Stunning Bubble Hotel Under the Icelandic Stars is Truly the Perfect ‘Socially Distancing’ Destination

A secluded retreat in South Iceland caters to guests who want to be surrounded by nature—and you will be literally immersed in it, staying in your own private bubble nestled in the forest.

You can sleep under the vast sea of twinkling stars and be entirely enclosed in the glass bubble—and if you are lucky, you’ll get a once-in-a-lifetime view of the aurora borealis over your head.

Robert Robertsson, the owner and managing director of the Buubble project based in Reykjavík summed it up saying, “Some childhood dreams stay with us for our whole lives.”

“Sleeping under the stars or watching the aurora borealis dance is one of those lifelong dreams.”

The entrepreneur created the Bubble concept to fulfill those dreams. And, now with COVID-19 cases down to one or two per day in Iceland, it might be the perfect pandemic getaway.

“Forget the city, forget work, and enjoy watching the aurora borealis dance for you. We can‘t guarantee you will see the lights, but if they show up you will have a magical night.”

Licensed as a travel agency, Buubble.com has two location in South Iceland.

Up to 2 guests can stay in the bubbles, with children under the age of 6 can staying in the bed with the parents.

The regular cost is $830, but Robertsson is offering a COVID-19 discount which would bring the amount down to $618, and allow you to book anytime using the open ticket in the next five years.

 

By Good News Network

Volunteer sewing squad distributes more than 55,000 masks

A volunteer sewing squad distributed more than 55,000 masks to vulnerable communities in 3 months. They’re not slowing down.

 

Kristina Wong is an actress and comedian known for her one-women shows. But she traded the stage for a sewing machine and formed a team of volunteers to make masks during the coronavirus pandemic.

The artist was preparing for the debut of her new show right before the pandemic hit the US.

“I was set to tour all over the country. The pandemic happened and I was like, ‘Oh, of course this happened.'”

Although the tour’s postponement financially hurt Wong, she did not despair.

“I’m not going to be depressed the way I was after 9/11 or during the recession in 2008,” she said. “I’m going to do stuff. I’m going to stay busy. And I’m going to fix other people’s problems.”

Pandemic spawns a new mission

At the beginning of the pandemic, people frantically searched for masks. Material to make them was limited. But Wong had scraps of fabric laying around her home as she sews her own stage props. She learned the basics of sewing helping her mother quilt as a kindergartener and picked up sewing machine skills in her sixth-grade home economics class.

“I was like ‘I can do this. I can sew.’ I just sort of refuse to believe that we’re powerless in these situations,” she said. “I made my first mask on March 20th. I posted on my Facebook page ‘If you are immunocompromised or don’t have access to masks, I’ll make you a mask. Just reimburse me $5 for postage.'”

Hundreds of requests for masks poured in, and Wong soon realized she couldn’t do it alone.

“I was saying ‘yes’ faster than I could sew.”

So, she posted a plea for help.

Soon, others began volunteering and Wong launched a Facebook group called the “Auntie Sewing Squad.” It started with just 26 people. Now, it has more than 800 sewers across the country.

So far, the group has distributed more than 55,000 masks to communities in need. Wong is proud of the group. But she is also frustrated.

“I do refer to our group as a ‘sweatshop’ because I don’t want to romanticize it. While we are enjoying each other’s company in this very strange time in history, we shouldn’t have to be doing this work. This is absolutely the government’s job. We should not have had to turn our homes upside down into sweatshops and pull the sheets off our beds to make masks.”

Serving the underserved

The aunties are focused on serving communities disproportionately affected by the pandemic like farmworkers, immigrants, Black and Brown citizens. They’ve also provided masks to Native Americans like those living in South Dakota’s Bear Soldier District.

“Bear Solider District has 1,500 residents, including many non-tribal members, and we are the second-most populated city on the Standing Rock reservation,” Jon Edwards, manager with the Bear Soldier Volunteer Fire Rescue told CNN. “We have a huge vulnerable high-risk population here with elderly patients and diabetic patients. The Auntie Squad has already sent a thousand masks so far. Another 600 are on the way. That was one of our main issues two to three months ago — a shortage of personal protective equipment, so it was really nice to get packages.”

Theresa Hatathlie is a volunteers with Navajo and Hopi Families Covid-19 Relief. She said 33% of the Navajo Nation members are without running water and electricity.

“Now we are leading the whole nation in terms of cases now,” Hatathlie said. “The Auntie Squad has really given us so much. Not just the masks, but we received sewing machines, diapers, baby wipes, laundry supplies and sanitizers.”

With the sewing machine donations, Hatathlie’s group is now able to make masks on their own. So far, they’ve made more than 40,000 for the Navajo Nation.

“For me personally, in our Navajo culture, we have a teaching that if you are able to help, you shouldn’t have to be asked,” Hatathlie said.

You can support Navajo and Hopi Families Covid-19 Relief by donating to this fund.

The Auntie Sewing Squad continues to grow

Currently, there are aunties working all over the country: from Arizona to Oregon, Pennsylvania to Florida. They sew the masks in whatever free time they have between their own jobs and family commitments.

“Many of us had never met before, and if we have met, now it’s usually just a quick exchange of handing things off,” Jessica Arna of Los Angeles, California, told CNN.

The aunties help each other by supplying fabric, sewing machines and sometimes food.

“Super aunties” in the group, like Arna, connect with organizations or individuals in vulnerable communities to access needs.

“I will announce a campaign to our group and collect pledges and make sure that the aunties know exactly what is needed for a very specific group,” Arna said.

The aunties will pledge an amount to sew by a deadline and mail the finished masks. They’re reimbursed for postage from the group’s fundraising funds.

Grace Yoo learned how to sew so she could help. Yoo, an Asian American studies professor at San Francisco State University, recruited her students to help as well. Nine students learned how to sew via Zoom.

“With the support of some of my friends and the Auntie Squad donating sewing machines, fabric, thread and elastic, I personally send out things to my students every week. And then I do a self-stamped envelope to different organizations that they send those masks to. We have sent 100 masks to First Nations,” Yoo said.

According to Arna, these aunties aren’t stopping any time soon.

“I am in awe of the labor, all of the labor that everyone has given,” she said. “I mean it’s an incredible amount of time and effort that people have shared. But it’s nothing compared to what the communities who are bearing the brunt of the pandemic are going through.”

 

By Bethany Hines, CNN

NASA names D.C. headquarters for 'Hidden Figures' Mary W. Jackson

NASA has named its Washington, D.C., headquarters for Mary W. Jackson, the first Black woman engineer at the space agency. Her role and contributions were celebrated in the movie “Hidden Figures.”

Jackson “was part of a group of very important women who helped NASA succeed in getting American astronauts into space” and helped break barriers, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a statement Wednesday announcing the honor.

Jackson, who died in 2005, was among those featured in the 2016 film about trailblazing Black women whose work at NASA was integral during the space race.

“Hidden Figures” was nominated for several Oscars, including best picture, and based on the book “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race” by Margot Lee Shetterly.

Jackson, a native of Hampton, Virginia, was recruited by the agency that preceded NASA, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, in 1951, and worked in the West Area Computing Unit, which was segregated.

