Daily Archives: November 1, 2021

Somalia: AU mission rejects claims of participating in Galmadug war AMISOM has been operating in Somalia for 14 years and helped the government capture key areas [File photo].

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The African Union Mission Forces [AMISOM] have denied participation in Galmadug clashes which left hundreds of people dead, hours after Sufi militia Ahlu Sunna Wal Jama'a [ASWJ] made the damning revelation.

The mission troops were accused along with the Danab forces of helping the Somali National Army [SNA] is engaging in the fight, which left 120 people dead, in a showdown that was widely condemned by members of the intentional community.

For almost four days, ASWJ militia engaged in a battle with Somali security forces at Guriel town, leading to casualties. The militia, which was close to the Somali army, was crucial in the fight against Al-Shabaab militants.

And in a statement, AMISOM dismissed the allegations of participating in the clashes, adding that the claims were not only unfounded but also untruthful. The mission insisted that it has never taken sides in the war against Al-Shabaab militants.

"These allegations are false, toxic and malicious, deliberately intended to cause disaffection between AMISOM and the Somali communities," read the statement from the mission.

"AMISOM operations, including military operations and support to SSF, are guided by the mandate provided by the AU Peace and Security Council and UN Security Council. They are implemented in strict observance of the approved Concept of Operations and Rules of Engagement," it added.

"The functions set out by these instruments are to disrupt and degrade Al Shabaab, assist the SSF in their effort to put an end to terrorism in the country, bring peace and provide security support to enable the Federal Government of Somalia and its the Federal Member States to carry out their functions of government, including elections security."

Already the Sufi militia has left Guriel town in Galmadug following persuasion by members of the business community who wanted civility to prevail. The two sides held a meeting before the decision was reached by the Sufi militia.

The AU mission forces insisted that they are keen to promote civility in Somalia, noting that the forces have been acting professionally. The mission added that to them forces have not in any way supported the government of Somalia.

"In fulfillment of this mandate, AMISOM reinforced its forces in Dhusamarreb for the purpose of securing the on-going electoral process as part of the National Elections Security Taskforce strategy. These AMISOM forces operate under very strict instructions," it said.

"They have not provided support to the government of Somalia at the either national or regional level to fight Ahlu Sunna Waljaama, nor have they, in any way, been involved in the bloody armed confrontations between the government and Ahlu Sunna Waljaama in Guriel town or elsewhere."

Since the fighting broke out in Guriel, AMISOM, both separately and as part of the international community-based in Somalia, the team noted, it has consistently appealed to the parties to cease fighting and seek to resolve their differences through dialogue. AMISOM will continue this effort since it strongly believes that the problems facing Somali stakeholders in Galmudug are essentially political which must, and can, be solved through negotiated means.

"AMISOM wishes to categorically state that its forces are in Somalia to fight terrorism, Al-Shabaab, Isis, and their affiliates, not to turn their guns against Somali stakeholders engaged in political disputes with other Somali stakeholders.

GAROWE ONLINE

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Somalia: AU mission rejects claims of participating in Galmadug war - Garowe Online

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Behind every "true crime" story explored in a Netflix documentary, Dateline episode or podcast arecountless hours spent by local journalistscommitted to uncovering the truth.

Before and after a national publication or aproduction company swoopsin, wearedoing our job to provide the depth required to understand the full story of what happened and what it means for our communities.

For us, true crime isn't a genre, and we certainly don't talk about it that way; it's the result of the work that our experienced journalists do every day to cover crime, corruption, and hold our institutions accountable.

This article highlights some of the key stories that we have covered over the years that we believe tellthese stories well.

'No face, no case': A six-part series explores how Antonio Tone Smith tried to permanently silence the witnesses to his crimes.

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Nurse practitioner Carlie Beaudinwas beaten to death in the parking garage of the hospital where she worked.

The man who killed her was captured on security cameras for two and a half hours before the attack, lurking around the hospital and hiding behind pillars for two and a half hours.But Froedterts security team had failed to act.

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Secretary Diane Olkwitz was stabbed more than 100 times in a Menomonee Falls factory on Nov. 3, 1966. Her killer has never been caught.

Fifty-three years later,family members cling to the hope that her murder will be solved.

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David Schuldes and Ellen Matheysset up camp near the Peshtigo River on a beautiful early Friday afternoon in July 1976.

They were the first campers to arriveat McClintock Park innorthern Marinette County that day. They'd firststopped first at Goodman Park, about 4 miles north, hoping to camp there. All the sites were full, so they drove down to McClintock Park.

They took one of the first spots available near the entrance to a loop of campsitesand headed out for a hike on the parks rustic trails and dense woods.

But they never reached the trail.

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Leaked details of a rape investigation led to a year of lawsuits and resignations andexposed conflicts of interest, infighting, dysfunction and instances when the interests of Milwaukee citizens were overlooked by public officials.

Read the four-part series

In 2014, two 12-year-old Waukesha girlswere charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide for what police say was a plot, planned over months, to kill their classmate to appease Slender Man, a fictitious internet character.

The girls, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier, stabbed their victim 19 times with a 5-inch blade. The victim,Payton Leutner, was left for deadbefore she crawled from some woods at a park to a trail where she was found by a passing bicyclist.

As thecase played out, it alsohighlighted theissues of minors being charged as adults.

Read a full timeline of theircases

Ethan Hauschultz was 7 when his 14-year-old foster brother beat him to death and buried him in the snow.

Later sentenced to 20 years in prison, the foster brother said he'd been told to punish Ethan by his father, Timothy Hauschultz who'd become Ethan's foster father despite having a record of child abuse.

The case inspired the 2021 passage of Ethan's Law, which prevents Wisconsin foster children from being placed with a convicted child abuser even if a judge later reducedthe conviction to a much lesser offense.

