Policy on the #NNK

Can’t fit your Tweet into 140 characters? 🤔 We’re trying something new with a small group, and increasing the character limit to 280! Excited about the possibilities? Read our blog to find out how it all adds up. 👇 https://t.co/C6hjsB9nbL — Twitter (@Twitter) September 26, 2017

Bottlenose dolphins have visited the Potomac River going back to at least the 1800s, according to Atlas Obscura's The Mysterious Dolphins of the Potomac . They've entertained themselves and others along the way. The Potomac-Chesapeake Dolphin Project (PCDP) has identified approximately 500 dolphins in the 37 square kilometers near the mouth of the Potomac River at the Chesapeake Bay. PCDP staff and volunteers are photographing them and the organization is naming the dolphins after significant historical figures in U.S. history starting with the Founding Fathers. The named dolphins slideshow and the map below provide additional information about the dolphins and where they were sighted. But despite their long history of visiting the area, there's much more to know about the dolphins. PCDP and the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science are researching the Potomac-Chesapeake bottlenose dolphins. PCDP is intere...

Here's your weekly dose of TA. Enjoy. Tools and Resources It begins. All around the world we rise to #resist his 100 days. Pictures from #climatemarch in Manila & Denmark #ActOnClimate #WaterIsLife pic.twitter.com/5c5HsS47IR — Mike Hudema (@MikeHudema) April 29, 2017 9 lessons learned doing social media during a mass mobilization is a treasure trove of useful advice. One of the more significant takeaways: Use a variety of voices and perspective to tell the story of the day. You have to remember that you're not always the best messenger. If you have a large audience, you should be elevating posts from smaller or less visible members of the coalition. Go out of your way to make sure you are highlighting a diversity of voices from other organizations, different communities—especially front-line communities, and people in the crowd. PaperJect turns PDFs into fillable forms. While I've not used this online tool (free for 10 uploads a month), fillable forms are the b...

Lancaster County Free breakfast in Lancaster Friday, September 29! on Biteable . Friday, September 29 is Feed VA Day of Action at Lancaster County Public Schools. This means breakfast is free for all students. Community members are being asked to help make the Day of Action possible by purchasing one or more breakfasts. Each breakfast costs $3.25. This breakfast is part of First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe's Virginia Food Access Network 's Day of Action. Organizations are taking action September 29 to "bridge the nutritional divide in Virginia." The Irvington Planning Commission will meet Tuesday, October 3 from 6:30-7:30 pm at Town Hall (235 Steamboat Road, Irvington). Lancaster Public Library is holding two Equifax Data Breach sessions, Wednesday, September 27 and Thursday, September 28 at 11:30 am . "Learn if you were impacted, how to protect yourself, and enroll in credit protection and/or credit freeze." Both events are open to the public. The Lancas...

Between September 24 and 30 , book stores, libraries, publishers, individuals, community groups, and others will celebrate #BannedBooksWeek, the freedom to read, to speak, to hear, and to be heard. The right to read is under attack. The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) reports an increase of 17% in book censorship complaints. The Banned Books Week Coalition describes it as "alarming." The coalition continued, "Even more disturbing, while only 10% of the titles reported to OIF are normally removed from the institutions receiving the challenges, half of the most frequently challenged books were actually banned last year." School librarian Steven Yates talks about how making reading possible for students at his school was what his job was all about. Even if what the students wanted to read was banned elsewhere or was something they were "not supposed to read." Some haven't gotten the message that reading, id...

Jon Meer and Steve Wiggins, two economics professors at Texas A&M University, are disrupting microeconomics 101. Rather than teaching the annual course in a lecture hall, the professors will teach it online. "Principles of Microeconomics" marks one of the first times that a university is moving a key lecture online without offering another choice. And Texas A&M is a hell of a place to test this out—a juggernaut of a university, publicly funded to the tune of $1.5 billion annually and educating some 66,000 a year. Learn more in The college lecture is dying. Good riddance.

Over the past three months, the blog has featured a series on hurricanes and other disasters. The nine-part series was inspired by Governor McAuliffe's announcement (PDF) of #KnowYourZoneVA , the state's new tiered evacuation zone system for coastal Virginia. The series covered numerous elements of emergencies and disasters, from the basics of the new evacuation plan to the history of extreme weather on the Northern Neck to flood risk to effective communications before, during, and after a major storm or other emergency. Part 1, New series: Hurricanes, evacuation, data, and the Northern Neck New series: Hurricanes, evacuation, data, and the Northern Neck describes the basics of #KnowYourZoneVA: The plan incorporates 23 localities and ranks them by harm risk from hurricanes and other storms and emergencies. The good news for the Northern Neck? Most of the four counties (Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, Westmoreland) are not zoned at all, meaning they are not in an evacu...

Here's your weekly dose of TA. Enjoy. Tools and Resources 10 "Must Go To" Sites For Free Images For Blogs . Take a look at the sites and what they offer, bookmark those which work for you. The picture on the right is from Skitterphoto . Data GIFs: From Journalist's Toolbox : Building GIFs: Google Data GIF Maker is a free tool that lets you build animated GIFs to show percentages, break down Google Trends findings, etc. You can export it as high or low-res image. Its great for building images to attach to social media posts. Also: Google has a blog post on how to use Data GIF Maker . And if you want to build more advanced GIFS, Pro Publica's Lena Groeger has a Github page on how to make GIFs with Photoshop, Premiere, etc. The page features great tips and exercises. The Simple Postcard is more than a cool tool to use in your personal life. It's a way to thank donors or tell you are thinking of them (Did they play football at their alma mater? Take a pic at...

