Policy on the #NNK

Photo credit: CERTs on Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC How solar projects can transform low-income communities tells the story of how solar is making a big difference in one Philadelphia neighborhood. Job creation is one of the benefits. But the benefits of solar are not just for urban areas. On the Northern Neck, solar farms are becoming more accepted with Northumberland County the most recent supporter. And with the cost of maintaining a solar system less than ever, it's an option for community buildings and residences of all kinds.

Tools and Resources Bridging the Donor Generation Gap Infographic is an easy-to-read-and-understand way to make sense of the diffs. The 2018 Communications Trends to Watch starts a conversation about trends. It is not the definitive list of trends. Author Jessica Scadron asks readers to share other trends on Twitter @jesscadron . (Socialbrite) 32 lessons from this year's Do Lectures includes gems such as "take a long-term view of the change you want to make - how would that change the way you do things?" and "don’t settle - challenge, change, experiment." (via Swiss Miss) The Top 17 Nonprofit Accounting Software Tools (Wild Apricot) Creating a Social Media Content Calendar by Jayne Corso If You’re Making a Difference,You Have Stories to Tell (Ann Green's Nonprofit Blog) Blackbaud has put together a slide presentation for nonprofit boards on peer-to-peer fundraising. Get the deck . Great list from guru @JuliaCSocial ! Any tools you can't live w...

Lancaster County The Lancaster County Board of Supervisors is holding a special closed meeting Thursday, August 30 at 5:30 pm at the County Administration Building (8311 Mary Ball Rd, Lancaster, in the Board Meeting Room). The supes will consider a personnel matter and a legal matter. The Lancaster County Board of Supervisors is holding a regular meeting Thursday, August 30 at 7:00 pm at the County Administration Building (8311 Mary Ball Rd, Lancaster, in the Board Meeting Room). This meeting follows the closed meeting at 5:30 pm. The regular meeting agenda includes a presentation on economic development in the county, public hearings, consideration of a number of policies, and various reports. Northumberland County The Northumberland County Board of Supervisors seeks proposals (PDF) for the evaluation of the county's public safety radio systems. ( Scope of Work for Radio Assessment (PDF)) The Northumberland County Wetlands Board is holding a public hearing on severa...

And if you are interested in learning more about what Rashida means about the conflation of pop culture and porn, read Why Is Everyone Getting Naked? Rashida Jones on the Pornification of Everything .

Tools and Resources 10 Simple Things You can do to Support Your Favorite Nonprofit Without Spending a Single Dime (PDF) includes telling someone about your favorite organization, forwarding emails to your friends, and my favorite, adding info about the organization in your email signature (!!!). (do good Consulting) 45 Quotes That Celebrate Teamwork, Hard Work, and Collaboration . Yay! (HubSpot) The Master List of Peer to Peer Fundraising Ideas . Who knew there were so many ideas?! (Fundful) The Complete List of Instagram Features for Marketing Experts (Sprout Social) At work The Role of Senior Leaders in Building a Race Equity Culture (The Bridgespan Group) If you want to engage people 50 and older in your work with young people, take a look at The Gen2Gen Learning Hub . You'll find goodies like 10 steps to take to engage adults 50+ in youth-serving organizations , a seven-page guide. To get the most out of the learning hub, you will have to register (free). How and When...

Lancaster County The Town of Kilmarnock Town Council 's regular committee meetings will be held Thursday, September 6 starting at 8:30 am at Town Hall (1 North Main St). 8:30 am: Police/Public Safety Committee 9:00 am: Economic Development Committee 9:30 am: Streets/Sidewalks/Playground Committee 10:00 am: Water/Sewer Committee 10:30 am: Admin/Finance Committee Commission favors food truck at brewery ( Rappahannock Record ) ‘Coffee with a Cop’ to begin ( Rappahannock Record ) Richmond County The Town of Warsaw Planning Commission meets Thursday, September 6 at 7:00 pm at the Town Office (78 Belle Ville Ln, Warsaw). The Town of Warsaw Town Council meets Thursday, September 13 at 7:00 pm at the Town Office (78 Belle Ville Ln, Warsaw). The Town of Warsaw seeks bids for paving services for the Town Park Parking Lot and the Town Office Parking Lot. Bids are due August 23. Westmoreland County Smooth roads ahead ( Westmoreland News ) There's a Westmorelan...

Regular sauna users may have fewer chronic diseases . And not just any sauna; Finnish saunas ("These saunas usually have temperatures of 80 to 100 degrees Celsius (176 to 212 degrees Fahrenheit) and very dry air, with relative humidity of about 10 to 20 percent.") This Reuters' report highlights findings first reported in Mayo Clinic Proceedings . People who regularly use of Finnish saunas "may be less likely to develop heart and lung diseases or to get the flu than those who rarely go." Specifically, researchers found a lower risk for "asthma, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease" and the vascular diseases "high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease (CVD), stroke and memory diseases."

Tools and Resources Why It's Important to Post Frequently on Social Media by Jayne Corso offers several important reasons for posting frequently: Keeping followers engaged and informed and perhaps the most important reason, staying relevant. How to create content that works well with screen readers (GOV.UK) considers a number of issues facing users of screen readers in the UK and the US. The authors also discuss how making website content easier to read by screen readers may make reading and comprehending by low-literacy individuals more difficult. MapChart.net lets you make custom maps of the United States and countries around the world. If you need finer detail than countries, the tool lets you map counties in the US (image, right), provinces and territories in Canada, and counties in the UK and Ireland, for example. Maps can be downloaded as a .png and embedded on your website for free. Slidely is a "social video creation platform." Users can add video and imag...

