosed, then screening should begin at 40.

Possible symptoms of prostate cancer include: • Blood in the urine or semen.

• Back pain, pelvis pain, or hip pain.

• Difficulty getting or keeping an erection.

• Unexplained weight loss.

For more information on prostate cancer risks, diagnosis, and treatment, check out the following: Prostate Cancer in the Black Community 0 Questions to Ask Your Doctor If You Have a Family Has History of Prostate Cancer As we mourn the loss of Dexter Scott King, let’s also take this as an opportunity to encourage Black men to take their health seriously.

We must work together to support the sustainability of HBCUs in America Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. serves as chairman of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) and president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA). Photo courtesy of National News Release

By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. Earlier this year the U.S. Department of Education sent all colleges and universities across the nation a notice, reminding them that they need to comply with the newly updated cybersecurity regulations published by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The regulations – which include specifications such as implementing critical controls for information security programs, maintaining oversight of service providers and designating an individual to oversee a school’s cybersecurity infrastructure – came in response to an uptick in ransomware attacks on schools around the United States.

While these regulations are certainly warranted in an age where personal data is becoming increasingly vulnerable to cyber-criminals, the penalties for failing to comply with the regulations – especially the withholding of federal needs-based funding under Title IV – pose an existential threat to schools operating under tight budgets.

Take historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which have throughout their existence struggled to find the substantial funding that many state and private predominantly White institutions (PWIs) of higher education enjoy and who are already steeling themselves to deal with an expected surge of applicants following the Su-

preme Court’s regressive decision to effectively end affirmative action admission programs.

The loss of Title IV funding would drastically affect around 80 percent of the student bodies at HBCUs and would have a consequential negative impact on the future of these vital institutions of higher education.

Endowments at HBCUs pale in comparison to those at the U.S.’s top ranked colleges and universities, with the overall endowments at all the country’s HBCUs accounting for less than a tenth of Harvard’s.

The gap in funding between PWIs and HBCUs isn’t just because of smaller endowments, it’s also because

state lawmakers keep funds off HBCU campuses – in North Carolina, for example, legislators awarded N.C. State an extra $79 million for research while N.C. A&T – the nation’s largest HBCU – was given only $9.5 million.

When it comes to access to technology, HBCUs also face an uphill battle with 82 percent of HBCUs being located in so-called “broadband deserts.”

Despite their struggles with funding, and the fact that these schools constitute only 3 percent of four-year colleges in the country, HBCU graduates account for 80 percent of all Black judges, 50 percent of Black lawyers, 50 percent Continue on page 13

The president asserted that his administration’s SAVE plan has helped 3.6 million Americans by canceling their student debt.

President Biden Accelerates Student Debt Relief with Early Implementation of SAVE Plan

By Stacy M. Brown

Again, attempting to fulfill a key promise made during his 2020 campaign, President Joe Biden announced the accelerated implementation of a crucial provision under the Student Aid for Voluntary Education (SAVE) plan.

The president reaffirmed his commitment to reforming the student loan system and ensuring that higher education remains a pathway to the middle class, “not a barrier to opportunity.”

“From Day One of my Administration, I vowed to fix the student loan

system and make sure higher education is a pathway to the middle class—not a barrier to opportunity,” Biden stated.

The president asserted that his administration’s SAVE plan has helped 3.6 million Americans by canceling their student debt. The plan’s goal is to create a more affordable student loan repayment structure while providing life-changing support to students and their families, Biden said.

“I am proud that my administration is implementing one of the most impactful provisions of the SAVE plan nearly six months ahead of schedule,” Biden

asserted. “Starting next month, borrowers enrolled in SAVE who took out less than $12,000 in loans and have been in repayment for ten years will get their remaining student debt canceled immediately.”

He noted that this step should benefit community college borrowers, low-income individuals, and those facing challenges in repaying their loans.

Biden further stressed the importance of swift action to provide borrowers with necessary relief, enabling them to move forward and pursue their aspirations without the weight of student loan

12

debt.

“I encourage all borrowers eligible for early debt cancellation to sign up for the SAVE plan at studentaid.gov.

Already, 6.9 million borrowers are enrolled in the plan, and 3.9 million have a $0 monthly payment,” urged Biden, highlighting the existing enrollment numbers and the program’s potential impact.

The president’s announcement builds upon the administration’s broader efforts to tackle the complexities of student loans. He cited accomplishments such as fixing the Public Service Loan

Forgiveness program, increasing Pell Grants for families earning less than $60,000 a year, and holding colleges accountable for leaving students burdened with unaffordable debts.

“In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision on our student debt relief plan, we are continuing to pursue an alternative path to deliver student debt relief to as many borrowers as possible as quickly as possible,” Biden insisted.

“I won’t back down from using every tool at our disposal to get student loan borrowers the relief they need to reach their dreams.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024 Continue from page10

We must work

of Black doctors, 40 percent of Black

members of Congress and our country’s current vice president.

HBCUs truly know how to do more with less, but they cannot be saddled with costly regulations that pose an existential crisis to their ability to operate and be given no help to deflect some of the costs.

Fortunately, however, there are businesses and individuals who see the importance of HBCUs to the Black community and are willing to lend their hands – and their dollars – to support them.

The Student Freedom Initiative (SFI), a non-profit chaired by philanthropist and entrepreneur Robert F. Smith and funded by major tech companies like Cisco, has raised millions of dollars to help HBUs comply with the Education Department’s mandates. Cisco alone donated $150 million to the SFI with $100 million allocated to bringing HBCU cybersecurity system upgrades and $50 million going to establish an endowment to offer alternative student loans.

With $89 million already distributed to 42 HBCUs across the nation, the initiative has already saved around $1.5 billion in needs-based funding to these colleges and universities and is making strong inroads to helping these institutions meet the new cybersecurity regulations, but more is required if all HBCUs are to be saved.

Given the empowering impact HBCUs have on the nation’s Black community and the future promise of a more inclusive America, it is imperative that more companies support the work the Student Freedom Initiative is doing to ensure these vital higher education schools can continue to educate and inspire future generations.

As Vice President Harris said, “What you learn at an HBCU is you do not have to fit into somebody’s limited perspective on what it means to be young, gifted and Black.”

We in the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) https://www. nafeonation.org/ stand in strong support of the Student Freedom Initiative. We all should work together to ensure the sustainability of HBCUs in America.

10 JOB CORPS TO APPLY TO

REASONS

“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

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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.

50-417 02.17

13

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

Latincolors Magazine Illuminates, Connects Lisa Reisman, The Arts Paper newhavenarts.org

Ten years ago, Luis Cubillán was a logistics manager in Venezuela who loved to cook. His speciality – the arepa.

Newly arrived in Connecticut with his wife and daughter, Cubillán said Rene Soto, who is from Guatemala, suggested he offer his arepas at a tasting event, setting him on the path to becoming a chef and opening a restaurant.

Cubillán and his story are featured in the latest edition of Latincolors Magazine. The free bilingual, bimonthly magazine marked its 27th edition with a lively celebration at Bregamos Community Theater in late December.

Soto founded the magazine in 2015 to spotlight “the stories of people, organizations, and businesses that are making a positive impact in the Latino community,” according to Latincolors Magazine’s website.

A celebration of the magazine’s 27th edition might seem unusual. It’s not, according to Editor-in-chief Edith Targonski. Latincolors holds a party for each new edition. The party is held at a different venue each time to recognize featured subjects, contributors, and sponsors, she said.

For Cubillán, the party, like the tasting event, is an example of “Rene supporting Latino entrepreneurs, making it clear to me that the unity of our community is where we make a difference,” he said, as he and his wife Jenniffer mingled with around 50 attendees as Latin music pulsed through the mellow-lit space amid the heady aroma of Venezuelan street food.

Just three years after coming to Connecticut, Cubillán opened Mosaico Cuisine on Branford’s Main Street.

Named for the combination of flavors, from Spanish to Italian to French and American, that characterize Venezuelan cuisine, the pocket-sized eatery became a staple in town.

“My passion for cooking comes from the need to express myself,” Cubillán said. “Some people paint, others play an instrument, others dance, and write, but I cook.”

For Targonski, Cubillán’s story is part of the vibrant tapestry that the magazine seeks to highlight.

Recent issues have included pieces on the Mexican-born textile artist Alberto Lopez-Gomez whose work integrates Mayan designs; Peruvian-born choreographer Enrique Alarcon with dances that evoke the rich culture of his native Peru; and Chris Randall, founder of I Love New Haven, a website that celebrates all things New Haven through

Recent editions of Latincolors Magazine. The 27th edition launched in late December. Lisa Reisman photos.

Jenniffer and Luis Cubillán and their daughter.

Jenniffer and Luis Cubillán and their daughter.

14

photography.

Randall’s inclusion reflects the decision, after the magazine’s first four editions were printed only in Spanish, to shift to bilingual content in order to widen its embrace to a more general audience.

“I love that it’s bilingual,” said Randall, as he enjoyed a plate of Mosaico tequeños and arroz chaufa.

