Month: February 2014

$277 Million in Grants and Loans Approved for Projects in Hartford, Rocky Hill, Norwich, Middletown, New Haven, and Bristol

 

(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced that nearly $277 million to provide grants and loans for local and regional wastewater treatment projects in Hartford, Rocky Hill, Norwich, Middletown, New Haven, and Bristol was approved Friday by state Bond Commission.  It is estimated that the projects will create or retain approximately 5,700 jobs in the manufacturing, engineering and construction industries.

 

“As a result of the state’s strong financial support for municipal wastewater treatment projects, Connecticut’s rivers and streams and Long Island Sound are cleaner and more appealing than ever,” said Governor Malloy, who serves as chair of the commission.  “We want to build on our historic commitment to clean water with a strong new round of funding for these projects, which will improve our environment and enhance our communities while putting our citizens to work designing and constructing these critical facilities.”

 

A total of $94 million in General Obligation Bonds and about $183 million in Revenue Bonds were approved to finance wastewater treatment projects through Connecticut’s Clean Water Fund (CWF).  The General Obligation Bonds are used to provide grants for certain portions of these projects, while the Revenue Bonds are used to provide low-interest loans of two percent over 20 years for the remainder of the costs.

 

Projects to be funded with this new allocation include:

 

• The continued rollout of modernization and upgrades by the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), which provides wastewater treatment services for Hartford and several surrounding towns.
  • The CWF funds will support work at MDC’s water pollution control facilities (WPCF) in Hartford and Rocky Hill and allow work to proceed on a conveyance and storage tunnel in South Hartford.  A major focus of the MDC project is addressing Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) after major storms that leads to the discharge of sewage into the Connecticut River.

 

• Denitrification improvements at the Norwich treatment plant.

 

• Pump station improvements to support the consolidation of Middletown’s treatment plant into the Mattabassett District.

 

• Continued collection system improvements in the system operated by the Greater New Haven Water Pollution Control Authority to eliminate CSOs in New Haven.

 

• Phosphorous removal improvements at the Bristol treatment plant.

 

Funds for these projects will be released from the CWF once contracts for construction have been awarded and all statutory and administrative requirements have been met.

 

“Connecticut’s Clean Water Fund is a model of state and local cooperation that has achieved very real results in protecting our natural resources and improving the quality of life in our state,” said Rob Klee, Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which administers the program.  “Through this program we have made investments that benefit all of us now as well as future generations of residents.”

 

The CWF was established in 1986 to provide financial assistance to municipalities for planning, design and construction of wastewater collection and treatment projects. Since that time it has provided $2.7 billion in grants and loans for projects in 95 communities.

 

(HARTFORD, CT) – On Thursday morning, Governor Dannel P. Malloy will join Travelers executives, PGA Tour officials and state and local leaders at a news conference in Hartford to discuss the future of the Travelers Championship in Connecticut.  Since Travelers took over as the title sponsor in 2007, the tournament has had an estimated economic impact of $160 million for the State of Connecticut and has generated over $7 million for charity.

 

Following that, Governor Malloy will give the keynote address at the “Next Generation Microgrids” conference in Hartford.

 

 

WHO: Governor Malloy, Travelers executives, PGA Tour officials, state and local leaders

WHAT: News conference to discuss the future of the Travelers Championship in Connecticut

WHEN: Thursday, February 27, 2014; 9:00 a.m.

WHERE: Connecticut Convention Center, Landing on the 4^th floor; 100 Columbus Boulevard, Hartford

 

———

 

WHO: Governor Malloy

WHAT: Governor Malloy keynotes “Next Generation Microgrids” conference

WHEN: Thursday, February 27, 2014; Event begins at 8:45 a.m., Governor Malloy to speak at 9:45 a.m.

WHERE: Hilton Hartford; 315 Trumbull Street, Hartford

Fair Minimum Wage Act increases minimum wage to $10.10 over two years

 

WASHINGTON, DC—Congressman Jim Himes (CT-4) signed a discharge petition to require an immediate vote on a bill to lift the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour.  The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2013 (H.R. 1010), which he cosponsors, will raise the purchasing power of minimum wage salaries to help working families afford more basic necessities. This, however, is still less than the $10.74 the minimum wage would be were it adjusted for inflation since its high of $10.56 in 1968. A discharge petition needs the support of 218 members to force a vote. So far 155 members have signed this petition.

 

“After the worst recession in a generation, our economic recovery has left many working families behind,” Himes said. “People who work hard should not have to struggle to meet their basic needs. They deserve and need a vote on this bill.”

 

The legislation introduces a scaled increase in the minimum wage, raising it to $8.20 per hour three months after passage, $9.20 after one year, and $10.10 after two years. The bill also gives the Secretary of Labor authority to increase the minimum wage based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) if warranted up to every three years. Finally, the bill increases tipped minimum wage to $3.00 per hour and also introduces a formula to increase tipped minimum wage as necessary to keep it at 70% of the overall minimum wage.

