Policy on the #NNK

Here's your weekly dose of TA. Enjoy. Tools and Resources The HP Sprocket , a mini photo printer, would make a good addition to an organizing or advocacy organization's meeting box . Imagine all the ways you could use this printer: Taking pics at events and putting them in cool, event-specific frames for participants to take home As part of an advocacy campaign; take a picture of someone standing next to an important message. Use the Sprocket in place of a photo booth Font Awesome 's free vector graphics (examples on the right) are designed to be used on websites but they can also be used in documents. I'm most interested in ones not found elsewhere such as braille, blindness, and the broader accessibility icon. Buh-bye #Storify . This cool and easy-to-use social storytelling tool is disappearing in May 2018. If you've used Storify, read Storify End-of-Life to learn how to download and preserve your stories. Techies have weighed in on the news; read thoughts...

Lancaster County Lancaster County government is closed Monday, January 1 and Tuesday, January 2 . Kilmarnock town offices will close Friday, December 22 at Noon and re-open Wednesday, December 27 and be closed Monday, January 1 and Tuesday, January 2 . PUD decision postponed until March ( Rappahannock Record ) Ticking clock: White Stone has Feb. 28 deadline ( Rappahannock Record ) The Robert O. Norris Bridge restrictions lifted ( Northumberland Echo ) Northumberland County The Northumberland County Board of Supervisors cancelled the Thursday, December 14 public hearing on Indian Creek. A new hearing date has not been set. Sumner wraps up 16 years at school board ( Northumberland Echo ) Richmond County The Richmond County School Board is holding a special school board meeting Monday, December 18 at 8:00 am at the School Board office (92 Walnut St, Warsaw, in the conference room). Westmoreland County The Westmoreland County Board of Supervisors is having a special ...

Writes Jason Kottke in The Periodic Table of Endangered Elements , Until recently, humanity has treated the Earth as an infinite resource. As the Earth's population has exploded over the past century however, we've learned in many different ways that that's untrue. We've overfished the ocean, pumped too much carbon into the atmosphere and oceans, driven thousands of species into extinction, and terraformed much of the planet's land. This periodic table produced by the American Chemical Society shows that there are also 44 chemical elements that will face supply limitations in the coming decades. Among those under a "serious threat in the next 100 years" are silver, helium, zinc, and gallium.

The Colonial Beach Town Council meets Thursday, December 14 at 6:00 pm . Here's the agenda and backgrounders for the meeting. The Northumberland County School Board amended the SY 2018-2019 budget development schedule at the December 11 meeting. We've got the amended budget development sked . The Northumberland County Board of Supervisors ' December 14 meeting packet (PDF) is online. Updated: December 13, 7:38 pm to add Northumberland County supes meeting info.

Here's your weekly dose of TA. Enjoy. Tools and Resources Sci-Hub is working. To get around domain names problem, use custom Sci-Hub DNS servers 80.82.77.83 and 80.82.77.84. How to customize DNS in Windows: https://t.co/tatoH4oqAf pic.twitter.com/YHyI8rD0Vs — Sci Hub (@Sci_Hub) November 21, 2017 If you use Sci Hub , you're now out-of-luck unless you change the way you access the site. Do as the tweet says and you'll find your way back to published paper heaven! The U.S. Census Bureau has released the 2012-2016 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates . At work Leadership expert Brigette Hyacinth starts People don't leave bad jobs, they leave bad bosses. with this: A Gallup poll of more 1 million employed U.S. workers concluded that the No. 1 reason people quit their jobs is a bad boss or immediate supervisor. 75% of workers who voluntarily left their jobs did so because of their bosses and not the position itself. Bad bosses are the No. 1 cause of unhapp...

December 11, 2017 Implementation of the Profile of a Virginia Graduate : These are final regulations. November 13, 2017 Establishment of a general permit authorizing and encouraging the use of living shorelines as the preferred alternative for stabilizing tidal shorelines : The purpose of the general permit is to provide a streamlined permitting process as an incentive to encourage property owners to utilize a living shoreline approach as appropriate, manage shoreline erosion, and promote the planting and growth of tidal wetland vegetation, sand dunes, and beaches to restore or enhance ecosystem services. The techniques and conditions contained in this general permit are designed to limit the applicability of the permit to situations where the projects are most likely to be successful, so as to limit the potential for adverse impacts on the environment and adjoining or nearby properties. These final regulations went into effect November 1, 2017.

Governor McAuliffe today announced in Governor McAuliffe Signs Executive Directive 14 and Announces Budget Actions to Address Virginia's Teacher Shortage five budget actions and emergency regulatory action to turn around the teacher shortage which is hurting students. FAIRFAX – Governor McAuliffe today announced a series of budget actions and signed a new executive directive to address Virginia's growing teacher shortage. Budget actions include both new investments and budget language targeting teacher recruitment and retention, and the directive asks the Virginia Board of Education to issue emergency regulations giving colleges and universities the option to offer undergraduate majors in education. "The teacher shortage is a growing crisis that we have to stop and reverse if we are serious about the Commonwealth's economic future," said Governor Terry McAuliffe . "High quality teachers are the key to unlocking the potential in our children, our Commonwea...