In the magazine’s latest edition, Randall shares the origin story behind I Love New Haven and how his work has deepened his connection to the city.

“It’s exciting to know that my story reaches that many more people,” he said.

Targonski said the aim of the magazine is to “provide tools to help people in their daily lives, and also show people who have done something inspiring, someone you may not have heard of.”

In addition to the feature on Cubillán, the 27th edition includes a “Know Your Rights” column on rent relief and eviction; a piece on a young community organizer with Mexican immigrant parents working to empower parents and students to become agents of change; and a story by a woman of indigenous Zapotec descent from southern Mexico whose life was dramatically changed by the Havenly Fellowship, a six-month training program that combines work experience with educational activities.

Yuri Hernandez, owner of Yuriana’s Hair in Westport, a sponsor of the event, attended the event with her son and daughter. She also did the makeup for the Cubillan family for the cover story.

“I’ve always admired Rene and Edith,” Hernandez said. “They do a beautiful job bringing us together and also helping all of us help each other.”

The Cubilláns have seen that impact first-hand.

Last August, the Cubilláns got word from their landlord that they would have to leave the building that housed their Branford restaurant. With the support of the community, they landed on their feet, starting a frozen food business and catering service out of a commercial kitchen in North Haven, as well as a take-out place, Mosaico Express, in Milford. They have plans to open at another location in Branford this spring.

“From the time that he invited me to do the food tasting, Rene was the first person to say you can do it,” Cubillans said, shaking his head and putting his hand on his chest. “You can cook your food and people will want to come and enjoy it. And it has happened.”

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

After Claudine Gay’s resignation, who and what will colleges defend?

NEW HAVEN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

2024 SCHOOL CHOICE EXPO

José Luis Vilson is a veteran educator, writer, speaker and activist in New York City. He is the author of “This Is Not A Test: A New Narrative on Race, Class, and Education.” He’s a National Board Certified teacher, a Math for America master teacher and the executive director of EduColor, an organization dedicated to race and social justice issues in education. He is currently a doctoral candidate studying sociology and education at TeachersNEWS College, Columbia University. is now-onMarch 21, 2023 THE INNER-CITY - March 15, He 2023 the board of directors for the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards and PowerMyLearning. Credit: Photo courtesy of TheJoseVilson.com

By José Luis Vilson Claudine Gay was the first Black president in Harvard University’s history and, as such, stewarded the work of the world’s most prestigious university over a six-month tenure. I’ve read dozens of opinions, and no one has any illusions about the nature of working for a university like Harvard. Creating a space where intellect and fierce debate flourish while keeping funders, academics and policymakers happy is no small feat, even less so when the leader embraces her Black heritage.

High-level jobs of this nature already look difficult without layering international conflicts, fascism and growing social stratification across the board, but here we are.

So in December, when Rep. Elise Stefanik interrogated three college presidents about the role of antisemitism on college campuses, it couldn’t have come at a worse time. In speaking to current Harvard students and reading posts from current Harvard students, many of them didn’t feel like Gay did enough to protect students who support Palestinian rights from doxxing, harassment and other forms of ostracization for exercising the right to protest a mass genocide. Other students didn’t feel like she could have done more to quell the protests and the anti-Jewish provocations that spiked postOct. 7. Then, Congress compelled Claudine Gay and two other college presidents to testify about a stormy situation on campus that no one’s gotten pitch perfect.

Rep. Stefanik asked, “Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate your university’s rules or code of conduct?”

University of Pennsylvania President Elizabeth Magill, MIT President Sally

Kornbluth and Gay each gave responses based on their code of conduct. Knowing how they would respond, Stefanik jumped on the moment to charge each of the presidents and their institutions with antisemitism.

To critics, this moment required an answer that placated the general public, not the lawyers. It didn’t matter that Stefanik’s use of “intifada” was imprecise or that she currently supports a presidential candidate with openly anti-Jewish sentiment. It also didn’t matter that a consortium of Black Harvard alumni rejected initial calls for her ouster.

A small set of well-organized and wellfunded malcontents could galvanize their coalition to oust university leadership and chip away at the credibility of higher education.

Of course, none of this helps college students, just the folks who openly plot against legitimizing a democratic plural-

ity under the guise of plagiarism. A few months later, the day after Haitian Independence Day, Gay resigned.

As a Dominican-Haitian American, I saw what she did there. People who empathized with Gay understood that her mental health and personal well-being mattered way more than this esteemed position. Yet, Black women and other women of color saw how the nonsense solidified the glass ceiling on their prospects again. Legions of conservatives and their devotees celebrated the move, but as I scanned through those who celebrated, I didn’t see anyone who would directly benefit from her stepping down.

Well, besides a few cheerleaders whose plan had come to successful fruition.

Then it hit me: too many people look for any reason to tell Black people — and so many “others” — that they’re inferior as opposed to figuring out why they don’t love themselves enough.

For instance, people have charged Gay with plagiarism, but her doctoral advisor shot the accusation down, as have most scholars who followed 1990s editions of APA citation styling. With the advent of ChatGPT and the plethora of college essay writers and black-market test-prep companies, charging plagiarism at a moment’s notice only makes college entry harder for everyone. Amid hundreds of formulaic essays detailing prospective students’ accomplishments and sob stories, admissions offices may be more inclined to lean toward essays that don’t sound like the writer checked off the typical checkboxes.

If admissions become even more opaque for prospective students, that serves no one. But dissenters don’t care Continue on page 17

From a 4-year-old orphan to an international award-winning actress

The inspiring story of Thuso Nokwanda Mbedu

by Ben Ebuka, Face2FaceAfrica.com

Growing up in the early 1990s, Thuso Mbedu never dreamt of being an entertainment figure. At a very young age, she wanted to be a dermatologist, but after taking a dramatic arts class in the 10th grade, she became interested in acting.

Her acting hasTuition earned her » career FREE tofame Newand Haven & CT Resident Students fortune locally and internationally, rising inside & outside New Haven to become» oneFREE of the Transportation most sought after actresses from Africa. At 27, she was and After-School Programs » South FULL-DAY Kindergarten named in the 2018 Forbes Africa 30 Under » one FREE for 3- and 4-Year-Olds 30 List, and of thePreschool 100 Most Infl uential Africans by New African Magazine.

Born on July 8, 1991, at the Midlands Medical Center join in Pietermaritzburg, Kwa- Choice Expo to learn more!

Please us at the School Zulu-Natal in South Africa, to a Zulu mothAM PM er and Xhosa and Sotho father, she never enjoyed the care of her parents who died when she was barely four years old. She. Wilbur Cross High School 181 Mitchell Dr., New Haven was raised by her grandmother, a very strict Thuso Mbedu. Photo -IOL school principal in school and at home.

‘Black Reel Awards’ (Outstanding Actress Her name reflected the multicultural tribes – TV Movie / Limited Series), the ‘Hollyof her parents – Thuso is a Sotho name, wood Critics Association TV Awards’ (Best Nokwanda is a Zulu name, and Mbedu is Complete the applicaton online between January 30 - March 1.

Actress in a Limited Series, Anthropology Xhosa.

Series or Television Movie), the ‘Gotham Mbedu went to Pelham Primary School Awards’ (Outstanding Performance in New and Pietermaritzburg Girls’ High School Series), the ‘Hollywood Critics Associaand graduated from the University of Wittion TV Awards’ (TV Breakout Star), and watersrand in South Africa in 2013, where the ‘Critics Choice Television Awards’ she studied Physical Theatre and Perform(Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television ing Arts Management. Earlier in 2012, she Movie), all for her role ‘Cora Randall’ in took a summer course at the Stella Adler the 2021 TV series ‘The Underground RailStudio of Acting in New York City. road.’

Career She won the ‘TV Breakout Star’ award Her acting career began in 2014 when she from the Hollywood Critics Association played a minor role of ‘Nosisa’ in the popuTV and won the ‘Outstanding Performance lar South African Soap Opera ‘Isibaya’ in New Series’ award from the Gotham from Mzansi Magic. In 2015, she played a Awards. guest role as ‘Kheti’ in the Second Season In 2022, Mbedu was nominated for the of the SABC 2 youth drama series ‘Snake ‘Independent Spirit Awards (Best Female Park.’

Performance in a New Scripted Series), for She got her first starring role in the teen her role ‘Cora Randall’ in the 2021 televidrama television series ‘IS’THUNZI’ from sion series ‘The Underground Railroad.’

Mzansi Magic where she played ‘Winnie.’

She won the ‘Critics Choice Television Her international debut was in ‘The UnAwards’ for ‘Best Actress in a Miniseries or derground Railroad’ an American fantasy Television Movie’ for her role ‘Cora Ranhistorical drama series based on the novel dall’ in ‘ThePublic Underground Railroad.’

‘The Underground Railroad’ written by New Haven Schools her keynote&speech at TheWrap’s PowColson Whitehead.

