Finally for those who have never activated the video camera in the calls on Zoom, to hide hair with regrowth or of unmanageable length, and for those who have done it alone in this period, to maintain the basic routine ( or depilation, manicure & Co), the time has come to abandon yourself to the expert hands of hairdressers, barbers and beauticians. The reopenings are close and will slowly start again from 18 May onwards.

Inail-Iss have just made known the recommendations that must be adopted on the premises.

The document, as explained on the website of the Ministry of Health , it is divided into two parts. The first is dedicated to a context analysis of the hairdressing services sector and other aesthetic treatments, while the second contains the hypotheses of system, organizational, prevention and protection measures as well as simple rules for the containment of contagion.

Here they are summarized: -Aesthetic treatments can be carried out in c closed abine . Prohibited sauna, turkish bath and whirlpool tub . The rooms must be sanitized every day. The activities must take place exclusively on reservation during which the type of treatment required in order to optimize waiting times. Areas for the technical waiting phases must be provided , such as laying of color and separation barriers in particular for washing areas. It is also necessary to provide a minimum distance of at least 2 meters using alternate workstations and sanitize the rooms every day. The use of masks is mandatory both by the staff and by the customer starting from entering the room. During the beauty treatments the cabin panels must be closed . All equipment must be disinfected with hydroalcoholic or chlorine-based detergents. It is essential to ensure the shift between workers and their training on the use of Personal Protective Equipment. For the care of the beard and face are recommended surgical masks also visors or face shields. As regards the premises, it is recommended to keep the doors open and eliminate the heating and cooling recirculation systems.

These, therefore, are the first indications to be followed in view of the reopening of the personal care services which are reported in greater detail in the document Hypothesis of remodeling of the measures containing the contagion from SARS -CoV-2 in the personal care sector: hairdressing and other beauty treatments approved on 12 May 2020 by the Technical Scientific Committee, established at the Civil Protection and published on the website of the Ministry of Health .

The appeal of the salons for the early reopening of 18 May

Phase 2 starts again: what will come to the salons after the coronavirus

The salons have reopened in Denmark. And how will you go to the hairdresser in Italy?

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The rules for going to the hairdresser and beautician - NJ MMA News

RICHMOND, Va. -- Free N-95 masks will be distributed to several Richmond communities and available for pickup for the general public this week thanks to a donation made by local business owners and community members.

Councilman Michael Jones in partnership with Charles Willis with United Communities Against Crime and Jong Lim, owner of Beaut-i-full beauty supply store at 5528 Hull Street Road is coordinating the donation and distribution of 10,000 N95 masks.

On Thursday, Mary 14, 2020, masks will be given to the management offices at Blue Ridge Estates, Chesterfield Square, Chippenham Place, and Norcroft Townhomes apartment complexes, as well as to Miles Jones Elementary School and G. H. Reid Elementary School for volunteers and families who are receiving meals.

Masks will also be given to residents of the Worsham Mobile Home Park next week as part of an information drive to spread awareness about available resources to Richmonds immigrant community.

Additionally, anyone who needs a mask can pick one up at Precious Blessings Academy located at 4823 Bryce Lane on Saturday, May 16, starting at 1:00 p.m, as well as at Beaut-i-full at 5528 Hull Street Road on Thursday, May 14, 2020 starting at 11 a.m.

Both mask distribution efforts are first come first serve and until supplies last.

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How to pick up a free N-95 mask in Richmond this week - wtvr.com

As part of ongoing efforts to address health disparities among vulnerable communities and populations, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has made a significant contribution to a COVID-19 mobile testing program conducted by Wayne State University, the Wayne State University Physician Group and ACCESS. Blue Cross support will expand the program to include free testing for older adults and their caregivers.

The partnership officially launched today, with a one-day mobile testing site at Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church in Detroit, providing up to 400 free COVID-19 swab tests to neighborhood residents. The church is located in the East Warren/Cadieux neighborhood, which Blue Cross is investing $5 million in through 2022, a pledge that will help inclusive neighborhood development through Detroits Strategic Neighborhood Fund and Affordable Housing Leverage Fund.

The funding from Blue Cross will cover testing supplies and operations costs for mobile units to test for COVID-19 at nursing homes, care facilities, churches and other sites throughout Detroit and the region.

Expanding testing is a critical step to help our seniors and their caregivers stay safe and healthy. Bringing the mobile clinic to those in need, who otherwise may have barriers to receive the test, provides an extremely important health care delivery platform to some of our most vulnerable residents, said Daniel J. Loepp, president and CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Blue Cross is proud to help these innovative partner organizations expand their vital work on the front lines in communities. Were grateful for their leadership and are honored to stand alongside them in this fight against COVID-19.

COVID-19 has hit nursing homes particularly hard in Michigan, jeopardizing the lives of one of the nations most vulnerable populations. According to the states disease surveillance system, 35 percent of Wayne County COVID-19 deaths occurred among nursing home residents. The city of Detroit has confirmed COVID-19 cases in all of its nursing homes.

Nursing home residents and their caregivers are among the most vulnerable populations in our battle to fight this virus, said M. Roy Wilson, president of Wayne State University. We need to do all we can to expand and expedite testing in these environments, with a goal to reduce and eventually eliminate the threat to these populations. Were grateful to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for recognizing this crucial need for additional testing and moving quickly to meet it.

The mobile testing initiative was launched April 13 with vehicles, drivers and equipment donated by Ford Motor Co. to test symptomatic first responders, health care workers and corrections officers in Michigan.

Testing is free and does not require a prescription from a physician. Each vehicle is capable of testing as many as 100 people a day, with results returned within 24 to 36 hours.

Agencies interested in hosting a mobile testing unit for a day can call 313-269-1952 or email Mseredynski@accesscommunity.org.

