Bridgeport, CT – As the world comes together to commemorate Earth Day on April 22, 2024, the Park City proudly reaffirms its dedication to fostering sustainable urban living and environmental stewardship. With a focus on innovation, quality of life, and community engagement, Bridgeport continues to lead the charge in creating a greener, more sustainable future for all.
Under the theme of a Sustainable and Resilient Bridgeport, ongoing efforts to reduce carbon emissions, promote renewable energy, and enhance green spaces throughout the city are being showcased across all fronts. From revitalizing parks to implementing eco-friendly transportation solutions, Bridgeport is committed to creating a healthier and more vibrant urban environment.
Mayor Ganim stated, “Earth Day is not just a day of reflection, but a call to action. The climate crisis is here, and we are on the frontlines. In Bridgeport, we recognize the urgent need to address climate change and to act. To protect our residents, our planet, and future generations, climate action must be taken now and quickly. That’s why we’re investing in sustainable infrastructure, promoting green initiatives, and empowering our residents to act on climate.”
All residents are encouraged to think about what sustainability and resiliency means in their neighborhoods and how to create a sustainable Bridgeport. As part of Earth Day celebrations, organizations across the City are hosting events, beginning this Saturday, April 20th at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo.
Sustainability Manager, Chadwick Schroeder, stated “When it comes to addressing climate change everyone has a role to play, we just need to find our niche. I am grateful for the commitment of the Mayor, the City of Bridgeport, our partners, and our residents for all they do, every day, to create a sustainable and resilient Bridgeport for the future for all our residents.”
Mayor Ganim and the Bridgeport Sustainability Office are encouraging residents to get outside this weekend, participate in the many Earth Day events, and take a moment to reflect on the community’s impact on the planet and how we can protect it for the future. For more information about Earth Day events, visit the City of Bridgeport’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages, or visit bridgeportct.gov/sustainability for sustainability initiatives in Bridgeport.
The Stratford Library, 2203 Main Street in Stratford will offer a special music history concert, “The Roots of Black Music in America”, on Friday, May 3 at 7 pm. The concert, featuring musician Karlus Trapp, is free and open to the public.
Producer, songwriter, teacher & troubadour Karlus Trapp presents his delightful, educational and entertaining 100-year journey back through time for Stratford audiences. Trapp offers a fresh perspective through song, story and history to learn about the music of America’s black musical giants. Hear Scott Joplin during the birth of Ragtime. Dance to the Charleston in the 1920’s. Play air guitar with Chuck Berry or sing along with the Supremes in the 1960’s. Warning: Attending this show you may find yourself smiling, humming or tapping your feet for hours afterward…and you’ll be surprised what you may learn!
“The Roots of Black Music in America” will take place in the Stratford Library Lovell Room from 7-8 pm on May 3. Doors open at 6:30 pm. General seating.
On April 13, 2024, the Milford Police Department was dispatched to the Milford Inn located at the 300 block of Old Gate Ln for the report of a breach of peace with a firearm brandished. The victim reported that a male, later identified as Raquan Brown, 30, from Bronx, NY, was aggressively banging on her motel room door. The victim also reported seeing a firearm on Brown’s person. Upon officer’s arrival, Brown was located in his vehicle in the parking lot. A search of the vehicle revealed a Taurus G2S 9MM handgun, a 9MM 10 round magazine, 9MM full metal jacket bullets, a steak knife, a blade, a homemade stabbing device, two bags of meth, a glass pipe, and a bag of oxycodone / fentanyl. Brown was also found to be a convicted felon with extraditable warrants out of New York. Brown was taken into custody and charged with 3 counts of weapons in a motor vehicle, carrying a pistol without a permit, criminal possession of a firearm, breach of peace, and possession of a controlled substance.
