While going through my past pictures I came across this picture taken during Vegas Night sponsored by the Lady Lake Chamber ten years ago. This picture shows one of the Chamber members winning chips not money. It was a fun game night and went on for a number of years.
By TomL
China and the COVID-19 threaten shortage of Smithfield meat processing plants.
Large number of employees at the slaughterhouses and meat processing plants are diagnosed with COVID-19 putting America’s supply of meat in jeopardy. If you can’t process or no one is there to process the meat the farmers take a hit. We should never have allowed our food chain supply be dominated by another country.
Smithfield products are also sold under other names like Nathan’s Famous, Farmland, Eckrich, Armour and Healthy Ones, etc.
This started in 2013, lets see who was in office??? A Chinese holding company bought the long time Smithfield brand based in Virginia. Many plants remain in America but are under holding company control.
Some of the plants involved in the closures are in Cudahy, Wisconsin; Martin City, Missouri; and Sioux Falls, South Dakota and others. Smithfield with plants across our country employ ten of thousands of Americans. Continue reading
On ‘Covid19’ – These (below) are “Quotes” from the press: Readers questions not answered!
Q-“Masks in a medical setting stop the wearer’s fluids from contaminating other patients”.
AISI-Why then should we not all wear a mask to protect those around us?
AISI-For the same reason, ask that people around us do the same?
Q-“Mask N95 was, at some point determined to be a safe for medical usage”.
AISI-N95, means only 95% protection. How many ‘Medic’ infections would have been avoided if N100 masks were used exclusively”.
Q-“Cost efficiency would also figure in as to why one was chosen over the other”. Continue reading
Dear Friends,
As I write this column, the COVID-19 crises is still underway but we are seeing some signs that the precautions we have all been taking are beginning to work. Models and projections that we have seen are continually being readjusted in a positive direction. The number of infections, hospitalizations and deaths are much lower than previously thought. Progress is being made, thanks to strong leadership by our Governor and his emergency management team. His actions have been balanced and reasonable because he recognizes that statewide shutdowns, quarantines and curfews are not effective as a one-size-fits-all approach. Allowing local communities to address their specific circumstances and identifying virus “hot spots” are much more efficient at controlling further outbreak.
Moving forward, test and treat is going to be the best long-term solution we have at fighting this problem. No one can say for sure how long this virus will be around, and whether or not it will come back in another season. This is brand new to all of us and is, in part, what makes it scary for most people. Now is a time for faith, not fear. The media is constantly showing us the numbers of deceased victims, and images from New York hospitals that are struggling, but what they aren’t showing is the number of people that have fully recovered. Our healthcare systems are some of the best in the world and the professionals caring for our sick people there are highly trained and competent. For that, we are extremely blessed. Continue reading
The following is a review of just some of the ways the CEP is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic:
Get. Gather. Go.
Hopefully, you saw our efforts around the marketing blitz to GET businesses informed on the Paycheck Protection Program, have them GATHER the necessary information, and GO apply. We ran radio, billboards, social media, cable, and print. The social media campaign reached more than 50,000 people. We created a dedicated website (GetGatherGo.com) in addition to our COVID-19 response page. The goal was to get as many local businesses as possible to apply. We hosted a webinar on filling out the application and filled it to our 100-seat capacity. The webinar was recorded, posted on our website, and was viewed more than 1,000 times. Finally, actively engaged with all of our lending institutions to make sure businesses had the latest tips on applying.
Local Loan Fund
The City and County have both approved funding for a local loan fund. The Paycheck Protection Program has moved much faster than anyone anticipated and is much more attractive to borrowers than originally promoted (the loan is forgivable and any portion not forgiven carries a 1% interest rate). This is a much better option for our businesses and we are encouraging those who were interested to pursue this instead. However, the CEP finalized the agreement with both the City and County so that we can activate this program should we need to in the coming days. As a note – the CEP is taking no fees or admin on this program. Continue reading
Easter was good. It was just a small part of our family not the 25 we originally planned, but for good reason. We had a one child Easter egg hunt for my grandson. He was happy and we had a nice meal for five of us. It is our duty to make sure that those around us know what Easter really means.
Our world has become a hostile place with tornados ripping through the country side and killing people, lethal viruses creeping across our country killing people. We can’t live in fear. We just go with what happens and pray for the best.
The virus brought out some peoples’ good side. I was pumping gas and a guy I have never seen before walked up and handed me some gloves and said will these help. I have extra to share he said. I called on a customer that gave me a face mask to help protect me from the virus.
