67,000 CT Homes At Risk from Hurricane Storm Surges; State Ranks 14th Among States Under Threat

More than 6.8 million homes on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are at potential risk of damage from hurricane storm surge inundation with a total reconstruction cost value of more than $1.5 trillion, according to a new analysis by CoreLogic.  Connecticut, which has felt the brunt of major east coast storms in recent years, ranks 14^th among the states in the potential damage from future storms, with more than 67,000 homes at risk of flood exposure. According to the analysis, nearly 7,000 Connecticut homes are at extreme risk from future storms, another 21,600 homes are at very high risk, and nearly 18,000 are at high risk, depending upon the severity of the storm.  In addition, just over 21,000 homes are seen as being of moderate risk.  In the analysis, a category 1-5 storm would place a structure at extreme risk, a category 2-5 storm at very high risk, a category 3-5 storm at high risk, and a category 4-5 storm would put a home at moderate risk.

Among neighboring states, Connecticut ranked behind Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey.

In addition to the number of homes at risk, the analysis also provides the reconstruction cost value (RCV), which is the cost to completely rebuild a property in case of damage, including labor and materials by geographic location, assuming a worst-case scenario at 100-percent destruction.  The analysis points out that the location of hurricanes that hit land is often a more important factor than the number of storms that may occur during the year.

At the state level, Texas and Florida, which have the longest coastal areas, consistently have more homes at risk than other states. Florida ranks first with 2.7 million at-risk homes across the five risk categories and Texas ranks third with 531,169 at-risk homes.  Since the number of homes at risk strongly correlates with the accompanying RCV, these two states rank first and fifth, respectively for having the largest RCV, according to the analysis.

The states with the most at-risk homes are Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Delaware.

Rhode Island, Maine and New Hampshire ranked 17^th, 18^th and 19^th respectively.

The CoreLogic storm surge analysis, officials say, complements Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood zone information to provide a snapshot of potential damage exposure at the property level since many properties located outside designated FEMA flood zones are still at risk for storm surge damage.  The analysis examines risk from hurricane-driven storm surge for homes along the Atlantic and Gulf coastlines across 19 states and the District of Columbia, as well as for 88 metro areas.

“Using more granular-level data has given us an even clearer picture of which homes are at risk of storm surge damage,” said Dr. Tom Jeffery, senior hazard risk scientist for CoreLogic. “Despite the overall increases in risk, we were glad to see that the number and value of homes in the most extreme, and dangerous, category actually declined.”

At the regional level, the Atlantic Coast has just under 3.9 million homes at risk of storm surge with an RCV of $953 billion, and the Gulf Coast has just over 2.9 million homes at risk with $592 billion in potential exposure to total destruction damage.

When the states are ranked by the anticipated reconstruction cost value of the homes at risk, Connecticut ranks 12^th.

Among the nation’s major metropolitan areas, those with the most homes potentially affected by all categories of hurricane are Miami, New York Tampa, New Orleans, Virginia beach, Cape Coral, Houston, Bradenton, Naples, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, Charleston, Boston, Myrtle Beach and Lafayette.

CoreLogic is a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider. The company’s combined data from public, contributory and proprietary sources includes over 4.5 billion records spanning more than 50 years.

The official hurricane season extends from June-November each year, but hurricanes are not limited to that timeframe.  The report indicates that most preseason forecasts to date have predicted an increase in both the total number of storms and the number of hurricanes in 2016, compared with the last three years. The storm predictions from Tropical Storm Risk, for example, show a 35 percent chance of this year being an above average season.

Four CT Community Health Centers Earn $1 Million Federal Grants to Expand Care

The federal Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has awarded Charter Oak Health Center, Inc. (COHC), located in the south end of Hartford, with a federal grant of $1 million to increase its capacity for patient care, one of four community health centers in the state to receive the federal grants. Grants of $1 million were awarded to three additional Connecticut community health centers:

• Fair Haven Community Health Clinic in New Haven
• Cornell Scott-Hill Health Corporation in New Haven
• First Choice Health Center in East Hartford

The grants to the four facilities in Connecticut are anticipated to extend program services to an additional 18,776 patients, according to DHHS.  Nationally, over $260 million in funding is to be provided to 290 health centers in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico for facility renovation, expansion, or construction.

Health centers will use this funding to increase their patient capacity and to provide additional comprehensive primary and preventive health services to medically underserved populations.

"We are truly excited about the award," said Nichelle A. Mullins, President and CEO of COHC. “It is an honor and a great responsibility to serve our patients and community.  It is a significant accomplishment to be recognized on a national level for our quality of care. Our mission since 1978 is to offer health care services to our community and with the funding from this grant we will be able to improve and expand our specialty services.”

COHC currently offers a wide range of services from primary medical care, to specialty services including women’s health and gynecology, pediatric care, podiatry, dental and eye care as well as nutrition and wellness therapy. The center offers urgent care services where the patients can be seen quickly rather than in hospital emergency departments. There is also an on-site pharmacy and bilingual services in all areas of care.