With the effects of COVID-19 still unfolding every day, Wayne State University is taking proactive steps to limit its impact. Wayne State has established the Warrior Relief and Response campaign to provide increased support to critical programs and services. Gifts in support of COVID-19 mobile testing will help increase access to much needed screening and testing within metropolitan Detroit communities. To make a gift, please visit: warriorfunder.wayne.edu/covidtesting.

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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan expands efforts to address health disparities by supporting WSU, Wayne State Physician Group and ACCESS's mobile...

The Melodores student a cappella group didnt let restrictions arising from the COVID-19 pandemic keep them from sharing their music with fans. Their performances, recorded using videoconferencing technology, have been viewed more than 775,000 times and have been featured on Good Morning America, ABC News and NBC News.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to upend lives in countless ways, members of the Vanderbilt community have shown remarkable resilience in the face of the crisis. Some are on the front lines, using their expertise to combat the spread of the disease and bringing comfort to its victims, while others are making the most of the constraints of social distancing to continue the universitys mission of education and discovery. And a few even have found opportunities to inject some much-needed humor into the situation.

Here we highlight several members of the Vanderbilt community who have stepped up to meet the unprecedented challenges posed by these uncertain times.

One of the most pressing challenges for hospitals nationwide amid the COVID-19 outbreak is a dwindling number of ventilators. But an interdisciplinary team of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center faculty has devised a novel solution to help boost supply: a fabricated, open-source ventilator design.

Led on the university side by Kevin Galloway, research assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Robert Webster, Richard A. Schroeder Professor of Mechanical Engineering, the team is currently on version two of the ventilator prototype and soon hopes to move into the final prototype phase before manufacturing.

Maker communities around the globe are stepping up to address the pressing medical challenges presented by COVID-19, says Galloway, who is also director of making at the Wondry at the Innovation Pavilion. In conversation with Bob Webster and colleagues at the Medical Center, we discussed how we can leverage our expertise to tackle this one issue that resonated most strongly for us.

After an initial conversation with Dr. Duke Herrell, professor of urology, biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering, about the threat posed by a lack of respiratory support equipment, Webster reached out to Galloway. Galloway already had been toying with an open-source ventilator design in his home garage that would address a key difficulty in making a ventilator: replicating the precise force of the hand involved in squeezing a manual bag.

In the first prototype, Galloway wrapped nylon webbing around a bag valve mask, or Ambu bag, and attached it to the crank arm of a windshield wiper motor to apply the repetitive squeezing force. While the design worked, the team needed to be able to control the amount of squeeze more precisely.

Inspired by a mechanism known as a Scotch yokewhich converts linear motion into a circular motion, and vice versaGalloway built his second (and latest) prototype in under three hours using the same motor, drawer glides and plywoodmaterials and tools that could be found almost anywhere in the world. Meanwhile, Webster and his colleagues added sensors and controls to the design to improve the safety and tune the in-and-out ratio to match normal breathing.

This was the result of a lot of conversations with doctors in which it became clear that a pressure sensor with an alarm on it for too-high or too-low pressure was essential to the design, notes Webster, who is also a professor of neurological surgery and electrical engineering, as well as an associate professor of medicine, otolaryngology and urology. This is something we would not have known without having many Vanderbilt physicians involved in the project.

The team is gathering feedback from ongoing ventilator tests with VUMC doctors to incorporate into a third version, which they believe will be extremely close to a design that the doctors would feel comfortable using on a patient in an emergency.

The long-term goal: Make the design publicly available so that anyone can replicate it, says Galloway.

SPENCER TURNEY

Watch the ventilator design in action:

On a Wednesday night in April, when first-year residents of Gillette House on The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons would normally share a sweet treat and catch up at their traditional Gillette Gelato event, they still connectedbut this time the room was virtual.

It was clear that they all simply missed one another, says Frank Dobson, associate dean of The Ingram Commons and faculty head of Gillette House. These bonds have been forged since Move-In Day and strengthened on the halls, with faculty dinners, gatherings and more. It was simply wonderful to laugh together again.

Students, resident advisers and faculty heads of house, across all of Vanderbilts residential colleges, created virtual spaces as the year concluded to share highs and lows of transitioning to online learning and to simply hang out.

I was so impressed by the residents resilience and calm during this strange time, says Sarah Igo, faculty head of E. Bronson Ingram College. It was wonderful during our virtual Bronson Breaks to confirm that students were OK and managing in creative ways in our new circumstances.

This pause in normal life seemed to be reminding all of us how important our families, friends and communities are, adds Igo, who is also the Andrew Jackson Professor of History and director of American Studies.

Although official house activities were suspended, some residential colleges continued online versions of their traditions. At Memorial House students shared in online SMemorials as faculty head of house Dan Morgan, principal senior lecturer of Earth and environmental sciences, and his family made smores outdoors. The students in East House joined Zoom bake-alongs with faculty head Elizabeth Meadows, MA06, PhD10, senior lecturer in English. And Stambaugh House faculty head Rosevelt Noble, BS97, PhD03, senior lecturer in sociology and director of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center, continued his weekly group workout sessions online.

This quarantine situation could have happened 20 years ago, and we wouldnt have had the benefit of virtual chatrooms, so Im definitely grateful for the tools we have right now in this age of technology, first-year student Lamar Morgan said in April. I miss my people, and I want to see them any way I can.

Another aspect of the pandemic that residents and faculty heads of house recognized was the historical implications of this crisis. Its a topic that Igo and her residents discussed a lot.

I kept telling students that this is one of the very few times in their lives that they will really feel they are living through history, says Igo, who also has affiliate appointments in law, political science, sociology and communication of science and technology. We are part of something that is much larger than any of us and in which, nevertheless, our particular behaviors are critical.

I hoped we would come out of this appreciative of our fundamental interdependence and better prepared to nurture it.

Dobson says while it was no substitute for being physically together, these new ways of connecting helped support Vanderbilts efforts to nurture relationships and build community. We were all in this together whether on campus or not, he says. And since Vanderbilt is the students home away from home, the bonds were sustaining for all of us.

