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What we are watching this week …

Latest on Connecticut Budget Struggle

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By Angela Varney

 

Gov. Malloy and Connecticut legislative leaders are scrambling to compromise on the budget deal this week to meet the Oct. 1 deadline. The battle to agree on a budget deal has been raging since the the fiscal year began on July 1 while the potential loss of more than $1 billion in local aid on the line.

“For me–and for any of us–we wanted a budget by July 1,” Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said Sunday morning. “October 1 is certainly another deadline. A bipartisan budget is the goal. Whether it’s possible or not is anybody’s guess.”

Without coming to an agreement on the budget deal, dozens of the state’s wealthier towns will receive an executive order from the governor, causing them to miss out on the first four scheduled payments for local schools.

However, sources said Sunday that if there isn’t a compromise made on the budget deal isn’t cleared through the House and Senate, or signed by Gov. Malloy, by Oct. 1, a special one-day session will be held this week to “assure that $70 million in federal Medicaid reimbursement funding flows to state hospitals,” according to the CT Post.

 

Connecticut Notified of Possible Russian Voting Hacking

By: Julius Saporito

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Connecticut claims to have had their voting system targeted by Russian hackers during the Presidential campaign last year between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. According to the federal government, “Russian agents attempted to breach Connecticut’s election system before the 2016 election.”

After feeling their state’s voting system had been hacked, many were worried their votes were not safe and action was needed to prevent this from happening again. The Department of Homeland Security did however notify Connecticut as 1 of 21 states that were possibly being targeted by russian hackers before the election even started.

According to the Hartford Courant Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee said news that Connecticut’s system was targeted “reaffirms the urgency and importance of the ongoing federal investigations.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla has also voiced his opinion over how the Department of Homeland Security has responded to states over potential voter hacking. “It is completely unacceptable that it has taken DHS over a year to inform our office of Russian scanning of our systems, despite our repeated requests for information.”

 

Senate Republicans Propose New Health Care Bill

By: Angela Varney

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Senate Republicans are making a last-minute effort to pass a bill to repeal Obamacare this week before the deadline to pass repeal with a simple majority ends on September 30th.

The bill also referred to as the Cassidy-Graham bill, has been updated multiple times throughout the weekend with the latest version providing increased federal funding and other benefits to Alaska, Arizona and Kentucky. All three of these states are also home to vital GOP swing voters that have opposed or voiced concerns with the bill.

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The revised version of the bill would “reduce federal funds to states by $120 billion between 2020 and 2026”, according to Politico.

It is still not clear whether or not the bill will be voted on this week before the deadline. However, if it does, the Cassidy-Graham health care bill will need 50 of the 52 Senate Republicans to vote in favor of it if no Democrats vote on it, as is expected. The Congressional Budget Office is expected to come out with an analysis of the bill on Monday.

 

 

Trump tweets up sports controversy

By Anna Sackel and Karli Regalbuto

Hamden- President Donald Trump verbally attacked Stephen Curry and the NFL this past weekend. It all started on Saturday with Stephen Curry’s mixed feelings on attending the White House. During a press conference, he said “I don’t wanna go”. He went on to say that it is not just him, the organization is unsure on whether or not they will attend. “We don’t stand for basically what our president, the things that he has said and the things that he hasn’t said, at the right times, that we won’t stand for,” he said. Stephen Curry hopes to ignite change by not attending the White House.

Trump was not pleased with this news. He tweeted about Stephen Curry’s statement.

The Golden State Warriors released a statement regarding the invitation withdrawal from the White House.

President Trump spoke at a press conference in Alabama shortly after the Stephen Curry conference. He criticized past protests in the NFL. “Wouldn’t you love to see one of these NFL owners when somebody disrespects our flag to say get that son of a b**** off the field right now, he’s fired,” he said. The protests that President Trump is referring to happened in the 2016-2017 season.

The NFL released a statement regarding the President’s comments.

President Trump took to Twitter to further discuss his displeasure with the NFL and Roger Goodell. He even started a trending hashtag, #StandForOurAnthem.

In the aftermath of the debates on twitter, Roger Goodell released a video on his Twitter page. The video played during Sunday’s NFL games.

