Paralympics Update

A photo of Nick Scandone with Maureen McKinnon-Tucker after they clinched a gold medal in the SKUD-18 fleet Friday with two races left to go is shown below. Nick, who has ALS, has been working toward a gold medal for 20 years and expressed his gratitude toward friends, family and those in the local yacht club who provided so much support after the victory.

In other US paralympic team news, the US Women's sitting volleyball team, shown at right, will play China in the finals, after upsetting the team from the Netherlands; the US Womens' basketball team moves on to the semifinals after defeating China; and the cycling team won seven medals on the first day of competition.

Hurricane Ike evacuation shelters

Salvation Army:

On Friday in San Antonio, The Salvation Army will continue to serve meals from a large mobile kitchen and two canteens stationed at Kelly Air Force Base. The Army is serving about 600 meals at a time, including a breakfast and midnight supper. Several smaller mobile canteens units will deploy to San Antonio for staging once the storm clears the coast.

In Tyler, The Salvation Army began feeding on Thursday at the evacuee registration center. Approximately 50 bus loads of people have already arrived and more are expected today. Additional canteens from the Gustav response will be staging there, along with five Southern Baptist kitchens and a satellite communications trailer, among other materials and equipment.

In addition, several Salvation Army units in Texas have mobilized to support sheltering and feeding including:

-- Texarkana - sheltering and feeding

-- Paris - feeding

-- Tyler - feeding and sheltering first responders

-- Abilene - feeding at an American Red Cross (ARC) shelter in Marshall

-- Port Arthur - feeding at an ARC shelter in Nacogdoches

-- Lufkin - feeding at Civic Center

-- College Station - feeding breakfasts at ARC shelter on Texas A&M Campus

-- Temple - feeding at scattered sites in Bell County

-- Killeen - feeding at two sites in Killeen

-- Dallas-Ft. Worth - prepared to feed at several sites in the Metroplex beginning Friday

-- Kerrville - feeding in New Braunfels

American Red Cross

State of Texas Activates Shelter Hubs for Hurricane IKE

The State of Texas has activated the Shelter Hub in Huntsville as of 2:30 pm this afternoon. The Greater Houston Area Chapter of the American Red Cross is currently supporting the shelters in Huntsville Texas. Evacuees will go to a reception area, which is on the northbound side of I-45, south of Huntsville. It is at Mile Marker 101, which is a weigh station (for trucks). They will be assigned and directed to a specific shelter in that area. People evacuating from Galveston who need shelter are strongly encouraged to go North on I-45 to the Huntsville Shelter Hub or the Dallas Shelter Hub. Those evacuating from Brazoria County who need shelter are encouraged to go to Shelter Hubs in either Bryan/College Station or Austin.

Evacuee shelters

Wilkerson-Greines Activity Center, 5201 C.A. Roberson Blvd. is the evacuee sign-in center. People fleeing Hurricane Ike should register there to be assigned a shelter.

Tarrant County shelters have been prepared at these locations:

Midway Recreation Center, 300 E. Midway Drive, Euless

Worth Heights Community Center, 3551 New York Ave., Fort Worth

Highland Hills Community Center, 1600 Glasgow Road, Fort Worth

Greenbriar Community Center , 5200 Hemphill St., Fort Worth

Handley/Meadowbrook Community Center, 6201 Beaty St., Fort Worth

Eugene McCray Community Center, 4932 Wilbarger St., Fort Worth

Martin Luther King Community Center, 5565 Truman Drive, Fort Worth

North Tri-Ethnic Community Center, 2950 Roosevelt Ave., Fort Worth

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Special needs shelter In Fort Worth, the Fire Station Community Center, 1501 Lipscomb, and HAWS Athletic Center, 600 Congress, will serve as a shelter for people with special needs.

Pet care Pets will be sheltered at the Fort Worth Animal Care and Control Division, 4900 Martin St. All pets will be microchipped so they can be returned to their owners.

Information center An information center was set up by the city of Burleson and the Red Cross to help people arriving by car on Interstate 35W. It is at the Seventh-day Adventist Church at 601 S. Burleson Blvd.

more updates available here

call 211 for shelter information if self evacuating

It's so fascinating when I get takeout during lunch

During my lunch break yesterday, I decided to treat myself to garlic eggplant at a restaurant around the corner. I rolled in, gave them my order and was returning a call on my cell phone when I noticed that, at two of the four tables I could see, business-type folks were looking over at me with that rather long look sometimes referred to as a stare.

Let's be clear here. There's a difference between staring and staaaarrrriiiinnngggggg. The latter is like taffy that just keeps getting pulled.

At this point I'm on the phone with a client and concentrating on the call. I listen, answer him and look over again. Still staring. The call ends. Still staring. The waiter brings me my takeout food and he sees me looking at them looking at me so he looks over at them.