In observance of National Child Abuse Prevention month in April, the Norwalk Police
Department and The Human Services Council’s Child Advocacy Center, Children’s Connection are partnering up to plant a “pinwheel garden” on April 25th at 10:00 AM at police headquarters at 1 Monroe Street. Pinwheel gardens are used nationwide during the month of April to bring heightened awareness to child abuse prevention and symbolize the joy of childhood. April 25th is also “Wear Blue for Child Abuse Day”; so, folks will be dressed in blue to show their support.
Can’t make it to the Police Department that day? Wear blue and post photos on your favorite social media with the hashtags – #wearblue, #childabuseprevention and #humanservicesct
Child abuse and neglect happen every day in every neighborhood. No community is immune. Each day, five children die unnecessarily from child abuse related causes. Parental drug and alcohol abuse are major child abuse risk factors.
For information on how to report suspected child abuse and/or neglect, please visit the State of Connecticut Department of Children and Families website https://portal.ct.gov/dcf or call 800-842-2288.
Children’s Connection, a nationally accredited Children’s Advocacy Center that works with public and private resources to identify, substantiate, and treat cases of sexual and severe physical abuse and provides community education on the topic. “We are really excited to be able to raise awareness about this important issue with our partners at Norwalk Police Department who we have the honor of working with every day.” said Kari Pesavento, Director of Children’s Connection. If you would like more information about Children’s Connection or the work that we do surrounding child abuse and neglect, please contact Kari at (203) 354-1961, kpesavento@hscct.org or visit www.hscct.org.
The Stratford Library, 2203 Main Street in Stratford, Connecticut will offer “Managing Money Matters” with guest speaker Patrina Dixon on Tuesday, April 30 at 6:30 pm. Dixon, an author, blogger, YouTuber and podcaster
will give the tools and information to help individuals make their financial goals a reality. Learn tips and strategies to master managing cash flow and increase your savings. The workshop is free and open to the public.
Patrina Dixon is a Certified Financial Education Instructor, Registered Financial Consultant and two-time #1 Best Selling Author and International Speaker. As Founder and CEO of “It’$ My Money”, her own local
Connecticut TV show, Dixon and her team are on a mission to help people transform their lives by mastering money management skills. She has been featured in Black Enterprise, Yahoo Finance, Real Simple, and Fox61.
Dixon has taught personal finance workshops in high schools, colleges, universities, businesses, prisons, detention homes, from Rhode Island to New York to Texas and as far as Trindad and Tobego. She attended the
University of Hartford’s Barney School of Business, holds a Financial Management from Cornell University and a Licensed Insurance Agent in CT. She is also an alum of the GoldmanSachs One Billion Black Women – Black in
On June 6, 2023, the Special Victims Unit initiated an investigation into a sexual assault complaint. After a thorough investigation led by Detective Patrick English, Fran Garcia-Pineda was identified as the suspect. It was discovered that Garcia-Pineda resided in Miami, Florida, leading to the issuance of an extraditable arrest warrant by Stamford Superior Court. Detective English collaborated with a Norwalk Police Officer assigned to the United States Marshals Service Violent Fugitive Task Force, resulting in Garcia-Pineda’s arrest on April 4, 2024. He was subsequently extradited to Norwalk on April 16, 2024, and charged with Sexual Assault in the Third Degree.
At 04:15AM today Fire Units responded to a working fire located at 2340 North Ave. The first unit fire on the first floor was quickly knocked down. The Fire Marshal’s office is conducting an investigation as to the cause at this time. The Red Cross will be providing shelter for the 5 persons displaced, and there was 1 person who was evaluated by AMR.
[HARTFORD, CT] – U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) joined Senate colleagues in introducing legislation to prevent youth suicide, which is the second leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 24. The Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act would fund suicide prevention initiatives, ensure health care providers receive training to prevent intentional harm, and create a centralized hub to provide safety information to at-risk youth and their support networks.