She later entered a training program to be promoted from mathematician to engineer — because the classes were held at a segregated location, she needed special permission, NASA said — and in 1958, she became NASA’s first Black woman engineer.

Jackson was an engineer for two decades. She joined Langley’s Federal Women’s Program in 1979 and “worked hard to address the hiring and promotion of the next generation of female mathematicians, engineers and scientists,” NASA said.

“We are honored that NASA continues to celebrate the legacy of our mother and grandmother Mary W. Jackson.” her daughter, Carolyn Lewis, said in the NASA statement.

“She was a scientist, humanitarian, wife, mother and trailblazer who paved the way for thousands of others to succeed, not only at NASA, but throughout this nation,” Lewis said.

Last year, the street in front of NASA headquarters was renamed “Hidden Figures Way.”

Katherine Johnson, who was featured in the book and film and whose calculations helped synch Project Apollo’s Lunar Module with the lunar-orbiting Command and Service Module, died in February at the age of 101. She also worked on the Space Shuttle.

 

By Phil Helsel – Today

Port St. Lucie lands on list of Best Small Cities in America

Now for some good news about Port St. Lucie.

It’s one of the best small cities in America — according to a report generated by Resonance Consultancy, a specialist in the destination-branding industry.

While the spread of the coronavirus continues to monopolize local and national headlines and rock the U.S. economy, the city has something positive to celebrate.

Port St. Lucie landed at No. 72 on this year’s list of Best Small Cities.

The rankings recognize top-performing cities with metro populations between 100,000 and 500,000. The list is designed to “quantify and benchmark the relative quality of place, reputation and competitive identity” of smaller cities.

There are 100 cities in the 2020 rankings, including a handful in Florida.

Here’s how other Florida cities stack up: Naples (2), Pensacola (31), Gainesville (32), Punta Gorda (38), Tallahassee (42), Panama City (94), and the Villages (99).

Reno, Nevada, came in at No. 1.

According to the study, Reno is where “young talent is pouring in,” as well as visitors, because of the city’s natural offerings, growing infrastructure and active nightlife — which includes the draw of its neon-lit casinos.

Previously, the rankings included cities with populations of less than 1 million, instead of 500,000, the new threshold for the study.

The rankings are based on six categories: Place, product, programming, people, prosperity and promotion, referred to as the six pillars — or “Ps.”

There are 22 factors considered under those broader categories, said Tom Gierasimczuk, a vice president for business development and chief content officer at Resonance Consultancy Ltd. based in Canada.

For its rankings, Resonance Consultancy relies in part on reviews posted on TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel platform, and other websites, on top of using core statistics.

This year, the company decided to tweak its methodology in part due to the growing trend that has people moving away from larger urban centers.

“It was going on even before COVID-19 and the pandemic,” Gierasimczuk said. “The pandemic, the crisis really exacerbated that.”

Resonance Consultancy’s rankings have been used by well-known media outlets ranging from National Geographic to the Lonely Planet.

Bloomberg has called the rankings “the most comprehensive study of its kind,” identifying the cities that are the most desirable to live, work and play in — as well as to visit.

 

Laura Layden – TCPalm

Man renowned for his bad dad jokes.

He’s renowned for his bad dad jokes. Now he’s hunting for the worst dad jokes of all — for a good cause.

 

The “Bad Dad Jokes” sign that stands proudly in front of Tom and Ann Schruben’s Maryland home has become a neighborhood destination in recent months.

The jokes Tom scribbles each morning are supposed to be bad — and they are — but people love them anyway, which is why there is a steady stream of people ambling or driving by the family’s Kensington home on any given day.

Example: A rabbit, a priest and a minister walk into a bar. The bartender looks at them and says, “Is this a typo?”

Tom started posting the jokes soon after the coronavirus stay-at-home orders came about as a way to jump-start his mood, which was getting a little grumpy as a self-employed worker in the environmental field. It was the suggestion of his wife, who pointed out that he loves all things corny.

His jokes — which he often selects with daughter Darcy, 11 — became a hit, and after The Washington Post ran an article, the Schrubens began noticing a lot more foot traffic in front of their home, and also started hearing from people around the country. Everyone had a joke to share.

A favorite of Tom’s: If two vegans get into an argument, is it still considered a beef?

Tom, 62, was flooded with new jokes and happy about all the goodwill in an otherwise uncertain time. He wanted to pay it forward.

So he decided to look for the worst-of-the-worst dad joke. He’s holding a Father’s Day Bad Dad Joke contest, with entries costing a suggested donation of at least $5. He plans to send all money he collects to Martha’s Table, the D.C.-based nonprofit that supports children and families.

Jokes are being accepted until Saturday, and the winner will have the honor of seeing the joke shared on Tom’s sign for Father’s Day. Tom says he’ll read each joke and drop all entries into a mixing bowl, then will pick the winner at random. Jokes can be submitted on Tom’s Facebook page, Instagram or by placing them in a box in front of his home.

Tom Schruben and daughter Darcy just posted the daily “bad dad joke” in front of their home in Kensington, Md., on Friday. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

His rules state: “While we love original humor — the BAD DAD JOKES genre is rooted in sharing the collected wisdom of the ages — so stealing a great joke is expected but attribute if you can. Of course kids are welcome to send me their jokes as there’s no age limit for Bad Dad Jokes! And no worries if not a DAD as we welcome “FAUX PAS” too.”

He added that his daughters and their spouses are not eligible to win, but his granddaughter, who is 3, “can do whatever she wants!”

Tom said that he, like generations of dads before him, has wholeheartedly embraced the bad dad joke.

“Why dads?” he asked. “There’s always been a tradition of dads embarrassing their children.”

Tom Schruben and his 11-year-old daughter, Darcy, with the “bad dad joke” sign they posted outside their Kensington, Md., home on Friday. Schruben and Darcy write a “bad” (corny) joke on a whiteboard each morning. (Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

Young kids are drawn to the sign, Tom said, as he sometimes hears children who are about 5 or 6 stopping by and carefully sounding out the words. One mother told him she counted the sign as part of her daughter’s school-required 15 minutes of daily reading. And Darcy once ran outside to comfort a youngster who arrived at the sign on his bike ahead of his big brother but was crying because he didn’t know how to read yet.

The candy brand Laffy Taffy got wind of the sign and sent the Schrubens 60 pounds of sweets, each piece with a signature printed joke.

Joey, the family dog, perches on the candy. (Ann Schruben)

But after George Floyd was killed at the hands of police in Minneapolis, and the country erupted in protests, Tom didn’t feel comfortable using his well-read sign only to be frivolous. So he posted a few puns that he thought gave a nod to protesters:

What kind of tea is the hardest? Reality.

What’s the biggest room in the world? Room for improvement.

“I don’t want to ignore what’s going on in society,” he said.

Tom said he has been touched by the many emails he has received from afar in recent weeks, and said they often start with, “My dad used to tell this joke … ”

“I love that I have gotten people to remember happy times with their dads,” he said.

One email he received was particularly meaningful. It was from the neurologist who treated his daughter, Alana, who died in 2009. She was Darcy’s twin.

“While treatment was never successful, having a young doctor that cared meant the world to us,” Tom said.

