HARTFORD – Community Renewal Team recently appointed Emilie Montgomery as the Early Care and Education Director.

Montgomery began her job Jan. 28. A welcoming event for Montgomery is scheduled for March 6 from 3-5 p.m. at CRT’s main office at 555 Windsor St. in Hartford in the Lumsden Center. The event is open to the public.

Montgomery most recently served as the Director of Quality Assurance for the East Coast Migrant Head Start Project since 2001. She has held top positions some of the largest migrant Head Start grantees in the U.S. including the Texas Migrant Council, Washington State Migrant Council, and United Migrant Opportunity Services in the past 20 years.

CRT’s ECE programs that include Head Start and School Readiness programs help lay the foundation for more than 1,400 children each year to lead healthy and productive lives, administrators said.

CRT provides ECE programs including Head Start in the six area towns of Hartford, Windsor, Bloomfield, Portland, Clinton, Middletown as well as delegates in East Hartford and Bristol.

All interested parties for the reception may RSVP Mary O’Connell at 860-560-5456 or by email at oconnellm@crtct.org.

HARTFORD —  The February 10 suspect in a homicide case surrendered on Tuesday to Hartford Police Headquarters on Tuesday,  according to Hartford Police Chief James C. Rovella.

The suspect,  Traistyn George, 20,  of unknown address in Hartford was wanted by Hartford Police in connection with a homicide  at 366 Maple Ave.

Police said they have been searching for George since Major Crimes Division Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for him on Feb. 15, charging him with murder and carrying a dangerous Weapon.

A judge set bond of $1 million police said.    George is awaiting arraignment in Hartford Superior Court, police said.

On Feb. 10 at 11:44 p.m., officers responded to 366 Maple Ave on a report of abouttwenty people fighting in the street.  Two individuals were located suffering from stab wounds.  The victim, Kevin Rodriguez, 21, of Hartford, was found in the driveway.

HPD officers performed CPR and he was transported to Hartford Hospital by ambulance where he was pronounced dead.  A second victim was admitted to and treated for stab wounds at Hartford Hospital.

He is recovering from his injuries, police said.

See related press release of February 15, 2012.

As the investigation remains on-going, Hartford Police continue to ask  anyone with information about this incident to contact HPD Major Crimes Division Sergeant Brandon O’Brien at (860) 757-4089. Information can be given anonymously by contacting Crime Stoppers Tipline at 860-722-TIPS (8477).

HARTFORD – Asylum Hill Congregational Church will shift from the spiritual to the secular in a concert that supports ServCorps, Inc., a non-profit agency that organizes volunteers and low income young people to build and rehabilitate affordable housing in the Asylum Hill neighborhood of Hartford.

The “shift” will occur on March 9 at 8:00 p.m. inside the Asylum Hill Congregational Church at 814 Asylum Ave. in Hartford.

 Back for the fourth year, the Broadway Revue takes a tour down the Great White Way, with a focus this year on love songs. The concept for a benefit concert has blossomed into the church’s “Music For Humanity Series,” which raises money for a diverse group of Hartford-based service organizations and agencies.

ServCorps works in collaboration with a number of Asylum Hill organizations who are committed to improving the lives of Hartford residents, including Northside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance (NINA), the YouthBuild Hartford Program of Co-opportunity, Inc., and The Hartford Financial Services Group.

In its most recently completed project, ServCorps provided construction oversight and training to more than 300 volunteers and YouthBuild students to build a Victorian style house at 33 Sargeant Street, complete with architectural details produced in the home workshops of ServCorps volunteers.

Tickets ($20) can be purchased by calling (860)278-0785.

HARTFORD –  Hartford Police Department Major Crimes Division have identified a suspect for a Feb. 10 homicide of a 20-year-old on Maple Ave.

Traistyn George, 20, of an unknown address in Hartford, is the suspect named on the warrant for allegedly killing the 20-year-old.

No further information is available for victim who was shot at 366 Maple Ave., police said.

George was charged with murder and carrying a dangerous weapon, police said.

