South Jordan Registered Nurse Returning Home after Assisting with Federal Health Response to Super Typhoon Yutu
A registered nurse from South Jordan, Utah, Ms. Sheryl Dority, is returning home from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a U.S. territory, after assisting the federal medical response to Super Typhoon Yutu as part of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS). Ms. Dority serves as a member of an NDMS Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT).
NDMS is a federal program that can support communities with medical care, veterinary care, and mortuary assistance during disasters or public health emergencies at the request of states or U.S. territories; NDMS is among the resources made available by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR).
Prior to the storm, ASPR staged about 100 medical and public health personnel, along with their caches of medical equipment, in Hawaii and Guam, the closest U.S. territory to CNMI, which includes the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. Following impact, these NDMS assets moved into Saipan and Tinian where the typhoon hit hardest and caused the most damage to the healthcare infrastructure.
“Initially, our DMAT personnel augmented medical care at the one and only hospital in Saipan, the Commonwealth Health Center,” NDMS Acting Director Ron Miller said. “As soon as the hospital emergency department was stabilized, our DMAT personnel began working alongside local healthcare providers to care for patients at CNMI clinics, shelters, and community centers.
In the first eight days, NDMS personnel treated more than 1,400 patients primarily for clean-up related injuries, such as lacerations and puncture wounds. NDMS efforts to help residents of CNMI will continue until the territory no longer needs the support.
NDMS comprises approximately 5,000 physicians, nurses, veterinary staff, paramedics, fatality management professionals, and experienced command and control staff, organized into more than 70 response teams. When an emergency overwhelms local and state resources, ASPR looks to the expertise within NDMS from across the country to assist in the response. Although they hail from communities nationwide, when deployed they are federal government employees working as part of a coordinated federal response.
To learn more about HHS’ response to the 2018 hurricanes, please visit https://www.phe.gov/emergency/events/2018-Severe-Storms/Pages/default.aspx.
As part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ASPR’s mission is to save lives and protect Americans from 21st century health security threats. ASPR leads the nation’s medical and public health preparedness for, response to, and recovery from disasters and public health emergencies. For more information about federal medical response and NDMS, visit www.phe.gov.
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Why You Need to Vote (Democrat)
By Matthew Johnson
459 words
While nonpartisan get-out-the-vote efforts are admirable and necessary for democracy as it is practiced in the United States, I am not going to tell you to simply vote on Tuesday — but to vote Democrat.
I implore you to vote Democrat, even as someone who voted against Obama in 2008 because he was not progressive enough (I voted for the Green Party ticket). I implore you to vote Democrat because it is the best use of your time on Election Day to protect what’s left of our democracy. This is not just about putting the other party in power.
If you have even glanced at the news lately, you know what is at stake. We have a president that is threatening to eliminate birthright citizenship in clear violation of the 14thAmendment. We have a Republican Congress that brazenly and cynically pursues an unpopular legislative agenda, which to date has handed billions of dollars in tax breaks to the wealthy, curbed Obama-era health care coverage expansion, and recently threatened to cut Medicare and Social Security. With the deplorable confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh, far-right ideologues now control the highest court in the land, and there is no hope that they will provide a much-needed check to the other two branches. This is not to mention the violent, racist rhetoric that Trump spews or tweets almost daily — rhetoric that emboldens our society’s worst elements, who have recently claimed innocent lives in Pittsburgh and Jeffersontown. This is also not to mention the mobilization of soldiers on the southern border of the United States. This move is not only a distraction meant to scare xenophobic Republican voters to the polls but also a calculated show of force meant to terrorize immigrants and their supporters.
These are just a handful of legitimate reasons to vote for the Democrats whether you’re Libertarian, Green, patriotic Republican, or unaffiliated.
Renowned journalist Alan Nairn, speaking on Democracy Now, made a similar case for voting Democrat when he said, “You have to, at this moment, vote in the warmongers who will preserve democracy to block the warmongers who would abolish it.” We are in full agreement that achieving lasting progressive and egalitarian social change, saving our children’s environment, and preserving or even strengthening our fraying social safety net are all far more likely once the Republicans are voted out of office.
This is not about blind allegiance to the Democrats but about damage control. When a vein is severed, the first order of business is to stop the bleeding. We are nowhere near finding a cure to our ailing democracy, but we can nurse it slowly back to health. Short of miracle cure in the form of a sweeping nonviolent democratic revolution, the Democrats are the best option we have.
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Matt Johnson, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is co-author of Trumpism.
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SHOPKO ANNOUNCES 2018 BLACK FRIDAY AND HOLIDAY STORE HOURS
The retailer unveils its holiday hours with more than 800 doorbuster deals, including early access doorbusters at Shopko.com, and its top toy trends
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Shopko extends its store hours during the most popular shopping days of the year and holiday season. Black Friday deals will also be extended on Shopko.com and in stores with special offers on over 800 doorbusters, additional WOW doorbusters and the season’s top toys.
“Shopko is proud to be the friendly, local store that shoppers can rely on during the holidays to find exactly what they need, which is why we offer extended hours,” said Russ Steinhorst, Shopko chief executive officer. “Shopko stores will deliver great value on the newest and hottest items in all of our departments on Black Friday and throughout the holiday season.”
Shopko Store Hours
Shopko Hometown Store Hours
Shopko Express, Standalone Pharmacy and Optical Center Store Hours
Store hours vary by location, so check your local Shopko’s holiday hours online.
Doorbusters will start early at Shopko.com on Tuesday, Nov. 20, and will be featured at Shopko store locations when doors open at 2 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day through 2 p.m. on Black Friday, while supplies last. The first 100 customers at Shopko stores on Thanksgiving Day will receive a $10-off bonus card, valid Nov. 24, and a $15-off bonus card, valid Dec. 1-24, for home and clothing purchases. In addition, Shopko loyalty customers will earn 3 percent back in rewards any way they pay.
Shopko will also host pre-Black Friday events ahead of Black Friday that will feature select items from the Black Friday ad exclusively at Shopko.com. Pre-Black Friday events occur on Nov. 2 and will be offered again Nov. 9 and 16. Shoppers can view the pre-Black Friday events as well as the full Black Friday ad starting Nov. 2 at Shopko.com.
As gift givers begin preparing their shopping lists, Shopko also offers the most popular toys for the 2018 holiday season to help family members and friends give the same gift of joy toys gave them when they were young.
While toys have modernized over the years, there are brands that have and will continuously bring smiles to kids for decades to come, along with newcomers that offer kids different ways to express their unique imagination
All of Shopko’s available toys can be viewed online at www.shopko.com/toys.
Donate unwrapped toys this holiday season at the Toys for Tots bins located at all Shopko stores through Dec. 7.
Sign up for Shopko emails to get information on all the doorbusters and cyber deals, and follow Shopko at Facebook.com/Shopko.
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About Shopko
Shopko is owned by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc., a leading private investment firm focused on leverage buyouts, equity, debt, and other investments in market-leading companies.
Founded in 1962 and headquartered in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Shopko Stores Operating Co., LLC is a $3 billion retailer that operates more than 370 stores in 26 states throughout the Central, Western and Pacific Northwest regions. Retail formats include 126 Shopko stores, providing quality name-brand merchandise, great values, pharmacy and optical services in small to mid-sized cities; five Shopko Express Rx stores, a convenient neighborhood drugstore concept; six Shopko Pharmacy locations; two Shopko Optical locations and 234 Shopko Hometown stores, a smaller concept store developed to meet the needs of smaller communities. For more information, visit www.shopko.com.