Many players kneeled, sat, and locked arms during the National Anthem on Sunday’s NFL games. Players and coaches demonstrated in response to the President of the United States criticism.

Owners and players issued statements about their stance on the matter. According to the New York Times, Patriots owner and longtime friend of Trump Robert K. Kraft, put out a statement condemning Trump’s attack on the NFL. He said,

“I am deeply disappointed by the tone of the comments made by the President on Friday. I am proud to be associated with so many players who make such tremendous contributions in positively impacting our communities. Their efforts, both on and off the field, help bring people together and make our community stronger. There is no greater unifier in this country than sports, and unfortunately, nothing more divisive than politics.”

Other sports teams reacted to the President’s statements on Saturday and Sunday. According to the New York Times, the rookie catcher for the Oakland Athletics kneeled at the MLB game, during the National Anthem on Saturday night. This was the first time in MLB history there was a demonstration before a game. Sunday afternoon, members of the WNBA stayed in the locker room while the National Anthem played in solidarity with what other teams displayed this past weekend.

Sunday morning, the Pittsburgh Penguins put out a statement that they would still visit the White House. The team received praise from President Trump for their decision to attend.

Notably, NASCAR has not shown a sign of support for this movement so far. NASCAR participants stood during the National Anthem. NASCAR Hall of Famer, Richard Petty, said that anyone who does not stand up for the National Anthem ought to be “out of the country. Period.”

Many people are continuing to use Twitter to voice their opinions about the sports issues surrounding this past weekend.

 

Timeline of Events:

  • Saturday Early Evening- Stephen Curry makes statement about not wanting to visit the White House. His reasoning is because he does not agree with what President Trump says.

  • Saturday Early Evening- President Trump tweets uninviting Stephen Curry to the White House.

  • Saturday Evening- The Golden State Warriors issue a statement that acknowledges the President’s Tweet. They recognize they are no longer welcome to visit the White House.

  • Saturday Evening- President Trump spoke in Alabama criticizing the NFL. He calls for the owners to fire anyone who does not stand during the National Anthem.

  • Saturday Evening- The NFL released a statement in response to President Trump. The statement calls for unity within the league.

  • Saturday Evening- President Trump tweets about Roger Goodell. He calls for Goodell to make players stand during the National Anthem.

  • Saturday Evening- Rookie Catcher for the MLB Oakland Athletics kneels during National Anthem. First time in MLB history there is a demonstration.

  • Sunday Morning- Pittsburgh Penguins put out a statement saying they will visit the White House. This goes against what many other teams are demonstrating.

  • Sunday Afternoon- Members of the WNBA stay in the locker room during the National Anthem. Other teams have demonstrated by kneeling, sitting and locking arms.

  • Sunday Afternoon- NASCAR participants stand during National Anthem. Hall of Famer Richard Petty put out a statement saying anyone who doesn’t stand should leave the country.

  • Sunday Afternoon- Goodell releases unity video that played during Sunday Night Football. The commercial depicted camaraderie within the NFL, across all teams.  

  • Sunday Evening- Players and coaches held demonstrations during the National Anthem. Some players kneeled, sat down and locked arms. But it wasn’t just the players involved, coaches joined locking arms, too.

  • Sunday Evening- Owner’s issued statements. Most notably, the owner of the Patriots and longtime friend of President Trump, Robert Kraft. He spoke about his disappointed in the comments President Trump has made about the league.

  • Monday Morning- Trump continued to tweet about the NFL not standing for the Anthem.

  • Monday Night- The Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals linked arms to show unity during the Anthem, as well as the Cowboys took a knee as a team before the Anthem began.

Humans of Hamden: Father Matthew Gworek


                                                                                                                                                                                Photo by Lindsay Pytel

                                                                                                                                                                               Photo by Lindsay Pytel

By Shauna Golden

Sitting alone quietly at a Quinnipiac University cafeteria table tucked underneath a set of stairs, 30-year-old Father Matthew Gworek offered up a friendly smile.

Father Gworek is a Catholic priest who works down the road at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and is also a chaplain at Quinnipiac University. Taking a minute out of his day at Quinnipiac, Father Gworek gave his perspective about recent events going on in the world.

