Volume 136 No. 4 Thursday, January 28, 2021 Locally sourced since 1885 860-289-6468 - [email protected] ehgazette.com TOWN NO, IT’S NOT BERNIE UConn PLEA: models ‘Recycle COVID Better!’ spread Mayor Marcia Leclerc UConn professor of geogra- encourages residents to commit phy Peter Chen has published a to being better stewards of the study in the January 2021 issue environment and help improve of the International Journal of the quality of the Town’s sus- Geographical Information tainability efforts through prop- Science outlining a comprehen- er recycling. Recently, the East sive predictive model for Hartford Public Works COVID-19 in every Connecticut Department has identified a town based on travel behaviors. growing contamination prob- This model, named the lem in residential recycling MSEIR model, is a major con- carts, which occurs when unac- tribution to the field, as it is the ceptable materials are deposit- first COVID-19 model to focus ed into recycling bins. This on the town, rather than the leads to contamination of the state or national level. In East entire truckload, making it EAST HARTFORD’S OWN CONGRESSMAN, John Larson, attends the naugration of President Joe Biden Jan.20. Hartford the rate of COVID unrecyclable, and results in the stands at 99.6 per 100,000 now, Town paying extra fees to dis- a rate trending downward. pose of the contaminated recy- Chen’s collaborators includ- clables as regular municipal New contracts cannot forestall 20% solid waste. SEE GIS TOOL, page 10 To prevent contamination of recyclables, Mayor Leclerc, the Raytheon Technologies job cuts Town of East Hartford and the Raytheon Technologies tion of contractors to 4,500. percent of the two subsidiaries' East Hartford Public Works Corp. will increase planned lay- The 20 percent reduction combined workforces, CFO Department encourage resi- offs by 1,500, bringing the total locally continues despite the Toby O'Brien said. They're pri- dents to take a more careful job losses to 16,500 across the awards of billions in military marily driven by a continuing approach at what they put in Massachusetts-based defense contracts and the recent deal to downturn in the commercial their recycling carts. As a and commercial aerospace con- power 150 commercial enghine aerospace industry due to reminder, the list of unaccept- glomerate, as its commercial planes, plus a $9 billion cash COVID-19. able items that contaminate aerospace business continues surplus Raytheon told share- "[Layoffs are occurring] as recycling includes: to suffer amid COVID-19. holders it has in the bank. The we continue to position the Regular household trash: The 1,500 layoffs will occur company previously announced business for strength as the The green carts provided to at aerospace components man- it planned 15,000 layoffs at var- [commercial aerospace] indus- households 1-6 family are for ufacturer Collins Aerospace, ious divisions of the East try recovers," O'Brien said. UCONN PROFESSORS came up regular household trash. The and additional 500 contractor Hartford-headquartered Pratt & Raytheon's profits in the with a better way to map GIS data blue recycling cart should not positions will be cut from Whitney division. to help predict community spread SEE RECYCLE, page 10 Collins, bringing its total reduc- The layoffs amount to 20 SEE P&W JOB CUTS, page 10 of COVID-19 in towns such as EH. Stay informed during water and sewer emergencies. Sign up by visiting the MDC website, www.themdc.org 2 THE GAZETTE Thursday, January 28, 2021 AROUND EAST HARTFORD Rep. Rojas forms advisory panel Pick up the Kill-A-Watt East Hartford's 9th District from all walks of life so that the tion and share their perspec- State Rep. Jason Rojas, who is committee includes diverse tives, be provided an overview also House Democratic opinions, perspectives and of the legislative and state to calculate power drain Majority Leader in the state leg- experiences that reflect the budget processes and gain a With the high cost of elec- islature, is forming a committee communities we live in. This better understanding of state tricity, many people working of residents in his district who will be a pilot initiative and at government. and learning from home during are williing to provide feedback the outset the committee will Rojas is looking for 16 regis- the on-going COVID-19 pandem- on issues coming up for debate meet bi-monthly to develop, tered voters for his committee - ic are discovering their utility at the state capitol. review and discuss major leg- four Unaffiliated, four bills have gone up. Members of Rojas's con- islative priorities and issues," Republicans, four Democrats The region's utility provider, stituent committee will be Majority Leader Rojas. "As and four registered in other Eversource, can help you moni- asked to "engage their neigh- issues arise at the Capitol, I parties. tor where your juice is going. bors and friends on proposed will