Latest news with #ArunanArulampalam
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hartford taking safety precautions ahead of ‘No Kings Day' protests
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Nationwide protests are expected across the country Saturday as part of 'No Kings Day,' opposing the president's policies. At the state capitol in Hartford the barricades are out, but they're not up. This scene is playing out all across Connecticut. Law enforcement agencies in Connecticut preparing for 'No Kings' protests Saturday With dozens of rallies and celebrations, including Juneteenth, and protests planned for around the state, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) and Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam (D) are asking people to please keep it safe. Police are setting up the barricades on the capitol ground as the Hartford Symphony Orchestra plays in the background. The musicians are rehearsing for Saturday's concert in Bushnell Park and the celebrations around Juneteenth. Meanwhile, just steps up the hill, Capitol Police anticipate as many as 6,000 protesters rallying against the president's policies. Starting at 7 a.m. Saturday, no vehicles will be allowed on the capitol grounds. Connecticut State Police, and Capitol Police will have a lot of extra security on hand as Gov. Lamont and Attorney General William Tong (D) spoke about earlier this week. 'You should continue to exercise your right to speak and protest, lawfully and peacefully,' said AG Tong. 'Right now I think our state police and municipal police working together will keep us safe as they always have,' said Gov. and New Haven will also be ready, but not in the way. 'We have our officers on standby and we will let the protesters do their thing, as long as their thing isn't doing damage or being violent or burning anything,' New Haven Police Chief Karl Jacobson said. This week there have been protests from Meriden to New Haven regarding detainments by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They were loud and emotional, but peaceful so far. Protesters are upset at President Trump ramping up ICE raids and calling in the National Guard and Marines to California. 'We would bring more in if we needed it, because we have to make sure there's going to be law and order,' President Trump said. As the protests play out in the streets, the government is also asking people on work visas to go back to their country. The capitol grounds will be shut down by 7 a.m. to all vehicular traffic. Law enforcement officials anticipate more than two dozen protests across the state Saturday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Additional state funding expands opportunities for Hartford youth with summer employment program
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — The Hartford Summer Youth Employment program is back for the 2025 season, and applications for jobs are already coming in. Hartford Public Library receives $117K grant for youth employment and learning During this years legislative session, lawmakers allocated $10.7 million in funding for Hartford Public Schools. A portion of those funds goes towards the city's annual program. 'That will mean 800 kids in our city are spending time productively working on something, earning money for themselves, hopefully building a career in the long run,' Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam (D) said. 'That's a real investment in our city, a significant investment in our youth, a significant in violence prevention in our city. It has so many layers of impact.' The city already has a million dollars in its budget to support the jobs program — the additional funds from the state will help expand opportunities for students. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Can AI help solve Hartford's pothole problem?
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — Hartford city leaders are looking to a cutting-edge artificial intelligence tool to help tackle the challenge of potholes and other road defects. 'Since I've been mayor, I have, almost from the get-go, gotten complaints from residents about conditions of roads,' Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said at a press conference on Thursday. GUIDE: Low-cost or free summer activities for New Haven youth, families Arulampalam was joined by representatives of Vialytics, a German firm that developed the technology that Hartford will deploy on municipal vehicles to detect roadway hazards. The technology utilizes an iPhone camera mounted on the inside of a vehicle's front windshield. Using Vialytics' app, the vehicle's driver must first complete a short calibration before heading out on the streets. Once the vehicle is on the road, the app automatically captures images of the road every 10 to 15 feet, Vialytics's staff said. Then, the images are fed into a proprietary A.I. model, which has been trained to recognize more than a dozen roadway defects, including potholes and cracks. 'At first, humans were training that algorithm and actually clicking where see a crack, where we see a pothole,' Tom Cummins, a member of Vialytics's U.S. team, said. 'Over time, the AI, the model itself, is actually learning what a crack looks like, what a pothole looks like.' Law enforcement agencies in Connecitcut preparing for 'No Kings' protests Saturday For the capital city, Arulampalam said the deployment of A.I. to assist their two human road inspectors will help fill in cracks — literally and figuratively. Currently, the city relies on its inspectors and public complaints to identify roads in need of repair. That system can often miss hazards and inadvertently skew repair orders toward neighborhoods that are more likely to have residents who are familiar with filing complaints, city officials said. Vialytics' software is designed to provide more comprehensive coverage while ensuring that each of Hartford's neighborhoods receives the attention they need. Having a constant technological eye keeping tabs on the conditions of the capital city's roadways can raise privacy concerns. Still, Vialytics' top American executive stated that the German company operates under the European Union's data privacy regime, as outlined in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GDPR is generally considered to be stricter than any of the applicable data privacy laws in the United States. Vialytics's systems do not collect license plates and faces, the company executive said. Arulampalam said the new technology is going to be impactful for residents not only because it will help address existing potholes but also because it will enable city public works officials to more easily identify smaller defects before they turn into bigger hazards — all at a cost of less than $40,000 to the city in the upcoming fiscal year. 'This innovation is going to lead the way for quality of life in the city and make a huge difference for our residents,' Arulampalam said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hartford mayor allocates additional $3 million for city schools. District started $30 million short to maintain status quo.
