Connecticut Postings

DJ Kingsley, top right, speaks to families gathered for Connecticut Against Violence's rally and community forum held at the Ralphola Taylor Community Health Center in Bridgeport, Conn. on Friday February 3, 2012.

Connecticut Against Violence, an anti-violence group founded last September by Bridgeport Lt. David Daniels and DJ Kingsley Osei, will host the second in a series of community forums from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10 at the South End Community Center at 650 Park Avenue in Bridgeport. The topic of the forum is “The real truth about gun violence.”

Youth and parents are encouraged to attend. Food and live music will be provided.

CAV uses hip-hop music to inspire youths to make positive life choices. Learn more about the group here.

Click here to read about the group’s first community forum last Friday at the Ralphola Taylor Community Health Center.

At a memorial service for Angel “Tun Tun” Gonzalez, the homeless Bridgeport man who was hacked to death with an ax and cannibalized inside a boarded-up East End apartment last month, the victim’s family criticized Mayor Bill Finch for failing to address the city’s abandoned buildings.

Nereida Gonzalez, the victim’s ex-wife, said boarded up homes like the one where Gonzalez lived and died are hubs of violence.

She said the city should demolish these abandoned structures instead of looking the other way as they become centers for criminal activity.

“I want the mayor in Bridgeport to do something with these houses,” said Nereida Gonzalez. “These houses are dangerous.”

She added, “When I came here with (Gonzalez), this was a place to raise a kid. Not now. Not with these houses bringing in criminals. If I see the mayor I will tell him myself. The houses need to come down.”

From Housatonic Community College:

BRIDGEPORT – The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, which provides free tax preparation for eligible families, will kick off the new tax season with an opening event on Friday, Jan. 27, at Housatonic Community College.

Under the program, volunteers are trained by the Internal Revenue Service to prepare income tax returns for households earning less than $50,000. HCC students typically participate in the program.

Highlighting Friday’s program will be addresses by HCC President Anita T. Gliniecki; Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch; Peter Yazbak, outreach coordinator for Cong. Jim Himes; IRS senior tax specialist Ron Peruzzi and Merle Berke-Schlessel, president and CEO of the United Way of Coastal Fairfield County.

The event begins at 1 p.m. in the Atrium in Lafayette Hall. Free parking is available in the Housatonic Garage, 900 Lafayette Blvd in downtown Bridgeport.

Connecticut Against Violence, an anti-violence group founded by DJ Kingsley Osei and Bridgeport Police Lt. David Daniels, will bring a squad of DJs to Bassick High School tonight for a men’s basketball game against Harding High School.

The disc jockeys will host special guests DJ Buck from Hot 93.7 and former NBA player Wesley Matthews. Matthews, 52, is a Bridgeport native and former Harding High School President.

CAV uses music to inspire youth to stand in unity against gun violence. The group will dedicate its music show tonight to victims of gun violence in Connecticut.

The Bassick-Harding game starts at 7 p.m. tonight at the Bassick High School gymnasium.

The launch of the nonprofit Discovery Museum’s year-long 50th anniversary celebration, canceled because of Saturday’s snowstorm, has been rescheduled for Saturday, Feb. 11, from 3 to 4:30 p.m., the museum announced today.

Donna M. Curran, director of communications, said that along with free admission, the open house will feature a reception and announcements regarding 2012 special events.

Several local and state officials also are expected to attend, she added.

The museum, which now focuses on science and technology, was opened on Jan. 21, 1962, as the Museum of Art, Science and Industry.

The Discovery Museum and Planetarium is at 4450 Park Ave., Bridgeport. For additional information, call 203-372-3521 or visit www.discoverymuseum.org

Bridgeport police are investigating a report of a robbery at the Bijou Theater on Fairfield Avenue about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

No further information is available.

BRIDGEPORT –– The 33rd annual celebration by Bridgeport Black Pride of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will this year feature the Rev. James D. Peters, Jr., who both worked with King and preached in Bridgeport in the 1960s and early 1970s.

The event is set to begin Monday at 8:30 a.m. at Mount Aery Baptist Church, 73 Frank St.

Peters, the retired leader of the New Hope Baptist Church in Denver, was in the thick of the Civil Rights Movement of the late 1950s and the 1960s. He was at the founding meeting in 1957 of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and he worked directly with King during the marches in Albany, Ga., and in Selma and Birmingham, Ala. He also participated in the March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963, when King delivered his “I Have a Dream’’ speech.

Peters was pastor of East End Baptist Church in Bridgeport from 1960 to 1973.

The two-hour celebration at Mount Aery usually attracts more than 600 people, including a number of VIPs from the region.

It will be followed at 10:30 a.m. by a community breakfast in the lower level of the church. Tickets for the breakfast are s $12 for adults and $7 for youth 17 and under. Tickets may be purchased at Ms. Thelma’s Restaurant, 140 Fairfield Ave., or by calling 203-526-8086. There will also be a coat drive during the event.

The Stratford Professional Firefighters Burn Foundation and The Bridgeport Hospital Foundation is hosting a wine tasting to benefit the Connecticut Burn Center at Bridgeport Hospital.

The event will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16 at Oronoque Country Club at 385 Oronoque Lane in Stratford. Tickets are $25 per person.

Town Line Wine and Spirits at 475 Hawley Lane in Stratford is sponsoring the event, which will also include food and music.

For more information about this event and instructions for purchasing tickets, visit spffafightingburns.org