AMY WOLF

During the COVID-19 outbreak, the Vanderbilt Campus Dining team has worked around the clock to feed the students, residential faculty and support staff who, out of necessity, remain on campus by operating two dining locationsthe Rand Hall and Martha Rivers Ingram Commons dining centers.

As part of its preparations, Campus Dining coordinated with key suppliers to ensure there was enough foodplus backupto get through the pandemic. Campus Dining staff members also adopted CDC-recommended protocols, such as minimizing contact with food, enhancing cleaning procedures, and helping ensure safe meal service to all dining patrons. Some of those changes include switching completely to to-go orders, eliminating self-serve options, and creating tailored menus so patrons could be served quickly.

Vanderbilt Campus Dining was able to move quickly to implement plans that we had discussed, practiced and planned for in advance. The team has really come together to make this happen, says David ter Kuile, Campus Dinings executive director for business services.

In addition to operating the two core dining facilities, Campus Dining partnered with the Office of the Dean of Students to develop and implement an SMS text message-based ordering system for students in quarantine and self-isolation. Students confined to their residence-hall rooms can text a unique code and order from a menu of options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Meals are prepared by Campus Dining chefs and then delivered to student rooms.

KATHERINE KEITH

When the first cases of COVID-19 were diagnosed in Tennessee, Natalie Robbins, a staff researcher with the Vanderbilt Initiative for Interdisciplinary Geospatial Research (VIIGR), was curious to see where the cases were across the stateand how they would spread.

I was able to find maps that reported how many cases there were per state, such as Johns Hopkins global coronavirus map, but there was nothing out there showing county-level data, says Robbins, who develops informatics techniques to analyze spatial data and environmental phenomena. I knew it would be helpful for Tennesseans to see where the cases were relative to where they lived, so after a few days, I decided I would just build that map myself.

The Tennessee COVID-19 map Robbins developed not only shows where the positive cases are across the statedrawn from the Tennessee Department of Healthbut also provides the latest information on negative test results, as well as test results for non-Tennessee residents diagnosed here. In addition, the map provides metrics for each county that policymakers may find relevant to their public health efforts, including the number of families with children, percent elderly, percent eligible for federal nutrition assistance, percent uninsured, percent insured by Medicare and more.

Steven Wernke, Joe B. Wyatt Distinguished University Professor, associate professor of anthropology, and director of VIIGR and Vanderbilts Spatial Analysis Research Laboratory (SARL), collaborated with Robbins on the maps development. Our hope here is not only that the public will be able to refer to this to stay informed, but that policymakers will use this information to identify areas of the state that may need extra support, he says.

Inspired by Robbins efforts, anthropology Ph.D. student Gabriela Or, MA17who normally spends her days as an archaeologist studying the Andesdecided to build a similar map for her native Peru.

The Peru COVID-19 map provides the latest information from Perus Ministry of Health, which is updated daily. Not only does it include diagnostic data, but it also displays the severity of the disease in hospitalized patients, showing the rising demand for ventilator support. An accompanying chart also shows the rate of new diagnoses over timemaking it possible to track the impact not only of the disease but of mitigation factors, like the implementation of social distancing orders.

It can be difficult to comprehend the impact of something like this from a news report or a press conference, Or says. A map like this can help the public easily understand how this crisis is affecting their particular area.

Both maps have been widely shared on social media, and the Tennessee map has been used as a reference by Metro Nashvilles coronavirus task force. Both maps are available for any public health agency or task force to use.

LIZ ENTMAN

For graduate students nearing the end of their programs, COVID-19 created an unexpected challenge: presenting an effective and engaging dissertation defense remotely.

That was the situation facing physicist Kyle Godbey, MA17, PhD20, who found out the weekend before his scheduled dissertation defense that he would be doing it by teleconference.

Everything happened quite late into my preparation for my defense, Godbey says. Luckily, as a computational physicist, Im comfortable with computersand I embraced the idea of a remote videoconference for the presentation.

His dissertation, Low-Energy Nuclear Reactions Using Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory, looks at low-energy nuclear reactions and what researchers can learn from colliding nuclei.

Kyles presentation showed that even under these unprecedented conditions, an excellent defense is possible, says his adviser, Professor of Physics Sait Umar. He delivered with a calm demeanor and presented his large body of work in a concise and pedagogical manner.

For Godbey, preparing his defense wasnt just a simple matter of flipping open a laptop and proceeding as one would in person. He tested his internet and audio connections the night before to ensure they would be able to handle the videoconference. He also had to consider that his material would be coming across screens as large as a television and as small as a mobile phone.

Beyond the technical matters, Godbey says certain aspects of his presentation also needed some adjustment. I tend to play off people a little during presentations, but in this case I had to stick to the script since I couldnt really judge peoples reactions, he explains. Jokes certainly dont land as well over Zoom, so I had to be mindful of that!

One benefit of presenting remotely is that ones presentation slides can serve as a kind of teleprompter, Godbey says. Its also less awkward to have your materials in front of you. This was beneficial in my case, as I was able to reference the more technical documents during the Q&A part of the presentation, which helped me address audience questions and keep them engaged.

SPENCER TURNEY

What do you do with 154 nursing students who are suddenly unable to participate in the hands-on nursing clinical care that makes up 60 percent of their education each week?

That was the challenge facing Mary Ann Jessee, MSN95, associate professor of nursing and director of pre-specialty education at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, and the 30-plus faculty members who instruct those first-year, pre-licensure students in patient care.

With the spread of COVID-19, the students clinical education in hospitals, clinics and other facilities was suspended in mid-March. However, VUSN was unwilling to postpone clinical learning and possibly delay the students path to becoming advanced-practice registered nurses. So faculty got creative.

