YOU WON'T SEE THIS ON "CSI"

Members of Hartford's version of "CSI" , the Hartford Police Evidentiary Services Division, found themselves in an unusual predicament today. The names of those involved are being withheld to protect the innocent, or more accurately to protect them from harsh jokes and criticism.

It seems that the ESD officers were called to the scene of an unfortunate incident that took place today at Hartford Hospital. Upon their arrival, they found it necessary to attempt to gather evidence from the rooftop of the parking garage at the hospital. Everything went well in their quest and they drove their SUV police vehicle to the roof top of the parking garage at 85 Seymour Street.

The ride up in the SUV was uneventful, they performed their tasks and began to leave. Then the problems began. Apparently the angles and the construction of the garage gave them clearance to get up, but the angle on the way down caused them to get stuck with the height of the lightbar and they could not exit the garage.

The lightbar was not easily detachable and requests for wrenches went unanswered. Finally someone creative figured to let air out of the vehicle's tires to lower the height of the SUV enough for the lightbar to clear. That worked and the ESD Officers were on their way.

My requests for pictures of the ESD Officer in question putting air back into the tires were respectfully refused.

SHORT NOTICE, BUT......

I just received this notice by e-mail and I was asked to post it. The meeting is for tonight and doesn't allow much time to attend, but here goes:

Are you or do you know of Hartford residents who are unemployed/underemployed and trained in the MEP Trades?

The Nelton Court Project Team would like to inform you that an Informational Meeting for the Nelton Court Redevelopment Project (Hartford) on Wednesday (TODAY, February 15, 2012 from 6:00 – 8:00 pm at Parker Memorial Center, 2621 Main Street Hartford, Connecticut.

Hosts of the Information Meeting:

The Housing Authority of the City of Hartford

Simon Konover Development Corporation

KBE Building Corporation

Nutmeg Planners, LLC

This meeting will address the Project Section 3 and local hiring (City of Hartford resident) participation requirements and scopes of work specific to the construction of the Nelton Court Redevelopment Project located at 2471 Main Street (Hartford, CT). This outreach is specifically intended for those persons interested in matching their respective skills with the appropriate scope of work. Tthe Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 and its amendment by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 implemented by HUD CFR Part 135 requires a minimum of 30% local (Hartford) resident participation and is required of all contractors on this Project. Those individuals who perform work in the following trades are encouraged to attend:

· Carpentry;

· Electrical;

· HVAC;

· Plumbing/Pipefitting;

· Sheetmetal;

Please note attendance shall in no way guarantee or assure any person that a job will be secured with this Project. Interested candidates must have OSHA 10 certification and training in the above referenced trades. This is an open shop (non union) Project.

WEAVER SOFTBALL NEEDS YOUR HELP

The following plea is being put out by Shawn Bell, the new softball coach at Weaver High School:

"I am writing to you all for help. I am the new Head softball coach at Weaver High School and we are in need of softball gloves and any other softball equipment. We have a very small budget. So I am reaching out to you all for your help. So if you have an old glove or any softball equipment around and no need for it. Our program could really use it. Thanks "

If you can be of any assistance, Shawn Bell can be contacted by e-mail at:
BELLS001@hartfordschools.org

Check out those basements and closets and see what you can find.

ARE WE REALLY PAYING FOR THIS ?

According to the Hartford Courant, David Medina, the Hartford School's Director of No Information, is admitting that they made a mistake by banning the media from two recent meetings involving parents and the leadership of Hartford's Schools. You can read the Courant's article by clicking here

But before you start rejoicing and thinking that Medina has seen the light and is actually going to start earning his six figure salary by providing information to the public, think again.

Rather than word the apology that they made a mistake and would open meetings up to actually strive for transparency, the release seemed to say just the opposite. It should have just read, "Sorry. next time we will plan ahead and be even more devious so that we can safely skirt the FOI requirements and legally keep the public in the dark".


According to the Courant, "On Wednesday, the school system released a statement indicating that the "error" was a technicality and that its intent to bar reporters remained."

