Blogs

Monday, January 15, 2018,  

Detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Homicide Unit are conducting a homicide investigation in the 13300 block of Ashley Meadow Drive in the University City Division.  The call for service came in at 4:09 p.m. on Monday, January 15, 2018. 

University City Division patrol officers responded to a domestic violence assault with a deadly weapon call for service.  Upon arrival, officers located a male inside the residence with an apparent gunshot wound.  The male was pronounced deceased on scene by Medic.  The victim’s identity will be released pending family notification.

At this time it appears to be a domestic related shooting and we are not searching for anyone. 

Detectives with the Homicide/ADW Unit are canvassing the area to determine whether there are any witnesses to this incident. 

Crime Scene Search responded to the call for service to process the scene and collect physical evidence.  Representatives of the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Homicide Prosecution Team, Victim Assistance, and Operations Command responded to the scene. 

This is an ongoing, active investigation.  As further information develops it will be released by CMPD Public Affairs.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a Homicide Unit Detective.  Detective Peacock is the lead detective assigned to the case.  The public can also call Crime Stoppers at704-334-1600 or visit the Crime Stoppers mobile app website athttp://charlottecrimestoppers.com/.

Sunday, January 14, 2018,

Officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s North Division are conducting a shooting investigation in the 2400 block of Cairns Mill Court.  The call for service came in at 3:24 p.m. on Sunday, January 14, 2018.

North Division patrol officers responded to an assault with a deadly weapon call for service stating that one person was shot in a residence in the 2400 block of Cairns Mill Court.  Upon arrival, officers found a 10-year-old male victim with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. He was transported by Medic to Carolinas Medical Center.  The victim has what appears to be serious injuries. 

At this time, the shooting appears to be accidental and officers are not currently looking for any additional suspects. 

North Division Officers and Crime Scene Search are currently investigating and canvassing the area.

This is an ongoing, active investigation.  As additional information develops it will be released by CMPD Public Affairs. 

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or visit the Crime Stoppers mobile app website at http://charlottecrimestoppers.com/. 

“I Have A Dream” speech:

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only”. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last

13 January, 2018 – CONVICTED FELON ARRESTED FOR FRIDAY HOMICIDE

This morning, Detectives held a signed arrest warrant charging JOSHUA JAMES COUNCIL (9-15-1986), of New Haven, with the shooting murder of thirty-five year old Kenneth Nathaniel Cooper.

On Friday, 12 January, 2018, at 3:08 AM, Officers were alerted by ShotSpotter® to gunfire in the area of Whalley Avenue at Fitch Street. A person had been shot outside the entrance to the Exxon Gas Station Convenience Store at 775 Whalley Avenue.

The victim is Kenneth Cooper, formerly of New Haven, but recently, Waterbury, CT. A woman he was with drove Cooper to the hospital. He died shortly thereafter.

Neither the victim or the woman he was with were associated with the Exxon Station or the convenience store.

Police located the crime scene, which was processed by detectives. Productive witness interviews followed.

Officer Paul Vitale was on his beat this morning, when he spotted Council. He and other patrol officers apprehended him without incident near his residence.

Assistant Chief Achilles ‘Archie’ Generoso praised the thoughtful work of the officers and detectives working this case. He lauded the collaboration with the CT State’s Attorney’s Office and State Parole Officers for their dedication to the solving of this case.

JOSHUA JAMES COUNCIL, a convicted felon and parolee, was charged with murder, criminal possession of a pistol without a permit and violation of probation. He is being held at the NHPD lock-up on a million dollar bond

Friday, January 12, 2018

On 1/12/2018 at 5:47 p.m., South Division Officers responded to an apartment complex located in the 11000 block of Kingston Place Drive in response to a 911 call stating that 2 individuals had been shot.  When they arrived they located two victims, believed to be in their late teens, with apparent gunshot wounds.  MEDIC responded and both victims were transported to CMC-Main where they are being treated for non-life threatening injuries.  The report number for this incident will be 20180112-1747-02.

The initial investigation indicates that 3 male victims were in a vehicle in the parking lot of this apartment complex when 2 unknown male suspects, armed with firearms, approached their car.  The 3 occupants got out of their vehicle at which time 2 of them were shot as they attempted to run away.  The 3^rd subject in the car then had a physical altercation with at least one of the suspects and shot that individual.  The suspects fled the scene prior to officers arriving.   MEDIC transported both victims to CMC-Main where they are being treated for non-life threatening injuries.  The motive for this shooting is unknown at this time.