The death of Alana, and also a son who died of medical issues several years earlier, is what prompts the Schrubens to look for things that bring joy to them and others.

After losing two of their six children, they vowed: “We will find happiness again,” Ann said.

To that end, early each morning, Tom sends the day’s joke to a group text with his daughters and sons-in-law.

“I try not to let on how much a thumbs-up emoji means to me,” he said. “And a ‘ha-ha’ means the day’s going to be great.”

Tom started posting the jokes soon after the coronavirus stay-at-home orders came about as a way to jump-start his mood, which was getting a little grumpy as a self-employed worker in the environmental field. It was the suggestion of his wife, who pointed out that he loves all things corny.

His jokes — which he often selects with daughter Darcy, 11 — became a hit, and after The Washington Post ran an article, the Schrubens began noticing a lot more foot traffic in front of their home, and also started hearing from people around the country. Everyone had a joke to share.

A favorite of Tom’s: If two vegans get into an argument, is it still considered a beef?

Tom, 62, was flooded with new jokes and happy about all the goodwill in an otherwise uncertain time. He wanted to pay it forward.

So he decided to look for the worst-of-the-worst dad joke. He’s holding a Father’s Day Bad Dad Joke contest, with entries costing a suggested donation of at least $5. He plans to send all money he collects to Martha’s Table, the D.C.-based nonprofit that supports children and families.

Jokes are being accepted until Saturday, and the winner will have the honor of seeing the joke shared on Tom’s sign for Father’s Day. Tom says he’ll read each joke and drop all entries into a mixing bowl, then will pick the winner at random. Jokes can be submitted on Tom’s Facebook page, Instagram or by placing them in a box in front of his home.

His rules state: “While we love original humor — the BAD DAD JOKES genre is rooted in sharing the collected wisdom of the ages — so stealing a great joke is expected but attribute if you can. Of course kids are welcome to send me their jokes as there’s no age limit for Bad Dad Jokes! And no worries if not a DAD as we welcome “FAUX PAS” too.”

He added that his daughters and their spouses are not eligible to win, but his granddaughter, who is 3, “can do whatever she wants!”

Tom said that he, like generations of dads before him, has wholeheartedly embraced the bad dad joke.

“Why dads?” he asked. “There’s always been a tradition of dads embarrassing their children.”

Young kids are drawn to the sign, Tom said, as he sometimes hears children who are about 5 or 6 stopping by and carefully sounding out the words. One mother told him she counted the sign as part of her daughter’s school-required 15 minutes of daily reading. And Darcy once ran outside to comfort a youngster who arrived at the sign on his bike ahead of his big brother but was crying because he didn’t know how to read yet.

The candy brand Laffy Taffy got wind of the sign and sent the Schrubens 60 pounds of sweets, each piece with a signature printed joke.

But after George Floyd was killed at the hands of police in Minneapolis, and the country erupted in protests, Tom didn’t feel comfortable using his well-read sign only to be frivolous. So he posted a few puns that he thought gave a nod to protesters:

What kind of tea is the hardest? Reality.

What’s the biggest room in the world? Room for improvement.

“I don’t want to ignore what’s going on in society,” he said.

Tom said he has been touched by the many emails he has received from afar in recent weeks, and said they often start with, “My dad used to tell this joke … ”

“I love that I have gotten people to remember happy times with their dads,” he said.

One email he received was particularly meaningful. It was from the neurologist who treated his daughter, Alana, who died in 2009. She was Darcy’s twin.

“While treatment was never successful, having a young doctor that cared meant the world to us,” Tom said.

The death of Alana, and also a son who died of medical issues several years earlier, is what prompts the Schrubens to look for things that bring joy to them and others.

After losing two of their six children, they vowed: “We will find happiness again,” Ann said.

To that end, early each morning, Tom sends the day’s joke to a group text with his daughters and sons-in-law.

“I try not to let on how much a thumbs-up emoji means to me,” he said. “And a ‘ha-ha’ means the day’s going to be great.”

Allison Klein – Washington Post

Tiny Forests Are Springing Up All Around Europe

Tiny Forests Are Springing Up All Around Europe, Inspired By Japan, to Help Restore Biodiversity.

 

Using the methods of Japan’s most famous botanist, European countries are beginning to dot their urban landscapes with tiny forests, as productive and biodiverse as any in wilderness areas, yet sometimes only as big as a tennis court.

The idea is that volunteers can plant densely-packed clusters of seedlings from indigenous plants to create a small functional ecosystem that can restore soil, protect resources like water and air quality, and act as a biodiversity hotspot that can have a measurable effect on both the local and regional environment.

Akira Miyawaki was the botanist who in 1970 observed that trees around Japan’s Shinto and Buddhist shrines tended to be native species, well-adapted to the soil and climate of the islands of Japan.

He later found that only 0.06% of contemporary Japanese forests were indigenous forests, with the sizable remainder populated by non-native tree species, or planted in unnatural ways.

He pioneered a method of restoring indigenous forests on degraded or deforested land which had been devoid of humus. It came to be known as the Miyawaki method. Using this formula he created over 1,700 forests throughout Asia, 96.7% of which developed into a resilient ecosystem within ten years.

Miyawaki in Europe

Growing more than 10x faster, and possessing up to 20x more biodiversity potential than contemporary forests, the Miyawaki method is perfect for organizations like Urban Forests in France and Belgium, and the Tiny Forest initiative in Holland, with their strong desire to prevent the worst of climate change upon their nations’ relatively small landmass.

On March 2nd Urban Forests finished a 22-species, 1,200-tree Miyawaki forest in Toulouse, France, planted on 400 square meters—the first such forest in Toulouse.

“The plantations are made in a very dense way, in order to favor the cooperation between the species,” Audrey, one of Urban Forests’ volunteers explained to Actu Toulouse. “It captures more CO2 and trees grow up to ten times faster than in a conventional forest.”

It’s just one of many Urban Forests’ projects, and the fifth that the nonprofit has completed this year. In total their Miyawaki forests across Belgium and France consist of 21,000 trees over 7,000 square meters.

The Tiny Forest Initiative started in 2015 in the Dutch city of Zaandam by the Institute for Nature Education and Sustainability (IVN), has created 100 Miyawaki forests across the country, and had planned an additional 30 for the first three months of 2020.

In 2017, ecologists at Wageningen University in Holland examined the newly planted mini-forests and concluded that tiny forests “increase the biodiversity compared to the nearby forest. Both the number of species groups and the number of individuals is generally higher than in the reference forests.”

They also found that biodiversity was improved because sunlight was able to reach more species of local plants known to local pollinators. The forests also provided “more variety in food and shelter for a higher diversity of animals like insects, snails, butterflies, amphibians, bugs, grasshoppers.”

“This is a great thing to do,” said wildlife researcher Eric Dinerstein in a recent scientific publication. “So this could be another aspect for suburban and urban areas, to create wildlife corridors through contiguous ribbons of mini-forest.”

