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Don’t Move to South Dakota!

by Joseph A. Luciano Sr., Rapid City SD

[Joe Luciano, currently of Rapid City, lived in Seymour and was a fierce advocate for disability access and disability rights. He would often contribute articles to PAR. We are glad he sent us his musings about disability access (and non-access) in his new home town.]

Last year I moved west from downtown Seymour after realizing it would never become a Livable Community in my lifetime. (By “livable community” I mean ADA compliant, ready to support independent living and Aging in Place.)

The New Haven Register’s senior editor, James Walker, did a story about me going westward: “A senior with disabilities heads west.” (www.nhregister.com/news/article/James-Walker-Bound-A-senior-with-disabilities-13772366.php)

While the town demolished pot-holed downtown streets and broken sidewalks and replaced them with crosswalks and curb ramps, the work was botched. Some crosswalks led to sidewalks not provided with ADA-required curb ramps; some curb ramps did not lead to ADA-required level landings. In winters, law enforcement continued its policy of not enforcing the snow-removal ordinance. Because of that, disabled residents using wheelchairs (myself included) encountered barriers of snow, denying us accessible routes to groceries, pharmacy, banking, and other common needs. Most appalling, the police department held a “Coffee with Cops” good-will event . . . at an inaccessible downtown restaurant. They just didn’t get it.

Quality of life in downtown Seymour became so intolerable I decided to move. I chose the “Fifth-Best Place in America to Successfully Age in Place.” Rapid City, South Dakota.

Actually there were other reasons that were the deciding factor: both my sons lived there—also my grandchildren. And my home church was there too. And a world-class cancer care institute. I needed all of those.

To anyone thinking of following in my wheel tracks: Don’t! South Dakota has the worst reputation in social and human services. (Teacher salaries are the lowest in South Dakota.) Elders with disabilities who chose to live independently (like me) are struggling to make ends meet. That’s because the bar to qualify for support services, personal care aides, companion/homemaker aides, and South Dakota’s version of Medicaid is set so high it’s beyond reach of most who need it. And if you need healthcare you will drown in co-pays. What’s more, accessible housing costs are unreasonably high; I’m paying more for less space. As for the para-transit system (Dial-A-Ride), it’s the worst. (I suffered in-juries on my very first ride; I tipped over backwards be-cause drivers do not practice safe standards for boarding wheelchair passengers like in Connecticut. As for pizza, no place here in “prairie land” makes pizza like Pepe’s Pizza or Modern Apizza. (But I get equal or better pizza; my sons built a backyard brick, wood-fired pizza oven.)

Nevertheless, I’m staying here. The reason is simple: I’m living near family. My sons are just a few minutes away by car. They are my rides to church and Sunday dining out, some medical treatments, road trips, and family gatherings at their homes. Views of the Black Hills from my apartment are spectacular.

Stay where you are!

Neighborhood Housing Services Will Help You Make Energy Upgrades to Your Home

by Kathy Fay, Neighborhood Housing Services

I ♥ My Home provides personalized, one-on-one coaching at no cost for people seeking to make energy upgrades to their homes. Mike Uhl, of System Smart, LLC, is working as an Energy Consultant with Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven staff to guide people, step by step, through the process of identifying their individual needs, accessing appropriate resources (financing, referrals, etc.) to meet those needs, completing the upgrade(s), and verifying the energy savings gained.

If you would like to increase home comfort, reduce utility bills and decrease carbon emissions, I ♥ My Home is available – at no cost – to renters, homeowners, landlords, even people who are just getting ready to purchase a house.

To find out more, or to register for the program, contact me at Neighborhood Housing Services at (203) 562-0598 ext. 225 or e-mail kfay@nhsofnewhaven.org.

Two Green Party candidates qualify for November ballot; one to challenge DeLauro | New Haven Register

Two candidates for public office from the Green Party have gathered enough signatures to qualify for the Nov. 3 ballot.

Dr. Justin Paglino of Guilford is challenging 30-year Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro for the 3rd District congressional seat, while attorney Paul Garlinghouse will be on the ballot with Democrat Shannel Evans and Republican Marlene Napolitano for registrar of voters in New Haven.

Paglino is running on a platform that supports Medicare for All; ranked choice voting; the Green New Deal, which includes a ban on fracking; and reduced military spending.

Read the rest of the story in The New Haven Register: 2 Green Party candidates qualify for November ballot; one to challenge DeLauro – New Haven Register

Vigil Honors RBG’s Legacy, Looks To Future | New Haven Independent

Joining thousands of fellow mourners across the country this weekend, two dozen New Haveners and suburbanites gathered downtown for a candlelight vigil Sunday evening in honor of the late Supreme Court Justice and feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

They held that local vigil by the flagpole on the Green.

Thomas Breen photoThe event was one of many that took place across the United States in the 48 hours since Ginsburg, a pioneering women’s rights lawyer who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for nearly three decades, died from complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer Friday at the age of 87.