For a couple of weeks, we had been determining what we would do if students werent able to be in the clinical setting, Jessee says. Course coordinators Erin Rodgers, BSN82, MSN86, assistant professor of nursing, and Heather Robbins, MSN05, assistant professor of nursing, brainstormed with Jessee about developing a virtual experience that would enable the students to engage in the same kind of clinical learning they would have been doing on campus.

They wondered whether they could use the Simulation Lab and have the students participate by telling someone in the lab what to do. The faculty consulted VUSN Simulation Lab Director and Assistant Professor of Nursing Jo Ellen Holt, who responded enthusiastically with suggestions.

The result was a virtual live-streamed class with students using their instructors and Simulation Lab staff as avatars to interact with the schools realistic nursing mannequins and provide patient care.

Students instructed their avatars on what to do, step by step, Rodgers says. The avatars reported the results, and then the students as a group evaluated whether that skill was implemented correctly and discussed the outcome.

The students joined the simulations via videoconferencing, working in the same six-student groups as they would normally. Each student experienced directing the avatar and discussing the scenario with their group.

We tried to mirror the typical direct patient-care experience and clinical conference, but in a virtual format, Jessee says. We had to determine how to recreate those patient interactions and ensure that students had the ability to conduct assessments, prioritize patient needs, make decisions about care, implement that care and evaluate the results.

Throughout the simulation the instructors observed and coached, as they would with actual patients.

NANCY WISE

When the university announced it would be moving to online learning options starting March 16, Tucker Biddlecombe, associate professor of choral studies and choral director at the Blair School of Music, was among the first faculty members to embrace the possibility of teaching his students over a videoconferencing platform. His conducting class was quick to adapt to the challenges and possibilities that remote learning presented.

There are a variety of challenges whenever you can no longer interface with your students, says Biddlecombe. However, there are also a couple of benefits. One of the things that was immediately evident was that students were not used to seeing themselves conducting. All of a sudden, they had a video feeding back to them immediately all the things that I usually tend to tell them. Their immediate ability to see themselves conducting [is something I want] to integrate permanently into what were doing.

The Melodores, a student a cappella group, has used videoconferencing to continue making and sharing music during the COVID-19 crisis. The groups recent video performances have been viewed more than 775,000 times on social media alone and have been featured on Good Morning America, ABC News, NBC News, and even in a recent campaign ad for presidential candidate Joe Biden.

With approximately 20 performances lined up for the remainder of the semester, the decision to send everyone home was particularly devastating for the Melodores, says senior Matt Zhang, the groups musical director. However, upon returning home, we quickly realized we didnt need to be together physically to connect and hopefully spread some much-needed positivity through our music.

Watch a video of Biddlecombe instructing his students virtually:

See the Melodores perform a Lizzo medley remotely:

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who graduated from Vanderbilt in 2000 with a bachelors in anthropology, has emerged as one of the nations more popular leaders during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Beshear moved quickly to stem the spread of the disease in the state, declaring a public health emergency early in Marchwell ahead of many of his counterparts across the nation. And his daily COVID-19 news conferences, which have been characterized as modern-day versions of President Franklin Roosevelts fireside chats during the Great Depression and World War II, have endeared him not only to the states residents, but to many others nationwide.

Gov. Beshear has started several recent briefings with his key message, We will get through this; we will get through this together, and then asked viewers at home to repeat it as well, as a kind of mantra for the whole state, The Wall Street Journal reported in a story mentioning his popular chats.

Beshears fans have turned to the internet to show their appreciation for his steady handling of the crisis. Dozens of internet memes have appeared comparing him to heroes like Captain America, Superman and even Mister Rogers. In fact, one Facebook groupAndy Beshear Memes for Social Distancing Teensnow boasts more than 227,000 members.

As NPRs Morning Edition reported March 25, Kentuckians are loving Gov. Andy Beshears leadership on the COVID-19 crisis. The fandom has produced a deluge of memes and videos online that are helping the state cope with these uncertain times.

Restaurateur and alumnus Flip Biddelman and his business partner, Nate Adler, have converted their Brooklyn, New York, restaurant Gertie into a part-time soup kitchen for hospitality workers who have been laid off during the COVID-19 outbreak. The workers are invited four days a week for dinner and essentials, including coffee, pasta and even toilet paper.

A grant from celebrity chef Edward Lees Restaurant Relief Program has enabled the restaurant to provide workers 300 meals a day, and whatever goes uneaten is taken to a nearby medical center for hospital workers.

When the coronavirus outbreak forced restaurants in New York to shut down dine-in service, Biddelman and Adler had to fire nearly all their staff as they scraped by with takeout business. That was one of the hardest things we had to doto tell our staff that we dont have any shifts for them and that they should file for unemployment, Biddelman told The New York Post.

But since starting the soup kitchen, they have been able to hire back five kitchen workers and four front-of-house staffersalmost their entire team. It has been such a relief, Biddelman said.

Missy Tannen, BS99, and Scott Tannen, BS99, co-founders of the textile company Boll & Branch, have announced a partnership with Sherwood Bedding and Downlite to manufacture 1,000 mattresses and 500 pillows, respectively, to donate to hospitals during the pandemic. Boll & Branch is among the companies recognized by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for their efforts to assist the state in its fight against COVID-19.

The generosity of these companies, organizations and individualsand many others coming forward every day to offer supportwill play a critical role in our mission to bolster our hospital surge capacity, support frontline workers, and get people the help they need, Cuomo said in a March 26 statement. On behalf of the family of New York, I am deeply grateful for their generosity.

Singersongwriter Chris Mann, who recently played the Phantom in The Phantom of the Operas 25th anniversary tour, has unveiled numerous music video parodies inspired by the pandemic, bringing some much-needed humor to viewers stuck at home.

