What’s New on HartfordInfo.org

April 2010

What’s New on HartfordInfo.org is a periodic update announcing recent additions to HartfordInfo.org. Please feel free to forward this message to others. To be added to the distribution list send an email message through our feedback page.

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New Community Programs on HartfordInfo.org:

We have reorganized our Community Programs page! You can now search for videos using the title, date or keywords, search by topic, or by year. Check it out at http://www.hartfordinfo.org/video/default.asp

Videos of these programs have recently been added:

New Data on HartfordInfo.org:

Updated Hartford at a Glance spreadsheet — The Hartford at a Glance spreadsheet has been updated with the most current data. The spreadsheet collects information on Demography, Housing, Economic, Education, Children, Health and Crime in one location. Hartford is shown in comparison to Hartford County and the state. Go to www.hartfordinfo.org and click on Hartford at a Glance in the center panel under Hartford Data Sets.

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New Reports on HartfordInfo.org:

Mayor's Proposed Budget — The City of Hartford Recommended Budget for 2010 to 2011. Go to www.hartfordinfo.org and type "2010 to 2011" in the Google search box and then click "Search."
Hartford Budget Fiscal Analysis Task Force Report and Meeting Notes — The final report and minutes from the Budget Fiscal Analysis Task Force. Go to www.hartfordinfo.org and type "fiscal analysis" in the Google search box and then click "Search."
I-84 Presentations, Newsletters, Videos and News Articles — Reports, newsletters, videos and news articles about future possibilities for I-84 in Hartford. Go to www.hartfordinfo.org and type "Hartford I-84" in the Google search box and then click "Search."
New Formula, Unique Student Data Produce More Accurate State Graduation Rates – A press release from the Connecticut State Department of Education detailing the new methods for calculating high school graduation rates. Go to www.hartfordinfo.org and type "new formula" in the Google search box and then click "Search."
Election of Members of the Democratic and Republican Town Committees — Information in both English and Spanish about the election process used by Democratic and Republican Town Committees in Hartford. Go to www.hartfordinfo.org and type "town committees" in the Google search box and then click "Search."
Building for the Future: Foundations for a Springfield Comprehensive Growth Strategy — A report analyzing the social and economic conditions of Springfield, MA as they relate to future growth and development, compared to 16 peer cities including Hartford. Go to www.hartfordinfo.org and type "foundations" in the Google search box and then click "Search."
Hartford Public Schools School Governance Councils, Year One Implementation — An evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of School Governance Councils in their first year of operation. Go to www.hartfordinfo.org and type "governance evaluation" in the Google search box and then click "Search."
The Trillion Dollar Gap — A report on the $1 trillion gap that exists between the money in pension, health care and other retirement benefits states have promised their current and retired workers as of fiscal year 2008 and the cash they have on hand to pay them. Go to www.hartfordinfo.org and type "trillion" in the Google search box and then click "Search."
Connecticut Sunlight Project — An electronic tool constructed by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy that allows citizens of Connecticut to see how their tax dollars are being spent. Go to www.hartfordinfo.org and type "sunlight" in the Google search box and then click "Search."
State of the City Address 2010 — Mayor Eddie Perez’s annual address to the City Council. Go to www.hartfordinfo.org and type "2010 address" in the Google search box and then click "Search."
Democratic State Central Committee Ruling on the Election of Hartford Town Committee Chairperson — The ruling by the Democratic State Central Committee regarding the tie vote in the election of a new chairperson to the Hartford Democratic Town Committee. Go to www.hartfordinfo.org and type "committee ruling" in the Google search box and then click "Search."
Connecticut Student Assessment: Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) and Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT) Online Reports — An online tool to view student results of the Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) and Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT). Go to www.hartfordinfo.org and type "student assessment" in the Google search box and then click "Search."

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New Articles on HartfordInfo.org:

Through agreements with the Hartford Courant, the Hartford Business Journal, the Hartford News, the Hartford Advocate, and the Northend Agent's, and with the Cityline, Real Hartford, Urban Compass, and 40-Year Plan blogs, HartfordInfo.org continues to offer selected articles as permanent additions to the web site. Some recent additions include:

Good News in Hartford

Urban Flower Power — Nicola and Aldwin Allen have persuaded many of their neighbors to take their fences down and plant gardens. Click here for the article.
Downtown Living Units Find Takers — Downtown Hartford’s newest residential building appears to have tapped an underserved sliver of the urban housing market. Click here for the article.
Looking Up — Northside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance, founded in 2003 to revive the city's Asylum Hill neighborhood, and known by its acronym NINA, is saving Sigourney Square. Click here for the article.
Mark Twain Statue Returns To Its Place In Front Of Hartford Public Library — Mark Twain is back where he belongs, in front of the building that holds so many of his books. Click here for the article.
Base Ball Goes Back In Time — Coltsville Vintage Base Ball League will begin its inaugural season of play in the Colt Meadows this spring. Click here for the article.
NewAlliance Bank Opens Branch At Hartford 21 — The first new commercial tenant at Hartford 21 in more than two years recently opened for business. Click here for the article.
Hartford Students Find Meaning In Repairing Bicycles — Rick Green profiles a neighborhood bike shop run by the Urban League of Greater Hartford. Click here for the article.
City Plan Goes To the Neighborhoods — Over 100 people from the Asylum Hill, Parkville and West End neighborhoods crowded into United Methodist Church on Farmington Avenue recently to hear about – and comment on - the City of Hartford’s proposed Plan of Conservation and Development (POCD 2020). Click here for the article.
In Recovery — A grassroots program at a North End health center is salvaging lost lives. Click here for the article.

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Education

Groundbreaking Changes at Hartford Public Schools — Mayor Eddie A. Perez's vision of improved learning as a spark for Hartford's economic revitalization endures despite a devastating downturn in the national economy. Click here for the article.
An Issue Looms For Lawmakers: How To Make Education Substantially Equal In All School Districts — How will the state pay for a "suitable and substantially equal" education for all children attending public schools? Click here for the artilce.
Schools Have Got To Get Better — Connecticut, which struck out in the first round of Race to the Top funding, is being forced to look at dramatic moves to prove that it is serious about our largest-in-the-land achievement gap between white and minority students. Click here for the article.
City Students Need More Seats In Suburban Schools — In this opinion piece, the authors suggest that the state must boost Open Choice, magnet schools, and other options to meet desegregation goals. Click here for the article.
Trinity And Yale Celebrate 40 Years Of Teaching Female Undergraduates — Yale University and Trinity College are celebrating 40 years of teaching women undergraduates. Click here for the article.
Black & Puerto Rican Caucus Offers 10-Point Plan To Close School Achievement Gap — Tired of waiting for schools to improve on their own, legislators from the Black & Puerto Rican Caucus said recently they are filing legislation that they hope will close Connecticut's academic achievement gap. Click here for the article.
Hollowing Out City Schools — In this opinion piece, the author suggests that it's wrong to blame teachers and 'failing schools,' when flight to magnet and charter schools leaves neediest students behind. Click here for the article.

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Arts and Culture

Twain Hangs In — The cash crisis is past, but the Mark Twain House isn’t on Easy Street. Click here for the article.
Aetna Buying Back Arts Center From Greater Hartford Arts Council — Aetna is buying the Hartford Courant Arts Center at 224 Farmington Ave. from the not-for-profit arts council. Click here for the article.
Cirque del Symphonie Designed To Strike Chord With Young Crowd — The symphony will be bursting back into the arts scene with a first of its kind event, Cirque de la Symphonie, aimed at appealing to a demographic it doesn’t normally reach — young people. Click here for the article.
Greater Hartford Arts Council Funding Campaign Stresses Strong Links Between Arts And Wellness — The CEO of the Greater Hartford Arts Council is promoting a new arts strategy that she hopes will deepen a connection to the arts and create new funding opportunities. Click here for the article.

Transportation

Busway Friends And Foes Take Stances On $200 Million In Federal Funds — If the Federal Transit Administration pledges over $200 million this spring for the proposed New Britain to Hartford busway, the project's supporters say it can be operating by 2013. Click here for the article.
Terminal B On Its Last Days At Bradley International Airport — The Murphy Terminal at Bradley International Airport, opened in 1952 and also known as Terminal B, is a drab ghost town — agentless ticket counters, frozen escalators, vacant food service spaces. Click here for the article.
Alternatives to the Highway Through Hartford — A public workshop took place recently at the Hartford Public Library focusing on what to do about the I-84 viaduct through Hartford. Click here for the article.

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Downtown Development

City May Sell Off Parking — With limited prospects for filling its estimated $30 million budget hole, the City of Hartford is turning to one of its most reliable revenue generators for a potential solution — parking. Click here for the article.
Not-So-Free Parking — For state or local politicians dealing with budget deficits selling or leasing out some public asset or revenue stream to a private company. New Haven , for example, is turning over its parking operations to a private company for a fast $50 million. Click here for the article.
City Nonprofit Group To Launch Grocery Buying Club — Common Ground will soon launch a grocery "buying club" that allows members — primarily downtown residents and workers — to order groceries online. Click here for the article.
The Maharishi's Air — Abul Islam wants to build a 12-story tower in downtown Hartford, but has run into another challenge to the LEED-certified “technical center” he believes will lead the city into an era of “green” growth. Click here for the article.
Bank Of America Move Will Empty A Financial Cornerstone Of Hartford — The long tradition of banking on the corner of Main and Pearl streets in Hartford is now coming to an end, as Bank of America prepares to move. Click here for the article.