A Hartford judge set bond for one million dollars.  George has not yet been arrested.

The Hartford Police Department Major Crimes Division is asking anyone with information about this incident, to contact HPD Major Crimes Division Sergeant Brandon O’Brien at (860) 757-4089.

HARTFORD – Hartford resident Brandon L. McGee Jr. will formally announce his candidacy for State Representative in the 5th Assembly District on Thursday at Vibz Uptown.

“I have always believed that powerful change occurs when people come together for a common goal,” McGee said. “I am excited about the many possibilities for growth in the new 5th District, and I’m eager to work with the residents of Hartford and Windsor to develop legislation that capitalizes on those possibilities.”

At 6: 30 p.m., Brandon will be introduced by former Hartford City Councilman and retired Fire Captain Steve Harris and John Motley, Principal at Motley Beup. Retiring 5th District State Representative Marie Lopez Kirkley-Bey is also expected to attend, McGee said.

A native of Hartford, McGee currently serves as Network Development Manager at Urban Alliance, Inc. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Alabama State University and is pursuing his Masters of Science in Management & Organizational Leadership.

He has also been actively involved in the political arena, most recently as the Director of Outreach and Strategic Planning for former Gubernatorial Candidate Ned Lamont and Congressman John Larson.

Brandon graduated from A.I. Prince Technical High School in Hartford, where he was elected Student Government Association President. At Alabama State University and in the Montgomery, Alabama community, his leadership ability and drive resulted in his selection to be the State of Alabama’s NAACP Youth and College Division President.

Vibz is at 3155 Main St.

A few days before the release of The Best of Soul Train DVD set Soul Train founder, creator and impresario Don Cornelius was asked what it was that made Soul Train the hit that was. Cornelius didn’t hesitate, “That was the period when soul music grew up.”

Cornelius could have added one more thing to his on-point observation for the reason for the show’s success. It was also the music that I, and many other blacks, grew up with. It was virtually a black household ritual to do one of two things when Saturday rolled around and it was Soul Train time. One was to sway, swoon, and sing the lyrics belted out by the parade of R&B legends and top hit artists, Curtis Mayfield, James Brown, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, the Jackson Five, Stevie Wonder, and the Four Tops who regularly turned up on the show.

The other ritual was to dance, or more likely stumble around the living room, trying to do our best imitation of the latest dance steps displayed by the show’s perpetual motion gyrating couples. Then there was the signature Soul Train circle dance line. Then and now there isn’t a party, dance, or social that you can go to without a group of partygoers breaking into the Soul Traincircle line. Even if you had two left feet, the spontaneity, gaiety, joy, and liberating feeling, that you got from strutting your stuff, or just making a fool of yourself as you paraded down the center of the circle line was irresistible and infectious.

But it wasn’t all song and dance on Soul Train. To drive home the point that this was a unique product of the African-American experience Cornelius managed to slip into the show’s format, the “Soul Train Scramble Board.” Two dancers had sixty seconds to unscramble a set of letters, which was not limited to trying to figure out the name of that show’s performer but also a famed African-American historical figure. The man really knew how to educate an audience on our history literally without missing a beat.

It didn’t take long for the ritual watch and imitate Soul Train groove that gripped black America to become America’s ritual. Cornelius observed “Record stores were cropping up and Motown emerged to allow the music to cross over to the point where all cultures were listening to soul music.” That cross over was due to Soul Train. It made black music and dance not only respectable but virtually mandatory for non-black kids and adults to watch and try to imitate. TheSoul Train happy time infection spread everywhere. It was just simply too much pure unadulterated fun to watch, sing and dance along with the couples on the show that seemed to render race for the moment a non sequitur.

The operative word though is “seemed” because underneath the universal popularity of Soul Train, the show was an unvarnished testament to the historic role that music and dance has played to provide comfort, relief, escape, and the sense of personal freedom for generations of blacks, young and old. Soul Train captured in all its naked and raw beauty and energy the sound and fury of black cultural life. That life no matter how harsh the discrimination and conditions that blacks faced could not be snatched away.

