www.northhavencitizen.com
Volume 17, Number 32
Friday, August 12, 2022
National trend: Fewer teens driving
BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS
By Jessica Simms Record-Journal staff
The number of teen drivers has decreased nationally for a variety of reasons, a trend noticed by officials at local driving schools.
Children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater New Haven.
Nicole Zappone, The Citizen
Merger will enhance reach, services By Nicole Zappone The Citizen
There was much to celebrate in downtown New Haven on Columbus Avenue, Tuesday, Aug. 2, when three local Boys & Girls Clubs announced a merger. The North Haven, Wallingford and New Haven clubs are joining forces under a new name, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater New Haven.
Newly appointed CEO Dr. Lisa M. Caruso, on her fifth day on the job, said she was already making changes to better serve the children in the newly joined club. “With this merger comes new opportunities to grow the organization and to grow it outside Wallingford, North Haven, and New Haven. I think the merger is a great idea,” Caruso said.
According to Caruso, the club will have a $2 million annual budget, about 10 full-time staff and dozens of part-time workers. Tammie Ulbrich, vice president of strategic initiatives for the board of directors, said the North Haven, Wallingford and New Haven clubs currently serve about 1,000 children daily, at six sites, and the expecta-
“These days, people are not motivated to get their license,” said Jay Alvarez, owner of Shield Driving School in Meriden. “The younger driver, they don’t want their license. They don’t want that responsibility. A lot of the parents are forcing their kids to get their license at 16 because they need them to get a job, they need them to go to practice, they need them to go to school.” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that out of the 228.2 million licensed drivers in the United States in 2020, only 11.6 million (5.1%) of them were considered to be young drivers, ages 15 to 20 years old. This is an 8.3% decrease from the young licensed drivers in 2011 and a 4.7% decrease from 2019. Alvarez said the average age of his driving students is mid to late twenties. He has also noticed the number of students in his classes
See Merger, A6
See Teen drivers, A8
Candidates discuss abortion decision, Safe Harbor law By Jessica Simms Record-Journal staff
Candidates were asked the following:
The Record-Journal recently polled area candidates running for state House and Senate for their views on the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade, as well as earlier passage of the state’s “Safe Harbor” law.
1. Where do you stand on the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and why?
interstate investigations that could hold someone criminally or civilly liable for receiving abortion services in Connecticut, and why?
2. Do you agree or disagree with the state’s Safe Harbor Law, which blocks state agencies from assisting in
Here’s how the the Cella candidates in the 34th Senate District, which comprises Walling-
ford, North Haven, Durham and East Haven, responded: Alida Cella, Democrat 1. “Pro-life activists have spent decades focused on taking away a woman's right to choose,
rather than why a woman might want to choose to end a pregnancy. If this was really about saving lives, their fight would have focused on that. If there was universal access to birth control without a prescription; if there was universal maternal care, and it didn't cost upwards of See Candidates, A9