text:
National Alliance on Mental Illness
page printed from http://www2.nami.org/
(800) 950-NAMI; firstname.lastname@example.com
For Immediate Release, February 27, 2001
Contact: Chris Marshall
NAMI has recently submitted extensive comments on the Social Security Administration's proposed regulations for a major provision of the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (TWWIA) - the new "ticket to independence" program. Among the important issues addressed in these comments are the ability of SSI and SSDI beneficiaries to access the ticket program, special concerns for beneficiaries classified as "Disabled Adult Children" (DACs), and the ability of innovative programs such as clubhouses to participate as employment networks. For more information on SSA's draft regulations on the ticket program, see NAMI E-News, Vol. 01-59, December 28, 2000 at http://www2.nami.org/update/001228.html
February 23, 2001
Dear Sir/Madam:
On behalf of the 210,000 members and 1,200 affiliates of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), I am pleased to submit the following comments on the Social Security Administration's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act (TWWIIA, P.L. 106-170). As the nation's largest organization representing people with severe mental illnesses and their families, NAMI places the highest value on consumers achieving recovery from mental illness. Central to this goal of recovery is the ability to enter and stay in the workforce and move away from a life of poverty and dependence on Social Security's disability programs.
NAMI strongly supported TWWIIA when it was before Congress in 1998 and 1999. As you know, non-elderly adults with severe mental illnesses represent a substantial, and growing, proportion of the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) rolls. As a consumer and family organization, NAMI knows first-hand the extreme frustration that beneficiaries feel in dealing with programs that place extreme penalties and disincentives on efforts enter the workforce, even for part-time employment. Likewise, NAMI has also been very frustrated by the inability of mainstream job training and vocational programs - including publicly funded vocational rehabilitation agencies - to effectively serve individuals with severe mental illnesses. We are therefore encouraged that TWWIIA marks the beginning a paradigm shift in SSA's programs - away from lifetime dependence on benefits, toward an outcome oriented system of flexible supports that rewards, instead penalizes efforts to work.
Since TWWIA was signed into law on December 17, 1999, NAMI has sought to advocate for a programmatic structure for key provisions in the new law under SSA's jurisdiction (the "ticket" program, continuing disability review protections, etc.) that meets the needs of individuals living with severe mental illness. Specifically, severe mental illnesses are long-term, episodic illnesses for which medical science is developing newer and more effective treatments everyday. Over the past year, NAMI has met with senior SSA officials and testified before TWWIIA Advisory Panel. As part of these efforts, NAMI has urged swift and effective enforcement of the new law in accordance with congressional intent, i.e. to help the maximum number of SSDI and SSI beneficiaries move off the disability rolls and into the workforce.
It is therefore disappointing to NAMI that this NPRM falls far short of this objective. While NAMI's comments on the specifics of the program design of the ticket program are discussed in detail, it is important to note that the overall program appears to be much too restrictive in terms of eligibility and payment structure to be effective in serving the vast numbers of SSDI and SSI beneficiaries with severe mental illnesses. NAMI believes that SSA needs to do much more work to ensure that the ticket program is fair, accessible and effective for people who can and want to work.
1) Ticket Eligibility for Persons Deemed Medical Improvement Expected (MIE)
Under the current law and administrative practice, once an individual is determined eligible for SSI or SSDI, the state Disability Determination Service (DDS) assigns the person to one of three categories, Medical Improvement Expected (MIE), Medical Improvement Possible (MIP), or Medical Improvement Not Expected (MINE). These categorizations are merely administrative conveniences that determine the frequency of a beneficiary's Continuing Disability Review (CDR). MIEs receive CDRs more frequently than MIPs or MINEs. There are no rules or regulations that determine how a person is assigned to a medical improvement category. The determination is solely based on the discretion of the Disability Determination Service personnel.
In the NPRM, SSA has proposed that people on disability who are determined as Medical Improvement Expected (MIE) be denied a Ticket to Work until after their first CDR. SSA cites the fact that those determined as MIE are expected to medically improve within short period of time and they are subject to CDRs more frequently. SSA argues that to issue a Ticket to these individuals who might be terminated after only a short stay on the roles would: 1) allow these individuals to avoid the CDR and thus allow people who have medically improved to keep benefits they wouldn't ordinarily receive; and 2) allow providers to collect payments from SSA for people who would have returned to work and left the roles anyway.
NAMI Comments
NAMI strongly opposes this unfair and arbitrary restriction on eligibility for a Ticket. At minimum, SSA should examine, on a disability-by-disability basis, which people determined MIE are likely to remain on the roles after the initial CDR and issue those people a Ticket. Further, SSA should examine, on a disability-by-disability basis, which people are likely to come back on the roles even if they are determined to have medically improved in the first CDR, and issue those people a Ticket. If SSA is unable to develop a reasonable listing of disabilities, NAMI believes that the intent of TWWIIA would best be met by making Tickets available to all SSI and SSDI beneficiaries.
Using the broad brush of the MIE category is too crude a tool to deny beneficiaries immediate access to a Ticket. For example, such a rule does not distinguish between a person who is 25 years old and has schizophrenia and is determined MIE, and a person who is 25 years old and has a lower limb fracture and is determined MIE. Almost equal numbers of people with schizophrenia, and people with lower limb fractures are determined MIE. Furthermore, because there are no rules or regulations that govern the DDS's determination of medical improvement, the variations in standards will not only differ from field office to field office, but within field offices. One DDS staffer may place a disproportionately high number of people in the MIE category while another DDS staffer in the same office will place more people in the MIP or MINE category. Consequently, one person with schizophrenia may get an MIE assignment, while another person with the same illness might get an MIP or MINE assignment, all based on who the DDS staffer happens to be.
Also, the GAO has criticized SSA for not incorporating return-to-work efforts earlier in the determination process. Adopting the above comment would bring a more sophisticated and effective approach to SSA's return-to-work program.
2) Ticket Eligibility for Children Under Age 18
In this NPRM, SSA is proposing that children under age 18 not receive a Ticket-to-Work. The agency cites the fact that those under 18 who are on disability must undergo a Disability Review before becoming eligible for benefits after they turn 18. Issuing Tickets to the under 18-age group would possibly lead to issuing Tickets to people who would not qualify for benefits after they turn 18.
NAMI Comments
NAMI strongly opposes this unfair restriction on eligibility for children under age 18. Instead, NAMI would urge that eligibility be opened to all those on disability who are under 18, with a determination by SSA, on a disability-by-disability basis, and determine who is most likely to be eligible for benefits once they turn 18 and issue these individuals a Ticket. Evidence points to the fact that earlier rehabilitation interventions result in better return-to-work outcomes for disabled beneficiaries (GAO Report to Congress, Improving Return-to-Work Efforts, GAO-01-153, Jan, 2001, pg. 13-24). GAO also criticizes SSA for not incorporating Return-to-Work efforts in the eligibility and assessment process. SSA should allow under-18 individuals access to a Ticket, particularly those whose disabilities are likely to result in them continuing on the rolls.
3) One Ticket Per Period of Eligibility
In this NPRM, SSA has proposed that a person can receive only one ticket per period of disability. A "Period of Disability" begins when the person is awarded benefits and ends when the person's entitlement to benefits end.
NAMI Comments
NAMI believes a person should be eligible for another Ticket when the cash value of the first Ticket has been exhausted. The Ticket-to-Work provides payments for up to 60 non-consecutive months of payments to providers for each month during which benefits are not payable to a beneficiary due to earnings. TWWIIA also provides for a 60-month Expedited Reinstatement that follows the termination of benefits due to work. This Expedited Reinstatement provision allows a beneficiary to be automatically reinstated to benefits pending a CDR after six months. SSA may determine that a person who uses the Expedited Reinstatement provision has "continued" the same period of disability, even though their entitlement to benefits has ceased. For SSDI beneficiaries, the Expedited Reinstatement provision allows an individual to come back on the rolls for up to five years after the EPE, under the same "period of disability." In NAMI's view, this provision effectively prevents an individual from getting a new Ticket after the first one is paid out, and means that a person is eligible for only one Ticket in their lifetime.
SSI beneficiaries retain "eligibility" for benefits under 1619(b) even though they are not receiving any cash benefits. The Ticket could be fully paid out in this situation and the person would come back into payment status and not be able to get another Ticket because they are still considered to be in the same "period of disability."
Finally, people with high upfront rehabilitation costs who are served by their state VR agency will have little chance to fully benefit from a Ticket if VR chooses the "cost-reimbursement" method. Under cost reimbursement, VR can get reimbursed for the full costs of services, even if the cost is higher than the total value of the Ticket, as long as a person achieves nine months of SGA. Since nine months of SGA still leaves a person eligible to receive SSI or SSDI, the person will still be on the rolls, not have achieved full independence, and will no longer have access to services because they will not have a Ticket. This would be particularly unjust in the rehabilitation of individuals with severe mental illness, since state VR agencies have generally done a strikingly poor job of tailoring VR programs to the needs of persons with severe mental illness.
4) Issues Affecting Disabled Adult Children (DACs)
This NPRM contains no specific provisions related to the unique needs of DACs, including DACs with severe and persistent mental illness.
NAMI Comments
In NAMI's view, SSA must address issues affecting DACs if the Ticket program is to be successful. Under current law, a DAC who leaves the Title II program as a result of earning above SGA after the extended period of eligibility (EPE) has expired loses "disabled adult child" status for life. The benefits earned by the parent of a DAC (severely disabled since childhood) are then permanently lost. Current law allows no re-entry to DAC status. NAMI strongly believes that this must be corrected as part of TWWIIA implementation. NAMI believes that Congress clearly meant for DACs to move in and out of the program on the same terms and conditions as all other beneficiaries. SSA must ensure that the regulations support this goal.
5) Supported Employment
Under the NPRM, SSA appears to have developed an interpretation regarding the value to be placed on an individual's work effort (whether it exceeds SGA or not) that is different for people in supported employment, depending upon whether the individual is supported directly by an employer, or whether the individual is supported by services from an outside source (e.g., a state-funded supported employment agency).
NAMI Comments
It appears to NAMI that under this NPRM, an individual's work effort could be found to exceed SGA when the support is from a third party, while that same work effort could be found not to exceed SGA when the support is from the employer. From the perspective of the individual, this is an arbitrary distinction. Further, there may be additional complications in that the nature and scope of the support provided to the individual may be misunderstood when making the valuation of work effort. For instance, while the individual may be performing the actual task (bagging groceries, assembling a package, etc.), it may very well be that the individual would be unable to perform the task without the help of the job coach in ensuring that the individual arrives at work on time properly attired, that he/she interacts appropriately with customers and co-workers, and that he/she remains focused on the assigned job tasks, among other things. NAMI believes that payments devoted to providing employment support should not be counted in determining the value of the individual's work effort. SSA should remove this arbitrary distinction if work incentives are to be implemented as intended by TWWIIA.
6) Ticket Outcome and Milestone-Outcome Payment Systems
The Ticket program under TWWIIA provides for two payment methods for Employment Networks (ENs), an outcome payment method and a milestone-outcome payment method. According to the law, the outcome payment method shall "provide a schedule of payments to an employment network…for each month…for which benefits are not payable because of work or earnings." The law says that the milestone-outcome method "shall provide one or more milestones that are directed toward the goal of permanent employment."
SSA has proposed the following Outcome Payment structure:
a) Outcome Payments for SSDI Beneficiaries & Dually Eligible Individuals--
Payment to an EN would begin the month in which benefits are not payable to the beneficiary, meaning the first month in the SSDI Extended Period of Eligibility that beneficiary earned above SGA ($740 in 2001). The amount of that monthly payment would be $277 and for each month during the next 60 (not necessarily consecutive) months an individual did not receive benefits the EN would receive $277. In 2000, the total amount an EN could get under this method is $16,620.
b) Outcome Payments for SSI Beneficiaries--
Payment would begin the month in which benefits are not payable, meaning the first month earnings completely offset their benefits under the SSI $2-for-$1 cash offset. On average this means an SSI beneficiary would have to earn more than $1000 a month before any outcome payments would be paid, compared to $740 in earnings for an SSDI beneficiary. In 2000, the total amount an EN could get under this method is $10,560.
SSA has proposed the following Milestone-Outcome Payment structure:
a) Milestone-Outcome Payments for SSDI Beneficiaries & Dually Eligible Individuals-
Two milestone payments have been proposed. The first payment of $470 is paid when the individual has achieved 3 months of earnings above SGA within a 12-month period, and the second milestone payment of $940 is paid when the beneficiary achieves the 7th month of earnings above SGA in a 12-month period. The 3 months from the first milestone can be part of the 7 months used to reach the second milestone. The total milestone payments are $1,410 and the combined total milestone-outcome amount an EN could get under this method in 2000 is $14,127.
b) Milestone-Outcome Payments for SSI Beneficiaries--
The milestones will be reached the same way as with SSDI. The first milestone of $300 is paid after 3 months of earnings above SGA in a 12-month period, and the second milestone of $600 is paid after 7 months of earnings above SGA in a 12-month period. The total amount of milestone payments is $900 and the combined milestone-outcome amount an EN could get in 2000 is $8,976.
NAMI Comments
NAMI strongly recommends that the payment disparity between the Outcome and Milestone-Outcome systems be eliminated except for a minor reduction in the Milestone system in order to comply with the law. NAMI further recommends that the outcome payments in the Milestone system be spread evenly over the five-year period. The huge disparity between the total payments in the Outcome system vs. those in the Milestone-Outcome system will discourage the use of the Milestone system. While the law says the Milestone payment system must be less than the Outcome system, the 15% reduction proposed by SSA is too great to attract smaller providers. Worse, back loading the outcome payments in the milestone system means that monthly outcome payments in the first year are 3 times lower than those in the fifth year. Again, this discourages smaller, less well-capitalized providers from participating.
NAMI is also very concerned that that the value of the milestone payments are far below what is necessary to ensure that providers are able and willing to serve Ticket holders with severe mental illnesses. NAMI recommends instead that SSA adopt the milestone payment structure developed by our colleagues at the International Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services (IAPSRS):
- $500 the day the person starts work;
- $1,000 after three months of work regardless of earnings level;
- $1,500 after six months of work, regardless of earnings level;
- $2,000 after nine months of work and the person begins their EPE.
- Total Milestone Payments: $5,000 (60 months of outcome payments follow)
- If an individual enters their EPE before all the milestones are paid out, the remainder amount of milestones are folded into the outcome payments.
In NAMI's view, the value of the milestone payments are far too low to ensure that individuals with severe mental illnesses are able to use the program. Several states in SSA's State Partnership Initiative (SPI) Program have run demonstrations on milestones, the most prominent being Oklahoma. In Oklahoma and in the other SPI states, experience tells us that a total milestone system that pays less than $3,500 will not attract providers. Ideally, to attract the maximum number of providers, the total milestone payment should be between $4,000 and $5,000 for SSDI and concurrent SSDI/SSI.
The milestone system was devised by Congress as a method of risk sharing between SSA and providers. Under this NPRM, SSA shares no risk, all the risk is on the provider. Further, requiring an individual work at, or above, SGA in order for a milestone payment to occur is an inappropriate standard. If an individual has used up most or all of their Trial Work Period (TWP) under the SSDI program before depositing their Ticket, the milestone system will have no impact at all, because as soon as the individual earns above SGA, the outcome payments will start. Such cases will create confusing and conflicting circumstances for Ticket holders and ENs: will ENs lose the amount contained in the milestones? Will the milestones be folded into the Outcome payments? will ENs be paid the milestone payments first (thereby receiving a lesser amount than the Outcome payments would have generated under the same circumstances, before receiving the Outcome payments)?
The implications of the milestone-outcome payment system for SSI beneficiaries is even more troubling. Specifically, the NPRM appears to have made no effort to take into account the existing work incentives structure under SSI. In NAMI's view, SSA needs to restructure the milestone-outcome system for SSI beneficiaries in order to allow outcome payments when the earnings of an SSI beneficiary partially reduces their SSI check because of earnings or income. The amount paid would still be based on the maximum of 40% of the portion of the benefit not paid as dictated by Congress.
Such a proposal might pay a $500 milestone in the first month a SSI beneficiary's work earned over $125 in gross income. A second milestone could be paid in the next month the SSI beneficiary earned over $325 in gross income. In any month after the second milestone was paid that the SSI beneficiary's income was between $326 and $550, SSA could pay an outcome payment of $53. In any month after the second milestone was paid in which the beneficiary's income was between $551 and $750, SSA could pay an outcome payment of $93. In any month that earnings were between $751 and $1002, SSA would pay $138. This is calculated using average federal SSI payment as determined by SSA in calculating the payment calculation base for SSI. The amount of the outcome payment would be paid according to the 40% maximum allowed under the law.
In NAMI's view, it is important to remember that the milestone system was devised by Congress as a method of sharing risk between SSA and providers. However, under this NPRM, SSA shares no risk - all the risk is with the provider. Further, SSA's proposal is discriminatory as applied to SSI beneficiaries because SSA has interpreted the law to require that a person not be receiving ANY cash benefits before an outcome payment is made. SSI beneficiaries are disadvantaged because the $2-for-$1 cash offset under Section 1619 (a work incentive) requires them to earn more ($360 a month more) than those on SSDI before an outcome payment is paid to an EN. As a result, ENs are certain to be discouraged from serving the SSI population, which in the case of individuals with severe mental illnesses is predominantly persons whose onset of illness and disability disrupted education and training opportunities in late childhood or early adolescence (leaving them with more limited work histories, on average, than SSDI beneficiaries).
TWWIIA states that the outcome payment method shall "provide a schedule of payments to an employment network…for each month…for which benefits are not payable because of work or earnings." NAMI believes that if a person on SSI earns enough so that their SSI check is partially reduced, this reduction equals "a benefit that is not payable because of work or earnings." Further, the law does NOT require a total elimination of ALL cash benefits. Had Congress intended this they would have said something such as: "provide a schedule of payments to an employment network…for each month…for which NO benefits are payable because of work or earnings." NAMI believes that Congress created sufficient flexibility to allow for an outcome payment when an SSI beneficiary reduces their SSI check because of work.
7) Continuing Disability Review (CDR) Issues
TWWIA makes clear that "beneficiaries shall not be subject to Continuing Disability Reviews as long as they are using (as defined by the Commissioner) a Ticket-to-Work." SSA has set up a timeline that determines what "using a Ticket" means. After assigning a ticket, beneficiaries are allowed up to 2 years to prepare for employment. They must show they are "actively participating in their Individual Work Plan (IWP) or Individual Plan for Employment (IPE) i.e., engaging in activities outlined in one's plan on a regular and timely basis.
After 2 years, beneficiaries would be required to meet progressively higher levels of employment to continue to be considered "using a ticket" in order to receive protection regarding non-initiation of continuing disability reviews. In the 3rd year of participation in the Ticket to Work program, beneficiaries would be required to work at least 3 (not necessarily consecutive) months in a 12-month period at the Substantial Gainful Activity (SGA) level (currently set at $740 for non-blind beneficiaries). In the 4th year of participation in the program, the beneficiary would be required to work at least 6 (not necessarily consecutive) months during a 12-month period at the SGA level. In the 5th and succeeding years, in order to be considered to be using a ticket, beneficiaries would be required to work at least 6 (not necessarily consecutive) months in each year and have earnings in each such month that were sufficient to eliminate the payment of SSDI benefits and Federal SSI benefits.
SSA explains that progress toward self-sufficiency is not always continuous and that for some, full self-sufficiency may not be attained. Many beneficiaries have disabilities with cycles of relapse and remission. The requirements for only 3 months out of 12 in the third year and 6 months out of 12 in succeeding years recognizes that some beneficiaries may not be able to work on a continuous basis.
NAMI Comments
NAMI supports allowing beneficiaries to "bank" work months in the first two years to count towards the work requirements in later years. In year 5 and beyond, NAMI supports allowing work in excess of the six-month requirement to count toward the next year's requirement. Further, NAMI recommends that increasing amounts of work or earnings, even if below SGA, be evaluated as meeting the definition of "progressively higher levels of employment" in order for a person to keep their CDR protection.
The very nature of severe and persistent mental illness as a disabling condition is that its symptoms are episodic and intermittent. While some people may not be able to work right away, others might be able to work sooner, but may experience difficulties later. In NAMI's view, it is discriminatory to those who can work earlier to penalize them because their work effort did not fall precisely within the stringent timeframe SSA has established in this NPRM. Further, the NPRM appears to ignore the fact that many people may work at increasing levels of income or hours, but never reach the SGA earnings threshold.
8) Employment Network Issues
According to the NPRM, an entity applies by responding to a Request For Proposal (RFP) issued by SSA. The entity must assure that it is qualified to provide employment services, vocational rehabilitation services, or other support services to disabled beneficiaries either directly or through contract or other arrangement. For example, the entity must assure that it is licensed, certified, accredited or registered to provide these services or is able to arrange for other entities to provide these services.
To serve as an employment network, an entity must meet and maintain compliance with both general and specific selection criteria. General selection criteria include (but are not limited to) having systems in place to ensure confidentiality of personal information, physical and program accessibility, the existence of nondiscriminatory policies, practices, and procedures (based on beneficiaries age, gender, race, color, creed, or national origin), having adequate resources to perform activities, and implementing fiscal control and fund accounting procedures. Specific criteria include (but are not limited to) use of qualified staff and providing medical and related health services under the formal supervision of licensed persons. Any entity must have applicable certificates, licenses, or other credentials if state law requires such documentation.
NAMI Comments
NAMI recommends that the broadest discretion be given to ENs regarding how to comply with these requirements. NAMI also recommends that state law not become a barrier to participation by ENs by allowing the Commissioner to suggest alternative means of qualifying if an entity cannot or does not meet state requirements. In addition, NAMI is concerned about the mandate that ENs provide medical and health related services and suggest limiting this provision to those entities that already provide such benefits.
NAMI is concerned that credentialing requirements could exclude smaller or niche providers that serve specific populations. Any credentialing requirement must be broad enough to ensure the inclusion of the fullest array of providers. Recent years have seen the growth of innovative and effective employment and rehabilitation programs serving adults with severe mental illnesses. Psychosocial rehabilitation, clubhouses and consumer-run and peer support programs have brought significant innovation and reform to the mental health field. These programs work as a compliment to, not a substitute for, medical treatment interventions for mental illness. Evidence is growing that they are much more effective in getting and keeping consumers in the workforce.
In NAMI's view, these programs are most effective when they work to provide consumers with the education, training and community supports to help them live with and manage their illness in order to achieve meaningful recovery. Research has demonstrated that these programs work best when engaged as part of an interdisciplinary Program of Assertive Community Treatment (PACT) approach. In such cases, a clubhouse or peer-run psychosocial rehabilitation program is not the direct provider of medical services, but is an equal partner in the PACT team in meeting the consumer's recovery needs. Mandating that ENs provide medical services directly would necessarily limit the ability of innovative programs to serve Ticketholders with severe mental illnesses.
NAMI believes that the Ticket program has great promise to foster these programs and bring about greater consumer choice by paying for outcomes, rather than ineffective services. SSA should not artificially constrain the universe of ENs through outdated bureaucratic rules. Finally, NAMI is also concerned that the NRPM allows states to levy requirements intended to give state VR agencies exclusive domain in determining who is and is not an EN.
9) Reporting Requirements for Employment Networks
The following reporting requirements are placed on entities that wish to participate in the Ticket to Work program as employment networks:
- Report to the Program Manager each time it accepts a ticket for assignment.
- Submit to the Program Manager a copy of each signed individual work plan and copies of amendments thereto.
- Submit to the Program Manager a copy of any agreement the employment network has established with a state VR agency regarding the provision of VR services.
- Report to the Program Manager the specific outcomes achieved consistent with a national model to be prescribed by the SSA.
- Provide a copy of most recent annual report on outcomes to each beneficiary and ensure that copies are available to the public while ensuring confidentiality of personal information.
- Meet financial reporting requirements, such as demonstrating the percentage of the employment network's budget that was spent on serving beneficiaries with tickets (including the amount spent on beneficiaries who return to work and those who do not return to work).
- Collect and record all data required by SSA.
- Adhere to all statutory and regulatory requirements.
Further, the proposed rule requires ENs to report to the PM regarding a beneficiaries earnings and income in order to be eligible for an outcome payment. This includes submitting documentation such as earnings slips or pay stubs, and the SSA Form 821 that is completed by the beneficiary.
NAMI Comments
The income reporting requirements externalize a long-standing problem at SSA--mainly the agency's inability to accurately and expeditiously track earnings and adjust benefits. The income reporting rules require the EN to collect and report information that the EN may not have access to and might violate a beneficiary's privacy if requested by the EN from either the beneficiary or the employer.
10) Overpayments and Employment Networks
As NAMI has argued for years, SSA does not have adequate means to intake and track earnings of beneficiaries who work. Frequently, beneficiaries who work continue to receive disability checks despite the fact that their earnings have made them ineligible for benefits. Further, SSA takes months, usually years, to "catch up" with a beneficiary who should have had their checks stopped. When SSA does catch up with a beneficiary, the person usually owes thousands, and maybe tens of thousands, in overpayments. This creates havoc with a beneficiary who in the course of attempting to work finds themselves financially worse off. SSA ignores this problem despite the impact on individuals. However, with the payment to ENs and the CDR protection now dependent on SSA stopping checks in a timely fashion, this problem has become catastrophic.
NAMI Comments
Although SSA has not proposed a rule on this issue, this matter is critical to the success of the Ticket program. SSA must address this issue. NAMI recommends that an EN's report to the PM on a beneficiary's income and earnings be given by the PM to SSA within 30 days, and if within 60 days of the PM's report to SSA, SSA has failed to appropriately stop or adjust a beneficiary's check, SSA cannot hold the beneficiary liable for overpayments and SSA must make payment to the EN as though the benefit has been adjusted or ceased. Further, SSA must act immediately to reform and improve income-reporting systems, or not hold beneficiaries, or their EN, responsible for the failings of the agency. Further, if ENs must report incomes and earnings to the PM, along with the SSA Form 821, then SSA must have an incentive to prioritize these reports.
Moreover, this NPRM raises two troubling issues regarding what an EN can do if the EN disagrees with a decision by SSA on a payment request. Specifically, Section 411.590(d) reads:
If an appeal by a beneficiary regarding entitlement or eligibility for disability benefits results in a revised determination, our revised determination could affect the EN's payment or result in an adjustment to payments already made to the EN. While the EN cannot appeal our determination about a beneficiary's right to benefits, the EN may furnish any evidence the EN has which may support a change in our determination on the beneficiary's appeal.
In NAMI's view this NPRM appears to subject ENs to overpayments and may require them to reimburse SSA for payments that were improperly made. In NAMI's view, this is an inappropriate shift of responsibility for SSA's own serious and chronic problems with its deficient income reporting and recording systems. Continued overpayments to beneficiaries will remain a serious disincentive to work. Overpayments to ENs may likewise serve as a disincentive for providers to serve as ENs.
However, even more distressing is the encouragement given by SSA to ENs to turn against beneficiaries if the ENs are unsuccessful in disputes with SSA over whether payments are due to the EN. Should an EN lose its dispute with SSA, the only alternative SSA offers is for the EN to submit evidence against the beneficiary in the beneficiary's claim for cash benefits. This approach creates the potential for a serious conflict between the beneficiary and the EN in a contractual arrangement where the beneficiary needs to trust that the EN is working in the beneficiary's best interest in job preparation, placement, and follow-up. Needless to say, beneficiaries and ENs should be expected to present truthful information and evidence to SSA at all times and ENs should be prepared to submit accurate information whenever requested by SSA. However, inclusion of this suggested approach in a section regarding ENs' options in case of an unfavorable decision by SSA creates an adversarial tone and establishes a fissure in the contractual relationship between beneficiaries and ENs at the outset.
11) Evaluation of Employment Networks
The NPRM allows SSA to periodically review the results of the work of each employment network to ensure effective quality assurance in the provision of services to ticket holders. In conducting such reviews, SSA is supposed to solicit and consider the views of the consumers of the EN and the Program Manager (PM) that monitors the EN. Results of these reviews must be made available to the disabled beneficiaries.
NAMI Comments
In NAMI's view, consumer satisfaction measures and the ability to inform Ticket holders of the quality of ENs in their area is critical. Measuring consumer satisfaction through a survey is only one such way to accomplish this goal. NAMI would also urge SSA to examine employment outcomes, including types of placements and income levels of the placements. However, since many ENs will serve only one disability population, NAMI cautions against comparing ENs across disability groups.
12) The Role of Responsibilities of State Vocational Rehabilitation Agencies
Under the NPRM, SSA is proposing that when a beneficiary signs a plan as defined under the Rehabilitation Act (IPE), the beneficiary has automatically assigned their Ticket, regardless of whether the VR agency is an employment network. Further, SSA is proposing that as part of the broad agreement between ENs and State VR agencies, that the agreement must stipulate "the terms and procedures under which the EN will pay the State VR Agency for providing services."
NAMI Comments
NAMI adamantly opposes any requirement for an eligible beneficiary to automatically assign their Ticket to a state VR agency, regardless of whether the VR agency is an EN. NAMI strongly recommends that this unfair provision be struck from the regulations. The hallmark of TWWIIA is consumer choice. Requiring a beneficiary to assign their Ticket to VR, whether they choose to or not, negates that choice. Further, a beneficiary may be eligible for VR benefits without having to assign their Ticket and, in fact the 1998 amendments to the Rehabilitation Act makes clear that SSI and SSDI beneficiaries are "presumptively eligible" for VR benefits. Making a beneficiary use their Ticket when VR might be required under the Rehabilitation Act to serve that individual anyway, denies the use of the Ticket for the beneficiary at a later date. If VR chooses the cost reimbursement system for a higher cost individual, this person would find themselves without a Ticket and still on benefits since VR is only required to show nine months of work above SGA. That is a far lower employment goal than for other ENs.
NAMI also opposes the presumption in the NPRM that VR agencies will be able to use agreements with ENs to seek payments under the Ticket program. In NAMI's view, SSA should not be establishing the terms of the agreement in the regulations. These agreements between VR agencies and ENs should be arrived at openly and freely without one side or the other having the weight of regulation on their side. Stipulating that ENs will be paying VR presumes that this will always be the case. In fact, with many populations it is VR that pays ENs for services. Presuming in the regulation that ENs will be paying VR for services assumes that VR and the Ticket pay for the same services. In fact, they do not. VR's standard to achieve a closure is 90 days of employment, and to collect under the cost reimbursement system is nine months of employment at or above SGA, while ENs under the ticket must wait at least 60 months for their payment.
By contrast, TWWIIA is meant to help pay for long-term supports that VR agencies are unable to pay for. Making ENs pay VR out of the Ticket renders useless that critical role of the Ticket. Finally, it appears to NAMI that this language is nearly identical in its purpose to a provision that was struck from the final version of TWWIIA before it passed the House in October 1999. At that time, staff for the House Ways and Means Committee instructed officials from SSA, the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) and officials representing state VR agencies that this language was inappropriate and ENs should not be required to surrender proceeds from successful outcomes under the Ticket program to state VR programs. It is troubling to NAMI that this language has been resurrected as part of this NPRM.
13) $1 for $2 Demonstration
TWWIIA mandates that SSA initiate a program to test the feasibility of a $1 for $2 cash benefit-earnings offset in the SSDI program.
NAMI Comments
NAMI considers this mandated demonstration program to be a critical part of the law. For many SSDI beneficiaries, the cash cliff in Title II remains a real barrier to work. The demonstration must begin soon if it is to provide useful data to help Congress decide whether the sliding scale offset should be made available to all Title II beneficiaries with disabilities who want to work. There has been some discussion that SSA might test the value of starting the $1 for $2 offset below the SGA level. If so, we urge that such offset be offered to the beneficiary on a voluntary basis. There may be people with disabilities who would voluntarily accept the reduction beginning below SGA as a trade-off for the security of knowing that their benefits would continue and would fluctuate to complement their fluctuating earnings. Otherwise, SSA would be reducing benefits to which people are otherwise entitled under the current law.
NAMI urges SSA to move expeditiously to design and implement this demonstration program. In addition, we urge SSA to consult with experts in the various disability populations to ensure that the demonstration has the capacity to work for the people intended to be served.
NAMI appreciates the opportunity to comment on this important NPRM. We look forward to working with SSA to make improvements in the NPRM to ensure that the ticket program effectively serves people with severe mental illnesses who can and want to work.
Andrew Sperling Deputy Executive Director for Public Policy