Soul Train accomplished one other feat that’s considered a rarity in pop culture. It transcended it. It became both a musical and a social phenomenon. This added to its appeal, cross over and otherwise, and its staying power. The popular artists that appeared on the show would come and go. The dance styles would change. The outlandish fashions on garish display would change. The outrageous high Afros of the times would disappear.

Yet Soul Train always managed to stay fresh, alluring and project the unmistakable magnetism of black dance, song, and art. This is why only a scant five years after the last Soul Train episode was seen in 2006, the Smithsonian Museum will be the repository of some the show’s memorabilia.

This almost certainly won’t be the last stop for Soul Train. The tributes, accolades, remembrances, and interviews with the principals will continue for years to come. It could be no other way for a series that was the complete musical and cultural package when it came to not only showcasing the art and artistry of black America. And equally important, it made that art and artistry an integral part of America.

Cornelius’s stock ending to each show was “As always in parting, we wish you love peace, and Soul.” Forget the parting part, the soul that Soul Train so embodied was America’s train. And that train will never part the station.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst, and host of the weekly Hutchinson Report Newsmaker Hour on KTYM Radio Los Angeles. Follow Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/earlhutchinson

HARTFORD — The Connecticut Judicial Court will host an open house for  Hartford Community Court on Feb. 9.

The open house from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. will allow members of the Hartford community to meet the court staff, learn about all that is accomplished at the Community Court, and offer their suggestions for community service projects.

For more information about Community Court, click on the link:  http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/super/spsess.htm#CommunityCourt

HARTFORD — The leading cause of death among women over 40 is heart disease, according the health experts.

In an effort to create awareness among Greater Hartford residents, Hartford will host an event for Heart Disease Month and the GO RED for Women Campaign.

The City of Hartford Health and Human Services Department, in collaboration with St. Francis Hospital Phillips Women’s Heart Program, will offer free health screenings and educational sessions for women.

The event will be from 9 a.m. to noon on Feb. 3, at the Burgdorf Clinic Lobby, 131 Coventry Street. Blood pressure, blood sugar, BMI (Body Mass Index) and cholesterol screenings will be provided.

Diet, lack of exercise, gender, smoking, obesity and family history are all risk factors associated with heart disease. Learning about the early signs of heart disease and how to help prevent serious complications are very important, experts say.

According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular (heart) disease ranks first among all disease categories in hospital discharges for women. Nearly 37 percent of all female deaths in America occur from cardiovascular disease, including stroke. Moreover, the death rate due to cardiovascular disease is substantially higher in Black and Latina women than in White women.

Heart attacks can be a silent killer, as many women are unaware that they have severe heart disease. By checking current heart status and beginning the process of maintaining a healthy heart, women can positively impact the incidents of heart disease.

The event is open to all women who live and work in the city.

By Rose Henry, Staff Writer

HARTFORD – Ask Meryth Andrews and she can tell you about the founding of the grassroots organization now with renewed passion for community economic development through education and preservation: the John R. Rogers African-American Cultural Center.

That’s because Andrews is the granddaughter of John E. Rogers. Rogers was a local self-taught historian, who championed the teaching of black history. Like Andrews, the new JERAACC board members are dedicated to reviving the organization and cementing its status as “the root in the Greater Hartford community, always there to build up the community through pride and empowerment.”

Of the many activities slated for the 2012 agenda is a black history program: “Race and Representation in Black Connecticut: From Black Governors to Black Legislators in the Age of Barack Obama.”

The free event will be on Feb. 9, 5: 30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Hartford Public Library Atrium. Light refreshments will be served. The event will also feature an exhibit of nineteenth-century black governors and twentieth-century black leaders, including local members of the Tuskegee Airmen.  Historians Ann-Marie Adams of Rutgers University and Katherine Harris of Central Connecticut State University, will lead the community-wide discussion.

Andrews was bursting with enthusiasm about the exciting programs and activities slated for this year.

Citing Marcus Garvey often-quoted words that a people without knowledge of their history is like a tree without roots, organizers laid bare the essence of the organization.