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Longtime crime reporter Gina Barton used her journalistic skills and ethics to look into three of Wisconsin's long-unsolved criminal cases: the disappearances and deaths ofJohn Zeraand Michelle Manders; and the murder of Father Alfred Kunz, a controversial Catholic priest. Barton explored the cases both in a podcast and in longform serial reporting.

Explore all three Unsolved seasons

In 1973, everyone's kids trick-or-treated after dark on Halloween, and 9-year-old Lisa Ann French was eager to get started after finishing dinner.

She kissed her parents goodbye and ran out of the house at 192 Amory St. just before 6 p.m. dressed up as a hobo -jeans covered in masking tape, a floppy felt hat and a green parka.

It was the last time her mother and step-father would see her alive.

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Peter Zimmerwas 14 when he murdered his adoptive parents and brotherat their Wisconsin farmhouse.

Under state law at the time, he was not charged as an adult and never faced trial. At 19, he reinvented himself as Jovan Anton "Joe" Collier and kept his past a secret until new criminal charges revealed his long-buried past.

Read Part 1

Read Part 2

(Update:After he completed his Florida prison sentence, Collier moved west.He was living with an ex-wife in Galveston, Texas, when the condo board kicked him out in 2013. The next year, he was briefly jailed near Waco, Texas, after another woman who had planned to marry Collier learned of his past from a TV show.

Collier pleaded guilty in 2015 to harassing three women in the Waco area, was sentenced to time served and indicated he planned to relocate to San Diego.)

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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There's more to these Wisconsin cases than just 'true crime' - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

U.S. Bank provided key financing to create opportunities for the Black-owned businesses that call Carter Commons home.

Access to healthy food in the local community. Space for Black-owned businesses to expand locally. Job training for careers in the culinary field. The new Carter Commons just outside of St. Louis in Pagedale, Mo.has all this and more - and it's the result of a grassroots initiative to fill an unmet need in the community.

"Carter Commons is here because community members said they wanted it to be," said Chris Krehmeyer, president and CEO of Beyond Housing, the local nonprofit that made Carter Commons possible. Through their approach, Ask-Align-Act, the agency ensures that the residents' opinions are taken into consideration; then, the resources are aligned to bring the programs and services the residents said they want in their community

U.S. Bancorp Development Corporation (USBCDC), the tax credit and community investment subsidiary of U.S. Bank, provided more than $1.9 million in New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) for the project, which is the second phase of Pagedale Town Center. The first phase was a $55 million development that included a cinema and grocery store - in which USBCDC also invested NMTC - as well as a restaurant, bank and healthcare facility.

The new 20,000-square-foot building is named for longtime Pagedale Mayor Mary Louise Carter, who passed away in 2020. Most of the tenants are minority-owned businesses that viewed the move to Carter Commons as an opportunity to expand and energize their existing operations. These are Missouri Home Health and Therapy, Burn 365 Fitness, Goss'Up Pasta, Girlfriend's Closet and Healthy Habits Smoothies.

Another tenant, Propel Kitchens, is a newly founded nonprofit commercial kitchen that will provide workforce development by teaching participants skills and the knowledge that will lead them to quality culinary careers.

The collaboration between Beyond Housing and the public and private sectors have played a key role in transforming Pagedale for the past two decades. These relationships have fostered innovation, help to plan for future growth and sustainability, and provided new sources of capital for the city's economic development. The $6.5 million investment in this new commercial space is part of a comprehensive community development model, Beyond Housing's 24:1 Initiative, that started two decades ago focused on several critical needs in helping communities like the city of Pagedale thrive.

USBCDC's intentional focus on racial equity supports U.S. Bank Access Commitment, announced earlier this year. U.S. Bank Access Commitment is a long-term approach to help build wealth while redefining how the bank serves racially diverse communities and providing more opportunities for employees of color.

"U.S. Bank is committed to advancing racial equity in the work we do and the communities we serve," said Bill Carson, USBCDC vice president. "Pagedale Town Center has helped transform the community, and this latest phase continues that work. It's the ideal project for New Markets Tax Credit investment, creating expansion opportunities for the Black -owned businesses that will call Carter Commons home. And we're really excited about the work Propel Kitchens is doing - providing both culinary workforce development and a platform for small businesses to thrive."

In fact, USBCDC also provided Propel Kitchens a $50,000 grant to support its culinary workforce development program.

"This approach will help program participants understand what a career in the food industry can do to build their lives, wealth and to build stronger families and communities," said Yvonne Sparks, president of Propel Kitchens.

"As a collaborative platform that provides culinary training, support for entrepreneurs, and access to jobs and new markets, Propel Kitchens' work benefits all of us," said Chef Martn Lpez, Propel Kitchen's operations and culinary director. "Creating wealth-building opportunities, healthier food, better health outcomes and quality of life for the people we serve benefits the entire St. Louis community. It's a "win-win."

Disclaimer

U.S. Bancorp published this content on 30 October 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 30 October 2021 05:26:01 UTC.

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St. Louis-area community welcomes new small businesses and food hall - Marketscreener.com

LA PLATA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dash In, the growing chain of convenience stores throughout Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware, hosted grand openings at two all-new locations in Clinton and Lanham, MD. The grand opening events took place on Friday, September 10 and October 1, 2021, with each event followed by two successive weekends of special offers and opportunities to engage with each community.

The grand opening events also celebrated Dash Ins renewed commitment to community engagement with more than $40,000 in grants being distributed to the Capital Area Food Bank, Clinton and Lanham high schools, and to Prince Georges County Department of Parks and Recreation. This includes a $30,000 grant to help improve Tanglewood Park, which is a valuable outdoor space around the corner from the Clinton Dash In location.

