Bristol legislators to host information forum at Bristol Senior Center
An informational forum on the state’s free digital discount card that helps seniors save on their medications will be hosted by members of Bristol’s state legislative contingent this afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Bristol Senior Center.
ArrayRX is available to all Connecticut, Nevada, Oregon and Washington residents. There is no membership fee, no age or income requirements and discounts apply for all FDA-approved prescriptions. Each user signs up for the card with a unique ID number.
The event will feature representatives from the state’s comptroller’s office who will provide a presentation on the program and answer any questions seniors may have.
Hosting will be state representatives Cara Pavalock-D’Amato (R-77), Joe Hoxha (R-78), Mary Fortier (D-79) and State Sen. Henri Martin (R-31).
Established as part of Public Act 23-171 and administered by the Office of the Comptroller, the drug discount card program was made available to residents last October. All residents of Connecticut qualify, and there are no membership fees or age restrictions to participate.
For more information, click here.
Local NAACP to hold program celebrating local activities during Black History Month
A Black History Month program, “Honoring Local Activists of Our Time: Come Let’s Celebrate Some of Our Own,” will be held Saturday, Feb. 24, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Carousel Museum.
Among those being honored are Pastor Daniel R. Collins, Anthony Floyd, Johnie M. Floyd, Barbara Hudson, Jay Maia, Laura S. Minor, Frank Robinson, Ellen Zoppo-Sassu, Dayna Snell, Pastor Eddie C. Whitehead, Sr., and Gale Williams.
The program is being sponsored by the Greater Bristol Branch of the NAACP. Tickets are, for adults, $40; for children 10 and under, $20. Tickets are available until Feb. 18, by contacting Lexie Mangum, (860) 202-9965 or Tim Camerl, (860) 977-5722
State officials warn against potential government imposter scam targeting Connecticut businesses
Connecticut businesses have been the target of an ongoing potential government imposter scam, according to a release from Attorney General William Tong, Secretary of the State Stephanie Thomas, Commissioner of Banking Jorge Perez, and Commissioner of Consumer Protection Bryan T. Cafferelli.
In this scheme, a company called CT UCC Statement Service, attempts to get businesses to pay $90 for a copy of a Uniform Commercial Code report. While the solicitation is designed to look like a government notice, this company has no affiliation with the State of Connecticut. In fact, UCC reports may be accessed for free via the Secretary of the State’s website at business.ct.gov.
A UCC financing statement is a form documenting that a creditor, such as a bank, has a lien on a borrower’s personal property. These forms are filed with the Secretary of the State and provide proof of the assets subject to the lien to other creditors.
While the company notes in small print that they are “not affiliated with any state or government agency” and that businesses are not required to use their services, such a disclaimer may not be sufficient.
“This company has zero affiliation with the State of Connecticut and there is no need to pay for their useless services. If you receive this letter, do not respond. If you have paid any money to this business, please file a complaint with my office,” said Attorney General Tong.
To report a scam or instance of fraud to the Office of the Attorney General, please file a complaint online here: https://www.dir.ct.gov/ag/complaint.
Lamont announces launch of new one-stop-shop portal for jobseekers
The launch of Connecticut’s new jobs portal, jobs.ct.gov was announced by Gov. Ned Lamont earlier this week, in a release from the governor’s office. The portal is aimed at assisting Connecticut residents and those seeking to move to the state in the process of finding a job. \
It represents the latest development in the Lamont administration’s ongoing journey toward an all-digital state government, according to the release.
Jobs.ct.gov joins health.ct.gov and business.ct.gov as the next service category to be developed in the new digital, one-stop government ecosystem. Some of the resources available through the jobs portal include:
- Powerful job search tools;
- Job search tips and personal help;
- Free and low-cost training, certificate, and classroom programs; and
- Resources to help employers hire, train, and retain employees.
All of the resources are Connecticut-specific and focus on connecting jobseekers with the variety of employment and workforce development opportunities offered in the state.
Governor announces formation of the Connecticut Interagency Council on Homelessness
A panel of agency heads within the Lamont administration will be responsible for collaborating on a multi-agency approach that strengthen the state’s homelessness prevention and response efforts, it was announced earlier by Gov. Ned Lamont.
The new agency will be called the Connecticut Interagency Council on Homelessness.
The council will include leaders of state agencies that are responsible for housing and intervention support services, according to the release form the governor’s office.
It will build upon existing efforts already undertaken by several state agencies, including the Department of Housing, the Department of Social Services, and the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
The governor is tasking the group with focusing its work on three main goals:
- Strengthening current programs
- Improving the effectiveness of the homelessness response system
- Meeting the demands of housing
Housing Commissioner Seila Mosquera-Bruno will serve as the council’s chairperson.
Yard waste barrels available from Public Works
Public Works is accepting applications for yard waste barrels for the 2024 yard-waste season
New and renewal application for yard waste barrel applications for the 2024-yard waste season are now being accepted by Public Works.
New customers are ones who do not currently have a yard-waste barrel on site, and are required to pay a $90 yard-waste fee, plus a $50 barrel deposit fee per barrel.
Renewal customers are ones who already have a yard-waste barrel on site, even if from a previous owner, and are required to pay the $90 service fee.
The 2024 season will begin Monday, April 1, and will run through Friday, Dec. 6. The online form that must be filled out with all forms of payment may be obtained here: https://bristolct.seamlessdocs.com/f/yardwaste2024.
Acceptable yard waste consists of grass clippings, leaves, woodchips, and small twigs no thicker than 1 inch and no longer than 12 inches. All yard waste must be placed in the provided yard waste container in such a manner that the material will freely exit the container when it is inverted.