text:
WOODBRIDGE, Va. (WUSA) -- A woman is charged with malicious wounding and domestic assault and battery after being accused of assaulting a man on Halloween night in Woodbridge.
Police say 44-year-old Cynthia Lynn Haag was arrested after police responded to the 11400 block of Bacon Race Rd in Woodbridge for a domestic incident on Oct. 31 at 10:59 p.m. They say a 45-year-old man said he was in an argument with Haag when she assaulted him. At one point, police say, she grabbed a glass vase and struck the man in the head.
The man had a severe laceration to the back of his head and was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Haag was arrested and is being held without bond.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Rudy Spiessert was born in Nice and studied Visual Communication between 1994 and 1997. He began his career as a free-lancer, making illustrations and designs for packaging, etc. He was a graphic artist with a web agency in 1999 but eventually turned to creating comics in collaboration with Hervé Bourhis. Their first effort was the series 'Le Stéréo Club' in the Dargaud collection Poisson Pilote between 2004 and 2006. They then moved over to Dupuis to create their viking comic 'Ingmar' for the Expresso collection until 2010. In that same year, they also made 'Hélas', their contribution to the publisher's Aire Libre collection.
Spiessert also worked with scriptwriters Denis Lapière and Pierre-Paul Renders to create 'Comme tout le monde' for that same collection in 2006-2007. He subsequently released his solo comic 'Les Villes d'un Jour' with Éditions Quadrants in 2008. Spiessert and Bourhis made another switch in 2010, when they created the Star Wars parody 'Naguère les Étoiles' for the Shampooing collection of Delcourt.
Comme tout le monde


