McDowell, Rennie to leave ‘Face the State’
Conflict of interest concern over PR firm sparks WFSB shakeup
Duby McDowell and Kevin Rennie will no longer be co-hosts of WFSB-TV, Channel 3’s weekend “Face the State” news-interview show after this Sunday’s broadcast, following criticism that McDowell had a conflict of interest because of her private public-relations firm’s new $250,000, three-month, no-bid contract with the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont, a fellow Democrat for whom she has expressed public support.
McDowell and Rennie, who is a Courant columnist, were hired as a team in October to replace recently departed “Face the
State” host Dennis House — and now they’re both leaving after a problem surfaced with one of them, McDowell. “Face the State” will continue, but WFSB has not said who will replace the duo after their final broadcast Sunday at 8:30 a.m. on the local CBS affiliate.
The station had made no announcement by early Friday evening of the change, including whose decision it was and the reasons for it.
Instead, word of it filtered out through the local broadcast community after McDowell and Rennie taped their final show earlier in the day.
Reached about 6 p.m. on the phone, Rennie said that “all parties acknowledged before we began in October that because we are not full-time journalists” — he is an attorney, in addition to a weekly Courant columnist — “we would likely have conflicts. And we had agreed that if either of us had a conflict, the other would conduct the interview of the guest. That proved insufficient in light of the the contract” between the McDowell Communications Group and state Department of Public Health (DPH).
“And we were told early in the week we were being let go from ‘Face the State’ after our 13th program,” he said.
McDowell, reached afterward, confirmed Rennie’s comments, and added: “WFSB has asked Kevin and me to stay on as political analysts for election night and other big stories. I understand and respect that the station is being very careful about conflicts.”
She had faced controversy since a Jan. 2 Courant column raised questions such as how she could be objective in her co-host’s role conducting interviews about the administration’s performance. The issue arose after her firm was awarded the lucrative three-month contract — without
to relax and boost mental health,” she said.
Holistic wellness, she added, is especially important among Black people. “In the Black community, going to a therapist is kind of taboo. People say ‘Just pray about it,’ ” said Hightower, of East Hartford. “Prayer is awesome, but sometimes you need something else.
“Having a type of therapy in the palm of your hand, a candle, a diffuser, with scents that raise dopamine levels, lavender or bergamot, is a way of picking yourself up that is very private,” she said.
She also is experimenting with scents that appeal to kids on the autism spectrum, like her son. “With my boy, he likes lavender, but frankincense is more calming to him,” she said.
Simply Hadassah
When Jermika Cost of Windsor was a single mom, she wanted expensive clothes, but she couldn’t afford them. She developed a knack for finding designer and high-quality clothing at second-hand shops, and built a nice wardrobe for pennies on the dollar.
In 2019, she founded The Myrtle Tree, to bring her knack to benefit other women. In 2020, Cost rebranded her firm as Simply Hadassah, which now sells vintage and new clothes at affordable prices.
“Young women make sacrifices for children. They might be single moms. They might live in economically restricted communities,” she said. “You can still be fashionable and go for that job interview.”
Cost, however, has a larger purpose in mind. Forty percent of the proceeds from her sales go to charitable organizations that help women who have been the victims of sex trafficking, which she learned about seven years ago at a conference.
“I thought, ‘This is happening overseas. This is not happening in the United States.’ But I found out how prevalent an issue it is,” she said. “My entire initiative is to increase capacity in housing in Connecticut for overcomers.”
That mission is reflected in her shop, named after the heroic Biblical queen. “I want women who are overcomers to know they can do anything and everything they want to do,” she said.
The Writery Ink
As an English instructor at Central Connecticut State University, Vangella Buchanan knows everyone has a story to tell. In her business, The Writery Ink, she helps people write stories and get them published.
After they are published — mostly self-published — Buchanan does what most bookstores don’t do. She sells the self-published books. She invites authors to do talks and signings. She treats them with the respect they don’t get from mainstream publishers. The motivation came from her own experience.
“I’ve had to self-publish over the years when submissions to different companies resulted in rejections. The last one I got, the only response was a smiley face. I thought that was so rude,” she said.
She heard other stories. “One of my clients is a professor at Eastern who has published before. One of the responses he got, a rejection, was written by an intern. This is an award-winning professor who has published books, and an intern made the decision his work is not good enough,” she said.
The Writery Ink (thewriteryink.com) is at 22 Mountain Road in Bloomfield. It offers editing, proofreading, ghostwriting and formatting services for writers, guidance on publishing and a place to sell their books. The store also carries books for Black children and adults and Caribbean literature.
In 2019, Bloomfield’s Chamber of
Commerce gave The Writery Ink its Outstanding New Business award.
With reSET, Buchanan wants to learn to expand her offerings, including women’s empowerment workshops, and to teach people to write their experiences with the coronavirus pandemic.
The Key
The Key is a bookstore, too, but was created not out of a love of writing, but out of a love of reading.
“I was on this journey reading all these books by myself, and I wanted to be around other people who read these books,” said Khamani Harrison, founder of The Key (keybookstore.com).
Two of Harrison’s favorite books are “The Souls of Black Folk” by W.E.B. Du Bois and “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason. Those books can be found at the
store, alongside other books about Afrocentrism and entrepreneurship, as well as books about spirituality and environmentalism.
At first, The Key was an online and traveling bookstore, with Harrison setting up shop at community gatherings. In September, Harrison set up a physical location, in the same building at 1429 Park St. where reSET has its offices. An app also is in the works.
The goal is not just to sell books but to create a community of book lovers, “where people can share books, recommend books, create their own bookshelves,” Harrison said.
With help from reSET, Harrison hopes to learn how to strengthen her existing operation. “I want to be able to build on my understanding of what that looks like for a healthy, strong operating business,” Harrison said.
Even the title of the business is all about books Harrison loves. “In the beginning of 2018 I was reading three books with the key in the title. ‘The Isis Papers: The Keys to the
Colors,’ ‘The Skeleton Key’ and ‘The Master Key.’ It was just a coincidence,” Harrison said. “I realized that books were the key to everything. But there are other resources, sources of knowledge, websites. Anything can be the key.”
Others
Other businesses chosen by reSET are: Growler Power, which created a portable beverage keg. Founded by Rob Zielonka of East Windsor
Curated CT, which teams with other small businesses to sell a monthly provisions box. Founded by Donald Pendagast of Hartford
Basic Goods, which sells sustainable products. Founded by Simeon Talley of Hartford
NoBrainer Foods, which sells meal boxes. Founded by Vera Wang, Michael Guan and Linhang Ren of New Haven.
Giverrang, which builds loyalty programs for local merchants. Founded by Mark Walerysiak Jr. of Bristol.
Electra Technologies, a zero-emission, green ride and livery service. Founded by Amanda Dyas and Kyle Bryan of West Hartford.
Salute for Style, a career wardrobe and counseling service for female first responders. Founded by Angela Ackerman of Bethel.
Agrivolution, which provides food yearround with indoor farming and microgrid technologies. Founded by Richard Fu and Ron Dobson of South Windsor.
The Movement & Wellness Center, which provides wellness services centered on dance. Founded by Kristen Pinsonneault, Thulani Davis and Olivia Iliano-Davis of Hartford.
Youth Business Initiative, which offers youth business education. Founded by Dajuan Wiggins of Norwalk.
Nourishing Habits with Stef, a wellness service provider for women and queer people of color. Founded by Stefanie Robles of West Hartford.
Samad Gardens Initiative, an urban garden education concern. Founded by Sarah Rose Kareem and Azeem Zakir Kareem of Hartford.