OfficeInof Choice Enrollment er Women Summit, Thuso Mbedu tearfully In 2022, she starred in her first film ‘The Meadow Street | New CTovercame 06519 | 475-220-1430 spoke of Haven, how she the loss of her Woman King’ an epic historical54 drama dear parents, grandmother, and aunt. But about Agosie, where an entire female warnewhavenmagnetschools.com her role in Amanda Lane’s ‘IS’THUNZI’ rior unit protected the West African Kinggradually renewed her hope in life. dom of Dahomey in the 17 – 19th century. “…my world was that blur, until AmanShe played ‘Nawi’, a zealous recruit in the da Lane happened in 2016. The role that military unit.

Amanda Lane gave me was the difference In 2017, Mbedu was nominated for the between life and death for me. Receiv‘DSTV Viewers Choice Awards’ and the ing that audition brief, I told myself that ‘International Emmy Awards for the ‘Best I would audition like it was my last audiPerformance by an Actress’ for her role tion. I gave it the last of everything that I ‘Winnie Bhengu’ in the 2016 -2017 televihad, that at the time I got the callback, I had sion drama series ‘IS’THUNZI.’ nothing left. I secretly made the decision In 2018, she won the ‘South African Film not to do the callback because I had nothand Television Awards’ for ‘ Best Actress ing left to give. But fortunately, I received – TV Drama’ for her role ‘Winnie Bhengu’ the callback. So I didn’t do the callback bein the 2016 -2017 television drama series cause the role was mine. I had given up. I ‘IS’THUNZI.’ She was also nominated for was in a very dark place at the time, and the the ‘International Emmy Awards for ‘Best character, the role, the opportunity, was a Performance by an Actress’ for her role much needed light. And I told myself that ‘Winnie Bhengu’ in the television drama I will act as if it was the last character that series ‘IS’THUNZI.’ I will play. And through a great script and In 2021, she was nominated for the an amazing director,NEWS I earned two Interna‘Television Critics Association FIRST Award’CHOICE CONNECTICUT’S FOR URBAN tional Emmy Awards for that role…”

(Individual Achievement in Drama), the

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

Revolutionizing Economic Equality:

Our Money United to Launch the Black Wall Street Spending Ticker, Transforming Consumer Spending and Corporate Accountability Our Money United Will Unveil Revolutionary Technology to Reshape Consumer Spending and Foster Economic Equality

Atlanta, GA — On Tuesday, March 12, 2024, Our Money United will unveil the Black Wall Street Spending Ticker, a pioneering technology driving a consumer spending transformation with corporate accountability. The highly anticipated reveal of the Conscious Spending Platform is led by Friends of the Movement (FotM) Global, the Atlanta Black Chambers Foundation, the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship, and the Original Black Wall Street (Greenwood-Tulsa Chamber), in collaboration with civil rights and social justice organizations nationwide. The Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship (RICE), the largest Black incubator in the nation, will house the Black Wall Street Ticker. Pioneering as the pilot launch city, Atlanta is a conscious city and supporter of FotM. The Black Wall Street Spending Ticker is the first of the various conscious tickers representing ethnic groups visually showcasing the collective spending influence of conscious spending groups, casting a vigilant eye on global citizens while holding corporations accountable. Similar to the Nasdaq, The Black Wall Street Ticker, signifies a new era of transparency and responsibility, visually encapsulating the collective impact of consumers in the marketplace. The Black Wall Street Spending Ticker will meticulously monitor spending within the Black community and its allies, rewarding those actively contributing to closing the wealth gap.

“As we unveil the Black Wall Street

and investments within each group, the Voter Wallet provides a real-time window into the tangible impact of contributions within one’s community. The Voter Wallet will support Black and ally businesses while helping to close the wealth gap.

The unveiling of the first Black Wall Street Ticker will be on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, at 11:30 a.m. at the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurship (RICE). RICE is located in the heart of the Atlanta University Center at 504 Fair St SW, Atlanta, GA 30313. For more information on Friends of the Movement, Our Money United, the Black Wall Street Spending Ticker, or the Voter Wallet, visit http://www.ourmoneyunited.com or contact press@ourmoneyunited.com.

Ready to become a Friend of the Movement? Visit www.FotMGlobal.com to take the pledge.

Spending Ticker, we’re not just tracking dollars, we’re tracking the heartbeat of economic justice,” says Dr. Charles Champ Walker, Chief Economic Empowerment Officer of FotM Global. “This transformative initiative signals a shift where every conscious purchase becomes a vote for a more equitable and prosperous future. Together, through the power of our wallets, we are rewriting the narrative of economic empowerment and leav-

ing an indelible mark on the path toward true equality.”

Powering the Black Wall Street Ticker is the Voter Wallet, a tool that empowers consumers to align spending with their values and exercise their economic voting power. The Voter Wallet connects consumers with a network of aligned conscious groups and merchants reporting aggregate spending data to the ticker.

Seamlessly integrating spending, giving,

About Our Money United Our Money United is a pledged-based grassroots campaign led by Friends of the Movement and the nation’s top civil and civic rights organizations to educate consumers on the power of their spending, giving, and investing. The campaign will highlight and reward Corporations that have become friends of the movement and measure their progress on eliminating barriers to economic inclusion. Visit http://www.ourmoneyunited. com for more information about Our Money United.

About Friends of the Movement (FotM)

Global Friends of the Movement Global (FotM), is a conscious spending platform where conscious spending converges with cutting-edge technology to usher in a social and economic change like never before. In an era where every dollar wields the potential to shape our collective future, FotM is at the forefront of revolutionizing how we spend, give, and invest. FotM’s mission is to empower individuals and groups to make a lasting impact by voting with their wallets at the cash register and endorsing policymakers aligned with their values through donation votes. FotM proudly introduces the World’s first Conscious Spending Platform – the Voter Wallet, a groundbreaking concept that sets us apart as pioneers in the field. FotM believes money should be a force for good, not just a transaction.

Step into a new era of conscious spending, where every purchase or donation becomes a potent instrument for positive transformation. FotM lives by the principle that what gets measured gets done.

Tracking spending and giving, FotM will display it on the Black Wall Street Spending Tickers throughout the country fostering accountability for ourselves and corporations alike. FotM helps turn financial choices into a brighter future.

Together, we redefine the possibilities of conscious consumerism, one transaction at a time. Visit http://www.fotmglobal. com for more information about Friends of the Movement Global.

Connecticut’s Upcoming Legislative Session: Affordable Housing, Health Insurance, and Voting Security in the Spotlight

by Christine Stuart

It’s just 13 weeks long, but Connecticut’s legislative session will be packed with debate over issues that impact a number of residents from housing and health insurance to voting security.

The Office of Legislative Research put together a preview of issues that have yet to be resolved by past legislature’s.

Topping the list for many will be affordable housing. Last year’s debate didn’t get very far and ended up with the appointment of a task force, which is expected to make its recommendations soon.

When it comes to renters, last year, the General Assembly enacted a number of new tenant protections, including requiring landlords to offer tenants pre-occupancy walk-through inspections to identify a unit’s existing defects and limiting the fees and payments that landlords may require from tenants.

“This session, the legislature may consider additional tenant protections, such as (1) broadening the current requirement

that municipalities with a population of at least 25,000 establish fair rent commissions or (2) prohibiting “no-fault” (i.e., lapse-of-time) evictions,” the document reads. “Additionally, the General Assembly may consider legislation aimed at incentivizing landlords to (1) rehabilitate existing multifamily properties, including through energy efficiency upgrades, or (2) participate in tenant-based rental assistance programs, such as the federal Housing Choice Voucher program and the state’s Rental Assistance Program.”

Affordable single-family homes are tougher for lawmakers to regulate.

Between 2011 and 2022, the percentage of affordable housing increased in 125 municipalities, decreased in 40, and remained the same in four. That’s before 2023 when home prices increased nearly 10%, at the same time as inventory is hard to find.

The median home price in Connecticut was around $381,620, according to Zillow.

The Office of Legislative Research pre-

dicted that “As housing prices continue to climb across the U.S., and particularly in the northeast, the legislature may consider proposals this session aimed at (1) ensuring housing affordability, particularly for low-and moderate-income households and (2) growing the state’s overall housing stock.”

Another issue that hits Connecticut residents in their pocketbooks is health insurance. Rates in 2024 went up an average of 9.4% for plans regulated by the state.

Some lawmakers are hoping they will be able to get approval for association health plans to operate in the state.

Last year, the General Assembly debated authorizing and regulating association health plans, which are a type of health insurance plan that allows small businesses and self-employed individuals to band together and form an association or group for the purpose of obtaining health coverage for their employees or members.

“This year, the legislature may debate association health plans again as well as explore other ways to provide afford-

16

able access to health insurance and other health insurance market reforms, which may include a re-evaluation of the healthcare mandate adoption process,” according to the memo.

And since it’s an election year, voting security will be at the forefront, since every member of the General Assembly is up for re-election.

“During the 2023 legislative session, the legislature adopted several new election policies, including a state voting rights act and early voting, as well as a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment for no-excuse absentee voting. This year, the legislature may consider implementing or further reforming election administration and security procedures and processes,” according to the report.

They will also have to debate funding because Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas said they will run out of funding for early voting.