While Dash In has a history of working to end childhood hunger, the Tanglewood Park grant is part of Dash Ins expanded focus on working with communities where Dash In stores are located to help support outdoor spaces that are valued by the community and could benefit from renewal.

At Dash In, we have taken time this past year to work with our parent company, the Wills Group, to address near-term needs during the pandemic with a big part of our commitment being more than $1.6 million in grants distributed to local food banks during the past 18 months, said Julian B. (Blackie) Wills, III President and Chief Operating Officer of the Wills Group. Were proud of that commitment and were ready to do more. Outdoor spaces have emerged as an important resource for communities during the pandemic and at Dash In were going to work with communities to celebrate and improve those spaces.

The Lanham Dash In is located at 10000 Greenbelt Road in Lanham and the Clinton Dash In is located at 8228 Woodyard Road in Clinton. Both stores feature Dash Ins neighborhood design store concept with each store also featuring Dash Ins Craveable Menu made fresh every day.

We were very intentional about each of these locations, added Wills. For example, for the Clinton location, Dash In worked with the community to improve the intersection that was really important to the local officials, and we think demonstrates Dash Ins commitment to being a meaningful community partner. Enhancing Outdoors Spaces is an important extension of Dash Ins intentions of working closely with all stakeholders across the communities we serve.

Both Dash In grand openings featured five days of events that took place in September and October. Each event featured a presentation of the Dash In grants to local food banks, schools and nearby fire departments, with the Clinton grand opening being the first instance where Dash In was able to work with a local department of parks and recreation to contribute to improving a nearby Tanglewood Park.

About Dash In

Dash In, a Wills Group company, was born out of a desire to fuel the journeys of our neighbors through good food, warm smiles and giving back to our local communities. At Dash In, were on a mission to transform everyday errands to be more delicious, more delightful, and more rewarding.

Serving customers at more than 50 locations throughout Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware, Dash In is a growing chain passionate about quality, innovation, cleanliness and our communities.

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Dash In and Splash In ECO Car Wash Together Open Two All-New Locations in Clinton and Lanham, Maryland; Grand Opening Events Introduce Renewed...

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Citi today announced the offering of the inaugural Citi Social Finance Bond, a $1 billion bond that supports social-focused developments in emerging markets around the world. The use of proceeds from the bond will finance a range of projects, including those that expand access to financial services, affordable housing, basic infrastructure, healthcare, and education in underserved and unbanked communities in emerging markets. The bond offering is expected to settle on November 3, 2021.

The Citi Social Finance Bond builds upon Citis expertise in inclusive finance and deepens efforts to drive positive social impact and financial innovations. The bond supports Citis $1 trillion commitment to sustainable finance announced earlier this year, which includes $500 billion for social finance and $500 billion for environmental finance by 2030, aligning with the agenda of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. As part of the $500 billion goal for social finance, Citi aims to expand access to essential services for 15 million households, including 10 million women, within the first few years of its 2030 commitment.

The Citi Social Finance Bond is a great example of how were using our business capabilities to maximize the impact we can make as a bank, especially as we support emerging markets in their recovery from COVID-19, said Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi. By harnessing investor demand and leveraging our unrivaled global network, Citi is enabling others to join us in making a positive difference as we work towards our commitment to support 15 million low-income households, including 10 million women, in the communities that need it most.

To help meet its $500 billion social finance goal, Citi is expanding the focus of its global Citi Social Finance team, which will work across Citis businesses globally to develop solutions that enable the bank, its clients and partners to expand financial inclusion, accelerate access to basic services, boost job creation and scale social infrastructure development.

The bond offering follows the release of the new Citi Social Finance Framework, one of the worlds first global social finance frameworks focused on enabling financial inclusion, affordable housing and access to essential services in emerging markets. The framework details how projects and assets will be selected, and Citi will report annually on the use of funds and impact. Sustainalytics, an independent provider of sustainability research, analysis and services to financial institutions globally, has reviewed the Framework and confirmed in their assessment the alignment with the transparency and reporting requirements of the ICMA Social Bond Principles 2021.

This bond is a first-of-its-kind offering that covers an expansive portfolio of assets across a breadth of emerging markets, allowing us to strengthen our relationships with clients and investors around the world and grow Citis sustainable bond offering, said Michael Verdeschi, Treasurer of Citi. We worked exclusively with women and minority-owned broker dealers, reinforcing the firms commitment to advancing racial equity in the capital markets and broader financial services industry.

These efforts follow Citis inaugural $2.5 billion Affordable Housing Bond issued last year, the largest-ever social bond from an issuer in the private sector, progressing key objectives of Citis Action for Racial Equity commitments to help close the racial wealth gap and improve economic mobility in the U.S. Through Citis social finance efforts in the U.S., Citi will continue to demonstrate results in providing greater access to banking and financial services and expanding affordable housing and homeownership for communities of color.

Citi has been a longstanding global leader in financial inclusion. The expansion of Citi Social Finance builds on a 15-year track record of developing new business models that leverage market-based approaches to improve the livelihoods of low-income communities in emerging markets. To date, these efforts have reached 4 million unbanked and underbanked individuals in emerging markets, 3.5 million of which are women.

For example, Citi was recently the sole coordinator on a $75 million transaction to expand access to off-grid solar energy in Kenya. The financing will support Greenlight Planets ambitions to reach an additional 10 million households in low-income, off-grid communities over the next five years.

Across the globe, billions of people lack access to basic services. Citi Social Finance has a mandate to deepen our work and build new innovative partnerships with corporate clients, using our unparalleled global footprint to drive social impact with the urgency that so many low-income communities need, said Jorge Rubio Nava, Global Head of Citi Social Finance. Our transition to social finance builds on our leadership in financial inclusion and expands the scope of our impact to other areas, such as access to healthcare, education, clean water and agriculture, and reflects an intentional business strategy to integrate social impact into Citis transactions.