“Across the country we are seeing a trend of increasing suicide rates that are beyond disturbing and gut-wrenching. We know we can do something. That’s why I’ve introduced the Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act to support care and counseling wherever children can be reached – in the schools, in the doctor’s office, in emergency departments,” said Blumenthal on Mondayat a press conference at The Village for Families and Children in Hartford. “Fighting this crisis is critical. With federal funding and support, it must happen.”
Suicide rates among young Americans increased by 52 percent between 2000 and 2021 according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A June 2021 CDC report found a significant increase in emergency department visits for suicide attempts among adolescents aged 12-17 during the pandemic, including a spike of more than 50 percent among adolescent girls. In Connecticut, between January 2016 and September 2022, 48 Connecticut children ages 10 to 17 died by suicide. The age of children dying by suicide in Connecticut is getting younger and younger, according to the Office of the Child Advocate. A critical opportunity to identify young people at risk is in health care settings, but many health care professionals lack the training or resources to do so. This bill prepares health care professionals to identify and respond to warning signs by training them in evidence-based suicide prevention practices like lethal means safety, a practice limiting access to objects that can be used for self-directed violence, and providing funding to connect at-risk patients with crisis resources.
Establish a grant program to provide funding for initiatives that offer youth suicide prevention and lethal means safety education, training, and resources to health care professionals.
Establish a grant program to integrate lethal means safety and suicide prevention topics into curricula at health professional schools to ensure that future nurses, doctors, and mental and behavioral health care providers have received the education and training that will allow them to prevent lethal means injuries, deaths, and suicides among their patients.
Create a centralized hub to provide important lethal means safety and suicide prevention information to at-risk youth and their family members, health professional schools, and health care providers.
Blumenthal has championed initiatives to expand access to mental health care for young people. This year’s government funding bill, which Blumenthal supported, included $104 million for the Youth Mentoring Grant Program, $98.9 million for the National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative, $135 million for STOP School Violence Act programs, and $160 million to the Department of Education to address the shortage of school-based mental health professionals across K-12 schools.
The Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act is led by Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), and cosponsored by U.S. Senators Blumenthal, Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Laphonza Butler (D-CA). Companion legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives by U.S. Representatives Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) and Kim Schrier (D-WA-8).
The Child Suicide Prevention and Lethal Means Safety Act is supported by more than 30 organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Psychological Association, American Public Health Association, American Hospital Association, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Academy of Family Physicians, Federation of American Hospitals, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, SMART Recovery, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Illinois Association for Behavioral Health, PA Education Association, Association for Behavioral & Cognitive Therapies, Newtown Action Alliance Foundation, National Association of Social Workers, Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, Brady: United Against Gun Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety, Sandy Hook Promise, Illinois Chapter of American Academy of Pediatrics, Doc Wayne, American Association of Colleges of Nursing, March for Our Lives, Active Minds, Giffords, Council of Public Health Nursing Organizations, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, American Public Health Association – Public Health Nursing Section, Association of Community Health Nursing Educators, Association of Public Health Nurses, National Association of School Nurses, Rural Nurse Organization, and National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners.
On April 15, 2024, Bridgeport Police Officers from the Patrol Division received information about a wanted individual near the vicinity of Park Avenue and Wood Avenue. Due to recent incidents of gun violence in the area, Officers Salce and Rrapi promptly responded to investigate. They learned that the suspect, Karon McCollum, aged 26 and from Bridgeport, had moved westward on Wood Avenue towards a nearby liquor store, accompanied by another male.
Upon reaching the liquor store, the officers engaged in a thorough investigation and discovered a Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol loaded with 15 live rounds, including one in the chamber, in the possession of Nasir Baskin, aged 29 and from Norwalk, who did not possess a Connecticut pistol permit. Additionally, McCollum was found in possession of a plastic bag containing 19 purple-top vials of a substance resembling cocaine, which tested positive for the presence of the drug. McCollum faces charges including three warrants for violation of probation and possession of narcotics with intent to sell, while Baskin is charged with carrying a dangerous weapon, carrying a pistol without a permit, and illegal possession of a large-capacity magazine.