While the first year of the biennial budget provides $10,500 to each municipality for early voting training and related ex-

penses, the fiscal year starting on July 1 lacks any funding for early voting. Thomas intends to address this oversight with lawmakers during the annual session, which commences on Feb. 7, to secure funding for the second year of the budget.

Each of Connecticut’s cities and towns is required to have at least one early voting location, with larger communities having the option for multiple locations.

Early voting will be available for four days during presidential primaries, seven days for other primaries and special elections, and 14 days for general elections, ending on the Sunday before Election Day. An exception will be made during this year’s presidential primary, with early voting scheduled for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday, excluding Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Early voting hours will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for presidential primaries and special elections, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the Tuesday and Thursday before general elections and other primaries.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024 Continue from page15

that their own people do it; they just know that Claudine Gay can be charged with it, and enough people believe it. Billionaires worry not about the hypocrisy games, just about whether they can restrict the referees. Mainstream media shares the blame here, too.

They’ll say Black people have the lowest GPAs when matriculating in colleges and universities but rarely account for how prospective Black and Latinx students generally have higher GPAs than the average GPA just to get in. They proclaim that DEI and other identity-based initiatives have deteriorated academic expectations, but students of various backgrounds provide evidence that we’re not even close to achieving equality– much less equity– on campuses large and small.

They shout about how inclusivity programs, including affirmative action, have subverted notions of merit, but merit has always been a subjective measure, and affirmative action programs were an effective corrective measure.

They’ll say professors fear “cancel culture,” but the only “canceling” we’re seeing is the work of people that a select few have deemed as “the other.” Because the same folks who took advantage of diversifying neighborhoods have retrofitted this narrative to college campuses they deem too inclusive.

After Gay’s resignation, Gay still sought to uphold Harvard’s values. Time and again in American history, the people least likely to get the largesse of what America has to offer continue to hold this country accountable to its purported values. Ivy League schools shouldn’t have so much power over how we discuss college, but they do. In this light, universities of all statuses should take a real stance about the movement to delegitimize the pluralism so many people have fought to attain.

The motives for using academic tools against someone matter just as much as the purported offense.

I also know exclusivity and prestige are part of the game, but hear me out.

Rather than placate white supremacists who wish to narrow curricula, college and university presidents should look for more ways to advance a truly shared humanity where we can better redefine and characterize education. With all the intellectual and societal resources that these institutions have, colleges can also build coalitions that set better expectations for everyone’s prospects. Taking a page from K-12 teachers and communities, we need to open up more of the works happening in the ivory towers and commission more professors to do public-facing work.

Placating fascists only makes that movement grow.

Oh, and institutions of higher education should prepare to defend themselves and each other. Because dictatorships usually come for the intellects of their most marginalized, then everyone else. We’re seeing it now.A version of this post originally appeared at The José Vilson

Oficina de registro de primera infancia Se encuentra en: Celentano Observatory 400 Canner Street New Haven, CT 06511

Escuelas Publicas de New Haven

Programas Infancia Temprana

para la

Programas GRATUITOS y de escala móvil de 6 horas para la primera infancia para familias de bajos ingresos de New Haven

SCHOOL READINESS

para el registro en persona

¡Aceptamos solicitudes!

Como aplicar

La oficina de Primera Infancia ahora está aceptando aplicaciones electronicamente.

Se alienta a los pandres de ninos de 3 y 4 años a presentar su solicitud en linea.4 Spanish: https://registration.powerschool.com/family/gosnap.aspx? action=24982&culture=es English: https://registration.powerschool.com/family/gosnap.aspx? action=24982&culture=en

Que incluir en su inscripcion

1) Demostración de edad

• Certificado de nacimiento del niño/a O • Documentos legales de custodia / tutela

2) Demostración de dirección • Factura de servicio actual (gas, electricidad, teléfono) a su nombre

• Formulario de declaración jurada de residencia

de NEW HAVEN

de NEW HAVEN

3) Demostración de ingresos

Programas para la infancia temprana GRATUITOS de 6 horas para familias de bajos ingresos de New Haven en las siguientes escuelas públicas de New Haven:

Programas de educación temprana de 6 horas con tarifa variable y de escala móvil para familias de New Haven en las siguientes escuelas públicas de New Haven:

• 2 meses de talones de pago actuales

• Benjamin Jepson Multi-Age School • Dr. Mayo Early Childhood School- (Immediate Openings) • Fair Haven School • John Martinez Sea & Sky STEM School • Lincoln-Bassett Community School • Truman School (Immediate Openings) • Lugares comunitarios adicionales también participan en el programa.

• Augusta Lewis Troup School • Columbus Family Academy • East Rock Community School • Hill Central School • Nathan Hale School • Lugares comunitarios adicionales también participan en el programa.

Tel. 475-220-1464

• Contacto: Head Start Registracion

Programas gratuitos de 4 horas disponibles en las escuelas East Rock Community y Nathan Hale.

Contacto: School Readiness Office

HeadStartNewHaven.com

475-220-1482

Tel. 475-220-1464

17

y consecutivos O W-2 o Devolución de impuestos 1040 • Declaración de presupuesto del Departamento de Servicios Sociales de CT, o de la Oficina del Seguro Social, o de la Oficina de Cumplimiento de Menores (Child Enforcement Bureau) • Declaración ante notario indicando que el padre o la madre es desempleado/a

4) Físico (dentro del último año) • Registro de evaluación de la salud del

Departamento CT de educación de primera infancia • Resultados de exámenes de anemia y plomo • Evaluación TB • Registros de inmunizaciones • Vacunación de la gripe de estación • Tarjeta de seguro de salud

5) Examen dental • Registro de examen dental

(dentro de los últimos 6 meses)

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024 INNER-CITY NEWS July 27, 2016 - August 02, 2016

Construction

Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:

Construction Equipment Mechanic preferably experienced in Seeking to employ experienced individuals in the labor, Reclaiming and Road Milling Equipment. We offer factory foreman, operator and teamster trades for a heavy outside training on equipment we operate. Location: Bloomfield work statewide. Reliable personal transportation and a valCT We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits id drivers license required. To apply please call (860) 621Contact: Tom Dunay VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE 1720 or send resume to: Personnel Department, P.O. Box 368, Cheshire, CT06410.

Phone: 860- 243-2300 HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, Email: tom.dunay@garrityasphalt.com is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom this develAffiatrmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V Women & Minority Applicants are encouraged to applyapartments Drug Free Workforce opment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven.

Maximum income limitations apAffirmative Action/ Equal 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 Garrity Asphalt Reclaiming, Inc seeks:will be mailied upon rebeen received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications Reclaimer and Milling with current quest byOperators calling HOME INC atOperators 203-562-4663 duringlicensing those hours. Completed preand clean driving record, be willing to travel throughout the NorthLargeStreet, CT Fence applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Third Company looking for an individual for our east & NY. We offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefits PVC Fence Production Shop. Experience preferred but will Floor, New Haven, CT 06510. train the right person. Must be familiar with carpentry hand Contact: Rick Tousignant Phone: 860- 243-2300 & power tools and be able to read a CAD drawing and tape Email: rick.tousignant@garrityasphalt.com measure. Use of CNC Router machine a plus but not required, will train the right person. This is an in-shop production poWomen & Minority Applicants are encouraged to apply Duties include building fence panels, posts, gates and AffirmativeMACRI Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer VALENTINA VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDESsition.

DISPONIBLES more. Must have a valid CT driver’s license & be able to obtain a Drivers Medical HOME INC, en nombre de la Columbus House y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está Card. Must be able to pass a physical and drug test. Please email resume to pboucher@atlasoutdoor.com.

Tractor Trailer Driver for Heavy & Highway Construction Equipaceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo ment. Must have a CDL License, clean driving record, capable of AA/EOE-MF ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos operating heavy equipment; be willing to travel throughout the máximos.

