SPRINGFIELD - Riding on the success of two City
of Hope summits, committee chairwoman Denise Jordan said the foundation has been
laid for agencies across the city to collaborate and sponsor mini-summits.
SPRINGFIELD - Riding on the success of two City
of Hope summits, committee chairwoman Denise Jordan said the foundation has been
laid for agencies across the city to collaborate and sponsor mini-summits.
More than 300 people attended the daylong "City
of Hope: Empowering Parents" summit held at Western New England College earlier
this month.
The event featured eight workshops designed to help parents guide young people on a road to academic and lifelong success. Keynote speaker was entertainer and educator Bill Cosby, who spoke on the necessity of education and assertive parenting.
Last year, the City of Hope coalition - spearheaded by The Republican newspaper - held the first gathering, called the "City of Hope: Saving Our Youth" summit, that drew more than 700 people. The newspaper also played a key support role with this year's summit, which also received key support from MassMutual Financial Group, WNEC, the Sisters of Providence, Dunkin' Donuts and a variety of individuals and businesses.
Thanks to the donations, the event was free to participants.
"We wanted to show people that there is a need for information," said Jordan, who moderated both events and led a coalition that designed the program. "Parents, our youth, and the people in this city are hungry for information about the resources that can help them."
Jordan said the city has more than 200 health and human service agencies, yet many people remain unaware of the services provided.
"We encourage other agencies to follow our lead - whether human service, the School Department, community service organizations and the religious community - anyone who has resources or information to enhance the lives of our young people and parents in Springfield," Jordan said.
Jordan said she hoped the partnerships formed at the summit, whether in workshops or at information tables, would continue.
"Collectively, everybody can play a role," Jordan said.
Thirty-three Suspected Gang Members Nabbed in DEA Bust
DEA last week announced 33 arrests of suspected gang members as part of a joint operation targeting drug dealers and gang members in Fresno, California. Thirty-seven pounds of "ice" methamphetamine, 2.5 pounds of crack cocaine, 2.2 pounds of cocaine, $122,000 in cash, two assault pistols, two assault rifles, one high-powered rifle, one sawed-off shotgun, and six other firearms were also seized. More
DEA Raid Bags Region's Largest Seizure Hurricane Katrina
NEW ORLEANS, May 20 (UPI) – Nine people have been arrested in Louisiana and Houston in what federal officials have called the largest drug bust in recent New Orleans-area history. More
Click here to read the DEA press release.
DEA Chief Address Meth Chemical Group
DEA knows that, in order to fight drugs, we need to first cut off the chemicals that make them. Click here to read DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy's remarks to the National Methamphetamine Chemicals Initiative Conference, a group dedicated to this fight.
Drugs and Youth: A Deadly Mix, Parents Recount
On Thursday, June 8, 2006, hundreds will come to DEA Headquarters to take part in a candlelight vigil to remember those who have died from drugs. Some of the parents in attendance that night will be Don Hooton, whose son Taylor died from steroids, and Kim and Marissa Manlove, whose son David died from inhalant abuse. Their stories and details of the vigil can be viewed by clicking here.
SPRINGFIELD - City and state officials yesterday praised a $1.4 million anti-gang grant as essential in expanding fronts on Springfield's war on crime.
Chicopee and Holyoke received a joint amount of nearly $900,000 from the state for the same effort.
Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey said improving public safety is necessary to "jump start" Springfield's recovery.
"If you have safe streets, people buy houses in the community, they bring businesses in a community and they patronize them at more hours of the day and night," she said. "What we're seeing here today is critical to the economic future of Springfield."
The state grant money totaling, $1,395,322, is the second highest amount awarded to a community as part of the $11 million earmarked for public safety. Boston was first with an award for $3 million.
Chicopee and Holyoke received a joint amount for $888,749, the fifth highest amount of the 15 separate grant packages. Holyoke Mayor Michael J. Sullivan and Chicopee Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said on Wednesday that the grant would be used to reach youths at risk of getting into trouble. Holyoke also will use it for gang suppression and Chicopee for job training for youths.
Springfield Police Commissioner Edward A. Flynn said he wants to use the grant to employ a variation of Operation Cease Fire, which was used with some success in Boston during the 1990s.
Flynn said there will be a greater emphasis on sharing information by law enforcement agencies in order to identify and arrest gang leaders. At the same time police will strengthen ties with community and youth organizations with an eye toward steering young people from gangs, crime and violence.
A portion of funding will be used to purchase computers and software and to hire a crime analyst to sift through the data, he said.
In addition to Healey, present for the announcement yesterday were state Secretary of Public Safety Robert Haas, who replaced Flynn in the state position; City Councilor Angelo J. Puppolo Jr.; state Reps. Gale D. Candaras, D-Wilbraham, and Sean F. Curran, Cheryl A. Coakley-Rivera and Benjamin Swan, all Springfield Democrats.
Coakley-Rivera, chair of House committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, said the funding package addresses a concern she has heard from several residents.
"The residents are saying it is not good enough to arrest and prosecute - you need to prevent as well," Coakley-Rivera said.