Connecticut

Miguel Angel Nieves wants to build bridges in Waterbury.

No, not that kind of bridge. Nieves, 43, president of the new Greater Waterbury Latino Chamber of Commerce, wants to build the kind of bridge that will help connect businesses owned by Latinos with customers and consumers outside of the Hispanic community.

Conversely, the bridge could also serve as a conduit linking investors from outside Latino neighborhoods back to Latino businesses.”*

On Saturday nights, the Latin gospel music pouring from the two-story honey-colored building on Fairfield Avenue awakens this narrow industrial strip in Waterside. On Sunday mornings, Caribbean-flavored gospel music roars, charging the atmosphere.

Inside, churchgoers lift their voices and hands - some jumping, some trembling - as they summon the Holy Spirit in their native languages. The preachers deliver fiery sermons, proclaiming God’s word and offering salvation or redemption.

Every weekend, two churches from two immigrant communities share one building and one faith.”*

The state is failing to promote minority lawyers to the ranks of its 200 Superior Court judges, the legislative Black and Latino Caucus warned on Monday, calling for greater effort in multi-cultural recruiting.

They were particularly critical of judicial nominees over the last three years. Of the 30 candidates submitted to the General Assembly for confirmation by Gov. M. Jodi Rell, only two were African-American or Latino.”*

Amid talk of educational standards and and the Latino achieve- ment gap, 13-year-old Ilyssa Delgado (pictured) cut to the chase: Standardized testing “is not what learning is all about.”

Delgado, a student at Conte West Hills Magnet School, addressed a distinguished panel of educators gathered Tuesday night at the Lawn Club for an event entitled “Latinos Left Behind: Closing the Education Achievement Gap in Connecticut.” The event was sponsored by the Progreso Latino Fund.”*

*From: http://www.newhavenindependent.org
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

If you’re Hispanic in Connecticut, chances are that your lot in life has not improved much in the last five years.So says a socioeconomic study on the minority group released Wednesday.

Hispanics surveyed last fall believed their quality of life, finances, accessibility to health insurance and ability to find affordable housing were in a swift decline.”*

Read the report: Fourth Socio-Economic Study on Status of Latinos PDF

*From: http://www.theday.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Minority residents make up 21.4 percent of Connecticut’s population and 22.5 percent of the enrollment in the state’s higher education system.

But the majority of black and Hispanic students are enrolled at community and technical colleges, while the proportion of black and Hispanic students at the University of Connecticut lags, according to a wide-ranging report on Connecticut higher education released Wednesday.”*

*From: http://www.courant.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

His poetry has been called “the definitive mix of mainland folklórico and Nuyorican soul,” blending influences of Puerto Rican and New York cultures.

He is Puerto Rican poet and sociologist Guillermo Rebollo-Gill, and he will make an appearance today at 4 p.m. at the UConn Co-op, 2075 Hillside Road, on the University of Connecticut campus in Storrs, where he is an assistant professor of sociology”*

*From: http://www.courant.com/
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

As one of the few Hispanic dentists in Connecticut – indeed, in the country – Dr. Sarita Arteaga relishes her role as president of the Hispanic Dental Association.

“I’m kind of a pioneer,” says Arteaga, assistant clinical professor in the Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Biomaterials, and Skeletal Development.

“Our organization is young, established less than 20 years ago, and I feel like I’m helping build the collaborations and partnerships that support our mission to improve oral health for the Hispanic community. I can see how much we are growing, and I feel my opinions and my work will affect how we move forward.””*

*From: http://www.advance.uconn.edu
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

An alleged Puerto Rican militant has pleaded not guilty to robbing a Connecticut armored car depot in 1983.

Avelino Gonzalez Claudio had fought extradition to the U.S. from Puerto Rico, but a federal judge there rejected his bail request. He appeared Thursday in U.S. District Court in Hartford.”*

*From: http://www.wlbt.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Advocates for state Medicaid patients who need interpreters say they worry cuts in Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s budget proposal could jeopardize access to critical services and information.
more stories like this

Health care case managers, social service providers and some legislators say they will urge Rell and the General Assembly to protect funding for the translation service, which helps Medicaid patients with limited proficiency in English.

Although many are native Spanish speakers, a coalition advocating for the translators says about 22,000 patients statewide who speak a total of 65 languages need the service.”*

*From: http://www.boston.com
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A judge has ruled that an alleged member of a militant Puerto Rican independence group should be extradited to Connecticut to face charges in a 1983 robbery.

U.S. District Judge Marcos Lopez rejected without comment Monday an argument that Avelino Gonzalez Claudio is a political prisoner who should be allowed to remain on the island while he fights his case. Gonzalez was arrested Feb. 7 by the FBI after more than 20 years as a fugitive”*

*From: http://ap.google.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

The Common Council voted 19-2 Wednesday to give Chief Al Baker authorization to enter into a partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The authorization gives Baker the green light to enroll officers — most likely two or three detectives — in a federal training program that will give them the ability to enforce immigration law.”*

*From: http://www.newstimes.com
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A large turnout is expected for tonight’s Common Council meeting, but city officials say only the first 120 people who arrive after the doors open at 7 will be allowed into City Hall.