Citi Social Finance is a part of Global Public Affairs Community Investing and Development team, which aims to enhance positive social impact and financial innovations that benefit underserved communities around the world. This includes the work of the Citi Impact Fund and the philanthropic work conducted by the Citi Foundation. Through equity investing, lending and grant making, Citi and the Citi Foundation are working in new ways to effect positive and meaningful change in communities around the world.

For more information, visit citi.com/socialfinance.

Citi

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

Additional information may be found at http://www.citigroup.com | Twitter: @Citi | YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://blog.citigroup.com | Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/citi.

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Citi Announces $1 Billion Social Finance Bond Offering to Advance Social Initiatives Globally - Business Wire

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MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ The South OrangeMaplewood Board of Education has three vacancies and five candidates vying for election. BOE First Vice President Shannon Cuttle, running under the slogan Forward Together, is the only incumbent seeking reelection. Challengers include the team of Arun Vadlamani and Qawi Telesford, running under the slogan Excellence, Action, Accountability; William Rodriguez; and Kaitlin M. Wittleder, running under the slogan Student Voices Matter.

Cuttle, who is running for their second term, joined the SOMA community when they became managing director of Garden State Equality, focusing on statewide education policy, training, programming, education and student leadership, including work on key civil rights and LGBTQ policies. Cuttle founded the Safe Schools Action Network and the New Jersey Safe Schools Coalition, and is a recognized national leader in the safe schools movement. In addition to founding and organizing several LGBTQ events, Cuttle co-founded Cougar Cares, which fights food insecurity in the schools community. Cuttle, who currently serves as first vice president on the BOE, was elected vice president of the Essex County School Board Association and was elected to serve on the New Jersey School Board Association board of directors representing Essex County, marking the first time SOMSD has had a seat at the county and state levels. Cuttle is also an NJSBA State Certified Board Member and meets the qualifications for NJSBA Master Board Member Certification. According to Cuttle, one of the top issues in the school district right now is access and equity.

When I ran for the board of education three years ago, I said we needed to move the district forward that we needed to build upon a foundation to address access and equity, systems, policies and data collection, crumbling outdated facilities and district leadership, Cuttle told the News-Record. Since joining the Board of Education, I have worked to establish that foundation and move us to act on the pivotal next steps in moving forward together to continue the important, hard work of building the frameworks, infrastructure and the pathway towards 21st-century learning.

Additional work needs to be done around breaking down the barriers for our students and families addressing access and equity across the school community. We have made strides the last two and half years but need to continue in the work, creating inclusive and welcoming schools for our community, ensuring we have equity focus for our students across our whole school community, Cuttle continued.

Rodriguez, who moved to Maplewood last year with his wife and two young children, is an insurance executive at a global insurer, where he is responsible for a global customer portfolio of financial institutions worth some $300 million in revenue. Rodriguez has volunteered for several nonprofit organizations, such as the Food Bank of New York, Covenant House, Points of Light and the Grace Institute. He also served as the executive chairperson of his firms intern recruitment program at Howard University and led its countrywide summer internship program. According to Rodriguez, the top issue in SOMA schools today is supporting students as the world begins to recover from the pandemic.

I think we should be very concerned about how students have been affected by the past 18 months, Rodriguez told the News-Record. First, I need to understand how each student fared personally and educationally and then work collectively with the other board members to craft solutions for accelerating learning recovery.

A product of the SOMSD himself, Telesford is a research scientist at the Nathan Kline Institute in Orangeburg, N.Y., where he does brain imaging research. Up until the pandemic, he taught dance classes with SOMA Rueda de Casino at First Presbyterian & Trinity Church in South Orange. The group, which teaches casino, which is sometimes called Cuban salsa, has done demonstrations and performances at local events and schools, including Marshall, South Mountain and Tuscan elementary schools. According to Telesford, the top issues in the district are the Intentional Integration Initiative, the transition into a post-pandemic landscape and the Long-Range Facilities Plan.

The pilot of the Intentional Integration Initiative began for kindergartners throughout the district. In five years, our elementary schools should reflect the overall demographics of the community, but the question remains, how will we determine success? We will need to develop metrics that measure all the ways our kids are thriving, as well as gather data to determine where we can improve and streamline the process, Telesford told the News-Record. As the initiative expands into the middle schools, there will also need to be further policies, procedures and training to promote a culture throughout the district that creates a more equitable framework for all students.

As for returning to post-pandemic normalcy, Telesford cautioned that scientific findings can change quickly.

As a board member I will use my research background to interpret the constantly changing scientific data to inform our district policies, he said, adding that the board needs to provide proper oversight regarding the LRFP to ensure it remains on schedule.

Vadlamani has lived in South Orange for more than 18 years and has two daughters in the district. During the past decade, he has been a Girl Scout dad, serving as cookie distribution coordinator for the entire district of more than 60 troops, and has volunteered at a number of school activities. Growing up in India, Vadlamani said he witnessed how important education is in a childs life and is now a board member for Asha for Education, an international nonprofit organization that works to catalyze socioeconomic change in India. With a background in computer engineering, Vadlamani works on Wall Street. When it comes to pinpointing the most pressing issue in the school district, Vadlamani approaches the question from several angles.

I see this question from the point of view of the three roles that I play in our community: a parent of children in the school district, a citizen of SOMA and as a professional, he told the News-Record. As a parent, simplifying the process of accessing educational resources resonates the most with me. One shouldnt have to jump through hoops to get the right help, the appropriate classification, or move to a suitably challenging level of a class. In the past, I have worked to bring AMC 8 math contests to our middle school, and I want to work with the board and administration to ensure excellent math instruction for all children in our schools.