Las We pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m.tscomenzando Martes 25 Northeast & NY. offer excellent hourly rate & excellent benefi Full Time julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100)Administrative assistant position en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición for a steel & misc metals fabrication shop who will oversee the llamandoEmail: a HOMEdana.briere@garrityasphalt.com INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirseof clerical duties such as answering phones, acdaily operations Women & Minority encouraged to apply a las oficinas de HOMEApplicants INC en 171are Orange Street, tercer piso, New Haven , CT 06510 .purchase orders/invoicing and certified payroll. counts payable Affirmative Action/ Equal Opportunity Employer Email resumes to jillherbert@gwfabrication.com

NOTICE

NETWORK ADMINISTRATOR

Union Company seeks:

The Town of Wallingford Electric Division is seeking a highly qualified Network Administrator to oversee its business and information systems. The position is responsible for the design, implementation and maintenance of local and wide area computer networks (LAN/WAN) in offices and remote sites. Applicants should possess five (5) years of progressively responsible experience in all phases of information technology processing, including supervisory and managerial experience and installation and support of personal computer workstations, plus a bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field. An equivalent combination of education and qualifying experience may be substituted on a year-for-year basis. Must possess and maintain a current and valid Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) certification or its equivalent. Must possess and maintain a valid State of Connecticut Driver’s License. Salary (currently under negotiations): $88, 811 to $113, 630 annually. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, individual and family medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and deferred compensation plan. Applications may be downloaded from the Department of Human Resources Web Page and can be faxed or mailed to the Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492, or emailed to: wlfdhr@wallingfordct.gov by the closing date of January 29, 2024. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

Contact Dana at 860-243-2300

Electric Utility GENERAL LINE FOREMAN

PVC FENCE PRODUCTION

NOTICIA

NOW HIRINGNEW FOR 2024 SEASON HAVEN

Fairmont Roma Construction, 242-258 Inc. has openings forAve Laborers, CDL Drivers 2BR Townhouse, 3BR, 1We level 1BA with Class A & B Licenses,1.5 andBA, operators. are,an Equal All new apartments, new appliances, newtraining carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 Opportunity Employer and have availability. highways, near bus stop & shopping center Pet under 40lb allowed. Interested partiesat contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 Please contact Rebecca 860-996-8766

or put in an application at romaconst.com

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. 630 Bishop PlainfiElijah eld Davis, Rd Jewett City, CT Chapel 06351U.F.W.B. Church 64 Brewster (203) 996-4517 Host, General D.D. Pastor of Pitts

ROMA CONSTRUCTION, INC.

St. New Haven, CT

Listing: Outside Sales & Estimator Position

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Fast paced HVAC department has an immediate opening. This position will interact directly the customer the entire sales Responsible Sealed bidswith are invited by thethroughout Housing Authority of theprocess.

Town of Seymour foruntil all aspects of on HVAC estimation includes sheetStreet, metal, 3:00 pm Tuesday, Augustwhich 2, 2016 at itssystem office design, at 28 Smith piping, and organizing information to compile estimates for poSeymour, CT 06483 vendor for Concrete Sidewalk Repairsaccurate and Replacement at the tential HVAC projects. This candidate must be well organized, hands-on, selfSmithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour. motivated, dependable and work independently. Minimum of 5 years of sales/ estimating experience. Must have the ability to read and comprehend blueprints.

A pre-bid conferenceofwill be held at the Must Housing Authority Office 28knowlSmith Must have knowledge HVAC systems. have Microsoft Office Street Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, July 20, 2016. edge.

Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437 or emailHRDept@eastriverenergy.com

Bidding documents are available from the Seymour Housing Authority Office, 28 Smith Seymour, CT 06483 (203) 888-4579. **AnStreet, Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer** 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 Town of Wallingford Electric Division is seeking a highly qualified General Line Foreman with strong leadership skills to oversee the utility’s overhead and underground line installation, repair and maintenance functions. The utility serves 25,000 customers in a 50+ square mile distribution area with a peak demand of 130 MW. Applicants should possess 8 years of progressively responsible experience in the construction, maintenance, and operation of utility-grade electric distribution facilities, State of Connecticut plus an A.S. degree in electrical, civil, or mechanical engineering, or an equivalent Office of Policy and Management of education and qualifying experience substituting on a year-for-year Invitationcombination to Bid: nd basis. Must possess or be able to obtain and maintain ESOP-100 Switching and Tag2 Notice ging qualifications within 12 months. Must possess and maintain a valid State of The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting Connecticut Driver’s License. Salary (currently under negotiations): $97, 917 to for an OPM Assistant Division $125, 278 annually plus on-call pay when assigned. The Town offers an excellent Director in the Office of Finance.Old Saybrook, CT fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, indi17 Units) Further information regarding (4 Buildings, vidual and family medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and deferred the duties,Tax eligibility Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rateplan.

Project compensation Applications may be downloaded from the Department of Hurequirements and application man Resources Web Page and can be faxed or mailed to the Department of Human instructions are available at: Resources, of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492, New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Town Demolition, Site-work, Casthttps://www.jobapscloud.com/ or emailed to: wlfdhr@wallingfordct.gov by the closing date of January 29, 2024.

CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?b=&R1= in-place Concrete, AsphaltPhone: Shingles, Vinyl Siding, Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE (203) 294-2080; 230908&R2=0104MP&R3=001

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE

Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

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

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

Request for Qualifications

The August South Central Bid Extended, Due Date: 5, 2016 Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG) seeks the services of15, one or more consultants for the four following transportation planning Anticipated Start: August 2016 QSR STEEL studies during the 2024 and 2025 Fiscal Years (July 1, 2023- June 30, 2025).

Project documents available via ftp link below: CORPORATION http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage • South Central Regional Bike and Pedestrian Study

APPLY NOW!

• State Street Pedestrian Needs Study in Hamden

Fax or Email Questions & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com • Town Wide Pavement Management Study in Madison HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE &•Section 3 Certified Businesses Orchard Street Safety and Mobility Study in New Haven Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders AA/EEO EMPLOYER Disadvantaged Business Enterprise firms are strongly encouraged to respond as Top pay for top performers. Health prime contractor or to play a significant role within a consultant team. Responses Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

18

are due by February 5, 2024, (12 noon local time). The full RFQ documents can be viewed at the Council’s website: www.scrcog.org or can be made available upon request. Contact James Rode at (203) 466-8623 with any questions.

THE INNER-CITY INNER-CITY NEWS , 2024 - January 2024 NEWS- January July 27,24 2016 - August 02, 30, 2016

Seymour Housing NOTICE Authority CHFA – 23-301

CDBG 2023 –PRETBDAPPLICATIONS AVAILABLE VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL HOUSING Revitalization at Castle Heights

HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this development located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum income limitations apply. Pre-applications will be available from 9AM TO 5PM beginning Monday Ju;y Sealed bids are invited and will be received by the Seymour Housing Authority, 25, 2016 and ending when sufficient pre-applications (approximately 100) have until 2:00PM on Thursday January 25, 2024, in the Office of the Seymour Housing been received at the offices of HOME INC. Applications will be mailied upon reAuthority, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CT 06483, at which time and place they will quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed prebe publicly opened and read aloud. applications must be returned to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.

Proposals must be submitted on the forms provided and in a sealed envelope plainly marked with the appropriate title. “Revitalization at Castle Heights for the Seymour Housing Authority”.

NOTICE OF BID

NOTICIA

A MANDATORY pre-bid conference will be held at the Seymour Housing AuthorVALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES ity, Seymour Avenue, Seymour, CT 06483 on Monday January 8, 2024 at 2:00PM. AllHOME prospective toHouse attend.y de la New Haven Housing Authority, está INC, enbidders nombre are de larequired Columbus

aceptando pre-solicitudes para estudios y apartamentos de un dormitorio en este desarrollo A satisfactory Bid Bond or Certified Check, in an amount equal to five percent (5%) ubicado en la calle 109 Frank Street, New Haven. Se aplican limitaciones de ingresos of the base bid, shall be submitted with each bid. The Bid Bond shall be made paymáximos. Las pre-solicitudes estarán disponibles 09 a.m.-5 p.m. comenzando Martes 25 able to the Seymour Housing Authority and shall be properly executed by the Bidder. julio, 2016 hasta cuando se han recibido suficientes pre-solicitudes (aproximadamente 100) A 100% Performance, Labor and Material Bond is also required. All sureties must be en las oficinas de HOME INC. Las pre-solicitudes serán enviadas por correo a petición listed on the most recent IRS circular 570. 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 .

Attention of bidders is directed to certain requirements of this contract which require payment of Davis-Bacon wages, and compliance with certain local, state and federal requirements. This is a partially Federally funded project.

Contract Documents including plans & specifications can be viewed online beginning December 25, 2023 and purchased from Advanced Reprographics Planroom website, visit http://www.advancedplanroom.com/ select “Public Jobs” and select “Revitalization at Castle Heights for the Seymour HA”.

NEW HAVEN

242-258 Fairmont Ave

Note: Addenda this bid will be issued via email.

2BRtoTownhouse, 1.5 BA, 3BR,Contractors 1 level ,intending 1BA to bid MUST BE REGISTERED on the Advanced Reprographics Plan holder’s list in orAll new apartments, new appliances, new carpet, close to I-91 & I-95 der to receive direct email of any and all addenda.

highways, near bus stop & shopping center underconsideration, 40lb allowed. must Interested contact Maria @ 860-985-8258 Bids, toPet receive be inparties the hands of the authorized representative, no later than the day and hour mentioned above.

CT. Unified Deacon’s Association is pleased to offer a Deacon’s The Seymour Housing reserves the to right or reject anyofor all bids; Certificate Program.

This is aAuthority 10 month program designed assistto in accept the intellectual formation Candidates response to the Church’s Ministry The cost is $125. startin Saturday, August 20, 2016of 1:30to inwaive any informalities, or;needs. to accept any bidClasses deemed the best interests the 3:30 Contact: Chairman, Deacon Joe J. Davis, M.S., B.S. Seymour Housing Authority.

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

All bids will be considered valid for a period of One Hundred Twenty (120) days.