The Common Council will vote on whether to authorize Danbury Police Chief Al Baker to enter into a partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”*

*From: http://www.newstimes.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

Yale Repertory Theatre and World Performance Project at Yale present the Grammy-nominated music and dance ensemble Peru Negro for two performances only on January 30 and 31 at 8PM at the University Theatre (222 York Street, New Haven). Tickets range from $20 to $48 and can be purchased online at www.yalerep.org/wpp, by phone (203) 432-1234, or in person at the Yale Rep Box Office (1120 Chapel Street, at York Street). Group discounts are also available.”*

*From: http://broadwayworld.com
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The question of succession has led New Haven Police Department Chief Francisco Ortiz to stick around for a few months long, delaying his transition to a job with Yale.

City spokeswoman Jessica Mayorga said in a press release issued Dec. 28 that Ortiz will remain as head of the recently-scrutinized department “until sometime in the spring.” In the midst of a nationwide search, City Hall officials have not yet found a replacement for Ortiz, who announced his retirement in November for a job at Yale. The declared retirement of assistant police chief Herman Badger, set for Jan. 16, has only added another search.”*

*From: http://www.yaledailynews.com
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Members of the city’s Latino business community peppered U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5th Dist., with questions about immigration in the United States and Danbury in particular at a gathering Wednesday at the K & N Grill.

With a possible allegiance between Danbury police and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement being studied by the Common Council, the city’s immigrant population is in a state of near panic, said the Rev. Erivaldo Pena, of Four Square Church.”*

*From: http://www.newstimes.com
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Framingham Police Chief Steven Carl said trying to track down alleged members of a violent Brazilian gang in his Massachusetts city was “like trying to catch ghosts.”

The gang members were illegal immigrants, Carl said, so putting their name into a local or state computer database turned up nothing.”*

*From: http://www.newstimes.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

The Common Council did not vote Thursday on a controversial proposal to enroll some city police officers in a federal program run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Instead, Democratic Common Council member Paul Rotello made a motion to send the issue to an ad hoc committee for further review.

“It’s apparent we need a full and frank exchange of information,” Rotello said.”*

*From: http://www.newstimes.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

The Greater Bridgeport Area Foundation has awarded $10,000 to CancerCare of Connecticut to support an Hispanic Outreach Program in the Bridgeport area. At the same time, CancerCare has initiated a Spanish-language support group at Bridgeport Hospital, one of the only ones of its kind in Connecticut.
“*

*From: http://www.norwalkplus.com
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Five Spanish-speaking Hispanic immigrants are questioning the legality of a “common language policy” at GC Industries.

The five men, legally here from Guatemala and Mexico, believe the policy is a violation of their civil rights and have filed a thirteen count lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New Haven. “*

In the late 1970s, John Phillip Santos, a young, award-winning poet, wrote a letter to Laura Riding Jackson, whose poetry he admired. Riding Jackson had renounced poetry after a successful career in the early to mid-20th century because she believed it was not an effective way to reveal truth. In a series of letters, she encouraged Santos to do the same.

“Laura Riding Jackson was a major influence on that part of my life, and it complicated my relationship to poetry,” Santos said in a telephone interview. “It became more of a private thing. I stopped publishing poetry in the early ’80s.”"*

After a sheet metal plant in Connecticut ordered its employees to speak only English on the job because of safety concerns, five Spanish-speaking workers decided to take the company to court.

The employees, who are legal immigrants, say the rule amounts to discrimination and actually makes the workplace more hazardous.

“I can think of no good reason for them to institute this policy,” said Steven Jacobs, the lawyer for the workers who are suing GC Industries in Deep River, Conn. “It’s offensive to people who speak Spanish and is potentially dangerous. It inhibits them from communicating in their native tongue in situations that could put people at risk.”"*

The fundamental problem preventing Hispanic parents from getting more involved in their child’s education at New Lebanon School, educators and parents say, is this: “No hablo ingles.”

The language problem is being broken down, however, in a new, monthly program offered by the nonprofit agency Family Centers in which Spanish-speaking parents can voice their concerns and receive parenting advice in Spanish from Marcia Velez, a bilingual Latino outreach coordinator”*

But how much does it really cost Danbury Hospital to care for illegal aliens? Opponents of illegal immigration have not been able to cite actual figures until now. Team 8 has obtained a financial statement from Danbury Hospital and it shows that in the first two quarters of last year, they treated a total of 321 aliens at a cost of almost $4-million.

Only three of those patients were covered by insurance and only one paid their $7,722 bill in full. State aid, meaning taxpayers, paid over 71-percent of the tab, or about $2.5 million.”*

Immigration could become a pivotal issue in a Connecticut congressional race in the wake of a Republican challenger’s effective use of the issue in an unexpectedly close special election last month in Massachusetts.

Connecticut state Sen. David Cappiello (R) said he plans on highlighting illegal immigration as a major theme in his campaign against freshman Rep. Christopher Murphy (D-Conn.), suggesting the issue has potency even in suburban districts far from the U.S.-Mexico border.
“*