text:
Details still evolving, Walter will fill you in on more of the specifics, January 29th we will be holding a special event at Quelab, "Explore LEDs: LEDs as Art and Science".
In addition to examples of interesting LED applications, projects and art, we are thinking of having folks play with LED's in textiles, as jewelry, and other crafts. So I'm devoting a good portion of my Sunday and Tuesday night Hacknight's towards experiments involving LED's
So far I've had some successes with flexible circuits using copper tape and also finding that one can run a led via a pipecleaner, and helped Walter build a small LED candelabra. Had a few non-successes: I was not able to get cheap dollar store playdough to be conductive putty using my powdered graphite nor my powdered aluminum. I'm not sure if the fault was the putty, the graphite or the proportions. But I have a few weeks to try other things. Not to mention I will soon have conductive thread, magnetic switches, and much much more!
The above and more related photos can be seen up on my flickr.
One Response to Hacknight Experiments to prepare for the LED Event on 29th of January!
[…] Adric mentioned a couple of days ago, we're celebrating LED month with a special event, Explore LEDs: LEDs as […]
Leave a Reply Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Tags3D-printer 3d printing 2600 adafruit air Arduino audio board election Bubonicon class classes crafting crowdfunding DIY event events gamenight general meeting hack hacknight Ignite Instructables inventables LED Linux Maker Faire marblebrewery meeting Meetings music NMTC pictures potluck privacy Projects public night pyp recap robots space steampunk TechMas theme video Workshop


