YARD SALE: THE SEQUEL at the American Legion Post 56, Cheriton
Saturday Aug. 19 8 AM – 12:30 PM
Due to the weather on Saturday Aug. 12, the Auxiliary decided to continue the sale one more week. ALL proceeds to benefit local veterans!
Archives for August 2017
School Board approves increase to school meal prices
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 is a federal statute signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 13, 2010. The bill set new nutrition standards for schools, and allocates $4.5 billion for their implementation. The new nutrition standards had been a point initiative for First Lady Michelle Obama’s fight against childhood obesity and part of her Let’s Move! initiative.
The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act allows USDA to make reforms to the school lunch and breakfast programs by improving the critical nutrition and hunger safety net for millions of children.
According to the Healthy, Hunger-Free Act of 2010, schools that participate in the National School Lunch Program must ensure that schools provide the same level of support for lunches served to students paying for lunch as for lunches served to students eligible for free lunch. School food authorities must compare the price for paid lunches to the difference between the per meal federal reimbursement for free and paid lunches. For school year 2015-2016, this value is $2.70 (difference between the free reimbursement rate of $3.06 and the paid reimbursement rate of $0.36). [Read more…]
August Heats Up with Events in Cape Charles
August heats up with lots of events coming to Cape Charles. Art Rocks the Inns is this Sunday, and the Cape Charles Fireman’s Carnival continues thru the weekend.
Nancy Proto presses School Board for more data
At the June 10th regular meeting of the School Board, recommendations from the Teacher Retention Committee (TRC) were scheduled to be discussed at the August 10th School Board work session. School Board Chairman William Oakley dropped this item from the agenda, pushing the discussion back until later in August. Board member Nancy Proto questioned why the item was not on the agenda, and Oakley responded it was an oversight, and he would be sure to put it on the agenda for the next work session.
Proto also pressed the board for more data on student progress in core subjects like reading. “I’d like to see more reports, at least on a quarterly basis.” Proto said. “How do we measure trends unless we can see the data.” Board members Shannon Dunham and Jo Ann Molera commented that they had seen that level of data in the past. Proto agreed that she had also seen some data, but questioned why it was not available on a more routine basis so that it could be discussed by the board at meetings and work sessions.
Staff noted that those data points had been provided in the past, and could easily be provided to the board upon request.
Op Ed: We need an honest conversation about Tangier, global warming, and sea level rise
Special to the Mirror by Charles A. Landis
Unfortunately, absent from discussion about climate change, global warming, and rising seal levels on Tangier and the coastal communities of the Eastern Shore, is the intellectually honest information needed to more fully understand the issue.
National, and local, media report on the different views of Al Gore and Mayor of Tangier, James Eskridge, on climate change and the rise of the sea level of Chesapeake Bay. Mr. Jay Ford of Eastern Shorekeepers, joins with Mr. Gore and is quoted as admonishing Mayor Eskridge for saying, in his lifetime, 58 years, and as a waterman, he has observed no rise in sea level. Mr. Ford asserts that it is an indisputable fact that seal level rising is the cause of Tangier’s problem, not erosion as Mayor Eskridge believes..
Also, published in local newspapers, is an open letter to Congressman Scott Taylor by Mr. Tony Picardi, speaking on behalf of the Citizens Climate Lobby, which says “We on the Eastern Shore are in desperate need of a solution that will reverse the accumulation of greenhouse gasses and help our economy.”
Here are some inconvenient truths that should be part of an honest conversation about Tangier, global warming, and sea level rise:
Rising sea levels, beginning 10,000 years ago, turned the river flow of the Susquehanna River Valley into a drowned river which we now call the Chesapeake Bay. Archaeologists from the Smithsonian Institution have determined the sea level of the Chesapeake Bay 3,000 years ago was 12 feet lower than today. None of this was caused by carbon emissions from human activity. [Read more…]
Jim Baugh Outdoors: How to catch Cobia
Jim Baugh Outdoors TV 2017 features on sight casting for Cobia on the Chesapeake Bay with guest captain Clinton Lassard. The show was filmed on the new Tideline 235 Catamaran and produced out of Cape Charles Virginia. Fishing location was the anchorage area of the Bay in and around the deep water channel. Cobia baits were bucktails and live eels. Guest on the show included co owner of Tideline Boats Michael.
Northampton County Teachers tell their side of the story
Teacher retention, keeping teachers on the Shore is one of the most important and critical issues facing Northampton county. The Mirror has interviewed and talked with several teachers, and the reasons people leave the Northampton school district is multi-faceted. This year, the county lost 25% of its teachers—that means there will be over 35 new teachers that will need to be integrated into the system. The demographics can be broken down into categories such as attrition, moving, etc.; sources tell us that of the 25% that are leaving, at least half are leaving because of job dissatisfaction. Some of the factors included inadequate administrative support, isolated working conditions, poor support and consistency regarding student discipline, lower salaries and a lack of collaborative teacher influence over school decisions, decisions that directly affect performance in the classroom.