Plant Some Positivity Amongst Your Friends By Sharing This Cool Story To Social Media…

New Guidance For Paycheck Protection Loan Forgiveness

Congressman Brian Mast has working closely with federal, state and local officials to help individuals and small businesses recover from coronavirus. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) released a simplified application for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness for borrowers who meet the following criteria:

• 
  
  • 
    
    • Are self-employed and have no employees; OR
    
    
    • Did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25%, and did not reduce the number or hours of their employees; OR
    
    
    • Experienced reductions in business activity as a result of health directives related to COVID-19, and did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25%.
    
    
  
  

 

This new application requires fewer calculations and less documentation for eligible borrowers, making it easier for you to apply for forgiveness.

• 
  
  • 
    
    • Click here to view the new EZ Forgiveness Application
    
    
    • Click here to view the Full Forgiveness Application
    
    
    • Click here for more information from the Treasury Department
    
    
  
  

 

His office is stands ready to assist with any issues you are having with the Small Business Administration or any other agency. Please do not hesitate to reach out at 202-225-3026 or visit his website for more information.

Happy Father's Day

Wishing you a Very Happy Father’s Day

from your Friends at Mortgage Masters.

Dad of toddler in viral hugging video speaks out: 'It's a beacon of hope'

Best friends Maxwell and Finnegan became internet superstars after a video of the 2-year-olds running toward each other to share a hug on a New York City street went viral last September.

Amid worldwide protests over the death of George Floyd and racial injustice, the clip is resurfacing with a whole new meaning. Maxwell, who will turn 3 in July, is black, and Finnegan, 3, is white.

The little boys and their parents were included in Saturday’s CNN town hall in collaboration with “Sesame Street,” which focused on kids and racism.

In the sweet interview, Finnegan’s mom, Erica Russo McKenna, told CNN that “Maxwell and Finnegan really compliment each other well. Finnegan is a bit of a daredevil, but Maxwell is more like the voice of reason, and they challenge each other. They have a really special friendship.”

At the end of the call, Maxwell exclaimed, “Bye Finnegan, I love you!”

“Bye!” responded Finnegan, melting hearts with their adorable friendship.

In the original video from last year, the toddler boys saw each other on the street and spontaneously ran toward one another for an enthusiastic embrace.

“We didn’t really expect any of this. It was just our boys being our boys,” Maxwell’s dad, Michael Cisneros, told TODAY. “We just thought it was a great moment. We shared with family and friends. Our friends said it’s beautiful you could make it go viral. I put it on my Facebook and kept blowing up.”

He continued: “I didn’t see it at the time, but I see it now. It was a beacon of hope. It shows love and what the future could be like if children were raised in a different way … It’s going to be kind of iconic. I’ve gotten messages from people all around the world.”

The video garnered more than 1.2 million views on Facebook and 13,000 shares.

In light of recent events, Cisnernos added, “George Floyd may be a catalyst to a revolution we need. I’m super proud the video has brought so much happiness and hope.”

The boys’ parents have also created an Instagram account for the best friends in an effort to tell their story and share educational content that addresses the question, “How do we enact change?” Cisnernos said. “I feel what every parent of a black child feels — it’s scary. How do you give them security without building anxiety?”

“Looking to better days,” read the caption of one recent post.

Cisnernos wants the families’ story to be a positive influence in the ongoing movement against racial injustice, but he has high hopes for the little boys, too.

“I hope we raise two little activists,” he said. “Children do see color, but it doesn’t matter to them.”

 

June 7, 2020, 3:56 PM EDT / Source: TODAY

By Ronnie Koenig

Necco Wafers candies make a sweet comeback after 2-year absence

If you’ve been craving the classic candy known as Necco Wafers, for the past two years, you’ve been out of luck. Amazon doesn’t have them. Ebay might — for a price — but bear in mind that any rolls would be at least two years old.

Soon, that’s about to change.

This week, in an exclusive interview with TODAY Food, Kirk Vashaw, the chairman and CEO of Spangler Candy, revealed that fresh rolls of Necco Wafers are set to hit store shelves in just a few days.

“We’ve always admired the brand and how it’s woven in with the fabric of our culture,” Vashaw said. “It’s neat to be eating a candy that was carried by Civil War soldiers, and taken on Arctic and Antarctic expeditions, and issued to GIs in World War II as a morale booster. It’s a piece of our history.”

He’s right: Necco Wafers (the name is an acronym for the company that created the candies in 1847, the New England Confectionery Company) are a long-lasting, old-fashioned treat that’s been around for a very, very long time.

A wax paper-wrapped roll of the disc-shaped candies comes in a mix of eight flavors (lemon, lime, orange, clove, cinnamon, wintergreen, licorice and chocolate). Previously, all-chocolate rolls have been sold, but are not currently being manufactured.

The candies have proved both durable (they won’t melt and travel well) and versatile: Vashaw said kids have used them as shingles on gingerbread houses, adults have used them as poker chips and even young Catholic worshippers have used them to practice taking communion.

But the Necco factory hit hard times a few years ago and shuttered abruptly in mid-2018. Assets were auctioned off and Vashaw’s Spangler Candy (home to sweets like Dum-Dums lollipops and Circus Peanuts) snapped up several classic Necco brands, including the eponymous wafers and Sweethearts (which returned this year for Valentine’s Day). The company also bought up some of the key equipment used to make Neccos and are currently producing the candies at a facility in Mexico.

Fans of the classic recipe will be relieved as Vashaw confirmed that the formula has remained the same. The packaging is the same, too. “We kept the wax wrap around the roll exactly the same,” said Vashaw, “and used the same supplier and everything.”

There might be a slight difference in taste with the chocolate wafer, though. “Connoisseurs may notice a slightly richer taste to the cocoa,” he explained. “It’s the same flavor, but we use a slightly different process. To our palate, it brings out the flavor a bit differently.”

But there was no plan to “improve” on what already, for fans, is perfection. “Candy is a simple joy in life and it’s a simple reward,” said Vashaw. “People want the same thing they remember as a kid. That’s the beauty of candy — nostalgia.”

Bringing a famous candy back to market during the COVID-19 pandemic has presented some challenges, said a company spokesperson, but Spangler is enforcing social distancing at its Mexican factory. Employees must also submit to temperature checks and are required to wear face coverings.

“Given the layout of the production lines, most employees are able to easily maintain distance from each other and, in the few places where that is difficult, we have installed barriers,” added the spokesperson.

Drugstores and pharmacies nationwide are expected to start getting fresh Necco Wafers by the end of this month or early June. The company expects shipments to other stores will arrive in July.

That’s great news for fanatical Necco lovers, who will apparently do anything to seek out the beloved discs — something Vashaw discovered personally.

“I was at a candy conference last fall, and someone drove for miles, all the way there, and sought me out to specifically ask about Necco Wafers,” he said, adding, “We’re running as fast as we can and hope to keep up with demand this summer.”

 

May 27, 2020, 4:16 PM EDT / Source: TODAY

By Randee Dawn

Buried Roman City Mapped in Stunning Detail Using Ground-Penetrating Radar

For some years now, archaeologists have been employing a technology called ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to discover what lies beneath their feet without the risk of damaging ancient artifacts and structures with shovels and trowels.

Over the years the technology of GPR has advanced, and it was recently used to produce a map of an entire Roman city buried underground without overturning a single grain of soil.