According to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell, “With these awards, health centers will be able to do things like increase their hours of operation, hire more behavioral health providers, add dental facilities, better treat patients with opioid use disorders, and help people get coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace and make the journey from coverage to primary care.”

In 2015, Charter Oak Health Center was one of 12 community health centers in the state to receive Expanded Service Awards from the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA) Health Center Program within the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Health centers are cornerstones of the communities they serve,” said Secretary Burwell.  “These awards will empower health centers to build more capacity and provide needed health care to hundreds of thousands of additional individuals and their families.”

The national grant was initiated in 2009, allowing health centers to add 6 million more patients. Health centers provide high quality preventive and primary health care to patients regardless of their ability to pay. Approximately 1 in 14 people in the U.S. relies on a HRSA-funded health center for medical care.

Nearly 1,400 health centers operate 9,800 service delivery sites in every U.S. state, D.C., Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Pacific Basin; these health centers employ more than 170,000 staff who provide care for nearly 23 million patients across the nation.

Charter Oak Health Center, Inc.  (COHC) was founded in 1978 and is an urban, 501(c) (3) federally qualified, Joint Commission-accredited, nonprofit community health center that serves the Greater Hartford, Connecticut Metropolitan Area and surrounding communities - Hartford itself being the poorest of the nation's cities with a population of greater than 100,000.

COHC is located in a medically underserved area (MUA) with an underserved population (MUP) and a health professional shortage area (HPSA). COHC is the only community health center located in southern Hartford and provides Medical, Dental, and Behavioral Health services to over 18,000 patients annually.

Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center is a federally qualified community health center established in 1968 in a collaboration between the community and Yale School of Medicine. The first community health center in Connecticut, the Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center has a long history of serving New Haven neighborhoods, which are among the most disadvantaged in the State. Cornell Scott-Hill Health Center also provides health care services to those from West Haven, Ansonia, Derby, Seymour, Shelton, Naugatuck and Oxford.

East Hartford Community HealthCare changed its name to First Choice Health Centers in recognition of growth as a regional provider of primary care services.  First Choice provides health care to 17,453 patients who made 67,663 visits in 2014. First Choice provides comprehensive primary care from newborn through adult and elderly services. The Center offers family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, dentistry, nutrition, sonography, and in 2011 added podiatry followed by optometry in 2012 and behavioral health services in 2014.

With locations in New Haven and East Haven, Fair Haven Community Health Clinic provide comprehensive primary health care, delivered through innovative and alternative systems of health delivery.  Healthcare teams provide access to ongoing care throughout our patients' lifetime, including preventative health services, chronic disease management, and acute illness treatment. Fair Haven began in August 1971, under the leadership of a community advocacy agency called the Alliance for Latin American Progress, opening in a local elementary school two evenings a week.  The Clinic, also renamed, grew steadily in the decades since, expanding services and patients served.

link to FOX 61 news story.

https://youtu.be/j80B4ckjOT8

Connecticut Is 2016’s 2nd Best State for Working Dads; Two Norwalk Businesses Earn Spot Among Nation’s Top 50 for New Dads

Working fathers in Connecticut are in a great place, according to a newly released analysis.  Connecticut is ranked only behind only Minnesota as the 2^nd Best State for Working Dads, a glimpse of good news as Father’s Day approaches. Nearly 93 percent of dads with kids younger than 18 in the labor force, according to the personal-finance website WalletHub, which conducted an in-depth analysis of the Best & Worst States for Working Dads.

The top 10 states were Minnesota, Connecticut, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Iowa, Kansas, Virginia and North Dakota.  At the bottom of the list were Mississippi, West Virginia, Alaska and Nevada.

WalletHub analyzed the work-life balance, health conditions, financial well-being and child-rearing environments for working dads in the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, using 20 key metrics, which range from day care quality to male life expectancy.

To identify the best and worst states for working dads, WalletHub analyzed the various factors in the work-life balance that affect paternal roles in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, focused on four key dimensions of fatherhood: 1) Economic & Social Well-Being, 2) Work-Life Balance, 3) Child Care and 4) Health.  Among the 20 factors included were parental leave policy, commute time, day care quality, pediatric services, median income, unemployment rate, and mental health.

Leading to its overall ranking of second in the analysis, Connecticut was 13^th in “economic and social well-being,” third in “work-life balance,” eighth in “child care,” and third in “health.”  Among the sub-categories, Connecticut was:

• 2nd – Male Life Expectancy at Birth
• 2nd – % of Kids Younger than 18 with Dad Present Living in Poverty
• 2nd – “Parental Leave Policy” Score
• 6th – Access to Pediatric Services
• 6th – % of Men Who Report Adequate or Any Physical Activity
• 7th – Male Uninsured Rate
• 14th – Average Freshman Graduation Rate for Men
• 16th – Mortality Rate due to Heart Disease per 100,000 Men
• 17th – Mean Hours Worked per Day Among Males
• 19^th - Median Income for Families (Dad Present) with Kids Younger than 18 Years, Adjusted for Cost of Living

Among the nation’s top businesses for new dad, an analysis by the website Fatherly, determined that two Connecticut-based companies – alcoholic beverages producer Diageo and financial data and analysis provider FactSet, earned slots in the top 50.  Fatherly is a digital lifestyle guide for men entering parenthood.