Lancaster County Lancaster Middle School 's open house is being held Tuesday, August 28 from 5:00-7:00 pm . The whole family is welcome. And bring your school supplies to the Open House to avoid having to carry them to school on the first day. Lancaster Middle School 's 4th Grade Welcome Night takes place Tuesday, August 28 at 6:00 pm . The whole family is welcome. And bring your school supplies to the event to avoid having to carry them to school on the first day. The Lancaster County School Board is having a regular meeting Tuesday, August 14 . Read the agenda . Dr. Steven Parker, LCPS superintendent, presented SY 2017-18 discipline data (PPT) at the July 2018 school board meeting. Highlights: The number of students receiving exclusionary discipline remained fairly constant, 457 in 2017-18 compared to 470 in 2016-17. The number of days of exclusionary discipline declined significantly, from 2,595.5 to 2,136. OSS days dropped significantly, from 1562.5 in 2016-17 to 994 ...

On August 3, Governor Ralph Northam announced a cooperative wind demonstration project is seeking (PDF) State Corporation Commission (SCC) permission to build the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind (CVOW) demonstration project. According to the press release , Dominion Energy is partnering with Ørsted, a Denmark-based energy company, to build the demonstration project, consisting of two six-megawatt wind turbines located approximately 27 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach. . . . This project would be the first wind energy construction project in Virginia waters, located on 2,135 acres leased by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME). DMME has the only research lease for offshore renewable energy awarded by the [federal] Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). . . . "The announcement today represents a significant step toward harnessing Virginia's offshore wind energy resource and the many important economic benefits that this industry will b...

Reuters' Lisa Rapaport identifies the most salient findings of a UK study on child health in Depressed parents may take kids to the doctor more often . She writes, When parents are depressed, kids are 41 percent more likely to visit the emergency room, 47 percent more likely to be admitted to the hospital and 67 percent more likely to have outpatient clinic visits than when parents aren't depressed, researchers found. The researchers did not investigate the depression itself as a cause or result of this medical seeking behavior. It's an interesting read with myriad implications for further research and practice.

Tools and Resources The Emoji Report . Useful info. With pictures! Bookmark this Quartz piece: The trick to staying close to coworkers when you work from home Social Media Definitions: The Ultimate Glossary of Terms You Should Know . Bookmark this site and share with others. (HubSpot) ICYMI: Facebook API Changes Mean You Can No Longer Auto Post Tweets to Facebook . (SocialMediaToday) Looking for more free and low-cost photo/image sites? Try 1) 85+ Free and Low-cost Image Sources (PDF) by Gratzer Graphics LLC and 2) flickr.com; use "Commercial use allowed" if needed for a commercial project or "All Creative Commons" for nonprofit use. At work Question 3 in Adam Grant's Wondering column for July 2018 is a winner: "How do you realize your true calling through work?" Grant doesn't disappoint. His response is thoughtful and full of links for further exploration. (I think I'm developing another work crush) The Important Benefits of Being Gra...

Lancaster County The Town of Kilmarnock is already planning for Christmas. Learn more on Facebook . Gill appointed interim county administrator ( Rappahannock Record ) Northumberland County ICYMI: Chairman arrested ( Northumberland Echo ) Richmond County Richmond County Public Schools has published the high school supplies list (PDF). Westmoreland County Westmoreland County has an opening for a part-time custodian at the Westmoreland County Judicial Center. Apply by August 23. Colonial Beach Police Department 's National Night Out celebration is Tuesday, August 7, 6:00-8:00 pm at the police station (907 McKinney Blvd, Colonial Beach). The event features games, music, and food along with a dunk tank. New school may exceed budget ( Westmoreland News ) Cross-county Lancaster/Northumberland Habitat for Humanity is accepting applications for their home ownership program. Applicants can be singles or families and have a household income is between 30%-60%of the are...

Lancaster County The Lancaster County Board of Supervisors is having a special meeting with the School Board and architect VMDO on the proposed school capital improvement project Tuesday, August 7 at 5:30 pm at the County Administration Building (8311 Mary Ball Rd, Lancaster, in the Board Meeting Room). The Kilmarnock Planning Commission is holding a public hearing Monday, August 13 at 7:00 pm at Kilmarnock Town Hall (1 N. Main St, Kilmarnock) to solicit public comment of a conditional use permit application submitted by Donald L. Lee, C/O Kilmarnock Brewhaus. The applicant requests approval for allowing food vendors to park in public right-of-way along the street directly in front of his property at 44 West Church St, Tax Map 23A-22F-C, after 5:00 pm on Thursday to Friday and after 1:00 pm on Saturday to Sunday. Information can be found at the Town Hall Monday through Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm and on the town website www.kilmarnockva.com . Direct inquiries to Marshall Sebra, ms...

As if there's not enough to worry or get into a tizzy about in the world today, Forbes recently published an article arguing that libraries can be replaced by Amazon. It's not enough to say that this is ridiculous. Ergo, sharing Why Public Libraries Are Amazing by Nathan Robinson in Current Affairs and No, Amazon Cannot Replace Libraries by Nicole Clark in Vice . And then there's this TEDx Talk from 2013: