Thursday, September 27, 2007

This month marks the official debut of The Dirksen Congressional Center's new online version of Congress in the Classroom -- http://moodle.congressclass.org/ -- an award-winning course for teachers.
Do you teach social studies, American government, American history, or civics? Are your lessons about the U.S. Congress out of date? Is it hard to engage your students in learning about the House and Senate? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then Congress in the Classroom Online is the course for you!
Congress in the Classroom Online will help you understand today's Congress and suggest ways to teach about it. The self-paced online course is organized around the twin responsibilities of Congress members:
representation and lawmaking. There are more than a dozen individual units on such topics as "What Makes for Effective Members of Congress?" "How Representative is the Membership of Congress?" and "Lawmaking: Understanding the Basics." All the information you need to complete the course is available with just a few mouse clicks.
This improved version of Congress in the Classroom Online uses a more interactive approach, featuring many options to engage you (and the
instructor) in the course materials.
We welcome your participation! Take a look -- http://moodle.congressclass.org.
Sincerely,
Cindy Koeppel
The Dirksen Congressional Center
2815 Broadway
Pekin, IL 61554
Phone: 309.347.7113
Fax: 309.347.6432
E-mail: ckoeppel@dirksencenter.org http://www.dirksencongressionalcenter.org

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Washoe COUNTY FUEL Reduction PROJECTs planned for mt. rose-Galena Creek area
Reno, Nevada. September 25, 2007. Sierra Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Michael Heikaa announced today that two wild land fuel reduction projects are planned for the Mt. Rose/Galena Creek area. These projects are planned to reduce hazardous fuels on Washoe County open space that potentially threaten the communities of Rolling Hills and Galena Forest Estates. The goal of these projects is to provide a fuel break and better access for firefighting equipment and personnel to defend the public and structures from the threat of wildfires.
The first project is located in the Rolling Hills subdivision and is scheduled to begin on October 1st. This project will involve mechanical thinning of brush located in the common areas and surrounding open space. This project will also begin to locally address one of the great issues facing the Fire District, which is the unnatural build-up of fuels on County open space that increases the risk of a catastrophic wildfire.
The second project is located along Galena Creek in the Galena Forest Estates and will reduce high hazardous fuels along Galena Creek. This work is to be completed with a combination of hand and mechanical equipment and is aimed at reducing the threat of wildfire in the Galena Forest Estates.
The Sierra Fire Protection District (SFPD) was formed on July 1, 2006 as the result of Washoe County assuming the Sierra Forest Fire Protection District from the State of Nevada. The newly formed SFPD is comprised of 50 paid, professional firefighters, 5 Volunteer Fire Departments and 50 pieces of firefighting apparatus working from 9 Fire Stations located in West Washoe Valley, Galena, Verdi, Anderson Acres and the west side of Cold Springs.
For more information contact Sierra Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Michael Heikka at (775) 849-1108. Email mheikka@washoecounty.us

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Washoe County registrar of voters to review operations for vote counting system
Reno, Nevada. September 18, 2007. At their September 18th Board meeting, Commissioners agreed to reconvene the Elections Task Force to review Washoe County’s operations and security features currently in use for its voting systems. A facilitator will be hired for $2500 to assist the citizen-based Election Task Force in conducting the meetings and final report writing.
In 1999, an Elections Task Force was formed to review Washoe County operations following the elections held in 1998. After meeting for four months, the task force made 19 recommendations for improvements, of which 15 were implemented by the Registrar prior to the 2000 elections and the other 4 implemented prior the elections in 2002.
"The systems and procedures to be reviewed by this citizen-based Task Force are those designed to protect the integrity of elections conducted in Washoe County," said Registrar of Voters Dan Burk. "In light of the recent decision by the California Secretary of State to suspend use of all touch-screen technology for their 2008 elections, we felt it necessary to review the operating procedures for the reliability, security and accuracy of our own similar systems."
Voting systems are certified for use in Nevada by the Office of the Nevada Secretary of State. Currently, Sequoia software and hardware systems are used by all counties in Nevada and are the only voting programs currently certified by the Secretary of State for use in Nevada.