Just a handful of states had companies on the list:  California (18), New York (9), Oregon (4), Massachusetts (3) and Georgia, North Carolina, Washington DC, and Connecticut, with two each.

Norwalk’s Diageo ranked 34^th, and was praised for policies that include “employees receive up to 8 hours of school activity leave (up to 40 hours per year) so you won’t have to miss your kid’s big game or school play.”  FactSet, headquartered in Norwalk, ranked 46^th.  The company was praised because it “recently upped it’s paternity leave from one week to 4.”  FactSet has 8,000 employees in 21 countries.  Diageo is a global leader in beverage alcohol with iconic brands in spirits, beer and wine, producing well-known brands from more than 200 sites in over 30 countries.

The top companies were Netflix, Spotify, Facebook, Patagonia, Bank of America, Pinterest, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Airbnb, Johnson & Johnson, Accenture, MasterCard, Intuit and Intel.

In addition, nine small businesses described as “leading the way,” were change.org (San Francisco), Laughing Planet Café (Portland), Upworthy (New York), Blue Corona (Maryland),  Badger Balm (New Hampshire), Square Root (Austin), Able Lending (Austin), Happy Family (New York) and ustwo (New York).

When Fatherly’s 50 Best Places To Work For New Dads was a year ago, nearly half the companies featured offered between one and 2 weeks of paid leave to fathers. Twelve months later, 7.5 weeks is the average, 35 percent of companies offer between 6 and 8 weeks, and another 12 companies offer between 10 weeks and a full year, the website pointed out, attributing much of the increase to tech companies, which make up nearly a third of companies on the top 50 list.

Data used to create the WalletHub report were obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Council for Community and Economic Research, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Partnership for Women & Families, the American Urological Association, the Social Science Research Council, Child Care Aware of America and WalletHub research.

Six State Commissions, Victims of Budget Consolidations, Disappear After Decades-Long Record of Achievement

After 43 years, the ironically-named Permanent Commission on the Status of Women began the organization’s final newsletter with an ironic observation:  “the PCSW had its most successful legislative session ever, celebrating the passage of four bills instrumental in protecting women's health and safety.” The PCSW is one of six legislative commissions eliminated in a last-minute budget compromise at the end of the legislative session a month ago.  The six ceased to exist on Thursday (June 9).  In their place will be two Commissions, each a mash-up of three of the organizations.

Wiped from the roster of state agencies are the PCSW, Legislative Commission on Aging, Commission on Children, Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission, African American Affairs Commission and Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission.  Replacing them will be the Commission on Women, Children and Seniors and a Commission that merges the Latino, African-American and Asian Pacific American Commissions.

All staff members were effectively laid off, some applied for the handful of jobs that are to exist in support of the new Commissions.  The volunteer Commissioners will be holdovers, meaning that 63 Commissions will remain in place to set policy direction.

The 23 year old Commission on Aging was eliminated as Connecticut rapidly approaches a new, long-term reality—older adults will comprise an increasingly large proportion of the population.  At least 20 percent of almost every town’s population in the state will be 65 years of age or older by 2025, with some towns exceeding 40 percent.  Already, Connecticut is the 7^th oldest state in the nation.

The Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission, the most recent of the six, was established in 2008 to respond to a growing population in Connecticut.  With the smallest budget, the agency struggled to gain traction, and was just beginning to fulfill its mission when the end arrived.  Connecticut's Asian American population grew from 95,368 in 2000 to 157,088 in 2010 – a 65% increase. Asians represent the majority minority in 40 percent of Connecticut school districts, according to the Commission. 

The Permanent Commission on the Status of Women was formed in 1973 to study and improve Connecticut women’s economic security, health and safety; to promote consideration of qualified women to leadership positions; and to work toward the elimination of gender discrimination.

Over the next four decades, the organization played a pivotal role in the passage of more than 50 significant pieces of legislation, often placing Connecticut at the forefront of progress towards greater justice or equal treatment for women.

That was certainly true in 2016, in what turned out to be, as was once said in a different context, the best of times and the worst of times.  This year, PCSW advocated for major initiatives that gained legislative approval:

• Allow judges to remove firearms during temporary restraining orders in domestic violence;
• Make affirmative consent the standard for investigating alleged campus sexual assaults;
• Establish a working group to study possible labor violations in the nail salon industry;
• Eliminate the discriminatory tax on feminine hygiene products and diapers;
• Dramatically strengthen anti-trafficking laws by: shifting the focus of arrests in prostitution cases to the "demand side"; raising penalties against buyers of sex; removing the "mistake of age" defense; and requiring hotels and motels to keep records of those who rent rooms by the hour; and
• Give judges authority to remove parental rights from rapists in cases of clear and convincing evidence of sexual assault resulting in pregnancy.