The parodies include My Corona, based on The Knacks classic My Sharona, and Hello (from the Inside), a spoof of Adeles chart-topper in which Mann proudly sports a Vanderbilt sweatshirt. The videoswhich have racked up nearly 25 million views on the internet and earned him a mention in The Washington Post as one of the Weird Al Yankovics of our social distancing eracan be viewed at chrismannmusic.com.

U.S. Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), a former banker and deputy assistant treasury secretary, has been named House Republicans representative on the five-member Congressional Oversight Commission, created to supervise government spending on the COVID-19 pandemic. The watchdog group was created as part of the roughly $2 trillion relief package enacted by Congress in March.

[Hills] personal background as a senior official at the Department of the Treasury and as a private banker provides important expertise that will guide his advocacy of immediate and effective solutions for the American people struggling from despair during this crisis, said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who had named Hill to the commission.

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And the Beat Goes On: A resilient Vanderbilt community finds innovative ways to thrive amid the challenges of COVID-19 - Vanderbilt University News

The small city of Gonzales brought universal broadband to its 9,000 residents by inking a deal with a telecommunications company that has a vast cell network, Joe Mathews writes.(Photo: Getty Images)

If California is really the global tech capital, why is it so hard for our small towns to get the Internet service they need?

One answer to that question is in Gonzales, a Salinas Valley settlement of 9,000.

While Californias biggest cities now struggle to provide Internet access for people to work and study from home, Gonzales solved that problem a few months ago. Before the pandemic hit, the town offered broadband service, free of charge, to all its residents. The story behind this rare achievement Gonzales is the first Central Coast city to do this offers lessons about power and how communities can beat the odds.

Gonzales leadership is not a surprise. The town, surrounded by fields, is a small wonder, with low crime,innovative health services, extensive supports for children, and a diverse industrial base employing local residents.

But even for a nimble city, securing broadband has been difficult. Gonzales long path to universal broadband suggests how hard it will be to turn temporary Internet measures of the pandemic like Googles hotspot donations or short-term service discounts into long-term bridges over our digital divides.

When Gonzales started its broadband quest, in 2005, Internet service was slow and unreliable, and municipal officials couldnt get service providers attention. So city officials joined the Central Coast Broadband Consortium and started visiting the San Francisco headquarters of Californias Public Utilities Commission to press for rural broadband.

At some PUC meetings, Gonzales was the only city represented. The small town didnt have much leverage until officials discovered how to advance their case for rural broadband by protesting corporate mergers and acquisitions.

In 2015, when Charter Communications sought to merge with Time Warner in a $78 billion deal, Gonzales moved to block California from approving Charters acquisition of Time Warner and Bright House cable systems, on the grounds that the deal wouldnt help small towns. Charter was forced to negotiate with Gonzales, which dropped its opposition after Charter upgraded the towns Internet, bumping Gonzales upload speeds from 1 Mbps to 60 Mbps, and download speeds from 5 Mbps to 100 Mbps.

A tech backbone was in place, but access to the Internet at home still remained a problem for many poor families.

On my visits to Gonzales, I often saw kids sitting outside McDonalds, Starbucks or even City Hall, using the free WiFito do their homework. In 2017, such scenes inspired the city to approve a strategy for achieving Universal Broadband for All.

Gonzales asked for proposals from Internet providers, and then rejected them all as insufficient. Instead, the city began individual negotiations with providers.

T-Mobile proved well-suited for Gonzales' needs. The company has a program called EmpowerED to get students online. T-Mobile has a dense network of cellular towers in the area providing coverage to drivers on the 101.

The T-Mobile/Gonzales partnership was approved by the City Council last October. T-Mobile upgraded wireless Internet infrastructure, and donated 2,000 Wi-Fi hotspotsone for every city household.

The city, not residents, pay monthly service charges, at a discounted rate of $12.50 monthly per household device. The total annual cost to the Gonzales government is $300,000 paid for with general fund revenues and a special sales tax approved back in 2014.

Anyone presenting proof of residency in Gonzales received a hotspot; so did households outside the city who attend Gonzales schools. Since COVID-19 forced shutdowns, the city has offered drive-by service for equipment pickups. Residents tell me the devices are already activated when you get them, so they are easy to use. Grandparents sing the hot spots praises, and college students from Gonzales, now back at home, say their city Internet connections are better than their campus ones.

They work really, really well, even with all the people suddenly online Google docs, Google Classroom, Zoom, are all working, says Gonzales High senior Isabel Mendoza, 17. Before, because we have 5 people in my house, and a number of electronics, the Internet was really slow.

Ren Mendez, the longtime city manager, has been fielding calls from other towns asking for broadband advice.

I think this is doable across the state, Mendez says, if cities push Internet providers to make deals that mix new broadband investment and cost-sharing. Why cant you provide broadband for the whole community, just like you do with sewer and water and streets?

Of course, it should be much easier for poor towns and people to secure Internet in California, which invented our tech world, than it was for Gonzales. But the city doesnt dwell on past struggles its moving forward.

Gonzales deal with T-Mobile is for two years, but its renewable. City officials are planning a trip to T-Mobile headquarters, and plotting the next chapter of universal broadband. It starts with 5G.

Joe Mathews(Photo: Courtesy)

Joe Mathews writes the Connecting California column forZcalo Public Square. Email him atjoe@zocalopublicsquare.org.

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Connecting California: Gonzales' small-city leap to universal broadband a model for others - Desert Sun

Dr. Eva Galvez works as a family physician for a network of clinics in northwestern Oregon, where low-income patients have been streaming in for nasal swabs over the past several weeks to test for the coronavirus.

Dr. Galvez was dumbfounded by the results. Latinos, about half of those screened, were 20 times as likely as other patients to have the virus.

The disparity really alarmed me, said Dr. Galvez, who began trying to understand what could account for the difference.

It is a question that epidemiologists around the country are examining as more and more evidence emerges that the coronavirus is impacting Latinos, and some other groups, including African-Americans, with particular force.

