Public Policy
News releases, reports, statements and associated documents from public policy organizations whose goal it is to influence the debate Washington.
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Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres: After Two Weeks, 356 People Rescued in the Central Mediterranean May Finally Disembark
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Aug. 24 -- The Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres issued the following news:
AMSTERDAM/NEW YORK -- After being stranded for 14 days at sea with 356 rescued people on board, the Ocean Viking, a ship operated by the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and SOS MEDITERRANEE, has finally been offered a safe place for disembarkation in Malta.
While a coalition of countries has worked together on this response, European governments must stop prolonged delays and ad hoc negotiations over rescued people,
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AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Aug. 24 -- The Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres issued the following news:
AMSTERDAM/NEW YORK -- After being stranded for 14 days at sea with 356 rescued people on board, the Ocean Viking, a ship operated by the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and SOS MEDITERRANEE, has finally been offered a safe place for disembarkation in Malta.
While a coalition of countries has worked together on this response, European governments must stop prolonged delays and ad hoc negotiations over rescued people,and urgently agree on a mechanism for disembarkation of people rescued at sea.
Jay Berger, MSF project coordinator on the Ocean Viking, gave the following statement:
"We are relieved this long ordeal for the 356 people we have on board is finally over. Was it necessary to impose two weeks of excruciating wait for rescued people to be disembarked? These are people who have fled from desperate circumstances in their home countries and suffered horrific abuses in Libya.
"We've treated the war-wounded who were trapped on the front line of the conflict in Tripoli and seen the scars of those who lived through the Tajoura detention center airstrikes. We've talked to the survivors of shipwrecks and interceptions. We've heard stories of brutal beatings, electrocution, torture including by melting plastic and sexual violence--with even children not exempt from these horrors. European states must take a hard look at the role they are playing in trapping people in these situations.
"It is sad that we have to repeat the same message to European leaders time and time again with no change. They can no longer claim ignorance to the disaster unfolding in the Mediterranean Sea. After hundreds of deaths at sea and countless stories of suffering, it's time for European leaders to recognize this humanitarian disaster for what it is and finally step up with humane solutions--starting with the setting up of a mechanism to allow swift disembarkation.
"After [this] disembarkation we will have a port call to resupply and change crew. As long as people are drowning and continue to flee Libya, we remain committed to saving lives at sea."
MSF is calling on European states to:
* Put in place a sustainable and predictable disembarkation system that safeguards survivor's rights.
* End their political and material support to the system of forced returns to Libya where refugees and migrants are placed in arbitrary and inhumane detention. People fleeing Libya simply cannot be returned there.
* Respond to the urgent need for proactive and sufficient European search and rescue capacity.
* Stop punitive actions against aid organizations trying to provide lifesaving assistance in lieu of a government-led response to this crisis.
Information on recent rescues:
Within 10 hours of patrolling the Libyan rescue region, the Ocean Viking was alerted to the first boat in distress on August 9. What followed was four days of consecutive rescue operations with 356 men, women, and children--the youngest just one year old--brought on board in four separate rescues. During that time, a rescue vessel operated by another aid organization, Open Arms, was stranded waiting for disembarkation with 147 people on board. While the Ocean Viking and Open Arms remained stranded at sea this week, with no other dedicated European search and rescue vessels there have been new reports of more tragic shipwrecks and avoidable deaths.
The circumstances surrounding the rescues and the inadequate response of authorities, be it Libyan, Maltese, Italian or European, show how confused the situation at sea remains while states are not putting their duty to save lives first. Despite consistently attempting to contact the Libyan Rescue Coordination Center since receiving the first distress alert, the Ocean Viking did not receive a response until well after the rescue--offering for the Ocean Viking to disembark people in Libya, contrary to international law.
Given the lack of a place of safety from the Libyan authorities, the Ocean Viking then requested that the Maltese and Italian maritime authorities take on coordination and support finding a place of safety, as the next closest coordination centers able to assist. Two weeks later, and after first refusing coordination, the Maltese Prime Minister announced today that Malta would transfer all 356 rescued people from the Ocean Viking outside of Maltese territorial waters to the Armed Forces of Malta vessels and disembark them in Malta. It is expected that all of the rescued people will be relocated to other European Union member states: France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, and Romania.
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance: A Plan to Plunder - Trump Administration Releases Plan for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
ESCALANTE, Utah, Aug. 23 -- The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance issued the following news release:
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- Plan Undermines Standards for National Monument Protections, Ignores Public Opposition and Ongoing Litigation Over Reduced Boundaries
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Today, local and national groups, businesses and globally-respected scientist organizations, denounced the Department of the Interior's (DOI) release of management plans for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument as another step toward undermining protections for Americans' national monuments and other protected public lands.