text:
Browse Items (161 total)
Research Education Support Program
The Research Education Support (RES) Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill seeks to assist the University in supporting increased numbers of students from underrepresented minority groups to gain meaningful research experiences…
Tags: Education, North Carolina, Social Sciences
North Carolina ABANA
NC-ABANA is the North Carolina Chapter and affiliate of the Artist-Blacksmith's Association of North America, Inc. We are a non-profit organization run by volunteers dedicated to promoting and sharing the art of blacksmithing. The state Chapter…
Ghost Stories of North Carolina
This site allows users to learn about the history of North Carolina ghost stories, to read, see, and hear actual ghost stories, and to create a story of their own.
V2k Announce
This mailing list was created to let you know what's going on in the Triangle's Urban and Electronic scenes.
Orange County, NC Beekeepers Association
Mailing list for covering beekeeping and bee/hive management issues as well as information for the association members.
NC Media Arts
Mailing list intended as a network between media arts organizations in North Carolina, in order to better the situation for media arts creators and audiences in our fair state, which seems, until now, to have limited awareness of our needs.…
Internationalist Books
Announcement mailing list for Internationalist Books of Chapel Hill, NC.
Desert City Poetry Series
Primarily a list for announcing poetry readings that are part of the Desert City series held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Other poetry and related events in the North Carolina region will also be announced.
Chapel Hill Information Technology Advisory Committee
The Technology Committee was created to develop short and long range plans for addressing communication and technology needs, review and advise the Council and staff on technical-related proposals, including related purchases and address the…
This is an email forum for our convivium members and other interested parties to share information about our enjoyment of good tasting food, the care of the land and our regional biodiversity, and the protection of traditional foods, markets, and…


text:
Women's Zoot Z Force 3.0 WetZootItem #ZTW391
VIP, All Your Benefits Apply!
Loading product details ...
Reviews (0)
Need Help?
Product Description:
Women's Zoot Z Force 3.0 WetZoot :: Using the most hydrodynamic coatings and innovative patterning, the Z Force 3.0 provides unmatched performance in a comfortable wetsuit. If a fast swim and a good fit are important to you, this is your suit. Enjoy the redesigned and upgraded version of the Zoot Fuzion WetZoot.
Features & Benefits:
Your Help Is Here
Shop with confidence knowing your team of Fit Experts is waiting to answer all your questions. You can always find your perfect product and your perfect fit. Your Road Runner Sports Fit Experts will make sure you get exactly what you want and have tons of fun in the process! Give us a call, chat, or email!
Call 800-743-3206 to
Send us an email and count on a Fit Expert to reply to you as quickly as possible
You May Also Like


text:
Listening to Mothers I Survey and Report (2002)
Listening to Mothers I results provide a new level of understanding of many dimensions of the maternity experience and have been appreciated by a broad range of groups and individuals involved with childbearing families, as well as mothers themselves. Survey results and Childbirth's Connection's Recommendations based on the results are being used to improve policies, programs and services; to educate women and health professionals; and to identify research priorities.
In 2003, Doulas of North America awarded Childbirth Connection (then known as Maternity Center Association) its first John Kennell and Marshall Klaus Award for Excellence in Research, in recognition of the first Listening to Mothers survey.
Inside Listening to Mothers I:
About the SurveyExplains survey objectives, participants, and topic areas, as well as groups involved with the survey.
Go to About the Survey
Survey ResultsIncludes survey highlights focusing on women's prenatal and birth experiences; after the baby is born; looking at some important variations in experience; and attitudes about birth and understanding of maternity rights. A full and free PDF of the survey results is available here.
Go to Survey Results
RecommendationsDescribes Childbirth Connection's recommendations based on the survey results.
Go to Recommendations
National Advisory CouncilIdentifies multi-disciplinary Council members who provided guidance on the planning, implementation, and reporting of this survey, and the organizations they represented.
Go to National Advisory Council
Forum & SupportersWe released the survey results at the Manhattan Center in New York City on October 24, 2002. Learn about the event and the collaborating organizations and forum supporters who participated.
Go to Forum & Supporters
Most recent page update: 9/11/2012
© 2016 National Partnership for Women & Families. All rights reserved.
Founded in 1918, Childbirth Connection has joined forces with and become a core program of the National Partnership for Women & Families. Together, these two women's health powerhouses are transforming maternity care in the United States.
News and Features
Featured Resource
Check out our resource, "Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing: Evidence and Implications for Women, Babies, and Maternity Care"
Read more
Special Announcement
Childbirth Connection has joined forces with and become a core program of the National Partnership for Women & Families.
Read more
Our Vision
We want all women and babies receive the best possible maternity care.
Play video
Get Involved