It's intent to bar reporters remained...are you kidding me? Does Medina realize we are still in the United States or do Hartford's schools not teach geography? Or history for that matter. Does Medina not realize that we live in a free and supposedly open Democracy where his and his colleagues salaries are paid by the public who has every right to know what is going on in these schools?

What does the Superintendent have to hide? I can see asking a reporter to leave if they are being disruptive but "its intent to bar reporters remained" ? Those are Medina's words, not mine.

How is this tolerated by the Board of Education, the Mayor , the City Council and right up the ladder to our legislators and even our Governor. Until Mr. Medina and Dr. Kishimoto begin funding our school system out of their own pockets, we are the ones footing the bill and we have every right to know what is going on, especially in our failing schools like Burns and Milner.

The memo below, obtained through alternative means, seems to show the premeditated nature of their actions. And isn't it shameful that we can spend taxpayers dollars finding ways to break the law without getting caught instead of realizing that they are public officials and why they actually have jobs? I find it hard to believe that parents, or even administrators, in any of our neighboring suburbs would tolerate these stunts.

Medina Kauffman Memo

UPDATED AGENDA FOR TONIGHT'S "OMB" MEETING

Items 10 thr0ough 13 were added as a result of last night's Council meeting

UPDATED+Feb+15th+Regular+Meeting[1]

COUNCIL "OMB COMMITTEE" TO MEET WEDNESDAY, AGENDA BELOW

Below is the proposed agenda for tomorrow nights Operations, Management and Budget Committee meeting (OMB)

The meeting will be held at 6:00pm in the Council Chambers at City Hall. Check out how your tax dollars are being spent, the agenda is below.

Feb+15th+Regular+Meeting

MR. MAYOR, MORE LEADERSHIP IS NEEDED

Today I had the opportunity to speak somewhat privately with Mayor Segarra after the appointment of James Rovella as Hartford's acting Chief of Police. Mayor Segarra seemed somewhat stunned when I mad the comment to him that my confidence in him was building as I thought the appointment was a great step in restoring both morale and confidence in the Hartford Police Department.

Well Mr. Mayor, let's keep building that confidence, here is another perfect opportunity.

Last week I posted about Courant reporter Vanessa de la Torre being barred from what was essentially a public meeting held by Superintedent of Schools kishimoto at the troubled and under performing Burns School. Kishimoto's overpaid mouthpiece David Medina stated that Kishimoto wanted time with parents and felt the media would be a distraction.

Maybe the correct, and more honest version, would have been for Medina to state that the smaller the audience, the less chance of anyone hearing the facts so the media was not welcome.

Click here to read that posting

Mr. Mayor, "transparency" needs to mean something, and not just as a catchphrase thrown around when politicians are trying to prove to people that they really are honest.

Well Mr. Mayor, it gets worse. Last night another meeting was held by Kishimoto and her mouthpiece and the same events were repeated once again. Here are two other bloggers posting their thoughts. Rather than rehashing the "legalese", read "The Real Hartford" for a detailed explanation of what happened and the State of Connecticut's legal requirements. Click her for "Real Hartford".

And here is another take on the matter by Matthew Kauffman, a reporter from the mouthpieces alma mater. Yes, for those unaware, David Medina was formerly an editor at the Hartford Courant. Unfortunately a six figure paycheck has a way of allowing someone to forget where they came from. Rather than Medina being a champion for the public's right to know, he now goes out of his way to make sure the door to the Kishimoto bunker remains tightly latched and closed to any public view.

Mayor Segarra, you are in a position to change this. I'm not saying your administration has been to most receptive to Freedom of Information requirements, but why not start convincing us you really are going to change this. At least one of your Corporation Counsel attorneys is playing loose with the FOI laws, and she knows better. Assistant Corporation Counsel Melinda Kauffman should not be advising on FOI laws if she doesn't know them, but I can almost assure you that she is purely providing cover for Medina and Kishimoto.

It might send a message if your own Corporation Counsel shows integrity by actually filing the proper FOI complaints against Medina and Kishimoto and request the maximum fines for their violations. (I can even help them to write the complaints if they are unsure, I have become pretty good at it.)