Top failures of
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ESCALANTE, Utah, Aug. 23 -- The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance issued the following news release:
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- Plan Undermines Standards for National Monument Protections, Ignores Public Opposition and Ongoing Litigation Over Reduced Boundaries
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Today, local and national groups, businesses and globally-respected scientist organizations, denounced the Department of the Interior's (DOI) release of management plans for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument as another step toward undermining protections for Americans' national monuments and other protected public lands.
Top failures ofthe management plan released today:
* The plan opens up hundreds of thousands of acres of the original Monument (designated in 1996) to drilling and mining, while the administration's illegal reduction of the Monument (decreasing it by nearly half) is still being actively litigated and while the Government Accountability Office is investigating whether the planning process itself is in violation of long-standing spending law.
* It is the result of a rushed and closed-door process, opening up land for inappropriate development with little input from the public.
* The plan changes standards for the management of all national monuments--affecting treasured places across the country--and doesn't even protect what remains of Grand Staircase-Escalante.
This reckless plan doesn't protect Grand Staircase-Escalante or the businesses that depend on it, and sets an unacceptable precedent for national monuments across the country. Our irreplaceable public lands are the envy of the world, and the law requires that they be managed on behalf of all Americans.
Organizational quotes
Kya Marienfeld, Wildlands Attorney, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
"This illegal plan puts a fine point on the Trump administration's rapacious vision for America's public lands. This is a plan of plunder: authorizing rampant chaining of pinyon-juniper forests, unbridled energy development, and a free-for-all of off-road vehicle abuse. Grand Staircase-Escalante is one of the nation's public land crown jewels; it is the quintessentially wild red rock landscape that people from across the country and around the world think of when they dream of visiting southern Utah. President Trump broke the law and defied Congress with his illegal order reducing the monument, and SUWA and its partners will persist with our fight in court to undo this damage and restore full protections to the entire monument ecosystem."
Nicole Croft, Executive Director, Grand Staircase-Escalante Partners
"The BLM's management plan attempts to cement the largest roll-back in public lands protections in American history. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument has demonstrated its worth time and time again, through contributions to science, personal discovery and significant economic benefits to our local communities. These lands belong to every American, not just a few special interests."
Joe & Suzanne Catlett, Nemo's Restaurant Group, LLC
"No new Management Plans should be considered or released prior to the outcomes currently pending before the Courts. In our opinion this action is disingenuous, completed recklessly and does not represent the true best interest of this county or the American people. As owner/operators of an Escalante, Utah Main street business, and like other businesses in Garfield County, we have seen an immediate and direct decrease in our sales and revenue compared to years prior. This is a direct result of the BLM attempting to rush management plans on an Executive action that remains heavily litigated, may be reversed, and continues to impact the local economy."
Nathan Waggoner, Escalante Outfitters
"Escalante Outfitters and many other businesses in our gateway communities rely on the protection and preservation of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to continue to grow our businesses and support our communities. We are deeply disappointed in the BLM's new management plan because it turns a blind eye to the concerns of businesses who support a wilderness ethic and it caters to a small band of special interest groups who want to exploit our public lands for short term profits. Given that the litigation to restore the monument to its rightful size is still on-going, the new management plan is a waste of taxpayers money and detrimental to one of America's last great expanses of wilderness."
Blake Spalding, co-owner, Hell's Backbone Grill and Farm in Boulder, Utah
"In our restaurant we're talking to guests every day who have travelled from far and wide to enjoy the unspoiled protected public lands of Southern Utah. They desperately want these landscapes preserved, as they were intended to be when they were thoughtfully designated as protected Monuments. The new management plan is a travesty that will devastate the tranquil gateway communities and businesses that were thriving before this incursion."
David Polly, Immediate Past President, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
"If something's not broke, you shouldn't try to fix it. Grand Staircase-Escalante has been one of the most productive areas for paleontology in the last quarter century. The Monument has been a spectacular success in providing scientific value to the entire world. These new management plans are unnecessary and have already cost taxpayers more than $1 million, a fortune that could have produced thousands of more finds."
William H. Doelle, President and CEO, Archaeology Southwest
"There is no question that Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was legitimately established through the authority granted by the Antiquities Act of 1906. There is no question that this magnificent landscape is also a cultural one, bearing unparalleled evidence of people's lives over millennia. What this deeply flawed plan reveals, like the recently released Bears Ears plan, is a troubling question--do national monuments even mean anything anymore? We believe they do, and we stand with our partners in pushing for proper and lawful protections for Grand Staircase-Escalante and all our national monuments."