So now they are staring at me, I am staring back at them and the waiter is staring back at them. The waiter says "What's wrong with them? They've never seen a wheelchair before?"

I shrug. "Don't have time. Have to get back to work. Thanks."

"But that is so rude," the waiter says, ready to go to battle about it.

Incorrigibles.

"I have to get back to work," I tell the waiter and thank him.

They are still staring as I leave.

Free program for caregivers of loved ones with Alzheimer's

The Copper Ridge Institute, affiliated with The Johns Hopkins University, is a leading provider of dementia research, care and education. The Institute has developed the first training resource of its kind for caregivers, providing a step-by-step method for caring for loved ones with Alzheimer's disease. Available as a DVD and webcast, the FREE program (www.alzcast.org) recreates many of the daily situations that caregivers may encounter and provides coaching for each of these activities based on best practices developed by The Copper Ridge Institute.

In the arena of Alzheimer's disease the overwhelming emphasis has been on finding the cure. Little emphasis has been placed on researching effective care and teaching best practices for persons with memory impairment. The Copper Ridge Institute has taken a leadership role in the care arena. Fourteen years of clinical work and collaboration has enabled The Copper Ridge Institute to establish a program of care and treatment that brings dignity and a quality of life to those persons and families struggling with Alzheimer's disease. Caring for a Loved One with Alzheimer's Disease is a breakthrough program that will help many of us faced with the daunting and emotionally charged task of caring for those we love with dementia.

You can obtain a copy of the free DVD at their site here.

via NJCIM list serv

Volunteer Center of North Texas seeks help

DISASTER RELIEF - HURRICANE IKE

Thursday, September 11, 2008 - Local municipalities, the Red Cross and The Salvation Army are setting up shelters for evacuees from the Gulf Coast throughout North Texas.

Evacuees are currently being received at the Dallas Convention Center. Nearly 300 buses are expected to arrive today in the North Texas area, with 10-15,000 total possibly needing shelter in our communities.

Volunteers are needed now, and for the next several days, both at the shelters and to work at phone banks, administrative offices, and warehouses of the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, the North Texas Food Bank and the Volunteer Center of North Texas.

The Volunteer Center of North Texas is scheduling all volunteers for these organizations. Organizations that can provide groups of volunteers should call 1-866-797-8268 for information and to be scheduled.

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Those who are self-evacuating for Hurricane Ike should call 211 for shelter information.

Silver and bronze for US crews in historic wins at Paralympics

Two U.S. crews made history Thursday at the 2008 Paralympic Games, winning two of the first-ever awarded medals in the sport of rowing. The mixed four with coxswain won silver, while the women's single sculls won bronze to highlight the final day of competition at Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park in Beijing, China. via paralympics.teamusa.org

Swimmer Popovich won her fourth gold medal of this Paralympics and 14th lifetime gold medal

Two medals in Pentathlon - Skiba wins silver, Campbell wins gold

Three medals in Track & Field Josiah Jamison along with his guide celebrated winning gold in the men's 100m in his Paralympics debut. He will also run in the 200m and 400 m events. Galli and Forber-Pratt earned gold and bronze in their events

And move over Dara Torres - Barbara Buchan, at the age of 52, won gold in cycling after 26 years of competing and five Paralympic appearances. A former competitor on the short list for a place on the US National Team, she was injured during a qualifying race for the World Championships in her 20's in a pileup, at a time when no helmets were worn. A photo of her is shown above on an orange racing bike on an indoor racetrack, wearing the blue and white US outfit.

Murderball has begun at the Paralympics - quad rugby! Go quads, go quads....

And here's some Yahoo sports photos of the Paralympics I found this evening.....

Gabon's Thierry Mabicka, in a photo to the right holds his left hand up to hide his face after being disqualified in the Men's 800m T54 competitions . It was an apparent equipment disqualification as he did not have a racing wheelchair.

Below, four members of Britain's equestrian team celebrate their gold medal win - two members in power chairs followed by what appears to be two members on a scooter wave at the crowd.

The Senate Passes the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 on a voice vote

The Senate on Thursday approved major legislation that would expand protection against workplace discrimination for people with disabilities and overturn several Supreme Court rulings that curbed such safeguards in the past decade.

The measure, passed on a voice vote and without dissent, is similar to a legislation that sailed through the House of Representatives in June, 402-17.

Minor differences between the two bills are expected to be quickly resolved so that a final version can be sent to President George W. Bush to sign into law. It would expand the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed by Bush's father, President George Bush.

"This is the most important piece of disability legislation since the enactment of the ADA in 1990 and we are close enough to the finish line that we can see over," said Andrew Imparato, head of the American Association of People with Disabilities via news.yahoo.com

The rest of the article can be read here.