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BRIDGEPORT — If you ever get stuck in an elevator, hope you end up with really fun people. That’s what happened to me last night.

I was at the University of Bridgeport’s Arnold Bernhardt Arts and Humanities Center attending the Bridgeport Housing Authority’s annual meeting. When the event was over, nine of us — including Bridgeport Police Chief Joseph Gaudett — packed into the 9th floor elevator only to have it get stuck somewhere between the 8th and 7th floors!

Luckily the people in the elevator were super funny and we were only in there for a few minutes. In that time several people called their family members to tell them they were stuck in an elevator…everybody threw in the fact that the police chief was in there too.

The chief called for help on his cell and we also pressed the call help on the elevator panel. Within minutes, the Bridgeport Fire Department was there to help. As a journalist, I just had to capture the action!

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BRIDGEPORT — Earlier this year, I wrote a column about how Bridgeport should no longer be ignored by Starbucks, which has opened coffee houses in every city around us and every other big city in the state. But not here.

At the time, a Starbucks representative sent me this statement: “Connecticut has been important to Starbucks for nearly 18 years and will continue to be in the future. Over the years, our partners (employees) have shared strong connections with the community both inside and outside of our stores. We think Bridgeport is a wonderful community and could potentially be an interesting place for Starbucks; however we do not have any new stores to announce at this time.”

Now there’s news that Starbucks is planning to open 1,500 new stores in the next few years. Could this be Bridgeport’s chance?

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Hey there everyone!

I hadn’t had a chat in a few weeks and last week there were some technical difficulties with the site that hosts it. But hopefully this week we’ll finally be able to catch up. A lot has happened in the last month. Come back here at 10 a.m. to join the chat. Talk to you then!

By the way, I don’t think the Post is going to post a link on the homepage forever (they may already have stopped) but if you just type in blog.ctnews.com/ocasio into your browser you’ll come to this blog and find the chat. Spread the word!

UPDATE: CHAT IS UNFORTUNATELY HAVING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES THAT OUR WEB GUYS WILL HAVE TO FIGURE OUT. FOR NOW I’LL BE AVAILABLE TO CHAT UNTIL 11ish THROUGH THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW. SPREAD THE WORD!

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Several weeks ago I attended the last meeting of the Puerto Rican Parade organization’s calendar year. (Their organization’s calendar begins on Nov. 1, which is when the last year’s planning is already wrapped and next year’s planning has begun.) Elections were held at the meeting for new leadership and Millie Maldonado, founder of the city’s parade organization, was elected to take over the helm once again as president.

It’s a return to its roots for the parade organization, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary parade and festival in July 2013.

The rest of the board consists of: Helen Cora, secretary; former councilwoman Maria Valle, vice president; Luz Martinez, treasurer; and Raul Ruiz, sergeant of arms.

The parade organization had a rough year and the new leadership has said they would like to return to the true roots of the Puerto Rican culture by providing exposure to the artwork, history and music.

They will kick off their first meeting since the elections on Wednesday (Nov.14) at 6 p.m. at the Habitat for Humanity office on Barnum Avenue (next to People’s United Bank branch). That’s the perfect opportunity for the public to express new ideas, suggestions, to offer to volunteer or just get a sense of where the group is headed.

Also, Friday, Nov. 16, the organization is kicking off its 20th anniversary events with a “Recuerdos de la Patria” event, or Memories of the Homeland” in English. The event will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 1691 Main St. in Bridgeport. Attendees will be treated to wine, cheese and special guests talking about traditional music and dances from the Caribbean island, the bomba and plena, among others.

I’m going to try to attend both, even just for a little while. Hopefully, this will be a positive start to an anniversary year that can showcase the positive sides not just of the Puerto Rican culture but also of the city of Bridgeport.

Here’s the Friday event info:

“Recuerdos de mi Patria” in Commemoration of the Discovery of Puerto Rico

Featuring:
Author Marta Soledad with her 3rd published book
Amamantando el Tiempo

Emmy Award Winning Producer\Director Frank Borres with his documentary
Puerto Rican Passages

Musical Artist Asher Delerme
Accompanied by Dancer Deneisha Valazquez
Bomba

Short Story Writer Jose Sanchez
Hankara

Poet Helen Cora
Episodes

Art by Artist Noe Alicea to be displayed

Music provided by DJ JROC and DJ Problema

Friday, November 16, 2012
1691 Cafe and Lounge
1691 Main Street, Bridgeport
Complimentary Wine and Cheese
A Suggested Donation of $15 Per Person
For tickets call 203-260-7955 or hcora@optonline.net

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The Caribbean island of Puerto Rico has held four referendums in the last 45 years on its status. The last one was held Tuesday and was the only time a majority statehood has received a push. As you can see below, its hard to compare the results to past referendums because of the phrasing of questions.

1967 Results (courtesy of Wikipedia)

One ballot question gave voters several different options. Wikipedia says turnout was 65.9 percent.

Commonwealth: 425,132 votes (60.4%)
Statehood: 274,312 votes (39%)
Independence: 4,248 votes (0.6%)
Invalid/Blank votes: 3,601 votes
Total: 703,692 votes

1993 results (courtesy of Wikipedia)

One ballot question gave voters several different options. Wikipedia says turnout was 73.5 percent.

Commonwealth: 826,326 votes (48.6%)
Statehood: 788,296 votes (46.3%)
Independence: 75,620 votes (4.4%)
Invalid/Blank votes: 10,748 votes
Total: 1,700,990 votes

1998 Results (courtesy of Wikipedia)

One ballot question was given, with more options than before. I read somewhere (can’t remember where) that people were offended that the word “territorial” was added in front of commonwealth and that’s why so many people voted none of the above instead.

Statehood: 728,157 votes (46.6%)
Independence: 39,838 votes (2.6%)
Free association: 4,536 (0.3%)
Territorial Commonwealth: 993 votes
None of the above: 787,900 (50.5%)
Invalid/Blank votes: 4,846 votes
Total: 1,556,270 votes

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Hey everyone,

There won’t be a chat this week. But if you’ve got something you want to talk about come back next week at 10 a.m.! See you then!

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My live chat starts at 10 a.m. Stay tuned!

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s niece is coming to Trumbull and talking about a super-sensitive and very timely topic: abortion. Alveda King, who I understand has been pretty controversial in the past, became pro-life after having an abortion. Should be interesting to hear what she has to say….