When asked about the protests of the National Anthem during recent NFL games, Father Gworek explained that this issue falls into a gray area, it is not simply black and white.

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“I think, you know, you can see different perspectives and a lot of different sides. I think it was, maybe the best example was, I think it was a player for the Pittsburgh Steelers this past weekend, who had this big struggle because his team was doing one thing but he was also a veteran, so he had to kind of walk the line and try to support both groups and both sides.”

Father Gworek explained that individuals have the opportunity to use this issue as a way of working together to find a common ground.

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“Hopefully the NFL and the players and the teams and whomever will look at that and say we can use this as a way to pull together instead of just ripping us apart.”

When asked about the Cassidy-Graham Healthcare bill, the proposed plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Father Gworek offered up an opinion similar to his last. He explained that the country must come together instead of dividing itself.

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“Unfortunately, there’s probably no perfect system. Because it comes from different perspectives and ideas, that leads to differences of opinion and kind of leads to, unfortunately, the kind of situation we’re in, where you have two different sides that see very differently. I think that whatever happens and whatever way the country decides to go it should be something that’s well thought out and considered and really does support as many people as possible.”

When the conversation shifted away from current events and transitioned to the topic of priesthood, Father Gworek’s bright blue eyes lit up and his nervousness visibly lessened.

The priest, who was ordained just under 18 months ago, explained that becoming a man of the cloth hadn’t always been his path in life.

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“I never thought I was going to be a priest. I actually went to UConn and I studied music there, I wanted to be a music teacher. That was the plan.”

However, after becoming heavily involved in the church on UConn’s campus, Father Gworek simply couldn’t walk away from something that had become such a big part of his life.

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“It was a really cool experience where I came to look at these people around me, especially the priests who really seemed to love what they were doing and who they are and what they’ve decided to do with their life and whatever I do I want to find that happiness.
”

Father Gworek has found his happiness in serving as a priest at two different churches. Gworek offered this advice to those who are still actively looking for what will give them happiness in their lives:

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“I think for all of us that’s the driving force. We want to do something that makes us happy…and for everybody that’s a little bit different based on who we are and the talents that God’s given us.
”

Father Gworek is a human of Hamden and Quinnipiac.

Latest on the Connecticut budget struggle

By Angela Varney

Embed from Getty Images

Gov. Malloy and Connecticut legislative leaders are scrambling to compromise on the budget deal this week to meet the Oct. 1 deadline. The battle to agree on a budget deal has been raging since the the fiscal year began on July 1 while the potential loss of more than $1 billion in local aid on the line.

“For me–and for any of us–we wanted a budget by July 1,” Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk, said Sunday morning. “October 1 is certainly another deadline. A bipartisan budget is the goal. Whether it’s possible or not is anybody’s guess.”

Without coming to an agreement on the budget deal, dozens of the state’s wealthier towns will receive an executive order from the governor, causing them to miss out on the first four scheduled payments for local schools.

However, sources said Sunday that if there isn’t a compromise made on the budget deal isn’t cleared through the House and Senate, or signed by Gov. Malloy, by Oct. 1, a special one-day session will be held this week to “assure that $70 million in federal Medicaid reimbursement funding flows to state hospitals,” according to the CT Post.

 

 

 

Connecticut notified of possible Russian vote hacking

By Julius Saporito

Embed from Getty Images

Connecticut claims to have had their voting system targeted by Russian hackers during the Presidential campaign last year between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. According to the federal government, “Russian agents attempted to breach Connecticut’s election system before the 2016 election.”

After feeling their state’s voting system had been hacked, many were worried their votes were not safe and action was needed to prevent this from happening again. The Department of Homeland Security did however notify Connecticut as 1 of 21 states that were possibly being targeted by russian hackers before the election even started.

According to the Hartford Courant Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee said news that Connecticut’s system was targeted “reaffirms the urgency and importance of the ongoing federal investigations.

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla has also voiced his opinion over how the Department of Homeland Security has responded to states over potential voter hacking. “It is completely unacceptable that it has taken DHS over a year to inform our office of Russian scanning of our systems, despite our repeated requests for information.”

