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Holiday Happenings at University of Saint Joseph on November 30

Express Strategies, Community Contributor

Ballet Hartford, Connecticut's premier ballet company, will return to the University of Saint Joseph to perform A Ceremony of Carols on Saturday evening, November 30, 2024. The program features two original ballets: Holiday Happenings, choreographed by Executive Director Leyna Doran and set to beloved Vince Guaraldi Trio music, and A Ceremony of Carols. The latter debuted on the same stage one year ago, and with choreography by Artistic Director Claire Kretzschmar, it marks a significant milestone in the company's fall season.

Claire Kretzschmar, who began her tenure as Ballet Hartford’s Artistic Director this year, is a former New York City Ballet Soloist and accomplished choreographer. Set to Benjamin Britten's composition of the same name, A Ceremony of Carols masterfully blends music and movement to create a captivating holiday experience.

“We are honored to bring our love for ballet to the Greater Hartford community, and beyond. With each performance, we strive to create an experience that resonates, inspiring joy and contemplation through the beauty of dance," Kretzschmar said.

The performance highlights the nativity story using an angelic cast of 13 women. Kretzschmar's expert choreography and musicality usher in the holiday season, making this event a rapidly emerging holiday tradition. Following the performance on November 30 at 7:30 in West Hartford, A Ceremony of Carols will go on tour to three cities this holiday season, accompanied by Kretzschmar’s newest ballet, Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas Tree):

On Nov. 30, Ballet Hartford is also pleased to share the stage with its growing school. “Students from the School of Ballet Hartford and our satellite location at The Master’s School join the company in Holiday Happenings,” shares Leyna Doran, director of the School of Ballet Hartford. “It is inspiring for our students to watch the company dancers perform and spurs their own growth and training.”

Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Tickets and information are available on the Ballet Hartford website, www.ballethartford.com.

Capsule look at 2023 Greater Hartford High School Football Thanksgiving Week Games. Dates, times subject to change.

Greater Hartford

TUESDAY, Nov. 26

Bacon Academy/Lyman Memorial at RHAM

Tolland at E.O. Smith

Avon at Lewis Mills

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 27

Newington at Wethersfield

VGW Techs at Wilcox Tech/Kaynor Tech

Rocky Hill at Cromwell/Portland

Stafford/East Windsor/Somers at Windsor Locks/Suffield/East Granby

Rockville at Ellington

Farmington at Plainville

Northwest Catholic at East Catholic

Granby/Canton at CREC co-op

Bristol Central at Bristol Eastern

THURSDAY, Nov. 28

THE APPLE VALLEY CLASSIC

Southington at Cheshire

Maloney at Platt

St. Paul at Gilbert/Northwestern/Housatonic

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Nov 26, 2024

Sports Reporter

Michael Fornabaio is a sports reporter with Hearst Connecticut Media Group. Born in the Bronx and raised at the New Haven Coliseum (but really in Orange), Fornabaio has been with the Connecticut Post since 1997. He has covered high school sports for pretty much that whole time, though he also covered the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers daily for 17 years. In his occasional free time, you can usually find him watching more baseball or hockey and complaining about the delay-of-game rule.

Sean Patrick Bowley

Assistant Sports Editor

Sean -- or SPB -- is a Woodbridge native and an alumnus of Amity Regional and Syracuse University who has covered high school sports in Connecticut for over two decades, beginning at Elm City Newspapers and Connecticut Post, now as editor of GameTimeCT.com. Sean has won numerous national and regional honors and is best known for his innovative and comprehensive coverage of Connecticut high school football. A ski and movie aficionado during off-seasons, he still calls Greater New Haven home.

HARTFORD, CT — Employees at a major Hartford insurer have received more bad news as yet another wave of layoffs was announced at Aetna.

According to CVS Health, which operates Aetna, 42 more employees assigned to the Aetna offices at 151 Farmington Ave., Hartford, will lose their jobs early next year.

CVS sent a special notice of the layoffs to the state Department of Labor and Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam's office on Monday.

While some of the 42 employees work out of the Hartford site, others work remotely in Connecticut and in several other states spread out over the country.

CVS said 12 work out of the Aetna building in Hartford, while 30 work remotely.

Find out what's happening in Greater Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"All employees who will be terminated as a result of this action have been notified of their specific separation dates and that their separation from employment will be permanent," wrote CVS in its notification letter to the state and city.

The workers are not unionized and they range from data scientists to marketing officials to computer engineers and other analyst/management-level positions.

According to CVS, these employees' last days will be between Jan. 25, 2025, to Feb. 7, 2025.

This move comes only a month after CVS announced the termination of 416 employees set to be let go in December.

Of those workers, CVS said 93 work in Hartford, with the rest working remotely.

All the layoffs are part of a massive CVS plan to trim $2 billion from company expenses, a byproduct of declining, in-store sales nationally, CVS has said.

Following last month's layoff announcement, CVS said more layoffs were required toward the company's cost-cutting goal, resulting in Monday's announcement.

"The company has now determined that additional layoffs will be occurring at this facility," wrote CVS Health. "This action is expected to be permanent."

For a complete list of positions impacted and the nature of this second wave of layoffs, click on this link.

From Oct. 8: 'CVS Announces Mass Layoff Associated With Aetna Building In Hartford'

The organization is hosting a special benefit, dubbed a 'Bohemian Soiree,' to celebrate the milestone on Saturday evening.