The GPR produced images of the roman city of Falerii Novi in stunning detail, revealing the existence of a market, roads, a temple, monuments, and a bath complex with a network of underground pipes suggesting a sophisticated plumbing system.

The team, from the University of Cambridge and Ghent University, were able to map the city in layers, and deduce how it changed over time; something that could only be done previously with risky, costly, and laborious excavation processes.

“The astonishing level of detail which we have achieved at Falerii Novi, and the surprising features that GPR has revealed, suggest that this type of survey could transform the way archaeologists investigate urban sites, as total entities,” said Professor and author of the discovery’s corresponding paper, Martin Millett from the University of Cambridge in a statement.

Furthermore, different kinds of radio waves can be thrust into the ground to create even more detailed images—including catching anomalies that not have been detected by other forms of radar. The forum tabernae (shop units) appear, for example, in an earlier magnetometer survey, but not in the GPR survey.

One small problem with the technology was encountered however: the sheer amount of data required for such detailed imagery necessitates around 4.5GB and 20 hours of manual computer work per-hectare surveyed, and the authors suggest that assistance from new computer processing programs may be needed in the future.

What was Falerii Novi like?

GPR works like regular radar, bouncing radio waves off objects and using the ‘echo’ to build up a picture at different depths. By towing their GPR instruments behind a quad bike, the archaeologists surveyed all 30.5 hectares (90 acres) within the city’s walls, taking a reading every 12.5cm.

Falerii Novi was just under half the size of Pompeii and was located 50 km north of Rome. It was first occupied in 241 BC and survived into the medieval period until around AD 700. Although small, Falerii Novi is characterized by some truly remarkable details.

In a southern district, just within the city’s walls, GPR revealed a large rectangular building connected to a series of water pipes which lead to the city’s aqueduct. Remarkably, these pipes can be traced across much of Falerii Novi, running beneath city blocks and houses in a meticulously-organized system of plumbing, rather than only alongside them as has been documented in other places, such as Crete.

The team believes that the large-rectangular structure was a natatio, an open-air pool close to the bathhouses, forming part of a substantial public bathing complex—a sort of Roman waterpark.

Even more unexpectedly, near the city’s north gate, the team identified a pair of large structures facing each other within a porticus duplex (a covered passageway). They know of no direct parallel in existing Roman architectural sites but believe these were part of an impressive public monument.

“It is exciting and now realistic to imagine GPR being used to survey a major city such as Miletus in Turkey, Nicopolis in Greece or Cyrene in Libya”, Millett said. “We still have so much to learn about Roman urban life and this technology should open up unprecedented opportunities for decades to come.”

POINT To This Historic Find on Social Media, By Sharing With Your Friends…

Nurses' musical voices give comfort in midst of pandemic

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Providing palliative care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center can be taxing for nurses trying to extend and improve the lives of seriously ill patients.

It’s become even more so during the COVID-19 pandemic, when patients are unable to have family or friends by their side for comfort because of virus fears.

“We’re sitting by their side, holding their hand, wiping their tears, hugging them,” said Anna Henderson, a care partner on the unit at the Nashville, Tennessee, hospital. “We might be the last hand holding, the last smile, the last word they hear, the last voice they hear. So, yeah, we step in gladly.”

Palliative care is for patients who have a life-threatening and incurable illness. Some patients are at the end of their lives or are preparing to enter hospice.

To deal with the complexity of emotions they — and patients — experience, the nursing staff has turned to music and songwriting. Nurse and singer-songwriter Megan Palmer said the nurses use music and their voices to calm and comfort people, even something as simple as singing “Happy Birthday.”

Henderson recalled a patient’s reaction when she started singing for him. “He just started weeping, just breaking down, crying from his heart, crying from his gut,” Henderson said. “It was all I could do to keep singing, but I did. But, you know, it’s times like that music and this job just go hand in hand.”

In conjunction with House of Songs, a songwriters’ collaborative nonprofit, Palmer gathered some of the medical staff on the unit to co-write songs when they weren’t working their 12-hour shifts. Since they worked together on the same unit, Palmer said she’s basically already been quarantining with her co-workers anyway.

“It seemed like a safe and good idea to get creative and process some of what we do in the time of this pandemic,” Palmer said.

During a recent co-writing session, Palmer and Henderson sat at a kitchen table jotting down phrases and ideas for lyrics. They both remember many of their patients vividly and the small intimate moments they’ve shared.

They wrote the song “Stop For a Minute,” which starts with the description of rushing to check on a patient’s call light. Henderson was inspired by a female patient who asked the nurse to sit with her and hold her hand.

Paul Raymond, the nurse manager for the palliative care unit and a musician and songwriter himself, co-wrote a song with Palmer called “Take Good Care,” in Raymond’s home studio.

Raymond has been playing guitar and songwriting since high school as a creative outlet. He hoped that other medical staff are finding an emotional relief in the group songwriting exercise, as well as opening people’s eyes to what they do.

“If we can shed some light into the world of nurses and working with people in a really vulnerable time in their lives, then all the better,” Raymond said.

Nursing, especially for those who work in palliative care, isn’t for the faint of heart, he said.

“Certainly, it can be emotionally difficult, but it’s absolutely the most rewarding thing you do,” Raymond said. “It’s a real gift to be in the same space as somebody who is preparing to leave this Earth and to die.”

__

House of Songs: https://www.thehouseofsongs.org/

Vanderbilt Palliative Care: https://www.vanderbilthealth.com/palliativecare/

By KRISTIN M. HALL, AP Entertainment Writer

Bakery giving away over 1,000 cakes to seniors missing graduation festivities

The sweet surprise is bringing joy to graduates during an uncertain time.

The coronavirus pandemic has put many milestone celebrations on hold. From weddings to birthday parties, families are now finding ways to enjoy big days remotely — or canceling the festivities all together.

For millions of students in the class of 2020, a season of graduation parties is being replaced with virtual celebrations or quiet evenings at home.

To make the loss of those big bashes a little sweeter, one baker in Minnesota has found a sweet way to make local kids feel special.

Last month, Hanisch Bakery and Coffee Shop in the town of Red Wing decided to make a custom cake for every graduating senior at nearby Red Wing High School.

The inspiration for the kind deed came from an unlikely source. In April, Bill Hanisch, the owner of Hanisch Bakery, was watching a coronavirus pandemic briefing. After discussing statewide lockdowns, the governor of Minnesota started talking about Red Wing and, according to Hanisch, “He just had kind words to say about our town.”

While watching the conference, Hanisch felt motivated to bring some joy to the students he now knew would be missing out on a special day. “I just knew we had to do something for these kids graduating from Red Wing High School,” he said. Hanisch himself graduated from Red Wing in 1988.

He called his decorator and posted a message on Facebook, letting followers know that his bakery would be making two-layer cakes for every graduating senior at Red Wing High — about 220 people. The cakes would also be decorated in the school’s colors and they’d be free.

Soon after his first post went up, Hanisch got a call from a resident in the neighboring town of Goodhue, inquiring if he could do anything for their graduating seniors.

“I was floored!” said Hanisch. “The next day, I did another post announcing the Goodhue cakes. Next thing I know, a lady from Cannon Falls contacts me and wants to support her seniors! I posted that video the next day and then the rest is history.”

