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Thursday, September 28, 2017

HOMESTEAD AVENUE CLOSED DUE TO MDC WORK

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: ROAD CLOSURE ON HOMESTEAD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE


HARTFORD, CONN (September 28, 2017) – This afternoon, Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) workers doing sewer repair work on Homestead Avenue discovered an approximately 20-foot long and approximately 14-foot deep void beneath the road surface along a sewer line.  They immediately contacted the City, and now the Hartford Police Department, Department of Public Works, and the MDC are working together to secure the area.  To prevent a potential collapse, Homestead Avenue is shut down to the general public between its intersection with Albany Avenue and its intersection with Woodland Street until further notice, effective immediately.


“We are taking this action as a necessary precaution, as we believe there is some risk that the void underneath the road on Homestead Avenue could have caused the road surface to collapse under extreme weight,” said interim Department of Public Works Director Reginald Freeman.  “The City and MDC are working closely together to determine the scope of the problem and we will update the public as we learn more.”


West-bound drivers on Homestead will be redirected either North or South on Woodland Street and drivers on Albany Avenue will not be able to turn onto Homestead Avenue at all.


Residents of Baltimore Street will be able to enter and exit the street from Albany Avenue because it’s a two-way street.  Kent, Adams, and Milford Streets will remain one-way streets but the Police Department will allow residents to use Homestead to enter or exit their street as needed.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

IS HPD SERIOUS ABOUT HIRING?

From the "Get Hired Hartford" website:"Join Goodwill, NBC Connecticut and Hot 93.7 for the premiere career expo in the state. Over 70 employers will be on hand to hire for over 5,000 open positions. Job seekers can get their resume reviewed and updated onsite."

Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, the Hartford Police Department is missing from the list of over sixty employers who will be there next week. Despite the hype and publicity from HPD, I still keep getting calls from people who had made attempts to contact the HPD recruiters either through the website, e-mail or phone and have had no response back.

These recruiting positions almost need a sales type mentality and recruiters that are able to "close" the deal, unless of course the City of Hartford and HPD are not really serious about filling these much needed positions. Even the New York City Department of Corrections is coming to Hartford to recruit according to the list below, but HPD is apparently a no-show. Is it maybe just for show and there is no money to hire cops?

Let's get serious and do some real recruiting before we have a real Public Safety disaster on our hands

click her for more info on the "Get Hired Expo"

Here is the extent of the HPD recruitment webpage

Here is how NYPD recruits

Below is a listing of companies recruiting at the Get Hired Expo next week
    • A Caring Hand (ECHN)
    • Aetna
    • Albertus Magnus College
  • Allied Universal Security Services
  • American Eagle Financial Credit Union
  • Automated Business Solutions
  • Big Y
  • Burris Logistics
  • Cabela's
  • CBS Radio Hartford
  • CEG-Center for Economic Growth
  • Chili's Grill & Bar
  • Combined Insurance
  • Comcast
  • Companions & Homemakers
  • ConnectiCare
  • Connecticut Community Bank
  • Cox Communications
  • CT Science Center
  • CT Transit
  • CTFastrak - CT DOT
  • Data-Mail, Inc.
  • Dattco
  • District 53 Toastmasters
  • Dominos
  • Electrical Wholesalers
  • Enterprise Holdings
  • Expert Staffing
  • Express Pros
  • Farmers Insurance
  • Fastenal Company
  • FedEx
  • Foresters Financial
  • Goodwill
  • Guida's Dairy
  • Hartford Healthcare
  • Hartford Public Schools
  • Hilton, Courtyard, Convention Center Hyatt
  • Home Depot
  • Kaman
  • Kelly Services
  • Latin Premiere Insurance Marketing Group
  • Liberty Bank
  • Loureiro Engineering Associates
  • M. Frank Higgins & Co.
  • Macy's Warehouse & Logistics
  • Marriott Htfd., Sheraton Bradley, Lord Jeffery Inn
  • Merry Maids
  • Michel's Corporation
  • Morris Group
  • NAFI CT, Inc.
  • NBC Connecticut
  • NESCOR
  • NYC Dept of Correction
  • Oak Hill
  • People's United Bank
  • Pratt & Whitney
  • Project Genesis
  • Raymour & Flanigan
  • Securitas
  • Southern Auto Auction
  • The Hartford
  • Tradebe Treatment & Recycling Northeast, LLC
  • Trumpf
  • Turbine Controls, Inc.
  • Ultimate Nutrition, Inc.
  • United Personnel Services
  • United States Postal Service
  • UPS
  • Verizon
  • Walgreens
  • Walmart
  • WB Mason
  • Webster Bank
  • Whole Foods
  • XL Center
  • YMCA of Greater Hartford

MORE TROUBLE IN THE KINGDOM OF LUKE

It appears that "team building" is not a strong point for Mayor Luke Bronin and his reign over the Kingdom that includes Hartford City Hall. Bronin's list of Department heads still left is dropping faster than the City's Bond Rating.

DPW Director, gone. MHIS Director ,gone. Health Director, gone. HR Director, gone. Police Chief, going. And now add to the list, Daryl Hill, the Finance Director who resigned today effective November 4, 2017.