“This is one of the many reasons why the John E. Rogers African American Cultural Center, Inc. is culturally relevant to the Greater Hartford community, particularly during Black History Month,” said Andrews, a local attorney.

This year, the national black history month theme is focused on the black female with Ida B. Wells as the iconic image representing the strength, beauty and resilience of black women across the African Diaspora.

Board members said the Cultural Center “hopes to be the root in the Greater Hartford community…always there to build up the community through pride and empowerment.”

“I think it’s important to build our present and future with the [JERAACC] collection,” said Eugene Green, long-time board chair and a 35-year veteran teacher in the Hartford Public School system. “We had the chance to study our past and then project our future.”

That’s where the new leadership team comes in, organizers said.

“Dr. Rogers was so very passionate about Black History, more specifically the history of Blacks in Connecticut,” Andrews said. “As a lifetime resident of the Greater Hartford area and the granddaughter of Dr. John E. Rogers, it is my responsibility and goal to see this project to fruition.”

The Howard University Alumni Club of Greater Hartford will underwrite a portion of the event.

Donations for black history month themed, school-aged books are being accepted by for the Howard University Alumni Club of Greater Hartford’s Read Across America Program. For more information about HUACGH reading program, contact: Kristen Clark at huaa_region_one@yahoo.com.

For more information about the Hartford Public Library black history month program, call Ira Revels at 860-695-6320.

HARTFORD— The Community Renewal Team is offering free income tax preparation services to help low- and middle-income Connecticut families capture maximum tax credits while saving them costs on tax preparation services – to the tune of millions of dollars, CRT officials said.

CRT administrators said that tax volunteers put more than $6.7 million into the pockets of Hartford and Middlesex County families through federal Earned Income Tax Credits, child care credits, tax refunds and savings on tax preparation fees. And CRT tax customers held on to more than $30 million in the past five years.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA), offered by organizations across the nation, offers free tax preparation by IRS-certified volunteers to income-eligible families. State and federal returns are e-filed, and refund checks are direct-deposited for those who have checking accounts or issued as a pre-loaded bank card for those who cannot open a traditional bank account.

VITA aims to help working families obtain tax refunds and credits and to educate the community about refunds and opportunities to grow their assets. CRT will offer VITA services at most sites from now until April 15, 2011.

Appointments are available at three CRT Community Resource Centers in Hartford:

• 1229 Albany Ave.
• Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9 a.m. – noon; 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
• Tuesday, Thursday 9 a.m. – noon; 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
• Saturday 9 a.m. – noon
• 330 Market Street, and 395 Wethersfield Ave.
• Monday – Friday 9 a.m. – noon; 2 p.m. – 4 p.m.
• Closed on April 6^th for Good Friday
• Contacts:
• 1229 Albany Ave, Ana Echevarria, (860) 560-5776
• 330 Market Street, Luis Escalera, (860) 560-5782
• 395 Wethersfield Ave., Katiria Rivera, (860) 560-5894

 Limited Hartford appointments also are available at:

• 555 Windsor Street (CRT): Tuesday and Thursday, 2-5 p.m. Contact (860) 560-5600
• 443 Franklin Ave. (Hartford Municipal Employee Federal Credit Union): Thursday, 3-6 p.m. Contact Carmen Ramos, 722-8110 x3

Appointments in Middletown, East Hartford and Manchester are available at the following locations:

• Middletown: 44 Hamlin (CRT): Monday 1-3 p.m.; Wednesday 9 a.m.-noon; Friday 1-4 p.m.; Saturdays Jan. 28, Feb. 25, March 10 and March 31 only, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.; Evening hours Feb. 7, March 10, April 6, 4-6 p.m. April 13, 16 walk-ins from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.; April 17 walk-ins from 9 a.m. – noon. Contact Michele Ryon, (860) 347-4465
• East Hartford: 81 Woodlawn Circle (Larson Community Center): Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Contact Giovanna Bajonero, (860) 282-0284
• Manchester: 479 Main St. (Manchester Human Services): Monday and Wednesday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Contact Melissa Simmons (860) 647-3095