As word of Hanisch’s custom cakes for seniors began spreading to different towns, the baker said his shop was flooded with donations, allowing him and his staff to continue taking and fulfilling new orders.

Most of the confections are made from white cake with a buttercream base. For the past month, Hanisch’s baking team has been busy customizing every cake with the different schools’ colors. Some locals have gone a step further to make their cakes even more special.

“For Red Wing, they (the kids) actually come to the bakery to get the cake, so they get their name on it and get to choose the flavor,” said Hanisch, who added that other kids from smaller schools have been able to get personalized cakes as well.

For the rest of the cakes, Hanisch has been coordinating special deliveries with the schools based on their specific graduation timelines.

 

June 3, 2020, 3:05 PM EDT / Source: TODAY

By Aly Walansky

Grads Receive Diplomas Aboard Jet Skis After High School Refuses to Cancel Commencement Ceremony

Despite how the novel coronavirus shutdowns have canceled thousands of commencement ceremonies around the world, this Florida school found a creative way of celebrating their senior students while still respecting social distancing.

Back in May, the Somerset Island Prep charter high school in Key West handed out diplomas to all their graduating students—but rather than having the teens walk across a stage, the ceremony was held on the open sea.

In addition to donning caps and gowns, the grads were asked to wear life jackets and face masks so they could receive their diplomas aboard jet skis.

As the students cruised by on their jet skis, Somerset Island Principal Tom Rompella handed out each of their diplomas using an extendable grabber tool from the deck of a small boat.

“This final ceremony for our seniors represents the same theme that has played out throughout the entirety of their time at Island Prep; that no barrier is too large to overcome and that through creativity and hard work, we can overcome any challenge,” Rompella said in a press release.

WATCH the video here

Treasure Coast counties not eligible for CARES Act, advocating for small businesses

As most of Florida opens up to Phase 2 of its recovery plan, small businesses on the Treasure Coast continue to look for government assistance to help them through the economic downturn of the last three months.

Residents and small business owners may be hearing about funding from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act — known as the CARES Act — yet no Treasure Coast county qualifies for the cash.

The CARES Act is for counties with populations more than 500,000, and that’s only 13 governments in Florida. Among them are neighboring Brevard and Palm Beach counties leaving some with the impression that the Treasure Coast governments aren’ty trying to get a piece of the pie.

“We cannot let our businesses think we don’t care or think we are unwilling to help, because we do and are,” Joan Goodrich, executive director of the Business Development Board of Martin County, said in an email to board members.

Goodrich explained that Martin County, like St. Lucie and Indian River counties, is at a “significant disadvantage” because of its population size to acquire COVID-19 relief funds.

Last week, Martin County sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, calling on the state to find a way to distribute money to smaller counties, where mom-and-pop shops are struggling. Administrator Taryn Kryzda said she hopes the governor can redistribute money the state receives to county governments.

Business Development Boards in the region are working to collect information from small businesses on what specific issues they are finding that are hurting their plans to reopen.

The Treasure Coast’s unemployment rate for April was 13.6%, the most recent available data. The drastic jump comes after the region was experiencing record-low unemployment numbers.

In Martin County, most jobs lost were in low-income fields, most prominently food service and retail, according to the Business Development Board.

In Martin County, 95% of businesses are small businesses, Goodrich said, meaning they have fewer than 20 employees.

Some, she said, are struggling with cash flow issues since it is not common practice to keep large reserves. With enough stimulus to get them over the hump, like CARES Act money, it could play a large role in determining their future.

“It’s significant for a small business-based economy like ours, and certainly the rest of the Treasure Coast,” Goodrich said. “It’s the bread and butter, and we need more bread.”

 

Joshua Solomon, Treasure Coast Newspapers Published 6:12 p.m. ET June 5, 2020

Joshua Solomon is a watchdog and government reporter covering Martin County. You can reach him at 772-692-8935 or joshua.solomon@tcpalm.com. Support our local journalism.

Dad's hilarious review of daughter's pretend restaurant goes viral

People all across the country – and plenty of stuffed animals – are loving this toddler’s adorable eatery.

 

A father’s hilariously honest review about his daughter’s pretend restaurant has given thousands of people something to smile about over the past two weeks, while also promoting a meaningful message about black-owned businesses.

On May 21, Christopher Kyle, who lives in Detroit, posted a photo of himself seated at a tiny table while his daughter, 18-month-old Ava, was preparing for service at her play restaurant called Ava’s Kitchen.

Kyle decided to write a very detailed account of the experience and found a clever way to weave hilarity into an important reminder.

“So I tried to support another Black Owned Business for lunch today. It’s called Ava’s Kitchen, just opened end of April. It’s a very clean establishment, but whewww let me tell you about this owner,” Kyle’s post began.

“First off, I asked why there are balloons on my chair, and it’s not my birthday? She talm’bout, mind yah business; those are Mommy’s,” he said.

In addition to the random balloons, Kyle said there were also some issues with delayed service.

“I been waiting on my order to get done for 45 minutes, and I’m the only customer here. She was making good progress at first, then she stopped for 20 minutes to go watch Paw Patrol,” he said, referencing the wildly popular animated series.

Kyle finished up his post on a more serious note about the importance of supporting businesses owned by African Americans.

“Overall the customer service could be better, but the cook is a cutie; so I’ll give her another chance. Let’s not give up on Black businesses so fast after one mistake,” he said.

After the post went viral (in two weeks, it’s garnered over 30,000 likes and 1,500 comments), Kyle soon posted an update, reflecting on all of the attention Ava’s Kitchen had received.

“Just pulled back up to @myavachristine Kitchen after she went viral this past weekend and whewww, she got a line down the block y’all!,” he wrote in the post accompanying a picture with a line of stuffed animals waiting for a table while the tiny entrepreneur presided over the kitchen in her chef’s hat and apron.

This week, Kyle shared a message of gratitude due to the overwhelming response he’s received since first posting about his daughter’s play eatery.

“God has placed this unexplainable favor on my life, that draws people and attention to whatever I touch,” he said. “I can already see that favor has been passed onto Ava; but her blessings will be 10x what God is doing in my life! She’s already touched lives around the world, and she can’t even talk yet! Just wait until you see what we do next!”

June 4, 2020, 11:32 AM EDT / Source: TODAY

By Aly Walansky

Unemployment rate falls to 13.3% as economy posts surprise job gains

New York (CNN Business) The American economy just got a shocking piece of good news: The job market may be recovering well ahead of schedule.

The US unemployment rate surprisingly fell to 13.3% in May, as the economy gained 2.5 million jobs.

It was the largest monthly gain in new jobs since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking the data series in 1939.

The labor market rebounded from April’s drastic losses, when a revised 20.7 million jobs vanished. The unemployment rate last month soared to 14.7% as businesses shut during the coronavirus lockdown.

The Labor Department noted that during the pandemic, millions of workers were misclassified as “employed but not at work,” when they should have been counted as “unemployed on temporary layoff.” If it weren’t for those misclassifications, the unemployment rate would have been higher — around 19.2% in April and 16.1% in May, not including seasonal adjustments.

