New London Harbor Light Recognized as State's Leading Lighthouse in USPS Stamp

The U.S. Postal Service has unveiling a stamp featuring the New London Harbor Light, the oldest and tallest lighthouse on Long Island Sound. The USPS indicates that it was originally established in 1761, financed by a lottery held by the Connecticut colonial legislature. The present lighthouse, built in 1801, was one of the earliest American lighthouses with a flashing beacon.

The lighthouse, which is owned by the New London Maritime Society, is the featured lighthouse for Connecticut in the 2013 United States Postal Service’s New England Coastal Lighthouses series. The stamp series highlights lighthouses from throughout the country.

New England Coastal Lighthouses also features the lighthouses at Portland Head, Maine; Portsmouth Harbor, New Hampshire; Point Judith, Rhode Island; and Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. Each stamp shows a close-up view of one of the five lighthouses that captures not only the down-to-earth aspect of the tower but also the mysterious qualities that compel us to come closer.

These five lighthouses are among the oldest in the U.S., and each is on the National Register of Historic Places. Boston Harbor Light is also a National Historic Landmark.  Howard Koslow created original paintings for New England Coastal Lighthouses stamp art-and for the entire lighthouse series. Howard E. Paine and Greg Breeding served as art directors.

The New England Coastal Lighthouses stamps are being issued as Forever® stamps. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.  The USPS has also developed a short video about each of the lighthouses.

Previously, the Connecticut state 34 cent stamp from the Greetings From America commemorative stamp series featured the state. The United States Postal Service released this stamp on April 4, 2002. The retro design of this stamp resembled the large letter postcards that were popular with tourists in the 1930's and 1940's.

Last fall, Westport Now reported that Westport holds a special place in U.S. Postal Service history with more of its artists (17) designing more postage stamps (161-plus) than any other community in the nation.

Yale-New Haven is Connecticut's Only Hospital with Nationally Ranked Medical Specialties

Yale-New Haven Hospital is Connecticut’s best-performing hospital according to the annual list released this week by U.S. News & World Report, which analyzed hospitals across the nation.

Yale-New Haven Hospital is ranked nationally in 10 adult and 5 pediatric specialties. It was also ranked as high-performing in 3 adult specialties, according to the magazine’s analysis.  It placed 6th in the country in diabetes and endocrinology, 11th in psychiatry, fourteenth in gynecology and #18 in gastroenterology.  It was the only hospital out of the eleven ranked in Connecticut to be nationally ranked in any specialty category.

Yale-New Haven performed 15,340 annual inpatient and 22,559 outpatient surgeries, and ts emergency room had 137,911 visits last year. Yale-New Haven Hospital covers 1.9 million square feet, employs more than 7,000, and is affiliated with 3,600 physicians and 600 resident physicians practicing over 100 medical specialties, U.S. News reported.  In pediatric specialties, Yale-New Haven ranked #4 nationally in diabetes and endocrinology.

Hartford Hospital and Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center took second and third place, respectively in Connecticut, with St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport ranked #4 in the state, followed by Middlesex Hospital at #5, Norwalk Hospital ranked sixth, Danbury Hospital and Waterbury Hospital, tied at #7, Bridgeport Hospital and Lawrence and Memorial Hospital tied at #9, and Stamford Hospital ranked eleventh.

Hartford Hospital, ranked#1 in Greater Hartford, “performed nearly at the level of nationally ranked U.S. News Best Hospitals” in 9 adult specialties, U.S. News reported.  The hospital had 36,841 admissions in the latest year for which data are available. It performed 11,828 annual inpatient and 20,955 outpatient surgeries and had 95,567 emergency room visits.

At #3 statewide, Saint Francis “performed nearly at the level of nationally ranked U.S. News Best Hospitals” in 8 adult specialties. The hospital had 29,113 admissions, performed 9,178 annual inpatient and 10,482 outpatient surgeries and its emergency room had 71,446 visits.

St. Vincent’s, top-rated in Bridgeport and Western Connecticut, “performed nearly at the level of nationally ranked U.S. News Best Hospitals in 6 adult specialties. The hospital had 21,019 admissions, performed 4,521 annual inpatient and 5,138 outpatient surgeries and its emergency room had 74,177 visits.

