CT Alzheimer's Conference Focus on Families, Growing Numbers

It has been estimated that in Connecticut in 2011, approximately 174,000 people provided unpaid care to about 70,000 individuals with alzheimer's or dementia.  The 15th Annual Connecticut Statewide Education Conference hosted by the Connecticut Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association will be held on March 27, 2012 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Cromwell, CT. Across the U.S., there are 5.4 million people living with Alzheimer's today; by 2025 the number is expected to increase to 16 million unless medical responses change the current trajectory of the disease.  In Connecticut, the number of individuals known to have Alzheimer's grew by 3 percent during the past decade, and that number is expected to continue increasing as the general population - spurred by baby boomers - continues to get older.

Save the Date: State Parks Centennial Is A Year Away

One can't help but think of the great outdoors, encouraged by a warmer-than-usual and earlier-than-usual burst of springtime.  Hence the recognition that the Centennial celebration of Connecticut's state parks is only a year away - with plans to mark the anniversary already on the horizon. The State will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of State Parks beginning in September, 2013.  Connecticut has 107 State Parks all across the state, "each with its own character and personality," according to the advance publicity for the celebration.  The occasion has been on the mind of state government since a year ago.

The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is asking state residents, in effect, to save the date - or rather, the year.  More info on Connecticut's state parks is available on the DEEP website.

Connecticut Intensifies Efforts to Curtail Drunk Driving

Connecticut, 14 other states and part of California require the ignition interlock devices for first-time DUI convictions.  Ignition interlocks gauge blood-alcohol content (BAC) after a person blows into a tube for several seconds. If the BAC surpasses a threshold, the car engine will not start. Interlocks have reduced drunken driving recidivism by a median of 67 percent, according to a 2011 news release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported in 2009 that interlocks "reduce recidivism among both first-time and repeat DWI offenders, with reductions in subsequent DWI arrests ranging from 50 to 90 percent while the interlock is installed on the vehicle."  If mandatory use was more widespread, up to 750 lives could be saved each year, according to a study by the NHTSA, reported in the Hartford Courant  and re-posted on other news sites.  In an effort to further reduce drop drunken driving fatalities, organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and MADD are pushing for more widespread use of ignition interlocks.

Connecticut law, revised earlier this year, requires that those with one conviction must have the device installed on any cars they plan to drive. The interlock must stay on the car for one year after the driver completes a 45-day license suspension.  After a second conviction, the driver is allowed on the road after another 45-day suspension, but the ignition lock must remain on the car for three years.

Elm City Market Praised in White House Blog

In a post on the White House blog authored by Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, New Haven's Elm City Market received high marks.  The local store is highlighted for demonstrating "just how much progress our country is making when it comes to healthy food access." The blog goes on to point out that "in New Haven, Connecticut, a city where one in four people live in poverty, a Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan from USDA helped construct the first full-service grocery store in the inner city in 2011. Elm City Market created 100 new jobs for local residents with salaries starting at twice the minimum wage.  But the community didn’t stop there: the store is sourcing over half of its products from producers within 200 miles of the city. "

And the concluding update... "The store reports brisk business, serving community members that previously lacked access to the products grown just miles away from them."

State Treasury's Big List Helps Return $2.6 Million

The Office of State Treasurer Denise Nappier reports that $2.6 million has been returned to 2,611 rightful owners of the assets since last November, when the Treasury published the CT Big List – a compilation of individuals eligible to claim assets turned over to the state by financial institutions unable to locate rightful owners. The state holds the assets until rightful owners are located and verified, and publishes a list – in print and online – to help match money with owners.  The claims include dormant balances in savings and checking accounts, unredeemed stocks and bonds, unreturned security deposits and uncashed checks, such as wages or commissions.

A majority of the claims paid were under $1,000; the largest was for $76,948.  The State Treasury has received 348,910 hits on CTBigList.com since November.  Nearly 50,000 names were included on the list published last fall.  State law requires the list to be published every other year.