Established in 1997, the mission of the African-American Affairs Commission (AAAC) was to improve and promote the economic development, education, health and political well-being of the African-American community in the State of Connecticut.  The Commission has been at the forefront of a range of issues impacting the African American community in Connecticut, and its demise occurs when race relations and equal opportunity remain under heavy scrutiny in Connecticut and across the country.   

Glenn A. Cassis Executive Director of the African-American Affairs Commission, when the consolidation plan was announced, said merging the panels will cause "irreparable damage to the African-American community in Connecticut."

"The elimination of AAAC tells the African-American community that their issues are not important to the state,'' Cassis wrote in an open letter to the leaders of the General Assembly. "The message that resonates is that despite the successful efforts of the past to eliminate the disparities that exist for this constituency in education, health, economic development, criminal justice and incarceration, and social well-being have become marginalized. Years of progress made has been cut short from being fully impacted to the level that this growing segment of Connecticut’s population deserves and expects."

The Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission (LPRAC) was created by an act of the Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) in 1994. This 21 member non-partisan commission is mandated to make recommendations to the CGA and the Governor for new or enhanced policies that will foster progress in achieving health, safety, educational success, economic self-sufficiency, and end discrimination in Connecticut.  As of 2014, the state’s Hispanic population exceeded 500,000, about 15 percent of the state’s overall population.

In an Open Letter, LPRAC Executive Director Werner Oyanadel said “The decision to eliminate LRPAC does not in any way diminish the significant pride of the Commissioners and LPRAC staff, present and past, in the far-reaching and often ground-breaking work that has been accomplished to advance the quality of life for our state’s steadily growing Latino population.”  He added that “the end of a distinguished and impactful decades-long history does not diminish or eviscerate the landmark laws, policy-changing research and enduring impact of LPRAC on countless families, businesses and individuals of Hispanic heritage, and all the citizens of Connecticut.”

The Commission on Children, established in 1985, was borne of the legislature’s desire for the development of “policies that would ensure the health, safety, and education of Connecticut children.”  Said long-time Executive Director Elaine Zimmerman: “We feel we’ve succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest hopes, taking a leading role in issues as important—and diverse—as closing the achievement gap in reading, school climate, immunization, disaster planning for families, school readiness, children’s mental health, home visitation, youth employment, equity, and poverty reduction.”

One of the testimonials on the PCSW website, said succinctly: “The commission boldly tackles the issues that matter to my survival and prosperity! Their work to identify and eradicate inequality (whether of the deliberate kind or not), to serve as a public voice for women’s issues which are underrepresented in all public spheres, and to engage the public is integral in working toward a fair and just society.”

Regarding the state’s Latino population, Oyanadel said “the successor combined Commission will not be nearly the same; we can only hope that its impact will not be diluted or weakened, though we are concerned that our community will have a softer voice advocating for those issues of particular importance in and impact on the Latino community.”

Back in 2011, when consolidations and eliminations were under consideration by legislators, but ultimately not approved, as was the case repeatedly since the 2008 recession, Gov. Malloy told the CT Mirror: "If they asked my advice, I'd consolidate a bunch of them."

And in 2016, it came to pass.

Fast Forward Past Fiscal Crisis: CT Developing Goals for the Year 2041

New goals approved in the waning hours of the state legislative session focus not on the impending deficit in the next two years, but what Connecticut should look like a quarter-century from now. Fast forwarding to the future, the newly approved legislation establishes a “Connecticut 500 Project” to develop a plan to, within 25 years:

• Increase private sector jobs by 500,000;
• Increase Connecticut’s population by 500,000;
• Increase by 500 the number of start-up companies organized around Connecticut-developed intellectual property;
• Increase by 500 the number of students graduating from each state college and university;
• Achieve a national ranking within the top five for economic growth, public education, quality of life, and private sector employee salary;
• Maintain Connecticut’s position within the top five for productivity, higher education, and income per capita.

“This is an effort to reassert Connecticut as one of the strongest economies in the nation and in the world,” State Representative William Tong recently told WNPR. He's co-chair of the state’s Commission on Economic Competitiveness, and said the Connecticut 500 Project comes directly out of the work of the commission.  The commission will continue to flesh out the Connecticut 500 Project, and look to hire a private consultant to take the plan forward, WNPR reported.

Tong added that the project is modeled after similar efforts in states like New York, Minnesota, and Ohio, and one of its centerpieces will likely be to move away from Connecticut’s traditional suburban strategy, focusing instead on building population and business vitality in its urban cores.

Some of the groundwork begins sooner, and comes with a price tag.

