Every Day a Suicide in Connecticut

The 371 suicides in Connecticut last year were most since 1991, when Connecticut's chief medical examiner's office reported 362 suicides.  Suicides increased to 371 in 2011 from 358 in 2010. There were 283 suicides among men in 2010 and 75 among women. In 1991, there were 362 suicides – 290 involving men and 72 involving women. The economic downturn is cited as a possible cause of the increase.  New Haven County had the highest number of suicides last year with 99, followed by Hartford County with 87. The most recent national figures show Connecticut ranked 47th in suicides among states in 2009 with a rate of 9 per 100,000 people.

In Connecticut, the Jordan Matthew Porco Memorial Foundation has created the National FRESH-CHECK Day to honor all college students in our country who are feeling the strain of a new environment, living situations, pressures, and the world of college-life - in an effort to prevent suicides.  Eastern Connecticut State University hosted the organization's  first FRESH-CHECK Day earlier this month.

MATCH Coaltion Reports 70% Want to Quit Smoking

A new report issued this month by the U.S. Surgeon General indicates that 3.6 million youth in the U.S. are cigarette smokers.  The report found that for every tobacco-related death, two new young people under the age of 26 become regular smokers. Mobilize Against Tobacco for Connecticut’s  Health (MATCH) is a statewide coalition of organizations and individuals fighting to reduce tobacco use – the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Connecticut and the U.S.

According to the most recent statistics compiled by the MATCH Coalition, 15.4% of adults smoke in Connecticut, and 24% of people ages 18-24.  Each year, 4,700 people in Connecticut die from smoking, including 440 who die from secondhand smoke.  More than 2/3 of Connecticut’s smokers indicated they want to quit (70%), nearly half attempt to quit each year (45%) and only 5% are successful for longer than one year.

The national report found that nearly 90 percent of new smokers under age 26 try their first cigarette by age 18. Approximately 3 out of 4 high school smokers continue to smoke well into adulthood.

Responsibility for Elderly Often by Unpaid Caregivers

In Connecticut, 486,000 people -- more than one in eight state residents -- were providing care to an adult with limitations in his or her activities at any given point in 2009, according to the report by AARP Public Policy Institute. A CT Mirror article highlights some of their stories. An estimated 42 million Americans act as unpaid caregivers, forming what experts call the backbone of the long-term care system. They far outnumber the home care workforce, providing services that one report estimated would cost $450 billion if performed by paid workers.

Federal EPA Salutes Eight in CT for Protecting Environment

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has honored eight Connecticut individuals, businesses and state and municipal agencies for their work to protect and sustain the region's natural resources. Hartford's Betsey Wingfield, who works in the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection; Anthony Leiserowitz, of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in New Haven; and Kevin Taylor of the Waterbury Development Corp., were individual honorees.

In the environmental, community, academia and nonprofit category, among those honored were:

Long Island Sound Study Citizens Advisory Committee  (Curt Johnson and Nancy Seligson, co-chairs): The volunteers of the Long Island Sound Study Citizens Advisory Committee have helped bring together a unified group of people dedicated to improving water quality in the sound. This group includes volunteers from community organizations, businesses, educational organizations, environmental groups and local government. Together these groups developed “SoundVision,” a community blueprint for clean water, healthy habitats, and economically strong communities.

Goodwin College: In 2005, Goodwin College announced dramatic plans to build a riverfront campus along Riverside Drive in East Hartford. With the help of EPA and other agencies, Goodwin created a new campus community with educational, economic, and environmental benefits for the region and beyond. The effort involved demolishing more than 30 above-ground oil tanks and other defunct industrial installations before redeveloping a formerly unusable industrial area. Late 2008, the college opened the 109,000 square-foot academic center. A year later, it rolled out its environmental studies degree program, which took advantage of access to the river and undeveloped flood plains for study of river ecology. In 2010, the Connecticut River Academy, an environmentally-themed magnet high school, also opened at the River Campus in a temporary space.

Other honorees were the Connecticut Department of Public Health's Drinking Water Section, Danbury's Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. and Greenwich Hospital (Thomas Lazzaro, John Huber).

Norwalk hotel operator HEI Hospitality LLC received an Energy Star Award.