text:
|Showmanship put on display at Mexican Rodeo
|Written by Holyoke Enterprise
Despite cool temperatures, roughly 300 people made their way to the Phillips County grandstand arena for a Mexican rodeo Sunday, July 28.
New to the fair this year, the Mexican rodeo provided entertainment through impressive rodeo feats and events that showcased the horsemanship unique to Mexican rodeos.
A bull rider in the Mexican rodeo holds on for the ride as his bull
While bareback riding and bull riding events were held, they were slightly different than similar events at American rodeos. During the bareback riding event, charros rode mares. During the bullriding event, participants rode the bull until they were bucked off or until the bull grew tired, unlike American rodeos where contestants aim to ride for eight seconds.
One of the performers in the Mexican rodeo falls just short, landing between the two horses as he attempts to leap from horse to horse during the thrilling pass of death event. —Enterprise photo
The pass of death is unique to Mexican rodeos. Participants attempted to leap from their horse, which is bareback with reins, to another bareback horse without reins.
During the escaramuza, women outfitted in traditional, bright pink dresses rode sidesaddle as they performed choreographed patterns.
Riders in the escaramuza put on a fascinating, choreographed
The showmanship was especially present as performers showcased their control of the horses by having them prance around the arena while a live band performed. A few men took to the middle of the arena to showcase their roping tricks as well.
A young performer showcases his roping talents Sunday afternoon at the Mexican rodeo.
Holyoke Enterprise August 8, 2013


text:
Photography by SYPhotography Follow, Wedding Dress by Christos Follow
Featured in 36 Wedding Dresses with Stunning Statement Backs from Fall 2013 Bridal Market.
Fall 2013 Wedding Dresses with Statement Backs Christos 4.
Create Account
Add Listing
Plan, book and shop for your wedding with inspiration as your guide. Plus, save photos to your favorites!


text:
Thursday was not a good day to be world no. 1.
Hours after Roger Federer was served out of Cincinnati by Ivo Karlovic, Ana Ivanovic was knocked out of Montreal. The Serb was defeated by big-hitting Austrian Tamira Paszek 2-6, 6-1, 2-6 in the third round, giving compatriot Jelena Jankovic a great chance to steal the top ranking by reaching the final.
According to Ana, the right thumb injury she sustained in practice almost two weeks ago hindered her performance last night:
It was very frustrating in the first set. I was really down by [the injury], really felt like I couldn't do anything. And then in the break after the first set, I thought to myself, 'you know what, you still can serve and play your backhand, so just imagine you have a terrible forehand and try to put ball in as you can, try to look for your backhand.'Ana hasn't made any impression on the Tour since winning the French Open and becoming the top lady baller. It's almost as if she's a place holder, keeping the penthouse warm until the real no. 1 comes along. But, I'd chalk this up to a learning experience: learning how to deal with being the hunted and not the huntee.
It worked well for a while. But I guess it wasn't too hard to figure out what she had to do. In the third set, she started playing much more to my forehand. It was just so frustrating that I couldn't control the racket in my hand. I couldn't feel anything. It was very frustrating. I tried to fight as much as I could.
I really wanted to win this match. But obviously she's a very good player and she figured it out...I give her credit for taking her chances and winning this match.
Talented ballers will always look to play their 'A' game when facing the world no. 1 - something Ana has learned the hard way.
(image via Getty)


text:
May 31, 2016
There are new developments in the investigation into a food-borne illness outbreak in West Alabama. Officials with the Alabama Department of Health say this resulted from cross contamination. Scores of people who attended a funeral last weekend in York had to be hospitalized after becoming ill. Health department officials say food that was served after the funeral was tainted by salmonella. Earlier this week a funeral home attendant who worked that service died. His family is now requesting an autopsy. Preliminary findings were that he died from a heart attack.
Click Here to access the online Public Inspection File
Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Hotel OrienteLocated in the center of Barcelona, in the city's main shopping and commercial area. Near the famous Liceu Theatre and within walking distance of the Gothic Quarter and the port. Our establishment is fitted out with a total of 142 rooms that are in constant renovation. They are all equipped with bathroom, central heating, colour T.V., direct telephone and a safe. We are very proud to point out the quality of our members of staff and their main aim: our costumer's satifaction. Our staff will make sure that you get a comfortable and pleasant stay.
Seattle Hotels Rome Hotels Kohala Coast Downtown Fort Wayne Hotels Hotel Oriente St. Lucia Hotels Phuket Thailand Hotels Regents Park Hotels


text:
Flowers: Bare Root Flora
Photographer: Laura Murray Photography
Venue & Caterer: Mount Princeton Hot Springs
Makeup: Kelsey Zabawa
Groom's Attire: Joseph A. Bank
Jewelry: Little White Dress
Shoe Designer: Kate Spade
Stationery: Kristie Carney Design
Bridesmaid Dresses: J.Crew
Bridesmaid Boots: DSW
Mens Ties: Land's End
Wedding Dress Hanger: Get Hung Up
Photobooth: Robin Cain Photography
Hair: Alex Sternberg
Cake: Victoria Dent
DJ, Officiant, Paper Pom Flowers & Ceremony Music: Family Friends | Dress Designer, Table Runners, Veil, Hair Accessories, Reception Signs, Wooden Candle Holders, Wooden Sign, Programs, Corn Hole Games, Table Numbers & Bridesmaid Necklaces: Bride, Groom, & Family
Read on to see how much this elegant pink and navy Colorado wedding cost. Please note that costs change as the years go by, and prices are subject to change. This is just one couple's breakdown to give you a rough estimate on how much a wedding like this may cost you.
With the wedding expenses, I knew I was willing to invest with photography, since that was ultimately the most important on my list, something we could both cherish forever. With that being said, I knew I needed to adjust in other areas, which is partly why I wanted to do so much on my own. (That, and I really enjoyed all these projects I got to do with my family.) The largest cost of the wedding was the catering, which ended up being about $10,000, and we had 220 guests. Our total expenses ended up going slightly over our initial budget, but we also ended up having a larger guest list than initially planned too. We were able to do it all for well under $30,000. Having the help and willingness of so many close friends and family made having our (what I would call large) wedding possible and within a reasonable budget for us.


text:
Images: Inspection of civil affairs project in Al Heriyah [Image 5 of 21]
Photo by Spc. Chuck Gill
A Soldier with the 13th Georgian Light Infantry Battalion takes notes to bring his command up to speed with ongoing project sites during a civil affairs inspection led by U.S. Army Soldiers. Soldiers are from the 3rd Civil Affairs Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Charles W. Gill)
This work, Inspection of civil affairs project in Al Heriyah [Image 1 of 21], by Chuck Gill, identified by DVIDS, is free of known copyright restrictions under U.S. copyright law.
Date Taken:02.13.2008
Date Posted:03.27.2008 09:02
Photo ID:81900
Size:1.67 MB
Location:AL HERIYAH, IQ


