Have you ever thought about being a foster parent or adopting a child in the state of Connecticut??Hundreds of children are waiting for their forever homes right now. The director of foster care and adoption for the state told me on ?NYBERG,? that the department is especially in great need of finding homes for adolescents.
Ken Mysogland says the department is looking for people who can accept children at whatever developmental emotional psychological stage or age that they are, love them like their own, help them strengthen, bond with them, help them pull through traumatic events and work with us as a team with the department with services, whether it?s counseling or in home services according to that specific child?s needs and also to have families that are also available to work with the children?s birth families on a case by case basis because we also know that children that see their foster and adoptive parents working with their mom and dad or their relatives really sends a beautiful message to that child that everyone is working on their behalf.
The state wants these children without homes to be loved and they want to be clear they will help you with the transition.?If this sounds like something you want to investigate go to their web site CTFosterAdopt.com.
Posted: 11:00 am Tue, March 5, 2013
By The Capital of AnnapolisThe Daily Record Shantee Woodards
ANNAPOLIS ? When M.J. Eckert and Nancy Fields launched their lice removal business, they underestimated the demand for their itch niche.
The Annapolis-based Lice Happens was designed so workers could visit homes to eliminate insects and teach prevention methods. But when they began getting calls outside of their East Coast service area, they decided to franchise their mobile business.
So far, they have interest from locations in Seattle and California. Franchisees would need roughly $20,000 to start their own venture. It is being offered under two models ? one that allows a franchisee to own and provide the service and another that allows them to hire staff.
?We were first contemplating expanding through hiring more employees,? Fields said. ?(But) we thought that this would be rather difficult to manage additional employees that are scattered out throughout the different states we?re getting calls from. So then we decided we can offer business-oriented individuals the opportunity that M.J. and I had.?
Fields and Eckert are entering an expanding industry. The franchise sector supports 18 million workers in 825,000 businesses across the country. The International Franchise Association says the field is expected to experience modest growth this year, by adding more than 10,000 new establishments and 162,000 new jobs.
When considering whether to franchise, business owners should make sure they offer a service that can be duplicated and one consumers are demanding, experts said. Sometimes food concepts are regional and what is popular here wouldn?t necessarily have the same reaction in other regions.
?A lot of times it?s something as simple as (a customer) walking into an establishment and saying ?Oh my goodness. I love this place; I would love to own one,?? IFA spokeswoman Alisa Harrison said. ?Franchising is a business model that allows investors to participate in a system and helping you grow your business faster than you would alone.?
There are 140 franchise opportunities available in Maryland, according to Franchise.com. The cheapest venture is the $1,100 required for the Coverall Health-Based Cleaning System, which is a commercial cleaning business, on up to the $200,000 needed for the Interstate All Battery Center franchise.
The My Favorite Muffin franchise came to downtown Annapolis about six months ago, through franchisees Missy and Mark Maglin. They were regulars at the bagels and muffin purveyor in Corpus Christi, Texas, when they lived in the Lone Star State.
So when former U.S. Navy Cmdr. Mark Maglin retired, they moved to Annapolis and opened one of their own. Now their shop at 138 Main St. has eight employees.
?January and February were slow but they said that?s typical for downtown Annapolis this time of year,? Missy Maglin said. ?Think long and hard about (becoming a franchisee). It takes a major, major commitment.?
Franchising takes more than finding willing franchisees. Once Lice Happens? owners decided to expand, they had to file a uniform franchise disclosure document with the Federal Trade Commission. The document spells out the firm?s history, how it is set up and expectations for the franchisee and franchisor.
They are now fine-tuning their training and marketing materials.
?In the world of franchising, there?s thousands of franchisors and a lot of it is duplication,? said George Palmer, the company?s franchise consultant. ?How many pizza places are there??
Eckert and Fields are neighbors who decided to team up after discussing head lice at a party in 2008. One year later, the Annapolis residents worked in their living rooms to operate their business, which eventually grew into a staff of 20 who work in a service area stretching from Stamford, Conn., to Raleigh, N.C.
After getting a call, a Lice Happens worker is sent to a scene with a treatment kit and repellent spray. It takes them about an hour to remove the lice from a girl and a half-hour on a boy. They also spend time educating the family about recurrences.
?It?s a gift to be welcomed into somebody?s home and into the private hell they?re dealing with,? said Eckert, a former school nurse. ?You?re their confidant, their hand-holder, their teacher, their therapist and educator. It?s a gift to get to be able to do that with somebody.?