We're #1: Lollipops, Frisbees, Helicopters, Vacuums & Nuclear Subs

If you ever wondered why Connecticut is often referred to as the home of Yankee Ingenuity (as opposed to being the Land of Steady Habits), a review of the state's "firsts" in the past century may explain.  When does that museum exhibit open, dedicated to the state's firsts? The list:

1907 -- first permanent public planning body in America, Hartford's Commission on the City Plan 1908 -- first lollipop 1920 -- first Frisbee, Yale students discovered empty pie plates from Mrs. Frisbie Pies in Bridgeport could be sailed across the New Haven Green 1933 -- first vacuum cleaner 1934 -- first Polaroid camera 1939 -- first FM radio station, WDRC-FM began broadcasting in Hartford 1939 -- first helicopter, Igor Sikorsky designed the first successful helicopter in the Western Hemisphere 1948 -- first color television 1949 -- first ultra high frequency UHF television station to operate on a daily basis, KC2XAK in Bridgeport 1954 -- first nuclear submarine, launched in New London 1982 -- first artificial heart, Dr. Robert K. Jarvik, a Stamford native, invented the world's first artificial heart

No doubt, there are others.  But these are not too shabby.  Wonder if PEZ counts.*

(*sorry, PEZ moved to Orange in 1974 from NYC, but had its origins in Europe)

Entrepreneurship in Connecticut Among Nation’s Top 15

The rate of entrepreneurial activity in Connecticut in 2011 was .34% - ranking at number 15 (tied with Arkansas and Louisiana) among states.  Tops in the nation was Arizona at .52%, California at .44%, Colorado at .42%, Alaska at .41% and Nevada at .39%   The bottom dweller?  West Virginia at .15% Across the nation, the rate of new business creation dipped during 2011 and startup founders remained more likely to fly solo than employ others, according to "Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity," a leading indicator of new business creation in the United States published annually and released this month by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

The Index shows that 0.32 percent of American adults created a business per month in 2011 – a 5.9 percent drop from 2010, but still among the highest levels of entrepreneurship over the past 16 years. The quarterly employer firm rate also remained essentially flat from 2010 to 2011 at 0.11 percent. Entrepreneurship growth was highest among 45- to 54-year-olds, rising from 0.35 percent in 2010 to 0.37 percent in 2011. The youngest group (aged 20 to 34) also showed a slight increase.

Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail Traverses 88 Towns, 825 Miles in CT

In the spirit of Earth Day, the Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA) is highlighting Connecticut's progress through the years to preserve the environment.  CFPA has been a longstanding voice urging the state to set a national example for successful forest conservation and reverse the damage to Connecticut's natural resources. The impact - a century in the making - is worth noting:  when the organization began its work (in 1895), Connecticut was 20% forested: today it is 60% forested. CFPA remains vigilant and involved in the sound management and protection of land, water and wildlife resources.

In addition to protecting land for public enjoyment, CFPA's leaders established the Blue-Blazed Hiking Trail System in 1929 which traverses public and private lands throughout 88 towns in Connecticut and is enjoyed by thousands of citizens each year. Today, approximately 825 miles of trails are maintained by hundreds of CFPA volunteers working in cooperation with many public and private landowners, contributing approximately 15,000 hours to trail work every year.

Hartford Foundation Receives Recognition; Efforts in Education, Workforce Intensify

President Obama has pointed out that “there is no greater predictor of individual success than a good education.”  The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving is certainly on the same page, moving to implement their most recent strategic plan which has two primary areas of focus – education and workforce development, described as the region’s “two toughest issues.”  The Foundation receives financial support from thousands of individuals and families, and is among the nation's largest public foundations.   In 2011, they awarded grants of more than $28 million to a broad range of area nonprofit organizations. The Hartford Foundation recently was announced as a recipient of the 2012 Wilmer Shields Rich Award for effective communication efforts to increase public awareness of foundations and corporate giving programs.  The award – one of 12 designated out of 140 entries in four categories – will be presented during the Council on Foundations Annual Conference, April 29-May 1, in Los Angeles, CA.

Finances Challenging Connecticut Nonprofits

The Nonprofit Finance Fund’s 2012 State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey reveals Connecticut nonprofits continue to face increased demand for services and decreased funding, with 29% of the 158 respondents closing the 2011 fiscal year with an operating deficit. According to the  Survey, in Connecticut alone:

• 84% of nonprofits anticipate an increased demand for services in 2012, yet only 45% of nonprofits expect to be able to fully meet the demand
• Nearly one-third (29%) of nonprofits surveyed ended the 2011 fiscal year with an operating deficit
• 47% of Connecticut nonprofits that receive federal funding report receiving late payments from the government
• 70% of the nonprofits in Connecticut that receive funding from State or local government report receiving late payments

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/668915#ixzz1sjTsx0cp

Record Temperatures Seen in Connecticut and Beyond

It was really never in doubt.  March of 2012 was a historic month of weather.   In Connecticut, there were record high temperatures in all regions of the state and the temperature actually reached 80° at Bradley International Airport! The average high temperatures were a stunning 4-5 degrees higher than normal.  To average that high above normal means there were consistent temperatures well above normal.Connecticut was not alone. During that historic week in late March when temperatures were in the 70’s here, over 6000 records were broken in the United States.  In fact, there were 15,292 warm temperature records set in March 2012 nationwide. This is a combination of 7,775 daytime records and 7,517 nighttime records. Hundreds of locations set all-time March records. There were 21 instances of nighttime temperatures being as warm or warmer than the existing record high temperature for the date. The map of red dots shows where daily record highs were broken or tied in March 2012.