Hartford Courant -- January 16, 2022

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by  Hartford Courant

COVID-19 test sites Details on hockey fatality UConn seniors step up Evening snow
Where to go for COVID-19 testing over the Officials say high school player was upright Christyn Williams, Olivia Nelson-Ododa Sunshine before late-day snow;
holiday weekend. SUNDAY CT, PAGE 1 when fatal hit occurred. SPORTS, PAGE 1 guide Huskies past Xavier. SPORTS, PAGE 1 high of 26. SPORTS, PAGE 8
VOLUME CLXXXVI CCOOUURRAANNTT..CCOOMM SUNDAY, JANUARY 16, 2022
Analyst: Hospital suit ‘pretty novel’
Hartford HealthCare has expanded across state, years Hartford HealthCare also up prices. nance and ability to charge higher
added the Southington Surgery Last week, St. Francis sued Hart- than market rates,” St. Francis
sparking anti-competitive claims by St. Francis Center, other Hartford and Water- ford HealthCare in U.S. District claims in its lawsuit. “It seeks to
ford surgery centers, as well as Court in New Haven, accusing its do so, in significant part, by seek-
By Stephen Singer It acquired the Hospital of Middlesex Cardiology and Sound- larger rival of jeopardizing compe- ing to foreclose the opportunities
Hartford Courant Central Connecticut in New view Medical Associates. tition and limiting consumer to compete for patients by other
Britain in 2011, Backus Hospi- This impressive growth has choice. It’s seeking unspecified hospitals in Hartford County,
Over the last decade, Hartford tal in Norwich in 2013 and Char- made Hartford HealthCare a damages and an order prohibit- including its most significant
HealthCare has transformed itself, lotte Hungerford Hospital in leading health care system in the ing Hartford HealthCare from competitor, St. Francis.”
growing into a massive statewide Torrington in 2018. In 2019, it state. But to St. Francis Hospital continuing its acquisitions. Consumers could face higher
health system employing 33,000 acquired St. Vincent’s Medical and Medical Center — the other “Hartford HealthCare’s costs. One study cited by Kaiser
people as it acquired medical Center in Bridgeport, challenging major hospital in Hartford — this is anti-competitive actions were Family Foundation that analyzed
practices and hospitals across Yale New Haven Health System in monopolistic expansion that could taken not to compete, but specif-
Connecticut. southwest Connecticut. In recent limit consumer choice and drive ically to increase its market domi- Turn to Lawsuit, Page 3
Teen boy
CORONAVIRUS IN CONNECTICUT
dies after
fentanyl
ingestion
Student at Hartford
academy overdosed
on drug Thursday
Staff report
The 13-year-old Hartford
boy who overdosed Thursday
on fentanyl has died, police said
late Saturday.
“At approximately 5:35 p.m.,
the 13-year-old male juvenile
succumbed to his injuries and
was pronounced deceased,”
police said in a release just after
7:30 p.m.
The student, a seventh-
grader at the Sport and Medical
Sciences Academy school, had
remained unresponsive and in
“grave condition” after ingest-
ing the drug, which subsequent
tests confirmed to be fentanyl,
police spokesperson Lt. Aaron
Boisvert said Friday.
“Our city grieves for this
child lost, for his loved ones,
his friends, his teachers and
the entire SMSA family,” Mayor
Luke Bronin said Saturday
Gabriel Cid after a workout a year after his bout with COVID-19. The illness woke him to the need to change his night. “We still have much to
lifestyle, Cid says. COURTESY learn about the circumstances
of this tragedy, and about how
a child had access to such a
shocking quantity of such
‘WORST ILLNESS
deadly drugs, and our police
Turn to Overdose, Page 2
OF MY LIFETIME’
XL Center
measures
Two years into pandemic, five Connecticut residents tell survival stories welcomed
By Jesse Leavenworth by many
Hartford Courant
G
abriel Cid was
Some Huskies fans
in an induced
say they feel safer
coma for 21
with vaccine checks
days, suffering
through vivid By Eliza Fawcett
nightmares Hartford Courant
that remain in his mind almost
Lynn Oheron, an emer-
two years later. Carrie Howe gency room nurse at St. Fran-
cis Hospital, has never seen
couldn’t think straight and was
the hospital as overwhelmed
so sick at one point she feared with patients and strained by
for her life. Kristina Gregory, employees out sick as it is now.
“I’ve been an ER nurse for 36
after a bout with COVID-19 that
years and I’ve never seen it like
felt like “the flu times 45,” found Carrie Howe, founder of a grassroots organization named Night Angels and director this before,” she said.
of the soup kitchen at Center Church in Hartford, says that after being hospitalized But on Saturday, she finally
a way to give back.
for COVID-19, “I felt like my body was made out of glass, that if I fell I was going to had something to look forward
shatter.” MARK MIRKO/HARTFORD COURANT to: watching the UConn women
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic work their magic on the court.
has affected just about everyone in 21 days COMING MONDAY And when she walked into the
Connecticut, either personally or Thousands of Connecticut residents are XL Center in Hartford and
through the suffering and loss of loved In late March/early April of 2020, catching COVID-19. Due to long COVID, was asked, for the first time, to
ones, neighbors and co-workers. Gabriel Cid, 47, of Greenwich, began some won’t get better anytime soon. provide proof of a COVID-19
As the pandemic approaches the feeling weak and developed fever and vaccination or a recent negative
two-year mark, The Courant talked to chills. test, she was glad of it.
survivors about their confrontations The married father of three adult resting on April 12 when his wife “It makes you feel safe,”
with the disease, including several children went to an urgent care clinic noticed his lips were blue. A check at Oheron, 61, of Torrington, said
people who were infected in the uncer- where he was told he likely had COVID- the Greenwich Hospital emergency of the new rules for fans.
tain days when the virus emerged as a 19. A test confirmed the infection. The UConn Athletics policy,
global crisis. Cid was home, drinking fluids and Turn to COVID-19, Page 3 which went into effect Satur-
day for the women’s basket-
Turn to XL Center, Page 2
An escape in Simsbury Opinion .................Insight 1-3 Puzzles ......News, 11; Arts, 7
Obits ..........Sunday CT, 6-12 Success ......Sunday CT, 4-5
The Talcott Mountain Collective, a new beer and food venue in Simsbury whose glass façade Lottery ........................News, 2
offers a terrific view of the Heublein Tower, offers ‘an escape from reality.’ SUNDAY CT, PAGE 1 Classified ............News, 10-11
2 Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Sunday, January 16, 2022
FROM PAGE ONE
XL Center at the XL Center drew
Lamont’s attention, though
from Page 1 he declined to institute a
statewide mask mandate.
ball game against the Xavier “Not everyone was wear-
Musketeers, requires all ing a mask, to put it mildly,”
spectators at home games he said at the time. “So I
who are at least 12 years can pass a lot of laws and
old to present digital or mandates and restrictions,
print proof of full COVID- but they’re only effective
19 vaccination or a negative when people follow it.”
COVID-19 test obtained On Saturday, the vast
within the last 72 hours. majority of fans wore masks
Negative PCR and rapid as they entered the venue
test results are accepted, and appeared to keep them
but not at-home test results. on throughout the game.
Full vaccination is defined As she emerged from the
as two weeks past a second security checkpoint with
dose of a two-dose COVID- her four children, Nicole
19 vaccine such as Pfizer or Ciriello, 41, said her family of
Moderna, or two weeks past devoted Huskies fans would
a single-dose vaccine such as do whatever they had to do
Johnson & Johnson. to keep attending games.
