HARTFORD — With State Rep. William Tong of Stamford out of the senatorial race, Chris Murphy is shoring up his chance at victory.

On Monday at noon in City Hall, the Connecticut Hispanic Democratic Caucus and Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra is expected to officially endorse Murphy’s 2012 bid for the U.S. Senate.

The fifth district includes villages in Litchfield County, Farmington Valley towns including Avon, Farmington and Simsbury. But it doesn’t represent Hartford.

On Saturday, the CHDC held a debate as part of their process to determine their endorsement for Connecticut’s open Senate seat. Murphy’s staff said that by an overwhelming majority, Chris Murphy received CHDC’s endorsement.

HARTFORD – After almost 10 hours of  intense debate, the state Senate voted 21 to 13 early Saturday to legalize  the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

The legislation now goes to Governor Dannel P. Malloy for his signature. Malloy is expected to sign it.

The measure comes after decades of  national advocacy. Proponents argue that marijuana has medicinal benefits.

State Senator Eric D. Coleman (D-Bloomfield), Senate Chair of the Judiciary Committee, said the vote poises Connecticut to become the 18^th state to adopt medicinal marijuana legislation, in addition to the District of Columbia.

“I have participated in multiple public hearings on the subject of medicinal marijuana. Countless individuals suffering from chronic medical conditions have come before the legislature to testify that marijuana provides the only significant relief available for their symptoms,” said Senator Coleman. “This legislation, first and foremost, is rooted in compassion. We should not make criminals of chronically ill patients.”

The legislation, House Bill 5389, will permit a licensed physician to certify an adult patient’s use of marijuana after determining that the patient has a debilitating medical condition and could potentially benefit from the treatment.

The bill allows qualifying patients and their primary caregivers to possess a combined one-month marijuana supply, an amount to be determined through regulation by DCP.

Qualifying medical conditions for marijuana treatment include: cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord damage, epilepsy, cachexia wasting syndrome, Crohn’s disease, and post-traumatic stress disorder. In the future, DCP may allow additional conditions through regulation.

However, these protections do not apply to use of medicinal marijuana at work, at school, in public places, in moving vehicles, or in front of children.

The bill does not allow marijuana to be dispensed from, obtained from, or transferred out-of-state, nor may licensed producers sell or transport marijuana to or from an out-of-state location.

Senator Coleman said that under this legislation, no one will be required, or permitted, to grow their own marijuana or to obtain it from illegal dealers.”

By Andrea Comer

HARTFORD – Seven years after 19-year-old Jashon Bryant was shot and killed by a Hartford police officer, his family is still waiting for justice.

At 3:30 p.m. this  Saturday,  Jashon’s family will mark the anniversary with a march from the corner of Main and Sanford Streets to the cemetery where Jashon is buried.

“The seventh anniversary of Jay’s death was particularly hard for me because of the Trayvon Martin shooting,” said Shirin Bryant, Jashon’s older sister. “It took about 50 days for the Justice Department to review and bring charges in that case, but we’re still here, waiting for justice for my brother.”

Jashon Bryant was shot by former Hartford police officer Robert Lawlor on the evening of May 7, 2005; Lawlor was acquitted of manslaughter and assault charges on Dec. 8, 2009. A year later, the State NAACP sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez, requesting an investigation into the shooting. Following a visit to Washington, D.C. by the family, the Justice Department agreed to open a civil rights investigation into the shooting, and as recently as February of this year indicated that the investigation was still ongoing.

HARTFORD —  Congressman John B. Larson (CT-01) on Tuesday will join Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra and a collection of community leaders from organizations  to announce the Hartford “Social Justice Initiative” aimed at addressing the achievement gap and inequalities in healthcare and economics that exist in the city.

Last June Congressman Larson invited members of the Congressional Black Caucus to Hartford to participate in the 200^thbirthday celebration of Harriet Beecher Stowe. During the course of their visit, the members participated in a “Call to Action: A Conversation on Race & Social Justice.” The conversation brought local, state and national stakeholders together to identify key steps necessary to eliminate racial disparities. The steps were recorded and beginning tomorrow the group will discuss how the city will use them to build towards a stronger community.