Read the whole story and see all the pictuers here: Vigil Honors RBG’s Legacy, Looks To Future | New Haven Independent

Breonna Taylor March Shuts Down Whalley Ave | Thomas Breen New Haven Independent

Thomas Breen photos Protest dance party breaks out at Whalley and Sherman.

Read the whole story and see all the photos here:

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/breonna_taylor_march/

Two dozen young, Black women jumped and danced and sang in the middle of the intersection of Whalley Avenue and Sherman Avenue as several hundred fellow protesters sat in the street and blocked traffic on all sides.

“Black women matter!” the group cheered, a portrait of Breonna Taylor held aloft nearby. “Black women matter!”

That spontaneous, cathartic 10-minute dance party came more than two hours into a Thursday evening rally organized by Black Lives Matter New Haven in honor of Taylor.

Taking place well after the sun had set, with cars honking—some in frustration, some in support—all around the island of protesters, the moment represented the emotional climax of four-hour action filled with grief, outrage, joy, indignation, and an intensely political thirst for justice.

The catalyst for Thursday’s march was a Kentucky grand jury’s decision the day before to not charge the officers who shot and killed Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, in her Louisville home in March during a botched drug raid. The only indictment the grand jury did hand down was a charge of wanton endangerment against a now-former detective who shot into Taylor’s neighboring apartments. The grand jury decision has sparked demonstrations throughout the country.

Thursday’s demonstration in New Haven brought together roughly 300 people to the Green—and then into the streets, for three-and-a-half hours of marching and mourning and chanting and blocking of traffic.

Read the full article at https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/breonna_taylor_march/

Recycling and waste diversion coming to the neighborhood this fall

The New Haven Solid Waste & Recycling Authority is bringing recycling and waste diversion to the neighborhood this fall!

There will be a free one-day event called Hometown Recycling Day. The event will take place on October 24 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Truman School, 114 Truman Street (conditions and circumstances permitting).

Neighborhood residents, students and all New Haveners can bring their unwanted or broken electronic devices (t.v.’s, monitors, computers, phones, printers, wires, etc.), mattresses and box springs, and textiles (clothing, shoes, linens, handbags, belts and accessories) for recycling. We will also have a mobile paper shredding company for securely shredding all your important papers and documents at no charge. The idea is to serve our community by giving citizens from the area a chance to conveniently and safely drop these recyclables, and to provide information about our services to the public as well.

Please check out their new website www.nhswra.com for more transfer station information as well as information about recycling and waste diversion. You can also follow them on Twitter @NewHavenrecycle.

Tell us, and the community, about your organization

Dear PAR Contributors,

Thank you for your continued readership and support of the Progressive Action Roundtable newsletter. In a few weeks we will begin to compile our October issue. Readers want to know: What is the purpose of your organization? How are you building your group? What campaigns are you organizing? What events are you planning?

We want to publicize the work that groups have done and what they’re planning to do. We want to spread the word to others who will be inspired to join you, support your activism and build the struggles. Send us articles (even a paragraph or two) about what your group wants to do and any ideas for organizing! 350-word limit, please!

Please send articles about your group’s recent and current activities and upcoming actions and events to parnewhaven@hotmail.com.

***Help inspire others through your commitment! ***

The deadline for the October Progressive Action Roundtable Newsletter is Saturday, September 19.

Please keep in mind that as layout space permits, we will include photos.

IMPORTANT: Don’t neglect to add your organization’s contact information such as phone number, e-mail address or website, so our readers can get more information about what your group is doing.

ABOUT CALENDAR ITEMS

If you mention an event in an article, please also send a SEPARATE calendar announcement.

Please give street addresses for any events or meetings, even for “well-known” public buildings.

VERY IMPORTANT: Please indicate whether your event location is wheelchair accessible.

You can also send us SAVE THE DATE items about future events, even if you do not yet have all the details in place.

The PAR newsletter will come out approximately Wednesday, September 30. Please consider this when submitting calendar items.

Progressive Action Roundtable is on Facebook

For automatic PAR updates, sign up on our website: par-newhaven.org

If your group has a website, please add our link to your webpage.

To renew your own subscription or to buy a subscription for a friend, the rate is $13 for 10 issues. Please make the check out to PAR and mail it to

PAR
P.O. Box 995
New Haven, CT 06504

To Our Readers

In the past three months, thousands of people in the New Haven area have been out in the streets. Black Lives Matter New Haven, People Against Police Brutality, Unidad Latina en Acción, CT Bail Fund, Ice the Beef, Social Justice Collaborative and the Semilla Collective are some of the organizations that have led protests, spoken out against police brutality, and demanded an effective civilian review board, removal of the Christopher Columbus statue, a moratorium on rent, as well as taken on many other issues of racial, social and economic justice. High school students, New Haven alders and other politicians, peace activists, elders and representatives of various places of worship have been supportive and/or part of this upsurge. Meetings and conferences have continued to take place through Zoom. Not even a pandemic can hold people back from the struggle for justice!

Much of this current organizing and networking is with a few days’ notice through e-mail and social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. As our newsletter is a month-ly, we suggest our readers go to the websites and Facebook pages of various groups to be notified directly of their quickly-planned events.