Among 87 children’s hospitals across the nation that made the rankings in at least one specialty, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford was nationally ranked in six pediatric specialties. It is a 166-bed children's general facility with 6,096 admissions in the most recent year reported, performed 2,036 annual inpatient and 8,062 outpatient surgeries. Its emergency room had 53,488 visits.  Connecticut Children’s is national ranked at #25 in pediatric urology, #35 in diabetes and endocrinology and #39 in pulmonology.

In Only 37 Communities Do More Than 2/3 of 4th Graders Pass All Physical Fitness Tests

What do the towns of Preston, East Windsor, Bethany, Stafford, and Clinton, have in common?  Less than 20 percent of fourth grade students in those communities meet the standard on all four physical fitness tests – the lowest percentages in the state.  For Preston, it’s the second consecutive year in the bottom five. 

At the upper end of the spectrum, 95.5 percent of 4^th graders in Eastford meet the standard on all four physical fitness tests, in Westbrook 89.5 percent, in Sterling 85.4 percent in New Canaan 83.3 percent and Union 80 percent – the only towns to exceed 80 percent in the most recent data, for 2011.  In 2010, 100% of fourth grade students in two towns – Union and Caanan – passed all four physical fitness tests, no towns reached that level in 2011 data.

Overall, in only 37 communities did more than two-thirds the fourth grade students pass all four physical fitness tests, and in another 63 communities more than half (but less than two-thirds) of the students did so.  In 69 communities, fewer than half of the fourth graders pass all four tests - compared with  67 communities the preceding year..  Connecticut has 169 towns and cities.

The data is available on the web site of the Connecticut Data Collaborative, which is bringing together data from various state agencies, making it more readily available to the public, along with the means to combine data from different agencies and chart the information in data visualization charts that help to illustrate patterns that enhance understanding.

The Connecticut Data Collaborative is a collaborative public-private effort to improve the quality of and access to policy-related data in the state – a central portal where all Connecticut organizations and residents can access a wide range of data from federal, state, local and private sources relating to the health, well-being and economy of the residents of the State of Connecticut. The goals of the Collaborative include:

• Advocacy – Advocating for the public availability of all state data to inform public debate and to drive planning, policy, budgeting and decision making in state government.
• Standards – Promoting and modeling use of data standards around privacy, interoperability, data definitions and quality.
• Access – Meeting demands for public access to data through the Collaborative’s data portal, CTData.org, and the associated Connecticut Nonprofit Strategy Platform.
• Building Capacity — Creating opportunities for Collaborative and peer support in data development and use both online and in person.

Told You So, Nader's Latest Title, Replays Past Columns

In the beginning, Ralph Nader was often right.  In 1965, the publication of Unsafe at Any Speed changed the face of the automobile industry and made his a household name. The Winsted, Connecticut native became synonymous with consumer activism, and earned the designation time and again, revealing alarming and potentially harmful corporate actions and alerting consumers and government agencies to perils unknown.  That was last century.

As the current century got underway in earnest, Nader was campaigning for the office of President of the United States, appearing on the November 2000 ballot in states across the country, most notably New Hampshire and Florida, as it turned out.  Because in those states, Nader’s vote total exceeded the margin by which George Bush defeated Al Gore.  And, so the argument goes, had he not been a “spoiler,” most of those votes would have gone to Gore, who would then have won the Electoral College outright in addition to the popular vote, avoiding the Florida recount debacle and the U.S. Supreme Court decision that ultimately decided the election’s outcome for Bush.

The rest, as they say, is history.  And a whole lot of columns.  (For the record, Nader received 22,188 votes in New Hampshire; Bush’s margin over Gore was 7,211 votes.  In Florida, after the aborted recount, Bush won the state by 537 votes out of 5.9 million votes cast.  Nader received 97,488 votes.  On the ballot in 43 states, he won 2,882,995 votes, or 2.74 percent of the popular vote.)

Fast forward to 2013, and Nader’s latest book, which is neither modest in length, title or time period.  The book tour for “Told You So:  The Big Book of Weekly Columns,” which is hefty if not heavy, brought Nader, at age 79, to the Barnes & Noble at the Shoppes at Farmington Valley in nearby Canton on July 13, where stories were told, books were sold, and advice offered.