 

 

 

Senate Republicans propose new health care bill

By Angela Varney

Embed from Getty Images

Senate Republicans are making a last-minute effort to pass a bill to repeal Obamacare this week before the deadline to pass repeal with a simple majority ends on September 30th.

The bill also referred to as the Cassidy-Graham bill, has been updated multiple times throughout the weekend with the latest version providing increased federal funding and other benefits to Alaska, Arizona and Kentucky. All three of these states are also home to vital GOP swing voters that have opposed or voiced concerns with the bill.

The revised version of the bill would “reduce federal funds to states by $120 billion between 2020 and 2026”, according to Politico.

It is still not clear whether or not the bill will be voted on this week before the deadline. However, if it does, the Cassidy-Graham health care bill will need 50 of the 52 Senate Republicans to vote in favor of it if no Democrats vote on it, as is expected. The Congressional Budget Office is expected to come out with an analysis of the bill on Monday.

Humans of Hamden: Lauren McGrath


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Photo by Karli Regalbuto

By Karli Regalbuto

Lauren McGrath is a junior journalism major at Quinnipiac University. Her minor is creative writing and she is from Long Island, New York.

Upon first glance, McGrath is on the shorter side and has fair skin. She has medium length curly blonde hair, matched with a big smile and bright blue eyes. Just from that description alone, one may have already created their own version of who they think she is. However, McGrath revealed deeper parts of her personality as she spoke.

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“I’m the editor of the Barnacle, which is like the satire newspaper on campus,” she said. “I really love creative writing and I want to go to into like comedy writing. That’s more ‘creative journalism,’ so I wanted to have that background.”

She goes on to explain what she thinks makes her unique.

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“I say a lot of stuff that people don’t expect me to say,” McGrath said. “I’m like a small little blonde girl and then I think people are surprised when I curse or make crude jokes and stuff, which is like one of my favorite things to do.”

When asked about the world and what has surprised her, Lauren responded candidly about her feelings on the President.

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“Surprised about?” she said. “‘Sad about’ is a better (term). Just basically the state of America and the world and I hate Donald Trump with every fiber of my being, and his supporters, which is terrible to say, but like the people that are like die-hard supporters that are like sexist, racist (and) I just can’t understand or agree with.”

Connecting to some of the major stories affecting the area and the country, McGrath had a lot to say about the hurricanes as well.

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“Oh, it’s so sad,” she said. “And I think another thing that is really sad is that I heard a lot of people, I don’t remember which hurricane it was, it was either Irma or Harvey, it hit Cuba instead of Florida and everyone was like ‘Oh thank god it hit Cuba’ and I was like ‘there are still people in Cuba.’ Like, you should still be sad about that. It’s really terrible and I feel like Mother Nature is kind of coming back and being like ‘f**** you guys’ because we’ve made so many problems in the world.”

The last topic that Lauren touched upon was the paving in Hamden. She voiced her concern about the decision to pave right around when students began moving back to campus.

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“Why would they wait until we came back to school?” she said. “Like, why would they not do it as soon as we left, it just didn’t make any…it’s just f***ing Quinnipiac…like they always do everything in the worst possible way. It’s good they’re paving the roads, but they just have to do it in the worst way possible, because that’s how Quinnipiac works.”

This is a part of who Lauren McGrath is, a short, outspoken girl from Long Island. She is a human of Hamden and Quinnipiac.

 

Humans of Hamden: Phil Carola


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Photo by Karli Regalbuto

By Karli Regalbuto

Phil Carola is one of the maintenance supervisors at Quinnipiac University. He is 75 years old with a lot of life experience.

He is short to average height with olive skin, with some noticeable wrinkles on his face and his hands. The hair on his head is grey and his smile is more of a straight line. His eyes appear slightly opened. The interview gave a little insight into his life.

When asked what he was looking forward to in life, Carola responded with a bit of humor.

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“What am I looking forward to?” he said. “I’m going to be 75 this summer and I plan on getting out, retiring.”

Carola also made a bit of a joke about the hurricanes, Jose and Maria, that are approaching the United States.