Oregon is one of many states where Latinos are showing a disproportionate level of impact, and the effects are seen among both immigrants and Latinos from multigenerational American families.

Because most of the clients at the Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center clinics in Oregon are relatively poor whatever their ethnic background, Dr. Galvez decided that income could not explain the disparity.

Public health experts say Latinos may be more vulnerable to the virus as a result of the same factors that have put minorities at risk across the country. Many have low-paying service jobs that require them to work through the pandemic, interacting with the public. A large number also lack access to health care, which contributes to higher rates of diabetes and other conditions that can worsen infections.

Oregon last month expanded testing criteria to prioritize Latinos and other minorities, citing the higher risk posed from the virus because of longstanding social and health inequities.

At the Virginia Garcia clinics, Dr. Galvez sees those inequities among her patients every day.

We realized that it must be how Latinos live and work thats driving these disparities, said Dr. Galvez, who works at the clinic in Hillsboro, outside Portland.

The Hispanic patients, many of them immigrants, help produce some of the countrys premier pinot noir, maintain Nikes sprawling headquarters and plant berries, hazelnuts and Christmas trees in the Willamette Valley. Others are seasonal workers who are expected to begin arriving by the thousands later this month for the harvest.

They live in close quarters, often multiple families to a house or with several farmworkers crowded into a barracks-style room, where social distancing and self-isolation are impossible. They perform jobs that require interaction with the general public, in food service, transportation and delivery; and some also work in meatpacking plants that have emerged as major hot spots.

If they are undocumented, they cannot collect unemployment, which may compel them to work even when they feel unwell, facilitating the spread to their co-workers.

Carlos, an undocumented Guatemalan who was one of the clinics patients, never stopped reporting to his job cleaning large supermarkets, even after he began coughing and feeling ill, said his wife, Blanca, who did not want the familys last name to be published because of their immigration status.

Her husband medicated himself on cough syrup, but his condition quickly deteriorated, and he was gasping for air when she finally rushed him to the hospital. He died on April 1 from Covid-19. Now Blanca, her brother and the couples 13-year-old son have all tested positive for the virus.

The situation at the clinics in northwestern Oregon tells only part of the story of the nations 60 million Latinos, who represent a wide range of backgrounds and lifestyles new immigrants and multigenerational families, high-earning professionals and poor migrant farmworkers and the effects of the coronavirus already reflect that broad experience.

The disparities are bigger in states like Oregon, Washington and Utah that have newer and less-established Latino communities, compared with states like California, Arizona and New Mexico. In some states, including Arizona and Texas, state data shows that Latinos are getting sick at rates close to their share of population. In New Mexico, Latinos, who make up half the population and have a long history in the state, have about the same number of cases relative to their population as whites.

Not all Latinos are created equal, said Daniel Lpez-Cevallos, professor of Latino and health equity studies at Oregon State University. More Latinos in states with established communities, he said, are likely to have middle-class jobs or the sort of wealth that could help tide them over through the pandemic without having to work outside the home.

By contrast, those in places like Oregon and Washington tend to be lower income, with lower educational levels, lower levels of health insurance and more employment in essential services, Mr. Lpez-Cevallos said. They have fewer support systems in place.

According to a Pew Research Center survey in April, about half of the Latinos questioned said they or someone in their household had either lost a job or taken a pay cut, or both, because of the outbreak compared with a third of all adults in the United States.

The data from a number of states takes an unexpected turn: It indicates that even though Latinos may have higher rates of infection, they have been dying from the virus at lower reported rates over all than other groups.

But experts say those raw numbers understate the risks for those who become sick, because they do not take into account that the Latino population the countrys second-largest ethnic group is significantly younger than other groups. And there have been much fewer deaths among the young from a virus whose lethality grows sharply with its victims age.

But among adult Latinos, fatality rates can be much higher. That was what officials in California found when they took a closer look.

But when California public health officials drilled down further, they found that in every age group over 17, Latinos were dying at significantly higher rates than whites as were African-Americans.

Even in Oregon, Latinos have not appeared to be equally vulnerable to the impacts of the virus. Dr. Galvez, who is Mexican-American, lives in a middle-class neighborhood. My close friends and family have not been hit by Covid the way the community that I care for has, she said.

Before Oregonians were ordered to stay home on March 23, the Virginia Garcia clinic had started a campaign to educate Spanish-speaking clients about who was at risk of contracting the virus and how to prevent it.

Bilingual posters went up at the clinics, fliers were distributed and Dr. Galvez recorded a public service announcement that aired on a local Spanish radio station.

But she and other clinic staff members, who confer daily on Zoom about the pandemic, would eventually conclude that having knowledge of the virus did not mitigate its spread among people who are unable to self-isolate and cannot afford to miss a days work.

On March 11, Virginia Garcia began screening patients with symptoms of the virus at seven sites.

So far, the clinic has tested 397 Hispanics and 281 non-Hispanics in Washington County and neighboring Yamhill County, another agricultural hub. A total of 87 Hispanics, 21.9 percent, have tested positive, compared with three non-Hispanics, or 1.1 percent.

Hazel Wheeler, a manager at the clinic who has analyzed the data, deemed the results confounding.

We serve poor people, who live in the same geographical area and make about the same amount of money, he said.

But there were deeper distinguishing factors.

Most non-Hispanics whom the clinic has tested have been working from home, or staying home because they have been furloughed or laid off, typically with unemployment benefits. They were able to keep distance from everyone but immediate family members.

The majority of Latino patients, on the other hand, have remained on front-line jobs, and many are residing in crowded or precarious dwellings.

Rafael Castillo, a 37-year-old mason, learned he had the coronavirus recently along with two fellow Latinos on his construction crew.

The truth is, I dont know how we got infected, said Mr. Castillo, a Mexican green-card holder who has lived in the United States for two decades. When this illness started, our boss told us to work apart. We used hand sanitizer and washed our hands, he said.

