Fewer Libraries, More Crime
by admin | July 15th, 2008 Topic: Criminal Justice Reform, Racial Justice | No Comments »
by David Samuels
Hartford Courant Letter
July 15, 2008
The closing of the Mark Twain and Blue Hills Hartford Public Library branches
[Op-Ed, July 7, "Closing Library Branches Was Painful, Necessary"] is another
example of how the lack of opportunities in Connecticut’s urban communities
contributes to generational recidivism.
Public libraries are a vital source of information for urban residents, many of
whom lack the funds to travel outside their neighborhoods to take advantage of
library services. Libraries provide people of all ages access to reading
materials and computers, which they use for job searches and other vocational
and educational opportunities. Closing down the two library branches further
compromises already insufficient support services for Hartford residents.
Although blacks and Latinos make up only about 20 percent of Connecticut’s population, they outnumber whites by more than 2-1 in the state’s prisons. Fifty percent of the state’s male prison population comes from Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport. These statistics can be interpreted in one of two ways. Either blacks and Latinos are genetically predisposed to criminal activity, or racially unjust criminal justice policies in Connecticut have contributed to the disproportionate incarceration of people of color.
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Workers Protest Hartford School Layoffs
by admin | July 15th, 2008 Topic: Labor | No Comments »
By DAGNY SALAS
Hartford Courant Article
July 15, 2008
About 50 to 60 people marched in front of Hartford City Hall Monday afternoon to
protest recent school district layoffs and an increase in health insurance costs
to district retirees.
Blaring into a bullhorn, Mark Blumenthal, president of AFSCME Local 566, which
represents district custodians, rallied the demonstrators with a series of
chants.
“We need public awareness,” Blumenthal said. “What’s going on needs to be heard.
We are part of the city.”
In the past several weeks, at least 85 school employees have been laid off, most without much warning, according to school employee union leaders. The number of positions eliminated is 73.4, according to district documents.
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Nashawn Williams Press Conference Keeps Issue of Justice Alive!
by frank o'gorman | July 12th, 2008 Topic: Racial Justice | 1 Comment »
Nashawn Williams and his family gathered with allies this morning for a press conference on the steps of the Charter Oak Cultural Center to express our collectiveoutrage at the lack of even one arrest in the brutal hate-crime assault on Nashawn last October.
Nashawn, 16, spoke briefly before being overcome by emotion as his mother watched sobbing in the background. Cornell Lewis, founder of the Men of Color Initiative, with his hand on Nashawn’s shoulder, comforted the young man as he spoke.
Cornell said, “Shame on America” for the racist assault perpetrated by K-Nation that inflicted such physical and emotional injury on a young African-American man and his family.
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Poor Used To Coax HMO’s
by admin | July 12th, 2008 Topic: Health Care | No Comments »
by Sheldon V. Toubman
Hartford Courant Letter
July 12, 2008
In the July 1 article about Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s Charter Oak health plan [Page 1,
"Health Plan Makes Start"] there was an unexplained reference to the fact that
advocates for low-income children are very concerned that the governor’s
decision to “merge Charter Oak with the HUSKY health plan for 320,000 low-income
children and adults who are eligible for Medicaid … could force thousands of
recipients to find new doctors for the second time in less than a year.”
Here is the explanation: The governor had to offer up tens of thousands of poor children and their parents, who already had good health coverage, to get HMOs to run her Charter Oak plan.
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Edwards Stumps Against Poverty
by admin | July 11th, 2008 Topic: Poverty | No Comments »
John Edwards Brings Anti-Poverty Campaign To Hartford
By MARK PAZNIOKAS
Hartford Courant
July 11, 2008
There is no bus, no banner, no trailing press contingent. But John Edwards still
is campaigning, five months after ending his run for president.
Edwards brought his new anti-poverty campaign Thursday to a Hartford public
housing project, where residents say they have struggled for attention at the
state Capitol.
Referendum Wrong For State
by admin | July 9th, 2008 Topic: Politics | No Comments »
by Claire Sauer
Hartford Courant Letter
July 9, 2008
Laurence D. Cohen [Op-Ed, July 4, "Power Mustn't Fall Into The Wrong Hands"]
rightly casts aspersions on the General Assembly’s practice of constantly
acceding to schoolchildren’s desire to name a state this-and-that (including a
state fish and state dirt).
In my last years serving in the House of Representatives, I was able to stop
that practice. The leadership determined that such laws would be brought to the
floor only if they would go on the consent calendar, meaning that no member
would object. It was well known that I would object, so no such measures were
brought up.
