Archive for the ‘Community Interest’ Category

It doesn’t take much to help others during the holiday season. Share your good will with other local families. Food, personal care items, cleaning supplies, new and gently-used clothing – cleaned (especially coats), and financial contributions. See the list below, working with local organizations Koinonia and Food for Others in the spirit of giving.

• financial contributions
  online to Food for Others (via Network for Good), click here
• food, clothing, goods taken to Koinonia
  • food
    • canned beans
    • canned fruit
    • canned meats – ham, turkey, chicken, tuna, and beef
    • canned soup, stew, chili
    • coffee
    • jelly
    • macaroni and cheese
    • peanut butter
    • soup
    • tuna
  • personal care items bath soap
    • conditioner
    • diapers (size 4, 5, 6)
    • shampoo
    • toilet tissue
    • toothbrush / toothpaste
  • cleaning supplies
    • dish / dishwasher detergent
    • laundry detergent
  • new or gently-used clothing (clean)
    • coats
    • socks
    • underwear

When: First full weekend of August (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) each year. The 2011 holiday will take place on August 5-7, 2011.

What’s Exempt: During this three-day period, purchases of qualifying school supplies selling for $20 or less per item, and purchases of qualifying clothing and footwear selling for $100 or less per item will be exempt from sales tax. Retailers may also choose to absorb the tax on other items during the holiday period, but they are responsible for paying the tax on those items to the Department of Taxation.

Other Information:

• Guidelines (PDF)
• Frequently Asked Questions (PDF)
• Lists of Exempt School Supplies and Exempt Clothing and Footwear (PDF)
• Tax Holiday Information Center

from Virginia.gov
http://www.tax.virginia.gov/site.cfm?alias=SchoolSuppliesAndClothingHoliday

More than 3,000 fans flossed simultaneously at the Massachusetts Dental Society-sponsored “Floss Night” at the Lowell Spinners’ baseball game June 29, 2011 in Lowell, Mass. It was a flossing record, say MDS officials. MDS President Charles Silvius tossed out the first pitch of the game for the Spinners, the Single-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. MDS distributed oral health information to fans as they entered the park, and each one received an Oral-B floss pick donated by Procter & Gamble. Photo by John Corneau/Lowell Spinners

Yep, it’s Shark Week again on Discovery Channel, and as much as it makes me nervous to go ocean swimming after seeing these episodes it definitely is entrancing to watch.

Local (Maryland, Chesapeake Bay) fossil shark teeth collecting and information, click here.

Here is some information about shark teeth to go along with Shark Week:

Shark teeth are some of the most unusual aspects of a shark.

They are very sharp, wedge-shaped, serrated and can grow as long as five centimeters (1 inch = 2.54 centimeters). It’s very common for a shark to have more than four sets of teeth during its lifetime, some even have as many as five or six sets of shark teeth throughout their lives.

The shark teeth are arranged in rows, most sharks have about five rows of teeth at any time. As the shark teeth are worn out and fall out, they are replaced by the next row. Shark teeth are replaced very quickly, some sharks can wear out a full set of teeth in less than six months. In a lifetime some sharks can grow and lose between ten thousand and thirty thousand teeth.

The bite of an infected mosquito, tick or other disease carrying insect may result in a life changing illness, such as West Nile virus or Lyme disease. The Disease Carrying Insect Program (DCIP), established in 2003, works to minimize the threat of insect-borne diseases through active surveillance, vector management, and community education activities to help protect county residents.

Learn more about tick borne diseases, how to remove a tick safely, etc., through the DCIP program, click here.

I had a fun time talking with 75 kindergarten children, ‘kinderbears’, at Franconia Elementary School today, home of the Franconia Mustangs. We talked about sugarbugs and cavities, how to make sure teeth are clean, and what a dentist does. Thanks to all the children and their teachers, especially Ms. Owens for organizing the speakers. See their pictures below or click here.

* TRAFFIC ADVISORY *

Telegraph Road Closure at Capital Beltway January 14-17, 2011 Motorists Urged to Use Alternate Routes to Avoid Delays; map, click here.

Weather permitting, construction activities related to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project will require the complete closure of northbound and southbound Telegraph Road, as well as several Capital Beltway on- and off-ramps in the interchange, beginning at 9:00 p.m., Friday, January 14 through 5:00 a.m., Monday, January 17. Complete closure is necessary to enable the demolition of the old Beltway bridge over Telegraph Road during a single weekend, thereby reducing subsequent impacts on travelers and nearby residents. Recognizing the significant inconvenience to the public, the project is strongly advising motorists to use alternate routes. See the document below or click here.

It doesn’t take much to help others during the holiday season. Share your good will with other local families. Food, personal care items, cleaning supplies, new and gently-used clothing – cleaned (especially coats), and financial contributions. See the list below, working with local organizations Koinonia and Food for Others in the spirit of giving.

• financial contributions
  online to Food for Others (via Network for Good), click here  
• food, clothing, goods taken to Koinonia
  • food
    • canned beans
    • canned fruit
    • canned meats – ham, turkey, chicken, tuna, and beef 
    • canned soup, stew, chili
    • coffee
    • jelly
    • macaroni and cheese
    • peanut butter
    • soup
    • tuna
  • personal care items bath soap
    • conditioner
    • diapers (size 4, 5, 6)
    • shampoo
    • toilet tissue
    • toothbrush / toothpaste
  • cleaning supplies
    • dish / dishwasher detergent
    • laundry detergent
  • new or gently-used clothing (clean)
    • coats
    • socks
    • underwear

Saturday, September 25, 2010

On September 25, 2010, DEA will coordinate a collaborative effort with state and local law enforcement agencies to remove potentially dangerous controlled substances from our nation’s medicine cabinets. Collection activities will take place from 10:00 a.m. through 2:00 p.m. at sites established throughout the country.  The National Take-Back Day provides an opportunity for the public to surrender expired, unwanted, or unused pharmaceutical controlled substances and other medications for destruction.  These drugs are a potential source of supply for illegal use and an unacceptable risk to public health and safety.

This one-day effort is intended to bring national focus to the issue of increasing pharmaceutical controlled substance abuse. 

• The program is anonymous. 
• Prescription and over the counter solid dosage medications, i.e. tablets and capsules accepted.
• Intra-venous solutions, injectables, and needles will not be accepted.
• Illicit substances such as marijuana or methamphetamine are not a part of this initiative.  

Find collection site(s) near you
Please check back often as new collection sites will be added daily.

Photo identification with fingerprints gives authorities vital information to help them locate a missing child.  The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office periodically schedules events where you can get a FREE photo of your child and a set of his or her fingerprints using quick, clean, inkless technology.

Events scheduled for Aug. 14, 2010 :

• 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Springfield Whole Foods
  Health and Safety Fair/Child ID Event
  8402 Old Keene Mill Road
  Springfield, Virginia  22152

For more information, please contact 2nd Lt. Jonathan Ortiz via e-mail or call 703-246-2274 (TTY for the hearing impaired: 711).