A lot of my customers just shut down. One locked his doors but with an open sign on the door. If a customer came to the door they were allowed in to make their purchase. One customer said she could not keep enough product on the shelves, people are buying extra. Continue reading
A four-way stop is any intersection with a stop sign in each direction, a flashing red light in each direction, or an inoperable traffic light. Traffic lights that are not working should be treated as a four-way stop sign. Four-way stops are usually, but not always, labeled as such, having a rectangular sign below the octagonal shape which reads something to the effect of, “4-Way Stop,” “Four-Way Stop,” or “All-Way Stop.”
- Each driver arriving at a four-way stop must first come to a complete stop, then one driver proceeds at a time.
- If turning, as you approach a four-way stop, use your turn signal about one hundred feet prior to reaching the stop sign. The four-way stop is one of the most crucial places for using your turn signal compared to almost any other driving situation.
- Four-way stops always operate in a clockwise direction. So, the car furthest to the right always has the right of way, and then cars take their turns in a clockwise direction.
- If multiple cars approach a four-way stop at about the same time, the driver who comes to a complete stop first proceeds first.
- If two or more cars arrive at a four-way stop simultaneously, the driver furthest to the right always proceeds first, and each next driver in the clockwise direction follows.
- If four cars arrive at a four-way stop simultaneously, drivers going straight should proceed first. If all four are turning right, they may all proceed simultaneously. These aside, there is no distinguishable way to see who should go first, so the intersection is at a standstill until one driver gets up the nerve and begins to inch forward, alerting the other drivers of his or her intentions, and proceeds through the intersection (thus starting the clockwise rotation from that driver).
- If two cars opposite each other are proceeding straight, both turning right, or one proceeding straight with the other turning right, they may go at the same time. The turn then goes to the adjacent cars at the stop, who may follow the same rule if applicable.
Follow these tips to avoid adding further miscommunication to the situation. Continue reading
Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced that 32,614 laptop computers are being distributed to 34 mostly small, rural school districts throughout Florida and the Florida A&M University Developmental Research School. This was made possible through a partnership with the Panhandle Area Educational Consortium (PAEC), Northeast Florida Educational Consortium (NEFEC) and Heartland Educational Consortium (HEC), and three additional school districts that are not members of a consortium.
“Today’s announcement speaks volumes about how the Department of Education, our school districts and our teachers are coming together to ensure Florida students have the resources they need to continue their education through the COVID-19 crisis,” said Governor DeSantis. “Florida is truly raising the bar for distance learning.”
“I am grateful our staff at the Department were able to quickly identify funds and work with Florida’s educational consortiums, whose membership is made up of smaller rural districts that often need help consolidating resources, and determine the gaps in device accessibility for students, many of whom are low income and in need of this critical support,” said State Board Chair Andy Tuck.
When the COVID-19 crisis indicated the need for distance learning, the Department proactively began calling laptop suppliers throughout Florida and reaching out to Florida’s rural county school district consortia to identify both available supply and demand.
“I am grateful for the work that all 67 county school districts did to implement their distance learning plans by March 30, and I’m equally grateful to support these students in districts that lacked the resources to fully equip their students and teachers for success,” said Commissioner Corcoran. “Nearly all of these students are low-income students, and Florida making the extra effort to fight for these students is another example of how Florida never relents in the fight to close achievement gaps.”
For more information on the Florida Department of Education’s response to COVID-19, please visit http://www.fldoe.org/em-response/index.stml.
Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the following bills:
- CS/CS/CS/SB 140 – Fireworks
- SB 348 – Florida Kidcare Program
- CS/CS/SB 1060 – Public Records and Meetings
- SB 828 – Florida ABLE Program
- CS/CS/CS/SB 1794 – Constitutional Amendments
- SB 362 – Florida Tourism Marketing
- CS/HB 7097 – Taxation
Tallahassee, Fla. – Today, during a COVID-19 response roundtable at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Governor Ron DeSantis announced actions the state is taking to improve Florida’s reemployment assistance program. The Governor was joined at the roundtable by Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) Executive Director Ken Lawson, Department of Management Services (DMS) Secretary Jonathan Satter and Department of Revenue (DOR) Executive Director Dr. Jim Zingale.
“A lot of people are hurting right now through no fault of their own,” said Governor DeSantis. “A flawed and bureaucratic reemployment system should be the last thing that prevents them from getting assistance. Last week, I directed DEO to take whatever means necessary to fix the system and since then they have made significant progress. I appreciate the many state employees that have been working around the clock to help their fellow Floridians.”
Last week, Governor DeSantis signed Executive Order 20-93, directing DEO and other executive agencies to take necessary actions to improve DEO’s Reemployment Assistance Program. Continue reading