The Table of Contents – which runs 11 pages – indicates that “Big Book” is no euphemism.  The final column, circa 1972, is listed in the “Golden Oldies” category and begins on page 507.  The bulk of the entries, however, were written in the Bush and post-Bush era, between 2002 and 2012 – in other words, after the extraordinary 2000 election.

The book’s publisher says it provides a “panoramic portrait of the problems confronting our society and provides examples of the many actions an organized citizenry could and should take to create a more just and environmentally sustainable world.”  Nader continues to criticize those in power and corporations, and raise issues including increasing the minimum age.

Certainly a great many subjects are covered substantively in the book, and Nader spoke easily and expansively to a substantial audience of the curious and the book-buying snaking through the Barnes & Noble aisles.  (Autographs, of course, were free.)  Any rear-view mirror retrospective on Nader, however, cannot help but be seen through the prism of 2000 as well as 1965, and the consumer action organizations he launched.  Which may explain the volume of columns since his 2000 presidential run, and as the cover boldly states, the reminder directed to the reader (or even the passer-by), that Nader “Told You So,” even lately.

Fatal Accidents Raise Isssue of Mandatory Motorcycle Helmet Law in CT

Since the beginning of June, motorcycles have been responsible for three deaths in the Fairfield County according to the Greenwich Time -- two in New Milford and one in Danbury -- as well as several injuries. The paper reported that “the recent fatalities have thrown long-standing debates over Connecticut's partial motorcycle helmet laws into a new light, prompting questions as to the efficacy of helmets and the future of statewide regulations requiring their use.”

In one recent incident – where the rider survived – the Time reported that “the bike burst into flames shortly after it collided with oncoming traffic, and its rider was thrown nearly 10 feet into the street.”

A report by consumerreports.org last month indicated that “in 2010, 98 percent of motorcyclists riding in states with helmet laws were wearing them. In states without the laws, helmet use was just 48 percent.”  The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that:

• Laws requiring all motorcyclists to wear a helmet are in place in 19 states (including New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts) and the District of Columbia
• Laws requiring only some motorcyclists to wear a helmet are in place in 28 states (including Connecticut, which requires helmets be worn by individuals 17 and under)
• There is no motorcycle helmet use law in 3 states (Illinois, Iowa, and New Hampshire)

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration research shows riders who wear helmets are three times less likely to suffer brain trauma than those without them. According to a 2012 study released by the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, motorcyclists accounted for 12 percent of motor vehicle fatalities in 2010, despite making up less than 1 percent of vehicle miles traveled, the Time reported.

Motorcycle helmets have not been uniformly required in decades.  In 1967, to increase motorcycle helmet use, the federal government required the states to enact helmet use laws in order to qualify for certain federal safety programs and highway construction funds. The federal incentive worked. By the early 1970s, almost all the states had universal motorcycle helmet laws.

Michigan was the first state to repeal its law in 1968, beginning a pattern of repeal, reenactment, and amendment of motorcycle helmet laws. In 1976, states successfully lobbied Congress to stop the Department of Transportation from assessing financial penalties on states without helmet laws. The Connecticut General Assembly overturned the universal helmet requirement here later that year. The state passed its partial helmet law in 1989, applying only to individuals age 17 and younger.

Two years ago, The Hartford Courant was among the voices urging the mandatory helmet law be reinstated:

“In 2007, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 36 motorcycle riders died in crashes in Connecticut. That number may seem small, but it's not. Per mile traveled, the number of deaths on motorcycles was 37 times the number of people killed in cars, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. A common saying among those in the medical community is that motorcycles ought to be called "donorcycles," because so often the organs of dead bikers are used for transplants.”

A 2011 Yale School of Medicine report analyzing state crash data between 2001 and 2007 found that two-thirds of the 358 riders killed in motorcycle accidents had not been wearing helmets. In an editorial this week, the Greenwich Time noted that “the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that in 2008, helmets saved the lives of 1,829 motorcyclists, and that 822 who died that year would have survived if helmets had been worn.”

The higher risk of serious injury or death that comes with optional helmets may also translate into economic losses. NHTSA data reportedly suggests that projected reductions in fatalities stemming from universal helmet laws could translate into savings in service costs and household productivity of up to $1,200,000 per avoided fatality.

