• Neighborhood Snapshots — Statistical profiles of each Hartford Neighborhood based on the 2010 Census data, the American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2000 Census data are presented on spreadsheets for easy comparison. Go to www.hartfordinfo.org, and click on Neighborhood Snapshots in the center panel under Data Sets.
• Hartford Voting Districts 2012 — Every ten years, the boundaries of Connecticut's House, Senate, and Congressional districts are adjusted based upon population changes reflected in the U.S. Census. These changes have resulted in the need to reconfigure the city's voting districts. Click here for an explanation and for a link to the map .
• The Citizen's United Decision: Are Corporations People Too? — Video of the January 24, 2012 program held at the Hartford Public Library. Click here for the video.

• State of the City, 2012 — Mayor Pedro Segarra addresses the City Council, reviewing progress of efforts to develop the City's neighborhoods, safeguard the well-being of residents, create jobs and improve education, and expand local businesses. Click here for the document.
• Knight Foundation Soul Of The Community 2010 — This report was designed to find out what emotionally attaches people to a community. The report showed that when people feel greater attachment, communities are more successful. . Click here for the report.
• Living Below the Line: Economic Insecurity And America's Families — This report finds that large segments of the US population live on incomes that fail to provide even basic economic security. Click here for the report.
• Hartford Public Schools Monitoring Visit Report — This report by the Connecticut State Department of Education Bureau of Special Education is the result of an ongoing evaluation of the Hartford Public Schools Special Education services. Click here for the report.
• NextED: Transforming Connecticut's Education System — In order to transform Connecticut’s current pre-K to 12 public school system and address today’s challenges, The Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) has developed a series of action-oriented recommendations that all revolve around the learner. Click here for the report.
• Governor's Education Bill — This is the text of Governor Malloy's bill concerning education reform. Click here for the report.
• Analysis Of Governor's Education Bill — Analysis of Governor Malloy's bill concerning education reform. Click here for the report.
• Hartford Shelters — A list of Hartford Shelters. Click here for the list.
• Invisible Students — This report examines the systematic removal of struggling and vulnerable students from traditional high schools and explores their experiences and outcomes in the alternative and adult education programs they attend. Click here for the report.
• Recidivism Among Sex Offenders in Connecticut — This report focuses on recidivism of Connecticut state inmates who are sex offenders. Based on the analysis, post-release supervision focused on the high-risk sex offenders appears to be a cost-effective strategy to prevent crime. Click here for the report.

Big Ideas

• Buildings Are Major Piece Of Hartford Revival — Since taking office in mid-2010, Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra has taken action to remove the city's two leading eyesores — the former H.B. Davis building and the Capitol West building. Click here for the article.
• Herbst: Public Education Is An Economic Engine — Public education could contribute to Connecticut's economy more than it already does, a prominent economist and the president of the University of Connecticut told the annual Connecticut and Business Industry Association/MetroHartford Alliance economy summit. Click here for the article.
• Hartford's iQuilt: A Big Idea Where Somebody Needs To Step Up — Rick Green writes that the nearly $100 million iQuilt project, a fascinating collaboration between the business, arts and entertaiment communities, has come up with bite size, affordable, pieces that add up to a changed city. iQuilt, which links Hartford's attractions by creating a more walkable city, presents another chance for Hartford. Click here for the article.
• We Can't Afford To Lock So Many People Away — Two recent reports offer a bad-news, good-news incentive for prison reform. The first says prisons cost way more than we think they do. The second says we shouldn't put as many people in them as we do. Click here for the article.

Neighborhoods

• Elizabeth Park Seeks To Repair Rose Garden's Signature Arches, Damaged In October Snowstorm — Elizabeth Park's signature rose arches were crushed under the weight of snow from the October 2011 snowstorm, and it will cost $35,000 to restore them. Click here for the article.
• Community Gardens Get Funding — A new community garden at Earle and Barbour streets, complete with 10 fruit trees, will be built in spring of 2012 with a federal grant. Click here for the article.
• It Takes A Neighborhood To Raise A House — On a recent Friday morning, a houseful of dignitaries and well-wishers gathered in Hartford's Asylum Hill neighborhood for the ceremonial "handing over of the keys" to a brand new, yet older-looking house to its new owners. Click here for the article.
• Lyric Theater Renovation Gets A Boost — The intersection of Broad and Park Streets is the center of Connecticut's Hispanic Community, and the ideal location for a regional center for Hispanic culture. Fortunately, a vacant building is located just one building away from the actual intersection, the old Lyric Theater on Park Street. Click here for the article.
• Sustainable Neighborhoods Program Takes Aim At Blight — The Livable and Sustainable Neighborhoods Initiative (LSNI) is Mayor Pedro Segarra’s collaborative, methodical approach to stabilizing and improving Hartford neighborhoods through blight reduction and community development. Click here for the article.