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam said Tuesday that Hartford Public Schools would receive an additional $3 million to help mitigate a $6.7 million shortfall in the Board of Education's budget, which will preserve several crucial programs for students. But education advocates and some city council members say that the funding does not go far enough to restore teacher cuts and that there needs to be more investments in education. Carol Gale, president of the Hartford Federation of Teachers, said while she welcomed the funding, she is disappointed. 'While it is something to help the Board of Education, it does not close the budget nor does it restore a single teacher cut or laid off,' she said, adding that while 194 teacher positions were cut, an additional 100 teachers were displaced. The mayor said he is hopeful the remainder of the shortfall at $3.7 million will be funded from the state. But Councilman Josh Michtom of the Working Families Party, said the city could find an additional $8 million to fund education from the fund for health care expenses for city employees. Since 2022, Michtom said the city's health care claims budget has been over budget by over $20 million a year. 'If we invested less than half of that we could protect educator jobs and sustainably provide our students with programs to give them the support they need,' he said. 'Hartford parents are no fools. They know that when a city cares about funding a department, they prioritize it. We stand with them in their calls for prioritizing the children of Hartford.' Michtom continued: 'We should have a serious conversation whether we want to make a modest reduction in the police budget so we can do better public safety, which is frankly education and youth programs.' Mayor's allocation The $3 million in funding, which includes $1.5 million from city funds and $1.5 million from corporate and foundation funding guarantees, would safeguard the district's dental clinic, programs supported by Catholic Charities, the Opportunity Academy and ReadyCT career pipeline programs, which the Board of Education identified to cut. The $3 million is in addition to another $3 million the city contributed to Hartford public schools this past March. Arulampalam said those programs are critical, citing the Opportunity Academy as the last chance for students to get a high school diploma and the career pathways program ensuring students seek careers after high school. The mayor said that he will continue to advocate for funding for schools. 'This is not the final word for us,' the mayor said Tuesday at Hartford City Hall. 'We want to ensure every school building has the resources they need and support staff they need. Our goal is not to fill one budget gap. It is to create centers of excellence for all of our kids. We can't reach our great challenges if we are not willing to work together.' House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, said in an email Tuesday that he expects school funding will increase this year. 'The Hartford Legislative Delegation is always focused on securing funding for our schools,' he said. 'Last year we were able to increase school funding by $5 million in state ECS grants. We fully expect to increase funding this year as well, in both our priority bill on special education and through other legislation.' Board of Education Chair Jen Hockenhull said in a statement the funding was crucial. 'Not only does this ensure our students receive a quality education, but also have access to the resources they need to thrive,' she said. Hartford School Board member Tyrone Walker told the Courant that the mayor identified crucial programs that should be saved, also citing the Opportunity Youth Academy, as an opportunity to get students back on track. But one program still on the chopping block that has not been funded yet is the Hope Academy, Walker added, stating that program is also crucial as another one that helps students recover. Calling for more funding Gale said one of the ways that the Board of Education has lost funding is because some students opted to go to magnet schools in other districts and open choice districts. 'We need to attract them back and the only way to attract them back is investing in our schools,' she said. 'Opening back up our libraries and getting our drama programs and things that other districts have that excite kids.' And she called for more collaboration. Gale said that members of the Board of Education and City Council were present at the press conference, she noted the absence of the union and parents, many of whom have been calling for increased funding at recent budget meetings. She called for increased funding from the city, stating that the Hartford Federation of Teachers asked for $10 million. 'That would have balanced the superintendent budget and restored a little bit more,' she said. 'Quite frankly the state wants to see the city doing its part.' In response, Arulampalam told the Courant that he would love to have $10 million to put into the schools. 'Teachers and advocates have been convinced by some city council members that there is $10 million in the city budget,' he said. 'What the council members have not told them is that the plan to find that is to fire 120 police officers and slash health benefits to city employees, including teachers, firefighters and police officers. We are not going to do that. It is irresponsible and wrong.' Michtom argued that the city could stand to cut back on police a little bit, adding that the Board of Education has never gotten an increase in its budget over the past decade. By comparison, the police department's budget has gone up by $17 million, he said. Flat-funded budget Gale told the Courant that the city has flat funded the Board of Education budget for the last 10 to 12 years. 