The state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) is required to establish a Talent Advisory Committee to assess shortages in the software development and other technology workforces, and develop pilot programs to correct such shortages.  And the Committee would develop knowledge enterprise zones around colleges and universities with the same benefits accorded entities in enterprise zones.

Details are still to be worked out as to how such an initiative would unfold, and the precise role of the state’s public and private institutions.  The committee would design a pilot program to recruit developers and train state residents over the next 10 years, according to the legislation.

The department’s First Five financial assistance program to encourage business expansion and job creation, is also expanded, as a means of hitting the lofty goals within the next two-and-a-half decades. 

The initiative, which began just a few years ago with five companies and has expanded almost every year since, providing loans and grants to Connecticut businesses as an incentive to remain in the state either despite, or because of, the steadily increasing state deficit driven in part by declining tax revenues.  The First Five program is increased once again under the bill to 20 projects from 15.

When it began in 2012, the companies identified to receive state funds were CIGNA, ESPN, NBC Sports, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and CareCentrix.  Subsequent participating companies benefitting from the program include Deloitte, Bridgewater, Charter Communications, Sustainable Building Systems, Navigators, Synchrony Financial and PitneyBowes.

Earlier this spring, DECD Commissioner Catherine Smith told the legislature that over the last three years the program has provided $256 million to thirteen different companies. Smith stated that the companies have “committed to retain more than 13,500 jobs and to create between 2,600 and 5,264 jobs” and urged the program’s expansion and extended deadline (into 2019), which was ultimately granted.

Most recently, the state provided $22 million in loans and grants to the world’s biggest hedge fund, Bridgewater Associates, to stay in Connecticut – a decision that instantly received both praise and criticism, from Democrats and Republicans alike.

Nine in Ten CT Residents Have a Usual Source of Care, But 3 in 10 Haven’t Seen Doctor in Past Year

A new federal report finds that all but 10.1 percent of Connecticut residents had a usual source of medical care during 2014 – tied for the sixth lowest percentage among the states.  The same report found great variation among states but, on average, 17.3 percent of Americans lacked a usual source of care. Vermont led the country with only 2.8 percent of residents reporting they do not have a regular care site, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics, followed by Delaware at 6.8 percent.

Even in Connecticut there remains room for improvement as nearly 3 in 10 – 29.6 percent - of Connecticut residents had not seen or talked to a general doctor during the last year, slightly better than the national average. Vermont also led the country in that statistic, with 84 percent having seen or spoken with a physician during the previous year.

The percentage of adults without a usual place of medical care ranged from 2.8 percent in Vermont to 26.7 percent in Nevada.  The percentage of adults who did not have a general doctor visit in the past 12 months ranged from 15.9 percent in Vermont to nearly have the state’s population - 48.1 percent - in Montana.

The federal data indicated that nine states (Nevada, Idaho, Texas, Oregon, Wyoming, Kentucky, Arizona, Alaska, and Florida) had a higher percentage of adults without a usual place of medical care compared with the national average (17.3%).

Conversely, Vermont, Delaware (6.8%), Massachusetts (7.5%), Wisconsin (9.5%), Hawaii (10%), Connecticut (10.1%), Rhode Island (10.1%), New Hampshire (11.6%), North Dakota (11.9%), South Dakota, New York, Alabama, Iowa, Maine, and Pennsylvania had a lower percentage of adults without a usual place of medical care compared with the national average.

Eleven states (Montana, South Dakota, Alaska, Nevada, New Mexico, South Carolina, Idaho, Nebraska, Texas, Florida, and California) had a higher percentage of adults who had not seen or talked to a general doctor in the past 12 months compared with the national average (34.0%).  Vermont, Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Ohio had a lower percentage of adults who had not seen or talked to a general doctor in the past 12 months compared with the national average.

Connecticut, at 29.6 percent, ranked just outside the top 10 states in the second quartile, but just below the national average.

Also of note, the study found little impact on these metrics of states’ decisions to expand Medicaid or create a state-based health insurance exchange. The federal analysis concluded that “continued state-specific monitoring will be helpful in identifying and tracking state and regional disparities in health care utilization over time.”

The National Health Interview Survey is a multipurpose health survey conducted continuously throughout the year by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). Interviews are conducted in person in respondents’ homes, but follow-ups to complete interviews may be conducted over the telephone. The federal report was authored by Lindsey I. Black and Jeannine S. Schiller, with the National Center for Health Statistics, Division of Health Interview Statistics.

Hartford’s Reputation As Excellent Host for National Gymnastics Brings Returns

If the three twenty-somethings enjoying  lunch and some brief down time outside at Trumbull Kitchen seemed familiar to passersby in downtown Hartford, it’s probably because they’ve been on national television a time or two.  And will be again. The casual lunch and conversation among three friends – competitors in the P&G Gymnastics Championships being held at the XL Center this weekend – are just one example of how hosting a major sporting event, in this case gymnastics, can boost the local economy and have reverberations that will continue to add value.