Still, economists’ estimates for the May report were way off, with expectations around 20% and about 8 million jobs lost.

Forecasts were miles off

How could the experts be so wrong? Well, this downturn isn’t like any others.

The economic shutdown was engineered. This has never been done before and it made it hard for economists to predict how the real world would behave.

While flipping a switch to “turn the economy off” worked, it wasn’t clear how or when the reverse would happen. Even after the buoyant May jobs report, there are plenty of unknowns, and economic forecasts could continue to fumble, said Nela Richardson, investment strategist at Edward Jones.

“There is no underselling it, this was a huge surprise,” said Daniel Zhao, senior economist at Glassdoor.

The jobs report is showing the first green shoots of the reopened economy — even though the unemployment rate is still higher than during the 2008 financial crisis, Zhao said.

The gradual reopening of the economy actually added new jobs rather than eliminating further positions.

Construction jobs, for example, increased by 464,000 in May, gaining back nearly half of what they lost in April. Construction activity is part of the first phase of reopening. Jobs also returned in retail, as well as education and health services which are counted together as one sector. Government jobs declined by 585,000.

Health care hires were boosted by dentists offices reopening, which added 244,800 jobs. Doctors and dentists offices were shut down for routine treatments during the height of the lockdown.

But not all new jobs were full-time positions. Part-time workers accounted for some two-fifths of the employment growth in May. Nearly 10.5 million people are working part-time for economic reasons, compared with 4.2 million in February.

The employment-population ratio, which measures how much of the working age population is employed, rose 1.5 percentage points to 52.8%. That comes after an 8.7 percentage point collapse in April — when the ratio hit its lowest level since records started in 1948. Despite the increase in May, the ratio is still lower than ever before.

“These improvements in the labor market reflected a limited resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed in March and April due to the coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it,” said William W. Beach, commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in a statement.

Following the shutdown of the economy in March, predicting what a reopening would look like and whether the labor market would bounce back proved difficult for economists.

Friday’s report provided an answer, but it doesn’t mean America is in the all clear yet.

“Just as much as we were hoping that job losses were temporary, we have to make sure that the job gains are permanent,” said Richardson.

The recovery is a good sign that the hoped-for rebound from the pandemic downturn is going to be faster than feared. Hopes for a V-shaped recovery, which had been all but abandoned following the April labor market numbers, might be revived.

“The labor market holds the keys to the economic trajectory,” Richardson said.

Government help still needed

President Donald Trump took credit for the better than expected report on Twitter, calling the numbers “incredible.”

“We’re going to be back and we’re opening our country,” said Trump during a press conference Friday morning. “And if you look at the lockdown governors … the ones that are most energetic about opening, they are doing tremendous business and that’s what these numbers are all about.”

The government responded to the crisis with a multi-trillion rescue package that expanded unemployment benefits to help the country through this recession.

Stimulus checks designed to get people spending and the economy back on its feet were just a one-off so far. Expanded unemployment benefits that added $600 per week in aid are set to end at the end of July. Washington supported businesses through the paycheck protection program, which required them to rehire a certain percentage of their workforces. But there’s a risk that some of those worker may be let go once the loan money runs out. Businesses are required to spend it within 24 weeks.

While the labor market rebounded in May, more help might be needed from Washington as economists wonder what will happen when the stimulus programs roll off.

Claims for unemployment benefits, which are reported by the Department of Labor, are still in unprecedented territory. Some 21.5 million Americans have filed for jobless benefits for at least two weeks in a row, Labor Department data showed Thursday. On top of that, 10.4 million people have filed for continued pandemic benefits, which are part of the government’s economic stimulus package.

Jobless claims don’t equal lost jobs, as the Labor Department and the BLS use different surveys to arrive at their data, but it shines a light on the continued pain for America’s workers even as the unemployment rate is coming down from its suspected April peak.

The US economy relies on consumer spending, which is why it’s so important to keep American wallets stuffed with cash. The current, second quarter of the year is still expected to be ugly, with forecasts as dire as a 40% annualized drop in GDP. But after Friday’s outperformance, experts might rethink their models.

We’re yet not out of the woods

Even with the surprising bit of good news, the job market remains in a deep hole, with nearly 20 million fewer jobs than in February.

Total US employment has still been set back by nearly a decade. And the total number of jobs is at its lowest point since December 2011.

A wider measure of unemployment, known as the U6, or underemployment rate, remained elevated at 21.2% in May, showing more than one in five American workers were either unemployed, working part-time “for economic reasons” or had dropped out of the labor force in recent weeks.

The declining headline unemployment rate also doesn’t tell the story of discrepancies between demographic groups. For example, overall unemployment went down, but white workers were the ones reaping the benefits.

The unemployment rate for white workers fell to 12.4%, while the rate for black workers crept up to 16.8%. More black workers joined the labor force last month, but because not all of them got jobs the unemployment rate ticked up. The rate ties the highest level it was at during the Great Recession.

This coronavirus recession is also much worse for women than it is for men. That is in part because sectors such as hospitality, which were hardest hit by the lockdown, employed more women than men before the pandemic. The unemployment rate for adult women was 13.9% in May, compared with a rate of 11.6% for adult males.

–Annalyn Kurtz, Tami Luhby and Katie Lobosco contributed to this article.

What if 2020 isn't canceled?

‘What if 2020 isn’t canceled?’ Inspiring poem with message of change goes viral

 

2020 is canceled.

This phrase and sentiment has taken over the social media feeds and minds of many who are overwhelmed with the challenging obstacles that have been forged in the first half of this year.

But one social media post is flipping that narrative, asking an important question instead: What if 2020 isn’t canceled?

“What if 2020 isn’t cancelled?⁣

What if 2020 is the year we’ve been waiting for?⁣

A year so uncomfortable, so painful, so scary, so raw — that it finally forces us to grow.⁣

A year that screams so loud, finally awakening us from our ignorant slumber.⁣

A year we finally accept the need for change.⁣

Declare change. Work for change. Become the change. A year we finally band together, instead of pushing each other further apart.⁣

2020 isn’t cancelled, but rather the most important year of them all.”

by lesliedwight

June 4, 2020, 6:54 PM EDT / Source: TODAY

By Alexander Kacala

Fla. Moves a Step Closer to ‘Normal’ Under Phase 2 Reopening

Gov. DeSantis announced that Phase 2 of the state’s 3-step reopening plan will go into effect on Friday morning. It doesn’t change real estate services that were already deemed essential, but it could give hope to some buyers and sellers who pulled back during the pandemic.

 

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that Phase 2 of the state’s 3-step reopening plan will go into effect on Friday morning through Executive Order 20-139.

It doesn’t change real estate services that were already deemed essential, but it should give hope to some buyers and sellers who pulled back during the pandemic. The changes don’t apply to the South Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, but the order allows some businesses in the counties to reopen “after each county seeks approval with a written request from the County Mayor or if no mayor the County Administrator.”

Under the executive order, bars, movie theaters, bowling alleys and concert halls are allowed to reopen. Most have some type of maximum occupancy requirements, along with general instructions to “maintain social distancing and sanitation protocols.”

In announcing the onset of Phase 2, DeSantis also warned that COVID-19 still remains a threat, and that “the virus isn’t gone.”