The Connecticut Motorcycle Riders Association (CMRA) , formed in 1980, opposes helmet requirements, as it has for more than three decades.  In the organizations view, it is a matter of freedom of choice – whether or not to wear a helmet is a decision to be made by bikers, not government. It was that view that prevailed when the legislature changed the state’s mandatory helmet law in 1977.  In 1980, motorcyclists rallied in unprecedented numbers in Connecticut when a state legislator was involved in a motor vehicle accident in which a motorcyclist was killed.

Since then, the issue has been raised unsuccessfully at the state Legislature in bills or amendments 11 times. The CMRA website said, regarding the 2013 session, that “we are able to say that we have not had to fight any helmet laws this year,” and indicated that “we have repeatedly defeated attempts to reinstate the mandatory helmet law for adult motorcycle riders.”  The issue has not been considered since 2005, according to the Time.  The CMRA website also includes this tagline:  “Let Those Who Ride Still Decide.”  The organization has supported the creation of a self-funded rider education program and pushed for the adoption of a more comprehensive motorcycle license test throughout the state, the website points out.

Veterans Education and Career Training Gains New Focus in Connecticut

With veterans returning from active duty in increasing numbers and seeking to pursue higher education or achieve a place in the workforce, efforts are underway in Connecticut to respond.

The Veterans Vocational Training Program (VVTP), is a new initiative of Hartford-based Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network (CPBN).  The program offers veterans,free of charge, two different programs of study.  Media Arts, which focuses on the Adobe programs Photoshop, Illustrator, and In-Design, is offered during the Fall 2013 semester, which begins on August 26.   The other program seeks to develop the talents of budding video producers and editors.

Both programs include 90 hours of classroom instruction, professional portfolio development, and an additional 60 hours of hands-on learning. In addition, the VVTP helps potential employers connect with veterans seeking specific employment opportunities.

There will be an Open House for veterans to learn more about the program on July 18 at5:30 PM at CPBN, located at 1049 Asylum Avenue in Hartford.  Inquiries about the program can be directed to Major (ret) Tim Krusko, Program Manager, at 860-275-7337 or email veterans@cpbn.org.  Questions can also be directed to CPBN’s Director of Education Services, Donna Sodipo at dsodipo@cpbn.org or 860.275.7337.  Individual tours of the facilities are also available.

The initiative has quickly developed a wide range of partners that will help CPBN provide veterans with a real-world education while increasing their employment opportunities. CPBN is also reaching out to colleges and universities for referrals of veterans who might benefit from the VVTP as a no-cost way to supplement or enhance their current media education experience through hands-on learning. The VTTP is not restricted to Connecticut residents.

The Fall 2013 semester starts August 26, 2013 and ends December 19, 2013.  The Spring semester will run January 13 through May 12, 2014.  The goal is to have 85 percent of program participants successfully employed after completing the program.

In a separate effort, the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges, which includes 16 higher education institutions in the state, recently held a one day, state-of-the-art training for over 100 campus participants from throughout Connecticut that focused on military culture and serving student veterans.

Offered by the Center for Deployment Psychology, the training was designed to increase competency in the concerns, challenges, culture and experience of service members and veterans attending college. Mental health professionals as well as non-clinical university staff specializing in student affairs, financial aid, disability services, housing, campus security and others attended.

The training covered:

·  Culture and Experience of Service Members & Veterans on Campus

·  The Deployment Cycle and its Impact on Students

·  Reintegration on Campus

·  Outreach Strategies and Group Exercise

·  Overview of Treatments for PTSD on Campus

The training was offered free of charge to every non-profit public and private college in Connecticut.  It funded by a grant from the Bob Woodruff Foundation and was offered through a collaboration of the American Council on Education and the Center for Deployment Psychology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.  The event was part of an ongoing effort coordinated by CCIC “to help campus representatives learn best practices and gain an understanding of resources available to make the campus experience successful for those who made the commitment to protect and serve our country.”