It is probably not much of a resume builder for Hill to be the Finance Director or Chief Financial Officer of a City about to declare Bankruptcy. But then again, not much of what Hill has done in Hartford would bolster a resume. The baseball stadium and the debacle of the Dillon Stadium fraud were two of Hill's claims to fame in our City.

I think Hill's departure was inevitable based upon calls I have been receiving from City Hall insiders who have been eyewitnesses, or maybe "ear witness's" to the frequent raised voices and shouting matches coming from the area of the Mayor's Office and the COO's Office on the second floor of Hartford City Hall.

(Helpful hint to the King- City Hall is like a canyon and those voices echo throughout the building quite clearly)

I will give the King as pass on the well deserved retirement of Chief Rovella, Chief Rovella has served the people  of Hartford  and has proven to have vision  as well as creativity to be able to still operate under such adverse conditions as he has been placed under during his tenure, and still produce impressive results.

I am still concerned about our Fire Chief and the pressure being placed on him by the King to manage two very difficult Departments after the Public Works Director quit last year. Chief Freeman was doing a very good job of returning the Hartford Fire Department back to order before his efforts were diluted when he took over DPW as the acting Director.

And even though King Luke will surely try to put a positive spin on these departures, it does not bode well for the stability of his Administration during these difficult times. How do you explain not having a permanent HR Director and even the acting interim HR Director calls it quits during Police contract negotiations? And departing when there is a need to hire over 100 firefighters and approaching 125 or more Police Officers.

Luckily the guillotine  is gone, or City Hall would be a much messier place to work than it already is.


Monday, September 25, 2017

HOW IRONIC, THE HYPOCRISY OF IT ALL

A little over a year ago, March of 2016 to be exact, people were calling for the discipline of a Hartford Police Officer. some here even called for his termination. Why, you might ask? Because he had the audacity to display a Trump bumper sticker on a laptop inside his cruiser. I think we might call that Freedom of Expression , but apparently many think Police Officer's forgo their Rights to free expression when they put on a uniform.

Apparently that forfeiture only applies to certain uniforms and certain professions and NFL uniforms are exempt. The same people that were ready to terminate the Police Officer are now standing in solidarity with NFL players over their choice to disrespect our flag. And yes, call it what you want, but I feel it is disrespect for our flag and our Country, and I have the Freedom to say that, whether you like it or not.And this has nothing to do with our President, we are all Americans no matter who is sitting in the Oval Office, and we need to show the proper regard for the many people who shed their blood and gave their lives for out rights to act as ignorant as we choose.

Shouldn't the rights of Freedom of Expression and Speech apply the same to one and all? Regardless of the choice being made, whether it is to support a political candidate or the choice not to support the symbol of our nation and the  Freedom's many have fought and died for?

Whether you are a police officer or a tight end in the NFL there is no different degree to the freedom's we all are allowed to enjoy in this great Country, unless of course you are a hypocrate.


Let's get over the hypocrisy and get back to what has made our Country great

Saturday, September 23, 2017

FROM HPD: COMMUNITY HELP NEEDED IN OVERNIGHT SHOOTINGS

FROM HPD:

The Hartford Police Major Crimes Division is actively investigating two separate shootings that occurred in the North End of the city on September 22, 2017 and September 23, 2017.  The first shooting occurred in the area of 16 Durham Street at approximately 7:10 pm September 22, 2017.  One of the victims from 16 Durham Street was fatally wounded and the other was treated and released from Saint Francis Hospital. The surviving victim is not being completely cooperative at this time.  

The second shooting occurred in the area of 1164 Albany Avenue at 12:38 am on September 23, 2017. Four people were shot during this incident. One of the four was fatally wounded, a second person has injuries that were described as “catastrophic”. He is currently listed in extremely critical condition. The doctors tending to him don’t expect him to survive. The two remaining victims are being treated for non-life threatening gunshot wounds.   

In total six (6) persons were shot in the city between 7pm-1am  last night, two are deceased and one is listed as extremely critical. The Major Crimes detectives are talking to potential witnesses and attempting to locate any video surveillance in the area that may have captured the incident. We are going to need assistance from the community with respect to both of these shooting. We still need to identify potential witnesses that may have information related to either of these incidents. The area of 1164 Albany Avenue is heavy populated during the hour that this shooting occurred yet no one has come forward as of yet.  Any information we can get would be greatly appreciated.

No information related to any of the victims is being released at this time pending next of kin notification with family members.  Thanks in advance.  

HPD-860-757-4000

Thursday, September 21, 2017

IT'S NOT JUST THE HARTFORD PUBLIC LIBRARY , IT IS A CITYWIDE PROBLEM

In a city that keeps claiming to be broke, the salaries paid are amazing, as well as the number of highly paid positions.

Here are the salaries for the Hartford Schools, stand by for the upcoming post for other City Hall and Department salaries.

This list I guess gives new meaning to the phrase we keep hearing, "doing more with less".

Also take a note of the "hometowns" and see how many of these checks go outside of Hartford, especially the one listing Atlanta, GA. ,Director of the Office of Institutional Advancement, $179,799, and what exactly does that have to do with educating children?

I guess maybe they don't want to put their kids in Hartford's Schools ,so they live out of town