As a citizen of SOMA, intentional integration is by far the most critical issue. We cannot and should not have segregation and demographic immobility in our school district, he continued. As a professional, I think that managing the Long-Range Facilities Plan is very important. If elected, I will bring all my understanding of big data and process-driven decision-making skills to ensure that this project stays on track. We are spending almost a full years budget on these construction plans.

Wittleder, who has lived in Maplewood for five years, is a Girls on the Run coach this year at Maplewood Middle School and previously coached a GOTR team at Jefferson Elementary School in 2018. Professionally, Wittleder has worked in business development in the financial services industry and, most recently, in the nonprofit sector. Throughout her career, Wittleder has served on several boards, including that of the American Society of Bogota when she lived in Colombia. With three young children, the oldest of whom will begin school in the district next fall, Wittleder said it is vital to her that all children be given the opportunity to thrive in the SOMSD.

I think our district needs to go back to basics in a lot of ways in an effort to build a strong and stable foundation, Wittleder told the News-Record. What are the most fundamental needs of our children to receive a great education? Creating an education system that challenges all children and meets every child where they are on their academic journey; investing in our teachers and their education around 21st-century learning practices, (as) we want good teachers to build a legacy in this district; prioritizing comprehensive data collection so that we can make informed decisions, measure the efficacy and identify areas for continued improvement; ensuring the safety of our children by addressing urgent safety issues and by creating safe facilities and athletic fields; and establishing effective two-way communication from top to bottom and with our community.

The closure of school buildings due to COVID-19 highlighted issues regarding the digital divide in New Jersey, as well as issues of equity and access.

Already deeply aware of the digital divide, Cuttle emphasized that the school district has already made a commitment to providing one-to-one devices for every district student, with the district purchasing additional devices to replace outdated models and upgrading bandwidth within the buildings.

The COVID pandemic has accelerated the real impacts of the digital divide in New Jersey and across the country. In 2019, when I joined the board, the digital divide was something that I put forward to the district as an equity and access issue that we needed to include in our Long-Range Facility Plan, Cuttle said. The COVID pandemic moved up our original LRFP technology timeline, but the district was able to meet the need for every student to have a Chromebook, including hot spots available for families that may need one. Moving ahead, the board approved in 2021 additional COVID grant funding opportunities to continue our plan and investment to end the digital divide in our classrooms and communities.

Addressing the digital divide is not only an access and equity issue, but a welcoming schools issue, Cuttle continued.

Wittleder said the school district needs to deviate from the norm to find the best ways to support all students.

The pandemic has been detrimental to our most vulnerable students and many families have been faced with difficult decisions on how best to support their children, Wittleder said. The school district must reimagine traditional ways of learning so that we are prepared to support our kids under any and all circumstances. SOMSD must continually invest in innovative technologies that encourage students and teachers to develop relationships and learn effectively both inside and outside of the classroom. Access to education, resources and to fellow peers must be afforded to every student while at school or at home. We know what didnt work last year while learning at home; lets develop solutions that address these challenges now so we can be better prepared in the future.

Rodriguez believes the best antidote to the digital divide is doing everything possible to keep school buildings open and safe.

I would advocate for policies that achieve the in-person learning goals of students and parents alike. The past 18 months have been difficult for everyone, and at times weve been overly cautious. However, the cure cannot be worse than the disease. Operationally, continuing the district-issued Chromebook and hot spot program is a good place to begin addressing the issues of equity and access in the event the district must resume remote learning, he said. Its no secret that providing equal access to education is critical to closing the achievement gap. I also believe the negative effect of COVID on access and equity in SOMSD is ongoing. We must consider that some parents are not back to compensable work and some will return to in-person jobs. Bear in mind, we must also consider how the labor shortage is affecting families faced with a loss of aftercare and busing.

In addition to voicing his support for strides the district has already made in this area, Telesford said that a key component needs to be engaging with parents.

While student access is important, the district can help families more by bringing parents into the fold, Telesford said. For instance, through the Parenting Center, the district should consider workshops on digital literacy. These types of workshops should also be provided at local library branches and community centers, to make the availability of these services more local to parents. Providing students with the proper tools and families with the proper resources creates an equitable framework to bridge the digital divide.

In line with his running mate, Vadlamani praised the steps already taken by the district but cautioned that the district must remain committed to this issue.

The pandemic caught most organizations unawares and unprepared. Though there were initial issues with Chromebook distribution, the district eventually did an excellent job addressing the technical gap. Also, the district offered summer classes to handle part of the instruction deficit, which is one of the things that our school district did well during the pandemic, Vadlamani said. The board must enhance the policies so that the digital divide and other inequities are addressed. There must be policies (for) having virtual versions of all curriculum, and procedures for switching between physical and virtual education in case we ever need to do virtual instruction again.

School safety has certainly become a buzz phrase in recent times, with continued concerns regarding weapons in schools, as well as concerns regarding student and staff well-being in terms of mental health support.

According to Telesford, there are several components that must be considered when it comes to school safety.

I believe in a 360-degree view of safety, which involves psychological, emotional and physical safety, Telesford said. Physical safety reflects security, which means adequate lighting and cameras on all school properties, and controlled entrances to all buildings. Emotional safety means using a framework with tools like conflict resolution, anti-bullying, peer mentors and counseling services to give students adequate support. Psychological safety means ensuring resources like counselors and social workers are provided to students.

Telesford added that there are still areas where the district can improve in regard to student and staff well-being.

The district recently updated its sexual harassment policy in September 2021; the district can take this further by broadening consent training in our K-12 health curriculum, he said. Another area where the district can review policy is in active-shooter response drills. Given the higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression that is linked to these drills, considering alternatives like tabletop exercises will help promote psychological health of all staff and students. The district must uphold its commitment to restorative justice in discipline by providing adequate resources in counseling and social work.