'We have received the same base amount from the city,' she said. 'There has been no cost of living increase. No adjustment for inflation over all of that time.' Gale said the overlay that adds to the complexity of the flat funding is the creation of magnet and charter schools, which has drawn students away from Hartford, affecting enrollment, which determines state grant funding. 'Arts and music has been a source of an opportunity gap between Hartford and our magnet counterparts,' she said. She added that the district has reduced the number of libraries from eight to three. 'We have lost our instrumental music program,' she said. 'We have lost many of our dance teachers. 'Five thousand Hartford students do not get art and music in their elementary years.' Equitable funding Hartford has faced increasing funding challenges over the years, receiving millions less from the state in funding than outlined under the Education Cost Sharing formula. The Board of Education's $6.7 million budget deficit in its $250 million budget has resulted in cuts to teaching positions and also impacted classroom resources and student programs. 'Until we deal with structural issues leading to budget deficit growth we are going to continue to be in this cycle of survival,' the mayor said. 'It is not a sustainable cycle. We are committed to advocating for more funding.' Since the start of the ECS formula in FY 2019 to 2024, Hartford has received $126 million less than what full funding called for, according to the School + State Finance Project. The School + State Finance Project states that 'large, urban districts tend to educate the greatest number of students with higher learning needs, and have student populations composed of the largest percentages of economically disadvantaged students, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities. These districts also tend to have larger percentages of BIPOCB students. Despite serving students with overall greater learning needs, these districts often do not receive funding that reflects the needs of their student populations.'
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
7 CT office-to-apartment conversions that made a difference. A big challenge looms on the horizon.
The recent launch of the conversion of two historic — but difficult to redevelop — office buildings in downtown was hailed by city and state leaders as making way for apartments that are very much in demand in a city where there is a glut of office space. In marking the $52 million conversion of former state office buildings on Hartford's Trinity Street into more than 100 residential rentals, Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam struck an upbeat vision for the city in the coming years. 'Brick by brick, development by development, this city is becoming one larger city in which every neighborhood feels a part of where we are going and this is an incredible centerpiece for that,' Arulampalam said, at last week's event. 'We are so proud of where the city is going. I hope you are so proud of what you see today and what the future looks like.' Indeed, the conversion of older office buildings in and around downtown in the last decade have helped absorb obsolete office space. The projects, many of them supported with public financing, have added thousands of rentals to strike a better — but still emerging — balance with the historical dominance of the office towers. But a big worry looms on the horizon: what to do with space in modern office towers downtown that were battered by corporate downsizings in the aftermath of the pandemic? 'The challenge now is do we take on the 'A' buildings and/or some of the corporate campuses (Aetna)?' Michael W. Freimuth, executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority, said in an email. How the low occupancies in some of the city's most recognizable office towers are dealt with will have far-reaching consequences. For the downtown economic ecosystem, there are far fewer office workers to regularly help support shops, restaurants and bars. And declining office building values will mean a hit to property taxes collected by the city that pay for municipal services and running its school system. Class A space is considered the most prime, marquee space. In downtown Hartford, there are five major office towers — two on Constitution Plaza — either in foreclosure or receivership, some the casualty of lenders unwilling to refinance mortgages in a shaky office leasing market both in Hartford and nationally. Receivership means building owners have lost day-to-day control of their buildings because they haven't been able to make loan payments or refinance. CityPlace I — the tallest office building in Hartford — fell into receivership after its main tenant, UnitedHealthcare, slashed its leased space as more of its employees in the city worked from home after COVID-19. Of the roughly 885,000 square feet in the 38-story tower, just 45%, or about 400,000 square feet is occupied, according to CoStar, the commercial real estate analytics firm. A new analysis by Cushman & Wakefield of the 14 Class A, or prime, office buildings in Hartford's business district showed that overall availabilities were 35.5% as of Mar. 31. That up a full percentage point from 34.5% compared to a year earlier, the analysis by the commercial real estate services firm found. By the numbers, that's 2 million square feet available out of about 5.7 million. Nationally, the move to convert idle office space into residential rentals has gained considerable momentum in the past several years, according to a recent report from which tracks trends involving apartments. The report