UConn announced the “It’s a good thing,” Ciri-
mitigation measures earlier ello, of Plainville, said of the
this month in response a new policy. “There’s a lot
surge of COVID-19 cases of people here, and we just
and hospitalizations across want to be safe.”
the state, driven by the high- Oheron, the ER nurse,
ly-contagious omicron vari- said she hopes to see other
ant. businesses and venues in
Before each security XL Center Guest Services employee Willie Mann checks the ID and COVID-19 vaccination card of a fan before the UConn Connecticut require proof
checkpoint at the XL Center women’s basketball game against Xavier at the XL Center on Saturday. It was the first time UConn required proof of vaccination of vaccination or a negative
— Connecticut’s largest or a recent negative COVID-19 test for admission to the game. CLOE POISSON/SPECIAL TO THE COURANT test, in order to slow trans-
sports and live entertain- mission of the virus.
ment venue — staffers had been “super smooth,” people who have not been the XL Center. Staffers said since last summer, Connecti- “I’m all for it. I’ve lived
checked vaccination cards with no one turned away for vaccinated to do so is a they had administered half cut’s largest indoor theaters it. I’ve seen it,” she said of
and documentation of nega- lack of proof. good thing,” said Lauren a dozen doses by 11 a.m. — have required audience COVID-19. “I’ve never seen
tive tests against identifica- Many Huskies fans said Williams, 62, of North mostly booster shots. members to show proof of a so much sadness in my life.
tion cards. they welcomed the extra Haven. “If you love the Gov. Ned Lamont rolled COVID-19 vaccination and to Especially in the first wave,
“Licenses out, vax cards!” layer of protection at a time Huskies and you can’t come out a digital vaccine card wear masks. the number of people I’ve
Cat Zuppani, UConn assis- when COVID-19 transmis- see them because you’re not program at the end of last Last fall, despite a UConn seen die alone in the ER. ...
tant athletic director of sion in Connecticut remains vaccinated, get on the train.” year for voluntary use by busi- policy requiring specta- So whatever you can do to
athletics administration, elevated. Griffin Health, which nesses and venues. Lamont tors at least 2 years old to stay safe, it’s worth it.”
reminded attendees enter- “Because the pandemic has run vaccination clin- has long resisted mandating wear masks unless they are
ing the venue. is clearly not going away, ics across the state, offered proof of vaccination, as New eating or drinking, wide- Eliza Fawcett can be
Lines moved quickly, and anything we can do to free vaccinations at a booth York City requires for indoor spread non-masking at a reached at elfawcett@
Zuppani said the process encourage and require just inside the entrance to dining and other venues. But UConn basketball game courant.com.
Overdose The case “remains a very and tested at their lab, Bois- stamped with several identi- Boisvert did not say in potency of this product can
active investigation,” Bois- vert has said. The drug was fying logos, he said. the Friday email whether be deadly to anyone coming
from Page 1 vert said Saturday. found to be fentanyl, which In a separate release late the recovered fentanyl he in contact with it, includ-
Two other seventh-grad- confirmed earlier on-scene Friday, city police had said was referring to as “more ing absorption through the
(department) will continue ers were believed to be tests. fentanyl that is about 50 potent” was the substance skin,” Boisvert said in the
their investigation and seek exposed to the drug and According to Boisvert, times more potent than found at the school or Friday email.
to hold accountable the were also transported to the bags only contained “what has regularly been connected to that case The academy, located
adults who ultimately are the hospital, officials said. fentanyl in powder form, found and tested” in the but said that “this partic- at 280 Huyshope Ave., is a
responsible for this child’s Both were released to their and not other drugs. region has been recovered ular recovered fentanyl college preparatory magnet
death. parents Thursday night, Drugs such as cocaine and in Hartford. was forensically tested and school for students in grades
“In the meantime, our Boisvert has said. heroin are sometimes cut The report of the recov- found to be approximately six through 12 who are inter-
prayers are with everyone It is believed that the with fentanyl because it ery of the powerful drug 50 times more potent than ested in sports and medical
touched by this loss, and we three juveniles came into is extremely potent, and and its potency came as the what has regularly been sciences.
will do everything we can to contact with the fentanyl at cheaper to manufacture city investigated the over- found and tested in New The school includes
support the SMSA commu- the same time, according to and purchase. dose case and subsequent England regions.” He said students from several towns
nity.” Boisvert. The fentanyl was “pack- discovery of nearly 40 bags later he could not comment in and around the Hart-
The teen has not been The bags of the drug were aged in what you would see of fentanyl stashed in multi- on the location where the ford area. The student who
identified publicly because collected by the federal in street-level sales,” Bois- ple locations within the fentanyl was found. overdosed is from Hartford,
of his age. Drug Enforcement Agency vert said. The bags were also school. “The strength and Boisvert said.
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Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Sunday, January 16, 2022 3
FROM PAGE ONE
COVID-19
muscle aches, extreme fatigue and
from Page 1 congestion.
Like others throughout
room showed his oxygen level was Connecticut, Hallums said his
alarmingly low. search for an available PCR test
Admitted to the hospital, Cid was futile.
was positioned on his stomach for “I didn’t feel well enough to
16 hours to help clear his lungs, but keep driving around the state,” he
he was not getting better. He was said. A home test was positive for
then put into an induced coma on the virus, and Hallums stayed in
a ventilator for three weeks. his house. Friends checked in and
“Right before I was ventilated,” dropped off food. Congestion in
Cid wrote in an Instagram post his head was bad, and fatigue and
on the one-year anniversary of boredom took over.
his hospitalization, “Nurse Ellen “You can only listen to so much
asked if I wanted to Zoom with my music. You can only watch so much
family. I did not want my family’s television,” he said.
last memory of me to be of a crying, Recovery has been arduous,
scared sick man. She instead asked Hallums said. He works out and
if I wanted to pray. She held my said, “It’s been hard getting that
hand as we said the Our Father. I endurance back.”
have never felt that level of fear in
my life.” A long sleep
All he remembers from those
days are grim dreams, including a Paul Cichon, 63, of South Wind-
nightmare about the death of his sor, is a burly boxing coach, a
mother, who is still alive. former truck driving instructor
“For some reason, they were so and director of the Manchester
vivid and so dark they were kind Ring of Champions Society gym.
of burned into my brain,” Cid said Paul Cichon, who directs the Ring of Champions Society boxing gym in Manchester, fell ill with COVID-19 in April The virus hit him like a hammer
Cid spent a total of 40 days in 2020 and says he would lose his breath while trying to take a shower and couldn’t walk down his driveway to get his in April 2020. Cichon lost his appe-
the hospital. Upon release, he was mail. “It was scary” he said. MARK MIRKO/HARTFORD COURANT tite and felt drained. Just getting
unable to walk or swallow and dressed took 20 minutes, and he
spent another week at an inpatient “I just felt like I was going to die, had to lean against the wall half-
rehabilitation center in Stamford. like I knew I was going to die,” she way through a shower. He could
Before COVID-19 hit him, he said. take only shallow breaths, Cichon
was overweight and not eating Again she was rushed to the recalled.
right. The infection woke him, Cid hospital. This time, doctors discov- His daily routine was to come
said, to the need to change all that. ered blood clots in her lungs. downstairs from bed and sprawl in
On the one-year anniversaries Doctors told her they were not sure a recliner, sleeping for two-thirds
of entering and leaving the hospi- when the clots developed or if they of the day. Cichon said he was
tal, he ran 5K races and remains were related to COVID-19, but in a scared to go to the hospital
committed to a workout regimen way, Howe said, the virus saved her “because I was afraid I wouldn’t
six days every week. life because the dangerous embo- come out.” News reports of the
“COVID saved my life,” Cid said. lisms were diagnosed. dead being stacked in refriger-
He also remains forever grate- Another notable effect of her ated trailers drove his choice, he
ful to the doctors, nurses and other long illness, Howe said, was brain said.
health care workers who helped fog. She would have food in her “I wasn’t going in there,” Cichon
bring him through those dark days mouth for five minutes and forget said. “If I’m going to die, I’m going
and has helped raise money for to swallow. Finishing a 100-piece Kristina Gregory was determined to die right here with my girl-
Greenwich Hospital. puzzle took six hours. to be part of the solution and Like thousands of others, Bernie friend.”
Her advice for anyone who gets has donated plasma five times. Hallums couldn’t get a PCR test. His dreams, he recalled, were
‘Felt like I was COVID-19: drink a lot of water and COURTESY “I didn’t feel well enough to keep super-realistic, a quality that
get up and get moving, even if you driving around the state,” he says. has not returned with recovery.
going to die’ have to drag yourself out of bed. nite answers. COURTESY Cichon said he would dream of
“The more you lie down, the She was bedridden for about two a childhood friend who had died
Carrie Howe, 39, was suffer- more it takes over you,” Howe said. weeks and lost her sense of taste “I call it ‘diet COVID,’ ” she said. months before and remember it
ing from body aches, nausea and and smell. After she recovered, Gregory, an just as if the man in the flesh had
chronic coughing when she tested COVID, ‘diet COVID’ “Everything tasted like drywall,” insurance broker, said she donated visited.
positive for the coronavirus in Gregory said, but then again, “I plasma five times. His girlfriend had been infected
early December 2021. Kristina Gregory, 53, of Darien, could cut onions all day long.” “This is the worst illness of my at the same time, Cichon said.