Since he tested positive, his wife, Yanet Gonzalez, has also contracted the virus. Now Mr. Castillo, who earns about $3,500 a month and lives in a mobile home, said his main concern was keeping his two children healthy. The family shares one shower in a mobile home in Cornelius, Ore., which they try to disinfect after each use.

As they treat an ever-larger numbers of patients, Virginia Garcia medical workers are now worrying about the prospect of a second wave of infection when the annual harvest gets underway later in May.

By some estimates, the picking season for berries, pears and other crops brings 160,000 Latino seasonal farmworkers to Oregon. They toil side by side in fields and orchards during the day and bunk in crowded spaces at night, creating a fertile environment for the virus to spread.

A preview of what could happen surfaced in April in central Washington State: Half of the workers at a large orchard tested positive for the coronavirus, even though none had shown symptoms.

The findings caught the attention of Oregons Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, which last week introduced a series of measures to protect migrant farmworkers after Dr. Galvez and a nonprofit law center sought changes.

The state agency ordered growers to reconfigure worker housing to eliminate bunk beds for workers not part of the same family and to require at least six feet of space or an impermeable barrier between workers while they sleep. Growers are also required to designate an officer to enforce at least six feet of separation during work, breaks and meals.

The emergency mandates drew protests from growers who said the rules could cut the amount of housing available for farmworkers and help put many growers out of business.

Many farms will not survive the cumulative weight of these unattainable rules, which are more burdensome than any set for other sectors of Oregons economy, the Oregon Farm Bureau said.

State officials acknowledged that the emergency measures, in effect for six months, are unlike any other action taken by the state in recent history. But they said they were necessary to protect Latino migrants and the greater community.

Michael Wood, the top administrator for Oregons OSHA, said he hoped the rules would help avert the possibility that the virus tears through the picking season that runs until fall.

You cannot telecommute to harvest crops, he said.

Read more:
For Latinos and Coronavirus, Doctors are Seeing an Alarming Disparity - The New York Times

MONTAGUE Since starting in 1970 as a lawn-mowing service, Demers Landscaping has grown into a family-run company that bills itself as an expert in all things outdoors, from excavation to gardening. The company celebrated its 50th anniversary this week.

The company, operated out of 136 Turnpike Road, was started by Ed Demers, who still owns it, working with his brothers Rusty and Paul. Eds son Justin, who is now 36, started working with his father when he was 8, he said. Justin took over most operations about five years ago. Ed has mostly retired, but often consults on business decisions.

Ive been learning my whole life from him, Justin Demers said. He taught me everything I know about landscaping and excavation.

The company expanded its offerings and its service area gradually over the last 20 years, mostly in its efforts to maintain relationships with existing customers by meeting their new needs, Demers said. The company doesnt advertise much, he said, and instead relies on repeat business. As customers asked for more services, the company would add them to its toolbox to keep its position as a one-stop landscaping service.

Thats how we grew, Demers explained. Once you do something for one person, you now have the availability to do the same for other customers as well.

Demers Landscaping now does practically every piece of designing and maintaining the outdoor part of a home, Demers said the initial clearing of the house site, utility hookups, retaining walls, mulching, lawns, flower boxes, blacktop, patios and fire pits, to list some. This winter the company started plowing driveways, too.

Customers range from Athol to western Franklin County, and from Northampton to as far north as Brattleboro, Vt., Demers said. Because the business is so reliant on repeat customers, he said the company will often move with a customer who is moving to a new house.

Business usually picks up in early spring, as customers start calling about spring clean ups, Demers said, and the company starts rehiring its seasonal workers. By early May, business is typically in full swing.

But this year has been slower than usual. Calls for maintenance are still coming in, but the big installations and expansion projects that usually fill the companys summer calendar are not, Demers said. He suspects customers are probably uncomfortable spending the money, considering the uncertainty of how much longer the coronavirus pandemic could last.

Meanwhile, some seasonal workers are unsure about starting work again.

People are a little nervous about coming back because of the virus, he said. But its still early in the year.

Contact Demers Landscaping by phone at 413-863-3652 or by email at justin@demerslandscaping.com.

Reach Max Marcus at mmarcus@recorder.com or 413-930-4231.

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The Recorder - Demers Landscaping celebrates 50 years in business - The Recorder

Are you looking for a house renovation? Or need to makethe outlook more impressive? Then you should replace the window at home with anew and modernized pair. A new window can keep your place warm, protected, andincrease the value of the property.

While investment in the window is a crucial decision andit took time to review to find the best option. Before getting into the newwindow you should know, how much does it cost to replace windows? And much more. here are some reasons that show why youneed window replacement:

The most important aspect that leads to change in thewindow is to increase the value of a home. Is it something that offers theupdate to change the old style with a new one. whenever it comes to give avalue addition modification to your place window is a perfect choice amongothers. Before fixing the new window it is necessary to check the size, colorscheme, and fitting.

No matter what kind of weather is outside, the windowhelps to keep the internal temperature control. In cold it helps to warm insideand in summer it helps to restrict the heat from entering the home. Moreover,it significantly reduces the cost of cooling and heating by saving more than30%. So, a fine quality window with the right insulation is an energy-efficientdecision.

With the window, it is easy to protect the householdthings from environmental contact. More it helps to reduce the moisture, heat,and restrict other factors that do not affect the internal temperature andatmosphere of the house. It also restricts the entrance of microbes, dust, insects,and mosquitoes to enter the house and enhance theprotection.

If we consider the security, the window is best atproviding security. Like it helps to enter sunlight in the house but restrictsthe unauthorized entrance. The window offers security and privacy together.Like in the market multiple window options are available that even block thenoisy voices. More you can install the one that enhances privacy and not allowthe outsiders to intervene in the private space.