Also at 5:47 p.m., 911 received a call for service at a residence on Valley Spring Drive, which is located immediately behind Kingston Place Drive.  An unknown male showed up at this house and advised the resident he had been shot.  CMPD and MEDIC responded to the scene but this individual had already fled the area and was gone before the officers arrived.  A k-9 Team was deployed but was unable to locate this subject.  Given the close proximity in time and location it appears that this individual was one of the suspects who shot the two victims on Kingston Place Drive.

At approximately 6:44 p.m., a male individual arrived at CMC-Main with an apparent gunshot wound.  He is being treated for non-life threatening injuries.  At approximately 6:56 p.m., another male individual arrived at Presbyterian Hospital with a gunshot wound to his arm.  He is also being treated for non-life threatening injuries.   Detectives are working to determine if either of these two subjects were involved in the Kingston Place Dr. shooting or if these were separate incidents that occurred elsewhere.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call 911.  The public can also call Crime Stoppers at704-334-1600.

All meetings with an (*) indicate a public meeting

Monday, January 15th, 2018

City Hall Closed in Observance of Martin Luther King, Jr., No Meetings Scheduled.

Tuesday, January 16th, 2018

Emergency Preparedness, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 1, 9:30 a.m.

*Environmental Advisory Council, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium

Mayor’s Conference Room 2, 5:30 p.m.

*Board of Alders, Democratic Caucus, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium,

Meeting Room 3, 5:45 p.m.; Public Information, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 1, 6:30 p.m.; Full Board Meeting, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Aldermanic Chamber, 7:00 p.m. (203) 946-6483

*Fair Rent Commission, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium Meeting Room 2, 6:00 p.m.  (203) 946-8157

*New Haven Peace Commission, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 3

7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, January 17th, 2018

*Newhallville Safe Neighborhood Initiative, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium

Meeting Room 2, 9:00 a.m.

CAO, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 1, 9:15 a.m., (203) 946-7902

Project Youth Court, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 3, 1:00 p.m.

(203) 843-1713

CAO, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 1, 2:00 p.m., (203) 946-7902

*City Plan Commission, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Rooms 1 & 2, 5:00 p.m.

(203) 946-8237

Thursday, January 18th, 2018

Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium Meeting Room 3, 9:30 a.m., (860) 541-4703

*National Veterans Council, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Rooms 1 & 2

6:00 p.m.

Friday, January 19th, 2018

Arts, Culture & Tourism, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium Meeting Room 3, 11:15 a.m.

(203) 946-7172

Monday, January 22nd, 2018

Emergency Preparedness, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 1, 9:30 a.m.

Labor Relations, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 3, 1:00 p.m.

(203) 946-7151

*Elm City Cycling, New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, 2nd Floor Atrium, Meeting Room 3, 6:00 p.m

President Trump’s comments on Haiti and other African nations are not only deplorable, but emphatically misrepresent who we are as a nation. And we are clear that appealing to the basest of ideals will not divide us as a nation–even if the person making those comments holds the highest office in the land. We have come too far and overcome too much to see America return to it’s darkest days. 

Dr. King said that “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” And we will not be silent on this. Our biblical and ancestral heritage emerges from soil of Africa. These lands are an oasis of beauty, culture, and innovation. They are far from how the President described them. We will not stand idle and allow our brothers and sisters who are immigrants be treated in such a hostile manner. Therefore, we are calling on all people of faith, and the political leadership of the United States of America to speak out against these blatantly racist comments. It is beneath who we are as Americans, no, as humans to allow these comments to go unaddressed. So we are calling on everyone who truly cares about humanity to stand with us and denounce the bigotry we see in this administration with hope that we might continue to pursue liberty and justice for all.

Rev. Kelcy G.L. Steele, Pastor

Varick Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church

CLICK LINK 

King’s dream is the American dream 
Today, President Donald J. Trump will sign the official proclamation making this Monday, January 15, the “Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday.” This year marks the first time in more than a decade that the federal holiday falls on King’s actual birthday.

Here is an advance look at what the President will tell Americans today:

• Reverend King preached love throughout his life—love for each other, for our fellow Americans, and for humanity. That is what drove his work.
• We celebrate King first and foremost for standing up for the self-evident truth Americans hold so dear: No matter the color of our skin, or the place of our birth, we are ALL created equal by God.
• This April will mark half a century since King was cruelly taken from us by an assassin’s bullet. As we mourn his loss, we also pledge to fight for his dream of equality, freedom, justice, and peace.

