Artists of Color Accelerate (AOCA) Celebrates Successful First Year of Initiative

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Artists of Color Accelerate (AOCA) Celebrates Successful First Year of Initiative

The vision was to support an inclusive arts and culture sector in the Hartford Region by building an arts economy featuring local artists of color. Launched in the midst of the pandemic in August 2021, when opportunities for the arts – and artists – to flourish were particularly limited, the inaugural Artists of Color Accelerate (AOCA) program was an initiative of The 224 EcoSpace and was funded by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

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Michelle McCabe Named to Lead Connecticut Main Street Center

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Michelle McCabe Named to Lead Connecticut Main Street Center

Michelle McCabe has been named as Executive Director of .Connecticut Main Street Center (CMSC), a leading advocate and resource for downtown revitalization and management, providing technical information, regional cooperation, training and networking in communities across Connecticut and at the state level.

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Pedestrian Fatalities Projected to Reach Four-Decade High Across U.S.; CT One of Only 10 States Expected to See Reduction

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Pedestrian Fatalities Projected to Reach Four-Decade High Across U.S.; CT One of Only 10 States Expected to See Reduction

The national Governors Highway Safety Association annual spotlight report projects that drivers nationwide struck and killed 7,485 people walking in 2021 – the most in a single year in four decades. The trend in Connecticut and nine other states is less grim.

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Vernon Starbucks May Follow West Hartford with Vote to Unionize, As Union Popularity Grows

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Vernon Starbucks May Follow West Hartford with Vote to Unionize, As Union Popularity Grows

It may be back to the future for union membership in the U.S., and a glimpse of what’s happening in Connecticut may reflect a generational change. Although overall union membership in the U.S. “stands at its lowest percentage in roughly a century,” according to The New York Times, that trend may be reversing.

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CT Ranks 35th in Gun Licenses; 1 of Only 5 States to See Gun Sales Increase in 2021, Rising 9%

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CT Ranks 35th in Gun Licenses; 1 of Only 5 States to See Gun Sales Increase in 2021, Rising 9%

Connecticut ranked 35th among the states in gun licenses in 2021, with 74,874. In the Land of Steady Habits, fewer than one-quarter of adults – 23.6% - indicate they have a firearm in their home. Yet Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Iowa, Massachusetts, and New Jersey all saw total estimated gun sales climb between 2020 and 2021, while other states saw a slight decline from the previous record year.

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New Leadership Announced for Environmental Organization Save the Sound

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New Leadership Announced for Environmental Organization Save the Sound

Save the Sound, among the region’s premier environmental organizations, has announced a forthcoming change in leadership. Curt Johnson will “retire” at the end of September after five years leading the environmental organization, to be succeeded by Leah Schmalz, currently serving as Vice President of Programs.

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Hole In The Wall Gang Camp to Open Second Location in Maryland Next Year

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Hole In The Wall Gang Camp to Open Second Location in Maryland Next Year

As The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp prepares to welcome campers for its 35th summer in Ashford, Conn., CEO James Canton and Board Member Bradley Cooper recently announced that the organization will open a second location on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 2023, providing “a different kind of healing” to more children with serious illnesses and their families in the Mid-Atlantic.

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