University of Adelaide researchers have found the answer to one of natural history's most intriguing puzzles ? the origins of the now extinct Falkland Islands wolf and how it came to be the only land-based mammal on the isolated islands ? 460km from the nearest land, Argentina.
Previous theories have suggested the wolf somehow rafted on ice or vegetation, crossed via a now-submerged land bridge or was even semi-domesticated and transported by early South American humans.
The 320-year-old mystery was first recorded by early British explorers in 1690 and raised again by Charles Darwin following his encounter with the famously tame species on his Beagle voyage in 1834.
Researchers from the University's Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) extracted tiny pieces of tissue from the skull of a specimen collected personally by Darwin. They also used samples from a previously unknown specimen, which was recently re-discovered as a stuffed exhibit in the attic of Otago Museum in New Zealand.
The findings were published in Nature Communications today and concluded that, unlike earlier theories, the Falkland Islands wolf (Dusicyon australis) only became isolated about 16,000 years ago around the peak of the last glacial period.
"Previous studies used ancient DNA from museum specimens to suggest that the Falkland Islands wolf diverged genetically from its closest living relative, the South American maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) around seven million years ago. As a result, they estimated that the wolf colonised the islands about 330,000 years ago by unknown means," says Associate Professor Jeremy Austin, Deputy Director of ACAD and co-lead author with Dr Julien Soubrier.
"Critically, however, these early studies hadn't included an extinct relative from the mainland, the fox-like Dusicyon avus. We extracted ancient DNA from six specimens of D. avus collected across Argentina and Chile, and made comparisons with a wide group of extinct and living species in the same family."
ACAD's analyses showed that D. avus was the closest relative of the Falkland Islands wolf and they separated only 16,000 years ago ? but the question of how the island colonisation came about remained. The absence of other mammals argued against any land bridge connection to the mainland.
"The Eureka moment was finding evidence of submarine terraces off the coast of Argentina," says study leader Professor Alan Cooper. "They recorded the dramatically lowered sea levels during the Last Glacial Maximum (around 25-18,000 years ago)."
"At that time, there was a shallow and narrow (around 20km) strait between the islands and the mainland, allowing the Falkland Islands wolf to cross when the sea was frozen over, probably while pursuing marine prey like seals or penguins. Other small mammals like rats weren't able to cross the ice."
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University of Adelaide: http://www.adelaide.edu.au
Thanks to University of Adelaide for this article.
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CAVENDISH, Vt. - Residents of a small town that was the home of exiled Soviet dissident author Alexander Solzhenitsyn for nearly two decades have decided to create an exhibit honouring him.
About 70 voters at Monday night's Town Meeting in Cavendish overwhelmingly decided the town should take over a historic stone church to house the exhibit for the Nobel Literature laureate.
Preservationists will examine the church, particularly its roof, in the spring, once all the snow has melted, and the exhibit should be ready by next year, Cavendish Historical Society co-ordinator Margo Caulfield said. The church likely will need minor repairs and cosmetic work, but events should be able to be held there almost immediately, she said.
Solzhenitsyn lived in Cavendish from 1977 to 1994 and died in Russia in 2008. His house in Cavendish is still lived in by his son, pianist and conductor Ignat Solzhenitsyn, and his family.
The Town Meeting, residents' annual decision-making gathering, was the venue where Solzhenitsyn addressed his new neighbours when he arrived in Cavendish.
Solzhenitsyn, who had spent eight years in prison and labour camps for criticizing Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, said he chose Cavendish for its resemblance to his homeland and its small-town personality.
"I like very much the simple way of life and the population here, the simplicity and the human relationship," he said then. "I like the countryside, and I like the climate with the long winter and the snow, which reminds me of Russia."
Solzhenitsyn wrote his best-known works, "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" and "The Gulag Archipelago," based on his years imprisoned, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970.
The exhibit would include videos of Solzhenitsyn talking about his years in Cavendish. The impetus for the project came last summer when the town had little to offer a group of Russian tourists who expected a monument in their countryman's honour, Caulfield said.
The church that will be used for the exhibit was built in 1844 under the leadership of renowned abolitionist the Rev. Warren Skinner and was decommissioned in the 1960s. Church leaders offered to donate it to the town of 1,300 residents last year.
Come cel?e?brate Scott Schroeder?s life and sup?port the Uni?ver?sity of New Mex?ico Can?cer Cen?ter on Sat?ur?day, March 16 for the Scott Schroeder Memo?r?ial Bike Ride. Kick off will begin at 10 a.m. at 215 Gold Avenue.
Cyclists of all ages and lev?els are wel?come and dona?tions are encour?aged for those wish?ing to par?tic?i?pate. Par?tic?i?pants should bring their bicy?cle and or walk?ing shoes to the?event.
