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By Kerri Provost, September 8, 2011 7:51 am

The recent totally-unscientific-but-fun poll told me a few things: nobody buys all groceries from one vendor, Whole Foods is very popular, and people want food to be local and fresh. While digesting this data, I visited four stores in Hartford to see which ones most closely met your criteria of the ideal store; I looked at other aspects, including whether or not I could reasonably shop for basic food and household items. I looked at the two most popular grocery stores in the city, along with two that fewer people shopped at. Continue reading 'A Tale of Four Markets'»

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By Kerri Provost, July 6, 2011 5:39 pm

This pig lives at Holcomb Farm, a farm that provides produce to Foodshare

It’s not accurate to describe Hartford as being a food desert. This term implies that food is unavailable. The obesity rate says otherwise.

Instead, we should be calling it what it is — a food swamp. Prof. Molly Anderson used this phrase during her presentation at a recent forum held at the Lyceum. Rather than a lack of food being the problem, it’s that there is, in these areas, “far too much of the wrong kind of food,” she argued.

Food security was the topic of discussion at the “IForum” in late June. Anderson, the keynote speaker, delivered her presentation, “A Home’s Not Just a House: Why Food Security Must Be Part of a Strong, Affordable Community”; a response panel comprised of Julia Pon, Margaret Williams, and Martha Page followed. Continue reading 'The Great Food Swamp'»

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By Kerri Provost, May 31, 2011 8:14 am

A prototype of the Hartford Museum Passport by Brian Cook

That Brian Cook left Connecticut is not unusual. The media has been fixated on how many people in his generation are moving out of state. Where Cook is unique is that he continues to actively contribute to the arts and culture of Hartford, which is more than some artists do while living just a few blocks over the city line.

If you have been to any venue with a pulse in the last few years, you’ve seen his work.

What also sets him apart is that he rejects the idea of himself as a professional artist, and says he has no ” plans to be one.” The result of this perpetual hobbyist mentality seems to be pure, unpretentious art. There’s no ego getting tied up in the work. There’s no distraction triggered by the schmoozing that frequently takes the place of actual creation. Cook could teach the professionals a thing or to about being earnest and getting a real kick out of one’s work.

As for his artistic background, Cook describes it as an organic process: ” I had an artistic mother and grandmother, and have always enjoyed doodling, writing poetry and sculpting in the sand. [...] About two years ago, having learned to use Photoshop as part of my job with a web startup, I began making flyers for some friends in Sea Tea Improv, Hartford’s beloved comedy troupe. I enjoyed doing it and got some positive feedback, so I tried to get better. I love Hartford, and want to use design for positive social impact. My first foray in this direction was an imaginary metro map for Hartford, with proceeds going toward Connectikids. I see the Hartford Museum [Passport] as a next step in this direction.” During this past snowy winter, when so many schools and businesses were having to shut down for several days due to the stormy weather, La Paloma Sabanera — a small, independent coffee shop — was under particular strain. Many of the shop’s customers are state employees, so even on days when La Paloma Sabanera was open, business would lag if the state closed or dismissed early. The proceeds of a poster Cook created especially for this “third place” would go to the store’s “snowy day fund” to help keep the business afloat.

Now — besides creating posters for events  and beloved local coffee shops — Cook is trying to get funding for a project designed to encourage museum attendance by Hartford youth. The Hartford Museum Passports are themselves part art, part bribery. With each museum visit, the passports would be stamped, validating the experience and incentivizing future ones.

The inspiration for this project is twofold. The museum passport itself comes directly from the way that an actual passport serves as a type of diary. Cook says, “I’ve had the opportunity to travel a lot, in Asia, Europe and the Caribbean, and always loved the appearance, language and symbolism of passports, and varying aesthetics of stamps from country to country. I actually look at my old passports fairly frequently, remembering visits by the stamps.”

Though he does not say it, a passport signals permission. It says, this is who I am and I can go anywhere. It provides tangible proof that a person can go places beyond his or her imagination. Continue reading 'Art Without Walls or a Local Zip Code'»

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By Kerri Provost, April 26, 2011 4:24 pm

“We’re Here/We’re Queer/We’re Fabulous/Don’t Fuck with Us” was a chant heard on the Trinity College quad Tuesday afternoon. A few hundred students, faculty, and staff wearing neon green ribbons gathered in front of Mather Hall at noon to demand a Zero Tolerance policy for those committing acts of bigotry on campus. This protest was called in response to a series of hate crimes on the Trinity College campus. Most recently, a Latino Trinity student, according to a report in the Hartford Courant, was told to get off the campus by a white student. The Latino student was reportedly called a “nigger” after having a beer launched at his car. This was noted as the third reported racist incident on campus in approximately one month.

At Tuesday’s protest, a number of students held signs and wore name tags announcing who they were, that they were students, and that they were not to be referred to by various hate slurs. Before marching to the Dean of Students’ office and other locations on campus, several students and a professor spoke to the crowd. The professor said “we demand to live in a culture that is civilized.” A student speaker called for the isolation of those who commit hate crimes, explaining, “they divide our community [...] they create an environment of fear.” Continue reading 'Trinity Students Protest Hate on Campus'»

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By Kerri Provost, March 29, 2011 9:36 pm

The next time I hear somebody run his mouth about how people in Hartford don’t care about anything, I’m going to drag him to a City Council meeting. He would then see that even at meetings without a public hearing session, residents are willing to stand — if there are no chairs left, which often is the case– for over an hour to listen to public servants make decisions that will affect them.

Monday night, many residents showed up at City Hall to support designating roughly $50,000 for the Salvation Army’s Marshall House emergency shelter to remain open through the end of June. Because there was no public hearing, they held signs. This agenda item was not debated because its sponsor apparently missed a deadline. Items that were discussed: trees, the impact of war, and whether or not voters were too dumb to know what they were voting for in 2008 when they gave an 80% pay raise to City Council. Continue reading 'Removing Trees, Ending Wars, and Repealing Raises'»

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By Kerri Provost, March 15, 2011 4:35 pm

State Rep. Vincent Candelora

A standing room only crowd wore yellow ribbons as they testified before the Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee at the Legislative Office Building on Tuesday morning for H.B. No. 6390 An Act Concerning Access to Postsecondary Education. The bill was introduced by State Rep. Donovan, State Rep. Sharkey, State Senator Williams, and State Senator Looney.

Currently, students who are undocumented immigrants pay the out-of-state tuition fee, rather than in-state tuition, regardless of whether or not they actually reside in the state. When people think about “illegal” immigrants, they typically imagine adults sneaking across borders; what is often the case is that youth, who have no discernible free will, are brought here by their parents, often at such young ages that these individuals have no memory of their country of origin. It’s not unheard of for these undocumented individuals to reside in the state longer than their native-born peers who benefit from the reduced tuition.

There was some opposition to the bill. As one representative — Vincent Candelora — said, “we’re faced with the dilemma of federal law.” There was also concern about the budget deficit and how this “$30 million dollar expenditure” would affect that. The representative said, “We are going to be potentially educating a workforce that is not eligible to work in Connecticut,” referring to how it is illegal to employ undocumented immigrants in the state.

A college education does not guarantee jobs for anyone, though it certainly makes one more competitive; moreover, laws have the possibility of changing and students seeking higher education today may in fact find themselves with the possibility of legal employment in Connecticut a few years down the line. As any nontraditional (re: older adult) college student will attest, it’s easier to seek an education while young than it is to do so when burdened with responsibilities like full-time employment and children. Using the concern of employability as an excuse to not pass this bill is simply weak; currently, there are some students filling spots at every college and university who are there because it is expected of them, and not because they are driven to acquire the needed skills and knowledge for a future career.

Furthermore, the $30 million dollar estimate is not accurate. The $30 million dollar amount actually came from if all out-of-state residents were to pay the in-state tuition; the bill would not be allowing all out-of-state residents to pay the reduced rate, only in-state undocumented residents. Additionally, it is based on the assumption that all undocumented immigrants would be attending college; we know that many students, of all backgrounds, do not go to college for a variety of reasons. The discussion of the $30 million dollar expenditure produced a lot of confusion as there was no clear explanation for how that sum was decided on. State Senator Looney actually noted that there was evidence that there could be a revenue gain.

There was also a need to clarify the bill itself, which proposes that any student who has resided in this state for four years and who has attended high school in this state would be eligible for the reduced in-state tuition. In other words, nobody would be moving into Connecticut on Sunday and getting the reduced tuition on Monday. Yet, some speaking out against the bill seemed misinformed, saying that this bill would provide a kind of “aid” for students. Undocumented students can not receive financial aid. For more examples of sheer misinformation, read through what opposition to the bill have been writing.