The contractor who is selected to perform this State project must comply with CONN. GEN. STAT. §§ 4a-60, 4a-60a, 4a-60g, and 46a-68b through 46a-68f, inclusive, as amended by June 2015 Special Session Public Act 15-5.

SEYMOUR HOUSING AUTHORITY

Sealed bids are invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour

State requires minimumAugust of twenty-fi ve (25%) state-funded untillaw 3:00 pm ona Tuesday, 2, 2016 at its percent office atof28theSmith Street, portion of the be Concrete set aside Sidewalk for awardRepairs to subcontractors holding Seymour, CTcontract 06483 for and Replacement at curthe rent certification fromAssisted the Connecticut Department of Administrative Services Smithfield Gardens Living Facility, 26 Smith Street Seymour. (“DAS”) under the provisions of CONN. GEN. STAT. § 4a-60g. (25% of the total state-funded value with DAS-certified Small Businesses and 6.25% of the topre-bid conference willDAS-certifi be held at ed theMinority-, Housing Authority Smith talAstate-funded value with Women-, Office and/or 28 DisabledStreetBusinesses.)

Seymour, CT at 10:00 am, on Wednesday, Julygood 20, faith 2016.effort to meet owned The contractor must demonstrate the 25% set-aside goals.

BiddingANdocuments are available from the Seymour Housing Authority OfAFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER MBE’s, WBE’s, SBE’s AND SECTION 3 DESIGNATED ARE888-4579.

ENCOURAGED TO APPLY fice, 28 Smith Street, Seymour, CTENTERPRISES 06483 (203)

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

Town of Bloomfield

Salary Range:

$87,727 to $136,071 Deputy Finance Director/Controller Pre-employment drug testing.

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

Town of Bloomfield

Finance Director

Salary Range - $101,455 to $156,599 (expected starting pay maximum is mid-range) Fully Benefited – 35 hours weekly Pre-employment drug testing. For more details, visit our website – www.bloomfieldct.org

Portland

The Town of Wallingford is offering an excellent career opportunity for a technical leader in the wastewater treatment industry to assist the Superintendent in providing managerial direction in the operation and maintenance of the Town’s wastewater treatment plant, pumping stations, and sanitary sewer collection systems. Applicants should possess 4 years of progressively responsible experience in water pollution control and a bachelor's degree in environmental science, chemical engineering or other engineering with courses in chemical qualitative analysis, biochemistry or microbiology, or an equivalent combination of education and qualifying experience substituting on a year-for-year basis. Must possess and maintain a State of Connecticut Class III or higher Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator's license or the ability to obtain the same within the probationary period.

Must possess and maintain a valid State of Connecticut Motor Vehicle Operator’s License.

Salary: $80,555 to $103,068 annually plus an on-call stipend when assigned. The Town offers an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and a deferred compensation plan. Applications may be downloaded from the Department of Human Resources Web Page and can be mailed or faxed to the Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492; Fax: (203) 294-2084, or emailed to: wlfdhr@wallingfordct.gov by the closing date of January 11, 2024. Phone: (203) 294-2080. EOE

Full time experienced welder for Structural/Miscellaneous metalsemail resume tojillherbert@gwfabrication.com

DRAFT HAZARD MITIGATION PLAN UPDATE NEEDS PUBLIC REVIEW

Police Officer full-time Go to www.portlandct.org for details

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

Wastewater Treatment ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT

The South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG) and a Regional Advisory Committee have updated the region’s Hazard Mitigation Plan for FEMA review and municipal adoption. Prior to State and FEMA review, the public is encouraged to review and comment on the draft plan. The plan identifies and prioritizes actions each of the 15 SCRCOG municipalities may take to mitigate the risks of natural hazards and climate change.

Invitation to Bid: 2nd Notice To review and comment on the draft plan, visit the SCRCOG Hazard Mitigation

webVILLAGE page at: www.scrcog.org/hazard SAYEBROOKE

Old Saybrook, CT APPLY NOW! The plan is available for review through March 13, 2023.

(4 Buildings, 17 Units)

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Project The Wage plan Rate includes detailed information regarding twelve natural hazards and Top pay for top performers. Health climate change and their impacts to the region and each municipality. Impacts Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay.

include those to criticalSite-work, facilities,Casthistoric assets, and the built environment. The New Construction, Wood Framed, Housing, Selective Demolition, goals of the plan include the categories of community planning, flood hazards, in-place Concrete, Asphalt Shingles, Vinyl Siding, trees, regional collaboration, and public awareness and preparedness.

Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances, Residential Casework, State of Connecticut Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection.

Comments can be submitted to Rebecca Andreucci, Senior Transportation PlanOffice of Policy This contract subject to state set-aside ner andatcontract compliance requirements. randreucci@scrcog.org or by phone at (203) 466-8601. andisManagement

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

The State of Connecticut, Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 Office of Policy and Management Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 is recruiting for an Information Technology Technician hour).

Project(40documents available via ftp link below:

ELM CITY COMMUNITIES

Further information regarding http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage the duties, eligibility Invitation for Bids requirements and application Unarmed Security Services Faxinstructions or Email Questions & Bids to:at: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com are available

HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran, S/W/MBE & Section 3 Certified Businesses

https://www.jobapscloud.com/ Elm City Communities Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483is currently seeking bids for Services of a firm to proCT/sup/bulpreview.asp?b=&R1= vide Unarmed Security Services. A complete copy of the requirement may be 230927&R2=7602FR&R3=001 AA/EEO EMPLOYER The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

19

obtained from Elm City Communities’ Vendor Collaboration Portal https://newhavenhousing.cobblestonesystems.com/gateway beginning on

Monday, November 6, 2023, at 3:00PM.

THE INNER-CITY INNER-CITY NEWS January , 2024 - January 2024 NEWS- July 27, 24 2016 - August 02, 30, 2016

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR BID HOUSING AUTHORITY OF THE CITY OF DANBURY NOTICE Elevator Maintenance and Repair Services

IFBHOUSING No. B23008 VALENTINA MACRI RENTAL PRE- APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE Please register here to obtain Bid Package: HOME INC, on behalf of Columbus House and the New Haven Housing Authority, https://ha.internationaleprocurement.com/requests.html?company_id=49968 is accepting pre-applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments at this develPROPOSAL SUBMITTAL RETURN:income limitations apopment located at 108 Frank Street, New Haven. Maximum Authority will of the of Danbury, 2 MillTO Ridge Rd,beginning Danbury, CT 06811 Ju;y ply.Housing Pre-applications beCity available from 9AM 5PM Monday Envelope Must Marked: IFB No. B23008,pre-applications Elevator Maintenance and Repair Services 25, 2016 andbeending when sufficient (approximately 100) have Lisa Purchasing Agentwill be mailied upon rebeen received at the Attn: offices ofGilchrist, HOME INC. Applications quest by calling HOME INC at 203-562-4663 during those hours. Completed preDEADLINE applications must be returned SUBMITTAL to HOME INC’s offices at 171 Orange Street, Third January Floor, New Haven, CT 06510.8th, 2024 at 10:30am (EST) CONTACT PERSON FOR IFB DOCUMENT: Lisa Gilchrist – Purchasing Agent Telephone: 203-744-2500 x1421

NOTICIA

E-Mail: lgilchrist@hacdct.org

VALENTINA MACRI VIVIENDAS DE ALQUILER PRE-SOLICITUDES DISPONIBLES

[Minority- and/or women-owned businesses are encouraged to respond] 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 Las pre-solicitudes seránhas enviadas por correofor a petición HVAC department in aINC. Petroleum Company an opening a full llamando a HOME INC al 203-562-4663 durante esas horas.Pre-solicitudes deberán remitirse time HVAC/Oil/Heating Technician.

Candidate must possess a technical a las oficinas HOME en 171ventilation, Orange Street, tercer piso, New Havenoil, , CTpropane 06510 . school certifidecate in INC heating, air conditioning,

Listing: Technician

and natural gas. Minimum of a B2 license. Send resume to: HR Manager, P. O. Box 388, Guilford, CT 06437 or email HRDept@eastriverenergy.com **An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, including disabled and veterans**

NEW HAVEN

242-258 Fairmont Ave 2BR Townhouse, 1.5 BA,(RFP) 3BR,#2023-12-GC 1 level , 1BA REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

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

The Housing Authority of the City of New Britain (Authority)

is CT. seeking proposals for to general legal services from experienced, area law Unified competitive Deacon’s Association is pleased offer a Deacon’s Certificate Program. This is a 10 month program designed to assist in the intellectual formation of Candidates firms. in response to the Church’s Ministry needs. The cost is $125. Classes start Saturday, August 20, 2016 1:30The will be available 2023, and can be obtained online at www.

3:30RFP Contact: Chairman, Deacon on JoeDecember J. Davis, M.S.,4, B.S. (203) 996-4517 Host, General Bishop Elijah Davis, of Pitts Administrative Chapel U.F.W.B. Church nbhact.org.

Proposals must be received atD.D. thePastor Authority Offi64 ceBrewster no later than January St. New Haven, 05, CT 2023, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Late Submissions and facsimiles will not be considered.