Additionally, this morning leaders will announce the “Name It, Claim It” contest, where local Hartford students can enter a contest to rename the “Social Justice Initiative.”

The press conference will begin at 10 a.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall

WEST HARTFORD —  In recognition of Mother’s Day, Calvary Fellowship will offer free family portraits on May 13.

“Moms are amazing, which is probably the understatement of the year,” said Bill LaMorey, lead pastor. “For us, Mother’s Day is the perfect opportunity to honor mothers in a way that is profoundly special to them. By giving them a family portrait we help moms accomplish two things. We give the family a great excuse to come together on this special day, and we give them a gift that will help capture the memory of the thing Mom’s value most – their families.”

Portraits will be taken by West Hartford photographer Robert Falcetti of Robert Falcetti Photography. Sittings are available before and after the morning service.  Reservations are not required. Sittings are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Each family will receive both an 8-inch by 10-inch print and digital file portrait. Portraits will be available for pick-up the following Sunday, May 20.

Calvary Fellowship meets Sundays at 10 a.m. at Conard High School, 110 Beechwood Road, West Hartford. Calvary Fellowship features contemporary music and offers relevant biblical teaching and fun-filled Bible classes for children. Calvary Fellowship is casual in style but serious about faith. For more information and directions, visit www.calvaryhartford.com or call 860-231-9957.

By David Medina, Special to The Hartford Guardian

HARTFORD – Beginning with the next academic year, Hartford Public Schools will join a small but growing number of districts in the nation to implement a new, more effective and meaningful teacher evaluation system that promises to inspire teachers to do their best and to increase student achievement.

A 19-member committee of principals, teachers, central office administrators and officials of the Hartford Federation of Teachers reached agreement on the system in March after 18 months of dialogue and planning.

Officials said the most appealing feature of the system is that it measures a teacher’s performance on a consistent and quantifiable standard, leaving little room for subjective judgments. Everyone is on the same page around expectations of quality. Each teacher’s professional development, moreover, is then individually tailored to what the evaluation records as needing improvement.

The agreement between teachers and administrators is seen as a remarkably achievement.

“We will continue to develop as an employer of choice where top educators want
to be part of our community, part of our system of schools,” said  Superintendent Christina M. Kishimoto. “The bottom line is to make everyone a better educator for students.”

The new evaluation system comes just weeks after the Connecticut Board of Education established conceptual guidelines for teacher evaluations statewide. Under those guidelines, student achievement would account for 45 percent of a teacher’s evaluation and test scores would account for half of student achievement.
“I’ve never seen a concerted effort in a district this size to make sure that people
are standardized and consistent in terms of teacher evaluations,” said Hartford Public
Schools Chief Talent Officer Jennifer Allen, who chaired the Committee on Instructional
Excellence that recommended the system. “If we’re really going to improve student
achievement, we have to be able to identify good practices and push for better and best
practices.”

The system, also known as the “Framework for Teaching”, was designed by internationally recognized teaching expert Charlotte Danielson and is made available exclusively through Teachscape, an online provider of professional development products. The Hartford Board of Education recently approved a $940,753 contract with Teachscape to phase in the system over three years.

The Danielson Framework is currently being used in the New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh school systems and in many small schools districts. Hartford is the first school district in Connecticut to use it. The framework has been approved as a default model in the states of Delaware, Arizona, Wisconsin, Illinois, South Dakota, Indiana and Pennsylvania. New York State, New Jersey, Florida, Washington, Oklahoma and Oregon have also approved it as one of several teacher
evaluation tools that districts can adopt.

Online and in-person training for school administrators, who must pass a certification test in the proper use of the system, will run through the remainder of spring and summer. A nucleus of 35 teachers will also be trained and will be responsible for turning around that training to their peers. The online training includes videos of bad, good and best teaching practices.

The Danielson system divides 21 specific and measurable teaching practices into four main categories or domains: Planning and Preparation (i.e. demonstrating knowledge of content); Classroom Environment (i.e. establishing a culture for learning); Instruction (i.e. using questioning and discussion techniques); and Professional Responsibilities (i.e. communicating with families).