?Things are going to be a lit?tle dif?fer?ent this year,? said Car?rie Stans?bery, Scott Schroeder?s sis?ter. Fundrais?ing efforts will be kicked off this March and con?tinue through Octo?ber. Stans?bery hopes to raise $60,000 this year through mul?ti?ple fundrais?ing events includ?ing the 2013 Scott Schroeder Memo?r?ial Bike Ride. ?This bike ride is a thank you to the UNM Can?cer Cen?ter, and all the incred?i?ble peo?ple that work there,? Stans?bery said. ?This is an oppor?tu?nity for us to cel?e?brate who my brother was.?
Cyclists last year ped?aled through howl?ing winds and seas of fly?ing sand, but they were not dis?cour?aged. ?My brother was larger than life, and he would not have given up,? Stans?bery?said.
With hopes of bet?ter weather this year, Team TSS (Troy Scott Schroeder) will lead the fun-ride through the Bosque and back down?town. Scott Schroeder?s mother, Char?lene Schroeder, will be cook?ing food along with friends and sup?port?ers of the?fund.
The annual Scott Schroeder Memo?r?ial Bike Ride raises money and aware?ness for can?cer and early detec?tion. All funds raised will be donated to the UNM Can?cer Cen?ter to con?tinue research?ing and find?ing solu?tions to can?cer. Dona?tions can be made year?long at: The Scott Schroeder Memo?r?ial Fund.
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- The state shouldn't raise the gas tax to pay for needed highway repairs, Rep. William O'Brien said in an email to his colleagues on Monday.
Instead, the Republican former House speaker announced he will introduce a floor amendment before a vote on the increase on Wednesday. He said the amendment would eliminate expenditures from the highway fund for any purpose other than road and bridge projects.
"We shouldn't be raising alarm among voters about deficient roads and bridges" and then spending that money for other purposes, O'Brien said in an interview following his announcement.
The state has more than 1,600 miles of road rated in poor condition. It has red-listed 140 state and 355 municipal bridges, meaning it deems them structurally deficient and recommends they be closed until they can be repaired or replaced.
Several agencies besides the Department of Transportation receive money out of the highway fund. The Department of Safety receives the largest amount after transportation, close to $75 million of nearly $260 million appropriated annually to the highway fund. All the other agencies receive a combined $3 million.
Democratic Rep. David Campbell, sponsor of the gas tax increase, said O'Brien's proposed solution "plugs a hole in the state highway budget by creating a hole in the safety budget."
Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan's office said in a statement Monday that cutting the Department of Safety out of highway funds would have a "devastating" effect on public safety and jeopardize more than 300 state trooper positions that are paid for in part with highway money.
The state's gas tax, 18 cents per gallon, is the lowest in the Northeast and hasn't been raised since 1991. Campbell's bill, which was approved unanimously by the bipartisan committee where it was introduced, would raise the tax 4 cents in each of the first three years and 3 cents in the final year, for a total increase of 15 cents by 2017. Revenue from the tax increase would be enough to fully fund the state's 10-year transportation plan and reduce the number of roads and bridges in poor condition, according to figures Campbell provided.
O'Brien said if Campbell and others are selling the gas tax increase as necessary to pay for road improvements, then that's how the money raised from it should be spent. If the Department of Safety or others need additional money they should include that in their budget request, he said, adding it shouldn't come out of the highway fund. He did not indicate where additional money for safety might come from, acknowledging that his proposal would force legislators into difficult decisions.
The former speaker pointed to a longstanding debate over the constitutionality of using highway funds to pay for things not directly related to construction, reconstruction and maintenance of state highways. Campbell argued that the state constitution allows highway funds to be spent for traffic supervision and much of that responsibility falls to state troopers.
O'Brien and Campbell said that taking money out of the highway fund for other agencies is a decades-old budgetary practice used by the legislature ? one that occurred during O'Brien's tenure as speaker.
Campbell said he hopes the debate on the gas tax increase, before the Wednesday vote, will focus on his bill, which he said is legitimized by the legislative process. He said he's pleased to hear O'Brien acknowledge the state has a road and bridge crisis.
Have you ever thought about being a foster parent or adopting a child in the state of Connecticut??Hundreds of children are waiting for their forever homes right now.
Come cel?e?brate Scott Schroeder?s life and sup?port the Uni?ver?sity of New Mex?ico Can?cer Cen?ter on Sat?ur?day, March 16 for the Scott Schroeder Memo?r?ial Bike Ride. Kick off will begin at 10 a.m. at 215 Gold Avenue.