Anti-Police Violence March Shuts Down Grand Avenue | New Haven Independent

New Haven anti-police-brutality activists marched in support of survivors of police violence — they heard a call for action from Emma Jones at the Fair Haven spot where an East Haven police officer shot and killed her son 23 years ago.

“You must continue this struggle,” she implored the crowd, including newer activists in a cause she has championed for decades.

Roughly 70 demonstrators gathered on the Green at 2 p.m. Saturday and shut down Grand Avenue as they marched to the spot where Malik Jones was killed in 1997 after a high-speed cross-border chase.

Police accountability activist Jewu Richardson organized Saturday’s unity walk in collaboration with Building It Together, CT Bail Fund, The Malik Organization, People Against Police Brutality and Black Lives Matter New Haven.

On the Green, Richardson (pictured), who was shot by New Haven police in 2010, said police violence isn’t only the brutality that people see on TV, but is deeper and more systemic: “People are in jail decades because of false charges. A lot of people don’t see that trauma that people are going through and the stuff behind those walls, but it’s real.”

He stated that police and prosecutors work together with “legal tactics” to convict innocent people in Connecticut and nationwide. “When the system we’re supposed to trust and believe ends up abusing and murdering us, we’re left with communities that are suffering from decades of trauma,” Richardson said.

Read the whole story here: Anti-Police Violence March Shuts Down Grand Avenue | New Haven Independent

New Haven Climate Movement: Past Successes and New Projects

by Grace Laliberte, New Haven Climate Movement

The New Haven Climate Movement (NHCM) is a grass-roots collection of youth and individuals in the New Haven area pushing for action regarding the current climate emergency. The group has worked with New Haven officials to implement city-wide reform in the past year and has been successful in many ventures, such as the passing of the New Haven Climate and Sustainability Framework in 2018, which provided a specific framework for acting on the climate emergency, as well as passing the New Haven Climate Emergency Resolution in 2019, where the city agreed to reduce New Haven’s carbon emissions to zero by 2030 and to implement a Climate Mobilization Task Force.

This year, NHCM was able to compel New Haven to invest $560,000 in capital funding towards climate infrastructure projects through our 0.1% for the Future proposal, which requested that 0.1% of the city budget be set aside for climate action. Although these successes are monumental and praiseworthy, NHCM continues to mobilize to ensure New Haven follows through on these promises required to address the growing urgency of the climate crisis.

Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, NHCM is working on a set of inspiring initiatives, such as our Climate Justice Schools Proposal, to improve the implementation of quality climate-based education in New Haven Public Schools. Our Electric Future committee is also striving for electrification for all buildings, vehicles, and appliances in New Haven, which would allow the city economic gain, increased social equity, less air and noise pollution, and other benefits. NHCM is also working towards spreading awareness and educating those who reside on Connecticut’s shoreline about the threatening climate through a CT Green New Deal, which urges state representatives to address pressing issues like flooding, beach erosion, and future heightened natural disasters.

Overall, NHCM is committed to ensuring New Haven does its part in securing a just future while amplifying essential youth voices.

Join us this Saturday for our climate-themed virtual Trivia Night and Poster Making contest! Click the link in our bio to sign up and compete for the chance to win a $25 Patagonia gift card and $25 Artists and Craftsman gift card. More info on how everything works to come. We hope to see you there!!! #climatechange #globalwarming #climateeducation #climatecrisis #trivianight #trivia #quizlet #art #artcontest #patagonia #artisancrafts #newhaven #climatemovement #nhv #youth #connecticutevents

To stay updated on NHCM events such as the Sept. 25 official global climate change strike day and get more involved, you can check our website: www.newhavenclimatemovement.org, along with our Instagram and Facebook @newhavenclimatemovement.

Kings Bay Plowshares 7 – Update on Sentencing Dates Sept. 3 and 4

Seven Catholic plowshares activists entered Kings Bay Naval [nuclear] Submarine Base in St. Mary’s, Georgia on April 4, 2018. They went to make real the prophet Isaiah’s command to “beat swords into plowshares.”

The seven chose to act on the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who devoted his life to addressing what he called the “triple evils of militarism, racism, and materialism.” Carrying hammers and baby bottles of their own blood, the seven attempted to convert weapons of mass destruction.  They hoped to call attention to the ways in which nuclear weapons kill every day, by their mere existence and maintenance.

Liz McAlister was sentenced by video conferencing with the court on June 8, 2020. She was sentenced to time served, 3 years of supervised probation and a portion of the $33,000 restitution.

On September 3, Carmen Trotta is scheduled for sentencing at 9 a.m., Steve Kelly at 1 p.m., and Clare Grady at 4 p.m. On September 4, Mark Colville at 9 a.m., Patrick O’Neill at 1 p.m. and Martha Hennessy at 4 p.m. These dates may yet again be pushed back depending on the course of the virus. The defendants prefer to be sentenced in person in open court with family and supporters present as is their right. It is not sure when it will be safe for all parties to be present.

For more information on this and other actions against nuclear weapons, visit https://kingsbayplowshares7.org.

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