Transportation SEYMOUR HOUSING Planner AUTHORITY The Southbids Central Council of Governments (SCRCOG) is seeking to fill the Sealed are Regional invited by the Housing Authority of the Town of Seymour Transportation Planner position. August Visit www.scrcog.org foroffice the fullatposition description, until 3:00 pm on Tuesday, 2, 2016 at its 28 Smith Street, qualifications, and application requirements. Applications are to be submitted by noon on Seymour, CT 06483 for Concrete Sidewalk Repairs and Replacement the Monday February 5, 2023 or until the position is filled. Questions may be emailed toat jobs@ Smithfield Gardens Assisted Living Facility, Opportunity 26 Smith Street Seymour. scrcog.org.

SCRCOG is an Affirmative Action/Equal Employer.

A pre-bid conference will beCLERK held at the Housing Authority Office 28 Smith TYPIST

Street aSeymour, CT 10:00 am, duties on Wednesday, July 20, 2016.and interpersonal Performs wide variety of at routine clerical requiring excellent computer skills. This position requires 1 year of office work experience of a responsible nature and a H.S., GED, or business diploma. Wages: $21.83 to $26.43 hourly plus an excellent fringe benefit Bidding documents areofavailable from theTown Seymour Housing Authority Ofpackage.

Apply: Department Human Resources, of Wallingford 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. will be CT mailed upon(203) request888-4579. form the Department of Human fice, 28 Smith Street,Forms Seymour, 06483 Resources or may be downloaded from the Department of Human Resources Web Page. Phone: (203) 294-2080 Fax: (203) 294-2084. The closing date will be on December 11, 2023. EOE 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

QSR STEEL CORPORATION

APPLY NOW!

Steel Fabricators, Erectors & Welders

Top pay for top performers. Health Benefits, 401K, Vacation Pay. Email Resume: Rose@qsrsteel.com Hartford, CT

State of Connecticut Office of Policy and Management

At Ducci, we believe it is our duty to inspire the growth and use of small, minority, women-owned, disadvantaged and disabled and non-disabled veteranowned businesses. To support supplier diversity, we are fully committed to doing business with certified small, minority, women-owned, disadvantaged and disabled and non-disabled veteran-owned businesses and maintain a diverse list of suppliers.

We are committed to the principles and practices of Equal Employment Opportunities, Civil Rights, Diversity and Inclusion and the implementation of policies, codes, regulations that will foster growth, promote advancement, and provide opportunities for all co-workers in a safe and friendly working environment.

For employment and MWSDVOB DBE Contracting Opportunities, please contact (860)-489-9267.

The State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management is recruiting for a Principal Labor Relations Specialist.

Safety. Integrity. Quality. Diversity.

An Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer CT Lic. 205585

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

ACCOUNT CLERK

https://www.jobapscloud.com/ CT/sup/bulpreview.asp?b=&R1= 230417&R2=6342MP&R3=001 The State of Connecticut is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

Performs a wide variety of clerical accounting duties in a fast-paced municipal government office. The position requires some experience in responsible office work and a H.S. diploma or its equivalent. $25.85 - $31.01 hourly plus an excellent fringe benefits package that includes pension plan, paid sick and vacation time, individual & family medical insurance, life insurance, 13 paid holidays, and deferred compensation plan. Applications may be downloaded from the Department of Human Resources Web Page and can be faxed or mailed to the Department of Human Resources, Town of Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492, or emailed to: wlfdhr@wallingfordct.gov by the closing Invitationdate to Bid: of January 31, 2024. Phone: (203) 294-2080; Fax: (203) 294-2084. EOE

WANTED

TRUCK DRIVER 2 Notice nd

SAYEBROOKE VILLAGE Truck Driver with clean

SECRETARY

Clerk: Performs a wide variety of responsible clerical duties in a munici17 Units) CDL license(4 Buildings,Senior pal government office. The position requires 4 years of office work experience

Old Saybrook, CT

Tax Exempt & Not Prevailing Wage Rate Project

of a responsible nature and a H.S. diploma. $24.86 to $29.64 hourly plus an exfringe benefit package. Apply: Department of Human Resources, Town Please send resume to Housing,cellent New Construction, Wood Framed, Selective Demolition, Site-work, Castof Wallingford, 45 South Main Street, Wallingford, CT 06492. Applications attielordan@gmail.com in-place Concrete, Asphaltmay Shingles, Vinyl Siding, be obtained at the office of the Department of Human Resources or may be PJF Construction Corporation AA/EOE Flooring, Painting, Division 10 Specialties, Appliances,from Residential Casework,of Human Resources Web Page and emailed to downloaded the Department wlfdhr@wallingfordct.gov.

The closing date will be that date the 50th applicaMechanical, Electrical, Plumbing and Fire Protection. is received, or January 31, 2024, whichever occurs first. EOE. This contract is subject to state set-aside tion and form/resume contract compliance requirements.

POLICE OFFICER

IT SPECIALIST

Bid Extended, Due Date: August 5, 2016 Anticipated Start: August 15, 2016 Project documents available ftp link FHI via Studio is below: seeking an Information Technology (IT) Specialist to provide http://ftp.cbtghosting.com/loginok.html?username=sayebrookevillage support for our operational and administrative environments. Responsibilities

City of Bristol

$73,220 - $89,002/yr.

include managing computer setup and configuration for employees, corporate

DEADLINE: 12-04-23

Minimum degree: Associate’s degree with a minimum of 3 years of experience in an IT related field. Candidates with a valid driver's license preferred. The salary ranges from $52,000 to $83,200. Submit your cover letter and resume at https://fhistudio.isolvedhire.com/jobs/. Fitzgerald & Halliday, Inc. is an EEO/ AA /VEV/Disabled employer.

Fax or Email Questionstesting, & Bids to: Dawn Lang @ 203-881-8372 software dawnlang@haynesconstruction.com accounts, online meeting platforms, hosting platforms and providing Required HCC encourages the participation of all Veteran,project S/W/MBEsupport & Section and 3 Certified Businesses The candidate will also be responsible for programming. general info, and apply Haynes Construction Company, 32 Progress Ave, Seymour, CT 06483 developing training materials and providing training with non-technical emAA/EEO EMPLOYER online: www.bristolct.gov ployees.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

50 million views and counting: Katt Williams sets internet ablaze with brutally honest interview

By Helen Bezuneh Special to the AFROhbezueneh@afro.com

The last two weeks have consisted of response videos, diss tracks, rumors and memes related to comments made by comedian Katt Williams during an intimate interview with Shannon Sharpe.

The explosive interview has everyone in the comedy entertainment world firing back at the artist, who held no punches when it came to his truth.

In his conversation with Sharpe on “Club Shay Shay,” Williams called out comedian and television host Rickey Smiley for allegedly lying when did his interview on the platform. Smiley said that he was originally supposed to take on the role of Money Mike in the film “Friday After Next,” a role that Williams ultimately played. He also said Williams was originally cast in the film in the role of Santa Claus.

“You mean in Hollywood they cast a five foot five Black Santa Claus, that weighs 140 pounds– that’s your story?

Your story is the Rickey Smiley–who couldn’t even do curse words because he had a Christian fanbase– he was going to play the pimp?

Williams also called out Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey, Kevin Hart and more for not being the great comedians

they claim to be.

“Every guy I’ve mentioned to you is not funny out there in real life,” Williams told Sharpe.

Shortly after criticizing Cedric the Entertainer for stealing one of his best jokes for the Kings of Comedy tour in the 1990s, Williams called Hart an “industry plant,” claiming he had not worked hard for his success.

“He already had his deals when he got here. Have we ever heard of a comedian that came to L.A. – and in his first year in L.A. had his own sitcom on network television and his own movie called “Soul Plane” that he was leading? No. We’ve never heard of that before that person or since that person,” Williams said, speaking of his success in L.A. The comedian also pointed fingers at Harvey for supposedly claiming he stopped doing stand-up because he was busy with seven television shows.

“The only problem is, when he stopped standup, he didn’t have those seven TV shows,” said Williams. “He stopped stand-up because he got in a comedy battle called the ‘Championship of Stand-up Comedy’ with Katt Williams in Detroit in front of 10,000 people and lost because Katt Williams said he was actually bald and that was a wig. I went in and that’s why he couldn’t do standup anymore.”

The comedian also discussed the viral, explosive radio interview he had with Wanda Smith during a 2018 episode of “Frank and Wanda In The Morning.”

Williams told Sharpe that Smith prom-

ised the interview would not discuss his “kids,” “jail” or “cases” and would instead focus on his recent Emmy win.

However, instead Smith “immediately” went “the opposite way” once the in-

terview began, Williams claimed. After Smith ridiculed Williams’ hair and called him “little mama,” Williams unleashed a chain of offenses towards the radio host.

“You can’t flip up on me because you’re an inferior comedian,” he told Sharpe.

“I’m going to destroy you and I’m never going to call you out of your name.

I’m never going to say anything disrespectful to people that look like you.

It’s a very thin line I have to call, but this lady is trying to embarrass me in front of a largely homosexual fanbase.”