Neighborhoods

West Indian Social Club 60th Anniversary — The West Indian Social Club of Hartford, Inc celebrated their 60th Anniversary with a Gala and Awards Banquet recently. The West Indian Social Club is the oldest running organization of its kind in the United States. Click here for the article.
Owners Of Hartford Restaurant Say Their Concerns Are Ignored — Helen Ubiñas writes that if walking past crime scenes and chasing robbers out of his Park Street restaurant wasn't challenging enough, for the past couple of years the owner of Caridad has had to deal with the neglected Lyric Theater next door. Click here for the article.
Demolition Plan — Part of the Lyric Theater on Park Street came down recently, despite protests. Hartford building official Michael Fuschi believed the situation called for emergency measures. Click here for the article.
City Can't Let Others Run Parks — Recent budget discussions in Hartford seem to be heading in the direction of letting friends groups run city parks. Click here for the article.

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City and State Budgets

Hartford Mayor's Proposed Budget Calls For Increased Spending, Rise In Property Taxes — Amid what he called an "economic tsunami," Mayor Eddie A. Perez recently proposed his vision of the next fiscal year: A $554.3 million budget that increases spending and raises property taxes. Click here for the article.
Four Scenarios Laid Out For Hartford City Council To Shore Up Budget Deficit — The good news at a recent Hartford budget workshop was that the projected deficit that a month ago sat at $40 million has been scaled back in recent weeks. Click here for the article.
CT Interfaith Gathering Aims to Raise Voices of the Least — An interfaith gathering and conversation regarding a "moral" and "more just" Connecticut budget was held recently in Hartford. Click here for the article.
Tax Credit Plan A Fix For Woes? — Connecticut’s largest corporations have accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars in unused research and development tax credits that could be used to spur an economic revival in the state, according to some local experts. Click here for the article.
State's Mom-And-Pop Loan Plans Are Misguided — The Hartford Economic Development Corp. (HEDCo) is keeping thousands of tiny businesses afloat with small loans they couldn't get from banks. Neighborhoods are better for it. Click here for the article.

Economic Development

UTC Chief Financial Officer: Connecticut Too Expensive To Do Work — Connecticut's biggest private employer is determined to do more of its work outside its home state and other "high-cost" locations, top executives said recently at an investors' conference in New York. Click here for the article.
Economic Analysis: Both Cheer And Gloom For Hartford — Things in Hartford and its suburbs aren't so bad compared to metro areas around the country. That's what The Brookings Institution think-tank analysts say after weighing Hartford's job losses, unemployment, salary trends and housing prices. Click here for the article.
Economic Development: Topping Off Past Initiatives and Setting New Goals — Economic development initiatives in the capital city over the past 10 years have been diverse, ranging from new car dealerships and shopping centers to small restaurants and convenience stores. Click here for the article.
Hartford Family Bakery Expands To Plainville — The Mozzicato family is adding their sweet touch to real estate development in Plainville, where they are building their first retail bakery outside of Hartford. Click here for the article.

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Hartford History

History Out of Prints — In roughly a 50-year span from 1830 to 1880, the Kelloggs churned out lithographs for all occasions. Now, 180 years after the firm began, two new major projects display their work. Click here for the article.
Historian Hosley To Lead Bicyclists Along Trail Of Hartford's Significant Sites — William Hosley, a cultural resources consultant with a decades-long professional interest in the city of Hartford's history, will lead a special bicycle tour in June. Click here for the article.
Youth Club A Hartford First — A grand, if little-known achievement in Hartford history, was the founding of the Boys & Girls Clubs. Click here for the article.

Health

In Hartford, More Than 1,000 Receive Medical Help At Free Clinic — The insurance capital of America played host recently to the uninsured, more than 1,000 of whom filled the cavernous Connecticut Convention Center for the chance to see a doctor. Click here for the article.
Selling Kids On Healthy Snacks — A Hartford woman wants to bring healthy snacks to the masses, starting with five Yo-Naturals vending machines in Hartford, two of them at Hartford Public High School. Click here for the article.
Hartford Hospital’s Life Star Off Critical List — For Now — A year after its own life-and-death struggle, the helicopter program at the Hartford Hospital is busy saving lives and making friends. Click here for the article.

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Notable Transitions

Churches Seize On New Ideas To Survive — The Church of the Good Shepherd on Wyllys Street has been forced to come up with creative ways to continue its spiritual mission. Click here for the article.
Carlos Toro A Valiant Fighter for the Sick — Carlos Toro was a scrappy fighter whose advocacy on behalf of people with AIDS helped hundreds of people around Hartford deal with disease and discrimination. Click here for the article.
Benjamin Laury Sr. Dies — Benjamin Laury was among the first six black men to become full-time Hartford firefighters in 1948. He recently died at age 87, the last surviving member of the five men in that group who spent at least 25 years with the department. Click here for the article.

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