Californian Sam Mikulak, 23, who has won the men’s national title each of the past three years, remembers Hartford well.  His string of three consecutive all-around championships started here in 2013.  Fellow athletes Donathan Bailey, 25, of California and C.J. Maestas, 24, of New Mexico, have also competed in national championships held in Hartford.

This weekend, the Capitol city is hosting not only the men’s championship for the third time in a decade (2010 and 2013 previously) but is also hosting the Secret U.S. Classic, a key tune-up for the nation’s top women gymnasts, with the Olympics just two months away and the U.S. teams to be chosen in the coming weeks.  It is the first time that Hartford has hosted major gymnastics events in an Olympic year, when public interest peaks.

The roster of past Olympic and international medalists competing in Hartford is lengthy – unprecedented in the view of some observers – and in many cases, Connecticut is part of their individual Olympic journeys.

2012 Olympic gold medalist Aly Raisman of Needham, Massachusetts recalls competing in Hartford in 2010, and says of her return, “I feel like I’m competing at home.”

The Connecticut Convention and Sports Bureau (CTCSB) projects 1,425 hotel room nights, an estimated attendance approaching 30,000, a business sales impact of $1.5 million and $50,000 in local taxes generated.  But the impact goes beyond those numbers.

“It raises awareness of what we have in the state,” when people visit to enjoy the competition, or root for family or friends, points out Bob Murdock, Director of Sports Marketing at CTCSB.

Add to that the national network television coverage (NBC telecasts coverage on Sunday and NBC Sports Network also provides coverage), and the Hartford locale mentioned in news stories published worldwide and plentiful on social media, the exposure for the city and state is incalculable.  “It has lasting effects,” says Murdock, and “helps grow the brand of Connecticut.”

Why does USA Gymnastics keep coming back?  “Everything runs smoothly,” suggests Mikulak, expressing a competitor’s viewpoint. “They trust us,” adds Murdock, noting that when Connecticut bids to attract future national caliber sporting events, the first question asked is “what else have you hosted.”

“The sports talk to each other,” Murdock explained.  They ask about community support, and the overall experience.  That USA Gymnastics has returned multiple times with its top national events speaks volumes.

Some up-and-coming hopefuls wouldn’t mind seeing the Hartford tradition continue awhile longer.

Among those competing at the Junior elite level is 14-year-old Riley McCusker of New Milford, the lone Connecticut resident at either the Senior or Junior level.

“I am so excited to be in Connecticut,” she says, seeking to advance her fledgling career at a major competition in her home state. Many of her friends and family will be on hand, including some that may be surprised when they see her on the XL Center floor and realize the full dimension of her steadily progressing gymnastics career.

McCusker recalls being at the XL Center as a spectator for a previous national championship, and being wowed by an extraordinary floor exercise she witnessed. This weekend, she may turn some heads herself as she continues to emphasize quality and consistency  as her track-record grows, although not quite looking ahead yet to Olympic possibilities in 2020.

Four years beyond her Olympic experience in London leading the U.S. team and earning individual and team gold medals, the just-turned-22 year-old Raisman says it “feels like forever ago.”  With a field of potential U.S. Olympians as deep as it ever has been all vying for one of only a handful of slots on the 2016 U.S. team, having the journey come through a familiar place – with nearly two dozen close friends and family coming to Hartford to join the many fans here to cheer her on - may offer a lift.

The competition itself certainly does so for the XL Center, Hartford and Connecticut.  Mikulak, as only a visitor could, sums it up succinctly:  “Hartford is a popular place.”

Aly Raisman of Needham, Mass. won the senior all-around title at the 2016 Secret U.S. Classic at the XL Center on Saturday, June 4.  Rachel Gowey of Urbandale, Iowa was second, and Alyssa Baumann of Plano, Texas finished third. Earlier in the day, Irina Alexeeva of Plano, Texas, captured the junior all-around title.  Connecticut’s Riley McCusker of New Milford finished 9^th.  The 11,771 who attended the Secret U.S. Classic on Saturday evening were the largest one-day crowd USA Gymnastics has had for events held in Hartford. In 2010, the largest daily crowd was 11,325, and in 2013 the largest daily attendance was 10,233.

Next Digital Citizenship Summit will be at Twitter Headquarters, One Year After Hartford Area Launch

What a difference a year makes.  The Digital Citizenship Summit, launched last year in Greater Hartford at the University of Saint Joseph, will be hosted at Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on October 28 this year, as the launch event for U.S. Media Literacy Week at the social media giant’s global headquarters. The Digital Citizenship Summit, described as the only global network of summits and projects focused on the safe, savvy & ethical use of social media and tech, was developed locally and has quickly grown internationally, with sessions taking root across the globe. 