text:
BEST ENTRANCE: "D" Parking Lot/Entrance
LOCATION IN MALL: F Corridor
(775) 826-7564 | Driving Directions | Papyrus Website |
View Deals | Mall Map
More stores to consider
RT @CollectionatCC: Headed to the shore this weekend? You're going to need a beach bag! Swing by @Papyrus_Online for a myriad of totes. htt…/p>
Enjoy 30% off gifts and 50% off cards! We're also throwing in FREE Domestic Shipping when you spend $25. Use Code: SHIP25 http://bit.ly/1UcTj9n
Read More
From preschool or graduate school, we have the perfect card to let your grad know how proud you are! http://bit.ly/1XO2Kz6
RT @JemmaGirlNYC: It's all about a work-life balance. #JEMMAGirl #JEMMA https://t.co/6if0Ad56fA/p>
RT @dothedaniel: Do you love to send letters & cards? @Papyrus_Online is our favourite way to do just that! https://t.co/4UTjAxWzgF #SendWi…/p>
RT @QuestPhysics: the card I got my mom for Mother's Day. I got it at Target. @shondarhimes @Hallmark @PAPYRUS_tweets @HuffingtonPost https…/p>
Something gold, something new, something lovely - just for you! Thx for sharing our lovely @Papyrus_Online gift bag! https://t.co/XkJd9JT4AJ/p>
RT @cocorrina: Been working with @Papyrus_Online for 2 years now + received the first 4 out of many. I'll be covered for life ???? https://t.…/p>
RT @InspireNCelebr8: Enter The Marvelous May #Beauty & #Jewelry #Giveaway to win $350 of deluxe prizes! https://t.co/v1aufpx0XE https://t.c…/p>
Beautiful ways to tell her how much she's loved - #PAPYRUScards https://t.co/3bUbyLCqyE/p>
The Little House Shop
RT @Ilianan_xoxo: The wrapping paper is soo cute ? #MothersDaywrapping with @Papyrus_Online my favorite store! https://t.co/FfT8xngvAw/p>
RT @Uber_LA: Don't forget about mom. You can order the perfect #MothersDay card from @Papyrus_Online https://t.co/9jprMrdUbb https://t.co/1…/p>
RT @FlatironNY: You've at least gotten mom a card, right? Good thing @Papyrus_Online is there for your last-minute needs: https://t.co/cTDU…/p>
Congratulations are in order! Commemorate this milestone with our graduation cards & gifts: http://bit.ly/1XO2Kz6
Free domestic shipping on $35 orders*. Use code SHIPTO thru Sun 5/22. https://t.co/MlSmUB1wjI #shopPAPYRUS https://t.co/ohQ9eqSAOl/p>
Attention all brides-to-be! Join us for exclusive wedding custom printing consultations, bridal stationery styling & more! May 19th - 22nd at select stores.
RT @PAPYRUSBrand: Headed to the @stationeryshow this weekend? Visit us in booth 2702!
#PAPYRUS #SealItWithStyle #NSS2016 https://t.co/zWU…/p>
Making wedding dreams come true - #XOXO #PAPYRUScards https://t.co/ML5SHgvGNA/p>
How about a $50 online PAPYRUS gift card? Enter the sweeps: https://t.co/97pizVZAXF #lovePAPYRUS #MothersDay https://t.co/afRt3FXHsy/p>
RT @Uber_LA: The perfect #MothersDay card from @Papyrus_Online is just a tap away with @UberEATS: https://t.co/9jprMrdUbb https://t.co/5UxU…/p>
The sweepstakes runs thru Thurs 5/5 #PAPYRUScards https://t.co/mln1N06bWt/p>
#lovePAPYRUS giveway for Mom's Day at #facebook: https://t.co/yY1Gw8Ujwo Enter today to win a $50 online gift card. https://t.co/jrw47ztpvM/p>
RT @CornwallCentre: Now he can answer any question without saying a word. @Papyrus_Online #FathersDay https://t.co/1bUIsW71Gb/p>
RT @ShopWellesley: Merchant of the day! Papyrus carries quality and artistic cards, stationary, and gifts. @Papyrus_Online/p>
You shopping? We're shipping - FREE. $35 online orders get free domestic shipping thru Sunday 5/22. Use Code: SHIPTO http://bit.ly/1qyJ5FH
Planning a #wedding? Wedding Extravaganza at select #PAPYRUS stores. Join us https://t.co/Na3PGCMB77 #brides https://t.co/aCnlSFIwIV/p>
<3 <3 <3 #PAPYRUS https://t.co/lj1wa3zilc/p>
RT @BrookfieldPLTO: Visit @Papyrus_Online for cards and stationary all of those upcoming special occasions! #BrookfieldPlaceTO https://t.co…/p>
Our new website launches this week! https://t.co/aqiCDgP75E/p>
...and you just made our day. #TFTM #PAPYRUScards https://t.co/q6GXhUBOcK/p>
RT @barb2point0: This #space music box is everything. Complete with space shuttles, astronauts & satellites ?? #WANT @Papyrus_Online https:/…/p>
RT @koreankitkat: Super cute pouch @Papyrus_Online https://t.co/eYCz5P8ymH/p>
Thanx for the include CS! Lovin' u added our new BIJOU notebooks to ur desk https://t.co/JMnssNCb4H #PAPYRUScards https://t.co/hUaP6culDH/p>
And we're up! Check out the fabulous new site and celebrate with us! https://t.co/DNb9dy7BX4/p>
#MakingMommysHappy #PAPYRUS https://t.co/hHZhgsPb2O/p>
RT @DenverPavilions: Thank you @Papyrus_Online for having lots of little trays to say "I LOVE #MOM" for #MothersDay. #gift https://t.co/pNY…/p>
RT @FitBottomedMama: Here's your chance to snag a coloring book and test out coloring for stress relief yourself! https://t.co/joQr7JNmko @…/p>
Wonderful ways to write - #TFTM @dothedaniel #PAPYRUScards https://t.co/aYJEzSVmYQ/p>
RT @mombeachblog: Make #MothersDay special with a butterfly keepsake box from @Papyrus_Online (ad) https://t.co/UQO5Dv0mrP https://t.co/C8E…/p>
Then Get Our Can't Miss Style Reports, Retailer Offers
and Event News Before Everyone Else.
Plus you'll be entered to win a $1,000 Shopping Spree.
View our privacy policy / No spam. We promise.


text:
Be sure to head over here to Bounce and request $10 in laundry coupons!
There's a $1/1 Evercare Lint Roller coupon on the sheet. The small travel size ones are $0.96 at Walmart which makes them FREE with overage!
Grab your Bounce Care coupons now!
Thanks Saving Toward A Better Life!


text:
Like Ana Ivanovic, Nadia Petrova was spotted in another traditional Austrian dress at the Linz baller party recently.
I'm sorry but Nads looks straight up looney here and must be thinking (with a Russian accent of course), "Don't you like my pretty dress? And my pretty hair?? I'm so pretty, right mommy???"
So scary. What could the Russian but thinking here? Do tell!
(image via tennisforum.com)
Thursday, October 23, 2008
PHOTO OP: Has Nadia finally lost her marbles? You be the judge.
Like Ana Ivanovic, Nadia Petrova was spotted in another traditional Austrian dress at the Linz baller party recently.
Labels: Linz, Nadia Petrova, photo op, tennis
6 comments:
Wow, there's sure a lot goin' on with the Dirndls in Linz... o_OReplyDelete
Granted Rich, Nadia looks so creepy. Especially the lipstick was the WRONG choice.
"It puts the lotion in the basket or it gets the hose..."ReplyDelete
- Tennis ObserverOctober 23, 2008 at 12:18 PM
Wow, first I thought I see a tranny...ReplyDelete
Especially the lipstick? Especially EVERYTHING. Is WROOOOOOOONG. *making horrified hand gestures*ReplyDelete
The pigtails did me in.
c note: LMAO!ReplyDelete
babz: Halloween came early for this one.
She seriously looks like a cross between Buffalo Bill and Kathy Bates in Misery.ReplyDelete


text:
The 42-year-old Lorton mom is one of the lucky ones. She beat ovarian cancer -- a disease often called "the silent killer."
Paula Wolfson, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Michelle Present says faith and love have kept her alive.
The 42-year-old Lorton, Va. mom is one of the lucky ones. She beat ovarian cancer — a disease often called "the silent killer."
Oftentimes the warning symptoms are few and to date, there's no preventative screening.
"Because of that, unfortunately, about 75 percent of women who develop ovarian cancer will be diagnosed in a late stage," says Dr. Willard Barnes, chief of gynecologic oncology at the Lombardi Cancer Center at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.
Present's cancer was an advanced stage three when she was officially diagnosed almost one year ago. She was sent to an oncologist after complaining of abdominal discomfort. All tests came back negative, and surgery was scheduled.
"It was more exploratory than anything," Present says. "And it was where they discovered I had a mass that was back deep in my pelvis that had attached itself to the muscles in my lower back and left leg. But it did not show up on a scan or a test."
Present says she kept pushing for answers because she just didn't feel right and Barnes says Present did exactly the right thing.
"You certainly need to look into things. Never minimize symptoms," Barnes says.
According to Barnes, any abdominal discomfort that lasts for more than a week or two should be checked out.
"Typical symptoms may include increasing abdominal girth," Barnes says. "Or it could be bloating or just vague indigestion."
Present says more women need to be aware of the dangers of ovarian cancer.
"We really do need to get the word out to all of the wonderful ladies in our lives that if they start feeling discomfort, or just different," Present says.
"They really need to be persistent with their doctor and make sure that they are being heard."
In an effort to increase awareness, Present will join others Saturday, May 12 for the Northern Virginia race to "Break the Silence on Ovarian Cancer."
Six months after finishing chemotherapy, Present will lace up her running shoes to make a point.
"I have got a team of 25 people that are going to be walking and running with me in support for me and for all those beautiful ladies that are still fighting, will be diagnosed, and unfortunately, in memory of those who have lost the fight," says Present.
The National Cancer Institute estimates more than 22,000 American women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year. It also predicts that 15,500 patients will lose their fight against the "silent killer."
Present will head for the finish line just days after finding out a follow-up battery of tests this week found no signs of cancer.
"It is an emotional time," Present says, "I think it has finally sinked in with me this week, that you know what? I am a survivor!"
Here's more information on "Break the Silence on Ovarian Cancer" race.
Follow WTOP on Twitter.
(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)


text:
|School spirit shines
|Written by Holyoke Enterprise
Some crazy characters are roaming the halls of HHS this week as everyone put on their school spirit for Homecoming week. 2012 dress up days were Twin Day on Monday, TV Day on Tuesday, Zombie Day on Wednesday, Class Colors on Thursday and Green & Gold Day on Friday. A colorful cast of characters is seen above at HHS Tuesday, Oct. 2 for TV day. Pictured from left are Lindsay Helgoth, Rachel Schneider, Camille Elliott, Matt Golden, Alyssa Livermore and Troy McAtee.
Some of the teachers get in on the fun for Homecoming week's TV day, including Cutter Garrison, Kelsey Reimink, Summer Maloney and Ashley Clayton.
It wouldn't be Homecoming week without the halls decorated in bold class colors. Pictured above is the seniors' black Dragon Den.
High school sophomores Rubi Canales, Berenice Juarez, Bianca Rodriguez and Ana Olivas pose for a photo op on TV day.
—Enterprise photos
Holyoke Enterprise October 4, 2012