Two days later, the manager of fell sick on March 15, 2020, when She had kept in shape before the lifetime,” she said. “I was deter- Her sons would leave food on the
a Hartford soup kitchen fainted in the world was just waking to the illness, and a doctor friend told her mined to be part of the solution.” doorstep and then run like the
her home after getting out of the severity of the virus. to avoid the hospital unless she had house was full of lepers, he said,
shower. Howe was taken by ambu- The married mother of two severe breathing problems. ‘You can only listen laughing.
lance to Manchester Memorial boys went to Stamford Hospital Her husband and two sons After about three weeks, the
Hospital, where she stayed for four emergency room, where she was tended to her while keeping their to so much music’ former East Hartford public works
days on a regimen of medications tested for COVID-19. Test results, distance, Gregory said, and none of crewman had lost 30 pounds.
that included Remdesivir. however, would not be available for them caught the virus at that time. Bernie Hallums, 58, a retired “It hit me hard,” he said.
She was home for 1 1/2 days when 11 days, and in the interim, Gregory All three tested positive recently, Manchester police officer, was
another wave of illness slammed had to tell people she had been in but they were vaccinated and had infected in the first week of Decem- Jesse Leavenworth can be reached
her. contact with that she had no defi- no severe symptoms, Gregory said. ber. His symptoms included chills, at [email protected].
Lawsuit
in the state. It includes Bridge-
from Page 1 port Hospital, Greenwich Hospi-
tal, Lawrence + Memorial Hospital
highly concentrated hospital in New London, Yale New Haven
markets in California found that an Hospital, Westerly Hospital in
increase in the share of physicians Rhode Island and a physician foun-
in practices owned by a hospital dation.
was associated with a 12% increase Yale New Haven Health posted
in premiums for private plans. revenue of $4.6 billion and employs
Another study that used private more than 26,000 workers and
insurer data found an increase in 6,685 medical staff.
physician-hospital integration was
associated with an average price State to conduct study
increase of 14% for the same service.
Frances Padilla, president of Legislation enacted last year by
the Universal Health Care Foun- the General Assembly and Gov.
dation of Connecticut, an advocacy Ned Lamont directs the Office of
group, said Hartford HealthCare is Health Strategy to study ways to
“particularly aggressive” in broad- improve oversight and regulation
ening market share through acqui- of physician practice mergers and
sitions and can raise prices as it acquisitions.
reduces competition. Cardiac and The study, included in broader
orthopedic surgeries — knee and legislation related to hospital bill-
hip replacements, for example — ing and collections, will review
are particularly high-margin prac- laws, regulations and transactions
tices, she said. of physician practices. The study,
Access, too, is affected as Hart- which must be completed by Feb.
ford HealthCare frequently 1, 2023, will look at ways to ensure
requires patients in eastern A new Hartford HealthCare building under construction on South Main Street in West Hartford. the viability of physician practices
Connecticut to seek service in MARK MIRKO/HARTFORD COURANT and develop legislative recommen-
Hartford, Padilla said. dations to improve reporting and
of Pittsburgh Medical Center and In its lawsuit, St. Francis Hospital would “crush” them, St. Fran- oversight of physician practice
Recruiting the Highmark, a health care company, says Hartford HealthCare brought cis claims. And it accused Hart- mergers and acquisitions.
over accusations Highmark in two dozen surgeons and special- ford HealthCare of increasing its State Rep. Jonathan Steinberg,
‘greatest experts’ steered thousands of patients to ists in hematology, oncology, cardi- market share as it reduced volume House chairman of the public
its network. ology and neurology over the last at Bristol Hospital. health committee, said lawmak-
Jeffrey Flaks, chief executive Another lucrative reason to four years. Another nine specialists A spokesman said Bristol Hospi- ers responded to a trend that
officer of Hartford HealthCare, acquire physician practices is to and primary care physicians have tal is not a party to the lawsuit and private equity firms are acquir-
said the lawsuit is “without merit, take advantage of higher Medi- been recruited to work exclusively will not comment. ing physician practices. “As with
and we will defend against this care reimbursements available to in a Hartford HealthCare physician Lisa Freeman, executive direc- other industries, it’s often about
legal action in the courts. That will “satellite outpatient” departments, hospital network, it says. tor of the Connecticut Center for cost-cutting and not about deliv-
be the proper place to respond.” he said. Previously physician prac- St. Francis says Hartford Health- Patient Safety, a nonprofit group ering quality service,” he said.
Hartford HealthCare is improv- tices, they are now rebranded to Care has acquired the practices of that speaks for patients, said the Steinberg, a Westport Democrat,
ing access and affordability and capture more government money, more than 50 physicians, estab- merits of the lawsuit have yet to be said the acquisitions of physician
recruits the “greatest experts to be Perlman said. lished control over doctor refer- decided and no one knows “whose groups is “hardly a new phenom-
our colleagues,” he said in a message However, administrative and rals and insists on exclusive access truth bears out.” enon.” Research published in
to Hartford HealthCare employees. legislative changes are bringing to medical equipment. Still, a concern is that health February 2020 by the Journal of
Medicare reimbursement at hospi- “These actions do not involve care is “turning into business deci- the American Medical Association
‘Market share’ tal outpatient departments in line competition to attract patients sions,” she said. Surveys show that said physician practice acquisitions
with what’s paid at physicians’ based on price and quality,” St. trust is a key consideration among by private equity firms increased to
Spencer Perlman, managing offices, Perlman said. Francis said in the suit. “Instead, patients, and her advice is to check 136 in 2016, up from 59 in 2013.
partner and director of health Siphoning off physicians to a they prevent such competition, physician referrals. Questions now focus on
care research at Veda Partners in dominant health care network by controlling large numbers of With 33,000 employees and whether the change in ownership
Washington, D.C., said a health care that often has “brand recognition” physicians and effectively locking operating revenue of $4.9 billion, of physician practices has reached
anti-competitive lawsuit “seems also is successful as it attracts more up referrals of their patients.” Hartford HealthCare dwarfs Trin- a tipping point, is anti-competi-
pretty novel” even as hospitals snap patients, he said. ity Health of New England, the tive and where government fits in
up physician practices in what he Ted Doolittle, Connecticut’s Monopoly claim parent company of St. Francis and when interfering in market forces,
said is a common practice to drive health care advocate, said hospi- four other hospitals in Connecti- Steinberg said.
up revenue with patient referrals. tals infrequently sue each other, In its lawsuit, St. Francis accuses cut and Massachusetts. Trinity The trend, he said is “in some
Hospitals “battle for market making the St. Francis lawsuit Hartford HealthCare of bullying posted revenue of about $2 billion ways a natural outgrowth of what
share all the time, and it can defi- surprising. But the issue of indus- physician practices to establish and employs about 11,000 workers. we’re doing in managed care.”
nitely get ugly,” he said. try acquisitions is not new. a monopoly. In one case, it told Hartford HealthCare also
He cited a recently settled eight- “Both competitors and people physicians that if they balked at outstrips Yale New Haven Health, Stephen Singer can be reached
year battle between the University are getting gobbled up,” he said. joining its health care system it another dominant hospital system at [email protected].
Get more out of your subscription It’s easy to start your online access!
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4 Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Sunday, January 16, 2022
Some test GOP’s loyalty to Trump
A few Republicans primary.”
The risk, however, is clear
are growing weary
in Arizona’s Senate race. In
of his election lies a year favoring Republi-
cans, the state should be a
By Jill Colvin relatively attainable pickup
Associated Press and some in the party are
eager for Ducey to enter
WASHINGTON — the race against Democratic
Former President Donald incumbent Mark Kelly. But
Trump is stepping up his Trump’s repeated attacks on
election-year effort to Ducey, who has refused to
dominate the Republican back election conspiracies,
Party with a Saturday rally could make it hard for him
in Arizona in which he to succeed in a GOP primary.
planned to castigate anyone Trump issued a statement
who dares to question his lie that he would never endorse
that the 2020 presidential Ducey.
election was stolen, likely Whichever Republicans
including the state’s GOP emerge on top in Arizona
governor, Doug Ducey. and other critical races will
But 2,000 miles to the have to convince voters that
east in Washington, there they should participate in
are small signs that some an election system Trump
Republicans are tiring of has spent years deriding as
the charade. Mike Rounds, rigged.
the generally unassuming Many Republicans still
senator from South Dakota, blame Trump for the party’s
was perhaps the boldest in loss of Georgia’s two Senate
acknowledging the real- runoff elections in 2021,
ity that the election was in arguing he depressed turn-
fact fair. Instead of being out by insisting the election
shunned, he was supported would be rigged, denying
by his GOP colleagues, Glenn Youngkin, who ran a Republican gubernatorial campaign that kept former President Donald Trump at arm’s length, is them control of the Senate.