State Workforce Will Shrink Unless Wage Gap Closes

A report by Connecticut Voices for Children finds that closing Connecticut's “opportunity gaps,” as evidenced in the state’s changing demographics, will be necessary for the future economic health and quality of life in the state as a whole. The report, “Connecticut's Changing Demographics Foreshadow Declining Workforce Income,” noted that Connecticut, with the 7^th oldest population in the nation in 2010, is projected to have a declining working-age population after 2015.  On the national level, the working-age population is predicted to increase.  In 2010, 14 percent of Connecticut’s population was age 65+, which is expected to increase to 22 percent (1 in 5) by 2030.

The report found that if racial and ethnic income gaps continue to grow at recent rates in Connecticut, the average per capita income for the state’s working age population will decline by 8.6% between 2010 and 2030.  However, if racial income gaps are closed by 2015 and incomes for all workers are raised to the same level as white workers, then per capita income for the working-age population will increase by 12% between 2010 and 2030.

State's City Canvas Awards Will Bring New Art to 7 Cities

Coming to a city near you:  City Canvas, a one-time initiative bringing mural-based public art into downtown spaces throughout Connecticut.  It's happening in seven cities, with the financial support of the state's Office of the Arts, part of the newly enhanced Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) into which the former Commission on Culture and Tourism was merged.  Twelve cities applied, and seven were awarded funds for submitted projects.  The rundown: Bridgeport / Bridgeport Arts & Cultural Council: Moving image light projections on a prominent downtown building. $158,000. Hartford / Real Arts Ways:  interactive, water activated, public art piece highlighting Hartford’s history. $125,000. New Britain / New Britain Museum of American Art: new mural at the New Britain/Hartford busway terminal. $98,050. New London / Hygienic Art: Three murals extending the New London Wall to Wall Mural Walk along with trompe l’oeil parking garage adornments. $145,062. Stamford / Stamford Cultural Development Corporation:Illumination and animation of transportation center for Metro North/Amtrak passengers and travelers on I-95. $150.000. Torrington / Northwest CT Association for the Arts: Unifying artwork on the façade of the new Children’s Museum. $165,000 Waterbury / Arts & Culture Collaborative, Waterbury Region: large-scale mosaic with extensive community involvement / $108,744.48

DECD, in keeping with its recently unveiled Creative Placemaking arts strategy, says the City Canvas program is designed to enhance public spaces through the visual arts and to connect the urban regions of Connecticut.  The art installations in the 7 cities are expected to get underway this spring, as municipalities and their respective partnership arts organizations collaborate in each of the local initiatives.

Connecticut History Online Tops 15,000 Digital Sources

Connecticut History Online (CHO) is a digital collection of over 15,000 digital primary sources, together with associated interpretive and educational material.   Perhaps not widely known, CHO features a collaboration with the Encyclopedia of Connecticut History Online (ECHO) to serve the needs of scholars, K-12 and post-secondary teachers and students, genealogists, and the general public. The four lead CHO partners - the Connecticut Historical Society, Connecticut State Library, Mystic Seaport, and the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at UConn - represent  libraries, museums and historical societies, encompassing the three major communities that preserve and make accessible historical collections in Connecticut.  Participating institutions also include the Hartford History Center, New Haven Museum and Stonington Historical Society.

CT Health Reform Report Card Issued

The New Haven-based Connecticut Health Policy Project, a non-profit, non-partisan research and educational organization dedicated to improving access to affordable, quality health care, has issued aReport Card for Connecticut.  The organization surveyed more than three dozen "thought leaders" serving on health-related state councils, boards, committees and among the leadership of health-related organizations.  The respondents included providers, consumer advocates, labor, business, insurance brokers, and academics.  The results:  Connecticut received a C in health reform, a C+ in effort, and a D in "engaging consumers in policy making."  Connecticut's Medicaid efforts earned a B.

Connecticut Libraries Rank 36th in State Financial Support

There were more than 22 million visits to Connecticut's libraries last year, with visitors borrowing 31.4 million items, according to the Connecticut Library Association.   Association President Betty Anne Reiter, in testimony at the State Capitol recently,  noted that although the state's libraries are among the most frequently visited in the country, the state ranks only 36th nationally in the level of state support ( $.58 per capita in CT vs. $2.94 per capita nationally).  Reiter also expressed concerns, on behalf of the organization's more than 1,000 members, about recent budget cuts sustained by the Connecticut State Library.