© 2020 Florida Realtors®

FLORIDA EXTENDS EVICTIONS BAN TO JULY 1

Just hours before the moratorium on evictions and foreclosures was set to expire, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a new executive order that extends the current ban to July 1.

 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Hours before a ban on Florida evictions and foreclosures was to go into effect, Gov. Ron DeSantis extended the current moratorium a second time. On Monday night around 8 p.m., the governor issued a new order that extends the ban until 12:01 a.m. on July 1.

DeSantis announced the extension without comment via an email, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

“I hereby extend Executive Order 20-94, as extended by Executive Order 20-121, until 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 2020,’’ the executive order reads (Executive Order 20-137).

The extension puts Florida’s foreclosure moratorium on track with a federal moratorium for loans held by entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced earlier that the eviction moratorium on single-family home foreclosures was extended to June 30.

While the order impacts evictions and foreclosures until July 1, it does not change Florida law, nor does it relieve tenants or parties to a transaction from their obligations under existing contracts.

The original order itself makes that clear, saying, “Nothing in this Executive Order shall be construed as relieving an individual from their obligation to make mortgage payments or rent payments.”

© 2020 Florida Realtors®

Nurse Creates Replacement N95 Mask

This Nurse Didn’t Just Create a Replacement N95 Mask – Hers Filters More

 

As Tommye Austin made her way around the COVID-19 unit in early April, she worried about how long her nurses were going to have the supplies they needed to protect them from the virus.

Her San Antonio, Texas, hospital was well stocked, but with a surge of cases expected in May, the senior vice president and chief nurse executive, worried whether there would be enough N95 masks—especially with every hospital in the world seeking them.

Then she remembered what her late husband always said: “If you can’t find something, and you can’t buy something, you make it.”

So that’s what Tommye did—the nurse-scientist whose resume is crammed with credentials, like R.N., Ph.D., MBA and NEA-BC (Nurse Executive Advanced-Board Certified), began building a better mousetrap.

In her rare free time, she enjoys embroidery and quilting at her sewing machine, but even with all her skills and credentials, it was a challenge to design an N95 equivalent.

Even after long days at her University Health System job, she worked through the night to perfect her mask.

She remembered her husband teaching her about the best air conditioning filters for their home being electrostatic: they were worth the higher price because they carry a charge that zaps more gunk from the air. So, when Tommye went shopping for materials for this project, she remembered the word ‘electrostatic’.

At about $25 each, Tommye bought three different filter models, cut through their paper and wire frames, and got to work.

“The efficiency of each model was around the same, but one was more pliable,” she said. “It gave your mask a nice shape and was very breathable.”

Her biggest challenge was getting the mask to fit snug over the nose and mouth – but not so tight that it would damage the skin. And it still had to leave room for carbon dioxide to escape.

For more than a week, Tommye came home from work and tinkered practically all night. Her initial $300 purchase was supplemented by another $2,000 worth of gear.

As she closed in on a prototype, she struggled with the final piece of the comfort-safety puzzle. Then she extended the fabric on the nose and pleated that extension. Voila—more air pocket, no added bulk.

It only took her ten days to design the TM 2020 (‘Tommye Mask’). And, it only took 24 hours and a local TV news story for it to become an internet sensation. By the next day, her masks had been showcased by Fox News and the New York Post.

The hospital was so inundated with requests for details that it posted step-by-step instructions later that week. At that point, Tommye only had the instructions in her head.

A Better Mousetrap

• 
  
  • 
    
    • The name N95 comes from the fact the masks filter 95% of airborne particles, such as viruses. Lab results show Tommye’s masks block 96.5%.
    
    
    • N95s weren’t intended for all-day use, so they tend to carve painful, unsightly marks into noses, cheeks and chins. Hers don’t.
    
    
    • With nowhere for exhaled carbon dioxide to escape, N95 wearers sometimes suffer dizziness or headaches. Hers have an air pocket so the C02 floats more easily away.
    
    
  
  

 

Although the TM 2020 is meant for non-commercial purposes, Tommye received over 1,500 offers from people willing to buy them. Messages have come from as far as Indonesia and South Africa.

After speaking with an old friend, Tommye heard that her daughter was a nurse in Houston, and had been using the same N95 mask for nearly two months. Brittany got a TM 2020 in the mail the next day.

Thousands of her mask have been created, so far, but only Tommye and a few others are wearing them at her hospital. Everyone else on the staff has access to barrier/surgical masks, N95 respirator masks, face shields, and hospital-issued scrubs.

Thanks to Tommye’s concern for nurses needing a backup in San Antonio, the TM 2020s are helping people to feel safer around the world, according to American Heart Association News.

SHARE This Nurse’s Mask Design With Friends on Social Media…

Need more positive stories and updates coming out of the COVID-19 challenge? For more uplifting coverage, click here.

 

School bus drivers find creative way to honor Class of 2020

With schools across the country canceling graduations, the bus drivers for Loveland City School District found a way to celebrate the Class of 2020.

 

The bus drivers for Ohio’s Loveland City School District are wishing their 392 graduating seniors good luck in the best way they know how.

A viral video from last week captured a bird’s-eye view of their special tribute: a fleet of 22 buses arranged to spell out “2020.” With schools across the country canceling commencement ceremonies due to the coronavirus crisis, administrators and parents alike have tried to find creative ways to make students still feel special, from drive-thru diploma handouts to wave parades.

Lisa Moorhead, who’s been a bus driver for 23 years and organized the event, told TODAY that it took about 3 1/2 hours to put together. She added that the seven drivers involved only knew they’d done it correctly when an art teacher in the district flew a drone to look at the busses from above.

“To us down on the ground, it looked like a maze,” she explained. “When Jim Barrett … took (the drone) up, there were tears and screams. We were so excited we’d done it.”

The response from parents in particular was “over the top” enthusiastic, Moorhead said. But the seniors, many of whom have known their bus drivers for years, were the inspiration.

“We didn’t have our last days with any of the kids in district,” she said. “We thought (school closing) was going to be three weeks, but it turned out to be the rest of the year. As bus drivers, we bond with our kids. We’re the first ones they see in the morning and the last ones before they go home.”

The clip on the school district’s Facebook page has been viewed almost 4,000 times.

“This is so awesome and really touching!! Thank you for your dedication!!” commented one user on the video.

“Thank you to the drivers. They have the hardest job of all, and I am a retired teacher,” wrote another.

“Loveland really comes out for their students,” added a third.

In a release published on the school district’s website, other Loveland bus drivers shared why they participated.

“Some of us have been around long enough to transport these kids since kindergarten, and some of us have only been working with the district for a few years, but the one thing we all have in common is the love for our students,” said Jennifer Bloom Bowman. “This is a huge accomplishment and anyway we can show them some love, we will do it. So here’s to the Class of 2020. Your bus drivers are proud of all of you.”

Fellow driver Michele Winter added that each student “will always hold a special place” in their hearts.

“Every story, every hug, every laugh and every tear with them are memories and sometimes even lessons. To the kids of the past, the present and the future, this is for you!”

May 26, 2020, 11:08 AM EDT / Source: TODAY

By Maura Hohman