Lancaster County The Village Improvement Association in Irvington will hold a regular meeting Tuesday, September 19 from 5:00-6:00 pm at The Tides Inn (480 King Carter Drive, Irvington). More information is available by calling the association (804-577-7501) or the town office (804-438-6230). Northumberland County The NAPS Creek Clean-up Sunday, October 1, Noon - 3:00 pm , along the Little Wicomico River, needs volunteers. In addition to the clean-up, Lynton Land will lead a tour of the oyster aquaculture operation on the site. More information and to register: lsl@vabayblues.org . Sponsors are Omega Protein, Cockrell's Marine Railway, and the Northumberland Association for Progressive Stewardship (NAPS). Citizen offers to help feed students who can't afford cafeteria meals . ( Rappahannock Record ) Richmond County The Northern Neck Soil and Water Conservation District/Richmond County Waterway Clean-up will take place Sunday, October 22 . Location and time TBA. Event det...

Intent to allow PhD hours to count as supervised practice : The Board of Counseling "intends to consider amending 18VAC115-20, Regulations Governing the Practice of Professional Counseling. The purpose of the proposed action is to recognize hours acquired in accredited doctoral programs as meeting a portion of the hours of supervised practice required for licensure." The Board of Counseling will hold a public hearing on the proposed action. Public comments are due October 4, 2017. Setting standards for serving adults with impairments : The Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services is considering setting adult services standards for the provision of services provided by the local departments of social services to an adult with impairment. The new regulation will include definitions, the principles inherent in the provision of adult services, the process for client intake and service delivery, the targeted service population, the types of services that may be provided...

The Northumberland County supes are meeting Thursday, September 14 at 5:00 pm . Be prepared: read the meeting packet (PDF).

Here's your weekly dose of TA. Enjoy. Tools and Resources 5 Lessons Learned from Donating to 25 Nonprofits is a good read. It will help organizations assess how well their development operations serve donors. In short, Nonprofit Tech for Good writes, "There was a wide variety in donation page design, layout, and functionality and that made donating to 25 nonprofits all in one sitting a somewhat frustrating, and at times, perplexing experience." Looking to jazz up your organization's social media? Take a look at 19 Tools for Creating Engaging Social Media Videos, Images and GIFs in Minutes . This list contains some oldies but goodies (Canva, for instance) and some new and new-ish tools. Think Crello for design, Animaker for animated videos, and gifs.com for recommended best moments to GIF. At work Want your staff to put their phones down, pay attention to what you and others are saying, since we all know people cannot multitask? Read Don't multitask while you ...

Remote Area Medical/Virginia will be in Warsaw November 4 and 5 to provide free medical, vision, and dental services. The clinic will be set up at Richmond County Elementary School (361 Walnut St, Warsaw). Things people need to know (according to the website ): The patient parking lot will open no later than midnight. Numbered patient admission tickets will be given out beginning at 3 AM, one ticket per patient. Clinic doors will open at 6 AM. Patients will be admitted in numerical order by ticket # and a ticket is required for admission. Services are provided on a first-come, first-serve basis. Due to time constraints, be prepared to choose between DENTAL and VISION services. You are not required to bring anything with you. We do not ask for proof of residency or proof of income. Bring all of the medications that you take every day, and take them just like you normally do. Because you will likely wait outside of the clinic site until the clinic begins, we suggest checking weath...

Lancaster County The Lancaster County Wetlands Board will meet Thursday, September 21 at 9:30 am in the Board of Supervisors Meeting Room in the Lancaster County Administration Building (8311 Mary Ball Rd, Lancaster). There are four items on the agenda: Charles & Louise Williamson c/o Bayshore Design, LLC., P.O. Box 339, Kinsale, VA 22488; requests permission to construct 81’ linear feet of riprap revetment along the shoreline of Currell Cove off Eastern Branch of Carter Creek. Located off VSH 638 (Blueberry Point Road) on Currell Cove Lane. Tax Map #34-30C. VMRC# 17-1347. Thomas A. Sullivan c/o Glenn Lester Co., Inc., P.O. Box 42, Wicomico Church, VA 22579; requests permission to construct a 94’ and a 154’ linear foot riprap revetment and 60’ linear feet of marsh toe stabilization along the shoreline of Windmill Point Creek. Located off VSH 695 (Windmill Point Road) on Brightwaters Drive. Tax Map # 40-14H. VMRC# 17-1417. Doris H. Mayo c/o Bayshore Design, LLC., P.O. Box 339, K...

Register for the course, attend as you wish, or watch each week's lecture on Facebook + @Livestream ➝ https://t.co/0GfZKqif0b #RaceInTheUS pic.twitter.com/dOyVwkdEjC — The New School (@TheNewSchool) September 8, 2017

It's hurricane season and effective government communication in preparation for and after emergencies happen is a must if individuals and communities are to be safe. Communication can take place under government's own efforts, such as press releases and messaging via social media, or via messengers such as television and newspapers. Absent proactive communication from our leaders, random information and rumors follow. The state's #KnowYourZoneVA plan launched June 1 by Governor McAuliffe was "designed to enhance current evacuation plans, boost public safety, and improve travel efficiency in the event of hurricanes or other disasters." Communication mentions are limited to "When a serious storm is expected to impact Virginia’s coastal region, state and local emergency managers will work with local news media outlets that will broadcast and publish evacuation directives to the public." ( Governor McAuliffe Urges Coastal Virginians to "Know Your Zo...