12 January, 2018 – HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION

At 3:08 AM, Officers were alerted by ShotSpotter® to gunfire in the area of Whalley Avenue at Fitch Street. A person had been shot outside the entrance to the Exxon Gas Station Convenience Store at 775 Whalley Avenue.

The victim is Kenneth Cooper (1-21-1982), formerly of New Haven, but recently, Waterbury, CT. A woman he was with drove Cooper to the hospital. He died shortly thereafter.

Neither the victim or the woman he was with were associated with the Exxon Station or the convenience store.

Police located the crime scene, which was processed by detectives.

Investigators are following strong leads but are asking for the public’s help. Anyone with information valuable to detectives is urged to phone them at 203-946-6304. Calls may be made anonymously. Anonymous tips information is attached to this release.

Information on this case will be updated as is prudent, to the press pool at large, and not upon individual request.

Case Update:  Friday, January 12, 2018

The member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department who sustained a gunshot wound to the leg during last night’s shooting has been identified as Officer Casey Shue.  Officer Shue was hired on July 21, 2014, and is assigned to the North Tryon Division Crime Reduction Unit.  Two CMPD officers and two probation officers fired their weapons during this incident.  The CMPD officers have been identified as Jeffrey Zederbaum and Jared Decker.  Officer Zederbaum was hired on January 12, 2009, and is assigned to the North Tryon Division Crime Reduction Unit.  Officer Decker was hired on July 21, 2014, and is also assigned to the North Tryon Division Crime Reduction Unit. 

As is standard procedure with any officer involved shooting, the Internal Affairs Bureau will conduct a separate but parallel investigation to determine whether CMPD policies and procedures were adhered to during the course of the incident.  Per department protocol, the officers involved in this case are on Administrative Leave.

Officer Shue was recognized as officer of the month this past August for her outstanding work in keeping Hidden Valley neighborhood members safer.  That work included removing six guns from the streets of the community while making twenty-one arrests.  She also led officer initiated activities in the North Tryon Division this past summer. 

This is an active and ongoing investigation. Any further information will be released through CMPD Public Affairs. Questions about the the probation officers should be directed to Pamela Walker with the NC Department of Public Safety, Division of Community Corrections.  That telephone number is 919-733-5027.

Case Update:  Friday, January 12, 2018

Detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department are conducting an officer involved shooting investigation that occurred outside the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Law Enforcement Center at 601 E. Trade Street. Both an officer and a suspect were shot.

On Thursday, January 11, 2018 at approximately 10:49 p.m. officers from the North Tryon Division and N.C. Probation and Parole were briefing in the parking lot between the LEC and the CMPD parking deck, when they were fired upon multiple times. Several officers returned fire.

One CMPD officer was transported to the hospital with a non-life threatening gunshot wound to the leg. The officer’s identity will be released pending family notification.

The suspect also was shot and was transported by MEDIC to CMC Main, where he was pronounced deceased. He has been identified as Jonathan Bennett, the suspect wanted in connection with the death of Brittany White who was killed earlier in the day.

Detectives are currently interviewing officers and others who witnessed the incident.

As is standard procedure with any officer involved shooting, the Internal Affairs Bureau will conduct a separate but parallel investigation to determine whether CMPD policies and procedures were adhered to during the course of the incident.  Per department protocol, the officers involved in this case will be placed on Administrative Leave.

Crime Scene Search responded to process the scene and collect physical evidence.

Representatives of the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Homicide Prosecution Team, Internal Affairs Bureau, Operations Command, Special Investigations, and NC Probation and Parole responded to the scene

CMPD Homicide detectives are releasing a video that captures Ketie Jones walking along The Plaza shortly before she was shot. Jones was found around the corner in a parking lot off Hamorton Place. The video also shows a vehicle back up on Hamorton at just about the time detectives believe Jones was shot.

Notes:

• Jones comes into the frame at about 16:13 in the video.
• Detectives have determined that the clock on the video is a few minutes slow.
• The video is from a nearby building’s surveillance camera.

Anyone who may have been driving any of the vehicles shown in the video or who may have been in the area at the time is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a homicide detective. Anyone with any information about this case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600. A cash reward is available for information that leads to an arrest.