The VTTP is made possible through the generous corporate sponsorship of organizations and businesses including the Wounded Warrior Project, Newman’s Own Foundation, Walmart Foundation, the SBM Charitable Foundation, Farmington Bank Community Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  Wounded Warrior Project awarded CPBN with a $250,000 grant for the economic empowerment of wounded warriors and their family members. CPBN is currently seeking additional grant programs to help grow the program beyond the first year and replicate it in other parts of the country.

The VVTP program is a component of CPBN’s soon-to-be-completed $3.5 million Learning Lab, which will also offer education programming aimed at Hartford public school students. CPBN will dedicate a state-of-the-art learning space to these initiatives, to include studios, sound rooms, classrooms, offices, and video production and media arts facilities.

CT Businesses Report "Going Green" Worthwhile; Sustainability Has Multiple Impacts

Eight in ten Connecticut companies that have invested time and money in “going green” say the effort has been worthwhile, citing benefits on the bottom line as well as improved employee morale, public image, and client/customer relationships. According to a new survey,  the main barrier to going green is cost, the factor cited by 65% of businesses.  Among companies engaged in sustainability, the strongest areas of involvement are energy efficiency (90%), waste management (77%), and green purchasing (74%).

Those are among the findings of the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) 2013 Sustainability and Connecticut Business Survey.  Sponsored by UIL Holdings, Inc., the survey gauges Connecticut companies’ commitment to environmental principles in their business operations and the impact of those efforts on business performance, stakeholder relations, and communities served.

The survey found that nearly two-thirds (66%) of Connecticut businesses engaged in sustainability. This is up from less than half (47%) in 2007, when CBIA first surveyed companies—but down from 74% in 2010, when the previous survey was conducted.

Mostt businesses (72%) find Connecticut’s environmental regulatory climate more restrictive than other states, according to the survey.  And nearly three-quarters of businesses surveyed (74%) say they would take advantage of state government incentives for going green, such as tax incentives and refunds for capital investments.

Among the other findings this yea, posted at www.cbia.com/business, include:

• Renewable energy is the area of greatest interest among businesses for future activities.
• Though slightly more than half (53%) of the companies surveyed say current economic conditions have not changed their level of commitment to sustainable business practices, 11% have stepped up their efforts, while 9% have made green practices less of a priority. Eighteen percent say green practices are part of their DNA.
• Nearly one-third of businesses surveyed (32%) require others in their supply chain—manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and retailers—to adopt green business practices; 28% say that their own customers have requested or stipulated that they incorporate green business practices into their supply chain; and 9% have received similar requests from vendors.

The 2013 Sustainability and Connecticut Business Survey was emailed to 5,035 businesses in late April and early May; 434 businesses took the survey, for a response rate of 9% and a margin of error of +/- 4.8 %.  Most respondents (77%) were small businesses employing fewer than 50 workers. Businesses represented include manufacturers (33%), professional services (23%), retail (9%), nonprofit associations (8%), construction (6%), wholesale (6%), healthcare (5%), finance, insurance, and real estate (5%), and technology firms (4%). Companies engaged in hospitality, tourism, arts, and entertainment accounted for the remainder of respondents.

New Technologies to Assure Safety Provide Challenges, Opportunities for Law Enforcement

New technologies are being designed and implemented in Connecticut and across the country aimed at ensuring safety by improving the effectiveness and speed of police operations. Two of the most fascinating systems, and probably the most advanced, are next-generation 911, which support text, data and video from any device, and drones, which are aerial vehicles that act as watchdogs of the sky, according to the website StateTech.

Recent news reports, however, are raising questions in Connecticut regarding at least one of the new technologies, now on the ground here.  In 2011, the city of Hartford introduced a technology to boost public safety that was ushered in as a way to respond to  Hartford gun violence, FOX Connecticut recently reported. It’s called the ShotSpotter system, built to detect gunfire and it is also used in New Haven and Springfield, Mass.

In an investigative story on the technology, FOX Connecticut reported that during an analysis of ShotSpotter in spring 2012, police records show that out of 60 total alerts, only six were confirmed, meaning the system was only 10 percent accurate. Nearly a year later, an interdepartmental police memo shows the system’s accuracy on 27 alerts was even lower, at just eight percent. Two of those 27 alerts were labeled as gunfire but really weren’t, including one which was just noise from a snow plow.