A major gathering of organizations, industry, parenting experts, students, and more, will bring together new, well-known, and unexpected voices from a wide variety of backgrounds for a fast-paced and energetic mix of presentations, panels, videos, and awards at Twitter headquarters this fall.

The day will be live-streamed to a large global audience, and seeks to broaden the appeal and accessibility to digital citizenship and media literacy. "Digital Citizenship" has been defined by Dr. Mike Ribble, author of Digital Citizenship in Schools, as "the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use."

The Digital Citizenship Summit will serve as the kick-off event for Media Literacy Week (October 31-November 4) led by the National Association for Media Literacy (NAMLE). Media literacy “is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, communicate and create using all forms of media,” and an area of heightened relevance so close to the presidential election.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with the Digital Citizenship Summit and Twitter on this event,” says Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, Executive Director of NAMLE. “We are excited about bringing thought leaders in digital citizenship and media literacy together. There is so much to be done to ensure a media literate world and exploring digital citizenship is a great way to get the conversation going.”

“Society has adopted new social media platforms and technologies before we have collectively had the chance to determine what constitutes safe, savvy, and ethical behavior,” says Digital Citizenship Summit co-founder David Ryan Polgar of West Hartford.

“There are multiple stakeholders who desire an active role in the process, including students, educators, parents, administrators, media specialists, and organizational leaders. All of these groups have crucial insight, and the Digital Citizenship Summit was setup to bring these voices together to solve current issues regarding social media and tech use,” Polgar said.

The issues, according to Polgar, are endless. “Some major areas of concern include how smartphones should or shouldn’t be used in the classroom, finding ways to improve civility online, adjusting to an Internet that never forgets our posts, and being able to determine the veracity of what we read online.”

By bringing together a broad range of experts, organizations, and interested parties, the Digital Citizenship Summit on October 28th aims to take a multi-stakeholder participatory approach to solving some of the vexing issues regarding social media and tech use.

Partnering organizations include the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), Common Sense Media, Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), #iCANHELP, ConnectSafely, iKeepSafe, and Trend Micro’s Internet Safety for Kids & Families.

The inaugural Digital Citizenship Summit in the United Kingdom was held earlier this year and another is already being planned in that nation, and plans are now being developed for similar initiatives in St. Louis as well as Ireland and Australia later this year.  A Summit was held in Wisconsin last month.

“We are thrilled to have the involvement of so many prominent organizations,” says co-founder Dr. Marialice B.F.X. Curran. “By collaborating on this event we can expose a wide audience with some incredible resources that can be used at home or in the classroom.” “At the same time,” chimes in her co-founder David Ryan Polgar, “the open and collaborative nature will bring forward new voices that can influence this important conversation around social media and tech use.”

“We want people impacted by tech and social media to feel empowered,” Curran continues. “Instead of being reactive, we want people to be active participants in the digital future. We want people to be the digital change.”

Media Literacy Week (#MediaLitWk) is designed to bring attention and visibility to media literacy education in the United States. Inspired by Canada’s Media Literacy Week, the National Association for Media Literacy Education is leading the efforts to create a media literacy week in the United States to showcase the work of amazing media literacy educators and organizations around the country. The mission of Media Literacy Week is to highlight the power of media literacy education and its essential role in education today.

The Digital Citizenship Summit is a global network of summits and projects focused on the safe, savvy, and ethical use of technology and social media. They are dedicated to creating a new culture in which everyone—particularly the next generation of digital natives, educators and parents—has a voice, and feels empowered to use it. The Digital Citizenship Summit brings diverse groups together to connect in person, join the conversation and take an active role in creating positive digital change on both a local and global level.

The first Digital Citizenship Summit was held on October 3, 2015 at the University of Saint Joseph in Connecticut. It drew over 220 educators, students, parents, administrators, organizations, and members of industry, and trended #1 in the nation (#digcitsummit).

CT’s Has Nation’s Third Lowest Rate of People Killed by Police; National Data Reveals Glaring Disparities Among States, Cities

Between January 2013 and April 2016, the rate of individuals killed by police in Connecticut was the third lowest in the nation, according to the website mappingpoliceviolence.org  The website indicates that during that period, there were 20 people killed by police in the state, for a rate of 5.60, based on the state’s population.  The only states with lower rates were New York, at 5.26, and Rhode Island, at 3.80.  The highest rates were in New Mexico (31.5), D.C. (28.25), Oklahoma (24.52), Arizona (23.31), Nevada (21.85) and Wyoming (21.29).

Key findings highlighted on the website include:

• 28 percent of U.S. police killings between Jan 2013 - Apr 2016 were committed by police departments of the 100 largest U.S. cities.
• Black people were 39 percent of people killed by these 100 police departments despite being only 21 percent of the population in their jurisdictions.
• In only 3 of the 100 largest city police departments was there no one killed between January 2013 and April 2016 (Buffalo, Irvine, and Plano), according to the website.
• The majority (51%) of unarmed people killed by the 100 largest city police departments were Black. These police departments killed unarmed Black people at a rate 4 times higher than unarmed White people, the data indicated.
• Rates of violent crime in cities did not make it any more or less likely for police departments to kill people. For example, Buffalo and Newark police departments had low rates of police violence despite high crime rates while Spokane and Bakersfield had relatively low crime rates and high rates of police violence, the website points out.