including Senate Republican inaugurated as Virginia’s governor Saturday in a ceremony in Richmond, Virginia. JULIO CORTEZ/AP “Trump still has this
leader Mitch McConnell. outsized voice and influence
Rounds later said the party lar figure among the voters support Trump’s claims positioning may help and coronavirus cases. and too many candidates
needed to get “louder” in who will decide which that the election was stolen. Republican candidates come “It’s one of those issues fear his wrath,” said Charlie
telling voters the truth about Republicans advance to the Elections officials and out on top in primary fields that’s quintessentially popu- Dent, a former Republican
the 2020 campaign. fall general election. But the his own attorney general that are often crowded. lar in a primary and unpop- congressman from Pennsyl-
Meanwhile, top Repub- recent dynamics bring new rejected the notion. Trump’s But there are concerns that ular in a general,” said Chris vania and Trump critic. “So
licans in Washington have clarity to the debate that arguments have also been it could hurt the party in DeRose, a Republican attor- these candidates are put in
engaged in a behind-the- will likely animate the GOP roundly rejected by the the fall, especially among ney and former clerk of the a bind: If they tell the truth,
scenes effort to encourage all year: how closely GOP courts, including judges suburban voters who have superior court in Arizona’s they run the risk of losing
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, candidates should align appointed by the former become increasingly deci- Maricopa County. their primaries and incur-
one of Trump’s most vocal themselves with Trump and president. sive in recent campaigns. He said candidates, who ring the wrath of Trump,
antagonists in the party, to his election lie. Still, dissent from Trump’s The further to the right that often privately acknowledge and if they acquiesce and go
run for a Senate seat. And on “I was very encouraged election lie within the GOP Republicans go now, the the election was fair, were along with this nonsense,
Saturday, Glenn Youngkin by the response from a remains rare. From Ohio to easier it could become for clearly courting the former they run the risk of alienat-
became the first Republican number of different senators Georgia and Arizona, candi- their Democratic rivals to president by expressing ing a lot of voters.”
since 2010 to be sworn in supportive of Sen. Rounds,” dates running for Senate, portray them as extreme in skepticism about the 2020 Others disagreed. Barbara
as Virginia’s governor after said former New Jersey governor and attorney a general election. election. Comstock, a Trump critic
running a campaign that Gov. Chris Christie, who general have fully embraced And any time candidates “Donald Trump’s obvi- and former GOP congress-
kept Trump at arm’s length. has been a rare Republican Trump’s falsehoods as spend looking backward ously the most sought- woman from Virginia,
Less than two months urging the party to move on they have tried to win his is time not spent attacking after endorsement among warned Republicans risked
before the 2022 primary from Trump and his election endorsement, deflect his President Joe Biden, who is Republican candidates,” he nominating fringe candi-
season begins, Trump obsession. fury or win over his base. seen as particularly vulner- said. “That can make all the dates who would go on to
remains the most popu- There is no evidence to In the short term, such able due to rising inflation difference in a Republican lose in the general.
Volcano erupts in Pacific
and tsunami fears follow
Residents in Alaska, Scientists said tsunamis his palace near the shore. He
generated by volcanoes was among the many resi-
Hawaii and along
rather than earthquakes are dents who headed for higher
the US coast warned relatively rare. ground.
The Tonga Meteorologi- On Tonga, home to about
By Nick Perry cal Services said a tsunami 105,000 people, video posted
Associated Press warning was declared for all to social media showed
of the archipelago, and data large waves washing ashore
WELLINGTON, New from the Pacific tsunami in coastal areas, swirling
Zealand — An undersea center said waves of 2.7 feet around homes, a church and
volcano erupted in spectac- were detected. other buildings.
ular fashion Saturday near Rachel Afeaki-Taumoe- New Zealand’s military
the Pacific nation of Tonga, peau, who chairs the New said it was monitoring the
sending tsunami waves Zealand Tonga Business situation and remained on
crashing across the shore Council, said she hoped standby, ready to assist if
and people rushing to higher the relatively low level of asked.
ground. the tsunami waves would In Hawaii, the Pacific
The eruption cut the have allowed most people Tsunami Warning Center
internet to Tonga, leaving to get to safety, although she reported waves that
friends and family members worried about those living measured 1.6 feet in Nawi- A screen grab from a satellite Saturday shows the volcanic eruption that provoked a tsunami in
around the world on Sunday on islands closest to the liwili, Kauai and 2.7 feet Tonga. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS (JAPAN)
still anxiously trying to get volcano. She said she hadn’t in Hanalei. The National
in touch to figure out if yet been able to contact her Weather Service said there volcano eruption, sounds growing island off Tonga. “We don’t issue an advi-
there were any injuries and friends and family in Tonga. were reports of boats getting pretty violent,” he wrote, “The surface area of sory for this length of coast-
the extent of the damage. “We are praying that the pushed up in docks, but the adding in a later post: “Rain- the island appears to have line as we’ve done — I’m not
Even government websites damage is just to infrastruc- hazard diminished as the ing ash and tiny pebbles, expanded by nearly 45% sure when the last time was
and other official sources ture and people were able to morning went on. darkness blanketing the due to ashfall,” Planet Labs — but it really isn’t an every-
remained without any get to higher land,” she said. “We are relieved that sky.” said days before the latest day experience,” Snider
updates. Tonga gets its internet there is no reported damage The explosion of the activity. said.
Satellite images showed a via an undersea cable from and only minor flooding Hunga Tonga Hunga Following Saturday’s He said the waves slam-
huge eruption, with a plume Suva, Fiji, which presum- throughout the islands,” the Ha’apai volcano was the eruption, residents in ming ashore in Hawaii were
of ash, steam and gas rising ably was damaged. All tsunami center said, describ- latest in a series of dramatic Hawaii, Alaska and along just under the criteria for a
like a mushroom above the internet connectivity with ing the situation in Hawaii. eruptions. the U.S. Pacific coast were more serious tsunami warn-
blue Pacific waters. A sonic Tonga was lost about 6:40 The tsunami advisory for Earth imaging company advised to move away from ing.
boom could be heard as far p.m. local time, said Doug the islands was lifted about Planet Labs PBC had the coastline to higher The first waves to hit the
away as Alaska. Madory, director of inter- 11 hours after the eruption watched the island in recent ground and to pay atten- continental U.S. measured
Tsunami advisories were net analysis for the network more than 3,000 miles away. days after a new volcanic tion to specific instructions about 1 foot in Nikolski,
issued for Hawaii, Alaska intelligence firm Kentik. In Tonga, a Twitter user vent there began erupting from their local emergency Alaska, and 1.9 feet in Adak,
and the U.S. Pacific coast. The Fiji-based Islands identified as Dr. Faka’iloat- in late December. management officials, said Alaska. A wave of about 2.6
The U.S. Geological Survey Business news site reported onga Taumoefolau posted Satellite images captured Dave Snider, tsunami warn- feet was observed in Monte-
estimated the eruption that a convoy of police and video showing waves crash- by the company show how ing coordinator for the rey, California, according to
caused the equivalent of military troops evacuated ing ashore. drastically the volcano had National Tsunami Warning the U.S. National Tsunami
magnitude 5.8 earthquake. Tonga’s King Tupou VI from “Can literally hear the shaped the area, creating a Center in Palmer, Alaska. Warning Center.
Southeast braces for major winter storm
By Sudhin Thanawala blizzard left thousands deteriorated and scores of p.m. Friday, according to the
and Jeffrey Collins of motorists trapped on schools closed or moved Des Moines Register.
Associated Press clogged highways earlier to online instruction. Iowa And in Chicago, the
this month, outgoing Gov. was hit the hardest. Brad streets and sanitation
ATLANTA — Forecasts Ralph Northam declared Small, a National Weather department was on Saturday
of snow and ice as far south a state of emergency and Service meteorologist, said morning equipping more
as Georgia have put a big urged people to take the the airport in Des Moines than 200 trucks with snow
part of the Southeast on approaching storm seri- saw more than 14 inches of plow blades to keep the
an emergency prepared- ously. In North Carolina, snow and a big swath of the streets passable during and
ness footing as shoppers some store shelves were central and southern Iowa after the expected storm.
scoured store shelves for stripped bare of essentials recorded between 9 inches Parts of Tennessee could
storm supplies and crews including bread and milk. and a foot of snow. get as much as 6 inches of
raced to treat highways By Friday, the fast-moving The Iowa State Patrol had snow, forecasters said, and
and roads as a major winter storm had already dropped reported that 207 motorists northern Mississippi and
storm approached from the heavy snow across a large were assisted and 78 crashes the Tennessee Valley region
Bonny Obutu shovels snow Saturday in West Des Moines, Midwest. swath of the Midwest, had occurred in the four of Alabama could receive
Iowa. BRYON HOULGRAVE/DES MOINES REGISTER In Virginia, where a where travel conditions hours between 5 p.m. and 9 light snow accumulations.
Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Sunday, January 16, 2022 5
WORLD & NATION
NEWS BRIEFING
Taliban leadership
pledges that all girls
will be in school soon
From news services that once housed Afghan
attorney general’s offices
KABUL, Afghanistan — and which the Taliban have
Afghanistan’s new Taliban adopted for their culture
rulers say they hope to be and information ministry.
able to open all schools for The Taliban’s dictates so
girls across the country after far have been erratic, vary-
late March, their spokesman ing from province to prov-
told The Associated Press on ince. Girls have not been
Saturday, offering the first allowed back to classrooms
timeline for addressing a key in state-run schools beyond
demand of the international grade 7, except in about 10
community. of the country’s 34 prov-
Since the Taliban takeover inces. In the capital, Kabul,
in mid-August, girls in most private universities and
of Afghanistan have not high schools have contin-
been allowed back to school ued to operate uninter-
beyond grade 7. The inter- rupted. Most are small, and
national community, reluc- the classes have always been
tant to formally recognize a segregated.
Taliban-run administration, The international
is wary they could impose community has been skep-
similar harsh measures as tical of Taliban announce-
during their previous rule ments, saying it will judge Poultry vendor Irma Sanchez waits for customers in her stall Saturday at a central market in Lima, Peru. Inflation will
20 years ago. At the time, them by their actions — even continue to be a regional headache coupled with a lack of investment, according to a recent forecast offered by the Economic
women were banned from as it scrambles to provide Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. MARTIN MEJIA/AP
education, work and public billions of dollars to avert a
life. humanitarian catastrophe
Zabihullah Mujahid, that the U.N. chief this week required to evacuate, with ended, and the process evenly divided between migrants hoping to reach
who is also the Taliban’s warned could endanger the officials saying air quality of distributing the artist’s a well-funded New York the United States set off in
deputy minister of culture lives of millions. remained acceptable and wealth could begin next music company — Primary a caravan Saturday from the
and information, said their would be monitored. month. Wave — and the three oldest northern Honduran city of
education departments are Jersey fire: A dramatic The Minneapolis Star of the music icon’s six heirs San Pedro Sula.
looking to open classrooms fire near a chemical plant Greece protests: A protest Tribune reports that the or their families. Hundreds of young men,
for all girls and women burned through the night march by 1,500 far-left Internal Revenue Service women and children, most
following the Afghan New and into Saturday in north- activists in the northern and the estate’s administra- Haiti president’s assassina- from Nicaragua, Hondu-
Year, which starts on March ern New Jersey but led to no Greek city of Thessalon- tor, Comerica Bank & Trust, tion: Haiti’s National Police ras and Cuba, had gathered
21. Afghanistan, like neigh- evacuation orders or serious iki turned violent Saturday agreed to value Prince’s said Saturday that a former overnight and early morn-
boring Iran, observes the injuries — just heavy smoke toward its end when some estate at $156.4 million, a senator sought in the kill- ing at the city’s central bus
Islamic solar Hijri Shamsi that was seen and smelled in protesters threw firebombs figure that the artist’s heirs ing of President Jovenel station.
calendar. nearby New York City. and rocks at riot police, have also accepted. Moise has been arrested in Shortly after dawn, they
Education for girls and The fire at Majestic Indus- who responded with stun The valuation dwarfs Jamaica. set out walking toward the
women “is a question of tries and the Qualco chemi- grenades and tear gas. Comerica’s earlier $82.3 Police spokesman Gary Guatemalan border in hopes
capacity,” Mujahid said in cal plant in Passaic was in Police prevented the million appraisal. Desrosiers told The Asso- that traveling in a group
the interview. buildings housing plastics, marchers from reaching The IRS in 2020 had ciated Press that John Joel would be safer or cheaper
Girls and boys must be pallets and chlorine, offi- their intended destination, valued the estate at $163.2 Joseph was in custody. No than trying to hire smug-
completely segregated in cials said, but catastrophe the campus of the Aristo- million. further information was glers or trying on their own.
schools, he said, adding that was averted. tle University of Thessa- Prince, who died of a immediately available. A smaller second group soon
the biggest obstacle so far Crews battled pockets of loniki. Thirty people were fentanyl overdose in 2016, Meanwhile, Jamaica joined.
has been finding or building the blaze into the afternoon, detained, of whom 27 will did not leave a will. Police Superintendent Large numbers of
enough dorms, or hostels, Passaic Mayor Hector Lora face charges, police said. Since then, lawyers and Stephanie Lindsay told the migrants, many from
where girls could stay while said, but it was contained. The march was the culmi- consultants have been paid AP that other people were Central America and Haiti,
going to school. In heav- The fire was prevented nation of a week of protests tens of millions of dollars arrested along with Joseph have reached the U.S. border
ily populated areas, it is not from reaching the main over the New Year’s Eve to administer his estate and and that authorities were over the past year.
enough to have separate chemical plant, which eviction of activists who come up with a plan for its trying to determine whether The U.S. Border Patrol
classrooms for boys and girls could have endangered the had occupied a room at the distribution. they are family members. has said it had more than
— separate school buildings densely populated New university’s biology depart- Two of Prince’s six sibling She said they were 1.6 million encounters with
are needed, he said. York City suburbs of New ment for 34 years. heirs, Alfred Jackson and arrested before dawn Satur- migrants along the Mexican
“We are not against Jersey, Lora said. John R. Nelson, have since day and declined to share border between September
education,” Mujahid said, Nearby residents were Prince estate: The six-year died. Two others are in their other details. 2020 and the same month in
speaking at a Kabul office advised to close their legal battle over pop super- 80s. 2021 — more than four times
building with marble floors windows but were not star Prince’s estate has The estate will be almost Migrant caravan: Some 600 the previous fiscal year.
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6 Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Sunday, January 16, 2022
WORLD & NATION
Afghan girls able to live like boys
Tradition provides work for us, and her father
freedom not usually doesn’t have anyone to help
him. So I will consider her
given to that gender
my son until she becomes a
teenager.”
By Mstyslav Chernov Still, Fahima refers to
and Elena Becatoros Sanam as “my daughter.” In
Associated Press their native Dari language,
the pronouns are not an
KABUL, Afghanistan — issue since one pronoun is
In a Kabul neighborhood, used for “he” and “she.”
a gaggle of boys kicks a Sanam says she prefers
yellow ball around a dusty living as a boy.
playground, their boister- “It’s better to be a boy ... I
ous cries echoing off the wear (Afghan male clothes),
surrounding apartment jeans and jackets, and go
buildings. with my father and work,”
Dressed in sweaters and she said. She likes playing in
jeans or the traditional the park with her brother’s
Afghan male clothing of friends and playing cricket
baggy pants and long shirt, and soccer.
none stand out as they jostle Once she grows up, Sanam
to score a goal. said, she wants to be either
But one is different from a doctor, a commander or
the others. a soldier, or work with her
At not quite 8 years old, father. And she’ll go back to
Sanam is a bacha posh: a girl being a girl.
living as a boy. One day a few “When I grow up, I will let
months ago, the girl with my hair grow and will wear
rosy cheeks and an impish girl’s clothes,” she said.
smile had her dark hair cut The transition can be
short, donned boys’ clothes difficult.
and took on a boy’s name, “When I put on girls’
Omid. The move opened up clothes, I thought I was in
a boy’s world: playing soccer prison,” said Najieh, who
and cricket with boys, wres- grew up as a bacha posh,
tling with the neighborhood Sanam, a bacha posh, or a girl living as a boy, center, sits among Afghan boys at a mosque in Kabul. MSTYSLAV CHERNOV/AP 2021 although she would attend
butcher’s son, working to school as a girl. One of seven
help the family make ends istan’s new rulers, the University who has written topics in terms of gender Some consider it a status sisters, her boy’s name was
meet. Taliban, who seized power several books on Afghani- issues, said Barfield, who symbol, and some believe it Assadollah.