Vadlamani echoed several of his running mates opinions on this issue, restating that safety must be considered from physical, emotional and psychological standpoints.

In addition to the required and essential physical safety measures to school buildings, we need to protect our children from bullying both at schools and online; we need to ensure that our children grow up to be resilient and have empathy. We should shy away from seemingly quick solutions that allow us a false sense of security, Vadlamani said. Active shooter drills are said to be ineffective. Evidence shows that they negatively impact the kids, so I am for eliminating them. My daughter and her friends were caught in such a drill; no mention was made that it was a test and many of her classmates were in emotional distress. I work in a skyscraper, and twice a year we have fire drills, and, after 9/11, I take all fire drills seriously. We are informed multiple times in advance that this is a test. This procedure reduces emotional stress and allows people to absorb lifesaving information without distress. Our school district should learn from the Fire Department of New York and clearly announce tests so that students can learn how best to react in a simulated real-life situation without being in one. We should also be expanding counseling and social work programs. Also, expanding the Parenting Center will strengthen the schoolfamily interaction and collaboration.

For Cuttle, supporting and embracing all students is a critical mission.

Creating welcoming, inclusive, safer schools means also investing in the climate and culture of our classrooms and hallways across our curricula and in all of our district policies, procedures, manuals, handbooks, training and professional development. All students should feel seen, heard, safe, respected and included. Since my time on the board, I have championed and updated policies such as the suicide prevention and intervention policy, transgender and nonbinary student policy, sexual harassment student policy, and designated a districtwide task force to address and create systems to better support students around sexual harssment and sexual assualt, Cuttle said, adding that they have worked with the district and the towns to address mental health and food insecurity. Starting with this 2021-2022 school year, all district staff will now receive LGBTQ-plus cultural competency training, antibias training and suicide prevention training.

Cuttle has also worked to bring in partnerships for counseling, has advocated for updated curricula to be more inclusive of SOMAs diverse population, and has championed the creation of the boards new Health, Wellness and Security Committee.

Rodriguez said the district needs to think about safety holistically and needs to forge partnerships with the community.

Some people are concerned about having armed guards in our schools. I would not support this. I just dont see the need or the net benefit, Rodriguez said. Additionally, as a community, we can do a better job of holistically understanding the concept of safety along with the risks our district is facing. This all goes well beyond arrests and use-of-force incidents involving security resource officers. Consider for a moment some other events that may occur, such as fires, trespassing and extreme weather.

When I drop off and pick up Elli, my 3-year-old, from the preschool program at Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel, Im greeted warmly by teachers and security guards. I feel comfortable about taking her there and she loves it. Ive learned the most secure environments are built on strong partnerships with families, schools and security officers, he continued.

Wittleder feels a lot more can be done to keep SOMA students safe.

Safety is a fundamental right of our children and its currently being ignored. I believe its important to develop a comprehensive security plan that sets the overall foundation of safety and climate for all schools and which prepares our schools, administration, staff and students to handle physical and emotional situations, she said. The safety and security response currently varies from school to school. For example, in the first six weeks of school there have been instances of code red and code blue. In two of the schools, guardians were notified quickly of what was transpiring and, in the case of another school, guardians werent notified until after school hours. What is a reasonable amount of time that the district should be expected to communicate security situations to guardians?

I believe that this is something that should be standardized across all of our schools, and is just one piece of a comprehensive security plan, she continued. Everyone from guardians, students, teachers and administrators should understand what is expected of them to create a safe environment for students to thrive in this district. The physical and emotional safety of our students is of the utmost importance, and immediate measures must be taken to secure our buildings and the Underhill Field sports facility.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2, and there are multiple ways for county residents to vote by mail, early in-person voting, via drop box and in person on the day.

FEATURED, SOMA Board of Education, SOMA Election

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Upcoming election sees fives candidates running for three open seats on SOMA Board of Ed - Essex News Daily

San Francisco, July 1999. Twenty-one friends gather at a coffee shop and accidentally create something that will change their lives and the literary world.

Dont worry, this is not an episode about the genesis of a social network. Wellnot really.

At the invitation of their ringleader Chris Baty, each member of the group pulls out a laptop or an old-fashioned notepad and a pen, and they get to work. They werent setting out to change the world, but to invent new worlds.

With books. They were writing books.

But this wasnt your typical writers group. They werent critiquing each others work, lamenting the red tape of the agent-querying process, or even thinking about publication at all. They were just writing for the fun of it. They invented games and challenged each other first person to hit 500 words gets a latte, that kind of thing and at the end of an admittedly tiring month, they had the first drafts of 21 novels.

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The project was so much fun that they did it again the next year and invited more friends to join them. And boy, did they! When the group swelled to about 150 members, Baty thought for sure that it had topped out. But, you know how it goes, the fun was just beginning.

If youve been on the literary internet for even one full year, chances are good youve heard of National Novel Writing Month NaNoWriMo, for short. But just in case, heres the quick and dirty.

Taking place every November (it was moved from July a few years in because people found it easier to participate in the winter), NaNoWriMo is a month-long challenge in which you commit to writing a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. Participants track their word counts using interactive tools on the NaNoWriMo website, and at the end of the month, they upload their full text in order to prove they hit the 50k mark and claim their win. Along the way, they have the option to earn badges (NaNoWriMo has been gamified since before it was a buzzword), join online communities, and even attend local in-person meetups with fellow NaNo participants to find encouragement and community.

Writing doesnt have to be solitary. It also doesnt have to be full of anguish, although itinherently is, theres ways to get beyond that anguish, explained Grant Faulkner,executive director of NaNoWriMo. Fun, connection, and creative exploration have been at the heart of the event since day one.