turn to this group for their Any member of the 9th The utility has supplied 200 legislation and share that feed- honest feedback and insight. District interested in serving Kill A Watt electricity usage back with the committee." This is an opportunity to as a member of Rojas' meters to local libraries where According to an announced- ensure the voices of East Advisory Committee is asked consumers can borrow a meter ment, Rojas' 9th Assembly Hartford and Manchester resi- to complete an application to take home to show you how District committee "will shape dents are heard throughout the form at much power is being used in decisions impacting legislative process." www.housedems.ct.gov/Rojas/9 home devices. Just plug the Manchester, East Hartford and Members of the Advisory thDistrictAdvisoryCommittee. Energy Efficiency device into the meter. Tilak Subrahmanian. “We the State of Connecticut." Committee will learn how to Ienterested voters can also Along with the meter, each "I am seeking individuals track legislation, review legisla- e-mail [email protected] recognize the effect high energy kit contains an instructional bills can have on our cus- booklet that explains how to tomers, especially at this time. measure and record the This meter is just one of the CCAT teams up to help HSB insure tech amount of electricity being tools Eversource customers HSB, a leading provider of manufacturing center, HSB Applied Technology used and offers tips to reduce can take advantage of to better insurance and specialty tech- advanced composite center and Solutions. Additive manufactur- energy use and costs. The Kill understand their energy use nology, and the Connecticut training facilities in East ing, which includes 3D printing A Watt kits are available for while spending more time at Center for Advanced Hartford, Connecticut, where and other emerging technolo- borrowing from nearly 200 home and help them identify Technology today announced a CCAT works with industries gies, uses computer-aided libraries around the state. which energy efficiency servic- partnership to explore ways to around the world for applied design (CAD) software and “The Kill A Watt meter gives es and rebates will help them reduce the risk of adopting research and development. mechanical equipment in a customers a real-time look at save the most.” additive manufacturing tech- “Additive manufacturing is layer-by-layer printing how much power they are Customers should check nologies for industrial applica- driving innovation in the way approach. The process uses using so they can make imme- with their local library regard- tions. The multi-year agreement our customers make and use materials such as metals, poly- diate adjustments at home to ing the availability of the Kill A between HSB and CCAT parts and products,” said John mers, powders and gels to reduce their energy use,” said Watt kit. A list of participating includes access to its advanced Riggs, senior vice president of make designed products. Eversource Vice President of libraries can be found at Eversource.com, here. The energy company is also offering a new online tool to help customers understand and save on their energy costs. The interactive heating cost cal- culator provides estimates of daily and annual heating costs based on various factors such as heating fuel, size of a home, the efficiency of heating equip- ment, outside temperatures and thermostat settings. Customers can also take advan- tage of the Green Button - an online tool that allows cus- tomers to download their ener- gy usage data so they can easi- ly share it with energy-efficien- cy experts to make home improvements. The energy company reminds customers that energy efficiency is the single most effective way to control year- round energy costs and encour- ages people to take advantage of its energy efficiency solu- tions. Customers can learn more about the programs avail- able on the energy company's website. THE GAZETTE Thursday, January 28, 2021 3 ON THE CAMPUS Two to receive state honors Angelina Dedominicis of East Hartford has been named in East Hartford Adult Ed to the Fall 2020 Dean's List at A teacher and a student in The College of Saint Rose, the town's Adult & Continuing Albany, New York. Education program are being *** honored by the state East Hartford's Tia Walker Association for Adult & received a Bachelor of Science Continuing Education in Human Environmental (CAACE). Sciences degree from the Teacher Kathryn Ladd is the University of Alabama, the 2021 CAACE Educator of the Tuscaloosa school announced. Year, nominated by Dr. Exp. 2/28/21 UA awarded some 2,257 Anthony Mangiafico, principal degrees during its fall com- of the program. Ladd currently mencement held Dec. 12. teaches United States *** Citizenship and GED classes Austin Nwafor of East and is a trained National Hartford attained Dean's List External Diploma Program recognition at Connecticut (NEDP) assessor.