In Afghanistan’s heav- in August and have made stan. spent about two years in the will bring good luck for the Now 34, married and with
ily patriarchal, male-domi- no public statements on the “Because it’s inside the 1970s living with an Afghan next child to be born a boy. four children of her own, she
nated society, where women issue. family and because it’s not a nomad family that included But for others, like weeps for the freedom of the
and girls are usually rele- Their rule so far has been permanent status, the Tali- a bacha posh. “Precisely Sanam’s family, the choice male world she has lost.
gated to the home, bacha less draconian than the last ban may stay out (of it),” because the girls revert was one of necessity. “In Afghanistan, boys are
posh, Dari for “dressed as time they were in power in Barfield said. back to the female role, they Last year, with Afghani- more valuable,” she said.
a boy,” is the one tradition the 1990s, but women’s free- It is unclear where the marry, it kind of disappears.” stan’s economy collapsing, “There is no oppression
allowing girls access to the doms have still been severely practice originated or how Girls chosen as bacha construction work dried for them, and no limits. But
freer male world. curtailed. Thousands of old it is, and it is impossible posh usually are the more up. Sanam’s father, already being a girl is different. She
Under the practice, a women have been barred to know how widespread boisterous, self-assured suffering from a back injury, gets forced to get married at
girl dresses, behaves and from working, and girls it might be. A somewhat daughters. “The role fits so lost his job as a plumber. He a young age.”
is treated as a boy, with all beyond elementary school similar tradition exists in well that sometimes even turned to selling corona- Young women can’t leave
the freedoms and obliga- age have not been able to Albania, another deeply outside the family, people virus masks on the streets, the house or allow strang-
tions that entails. The child return to public schools in patriarchal society, although are not aware that it exists,” making the equivalent of ers to see their face, Najieh
can play sports, attend most places. it is limited to adults. Under he said. $1-$2 per day. But he needed said. And after the Taliban
a madrassa, or religious With a crackdown on Albania’s “sworn virgin” “It’s almost so invisi- a helper. takeover, she lost her job as
school, and, sometimes women’s rights, the bacha tradition, a woman would ble that it’s one of the few The family has four a schoolteacher because she
crucially for the family, posh tradition could become take an oath of celibacy and gender issues that doesn’t daughters and one son, but had been teaching boys.
work. even more attractive for declare herself a man, after show up as a political or their 11-year-old boy doesn’t “Being a man is better
But there is a time limit: some families. And as the which she could inherit social question,” Barfield have full use of his hands than being a woman,” she
Once a bacha posh reaches practice is temporary, with property, work and sit on noted. following an injury. So the said, wiping tears from her
puberty, she is expected to the children eventually a village council — all of The reasons parents parents said they decided to eye. “It is very hard for me.
revert to traditional girls’ reverting to female roles, the which would have been out might want a bacha posh make Sanam a bacha posh. ... If I were a man, I could be
gender roles. The transition Taliban might not deal with of bounds for a woman. vary. With sons traditionally “We had to do this a teacher in a school.”
is not always easy. the issue at all, said Thomas In Afghanistan, the bacha valued more than daughters, because of poverty,” said “I wish I could be a man,
It is unclear how the prac- Barfield, a professor of posh tradition is “one of the the practice usually occurs Sanam’s mother, Fahima. not a woman. To stop this
tice is viewed by Afghan- anthropology at Boston most underinvestigated” in families without a boy. “We don’t have a son to suffering.”
Census memo cites meddling
by the Trump administration
By Michael Wines C. Cook, said he could not
The New York Times immediately say whether
census officials actually
WASHINGTON — A raised the issues with Ross
newly disclosed memo- or, if so, what his response
randum citing “unprece- was.
dented” meddling by the The Trump admin-
Trump administration in istration had long been
the 2020 census and circu- open about its intention
lated among top Census to change the formula for
Bureau officials indicates divvying up House seats
how strongly they sought to among the states by exclud-
resist efforts by the admin- ing noncitizens from the
istration to manipulate the population counts. That
count for Republican polit- would leave an older and
ical gain. Then-Commerce Secretary whiter population base in
Wild elephants scavenge for food at an open landfill Jan. 6 in the village of Pallakkadu in Sri The document was Wilbur Ross says he did not states with large immigrant
Lanka. Plastic waste is leading to elephants dying in the region. ACHALA PUSSALLA/AP shared among three senior recall seeing the memo. populations, something that
executives including Ron S. ERIN SCHAFF/THE NEW was presumed to work to
Elephants dying after eating Jarmin, a deputy director YORK TIMES 2019 Republican advantage.
and the agency’s day-to- Trump’s presidential
day head. It was written a July 2020 presidential memorandum ordering the
plastic from Sri Lanka dump in September 2020 as the memorandum, saying he Census Bureau to compile
administration was press- wanted to subtract them a list of noncitizens for
ing the bureau to end the from House reapportion- that purpose prompted a
count weeks early so that ment population estimates. far-reaching plan to scour
By Achala Pussalla 6,000 in 2011, according to around the country, with if President Donald Trump The census officials’ billions of government
Associated Press the country’s first elephant around 300 elephants lost the election in Novem- memorandum pushed records for hints of foreign-
census. roaming near them, accord- ber, he could receive popu- back especially forcefully, ers living here, illegally or
PALLAKKADU, Sri They are increasingly ing to officials. lation estimates used to complaining of “direct not. The bureau proved
Lanka — Conservationists vulnerable because of the The waste management reapportion the House of engagement” by political unable to produce the
and veterinarians are warn- loss and degradation of site in Pallakkadu village Representatives before appointees with the meth- noncitizen count before
ing that plastic waste in an their natural habitat. Many was set up in 2008 with aid leaving office. ods that experts were using Trump left office, and
open landfill in eastern Sri venture closer to human from the European Union. The memo laid out a to find and count unautho- noncitizens were counted
Lanka is killing elephants in settlements in search of In 2014, the electric string of instances of politi- rized noncitizens. in the allocation of House
the region, after two more food, and some are killed by fence protecting the site cal interference that senior “While the presidential seats, just as they had been
were found dead last week- poachers or farmers angry was struck by lightning and census officials planned memorandum may be a in every census since 1790.
end. over damage to their crops. authorities never repaired to raise with Wilbur Ross, statement of the adminis- But as the documents
Around 20 elephants Hungry elephants seek it. who was then the secretary tration’s policy,” the memo show, that was not for lack
have died over the last out the waste in the landfill, Residents say elephants of the Commerce Depart- stated, “the Census Bureau of effort on the part of the
eight years after consum- consuming plastic as well as have moved closer and ment, which oversees the views the development Commerce Department
ing plastic trash in the sharp objects that damage settled near the waste pit, bureau. The issues involved of the methodology and and its leader at the time.
dump in Pallakkadu village their digestive systems, sparking fear among nearby crucial technical aspects of processes as its responsibil- Among other disclosures,
in Ampara district, about Pushpakumara said. villagers. the count, including the ity as an independent statis- undated documents show
130 miles east of the capital, “The elephants then Many use firecrackers privacy of census respon- tical agency.” that Ross was enlisted to
Colombo. stop eating and become too to chase the animals away dents, the use of estimates The memorandum was lobby 10 Republican gover-
Examinations of the dead weak to keep their heavy when they wander into to fill in missing population among hundreds of docu- nors whose states had been
animals showed they had frames upright. When the village, and some have data, pressure to take short- ments that the Brennan reluctant to turn over driv-
swallowed large amounts that happens, they can’t erected electric fences cuts to produce population Center for Justice at New er’s license records and lists
of nondegradable plastic, consume food or water, around their homes. totals quickly, and political York University’s law school of people enrolled in public
wildlife veterinarian Nihal which quickens their However, villagers often pressure on a crash program obtained in a lawsuit seek- assistance programs so that
Pushpakumara said. death,” he said. don’t know how to install that was seeking to identify ing details of the Trump they could be screened for
“Polythene, food wrap- In 2017, the govern- the electric fences so they and count immigrants living administration’s plans for potential noncitizens.
pers, plastic, other nondi- ment announced that it are safe. in the country illegally. calculating the allotment of Ross said in his email that
gestibles and water were will recycle the garbage in “Even though we call Most of those issues House seats. The suit was he had “called state offi-
the only things we could dumps near wildlife zones them a menace, wild directly affected the popu- concluded in October, but cials, both Republican and
see in the postmortems. The to prevent elephants from elephants are also a lation estimates used for none of the documents had Democrat, who were slow
normal food that elephants consuming plastic waste. resource. Authorities need reapportionment. In partic- been made public until now. or reluctant to share data
eat and digest was not It also said electric fences to come up with a way to ular, the administration was Reached by email, Ross with us.”
evident,” he said. would be erected around protect both human lives adamant that — for the first said he neither recalled He continued, “The
Elephants are revered the sites to keep the animals and the elephants that also time ever — the bureau seeing the memorandum objective was to get the
in Sri Lanka but are also away. But neither has been allows us to continue our separately tally the number nor discussing its contents maximum sources of data
endangered. Their numbers fully implemented. agricultural activities,” said of immigrants living ille- with the bureau’s execu- that could help us to have
have dwindled from about There are 54 waste Keerthi Ranasinghe, a local gally in each state. Trump tives. A spokesperson for as complete and accurate a
14,000 in the 19th century to dumps in wildlife zones village councilor. had ordered the tally in the Census Bureau, Michael census as possible.”
Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Sunday, January 16, 2022 7
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8 Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Sunday, January 16, 2022
WORLD & NATION
Democrats face a long, costly battle
Millions needed to
thwart GOP voting
rights restrictions
By Reid J. Epstein
and Nick Corasaniti
The New York Times
With the door slammed shut
this past week on federal legisla-
tion to create new protections for
access to voting, Democrats face
an electoral landscape in which
they will need to spend heavily to
register and mobilize voters if they
are to overcome the hodgepodge
of new voting restrictions enacted
by Republicans across the country.
Democrats rode record turnout
to win the presidency and control
of the Senate in 2020 after embrac-
ing policies that made it easier to
vote with absentee ballots during
the pandemic.
But Republican-controlled state
legislatures have since enacted
a range of measures that undo
those policies, erect new barri-
ers to voting and remove some of
the guardrails that halted former
President Donald Trump’s drive
to overturn the election.
Democrats’ best chance for
counteracting the new state laws
is gone after Sen. Kyrsten Sinema,
D-Ariz., declared her opposition
on Thursday to President Joe
Biden’s push to lift the filibuster Demonstrators back voting rights in an Atlanta rally before President Biden spoke last week. NICOLE CRAINE/THE NEW YORK TIMES
to pass the party’s two voting-ac-
cess bills. “All these voter protection pandemic does not subside. was appointed to the bench in 2000 of its parent company.
That failure infuriated Demo- measures are not cheap,” said The stakes are highest in key by former Gov. Tommy Thompson, Despite that need, at least 12
crats and left them contemplating Raymond Paultre, executive battleground states where gover- a Republican, and presides over a states have passed laws prevent-
a long, difficult year of organiz- director of the Florida Alliance, a nors and top election officials on courtroom displaying portraits of ing nongovernmental groups
ing for midterm elections, where statewide network of progressive the ballot in November will deter- a handful of American presidents, from financing election adminis-
they face headwinds from Biden’s donors. “This is going to draw a lot mine the ease of voting in the 2024 all of them Republicans except for tration — a wide-reaching legisla-
low approval ratings, inflation, of resources away from candidates, presidential contest. George Washington. He declined tive response to false right-wing
congressional redistricting and campaigns and organizations.” In Wisconsin last week, a judge to be interviewed. suspicions that $350 million
the pandemic. Republicans, whose decade- in Waukesha County, the largest The federal voting rights legis- donated for that purpose by
Democratic officials and activ- slong push to curtail voting access county in the state among those lation would have contained another organization with ties to
ists say they are resigned to having was put into overdrive by Trump’s run by Republicans, ruled that funding for election administra- Zuckerberg was used to increase
to spend and organize their way false claims of election fraud after drop boxes for absentee ballots tion processes, including auto- Democratic turnout. The money
around the new voting restric- his defeat, are planning a renewed are illegal statewide — a reversal matic voter registration. Without mainly covered administrative
tions — a prospect many view with push to enact new restrictions of long-standing practice, and a it, election officials say they will expenses, including safety gear
hard-earned skepticism, citing the during this year’s state legislative ban set to take effect in municipal be hamstrung in training staff for poll workers, and was distrib-
difficulty of educating masses of sessions. primary elections Feb. 15. members and buying needed uted to both Republican and
voters on how to comply with the They are also pushing to recruit The ruling by Michael Bohren, equipment, running the risk of Democratic jurisdictions.
new rules. thousands of Trump supporters as a circuit court judge, invali- disruptions. Hundreds of officials Some Democrats and civil
They say it would require them election workers come November. dated years of guidance from the from 39 states sent a letter to Biden rights leaders say they fear that
to compensate by spending tens The bottom line, Democrats say, Wisconsin Elections Commission on Thursday asking for $5 billion the failure of Democrats in Wash-
or even hundreds of millions of is that in many Republican-run allowing municipalities to collect to buy and fortify election infra- ington to enact a federal voting
dollars more on voter-r egistration states, voting in 2022 may be more absentee ballots in drop boxes structure for the next decade. The law could depress turnout among
and turnout programs — funds difficult — and more charged — before Election Day. letter was organized by a group Black voters — the same voters
that might otherwise have gone to than it has been in generations, Bohren, who routinely attests largely funded by Mark Zucker- the party will spend the coming
promoting Democratic candidates. especially if the coronavirus to his bona fides as a conservative, berg, Facebook’s founder and CEO months working to organize.
Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Sunday, January 16, 2022 9
WORLD & NATION
Virginia Mavhunga, 13, dropped out of school after becoming pregnant. She holds her child in her rural home in Murehwa, Zimbabwe. TSVANGIRAYI MUKWAZHI/AP PHOTOS 2021
No time for pregnant pauses
With more girls set to become
mothers, Zimbabwe is pushing
for a return to the classroom
By Farai Mutsaka August 2020 changed a law
Associated Press that had long banned preg-
nant students from schools.
MUREHWA, Zimba- Activists and authorities
bwe — Inside a hailed the move, but so far
sparsely furnished the new policy has largely
two-room home in rural failed. Most girls haven’t
Zimbabwe, a 3-month- returned to school, with
old baby cries. His mother, authorities and families
Virginia Mavhunga, spends citing economic hardship,
her days making trips to deep-seated cultural norms,
the well with a bucket on and stigma and bullying in
her head, selling fruits and class.
vegetables at the roadside, Virginia tried to return
cooking, cleaning, washing to school. Officials encour-
clothes — she has too much aged her and her parents.
on her hands to offer her But she was the butt of jokes
child, Tawananyasha, much and the subject of gossip in a
comfort. community not accustomed
“That’s my life now, every to seeing a pregnant girl in a
day,” the new mother said. school uniform.
Between the chores of “People would laugh at
her strict routine, Virginia me. Some would point and
prepares her four younger ask in ridicule; ‘What’s up As part of a clinic for teenage mothers, an instructor from Doctors Without Borders gives a crash course in life skills to make a
siblings for school and helps with that belly?’ ” she said, living. This includes such things as a giving manicures and making soap. Over 300 girls have participated during the pandemic.
them with homework when looking at a photo of herself
they return. It’s these tasks in the purple uniform. “They complain that preg- Tanaka said. She planned to
that hit Virginia the hardest She has since sold it for $2 nant girls are not focused. go to him after giving birth.
— because, at age 13, she, too, to pay for the baby’s clothing Some simply tell us that the The clinic also offers
would rather be in school. and other needs. school is full.” contraceptives. But travel
Tribune Publishing and Virginia said she had Often girls are unaware restrictions shut out many
the AP generally don’t name hoped the older man who they have a right to remain in young people from such
victims of sexual abuse with- impregnated her would school. They’re then forced facilities, also cutting off
out consent. For this story, marry her. Despite initial to find work, frequently as access to counseling. Clinic
the girls and their families promises, he ultimately housemaids, to support their workers say many young
have agreed to be identi- denied paternity, she said. children, Chitongo said. Or people need such services
fied and have their names She and her family didn’t they go to the men who because of conservative
published, in keeping with follow through on a statu- impregnated them. parents who equate contra-
their wishes to have their tory rape case with police, ceptives with prostitution.
stories told. despite Zimbabwean law Popular program “Girls are banned from
Virginia is part of a steep putting the age of consent taking contraceptives due
increase in pregnancies at 16. For 16-year-old Tanaka to traditional myths that
among girls and teenag- Under the law, people Rwizi, the backyard of a our parents have, that girls
ers reported in Zimbabwe convicted of sexual inter- clinic run by Doctors With- cannot have sex until they
and other southern Afri- course or “an indecent act” out Borders in the pover- are in their 20s or married,”
can countries during the with anyone younger than ty-stricken Mbare township said Yvette Kanenungo, a
pandemic. Zimbabwe has 16 can get a fine or up to 10 has taken the place of school. 20-year-old clinic volun-
long struggled with such years in jail. But most inci- There, a club for teenage teer. “The truth is that the
pregnancies and child dents never get that far. Tanaka Rwizi, a pregnant 16-year-old, stays with her mothers provides crash girls are already having
marriages. Families often try to nego- unemployed uncle in a single room divided by a curtain. courses on life skills and sex, but cannot freely take
Before COVID-19 hit, one tiate with the offender, pres- ways they can make a living, contraceptives because of
Cases elsewhere
of every three girls in the suring him to marry the girl November, her group had such as giving manicures the no-sex-before-marriage
country was wed before age and give her family cattle Across Africa, Zimba- persuaded only one child to and making soap for sale. decree at home.”