Lancaster County The Lancaster County Board of Supervisors is meeting Monday, December 11 at 7:00 pm at the Lancaster County Administration Building (8311 Mary Ball Rd, Lancaster, in the Board Meeting Room). The December 11 agenda includes the regular public input session; presentations by the Lancaster Community Library and Robinson, Farmer, Cox Associates regarding the FY 2017 audit; public hearing on amendments to the Zoning Ordinance; consideration of awarding a contract for the Sheriff's Office CAD, FY 2018 school budget appropriation capital request; and the report from the county administrator. Lancaster County Public Schools has several job openings . PUD discussion continues in Irvington ( Rappahannock Record ) Local Habitat group breaks ground for 19th home ( Rappahannock Record ) Northumberland County The Northumberland County Board of Supervisors ' next regular meeting will be held Thursday, December 14 at 5:00 pm . The December 14 agenda (PDF) includes...

Net neutrality is not some obscure idea for only techies and public policy wonks. No, net neutrality is an idea, a practice, which impacts all who use today or will someday use the internet for play or work. Let's start with understanding what net neutrality is. Simply, net neutrality means that internet users have unfettered access to legal content and websites. For a more robust explanation, watch How will rolling back net neutrality affect consumers? You'll have to read the fine print. (also below) And for a historical view of throttling speed (think watching Netflix or Hulu with the video buffering regularly), watch the Wall Street Journal video Net Neutrality Explained , also below. For an even more detailed and nuanced explanation of net neutrality and the FCC's threat, read AMA: NY AG Schneiderman on net neutrality and protecting our voice in government . What the FCC plans to do December 14 is upend the internet as we've known it and allow internet ...

The Colonial Beach Town Council is holding a work session Saturday, December 9 at 8:00 am at the Town Center (315 Douglas Ave, Colonial Beach). Here are the meeting documents: Colonial Beach Agenda December 9 2017 (part 1) Colonial Beach Agenda December 9 2017 (part 2)

Joseph South tells the story of his son's birthday cake. Not just any cake, a narwhal cake. And not just any narwhal cake, a cake shaped like a narwhal. South continues, I don't know where his sense of purpose comes from. But it permeates everything he does. He knows what clothing combinations he wants to wear to school. He knows he wants to decorate his Valentine's box with wolves. He knows that he wants to spend his Saturday morning creating an alpine landscape out of papier-mâché. He knows he wants to read Moby Dick over fall break. Yes, Moby Dick. We couldn't talk him out of it. He is on page 108. South writes about his son in the introduction to MIA in School: Instilling a Sense of Purpose in Students to set up the remainder of his opinion piece to talk about purpose in childhood and success in later life. As an education expert, South focuses on what happens in schools and classrooms to nurture interest, focus, and persistence in students. But remember, there...

Here's your weekly dose of TA. Enjoy. Tools and Resources Idealware 's Landscape of Digital Marketing Tools for Nonprofits is a terrific tool. The report helps nonprofits understand, at a high-level, the multiple facets of digital marketing of interest to nonprofits and identify a logical, cost-effective path forward. It covers individual marketing topics as well as communication channels and tools, and shares best practices and recommendations from digital marketing experts to help you make the most of your efforts. The U.S. Census Bureau has released documentation supporting the 2012-2016 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates. The estimates will be released Thursday, December 7. The documentation helps prepare users for the data release. Ripl (screen shot, right) is a tool for mobile that shakes up comms by allowing you to animate tweets. Free and paid. Look no further than the Developing Leaders Program of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, D...

Lancaster County The Lancaster County Board of Supervisors is holding a special meeting/work session Wednesday, December 6 at 5:00 pm at the Lancaster County Administration Building (8311 Mary Ball Rd, Lancaster, in the Board Meeting Room). The supervisors will review and consider bids for the proposed Emergency Medical Services/Emergency Operations Center Facility with the project architect, GuernseyTingle. Bids were due and publicly opened on Tuesday, November 28, 2017. The Lancaster County Wetlands Board is holding a public hearing Thursday, December 14 at 9:30 am at the Lancaster County Administration Building (8311 Mary Ball Rd, Lancaster, in the Board Meeting Room). The agenda is: David Walsh, 4485 Windmill Point Road, White Stone, VA 22578; requests permission to construct 225’ and 115’ linear feet of vinyl bulkhead, construct two 70’ linear foot sheet vinyl jetties, one 45’ linear foot sheet vinyl groin, re-work and topdress 50’ linear feet of existing riprap revetment,...