text:
Fine Print - June 2010
The awarding of Pulitzer Prizes tends to be, by design, a low-key affair. When the 2010 prizes were handed out a few weeks ago, the news trickled out in the usual fashion, released to what are still quaintly called the wire services as well as being posted on the Web. There was no ceremony, no grand gathering of industry leaders and certainly no acceptance speeches by winners. Too bad, because if there was one group of people who deserved to be recognized for their contribution to journalism, its the shareholders of the late, lamented Wachovia Corp. Theyre the ironic heroes of the news business these days.
To understand how this came to be, well need to revisit recent history. There are many reasons the Charlotte-based company doesnt exist any longer, having been one of the more notable casualties of September 2008s breakdown of the financial system. But the key reason was that two years prior which is to say, at the housing bubbles most inflated moment Wachovia made a costly bet at exactly the wrong time. It spent $24 billion to buy Golden West Financial Corp., a California-based operation that had grown fat on mortgage loans.
Golden Wests specialty was an adjustable-rate product called Pick-a-Payment, in which borrowers could select among four payment options one of which didnt even cover the interest payment, meaning a home-owners debt grew each month. (Gee. How could that go wrong?) When Wachovia acquired Golden West, that portfolio of Pick-a-Payment loans totaled $120 billion and, within two years, burned a hole in Wachovias bottom line that could never be filled. CEO Ken Thompson lost his job, and three months later San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. paid $15 billion for Wachovia in an all-items-must-go clearance sale brokered by the federal government.
But whats a bad deal for one party is often a great one for the other, and that was the case for owners of Golden West, who cashed out near the peak of the boom. First among them was the husband-and-wife team who had turned Golden West from a two-office thrift into one of the largest mortgage-loan originators in the country. The New York Times, for instance, reported that in 2005, Golden West subsidiary World Savings Bank had issued more than a fifth of all option ARM loans nationally those being among the more notorious mortgages peddled during the bad old days.
The owner/couple Herbert and Marion Sandler walked away with $2.3 billion in stock and cash, the Times reports. If you were a Wachovia shareholder when the bank imploded, youll surely take some sour satisfaction in knowing the Sandlers still had Wachovia stock at that point. So they, too, suffered some pain. But hold onto that thought, because what follows will test your tolerance for bitter irony.
The Sandlers, even before selling their operation to Wachovia, had put their fortune to work in notable and, to give credit where credit is due, admirable ways. They made donations to a variety of nonprofit, progressive-minded organizations. Among them was Durham-based Center for Responsible Lending, which counts the Sandlers among its largest supporters since its founding in 2002. The center, which seeks to protect the poor and the elderly from predatory lending practices, can legitimately claim to be on the side of the angels. But pondering the fact that the creators of a mortgage loan that increased a homeowners debt with every monthly payment would help fund a group with the phrase responsible lending in its name can only make your head spin.
Even more redolent of bemusement was the Sandlers funding of ProPublica Inc. Starting operations in January 2008, ProPublica has sought to fill the void in investigative journalism created when newspapers slashed their staffs during the recession. The Sandler Foundation is its primary financier, to the tune of an estimated $10 million annually, and Herbert Sandler is chairman of its board. Among ProPublicas efforts was an impressive piece about a New Orleans hospital where nearly four dozen patients died during and after Hurricane Katrina. That article, published in collaboration with The New York Times Magazine, won the 2010 Pulitzer for investigative journalism. Ill say it on behalf of ProPublica, since no one there seems to have gotten around to doing so: Thanks, Wachovia shareholders! We couldnt have done it without you.
Bear with me, though, because I have yet to mine the richest vein of irony. When I visited ProPublicas Web site, I found a bar across the top listing the topics upon which the organization has focused its efforts. Among them was one called bailout guide, and when I clicked on it, I discovered an exhaustive archive of articles, lists, charts and maps, all of them detailing the federal money invested to shore up the financial industry after 2008s mortgage-fueled collapse. But when I typed various combinations of the words Wachovia, Golden West, World Savings Bank and Sandler in the search box, I got a scant handful of results only two of which even mentioned problem loans. Those two mentions together contained fewer words than the last paragraph of this column. And thats all ProPublica has to say about that.


text:
Charlotte Hopp
Charlotte Hopp, 91, of Akron, Iowa passed away Monday, December 24, 2012 at the Akron Care Center in Akron. Funeral services will be at 11 am on Friday, December 28, 2012 at Trinity Lutheran Church, E.L.C.A. in Akron. Reverend Jean Morse will officiate. Visitation with family present will be from 10 am til service time on Friday at the church. Following the service, a time of lunch and fellowship at the chruch. Burial will take place after the lunch in Fairfield Cemetery near Correctionville, Iowa. Arrangements are under the direction of the Carlsen Funeral Home-Schroeder Chapel in Akron.
Expression of sympathy can be extended to the family through www.carlsenfuneralhome.com.
|< Prev
|Next >


text:
Zwischensumme (exkl. MwSt)
At Adobe, we provide flexible, comprehensive benefits and competitive compensation so employees can afford to take good care of themselves and their families. Here is an overview of our benefit and compensation programs for employees working in Korea.
When our employees are healthy and having fun, we believe our overall workplace environment is improved and we all become more effective. Adobe invests in employees' health by providing top-tier benefits that are competitive within our industry and support their total wellness.
Adobe provides private medical insurance that includes hospitalization and cancer rider benefits. Adobe also offers self-insure outpatient care, medical checkups, and dental coverage.
Beyond traditional health benefits, Adobe supports your health with various wellness initiatives such as on-site health seminars, fun wellness competitions, preventive flu shots, and healthy snacks.
Time off
Taking time off for vacation and other personal needs is essential to your health and productivity. To help employees recharge, Adobe:
Adobe is committed to giving you the best possible means for planning and managing your financial future.
Pay and incentives
We take pride in sharing our success with exceptional employees who help us achieve our goals. We strive to offer market-competitive salaries, along with several bonus programs to reward employees when they demonstrate exceptional results.
Adobe currently maintains an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) that enables eligible employees to share in the ownership of the company they help build by purchasing Adobe stock every six months at a price that is discounted from the fair market value.
Adobe's Life, AD&D insurance protects you at a sum insured of three times your salary.
Extra perks
Adobe offers discounts on Adobe software for personal use, a monthly fitness subsidy, and various culturally specific allowances.
We focus on ways to help employees own their careers, reach their full potential, and maximize their success. In addition to numerous development offerings, Adobe's Educational Assistance program reimburses up to US$10,000 per year of business-related courses and certificate programs.
We support and build community, inside and outside the company, through service, sustainability, and celebration. Being involved is a core part of who we are — in fact, it's part of our corporate values. To support this involvement, Adobe offers matching gifts, volunteer incentives, and more. Learn more on our corporate social responsibility site.
Internally, Adobe fosters a sense of community and encourages fun in the workplace through a local Site Council. It is a group of Adobe employees who represent the site and plan monthly activities and events in large office locations.
This description provides an overview of certain healthcare plan provisions and other benefits for the employees of Adobe Systems Incorporated for the country indicated above as of July 2012. This information is not intended to be a complete description of these benefits. If there is any conflict between the information presented here and the official plan documents, the plan documents will govern. Adobe reserves the right to modify or terminate any of the benefits described at any time. The descriptions of these benefits are not guarantees of current or future employment or benefits. References to Adobe or the Company apply to Adobe Systems Incorporated.
See what it's like to build a career at Adobe.
(best viewed on Chrome or Firefox)


text:
As an estimated 10,000 stood outside in sub-freezing temperatures on the lawn of Michigan's capitol building making clear their opposition to right-to-work legislation, lawmakers inside made national news and history by passing two controversial bills that put Michigan just a step away from becoming a right-to-work state.
The Michigan House approved House Bill 4003 and Senate Bill 116, and they now head to the desk of Gov. Rick Snyder, who has said he will sign them. The bills will ban the practice of workers being forced to pay any money to a union as a condition of employment.
The push for these bills came rapidly and seemingly out of nowhere for most observers during this lame duck session. Snyder had repeatedly said for more than two years that right to work was "not on his agenda," but then Dec. 6 he said he wanted lawmakers to work fast and send him the bills. And 121 hours later, they had.
Shortly before session began, the doors to the Capitol were locked as it had apparently reached its capacity of 2,000, but some protesters were being allowed in as others left.
The noise from the protesters outside and inside could be clearly heard on the House floor as the bills were debated.
There was again a large Michigan State Police presence in the building, with several holding tear gas guns and carrying zip tie handcuffs. Others had baseball bat-sized wooden batons on their belts. They also had riot gear stored inside the building. As of 1 p.m., there had been two arrests, according to Michigan State Police Capt. Harold Love.
"The police presence today is massive and oppressive, clearly designed to intimidate peaceful Michigan citizens who are attempting to exercise their right to free speech," Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Mark Brewer said in a statement. "What Gov. Rick Snyder and House Speaker Jase Bolger have done at the state Capitol looks like a scene out of a Third World dictatorship. This unnecessary, heavy-handed police presence is provocative."
Outside, the crowd was estimated to be as many as 10,000, as union members were chanting and holding signs. Several schools in southeast Michigan were closed for the day as so many teachers called in so they could attend today's protests.
On the lawn there were four large inflatable rats, meant to signify Snyder, Bolger, Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville and 2006 Republican gubernatorial nominee Dick DeVos. There was also a large inflatable bald eagle draped in the American flag.
During the debate on the floor, Democrats sought to remove the $1 million appropriation in the bills that make them referendum proof by voters, but Republicans rejected the attempt.
Other Democratic amendments were also shot down. As several members spoke, those in the House gallery cheered them on and had to be reminded by the Speaker Pro Tempore they were not allowed to make any noise.
Democratic Rep. Jon Switalski urged Republicans to pause and take a step back, as the bills were fast tracked and moved onto the governor's desk without a public hearing.
"The next two years are going to be terrible," Switalksi said. "They are going to be ugly."
Democratic Rep. Douglas Geiss said there will be repercussions for passing these bills.
"There will be blood," Geiss said, a comment that soon would headline The Drudge Report website.
As Republicans began to speak out in support of the bills union members seated above the House floor in the gallery heckled them.
"This is a historic day for Michigan workers and the state's economic future," Jared Rodriguez, president of the West Michigan Policy Forum said in a statement. "We have spent four years advocating for a Freedom to Work policy in Michigan on behalf of more than 1,000 business leaders and thousands of workers they represent. Freedom to Work will help show the world Michigan is changing, we are open for business and we will become the best place to live and work in the nation."
When Snyder signs the legislation, Michigan will become the 24th state in the nation to be a right-to-work state.
Bolger ended the roughly hour and a half debate by making many of the points he has made in recent days, that this does not affect collective bargaining, and is not about Democrats versus Republicans. He said this is about giving workers the ability to make a choice.
Today is a game-changer for Michigan, for its workers and for our future," Bolger said.
- Employees cannot be required to join or financially support a union, even if there is a unionized workforce. The legal right to unionize is not affected, but unions are obligated to represent nonmembers in collective bargaining and in grievance and arbitration proceedings.
- Covers public- and private-sector unions except for firefighters, law enforcement and federal unions.
- Private-sector and public-sector employees have to abide by current contracts until they expire.
Source: Miller Canfield, Crain's research
Chris Gautz writes for Crain's Detroit Business, a sister publication of Workforce Management. Comment below or email email@example.com.
Stay informed and connected. Get human resources news and HR features via Workforce Management's Twitter feed or RSS feeds for mobile devices and news readers.