18, many with unplanned or money, police spokes- bwe isn’t alone: During return to school in Murehwa Tanaka dropped out of her For Virginia, the travel
pregnancies, because of lax man Paul Nyathi said. Then the pandemic, Botswana, — a poor rural township of school after becoming preg- restrictions meant she was
enforcement of laws, wide- they agree to not report the Namibia, Lesotho, Malawi, mostly small farmers dealing nant early last year. She lives stuck at home in Murehwa
spread poverty, and cultural case to police — ultimately Madagascar, South Africa with the fallout of drought, with her unemployed uncle after visiting her parents
and religious practices. “assisting in the abuse of the and Zambia “all recorded a about 50 miles from the in a single room divided by from her city school last
girl,” he said. steep rise in cases of sexual capital city of Harare. a curtain. Every Thursday, year. She enrolled instead at
Change fails Police said they couldn’t and gender-based violence, That girl lasted a week she gathers with other girls a local school, but spent little
provide data related to pros- which has contributed to a in school, Chitongo said. for the clinic’s program. It time there because of inter-
The spread of coronavirus ecuted or reported cases. reported increase in preg- She sees resistance from began in 2019 for a handful mittent closures.
intensified the situation. The Zimbabwe does have nancies among young and parents, community leaders of participants, but demand At first, Virginia’s parents
country of 15 million people figures on pregnancies in adolescent girls,” according and teachers — in addition to grew during the pandemic, wanted to pursue a statutory
imposed a strict lockdown in girls who drop out of school to an Amnesty International the girls themselves. said Grace Mavhezha, of rape case against the older
March 2020, closing schools — and while they show an report. The continent has “Most parents are still Doctors Without Borders. man who impregnated her.
for six months and reopen- alarming increase, officials one of the highest pregnancy steeped in the old way of More than 300 girls have But they gave up when he
ing them only intermittently. say they likely reflect an rates among adolescents in doing things,” she said. come to the program since was released on bail and
Girls in particular were left undercount, as many girls the world, according to the “They prefer to have the COVID-19 hit. said they now hope he’ll take
idle and shut out from access simply leave without giving United Nations, and Zimba- child married, even if she is Most of the girls opt for care of the baby.
to contraceptives and clin- a reason. bwe and a handful of other under the age of 18. They tell the program over formal Virginia’s father ignored
ics; the troubles of impover- In 2018, about 3,000 nations now have laws or us, ‘I am already struggling school because they need advice from neighbors to
ished families worsened. girls dropped out of school policies to protect girls’ to take care of my family; I a skill that can help them make his daughter leave
Many girls became nationwide because of education while pregnant. can’t afford an extra mouth “quickly make some money,” home. Her mother wanted
victims of sexual abuse or pregnancies. In 2019, that Zimbabwe’s change in law when the girl gives birth.’ So Mavhezha said. “There is a to protect her, and that
looked to marriage and number remained rela- gave community workers children are being chased lot of poverty; they need to included keeping her out
pregnancy as a way out tively steady. In 2020, the an opportunity to encour- away from home.” fend for their children.” of school and away from
of poverty, advocates and number rose: 4,770 pregnant age girls to return to school. Some schools also Many also set their sights harassment.
officials said. Before the students left school. Through a group that discourage girls from on marriage to survive. Virginia vows to return to
pandemic, many such And in 2021, it simply promotes girls’ rights, Tsitsi returning, despite the recent Tanaka said the 20-year old school someday. She misses
girls were “relegated as a skyrocketed: About 5,000 Chitongo held community change, Chitongo said. man who impregnated her her classes, her peers. She
lost cause,” said Taungana students got pregnant in just meetings and knocked on “Sometimes headmasters promised to marry her as wants to graduate and be
Ndoro, an education official the first two months of the doors to speak with families tell us that they don’t quite soon as she turns 18 — the accepted to a university.
in Zimbabwe. year, according to women’s in remote, rural areas. understand how the policy youngest allowed in Zimba- “This is not the end of the
But faced with the rising affairs minister Sithembiso But the lack of enthusiasm works and they refuse to bwean law. road, just a forced break,”
numbers, the government in Nyoni. from families jolted her. By admit the children,” she said. “I can’t wait that long,” she said
10 Hartford Courant | Section 1 | Sunday, January 16, 2022
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MovingHelp,SustainableProducts Piping Insulation (PLA / MWBE)
SmallBusinessServices:Inventory 6. Bid Package #28B Electrical – Fire Alarm
pHandlwinwgw,O.pffiecneswiHveellwopo,kWwoeub.ts.ccitoeomDuesrigan nt.*cMeorchmand/ispe Aedst Rsestrictions Apply HO3ac5Nc,D0idA0. 0NA emCwCi letOisrRe. sDG. a82ra60g01e-4d7 .41-2 o-$8w13n66e,r35. N00o ( •vMa FlWuoerB wEino) rke xtoce bses poefr foFrivmee dH uwnitdhr eadn eTshtoimusaatendd
ets Dollars ($500,000.00), the Bidder shall
1 BUY VINTAGE ELECTRONICS be prequalified in the State of Connecticut
OLD TOYS, MILITARY JEWELRY, Department of Administrative Services. Each
ADVERTISING WATCHES, MUSCIAL WE’VE bid shall be accompanied by a Bid Bond (AIA
INSTRUMENTS, CAMERAS, Document A310-2010) or certified check CLICK.LIST.
WATCHES, SIGNS, ART, SPORTS in an amount which shall be ten percent
MANETMIQOUREASB, ILGIAU, ITARSO, LDAM PS, STTUUBFEF, (v1a0lu%e) ooff aanty bleida sfot r Fwifotryk Twhitohu saann eds tDimoalltaerds SELL.
HI-FI, RECEIVERS, AUDIO EQ, ($50,000.00). If the bidder is an SBE or
RMAADNIYO SO,T HHEARM O, CLDB , ITSEAMXOS!P HONES & GOT YOUR pMr/oWvidBeE inin l iethue o Sf taa bteid obfo Cndo,n an electtitceur to, fi tc rmedaiyt
CALL 860-707-9350 in an amount equal to ten percent (10%)
of the bid amount if the estimated value is
Adoption • News • Advice • More ALWAYS BUYING MACHINIST TICKET! less than One Hundred Thousand Dollars
TOOLBOXES Tools & tooling, conte- ($100,000.00), and in an amount equal to
nts of machine shops, home worksho- twenty-five percent (25%) of the bid amount
ps & small lathes Call 860-985-5760 if the estimated value is One Hundred
Dogs Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) or greater.
(The Obligees are The State of Connecticut
Department of Administrative Services and
PDS Engineering & Construction, Inc.).
• Due to COVID Compliance rules, all bids
are to be provided electronically via email
by 2:00 pm on January 27th, 2022 for the
Bid Packages listed. All bids will be publicly
MINI GOLDENDOODLE puppies! opened via ZOOM web conference at the of-
3 males/6 females. Stunningly fice of PDS Engineering & Construction at ap-
beautiful colors! Hypoallergenic. proximately 2:30 pm on January 27th, 2022.
Minimal shedding. Will be approx ANTIQUES&OLDSTUFFWANTED The Virtual Bid Opening will be viewable at
25-30 pounds full grown. Family Bottles, Crocks, Jugs, Toys, Games, the following ZOOM link:
raisedandloved.Funloving!Loves SilverPlatedItems,CostumeJewelry, https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8841307659
People!Suretowinyourheart!First Pottery,Typewriters,SewingMachines, 1?pwd=OWIyMFBhbU0rV3JOUExEM0lvcEFo
shots, vet exams, microchipped, 2 Clocks, Tools, Xmas, Lanterns, Oil Zz09
CAFeVAmCaHleO$N16P0U0P,P8I6E0S-9M42al-e26$511400, yJNaeYna8ura0hr2eya-2l2t8h62.g-$2ua22r,3a92n0t0ceaelH.l/oRtoeesxaitdckytFoalglso, FLaismhipnsg,,BGolaoskssw.a8r6e0,-8K7n4iv-e8s3,9H6unting, w•a iptAheldlr irboaidwd s ot hfs enhiiarn lbel itbdye d( 9uh0rei)nl dgd aotyhpsae.tn p Nbeoyr iobbdiidd. ddeerr sm faoyr
Concerts • The project will be awarded to the lowest
FRENCH BULLDOG PUPPIES 10 wk responsible bidder in accordance with
french bulldog puppies. First shots AT HOME Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-287 (b); However,
and vet check. Parents on premise. the Department of Administrative Services
$3,500 ea. 413-478-0763 Broadway and the Construction Manage reserve the
GetComfy. right to reject any and all bids or to waive
any informalities, irregularities, omissions, or
HAVANESE EveryFriday. Sports and more! t1e/c1h6n/ic2a0l 2d2e f7e1ct2s9 i2n8 t8he bids.
Beautiful puppies for sale 1500 First
shots and vet checked Papers with PUPPIESPoodleMix,Hypoallergenic,
lineage 860-974--8702 M/F,$1000860-680-2955

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