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“As far as the hurricanes, I hope Jose goes out to sea, we don’t want him here,” Carola said. “Then we got Maria right behind him and right now that looks like it may hit us (too). It may not, but I think we are prepared because we do have a preparedness team here.”

He switched gears and began talking more about his personal life and not so much what is happening in the world. Carola went on to talk about his work and his family.

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“I’m into my 23rd year,” Carola said. “(In) my first job I had…back when corporate America was getting bought out by a lot of other companies, I lost my job of 28 years. And then I was lucky enough to get in here to Quinnipiac. Started as a night custodian, worked my way up to a day custodian, worked my way to a supervisor. And that’s where I’m at right now. I’ve got a wife. I’ve got two daughters. I’ve got three granddaughters, which two of them are here right now, freshman and a junior.”

This is a small look into the life of Phil Carola, the 75-year-old supervisor, father and grandfather. He is a human of Hamden and Quinnipiac.

Humans of Hamden: Kathy Ross


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Photo by Shauna Golden

By Karli Regalbuto

Kathy Ross is a retired nurse from North Haven, Connecticut. She is a mother of six middle-aged children: four sons and two daughters.

She is an older woman and has noticeable wrinkles on her face and hands. Her hair is a shade of white and her skin is fair. Ross wears glasses and has light blue eyes. One may create their own idea of who Ross is just by looking at her. However, the conversation dove deeper into the life of Kathy Ross.

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“I’m still working, part time, at Health Tracks and I exercise 6 days a week,” Ross said. “I love to swim. I grew up in Wilson, Connecticut, a very small town. And I trained in New York City at St. Vincent’s Hospital. And then when I was forty-ish, I decided I wanted to go back to school, so I went to the University of Hartford and got my undergraduate degree in psychology and then went to UConn and got a degree in adult education. Because I love education. I did most of my career in hospital infection control, St. James’ for 20 years and then I retired from the VA in 2003.”

When asked about what she considered to be her unique quality, Ross said her naturally curly hair. She followed up by saying, “I don’t know…I think I have a pretty good sense of humor. So yeah, I like people, I like what I do, and I have a very good life.”

Kathy briefly touched upon issues such as the hurricanes. She recalled the hurricanes during ‘her day’ by saying they were fun.

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“What did I have to do?” she said. “Nothing. I was all taken care of and, you know, it was kind of scary, but I was very secure. Oh, I knew hurricanes when I was a girl, let me tell you. ”

She not only viewed the hurricanes in a positive light, but she also looked at the roads being paved in Hamden as a positive.

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“It’s annoyed me…but in a good way,” she said. “It’s progress, it’s good. We get so used to having our own way and just being able to go where we want to go.”

Ross, the retired nurse, the mother of six and the positive woman. She is a human of Hamden.

President Trump visits the United Nations

By Owen Kingsley

President Donald Trump made his first appearance at the UN in the morning on Sept. 19 when he gave a speech at the General Assembly. Trump laid out his global agenda and commented on many of the major topics he was predicted to.

Highlighted by his comments on North Korea and Kim Jong Un, Trump once again referred to the North Korean Leader as “Rocket man.” A reference to his development of nuclear warheads. Trump continued saying that he would “totally destroy” North Korea if he had to.

The President also gave his opinion on the current state of Iran.

“The Iranian government masks a corrupt dictatorship behind the false guise of a democracy, he said. “It has turned a wealthy country with a rich history and culture into an economically depleted rogue state whose chief exports are violence, bloodshed, and chaos.”

Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif took to Twitter in response. “Trump’s ignorant hate speech belongs in medieval times-not the 21st Century UN -unworthy of a reply,” he tweeted. “Fake empathy for Iranians fools no one.”

The President also referred to the Iran nuclear deal that began during the Obama administration as an “embarrassment.”

Trump throughout his speech also made it clear he has an America first attitude. He has the interests and concerns for the U.S. before those of the United Nations or the rest of the world.

Fellow politicians took to Twitter afterward and commented on his speech, California Senator Dianne Feinstein.

“The UN is a venue to promote peace,” he tweeted. “Today, the president used it as a stage to threaten war.”

Louisiana Representative Jeff Fortenberry, however, tweeted, “President Trump’s speech to the UN: clear, strong, principled.”