Christ Baty literally kinda woke up one day and said, I want to write a novel. And, you know, he was an avid reader and he was into punk rock music, so he had that kind of DIY mindset and hes very community focused and socially focused and so, he invited 20 of his friends to join him to write a novel.

As the group met up after work and on the weekends, they became invested in each others success.

So if somebody didnt show up they might get a phone call and say, Hey, youre still doing it, you know? Like, why dont you come back tomorrow night? You can still do it. You can still reach your word count goals, said Grant.

Its worth noting here that in NaNoWriMo terms, participants who finish the 50,000-word challenge are called winners, but those who dont are not losers.

50,000 words is what the startup world would call a Big Hairy Goal. Its so big, in fact, that only about 15% of participants each year win NaNoWriMo. But if it were easy, it wouldnt be so compelling, and writers wouldnt need a month-long challenge to try it.

[T]his framework of setting a huge ambitious goal and having a deadline, we say a golden deadline is a creative midwife and thats always been the kind of empowering foundation at NaNoWriMo. We think of ourselves as an empowerment organization as much as we are a creative writing organization, said Grant.

So youve got a challenging but not impossible goal, a built-in sense of community and accountability, and no downside, since even if you dont win, youve still spent a month focusing on a creative pursuit and maybe making some friends along the way.

A lot of friends! About half a million people participated in NaNoWriMo programming in 2018. A lot has happened in the decades since Chris Baty and 20 of his friends first started novelling, as they called it, in that San Francisco coffee shop.

As NaNoWriMo entered its third year in November 2001, Baty was looking for a way to get organized. Anticipating the same 150ish participants from the previous year, he created a small website for people to sign up and track their progress.

If you build it, they will come. And if you build it on the internet in the early days of blogging, 5,000 of them will come. And theyll crash your brand new website repeatedly.

Which is exactly what happened. NaNoWriMos 750% growth between the first and second years, which is HUGE growth, lets remember that, looked like small potatoes compared to the more than 3000% increase between years two and three.

From 20 people in year one to 150 people in year two to 5,000 people in year three, and more than 500,000 last year, in year 19. NaNoWriMo is, if not exactly viral, an undeniable sensation.

And all this growth? It didnt come from advertising. They earned it the old-fashioned way: word of mouth.

So when I was thinking about writing a book, I signed up for a writing class, a childrens book writing class. And so, during that class, national novel writing month was sort of mentioned by my teacher, said best-selling middle grade author Karina Yan Glaser, who first participated in NaNoWriMo in 2013. And she said, you know this is great thing to do, you can try it. And I was taking the class in the fall and NaNoWriMo starts in November, November first. So, I was researching it and then I signed up and then I told my husband and he thought I was totally nuts.

Her husbands response was perhaps more common than youd expecteven from NaNo participants themselves.

Jasmine Guillory wrote the first draft of her best-selling novel The Wedding Date during a NaNo event.

Ive actually known about NaNoRiMo for years just through internet osmosis. I think that I had never really seriously considered doing it. I think partly because it seemed wild. Like it seemed too much. How could any person do that?, she said.

Seriously. Fifty thousand words in 30 days is 1,667 words per day. How do people do it?

Well, theres a solid history of famous writers who did basically the same thing.

Grant explained, by setting an ambitious goal and a deadline and not only that, like many writers in history have written in this way. Like, Stephen King writes 2,000 words a day. William Faulkner wrote 3,000 words a day, John Updike set a target of 1,200 words a day. You know, I mean, Hemingway counted his words. Theres just a rich history of writers nee- needing to set a goal and a deadline or to meet, you know, in order to write a novel because a novel is such an arduous task.

Coffee and pressure dont hurt, either.

For Karina, routine was key. At the time of her first NaNoWriMo, her daughters were in kindergarten and preschool, attending three days a week for a couple hours. It didnt make sense to drop them off and go all the way home on the subway, just to turn back around and pick them up.

So, I would drop her off and then I would run to this Coffee Bean that was a few blocks away and in the basement there was always seats down in the basement. And, which is really difficult in NYC, where every coffee shop is just filled with people.

She continued, Down in the basement it was really hot and had this weird smell. So I think thats why no one sat down there. But I could always get a seat. I would run to that Coffee Bean, go downstairs, sit down, and then just write during that time.

For two hours, shed write as fast as she could, and if she didnt make the word count, she would return to it in the evening after the kids went to bed.

Jasmines approach was a bit less structured, but no less effective.

You know, it, it, thinking back on it, I dont really understand how I did. Because that was actually a very busy time in my life. I was working two jobs, like one full time job and one part time job. Um, but then I just sort of like, committed myself to doing it and so I did it. So I would bring my laptop to work. At lunchtime I would go to the Starbucks across the street and write for like, 30 to 45 minutes, she said.

There were days she hit the word count, days she didnt, and days she played catch-up, writing several thousand words on a Saturday.

And therein lies some of the beauty of NaNoWriMo: it tells you what youre supposed to do write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days but it doesnt tell you how. The mix of structure and flexibility is intentional, and its integral to the NaNoWriMo philosophy.

Its all about the act of doing it and I think too many people put obstacles in between themselves and their goals and and writing a novel, for instance, people, you know, obviously there theres a lot of obstacles in terms of your own self perception and confidence and doubt that youre working through, but theres also that thing where people think, Oh, I need to sign up for a course in order to learn to write a novel, or, I need to buy a a how to write a novel book, explained Grant. I still think the best way to learn to write a novel is through the experience of writing it.

You know, just do it. And dont discount the power of momentum.