Corinne M. Clark, Hartford’s 2010 Teacher of the Year and a member of the Committee on Instructional Excellence, gave the Danielson Framework a ringing endorsement.

“While the team was in the process of selecting an evaluation tool, I took the Danielson Framework home for review,” Ms. Clark said. “I have been using its strategies ever since and I have noticed a drastic change in my classroom conversation as well as in student written responses. I believe this rubric will aid all of us in becoming the best educators we can be through constant reflection and personal growth.”

The Danielson Framework, implemented in Chicago Public Schools in 2008, was the subject of an extensive study in 2011 by the Consortium on Chicago School Research at The University of Chicago Urban Education Institute. The study found that the framework not only improved learning, but was widely accepted as a fair and reliable measure of teaching ability.

Students showed the greatest growth in test scores in classrooms where teachers received the highest ratings and groups of trained experts who observed the same lesson tended to give the teacher identical ratings.
“I am very happy that teachers, principals and administrators were able to work collaboratively over 18 months to come up with a solution,” said Hartford Federation of Teachers President Andrea Johnson. “The other thing I’m happy about is that administrators are all going to be tested and calibrated, which will make for much fairer evaluations.

I especially want to congratulate the Hartford Board of Education members, who read about the system, talked about it and eventually agreed to go along with it.”

HARTFORD — A plan to build on and expand the job-creating momentum of October’s landmark Jobs Bill was debated and passed in the state Senate on Friday.

Senate Bill 1, “An Act Concerning Jobs and the Economy,” expands state workforce and small business development programs, provide incentives to hire post-9/11 combat veterans, promotes Connecticut’s economic and cultural assets, and seeks to reward businesses that are willing to relocate jobs from overseas back to Connecticut, according to Sen.  Eric D. Coleman (D-Bloomfield).

The vote on Friday comes as reports show that Connecticut is experiencing its lowest unemployment rate in three years; since January, Connecticut has added 10,500 new jobs.

One of the hallmarks of the bipartisan October Jobs Bill was the Small Business Express program, which set aside $100 million in state loans and grants over two years for small manufacturers, especially those in precision manufacturing, business services, green and sustainable technology, and bioscience and information technology.

So far, more than 500 small businesses in Connecticut have applied for Small Business Express assistance; 38 loans totaling $32 million have already been approved, creating 193 new jobs and retaining 213 jobs in Connecticut, according to state officials.

Senate Bill 1

Expands the existing Small Business Express Program to an estimated 3,600 additional state businesses. Under current law, a business qualifies for Express loans and grants if it employs 50 or fewer people; Senate Bill 1 raises that employee ceiling to 100 employees.

Establish the Unemployed Armed Forces Member STEP-UP (Subsidized Training and Employment Program) with grants to subsidize a businesses’ cost of hiring unemployed veterans during their first 180 days (about six months) on the job. The bill authorizes $10 million in bonds for the program, with $5 million available upon passage and the balance available in Fiscal Year 2014.

Creates the “Connecticut Made” and “Connecticut Treasures” programs to promote products made in Connecticut and promote the state’s cultural, educational and historic attractions. Part of the bill provides for the design planning, and implementation of a multiyear, state-wide marketing and advertising plan that includes television and radio advertisements showcasing Connecticut-made products and the advantages they offer.

Seek to relocate overseas jobs to Connecticut by allowing the state Department of Economic and Community Development to give a preference under the “First Five Plus” program to companies that will relocate jobs from overseas to Connecticut; assistance includes loans, tax incentives and other forms of economic development that create jobs and invest capital within a certain timeframe.

According to the State Labor Department, Connecticut’s private sector has now recovered 46,600, or 42.3%, of the private jobs lost in the recessionary downturn which officially lasted from March 2008 to February 2010.

Over the past year, the largest private-sector job gains have been in the education, health services, transportation, public utilities, and professional and business service sectors. The largest number of job cuts has been in the government sector, which lost 4,800 jobs in the past year.

HARTFORD – Connecticut’s Spanish American Merchants Association has received a $150,000 grant over three years from First Niagara to help support its Empresario Computer Training Program to low and moderate income businesses and start-up enterprises at SAMA’s offices in Hartford, New Haven, and Willimantic.