“Gay people don’t take it kindly that you would, as a derogatory , call me gay,” he continued. “Gay people don’t feel like it’s derogatory, so why are you trying to shame me with something in a community I don’t even belong in?”

The shots fired were endless, as the nearly three-hour interview went on, to be posted in its entirety, seemingly uninterrupted and unedited. While the interview is lengthy, that has not stopped it from gaining more than 50 million views within the first two weeks of its release.

Media buzz about the Club Shay Shay interview shows no sign of stopping, as NBC’s ever popular comedy show, Saturday Night Live, presented a parody of Sharpe and Williams in a segment on Jan. 20.

Know your risk and stay protected

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

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

OUR WOMEN’S HEALTH TEAM CARES FOR YOU 203-503-3000 cornellscott.org/ title-x-family-planning

Grant round dates: 2nd round opens on Dec 1st and closes on Jan 31st (review and awards: end of February) 3rd round opens on Mar 1st and closes April 30th (review and awards: end of May) 4th round opens on June 1st and closes July 31st (review and awards: end of August)

Educational Videos Watch Now! This [project/publication/program/website, etc.] is supported by the Office of Minority Health of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $4 million funded by OMH/OASH/HHS. The contents are solely the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by the Office of Minority Health/OASH/HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

Radio Icon Donnie Simpson Takes Final Bow After 55 Years in Broadcasting

By Stacy M. Brown

Legendary radio and media personality Donnie Simpson signed off, possibly for the last time, on Friday, January 12.

The illustrious career that spanned an incredible 55 years ended with a heartfelt message from the iconic DJ himself.

“Today’s the day,” Simpson posted on X. “Please make sure you tune into my last day … Let’s celebrate together as I thank each & every one of you for your support during my 55 years in radio.”

An icon, trailblazer, and media legend, Simpson held a commanding presence in Washington, D.C. He gained international fame as a television and movie personality. From his early beginnings in Detroit to his stints at WKYS and WMMJ in Washington, he etched his name in the history of ra-

dio.

A true industry pioneer, Simpson was one of America’s first video jockeys, hosting iconic shows like BET’s “Video Soul.” His achievements reached new heights when, in 1988, Billboard Magazine recognized him as both the best top radio personality and top program director in the nation.

After retiring in 2010, Simpson triumphantly returned to the airwaves and television screens in 2015. As the afternoon drive host on WMMJ, Majic 102.3 in Washington D.C., and the face of TV-One’s “Donnie After Dark,” he continued to captivate audiences with his signature style.

As noted in his bio, Simpson started in Detroit as the “Love Bug.” Simpson’s passion for music, nurtured in his mother’s record shop, laid the ground-

Donnie Simpson An icon, trailblazer, and media legend, Simpson held a commanding presence in Washington, D.C.

work for an extraordinary career. He connected with the biggest stars globally throughout the years, showcasing his talent and versatility.

Simpson’s television career soared as he anchored sports and hosted “Video Soul” on BET. In 2021, he announced the revival of “Video Soul.”

Honored with inductions into the BET Walk of Fame (2004) and the R&B Hall of Fame of Class of 2020, Simpson’s legacy is cemented in the annals of entertainment history.

“I’m going to miss doing the show, Donnie’s going to miss it, too, but he’s got some great things planned,” wrote News4 anchor Tony Perkins, who joined “The Donnie Simpson Show” in the 3 p.m. slot six years ago. “We loved doing the show. Thank you for all the responses on social media.”

Biden Unveils New Sweeping Student Loan Debt Relief Measures, Surpassing 3.7 Million Beneficiaries

By Stacy M. Brown NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent@StacyBrownMedia President Biden continues to make significant strides in alleviating the student loan debt crisis, announcing the approval of debt cancellation for an additional 74,000 student loan borrowers. The latest action contributes to the record-breaking relief the administration has provided to more than 3.7 million Americans.

Earlier this month, Biden announced the accelerated implementation of a crucial provision under the Student Aid for Voluntary Education (SAVE) plan, which the administration said has helped 3.6 million Americans by canceling their student debt. Biden said the plan aims to create a more affordable student loan repayment structure while providing life-changing support to students and their families.

“Today, my administration approved debt cancellation for another 74,000 student loan borrowers across the country, bringing the total number of people who

The latest action contributes to the record-breaking relief the administration has provided to more than 3.7 million Americans.

have had their debt canceled under my administration to over 3.7 million Americans through various actions,” Biden said in a statement on Jan. 19.

The beneficiaries of the latest round of relief include nearly 44,000 teachers, nurses, firefighters, and other public service professionals who have earned forgiveness after a decade of dedicated service. Additionally, close to 30,000 individuals who have been in repayment for at least 20 years without receiving relief through income-driven repayment plans will now see their debts forgiven.

Biden credited the success of these relief efforts to the corrective measures taken to address broken student loan programs. He asserted that these fixes have removed barriers preventing borrowers from accessing the relief they were entitled to under the law.

The president outlined the broader achievements of his administration in supporting students and borrowers, including achieving the most significant increases in Pell Grants in over a decade,

aimed at assisting families with incomes below approximately $60,000 per year.

Other accomplishments include fixing the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and introducing the most generous income-driven repayment plan in history, known as the SAVE plan, he said. Borrowers are encouraged to apply for this plan at studentaid.gov.

In response to challenges, including the Supreme Court’s decision on the student debt relief plan, Biden affirmed the administration’s commitment to finding alternative paths to deliver relief to as many borrowers as possible, as quickly as possible.

“From Day One of my administration, I vowed to improve the student loan system so that higher education provides Americans with opportunity and prosperity, not the unmanageable burdens of student loan debt,” Biden asserted. “I won’t back down from using every tool at our disposal to get student loan borrowers the relief they need to reach their dreams.”

Biden Takes Aim at Excessive Bank Charges, Propose Significant Reduction in Overdrawn Account Fees The proposed regulation could cap the overdrawn account fee at $3, which would represent a significant difference from the current banking landscape where fees can soar to as much as $39.

By Stacy M. Brown WI Senior Writer@StacyBrownMedia President Biden has announced a proposal to dramatically reduce the cost of overdrawing a bank account. The initiative targets what it views as unnecessary financial burdens on consumers, particularly those living paycheck to paycheck.

The proposed regulation could cap the overdrawn account fee at $3, which would represent a significant difference from the current banking landscape where fees can soar to as much as $39. “When companies sneak hidden junk fees into families’ bills,

it can take hundreds of dollars a month out of their pockets and make it harder to make ends meet,” Biden stated. “That might not matter to the wealthy, but it’s real money to hardworking families—and it’s just plain wrong.”

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) outlined two approaches for banks to calculate overdraft fees. The first requires banks to charge customers only the cost of overdraft services, with a mandate to disclose the costs to the CFPB transparently. Alternatively, a benchmark fee could be implemented across all affected financial institutions,

with proposed figures of $3, $6, $7, and $14. Officials said public input and industry feedback will determine the final fee structure.

Overdraft fees have long been contentious, with research indicating that the average fee is $26.61. The CFPB and public records from banks reveal that major banks still generate approximately $8 billion in overdraft fees annually. Experts reported that the burden of these fees disproportionately affects low-income households and communities of color.

“This is about the companies that rip off hardworking Americans simply because

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they can,” added Biden, who has made eliminating what he calls “junk fees” a cornerstone of his economic agenda leading into the 2024 election. “Banks call it a service—I call it exploitation. Today’s proposal would cut the average overdraft fee by more than half, saving the typical American family that pays these fees $150 a year. That would add up to save families $3.5 billion every year. Unfortunately, some Republicans in Congress continue to defend these exploitative fees.”

The proposed rules would apply to banks with assets exceeding $10 billion, impacting approximately 175 large financial

institutions. “This is just one part of my administration’s broader plan to lower costs for hardworking families,” Biden asserted. “We’re going to continue doing everything in our power to bring down costs and grow our economy from the middle out and bottom up, while standing up to extreme Republican attempts to provide more giveaways to the wealthy and big corporations and undermine competition.”

Should the rule be adopted and withstand political and legal challenges, the new regulations could take effect late in 2025.

THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

School is better with you here!

In school, every day Coming to school every day leads to success now and in the future.

2 absences a month = too many Missing even two days of school a month puts a child on their way to chronic absenteeism – so send your child to school every day so they get the full benefits of learning.

Visit

ct.gov/betterwithyou to learn more

U R CA R E O Y YOUR WAY

If you’re a Medicaid member eligible for nursing home care, then you may be eligible for Community First Choice, or CFC. CFC offers services from personal care to housekeeping to meal preparation and beyond to help people with their daily needs right at home.

Go to MyPlaceCTCFC.org or call the toll-free number 1-888-992-8637 to learn more about your options.

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THE INNER-CITY NEWS - January 24, 2024 - January 30, 2024

We ask because we care.

Everyone is unique and deserves access to the best health care.

What is your race? What is your ethnicity? What is your ethnic background? What is your preferred language? By asking these questions, we are better able to deliver equitable health care to all. Scan to learn more.

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