found that the number of apartments set to be converted from office space has skyrocketed from 23,100 in 2022 to a record-breaking 70,700 expected in 2025. CityPlace and other office towers in the downtown Hartford area may not be necessarily be suitable for apartment conversions. But older, smaller buildings may well be, with their tenants potentially moving into Class A space where lower, attractive rents could be negotiated and owners are hungry for tenants. For developers, rising construction costs — potentially affected by new tariffs — remain a concern when assessing the viability of projects and whether public funding needs to be increased. In the legislature, a half-dozen bills — some proposing tax credits — sought at the beginning of the session to encourage office-to-residential conversions. And Gov. Ned Lamont proposed $50 million in his capital budget to support such projects. In the last decade, Hartford got a jump on converting office space, well before anyone had heard of COVID-19. But the stakes still remain high because the city has more office space than New Haven, Waterbury and Bridgeport combined. Original use: Office tower Built: 1967 Conversion cost: $84.5 million, with public funding # of apartments: 285 Market-rate/Affordable: 80%/20% Developer: Bruce Becker, Westport Conversion completed: 2015 Current Occupancy: 98% Why it Matters: The 26-story office tower once stood out in the city's nighttime skyline, dark and empty — a highly visible reminder of the city's struggle with revitalization. The project was one of the earliest and largest office-to-apartment conversions in the last decade, and provided a crucial test for housing demand in downtown Hartford. Original use: Masonic Hall Built: 1894 Conversion cost: $4.5 million, with public funding # of apartments: 26 Market-rate/Affordable: 100% Market-rate Developer: Yisroel Rabinowitz, Brooklyn, NY Conversion completed: 2014 Current Occupancy: 86% Why it Matters: The former Masonic Hall had struggled to accommodate offices, but was successfully converted into The Grand on Ann apartments. The project, the first to be completed using low-cost financing through the Capital Region Development Authority, established housing on the eastern end of downtown's Allyn Street corridor. CRDA sought to strengthen the residential presence between the XL Center and Union Station. It is uncertain how that vision will unfold now that the federal government has all but chosen an Allyn Street parking lot for a new federal courthouse. Original use: Offices for wool merchants Built: 1883 Conversion cost: $14.9 million, with public financing # of apartments: 63 Market-rate/Affordable: 80%/20% Developer: Dakota Partners, Waltham, MA Conversion completed: 2015 Current Occupancy: 84% Why it Matters: The renovation revived the use of an office building considered an architectural gem, but was in decline with few tenants. The conversion to rental housing added more apartments around Union Station on the west end of Allyn Street. Leasing helped build a track record for downtown rental demand. Original use: office tower Built: 1965 Conversion cost: $28.4 million, with public funding # of apartments: 157 Market-rate/Affordable: 100% Market-rate Developers: Wonder Works Construction Corp. and Girona Ventures, both of New York Conversion completed: 2020 Current Occupancy: 97% Why it Matters: The 12-story office tower at the corner of Pearl and Lewis streets was once a bank headquarters and later, a police substation. Until converted to apartments in 2020, a string of attempts to redevelop the structure into office space, apartments and condominiums failed, leaving the building largely vacant and decaying for years. Original use: office building Built: 1950 Conversion cost: $21.5 million, with public funding # of apartments: 101 Market-rate/Affordable: 100% Market-rate Developers: Wonder Works Construction Corp. and Girona Ventures, both of New York Conversion completed: 2019 Current Occupancy: 96% Why it Matters: The 7-story building was vacant for more than a decade and like the neighboring 101 Pearl occupied a prominent corner in downtown, diagonally across from the XL Center arena, The two structures are now joined internally to create one apartment building. Original use: department store Built: 1928 Conversion cost: $30 million, with public funding # of apartments: 97 Market-rate/Affordable: 100% Market-rate Developer: Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Shelbourne Global Solutions LLC, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Lexington Partners and LAZ Investments, both of Hartford. Conversion completed: 2023 Current Occupancy: 100% Why it Matters: The L-shaped building that anchors the southern side of the corner of Pratt and Trumbull streets was long past its heyday. After the Steiger's Department Store closed in 1962, the upper floors became office space. The new apartments formed a cornerstone for the Pratt Street corridor which aspires to be both a place to live and a visitor destination. Original use: office building Built: 1981 Conversion cost: $20 million, with public funding Apartments: 60 Market-rate/Affordable: 70%/30% Developer: RBH Group, Newark, N.J Conversion completed: 2019 Current Occupancy: 98% Why it Matters: Teacher's Village Hartford converted office space facing Bushnell Park that had been vacant for two decades. The vision was to create a residential community for teachers and other educators who can collaborate and support each other in their professional endeavors. While an estimated 40% of the units are occupied by educators, below the initial leasing of 60-70%, the apartments remain nearly fully leased. SOURCES: Capital Region Development Authority; Courant reporting