Arts and Culture

• Cultural Shock: The Arts' New Role in State Branding — The Department of Economic & Community Development, recently announced that state arts funding is fundamentally changing with the majority of its $3 million in operational grants being shifted to projects that have greater impact on their communities, especially cities. Click here for the article.
• Capital Community College and Hartford Stage: "One Play" Collaborative Continues — Hartford Stage and Capital Community College have joined forces to expose students to the world of theatre through a new collaboration dubbed "One Play." Click here for the article.

Education and Youth

• Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Hartford Grandmother Talks About Her Challenges — Nationwide, census figures say the number of grandparents raising grandchildren increased by more than 25 percent since 2001. In Connecticut, some 45,000 children under the age of 18 live in a home headed by a grandparent, Louise Douglas, of Hartford, discusses her challenges in raising her grandchildren. Click here for the article.
• For Students Facing Long School Day, Supper Is Served — About 450 Hartford students have been eating supper in school cafeterias as part of a government-funded meal program that may expand in to other Connecticut school systems this year. Click here for the article.
• Beware The Myths Muddying The Debate On Education Reform — Rick Green writes that as Connecticut moves toward education reform, it is important to seek impartial opinions. We need, more than anything, to pay more attention to what works. Click here for the article.
• CT International Student Flavor Grows — The increase in international students attending Connecticut institutes of higher education is handing the state’s industry and workforce a distinct advantage in the world economy. Click here for the article.

Transportation

• Hartford Launches 60-Foot-Long, 'Bendy' Buses, Citing Economy And Better Chances For A Seat — Hundreds of CT Transit riders on busy Park Street and Farmington Avenue routes are in store for a new ride — and a much better chance for a seat. New 60-foot-long, two-section buses are scheduled to begin shuttling passengers soon. Click here for the article.

Economic Development

• Hartford's Denim Boys Keep Manufacturing Tradition Alive — The Hartford Denim Co., started by a trio of hopeful young men in their 20s, is manufacturing jeans in Hartford's Parkville neighborhood. Click here for the article.

Budget

• Mayor Names Legislative Priorities — In anticipation of a hotly contested battle for virtually every dollar of funding in the state's upcoming budget, Mayor Pedro Segarra has drawn up a specific set of goals for the city in the current session of the legislature. Click here for the article.

Hartford History

• Beatrice Fox Auerbach Used Wealth To Care — Beatrice Fox Auerbach, who headed the G. Fox department store beginning in 1938 continued the tradition of giving back to the community. Her store would pass away, but her philanthropy lives. Click here for the article.
• Hartford's Past: Amateur Historian Shares Memories of State Theater — Calvin Vinick recently shared some of his scrapbooks of advertisments from the State Theater. Click here for the article.

Notable Transistions

• Ethel May Austin: A Tireless Advocate For Senior Citizens — Ethel Austin, a well-known advocate for senior citizens died on Dec. 27, 2011 at age 96. She sang tenor in a women's barbershop group and championed the Asylum Hill community where she lived in Hartford. Charming and outgoing, she was an independent, pioneering career woman who never married. Click here for the article.
• Farewell to the "Queen of the Hill": Ethel Austin, 1915-2011 — Hartford and The Hartford News lost one of its best friends on Tuesday, December 20, 2011 as Ethel M. Austin passed away three months shy of her 97th birthday. Click here for the article.
• Thelma Dickerson, Founder of Hartford's Jumoke Academy, Dies At 87 — Thelma Ellis Dickerson, an outspoken educator who became president of the Hartford school board and founded Jumoke Academy in her golden years, died Saturday, February 18, 2012. She was 87. Click here for the article