UPDATE TO THIS STORY 1/11/2017

Case Update:  Thursday, January 11, 2018,  

Detectives have located the missing infant Journei Bennett, safe and unharmed.  The suspect, Jonathan Bennett, is still on the run and detectives are continuing to ask for the public’s assistance in locating him.  Bennett should be considered armed and dangerous. 

As further information develops it will be released by CMPD Public Affairs.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a Homicide Unit Detective.  Detective Echols is the lead detective assigned to the case.  The public can also call Crime Stoppers at704-334-1600 or visit the Crime Stoppers mobile app website at http://charlottecrimestoppers.com/. 

Thursday, January 11, 2018,

Detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Homicide Unit are conducting a homicide investigation in the 4100 block of Carlyle Drive in the Freedom Division.  The call for service came in at 1:44 p.m. on Thursday, January 11, 2018. 

Freedom Division patrol officers responded to a shots fired call for service on Carlyle Drive.  Upon arrival, officers located a female victim inside a residence with an apparent gunshot wound.  The female was pronounced deceased on scene by Medic.  Her name will be released once her family has been notified.

Initial information gathered at the scene indicates that this incident is domestic related and that the victim and suspect were known to one another. 

At this time, detectives are currently searching for the suspect in this case, Jonathan Bennett, DOB: 01/18/1994, who was last seen driving an older white Ford Expedition with New York license plates HUP3071.  Detectives believe that Mr. Bennett and the victim had an infant child together and after the shooting Mr. Bennett took the infant with him.  There was a second child located unharmed on scene by officers.  The missing infant has been identified as Journei Bennett, DOB: 10/17/2017.  An Amber Alert will be issued for Journei Bennett. 

Homicide Detectives are currently canvassing the area to determine whether there are any witnesses to this incident.  

Crime Scene Search responded to the call for service to process the scene and collect physical evidence.  Representatives of the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Homicide Prosecution Team, CD-CP, Victim Services and Operations Command responded to the scene. 

This is an ongoing, active investigation.  As further information develops it will be released by CMPD Public Affairs.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a Homicide Unit Detective.  Detective Echols is the lead detective assigned to the case.  The public can also call Crime Stoppers at704-334-1600 or visit the Crime Stoppers mobile app website at http://charlottecrimestoppers.com/. 

2018 FREE TAX PREP SITES

VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE

Sharnice’s Story

Ja Rule, Ashanti in Worcester

Courtney Cheers ACA Open Enrollment Results

Photo: Paul Bass, New Haven Independent

New Haven – Mayor Toni N. Harp today reported the resignation of Community Services Administrator Dr. Martha Okafor effective Friday, January 12. The Community Services Administration (CSA) oversees the City’s network of social services departments and providers; Dr. Okafor has served the Harp administration and city residents as its administrator since 2014.

Prior to her arrival in New Haven, Okafor was the Director of the Division of Behavioral Health and an Assistant Professor at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Georgia, and she was a faculty member at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Massachusetts. She was also the Chief Executive Officer of a private community health and social services consulting business.

“Dr. Okafor brought an extraordinary skill set to New Haven and used it to advance programs and services provided by CSA to address hunger and food insecurity, financial literacy, and work for homeless residents,” Mayor Harp said. “The City’s nascent Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, to help substance abusers avoid criminal prosecution, is CSA’s most recent initiative under the leadership of Dr. Okafor, and I’m very enthusiastic about its prospects.”

As part of her resignation letter, Dr. Okafor states, “I appreciate the opportunities I have been given during my time with the City, and have enjoyed many important work and transformative initiatives we have implemented to improve health, safety and wellness of our residents and the general public.”

Dr. Okafor has agreed to consult with the City on CSA matters while the City transitions to a new Community Services Administrator.

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Photo from campaige website

Two More Democrats Get Into The Race For Governor

Brought to you by Michael Bigmike Ruler Willcox x Judo Rabadi & Tony Moxberg of Black Cloud 
hosted by Tony Moxberg & Eric Green

MORE PHOTOS CLICK HERE Lloyd Banks​ live performance + meet & greet at Lotus Lounge​

ALL PHOTOS AND VIDEO BY Majestic Dyer

North Korea's going to send athletes to the Winter Olympics. That's the first breakthrough to come out of the high-level talks (the first in two years) taking place between the North and the South. And the North is sending more than just athletes to next month's Games in Pyeongchang. The regime is also sending a cheering squad, an art troupe, a visitors' group, a Taekwondo demonstration team and a press corps. The two countries also discussed family reunifications and having military talks to prevent accidental conflicts.

more CLINK LINK Good Morning from CNN