Here is another possibility that leads to replacing theold window with the new one. if due to environmental influence or storm yourwindow is damaged and needs a fix. You can check the repair cost andreplacement cost and if window repair cost is almost the same as thereplacement one, then change is better. It offers a way to put some latestdesign with more sustainable fitting and protective measures that helps toavoid damage in the future.

Renovation is always an impressive decision that offersexciting opportunities to experience changes. You can modify your place withjust a small modification. For window replacement you have to search the bestoption in material and compare the cost as well, to find the appropriateoption.

Read the original:
Why Do You Need Window Replacement at Home? - IMC Grupo

"Only the rich can afford poor windows," says Joe Koken, general manager of Renewal by Andersen of Arizona. Koken was quoting Hans Andersen, founder of Andersen Windows in 1903. Renewal by Andersen is the full-service replacement window division of Andersen Windows, and this month it's celebrating its 25th anniversary with the biggest discount ever offered to new customers.

"You can replace your windows and doors once with a highly engineered product and likely never have to do it again, or you can replace them several times with a low-end product and end up paying more in the long run," Koken says.

The quality of the Renewal by Andersen window starts with its Fibrex composite material.

"There is a misconception that vinyl is a good choice for windows, but we won't even sell a vinyl window," Koken says. "Our exclusive window material, called Fibrex, is a composite that's two times stronger than vinyl."

Andersen researched and developed its Fibrex material for 30 years before it was installed in even one home. Fibrex is a wood-and-polymer composite that expands and contracts very little and is warranted not to warp, peel or corrode.*

"Fibrex has the strength, durability and beauty of wood windows combined with the low maintenance aspects of vinyl," Koken says.*

When choosing a replacement window or door company, there are five questions you should ask:

1. What does the warranty cover and how long does it last?

Many replacement window companies will warrant their windows and doors but not their installations. And a lot of them claim to have a "lifetime" warranty but in the fine print, "lifetime" can be defined as just seven years.

Renewal by Andersen has one rock-solid triple warranty that covers its windows, doors and installation. If you have any issues that come up, you won't be chasing down the manufacturer and the installer you just have to make one call.

2. What are the windows made of, and can they withstand the weather where you live?

Many vinyl replacement windows can warp, leak and cause drafts in just a few years. Renewal by Andersen's Fibrex material is vastly superior to vinyl. It's two times stronger than vinyl and infinitely more beautiful.

3. How will the company's windows or doors make your home more comfortable?

Many replacement windows will make your home more comfortable at first, but when their seals break and their energy efficiency is lost, you could be back to feeling too hot or cold in no time. Renewal by Andersen's High-Performance Low E-4 SmartSun glass helps to make homes more comfortable in every season.

4. How do you know if you're getting a good price?

If the price on a vinyl window is so low that it seems too good to be true, it probably is. In addition, if you have to replace those vinyl windows in 7-10 years, then they weren't worth it, no matter how inexpensive they were. Renewal by Andersen builds a window that will last. Nobody wants to replace their windows more than once.

5. How much will the windows or doors cost?

Many replacement window companies will give you a window estimate, but then the final bill ends up being more than the original quote. As part of its free in-home or virtual appointment, Renewal by Andersen provides an exact, down-to-the-penny price quote often within 48 hours of your call, and the quote is good for a whole year.

Renewal by Andersen is committed to keeping customers happy and safe. As Koken says, "The health and safety of our customers and our staff is our highest priority. We're adhering to the CDC's strict guidelines including wearing protective gloves and masks, maintaining a respectful distance inside your home, and frequently sanitizing our trucks and tools.

"And if you're not comfortable having us in your home at this time, we now offer virtual appointments, too," Koken adds. "From the comfort and safety of your home, you can have an online meeting with one of our project managers to discuss your window and door needs and get an exact price quote that we'll honor for a whole year.

"We also understand that this is a challenging time for some homeowners, and we want to do what we can to help them get their project done," Koken says. "So, we're having a special 'Thank You for 25 Years Sale.' Now until May 31, we're taking 25 percent off of all our windows and doors. And with our special financing, you won't pay anything for 25 months."

Call 480-565-4505 now to get Renewal by Andersen's biggest new customer discount ever!

* See Renewal by Andersen Products and Installation Transferable Limited Warranty for details.

Read more:
Why Now Is A Great Time To Replace Your Windows And Doors - Patch.com

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Jean Carton, left, and the Rev. Stephen Engelbrecht, pastor at St. Anthonys Church in Atkinson, are shown in front of one of the windows included in the restoration project of all stained glass windows at the church. The window depicting The Resurrection in the photograph was donated by the ladies in the Altar and Rosary Society when the church was built in 1917. Now, 103 years later, the ladies in the current Altar & Rosary Society donated the funds to restore and re-install that same window.

ATKINSON An upcoming annual spring raffle is expected to raise the remainder of the funds needed to pay for the restoration of the original stained glass windows at St. Anthonys Church in Atkinson.

The 11th annual raffle drawing will be held a 12:30 p.m. Sunday, June 7, at the Parish Hall, across from the church at 204 West Main St. The brunch that is included with the drawing each year will be held at a later date.

Nick Simon, chairman of the raffle and a deacon at the church, said more than $20,000 in prizes will be awarded, including a grand cash prize of $10,000.

Only 500 tickets will be sold and the odds of winning a cash prize are one in 39, Simon said.

The price of a raffle ticket is $100 which includes two tickets for the brunch when it is held at a later date. Tickets are available from church members, at businesses in Atkinson, and from the church office by calling 309-936-7900 and leaving a message.

Proceeds from the raffle will be applied to the Stained Glass Window Restoration and Protection project for the 103-year-old windows at the parish.

Simon said the proceeds from the spring raffle should complete paying for the project which is estimated to cost $200,000 and includes restoration of the 26 stained glass windows and the protection system, which was done to all windows in the building. He said there are 68 stained glass windows in the church.

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Raffle will help restore stained glass windows in Atkinson church - Quad City Times