Heres Jasmine again:

Its not a thing thats going to work for everyone. But I really learned that its something that worked for me a lot. When Im working on a first draft, I try very hard to work on it every day. Not because, you know, Ive heard people say like, To be a real writer, you have to write every day. I dont believe in that. But, its important to me for me to write every day because it helps keep that momentum going.

In the quest for 50,000 words, NaNoWriMo encourages participants to focus on output and not delete anything. Dont overthink it. Dont second-guess yourself. Dont give yourself any reason to not do the thing. Just keep swimming.

But that doesnt mean that, as a surprising number of internet naysayers would have you believe, they think your first 50,000 words will be publishable.

Were not prescriptive about our creative process. We very strenuously recommend that people, uh, revise their novels and take time with their novels to finish them and polish them and we have programs that support that as well, said Grant.

Whether you use NaNoWriMos revision tools or roll your own, our authors agree its a key part of the process.

Heres Karina:

I visit a lot of schools these days and talk to kids. And they always ask me what I would suggest that they do if theyre trying to write a book. And I think thats, what I generally always say, is talk to them about writing a fast first draft and then committing yourself to revisions. So even through I wrote that first book really quickly, it took me about two years of revision and sending it to agents before it got acquired by an agent and then acquired by an editor.

And while Jasmine won her first NaNo meeting the 50,000-word goal, The Wedding Date wasnt yet complete. She still had to finish the draft. Then revise it, find an agent, revise it again with the agent, get a book deal, and, of course, revise again with the editor.

If that sounds like a lot of work, well, it is. The good news is, you dont have to want to be published to participate in NaNoWriMo.

We are speaking to people who dont necessarily professionalize the writing experience, explained Grant. Its a great thing if people want to get together with their friends and write novels together just for the fun of it. I always say that we dont go up to knitters and say, Oh, youre knitting a sweater, are you gonna open up a sweater store? You know? Oh, youre taking a a ballroom dancing class, are you going to go in the professional ballroom dancing circuit? You know?

NaNoWriMos focus has always been on creativity for creativitys sake. Life is busy, and we dont take enough time to play, to have fun, to explore ideas, to make stuff just because it feels good to make stuff.

Trying to write 50,000 words in 30 days probably wont help with the busyness problem, but its busyness with a lot of benefits.

We think that when people are creative and see themselves as creative as creators, theyre- theyre gonna do more good in the world, theyre gonna put their voice in the world in a number of different ways, said Grant.

More creativity in the world is a good thing for the world. More people developing the confidence to explore and share their ideas is a good thing for all people. But sometimes, the benefits of creative work are more individual and more internal.

Book Riots own Annika Barranti Klein spoke about a recent NaNo experience.

My personal reason was very specific. My dad had died two weeks before Camp NaNoWriMo started, and I didnt want to work on anything that I had been working on when he died, she said.

Before you get all excited that theres a NaNoWriMo camp you can attend, we should tell you that 50k in 30 days in November isnt the only way to NaNo. Camp NaNoWriMo is a virtual writing retreat that takes place twice a year, in April and July, and offers more flexibility.

In Camp NaNoWriMo, you can set any word-count or page-count goal. You dont have to write a novel you can write short stories or poetry or, well, anything.

I dont like following rules and so NaNoWriMo didnt work for me, said Annika. But I wanted something to do other than be sad. For me, that thing is usually writing, so I talked to my writing group, one of whom was thinking about participating in Camp NaNoWriMo, and they were like, go for it. Its not like theres, you know, a consequence if you dont meet your goal.

So in April of 2019, as she grieved her fathers death, Annika signed up and set a goal of 10,000 words. And she got to work.

I really allowed myself to do nothing but write. Like I fed my children, barely. I fed myself like really barely, she said, laughing. Otherwise all I did was work on this novel, be sad, and my part-time day job.

For that month, she lived in a web browser with two tabs open: one for her manuscript, and one for her Camp NaNo word count. It was just the right amount of structure, and it helped her give herself permission to do what she needed to do during a really difficult time of life.

I think for a lot of people NaNoWriMo provides the opportunity to say, Im doing this thing for myself.

Thats useful whether youre grieving or just dealing with the stresses and pressures of everyday life.

It gives them an external goal, so that its not just a thing they want to do some day. Its a thing that they have to do right now, Annika said.

Writing a novel is the kind of thing that, if youve never done it before, it can be hard to imagine ever doing it. But people want to do it, and NaNoWriMo helps them turn that dream into a practice.

People are just trying to get words on a page and get a start, said Jasmine.

Karina added, if youre not forcing yourself to get words on the page, then you really have nothing to work with at all.

Theres an alchemy to the NaNoWriMo process. You take an ambitious goal, add in a sense of urgency, a supportive community, and fun-to-use tracking and motivational tools, and whether you win or not, you end up with not just words on a previously blank page, but maybe a new understanding of yourself.

Just the intention to be creative for a month is a huge achievement, because most of our, you know, most of our lives we end up doing what we should do, you know? said Grant. Our lives revolve our to-do lists, and usually those to-do lists dont include creativity, or creativity falls lower and lower on the list until its barely there at all. And so, NaNoWriMo is this opportunity to be creative and highly creative, uh, for one month of the year. No one loses, because youve not only decided to immerse yourself in creativity, youre developing those people who are writing five or 10,000 words a month, theyre developing the skills, the time management skills, the knowledge of what it takes.

And you get the knowledge that you can keep doing it, because youve already done it. From that angle, everybody wins.

I think that theres this perception that people are doing it because they think that they will actually have a finished novel at the end of it, said Annika. And what people are actually doing is looking for a way to have anything finished. Just words on paper. You know?

Its as simple and complicated as that.

*

The above piece comes from our formerAnnotatedpodcast series, and it originally aired in November 2019.

See original here:

Why National Novel Writing Month?: Its Just Words On Paper - Book Riot