Transparency means transparency....period. It should mean something when you say it, and now you have the opportunity to show us that you mean it. Which way will the confidence rating go?

FROM THE WEST END CIVIC ASSOCIATION

THE FOLLOWING RELEASE WAS RECEIVED TODAY FROM THE WEST END CIVIC ASSOCIATION AND I AM POSTING IT HERE FOR YOUR INFORMATION:

The West End Civic Association is excited to announce a new round of grants under its philanthropy effort to support projects that benefit the West End and its residents.

WECA will make grants in three categories and is seeking proposals at this time from individuals or organizations.

The categories are:

Social Services: Grants to provide social services to residents of the West End.

Youth Programs: Grants to provide programs or services for youth in the West End.

Community Building Activities: Grants for activities in the West End that bring the sectors and/or the neighborhood together.

The deadline to apply for a grant in this first round of funding is March 15. Preference will be given to applications submitted by the deadline; later applications throughout the year will be considered in order of receipt and only if funds remain available.

It is expected that the Executive Board of WECA will award grants at its April 3 meeting. Applicants will be notified of decisions following the meeting and recognized at the annual meeting of WECA on June 12.

Proposals must include:

Description of the program/service/event and category under which you are applying
How will it be organized? Who will manage it?
Who will be served? How many will be served?
Why is the program needed? - be specific in demonstrating the need
How will the program benefit the West End?
Contact person for follow-up questions including email and phone number.
A line-item income and expense budget.
A list of other income sources, if any.
State whether you are applying - or planning to use - matching grant(s). If so, please provide details.

Preference will be given to new initiatives to meet the needs of West End residents, all other considerations being equal.

We encourage you to include letters of reference.

We do not have a cap on the size of a grant request other than a guideline that grants likely will be under $2,000.

Grant recipients will be asked to submit a final report on the results of the project.

Grant applications should be submitted to David Barrett, WECA President, by email at dbarrett@hartsem.edu, by fax at (860) 509-9509 or by mail to 257 Oxford Street, Hartford, CT 06105.

If you have any questions, please contact David Barrett, (860) 509-9519 or dbarrett@hartsem.edu

Note: The West End Civic Association Executive Board is developing new policies regarding donations and partnerships to reflect its status as non-profit, non-religious and non-partisan, as stated in its by-laws. Please consult with David Barrett if you wish to learn more prior to submitting an application.

The West End Civic Association is pleased to continue this program to strengthen our neighborhood. We look forward to working with all of you on programs to serve all our residents.

THIS WEEK'S "WE THE PEOPLE" PROGRAM

On this weeks program, aired on February 13th, our guest was City Councilperson Cynthia Jennings.

Councilwoman Jennings shares her thoughts and opinions with us on numerous issues facing Hartford.

The technical quality is less than what I hoped for, but we are still working on the equipment and lighting issues. Considering the state of affairs and the condition of the equipment under the current Executive Director and the Board of Director's at Hartford Public Access Television, we are lucky to be on the air at all, but that is a story for another day.

We are working on scheduling some interesting guests for the next few weeks, so keep watching and keep your suggestions coming.

SEGARRA NAMES ROVELLA HPD CHIEF, PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO

As predicted here a couple months ago,on November 28th to be exact, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra today named James Rovella as Hartford's acting Police Chief. You can read the November posting here predicting Rovella's appointment.

As an almost 20 year veteran of HPD before his retirement, Rovella is very familiar with the operations of the HPD. He has spent the last several months in his capacity as Chief Inspector for the State's Attorney's Office setting up and running the Hartford Shooting Task Force along side Hartford Police Lieutenant Lance Sigersmith.

The task force has produced very noticeable results in reducing violent crime after 2011 started out with the potential to end as a record year for gun violence. The task force became operational in July of 2011.

If Chief Rovella's actions in producing results with the Task Force are any indication, it may be a very promising period for HPD under his guidance.

Another posting on Rovella's appointment can be read here.Double click the video below to view it full screen