 

“The economic benefits of raising the minimum wage reach far beyond any individual family. When a working family brings in more money, that’s more they have to spend on necessities like groceries and gas, which they otherwise would have had to go without,” Himes said. “This creates demand in the marketplace, which help our businesses to grow and hire more workers. It is well past time we increased the minimum wage to help working families struggling to make ends meet and give our economy as a whole the boost it needs.”

 

Background

 

Income inequality has grown steadily since the 1980s, with $1.1 trillion in annual income shifting to the top one percent of households between 1979 and 2007. This wealth gap, according to chief economists at the Senate Banking Committee, has led to increasing pessimism among the American workforce, which in turn has fueled declines in labor force participation, productivity, and the pace of economic recovery. On the other hand, several studies

over the past decade have shown that increasing the minimum wage increases worker productivity and reduces employee turnover. And contrary to arguments that raising the minimum wage will kill jobs, recent studies show that increasing the minimum wage has no significant effect on employment levels.

 

Studies also show that raising the minimum wage boosts the economy by giving working class families more money to spend on the things they need. In 2011, the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank found

that every dollar increase for a minimum wage worker results in $2,800 in new consumer spending over the following year.

 

The federal minimum wage was last re-set on July 24, 2009, at $7.25 per hour. This is lower than it was in the 1960s, when the minimum wage was equal to $10.56 in 2012 dollars, even though worker productivity has increased since then. A full-time worker earning $7.25 per hour will make $290 per week and $15,080 per year, or approximately 125% of the poverty threshold. With many minimum wage jobs not providing benefits and the costs of healthcare continuing to rise, it is essentially impossible for these workers to make ends meet from week to week.

Learn about early photographic portraits and Connecticut female photographers

During March, The Barnum Museum is offering programs to help us understand the history of early photography and how to identify the techniques and other clues that help us date old photographs of our ancestors. Please be advised to check the museum’s website barnum-museum.org

or Facebook should weather concerns arise. Snow dates for each program will be posted on the website.

Wednesday, March 5 at 12:15 p.m. – Sneak Peek Portraits of the Past: Identifying and Dating Photographs of Ancestors, presented by the Museum’s curator, Adrienne Saint-Pierre. This continuing series offers opportunities to see rarely-exhibited items from the Museum’s collection. Attendees are invited to bring their lunch. $2 Donation.

This month the focus will be on early photographs, such as daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, tintypes, and albumen prints. Saint-Pierre will give an overview of photography from the 1840s to the early 1900s, showing examples of the different methods employed.  Melissa Houston, Museum registrar, and Saint-Pierre will point out clues that help determine the date of a photograph, including its format and the clothing fashions and hairstyles of the subject. Attendees are welcome to bring a photograph of an ancestor (pre-“snapshot” era), and staff will help establish the date or date range.

Woman in Kimono , Photo by Harriet V. S. Thorne, ca. 1900

Sunday, March 9 at 2 p.m.– In celebration of Women’s History Month, The Barnum Museum will offer a program Through a Different Lens: 19th Century Women Photographers in Connecticut. The illustrated talk will be presented by Tasha Caswell, and will feature Bridgeport photographer Harriet V.S. Thorne. Thorne is one of the three women photographers in the Connecticut Historical Society’s current exhibition, Through a Different Lens. $5 Donation.

In the late nineteenth century, a time when it was rare for a woman to be a photographer, Thorne had a studio and darkroom in the Black Rock area of Bridgeport. The intimate portraits she made of her wealthy family and friends depict a Gilded Age lifestyle that is long gone. She was full of surprises, too. Among her carefully posed portraits there are images that capture spontaneous moments, as well as photographs of African-Americans and members of the Seminole tribe in Florida.

Tasha Caswell, Curator of the Connecticut Historical Society exhibition, is a Graphics Cataloger and Project Researcher at the CHS. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University. In addition to speaking about Thorne, Caswell will relate the stories of two other Connecticut women photographers featured in the show, Marie Kendall and Rosalie Thorne McKenna. She will discuss why it was unusual for women to practice photography in the 1800s, and how things changed throughout twentieth century as sociological, cultural and technological advances were made.

Through a Different Lens is on view at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford until March 29, 2014. The CHS is located at One Elizabeth Street in Hartford, Conn and the galleries are open Tuesday-Friday: noon – 5:00 p.m. and Saturday: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Information about admissions, directions, parking and groups is available at http://chs.org/page.php?id=498

.WHAT: The Barnum Museum’s March programs WHEN: Various see above. All events are free for museum members WHERE: The Barnum Museum, 820 Main Street, Bridgeport in the People’s United Bank Gallery, entry located at the back of the historic building COST: Various see above, however Barnum Museum members are always free Call for more information 203-331-1104 ext.100, M-F from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.