Connecticut Health Investigative Team (https://c-hit.org/tag/conn-health-i-team-journalism-camp/)
CitySeed’s Downtown Farmers Market reopened on the New Haven Green this summer after a closure during the pandemic, with vendors’ booths lined up near City Hall featuring fresh vegetables, fruits, and handmade soaps. This video was produced by Allyson Anderson, a student at Achievement First High School in Hartford, and Ava Dell’Orfano, a student at Coginchaug High School in Durham.
The violent murders of Champaben and Anita Patel, a mother and daughter from Windsor, have been a mystery since they happened on March 21,1996. But cold case detectives from the Connecticut State Police, with the help of the Windsor Police Department, are taking another look at the evidence now, Brian Foley, the executive aide to James Rovella, who heads the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, said. “Investigators from the State of Connecticut Cold Case unit had begun to give this case some additional attention pre-pandemic,” Foley said. “Now that things have settled [down], the case and its evidence are again being reevaluated…The reevaluation particularly relates to the exploration of possible resubmission of evidence as DNA science has evolved a great deal.”
The Patels’ homicide is one of the cold cases listed on the Connecticut State Police’s Cold Case website. Anita Patel, 32, was stabbed 14 times in her kitchen, and her body was burned due to gasoline being poured around her while Champaben Patel, 54, was strangled and her body was burned in her bedroom, according to the website.
Sir Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos may be starting a new era of innovation. Now that these two billionaires have successfully gone to space, many people, politicians included, took to social media to ask why they’re not spending the money to help poor and struggling people on our planet. “It’s time to invest in working people here on Earth,” U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders tweeted. But there are scientists, like Dr. Alison Farrish, who are worried that the public’s views on the recent space journeys of billionaires will affect future opinions and budgets on space research. “My hope is that the public still sees value in scientific pursuits and the responsible exploration and study of space,” said Farrish, a native of Tolland, Connecticut who is a postdoctoral researcher in space physics at Rice University in Houston.
Caleb Ogilvie entered journalism by a coin flip — heads for yearbook and tails for journalism – because he was unable to make a clear decision between the two. Since joining journalism class in high school, his passion for the profession has grown and he is now editor of his school newspaper. He has expressed his joy in interviewing people and being able to write stories on particular individuals. “I enjoy seeing people’s eyes light up when they are talking about their passions,” Ogilvie said. Although he is still looking at colleges, Ogilvie does plan to continue to major in and pursue a career in journalism.
CitySeed’s Downtown Farmers Market reopened on the New Haven Green this summer after a closure during the pandemic, with vendors’ booths lined up near City Hall featuring fresh vegetables, fruits, and handmade soaps. This video was produced by Shimei Ricks-Cook, a student at Bloomfield High School, and Tori Matula, a student at Foran High School in Milford.
Introducing your favorite talk show host… Shimei Ricks-Cook. Ricks-Cook, 17, a senior at Bloomfield High School, dreams of being a talk show host or a commentator on ESPN. Ricks-Cook and his friend Kobie Washington created their own sports podcast at their school called Shimei and Kobie Unfiltered. They discuss professional sports leagues such as MLB, NBA and the NFL, Cook is the executive producer, creator and editor for the podcast.
Tori Matula, 17, of Milford, is a rising senior student-athlete at Joseph A. Foran High School. Matula has been on her high school girls’ volleyball team for four years and would like to play on the college level someday. Though she does not know what she wants to major in in college, she still wants to have the college experience and adventure. Matula said her mother, Candace, is her biggest role model in her life. “She has battled cancer three times,” she said.
A miscommunication between friends has led 18-year-old Rodjae Smith to become a passionate speaker inspiring those around her to always improve in the face of adversity. The senior was once soft-spoken in middle school, but was forced into presenting two seventh-grade projects when her friends were unorganized and embarrassing her group with poor collaboration skills. Realizing it was better to boldly present a project than have it seem like the group was unprepared, Smith shed her quiet personality and used impromptu communication skills to have a successful presentation. “I think, most likely, there was a competitive side to me that liked the attention of speaking,” Smith said. Today, the high school senior from West Haven, Connecticut, has been inspired by speaking her mind to use journalism to challenge readers’ ideas by introducing them to new perspectives.
CitySeed’s Downtown Farmers Market reopened on the New Haven Green this summer after a closure during the pandemic, with vendors’ booths lined up near City Hall featuring fresh vegetables, fruits, and handmade soaps. This video was produced by Rodjae Smith, a student at West Haven High School, and Ava Roulier, a student at RHAM High School in Hebron.
Music is present in all of Alyssa Hodge’s passions. Alyssa, 15, was born in New Haven and is of Puerto Rican and Dominican Republic descent. A junior at Achievement First Amistad High School in New Haven, she said music is a constant in many of her endeavors. Since she used to play both piano and percussion instruments, such as the drums, in her school band, she has equal experience with playing as well as using music as an outlet for self-expression and comfort. “Music has always been a way to help me de-stress,’’ she said.