It was a wise move on the part of the leadership of the House and it saved much
time by eliminating foolish debate, and much money by not having the
expenditures involved in enacting laws.
As to the rest of Mr. Cohen’s article, the initiative and referendum are poor substitutes for legislative action. We have only to look to California, with its huge ballots and millions of dollars spent by special-interest groups, to see that initiative and referendum would be poor choices for Connecticut.
Claire Sauer
Lyme
The writer served in the state House of Representatives from 1994 to 2000.
Nashawn Williams Press Conference
by admin | July 8th, 2008 Topic: Racial Justice | No Comments »
Day: Saturday, July 12, 2008
Place: Charter Oak Cultural Center
Address: 21 Charter Oak Avenue, Hartford
Time: 11 AM
Nashawn Williams was brutally attacked by racist whites in Plainfield while waiting for a school bus in Oct 2007. Minister Cornell Lewis will bring the family to Hartford for a Press Conference on Saturday July 12th at 11 AM. This is the first time Nashawn Williams will publicly speak about the attack and having a group of whites taunt the family while inside their home. Police are trying to close the case; no witnesses or arrests.
Hartford Crime Solutions Require State Investments
by frank o'gorman | July 8th, 2008 Topic: Urban Violence | No Comments »
Laurence Cohen rightly exposes one of white society’s “dirty little secrets” — ignoring urban crime provided middle class white people aren’t the victims. “When Bad Guys Cross Line,” June 20, 2008. However, his facetious solution — National Guard deployment — exposes another secret injustice: State government will spend millions on social initiatives which benefit primarily suburban middle and upper-class white people but relatively little on urban black and Latino communities.
Consider the $750 million spent over the past ten years that turned downtown Hartford into an under-utilized convention destination with luxury hotel rooms, apartments and commercial spaces that are half vacant.
Consider the $20 million welfare package for General Dynamics in 2006 to fund the renovation of a facility that builds strategically obsolete and morally suspect submarines.
What if a fraction of these million dollar expenditures were invested in creating Hartford neighborhoods with living conditions befitting human dignity? Investments in desperately needed jobs and public works, housing and parks revitalization, home ownership programs, medical facilities, supermarkets, and community centers.
What if Hartford’s streets had fewer state police and even one city social worker tasked with connecting at-risk youth to mentoring, tutoring, employment and recreation opportunities?
It’s time state legislators started investing resources in addressing the systemic roots of crime. It’s the morally right thing to do and it’s far cheaper than financing another hotel or submarine.
Surge for Food Stamps
by admin | July 8th, 2008 Topic: Poverty | No Comments »
By ZACHARY ABRAHAMSON
Hartford Courant
July 8, 2008
Angel and Yitza De Jesus didn’t knock on Suzette Strickland’s door seeking food
assistance until Yitza’s belly grew larger and the price of milk got higher.
Until mid-June, the DeJesuses, both from Puerto Rico, held steady jobs at the
Home Goods distribution center in Bloomfield. They each made about $9 an hour,
enough to pay the rent on an apartment in Hartford and put food on the table for
their 5-year-old son, Angel Gabriel, without any help from the government.
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Tyranny Masked As Populism
by admin | July 3rd, 2008 Topic: Politics | No Comments »
by John K. Currie
Harford Courant Letter
July 3, 2008
There is a move afoot in Connecticut to seek a constitutional convention. Your
first gut reaction might be to support this move. Considered reflection,
however, calls for a no vote in November.
Our Founders gave much considered thought to shaping a system of checks and
balances. They deliberately chose representative democracy rather than direct
democracy. The initiative and referendum process sought through a constitutional
convention is alien to the spirit of our Constitution.
A primary concern of our Founders was to prevent the tyranny of the majority, which generally disadvantages minorities and the poor. I felt the stirrings of this tyranny in a July 1 letter ["Citizens Have A Right To Legislate"] that described initiative and referendum as “the gun behind the door to be taken out when necessary.” Another letter appearing under the same headline backed initiative and referendum as “government by the people.” This is a misguided point of view.
Judge Robert Satter [Commentary, June 29, "Why Voters Shouldn't Pass Laws"] was correct. The ballot initiative process is not a method to empower regular citizens. It is, rather, a system used by the traditionally powerful, the wealthy, to exert their dominance in the guise of a populist device. During the 1998 election cycle there was more than a quarter-billion dollars spent on initiatives and counterinitiatives!
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