Additional assets are being sought, and received, by Connecticut municipalities, using both local and federal resource to boost efforts on the ground, in the air, and in the water.

The Stamford Advocate reported earlier this year that a plan to purchase a new high-tech public safety boat capable of detecting an arsenal of hazardous materials took another step forward, when the Board of Finance agreed to spend $610,000 to purchase the vessel.  The boat will ultimately be paid for by the federal government, according to the report, which noted that the federal government is also paying for other boats delivered to, or on order from, Greenwich, Norwalk, Fairfield and New Haven.

Last September, Fairfield took possession of a $488,000, 34-foot police boat paid for by the grant, the Advocate reported. In June and July, New Haven expects to take possession of a $1.1 million, 39-foot fire boat paid for by FEMA with two fire nozzles capable of spraying a total of 4,000 gallons per minute. That boat will be operated by the fire department, but the city's police department will have access to the vessel for its dive team.  And Greenwich is expecting delivery of a 38-foot, $600,000 boat to be paid for with a Port Security Grant. The police department will have ownership of the boat, but fire and EMS will have access to it.

In Bridgeport earlier this year, what ultimately proved to be an innocent wind-driven error brought a response by local police and the FBI when a drone crashed near a waterfront power plant, the Connecticut Post reported.  Among the other technologies in use around the country are automatic license plate recognition and wearable cameras, which the Hartford Advocate has reported are being used by officers in Branford.  The high-tech license readers, now mounted on 87 police cruisers statewide in Massachusetts, scan literally millions of license plates in that state each year, not only checking the car and owner’s legal history, but also creating a precise record of where each vehicle was at a given moment, according to the Boston Globe.

Connecticut Resident Selected as Presidential Innovation Fellow, White House Announces

A Connecticut resident is one of 43 “incredible Americans” selected as new Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIFs), to serve 6- to 12-month intensive “tours of duty” in the US Government, where they will work hand-in-hand with top government innovators to develop solutions that can save lives, save taxpayer money, and help fuel private-sector job creation.

Nayan Jain is a Presidential Innovation Fellow working on the MyData Initiatives (Blue Button) at the Department of Health and Human Services.  Jain is an engineer and healthcare hacker with a passion for developing software that is able to simplify complexities by reducing noise and finding patterns in data.  His career in health IT began as an undergraduate with a design for an administrative database for the Department of Neurosurgery at Emory Hospital.

The Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) program was created in 2012 to tackle five inaugural projects—each focused on making a part of the Federal Government work better for the American people.  Each team of innovators is supported by a broader community of interested citizens throughout the country. Presidential Innovation Fellows put aside their jobs and day-to-day home lives to offer their skills and expertise in collaboration with Federal agency teammates to create huge value for the American public.

The 1st round of five projects was launched in August 2012 with 18 inaugural Fellows. The first round selections included Nick Bramble, Director of the Law & Media Program, Information Society Project at Yale Law School in New Haven.  Bramble is a lawyer with a strong interest in improving how governments release data and promote engagement by citizens and startups.

The 2nd round of the Presidential Innovation Fellows program will include ten projects,– four that are the second phases of Round 1 projects and six new projects. Presidential Innovation Fellows have a unique opportunity to serve our Nation and make an impact on a truly massive scale.  The MyData Initiatives seek to spread the ability for people to securely access to their own data while spurring the growth of private-sector applications and services that a person can use to crunch his or her own data for a growing array of useful purposes.

After graduating and a stint writing applications for back-office propane systems, Nayan Jain  joined the DC-based startup, Audax Health.  While serving as Director of Mobile Technology at Audax, he helped build the core Zensey mobile and web platforms that aim to drive behavior change through consumer engagement and social game mechanics.  He collaborated to build MedTuner, an artificial intelligence that alerts its followers of important health events using techniques in machine learning and natural language processing, which was awarded first place at the 2012 Health 2.0 Developers’ World Cup in San Francisco, CA.

Most recently, he selected by Google to be a Glass Explorer and is looking forward to building wearable experiences that will help improve lives and patient outcomes.  He graduated with a BS in Computational Media, primarily focused on Human Computer Interaction and Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology.  He currently lives in Connecticut, but spends his spare time in New York, according to the PIF announcement.