State Senator Looney spoke in support of the bill, saying that “these young people are highly motivated.” He argued that we will have a more viable and attractive workforce if it is a highly educated one. Looney stated that “our nation should be a meritocracy,” and that the undocumented students would have to meet the same standards, with no special seats set aside for them. Continue reading 'Equal Financial Access to Higher Education is an Issue of Access'»

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By Kerri Provost, February 28, 2011 11:31 pm

The post about grade inflation (2/12/11) in the Hartford Public Schools created some discussion about whether or not such a practice was detrimental to the students. Some readers found that the practice could serve as a safety net, while others found it to simply present a false sense of hope.

There has yet to be any discussion of this issue among members of the Board of Education. I hear that if such discussion occurs, it will be in March. I still have not heard a peep from Superintendent Adamowski, David Medina (spokesperson for school system), or the principal at one of the schools practicing the questionable grade policy. To make this more interesting, while Medina is not responding to citizen inquiries about ethical practices, he has had the time to do some cheerleading for two superintendent candidates.

Troubles in the system. Troubles in the classrooms.

I have since been contacted by other teachers within the school system who are finding social promotion to be an even bigger concern. One has stated that his/her eleventh grade students are unable to read or write beyond a third grade level. Ideally, students in the eleventh and twelfth grades would be getting prepared for college-level work, but because of this inability to perform at grade level, such idealism does not play out. Students are apparently able to graduate from city high schools without being able to write a basic persuasive five-paragraph essay. Continue reading 'Failing Students Through Social Promotion, Poor Planning, and Skewed Testing Policies'»

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By Kerri Provost, February 27, 2011 1:42 pm

On Saturday, Hartford joined other cities across the nation as it hosted a Rally to Save the American Dream– a show of support for public employees in Wisconsin, 12,000 of whom are expected to receive layoffs as part of the Wisconsin governor’s plan to blackmail his state’s public workers into surrendering their bargaining rights. People gathered in major cities, including Juneau, Honolulu, Austin, Atlanta, Boise, Charleston, Chicago, Madison, Philadelphia, and New York. Organizers say that 30,000 people representing 66 cities, including every state capital, were planning to rally yesterday.

Continue reading 'Wisconsin Solidarity at State Capitol'»

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By Kerri Provost, January 5, 2011 10:15 pm

“Shared sacrifice” was a phrase Governor Malloy repeated during his inaugural speech. He spoke to the need for being fiscally conservative and played to the middle, or maybe the fringes, when he said that there was a need to make good decisions, not democratic or republican ones.

The video clip below includes a portion of Malloy’s first remarks as Connecticut’s Governor.
Continue reading 'Hello Governor'»

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By Kerri Provost, December 30, 2010 10:38 am

Looking south, you see a pond, wooded area, sports fields, and perfect six homes bordering the park. There might be a carnival set up or a youth baseball game in action. There are pedestrians and cyclists. If you turn to face north, you see a dodgy strip mall surrounded by a weedy parking lot wedged next to the interstate. The lot looks mostly abandoned. It seems distant for pedestrians, as there is no inviting pathway from Park Street. The most lively aspect of this side of the street is the hot dog vendor in the lot.

View Pope Commons in a larger map
This used to be the Bradlees-Stop & Shop plaza. Bradlees filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2000, and that was the end of that story. Stop & Shop, which had been in the plaza since 1968, left Frog Hollow for Parkville, right on the border of Elmwood, in 1994. At the time much was made of the fact that a larger grocery store was added to the city, though it was barely within city limits. Now, there is a Save-A-Lot in the plaza, which generally does not have the same appeal as a run-of-the-mill Stop & Shop, let aloe the snob appeal of Whole Foods. Some residents are turned off by the lack of brand variety and others have questioned the cleanliness of the store. Yet, others like it because of the prices and the ability to bag one’s own groceries. The lack of frills makes it more attractive to some nearby residents. There is also El Mercado and a C-Town on Park Street, both smaller than Save-A-Lot, but offering healthier options than convenience stores. Continue reading 'Pope Commons: Evolution of an Eyesore'»