The training program includes classes on several Microsoft software programs and the Quickbooks accounting software program.

“Many small business owners lack the training necessary to incorporate technology into their day-to-day business operations,” SAMA Board of Directors President Angel Sierra said. “First Niagara’s support for our Empresario Computer Training Program will allow us to provide our members with intensive training and technical assistance, so that they can start a new business, or continue to grow their existing business.”

The Empresario Computer Training Program was established in 1999 and is one component of the Empresario Development Center which focuses on providing small business owners, their family members and employees, as well as entrepreneurs and start-ups, with education in management, financial literacy, human resources, technology, health and safety.

Each computer training session lasts ten weeks and allows a maximum enrollment of 20 students, with students receiving approximately 30 total hours of training upon graduation. The Empresario Computer Training Program is offered twice a year in each of SAMA’s offices.

For more information on SAMA and the Empresario Computer Training Program, please visit www.samact.org.

HARTFORD — Mayor Pedro E. Segarra on Tuesday will kick off a citywide, weeklong celebration of “progress and innovation in Hartford’s parks.”

The event, “Hartford Beautiful, A Celebration of Our Parks,” will begin at 5:00 a.m. Tuesday morning with “Wake Up Wired,” which will include an early morning cleanup, an overview of the week’s events and a special announcement at Hyland Park on Summit Terrace. Yes, that was 5.a.m. as stated in the press release.

“Our parks are snapshots of our history, and spaces that belong to all of us,” Segarra said. “By highlighting all there is to celebrate in our City parks, it is my hope that everyone will take pride in and ownership of these treasures every day.”

Segarra will join representatives from the City’s Departments of Public Works and Marketing, Events and Cultural Affairs, the Recreation Division, the Parks & Recreation Advisory Commission and the Knox Parks Foundation for a series of park-centered events.

These events include:

Tuesday, April 24 – Going Green – Projects, Preview and Presentations: From 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Department of Public Works Director Kevin Burnham and Parks Operations Manager Jack Hale will host a presentation on parks projects at the Hartford Public Library’s Center for Contemporary Culture, 500 Main St.

The dialogue will focus on recent accomplishments, as well as current and future projects. In addition, progress on the recommendations made by the Green Ribbon Task Force and renewed efforts of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission will be discussed.

Thursday, April 26 – Olmsted Day – “Rediscovering Old North Cemetery”: At 5:30 p.m., Dr. Andrew Walsh, Norma Williams and Phillip Barlow will present a program that focuses on the history of Old North Cemetery and the many famous individuals buried there. Among them is Frederick Law Olmsted, whose firm designed the Hartford park system and Central Park in New York City. The discussion will be held at the Hartford Public Library – Center for Contemporary Culture.

Also on Thursday, the various “Friends Of” parks groups will host an open house, detailing the work of parks groups and how those interested can get involved.

Friday, April 27 – TGIA! (Thank Goodness It’s Arbor Day): From 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Mayor Segarra will join volunteers from The Hartford and others for a tree planting in recognition of Arbor Day. Additionally, Riverfront Recapture will host a Community Service Day with students from the University of Hartford.

Finally, DPW crews will be on site each day to perform improvements to Hartford parks throughout the City. For more information on the DPW schedule, visit the following link: http://mayor.hartford.gov/documents/park_week_plan.pdf.

HARTFORD — House of Bread, a food pantry in Hartford, can now safely transport prepared foods to its clients.

Thanks to a gift from Foodshare and resources from its “Partnership Program.” With this help, Foodshare worked with House of Bread to help them purchase four shelving units and a bench scale. to transport hot foods.

The House of Bread exists in order to provide urban ministry to the economically disadvantaged in the Hartford area, administrators said. They offer a multitude of programs focusing on hunger, shelter, transitional living, affordable housing, education and job training. Their kitchen offers breakfast and lunch Monday – Friday, lunch on Saturday and Breakfast on Sunday, and serves 300-400 meals daily!

Foodshare’s “Partnership Program” was created by the organization’s Board of Directors to expand the work of Foodshare’s local food pantry, community kitchen, and shelter partners in areas critical to Foodshare’s goal of ending hunger in the region.

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