Jennifer Pahlka, Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer for Government Innovation reports that some of the tech innovators and change-agents who comprise the new class of Fellows will work on second phases of Round 1 PIF projects such as Blue Button (which is helping veterans and others across the country gain secure electronic access to their own personal health records); Open Data (which is making more and more government information like car safety ratings and hospital pricing available for use by the American people, including entrepreneurs and software developers who are turning those data into useful products and services); MyUSA (which is greatly simplifying the Web interface that citizens can use to find what they need from the Federal Government); and RFP-EZ.

For Round 2 of the PIF program, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have partnered with the US General Services Administration (GSA).  Through this new partnership with GSA, which already works with every agency in the Federal Government, the prototype solutions that PIFs build will spread more efficiently throughout Government, enabling the program’s positive outcomes to reach more people more quickly.

For example, through Blue Button – a growing initiative across the public and private sectors – patients can download their own health information from a growing array of organizations (the Department of Veterans Affairs’ health system, private-sector health care providers, etc.) and securely share their medical histories with caregivers, import their prescription histories into mobile reminder apps, and more.

Others will work on new projects, such as developing tech tools to support disaster relief and recovery efforts; working with private-sector innovators to create consensus tech standards for the “Internet of Things,” which will connect a wide range of devices with embedded sensors and control systems, with big potential efficiencies and cost-savings; and helping Federal agencies save money through better, more cost-effective financial accounting systems.

Details on the entire class of Presidential Innovation Fellows is available on the web, and details about current and future rounds of the PIF program is at whitehouse.gov/innovationfellows,

 

Two Connecticut Burgers Make America's Top 40

Two Connecticut-made burgers have been selected as among the 40 top burgers in America, according to the website The Daily Meal.  What better time to review the list then in the midst of the July 4th celebration?

Coming in at #17 is The Original Burger at Louis’ Lunch in New Haven, and at #32 the Steamed Cheeseburger from Ted’s in Meriden.  Both are perennial favorites, and no stranger to acclaim, here at home and well beyond Connecticut.

As the Louis’ Lunch website recalls the story… “One day in 1900, a gentleman hurriedly walked into Louis' Lunch and told proprietor Louis Lassen he was in a rush and wanted something he could eat on the run. In an instant, Louis placed his own blend of ground steak trimmings between two slices of toast and sent the gentleman on his way. And so, the most recognizable American sandwich was born.”  The New Haven icon was also featured by ABC television’s The Chew earlier this year, and Food and Wine magazine a year ago.

The Daily Meal added this description of the burger cooked in downtown New Haven: “A flame-broiled burger made in a vertical hinged-steel wire gridiron that cooks the burgers on both sides at the same time. That’s what. It’s a hamburger sandwich supposedly made from a blend of five cuts of ground steak. If you want condiments, you’ll have to ask. The extent that your burger is going to get tricked out is cheese, tomato, and onion. No mustard, ketchup, or mayo. But do you really need all that? You can practically taste the nostalgia. And that never disappoints.”

The other Connecticut top finisher is summed up this way by The Daily Meal: “Since 1959, Ted's, in this historic community north of New Haven (there is another location in nearby Cromwell and a food truck on the way), has steamed theirs. Steamed meat? Yep. Steamed Cheddar cheese, too. Cooked in custom-designed steam boxes, the burgers, served on kaiser-roll-like buns, lose very little bulk while cooking and, need we say, stay very moist. The steamed cheese is spooned over the patties and cloaks them thickly. Add lettuce and tomato (or complimentary sautéed onions and/or mushrooms) and you've got an unusual, and unusually good, burger.”

Ted’s “world famous steamed cheeseburgers” also topped the local Advocate newspaper’s “best of” list, most recently in 2012, “Best Burger in CT” from The Food Network Magazine and “Best Burger” from Connecticut Magazine. Ted’s describes itself as the only known restaurant in the U.S. that exclusively sells steamed cheeseburgers.

If you were wondering, New York City establishments took three of the top five slots, with the others going to burgers in Atlanta and Virginia.  The Daily Meal has America’s Top 40 burgers listed on their website, with mouth-watering images accompanying.  The Daily Meal, according to its website, produces more culinary content than any other resource.