Patch Staff

WEST HARTFORD, CT — The West Hartford Art League is celebrating a major milestone birthday via an event Saturday dubbed the "Bohemian Soiree."

The program is a special event celebrating the local art organization's 90th anniversary.

The event will occur on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, from 6:30 to 9:00 PM in the Clubhouse Gallery, 37 Buena Vista Road.

"This milestone celebration and fundraiser will honor longtime supporters Sandy Chase, Neal Freuden, and Beth Reynolds for their dedication to the arts community," wrote the league in an announcement.

Attendees will enjoy an "elegant evening with a signature cocktail, wine, passed hors d'oeuvres, and live music, setting the perfect atmosphere to celebrate nine decades of artistic excellence."

Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

As part of the festivities, 90 artists donated square works of art, each displayed in the Clubhouse Gallery and sold for $90.

Guests will have the unique opportunity to purchase these works and take them home directly from the exhibition wall, supporting the League’s mission to foster creativity in the community.

The entire community is invited,

For tickets and more information, visit West Hartford Art League or contact Roxanne Stachelek at 860-231-8019.

For more information on the West Hartford Art League, click on this link.

Connecticut's Department of Housing failed to properly monitor a multi-million dollar program to help homeowners deal with crumbling foundations due to faulty cement, a new state audit found.

“DOH did not provide the General Assembly with information necessary to make informed decisions about the program,” auditors said in the report.

Upwards of 35,000 homes in a radius of Stafford Springs face potentially failed concrete due to the presence of naturally occurring iron sulfide, pyrrhotite. The concrete originated from the JJ Mottes Concrete Company in Stafford Springs between 1983 and 2015, and the state is providing financial assistance to homeowners with foundation problems caused by pyrrhotite, according to the audit which covered the fiscal years between 2021 to 2023.

Maribel La Luz, DOH director for external affairs, said the agency is working on improvements.

“We appreciate the hard work our auditors do,” La Luz said. “Over the past year, we have restructured our programs, hired staff to provide oversight and allocated additional needed resources to address the systemic items we agree with in the audit report. We look forward to continuing to work with our state Auditors to ensure all administrative areas are in compliance.”

The department is the lead agency for strategies and programs which promote housing development, redevelopment and preservation for low and moderate-income families and other residents.

Failed to monitor foundation money

Auditors said state law established a captive insurance company to assist owners of residential buildings with have concrete foundations which deteriorated because of pyrrhotite. The program helps repair or replace foundations and arranges a financial package focused on the lowest possible amount of borrowed funds.

“DOH did not fulfill its reporting responsibilities under Section 8-444 of the General Statutes,” the audit noted. “The department did not file required reports describing any complaint trends and making recommendations to improve the efficiency, fairness, or operations of the captive insurance company despite transferring $88 million to the insurance company."

“DOH did not provide the General Assembly with information necessary to make informed decisions about the program,” auditors said. “DOH entered into a memorandum of understanding, and subsequently a contract, with the captive insurance company. These agreements did not include provisions for complaint monitoring and access to relevant information.”

The finding had not been previously reported in past audits.

“The Department of Housing should take the necessary actions to carry out its reporting responsibilities,” auditors said.

In its response, DOH agreed with the finding. “DOH will take the necessary steps to ensure that its reporting obligations are met.”

Lack of project monitoring

Auditors also looked at five Small Cities Community Development Block Grants, three Home Investment Partnerships, 12 Affordable Housing and two Housing Trust Fund projects.

The review found:

“During our review, we also noted DOH disbursed an additional $646,401 outside of our audited period to its contractor prior to the full execution of a funding agreement,” auditors said.

“There is increased risk that the department made improper payments and funded ineligible project costs. In addition, the department may not identify excess disbursements and ensure their prompt return,” they added.

“There was a lack of management oversight and monitoring,” auditors continued. “DOH had reduced staffing levels from 2018 to 2023. DOH informed us it is in the process of hiring additional staff. The department lacks a policy stipulating a deadline for completing monitoring and issuing monitoring letters and certificates of completion.”

The finding has been previously reported in the last three DOH audit reports covering the fiscal years 2014 through 2017.

“We agree with this finding,” DOH said in a statement included in the audit.

Lack of complaint records

Auditors said state agencies should maintain a centralized system for documenting receipt and processing of complaints to provide accountability and promote transparency.

“DOH does not maintain records of its complaints and investigations that document how it investigated and resolved them,” auditors said. “There is increased risk that DOH may not promptly and appropriately resolve its complaints. In addition, management cannot monitor the number or types of complaints.”

Auditors added: “DOH has not acknowledged the importance of improving internal control over its complaints.”

The finding had been previously reported in the last audit report covering the fiscal years 2018 through 2020.

“The Department of Housing should strengthen internal controls and develop and implement complaint processing procedures. They should include a centralized system to track complaints and document their resolution,” auditors said.

DOH agreed with the finding.

“The agency will work closely with upper management to establish a policy and procedures and put a system in place to track and monitor internal and external complaints,” DOH said.

Nov 26, 2024

Investigative Reporter

Bill Cummings is reporter with CT Insider. He is a veteran journalist with nearly 40 years of reporting experience ranging from town news coverage to politics in Hartford to investigations. He joined the Connecticut Post in 1989 and has served as a bureau chief, covered Bridgeport City Hall and has since become a statewide investigative reporter. He previously worked for the Watertown Daily Times in New York and the Star Herald, a weekly newspaper in northern Maine. He can be reached at BCummings@ctpost.com.