The site is designed to “help hold state policy-makers accountable for police violence,” and highlight “how police violence disproportionately impacts black people in many states.”  It offers a number of mapping tools to allow users to review and contrast data, and also offers a database of gathered information.

Looking at the rate at which Blacks were killed by police during the period January 2013 – April 2016, Connecticut was among the lowest, at 8.3, which reflects three deaths.  In New Hampshire, Vermont, North Dakota, Maine, Idaho and South Dakota, largely reflecting the population in those states, there were no deaths of African Americans, according to the data.

In 2015, among the 100 largest police departments, there were 14 police departments in which 100 percent of the individuals killed were Black (St Louis, Atlanta, Kansas City, Cleveland, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Raleigh, Milwaukee, Detroit, Philadelphia and Charlotte) and five departments in which all of those killed were White.  Connecticut’s largest cities were not included in the list.

The research indicated that “while some have blamed violent crime for being responsible for police violence in some communities, data shows that high levels of violent crime in cities did not appear to make it any more or less likely for police departments to kill people.”

The report defines a “police killing” as “a case where a person dies as a result of being chased, beaten, arrested, restrained, shot, pepper sprayed, tasered, or otherwise harmed by police officers, whether on-duty or off-duty, intentional or accidental.”

The website Mapping Police Violence is a “research collaborative collecting comprehensive data on police killings nationwide to quantify the impact of police violence in communities,” as described by the website.  The research team indicates that “the data represented on this site is the most comprehensive accounting of people killed by police since 2013.”

State Residents Pessimistic About State Economy, Upbeat About Personal Finances, Survey Finds

The state’s budget crisis, and months of fiscal wrangling at the State Capitol, appears to have taken a toll on the economic outlook of Connecticut residents.  Despite growing optimism about their personal financial situation, state residents are increasingly pessimistic about the state’s finances and employment prospects, and are preparing to do some personal belt-tightening as a result. In the latest InformCT Consumer Confidence Survey, for the first quarter of 2016, the percentage who believe that the Connecticut economy is improving has dropped 10 points from the first quarter of 2015 to the first quarter this year, from just over one-third (34%) of state residents to just  under one-quarter (24%).

A year ago, when asked about current business conditions in Connecticut versus six months prior, 29 percent said conditions were better and only 22 percent said they were worse.  That break-down has now flipped, with 22 percent stating “better” and 29 percent saying business conditions are worse.

A majority of respondents (56%) said they intend to make some (41%), or significant (15%), cuts to their personal budget, as a result of budget cuts at the state level.  Only four in ten say that state cuts will have no effect “on me personally.”  Asked what the state should do to best remedy the budget shortfall, six in ten (59%) urged the state to reduce spending while four in ten (43%) suggested raising taxes on the top 1% of income households.

The quarterly survey is released by InformCT, a public-private partnership that provides independent, non-partisan research, analysis, and public outreach to help create fact-based dialogue and action in Connecticut.  Administered by researchers from the Connecticut Economic Resource Center, Inc. (CERC) and Smith & Company, the analysis is based on the responses of residents across Connecticut and addresses key economic issues, providing a glimpse of the public’s views.

Regarding the employment picture, state residents increasingly believe that although there are jobs available, but 6 in 10 believe there are “not enough.”  And 42 percent are concerned that either their job, or their spouse’s job, is in jeopardy - up from 33 percent in the previous quarter, and the highest level the quarterly survey has seen in the past year.

When it comes to their own finances, state residents are markedly more upbeat.  One-third (32%) say they are better off than 6 months ago (up from 24% in the previous quarterly survey) and 44 percent believe they will be better off six months from now than they are today, a jump of 10 points from last quarter.  More than 8 in 10 residents (83%) say that from a personal financial standpoint, they will be much better off, somewhat better off, or about the same, six months from now.

State residents continue to be persistent in their view that Connecticut is a good place to live and raise a family, with 48 percent expressing that view, and only 29 percent disagreeing – a number that hasn’t budged much during the past year.  Yet, the percentage of respondents who say they are likely to move out of the state in the next five years has increased to its highest level in five quarters, to 43 percent, after hovering between 32 percent and 39 percent with that view in the four quarterly surveys of 2015.

Perhaps driven by economic necessity, the public’s view of regionalism – long an anathema in Connecticut – indicates receptivity.  Four in ten now believe that services such as public safety, public health, libraries, education and animal control “could effectively be delivered regionally.”  And 52 percent believe that the best way to grow the economy is to invest in local schools, transportation choices and walkable areas, versus 48 percent who view recruiting companies to the area as the best way to grow the economy.