No dirt, sod, rubbish, rocks, sand, or other foreign materials are allowed. Barrels weighing in excess of 300 lbs. will not be emptied. No bagged yard waste or yard waste in regular rubbish barrels will be collected as part of the service.
For more information on the city’s yard waste program, click here: https://ct-bristol2.civicplus.com/240/Yard-Waste.
Taste of Bristol tickets on sale
Taste of Bristol tickets are now available for sale for the 2024 promotion, it was announced by the West End Association.
Last year’s sales broke a record, according to president Jesse Jablon. The proceeds support the activities of the West End Association, both in its mission to promote and maintain its neighborhood as well funding the annual Rockwell Park Festival.
Purchasers of the tickets, which are $5, get 20 percent off at 42 local restaurants during the months of March and April 2024.
Each ticket includes an entry in a drawing for over $500 in restaurant gift certificates (prizes range from $10 to $25 per winner). The drawing, to be held on or about April 30, will be drawn from all tickets received by April 20.
Winners need not be present and will be notified.
Please see www.westendbristol.org for details and ticket selling locations. Tickets are available through West End Association members and several locations around the city. You can also contact WestEndBristol@gmail.com to get tickets.
New eligibility levels will allow nearly 10,000 additional people to receive SNAP benefits
Connecticut residents now qualify for Connecticut’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) if their monthly gross income is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level (for example, $2,430 for a single person and $5,000 for a four-person household).
Until October 2022, Connecticut’s limit was 185 percent of the federal poverty level ($2,248 for a single person and $4,625 for a four-person household). according to the announcement. The federal government allows monthly gross income limits up to 200 percent and Connecticut is now one of approximately 15 states to take full advantage of that allowance.
SNAP enrollees are issued electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards, which work like a debit card and are replenished for every month of eligibility. The cards can be used at thousands of participating food markets and grocery stores, convenience stores, farmers markets, and online at many retailers for food items approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service.
For more information on SNAP, visit www.ct.gov/snap.
Connecticut Energy Assistance Program accepting applications
The Connecticut Energy Assistance Program (CEAP) is accepting applications through May 31. CEAP helps Connecticut residents afford to heat their homes. Applications for CEAP typically take 30-45 minutes. Basic benefits towards heating bills range between $180 and $530. Benefits are usually paid directly to the utility company or fuel supplier. Households that heat with deliverable fuels like oil or propane may be eligible for additional free tank fills.
Connecticut residents that meet the following may be eligible: already receive food stamps (SNAP), SSI, TANF or other benefits from the Department of Social Services and have an annual household income falls at or below 60 percent of the state’s median income.
In Bristol, CEAP applications are available at HRA, 55 South St., (860) 356-2000. Email: energyapp@hranbct.org.
Thousands of old, low-level convictions set to be automatically erased over the next month
More than 80,000 people will have convictions for older, lower-level offenses cleared from their record over the next month, it was announced by Gov. Ned Lamont in a release last month.
The process to erase the vast majority of eligible records is expected to be completed by the end of January.
Approximately 28,752 additional convictions for operation while under the influence, for which Clean Slate eligibility was modified in the 2023 legislative session, are expected to be erased by the end of March 2024.
Additionally, another group of approximately 62,364 convictions will require manual confirmation due to imperfections in historical data. Those convictions will be processed manually over the course of the first half of 2024.
The erasure of these old, low-level convictions comes in addition to the 43,754 low-level drug possession (mostly cannabis) convictions that the state already erased earlier this year with the law that legalized and safely regulates the adult-use of cannabis.
It is expected that the system will initially identify for erasure approximately 178,499 offenses from more than 80,000 people. Record erasure does not mean deletion or destruction; instead, erasure causes a record to be flagged for nondisclosure to anyone other than the clerk holding the records.
Eligible offenses include:
- Any classified or unclassified misdemeanor (imprisonment less than one year), with a seven-year waiting period from the person’s most recent conviction.
- Class D, E, or unclassified felonies (imprisonment less than five years), or operating under the influence (General Statutes § 14-227a), with a 10-year waiting period from the person’s most recent conviction.
To be automatically erased, the offense must have been committed on or after Jan. 1, 2000. Earlier offenses may be erased via a petition to the courts under similar eligibility rules.
Some specific charges are excluded from erasure, as is any sexually violent offense and nonviolent sexual offense. Any offense designated as a family violence crime is also excluded. Convictions cannot be erased on a person’s record unless the person has no pending criminal charges and the person has completed all periods of incarceration, probation, and parole imposed since Jan. 1, 2000.
Some of the most common felonies to be erased are burglary in the 3rd degree, larceny in the 3rd degree, and forgery in the 2nd degree. Some of the most common misdemeanors to be erased are larceny in the 6th degree (shoplifting), DUI and failure to appear.
Convictions for violations of Connecticut General Statutes § 21a-279(c) imposed between Jan. 1, 2000, and Sept. 30, 2015, were automatically erased at the beginning of 2023. People who meet those criteria do not need to do anything to have those convictions erased.
Convictions for any of the following violations can be erased by petitioning the court:
- Convictions for violations of Connecticut General Statutes § 21a-279 for possession of less than or equal to 4 ounces of a cannabis-type substance imposed before Jan. 1, 2000, and between Oct. 1, 2015, and June 30, 2021.
- Convictions for violations of Connecticut General Statutes § 21a-267(a) for possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia for cannabis imposed before July 1, 2021.
- Convictions for violations of Connecticut General Statutes § 21a-277(b) imposed before July 1, 2021, for manufacturing, selling, possessing with intent to sell or giving or administering to another person a cannabis-type substance and the amount involved was less than or equal to four ounces or six plants grown inside your home for personal use.
For more detailed information about the law, visit portal.ct.gov/cleanslate.
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