Note: This article only sampled around 9% of the teachers in the school system. It should also be noted that we only spoke with teachers who are currently working in the school system. In future articles, we will be talking to teachers that have left, asking why they chose to leave Northampton, or the field in general. While responses varied, we are only presenting those that were most common. While we did not want to paint the entire system with the same brush, was also did not want to throw individual buildings under the bus. As was noted in the Teacher Retention Committee’s surveys, responses vary by school.
Mobility
One way teachers try to avoid burn out is to transfer—either to a new school, or even change the grade level they are teaching. We heard over and over that transfer requests were almost never discussed. Instead, teachers only received a pink slip rubber stamped with a big red ‘DENIED’ notice with no explanation one way or the another. Another issue is the lack of upward mobility at the school system. The major complaint heard from teachers is that the school system rarely if ever hires or promotes from within. In most cases, administration looks to bring people in from outside. While bringing in new blood may be a way freshen a stale system, it also impedes morale, and forces teachers to move out if they want to move up.
[Read more…]
Northam, Fairfax, Herring Headline Eastern Shore Event Aug. 20th
Virginia Democratic candidates Ralph Northam, Justin Fairfax, and Mark Herring will be featured at a “Meet-and-Greet” gathering on Sunday, August 20 at the Accomack County Airport. Scheduled from 1-3 pm, the event is a chance for all Virginia voters (and voters-to-be) to meet and discuss issues with the Democratic candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and with Willie Randall, candidate for the House of Delegates. The program will be moderated by Senator Lynwood Lewis.
Born in Nassawadox, gubernatorial candidate Ralph Northam grew up on the Eastern Shore and attended Accomack County public schools rather than attending the private “Academy” system as many privileged Virginians did. He graduated with distinction from Virginia Military Institute, then from Eastern Virginia Medical School. He served eight years of active duty in the Army, treating soldiers injured in Desert Storm and rising to the rank of major. Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor since 2013, he also is Assistant Professor of Neurology at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
His platform focuses on developing an economy that serves all Virginians (including bringing fast internet service to rural area such as the Shore;) advancing healthcare by improving the Affordable Care Act and expanding Medicaid; improving veteran healthcare and job opportunities; enhancing the quality of Virginia’s education system, and protecting the environment (with particular focus on the Bay.)
[Read more…]
Northam, Other Virginia Democrats Hold leads in all Three Upcoming Statewide Elections
Results of current poll released by Virginia Commonwealth University’s L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs
Democrat Ralph Northam holds a five-point lead over Republican Ed Gillespie among likely voters — 42 percent to 37 percent — in the race to become the next governor of Virginia, according to a poll released today by the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Virginia voters who already know for whom they will vote were surprisingly consistent in their preferences across statewide races, according to the poll, conducted by the Wilder School’s Office of Public Policy Outreach. However, with more than three months to go before Election Day, a significant number of voters remain undecided in each race.
Libertarian candidate Cliff Hyra polled at 6 percent, while 13 percent of voters remained undecided in the governor’s race. Democrat Justin Fairfax holds a five-point lead in the lieutenant governor’s race, with 43 percent of likely voters supporting him and 38 percent supporting Republican Jill Vogel. Fifteen percent of likely voters remain undecided.
In the attorney general race, 45 percent of likely voters favor Democrat Mark Herring and 39 percent support Republican John Adams. Fifteen percent of likely voters are undecided.
The poll, a random sample of 806 adults in Virginia contacted by landline and cell telephone from July 17-25, has an overall margin of error of 4.2 percent. The margin of error for registered voters (707 adults) is plus or minus 4.5 percent. The margin of error for likely voters (538 voters) is 5.1 percent.
Town of Exmore Presents “Hamlet”: Free Shakespeare in The Park Set to Launch
Professional production of classic tragedy set to open in the Exmore Town Park, Friday, September 22 at 7:30 p.m., presented free for audiences
EXMORE, VA — “All the world’s a stage!” says Shakespeare. And Friday evening, September 22, at 7:30 p.m., the Exmore Town Park on Virginia’s Eastern Shore will become the stage for a free, full-length performance of Hamlet, one of Shakespeare’s most significant plays.
Presented by the Town of Exmore, in partnership with the Brown Box Theatre Project, a Boston-based, professional performing arts troupe, Shakespeare’s classic tragedy will take place outdoors with the Eastern Shore’s dark night sky and brilliant stars overhead, and nature as a backdrop. This is Shakespeare as “groundlings” might have viewed the play in Elizabethan times.
The atmosphere is Informal and family-friendly with grassy spots for picnicking, and a playground nearby for restless children. It’s a uniquely Eastern Shore experience, intended to make classical theatre more easily accessible to everyone.
“This production marks the beginning of a series of annual events the Town is planning as we work to establish Exmore as a cultural and entertainment anchor point for the ESVA,” said Exmore’s Mayor Doug Greer. “The arts are essential, and we want to make them more available.” [Read more…]