text:
- Detail Images
- Videos
With the Signal Flat Park snowboard, there's not a lot of guessing as to what it's built for. This true twin park destroyer is built tough for burly rail setups, and a season's worth of hard landings on the big jump line. A flat profile gives you solid edge hold and precise landings, with a looser ride than the cambered version. Triax fiberglass and carbon stringers make it responsive, and the radial sidecut keeps things in check when you're straight lining, juicing every last bit of speed so you don't knuckle that hairy step down. Built strong enough to throw down, in a package that's responsive enough for your everyday riding needs.
The Flat Park snowboard is built on a flat profile. What that means for you is stomped landings, locked-in lipslides, and a buttery ride that's suitable for the gnarliest riders around. The twin shape opens up unlimited switch variations. Triaxial fiberglass in the topsheet and the core work in conjunction with carbon stringers, increasing the response for a snappy ride. The freestyle friendly medium flex blends pressability with enough stiffness for solid landings. The tips are blunted, for reduced swing weight and faster spins. A sintered Durasurf base slides fast and holds a bunch of wax. Plus, like all Signal boards, it's built in the US by people who shred.
- Traditional camber
- Twin shape
- Radial sidecut
- Medium flex
- Carbon fiber stringers
- Triax fiberglass
- ABS sidewall
- Sintered Durasurf base
- Reviews


text: Joseph Gordon-Levitt on the set of 'Live With It' in Vancouver, Canada. In the scene Joseph is seen running down the street and chatting with Seth in between shots. Joseph was also seen checking out the Amsterdam Cafe and the Marc Emery Cannabis Culture store, the 2 biggest pro marijuana stores in Vancouver.


text:
Green Vehicle Parking Registration
Register your green vehicle for qualified free parking in the City of Albuquerque.
Paper Application
To submit a paper Green Vehicle Parking Registration, please complete and return an application. You must submit a copy of the vehicle registration.
City of Albuquerque Parking Division
Attn: Green Vehicle Parking Registration
600 2nd St. NW
Plaza Del Sol
Room 510
Albuquerque, NM 87102
Qualified vehicles may park at any City parking meter without charge for the duration of that meter.
Qualifying vehicles must be rated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with minimum Environmental Performance Scores for Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution of 6 and a total combined score of 14 or higher.
Learn if your vehicle qualifies at the EPA's Green Vehicle Guide.


text:
|Wind fuels large range fire north of Paoli
|Written by Chris Lee
No structures were harmed as a large fire six miles north of Paoli broke out Thursday morning, Oct. 18.
At 10:05 a.m. the sirens sounded in Holyoke, summoning Holyoke Volunteer Fire Department to the mutual-aid fire. Shortly after, smoke filled the noses of those in Holyoke, raising some concern.
Winds were gusting upward of 50 mph throughout the day, which brought back memories for those firefighters who helped fight the massive Heartstrong Fire in March.
Haxtun Fire Chief Steve Statz estimated wind gusts were at or above where they were back in March.
Numerous tractors with discs were used to help contain the fire six miles north of Paoli Thursday, Oct. 18. An estimated 1,100 acres were burned by the fire, which was started after a transformer fell to the ground. Ten area fire departments were summoned to the fire, which spread quickly as wind gusts reached upward of 50 mph. This photo was taken Friday morning at the intersection of County Roads 36 and 23, north of Paoli.
—Enterprise photo
Last Thursday's fire was sparked when a transformer fell from a power pole. After driving around the burn area Friday morning, Statz estimated the fire burned around 1,100 acres. Initial reports estimated 3,800 acres had burned but after the dust settled Friday, Statz estimated 1,100.
He said the fire burned for about five miles and was around 1/4 of a mile to 1/2 mile wide at parts.
Fields with CRP, corn stalks and wheat stubble appear to be the only affected areas.
Statz said no structures were involved, although the fire did come dangerously close to one residence. He said by the grace of God, the fire didn't jump the road and stayed approximately 100 yards from the house.
Ten surrounding agencies were called to the fire and were aided by numerous tractors with discs as well as water tanks. Statz said extra radios were given to tractor drivers as they coordinated the effort to bring the fire to a halt.
Thankfully, a green wheat field was found and some CRP was disced up as firefighters managed to bring the fire to a standstill.
"They just showed up and started working," Statz said of area farmers in tractors. The radios provided the much-needed communication to make the fight successful.
The chief said they really appreciated the effort from everyone involved. Behind the scenes, volunteers kept firefighters fed and hydrated throughout the day.
Statz said the call came in just after 10 a.m. and the final trucks were called home sometime between 3:30-4 p.m.
Statz said there were about 80,000-100,000 gallons of water on scene, not counting any of the fire department rigs.
Numerous trucks hauled water to the scene to be available for the firefighters.
Visibility along Highway 6 west of Holyoke was poor late Thursday morning and early afternoon, Oct. 18. In addition to the smoke from the fire, dust filled the air after being swept from area fields.
—Enterprise photo
Statz said some firefighters experienced dust and dirt in their eyes which needed to be flushed. One Holyoke fireman also received some burns to his hands.
Departments from Sedgwick, Ovid, Holyoke, Amherst, Wauneta, Yuma, Wages, Sterling and Fleming joined Haxtun in the effort.
HVFD has busy week
Wednesday, Oct. 17, HVFD was called to a mutual-aid fire 11 miles east and one and a half south of Holyoke. The call came in at 2:35 p.m., summoning the department to help Amherst Fire Department at a fire that was burning in corn stalks.
Friday morning, Oct. 19, the whistles blew again as the fire department was called to a two-vehicle accident on East Denver Street at the intersection of Coleman Avenue. Some extrication was needed and they assisted Holyoke EMS.
Holyoke Enterprise October 25, 2012


text:
Video: Holdsclaw bond set for $100,000
Video: Former Atlanta Dream player Chamique Holdsclaw arrested
Video: RAW AUDIO | 911 audio from Chamique Holdsclaw case
ATLANTA -- Former Atlanta Dream player Chamique Holdsclaw was released from the Fulton County Jail on Friday night.
The ex-WNBA star turned herself into police Thursday after a warrant was issued for her arrest on charges of aggravated assault, criminal damage to property, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and reckless conduct. The reckless conduct charge was later dropped.
According to a police report, Holdsclaw used a baseball bat to smash two windows of a car belonging to her ex-girlfriend and former Dream teammate Jennifer Lacy. Investigators said they recovered a spent 9mm casing from inside Lacy's car.
At Holdsclaw's first court appearance Friday morning, her lawyer asked for a lower bond.
"It's not happening," said Fulton County Judge Roy Roberts.
When Holdsclaw's lawyer cited his client's previously clean record and said she didn't pose a danger, the judge responded, "Not a danger? I find [it] frightening given the description of her conduct."
He ordered Holdsclaw to wear an ankle monitor and not to contact Lacy or come within 200 yards of her.
The two played together with the Dream in 2009. Lacy currently plays for the WNBA's Tulsa Shock. Holdsclaw no longer plays for the WBNBA.
Her next court date is set for Nov. 30.


text:
Belen, New Mexico Elder Lawyers
Lynn McKeever
Albuquerque, NM Elder Law Attorney.
Robert Richards Esq.
Santa Fe, NM Elder Law Attorney.
Adam Rafkin
Ruidoso, NM Elder Law Attorney.
Kate Fitz Gibbon
Santa Fe, NM Elder Law Attorney.
(505) 412-2209University of New Mexico
Todd Alan Marquardt
Alamogordo, NM Elder Law Attorney.
The LII Lawyer Directory contains lawyers who have claimed their profiles and are actively seeking clients. Find more Belen, New Mexico Elder Lawyers in the Justia Legal Services and Lawyers Directory which includes profiles of more than one million lawyers licensed to practice in the United States, in addition to profiles of legal aid, pro bono and legal service organizations.


text:
Select short films from the Edison, The Invention of the Movies collection will be screened. Yes, Thomas Edison is credited with the invention of the first commercially practical light bulb, but he was also very influential in the development of early cinema. His laboratory invented the Kinetoscope (an early motion picture viewing device) and produced many early films. Movies begin at dusk. Bring lawn chairs or a blanket for seating. Concessions will be available for purchase.
City of Carrollton, 1945 E. Jackson Road, Carrollton, Texas 75006 | Tel: (972) 466-3000 | Site Map
©2016 City of Carrollton, Texas. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy and Disclaimer | Created by Vision Internet – Innovators of Online Government
The City of Carrollton, Texas is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Thank you for visiting the City of Carrollton, Texas website.


text:
I really like the drag an email to the Calendar to create an appointment with all the recipients. It would be even better if it would also add any email attachments as Calendar attachments. Perhaps this could be an enhancement?
Trying to find a work around for the above suggested another enhancement. Attachments are hard to move from one message to another. For example, I receive email from three people concerning a topic, each with an attachment I want to combine the messages and attachments and forward it to my boss. Or I decide to create a meeting. I can deal with the message bodies relatively easily. However, to add the attachments I have to save them to my local hard disk, note where they are saved, and then manually attach them individually. It would be much nicer to drag them from the received message to the attachment icon or browse window. Since I can drag the attachments around, it seems like you are part way there. As an alternative, if clicking the attachment icon allowed me to browse my attachments stored on the Zimbra server, that would make attaching them much easier. Thanks.