Brian Sybert, Executive Director, Conservation Lands Foundation
"Grand Staircase was designated more than twenty years ago, and its boundaries were later ratified by Congressional action. This plan is an attempt to further this administration's reckless push to open treasured, irreplaceable lands to destructive mining and drilling--despite public outcry and before the courts have a chance to weigh in."
Heidi McIntosh, Managing Attorney of Earthjustice's Rocky Mountains Office
"Grand Staircase was an exceptionally successful national monument until President Trump rode into town and unlawfully shredded it. These protected lands have been a boon for the local economy and a treasure trove of dinosaur discoveries and new scientific insights precisely because they are protected. We're disgusted, but not surprised, upon seeing Trump's latest plans. While the Trump Administration is rushing a new scheme through to let mining companies and ranchers harm vast swaths of Grand Staircase for a quick buck, we're in court working to stop them. These new plans won't be worth the paper they're printed on if the court rules that Trump violated the Antiquities Act and the Constitution."
Phil Hanceford, Attorney, The Wilderness Society
"The Trump administration continues to steamroll forward with illegal actions to open nearly half the monument to drilling, and mining and other destructive activities. This planning process is another blatant example of the train headed down a barricaded track," said Phil Hanceford, an attorney with The Wilderness Society. "While the BLM continues to disregard the law, the public, and the harm these plans will cause, we will fight in court to return the monument to its original boundary and ensure the entirety is managed in a way that protects this outstanding resource."
Mary O'Brien, Utah Forests Program Director, Grand Canyon Trust
"The proposals to add more roads, more cattle grazing, more fuel extraction, more non-native grass seeding, more OHV use in wilderness study areas - it's as if the BLM tried to promote every damaging activity they could imagine."
Theresa Pierno, President and CEO for National Parks Conservation Association
"From ancient dinosaur fossils to ascending plateaus and winding canyons developed over millions of years, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is unparalleled. But now, it's being taken from the public and handed to the highest bidder. Grand Staircase-Escalante serves as a critical connection to three of our country's national park sites - Bryce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks and Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. It shields rock formations and wildlife from harm and provides visitors with opportunities to experience intense quiet and solitude. Despite the monument's value to the region and the millions of people who have fought to protect it, the Trump administration is green lighting destructive development, including mining and drilling, that will forever change this landscape and all we stand to learn from and experience here."
Rose Marcario, President and CEO, Patagonia
"The executive order eliminating protections for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was illegal and no management plan for these lands should proceed until the resolution of the lawsuits. If this administration's reckless agenda is not stopped, it will lead to the destruction of a national treasure protected for over two decades that enjoys support from hunters and hikers as well as local businesses and communities. And even more troubling, it sets a dangerous precedent for the future of all public lands and waters. These wild and wonderful landscapes should not be auctioned off to the highest bidder, and we have every confidence the courts will rule in favor of the plaintiffs and the original boundaries of the National Monument will be restored."
Lena Moffitt, director of the Sierra Club's Our Wild America campaign
"The bottom line is that the Trump administration acted illegally when it stripped the lands of Grand Staircase-Escalante of national monument status. With this plan, Bernhardt's Interior is clearly trying to let in mining and drilling before a court can overturn the rollbacks."
Nicole Ghio, Senior Fossil Fuels Program Manager at Friends of the Earth
"The new management plan for Grand Staircase Escalante ignores the overwhelming opposition to mining and drilling on this land. Bernhardt's push to hand the Monument over to fossil fuel interests is possibly illegal and ignores the ongoing court battles. BLM's plan is a rushed attempt to undercut established environmental protections."
Rohingya People Still Trapped Two Years on From Exodus - Oxfam America
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Aug. 23 -- Oxfam America issued the following news release:
Rohingya people in Myanmar and Bangladesh say they feel trapped and that their lives are on hold two years on from a campaign of violence that forced hundreds of thousands to flee. Despite global attention and a huge humanitarian effort, more than a million Rohingya are being denied their basic human rights and no resolution is in sight.
Two years ago this Sunday (August 25), the first of more than 700,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown by the Myanmar army. An estimated 500,000 Rohingya
... Show Full Article
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Aug. 23 -- Oxfam America issued the following news release:
Rohingya people in Myanmar and Bangladesh say they feel trapped and that their lives are on hold two years on from a campaign of violence that forced hundreds of thousands to flee. Despite global attention and a huge humanitarian effort, more than a million Rohingya are being denied their basic human rights and no resolution is in sight.
Two years ago this Sunday (August 25), the first of more than 700,000 Rohingya people fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown by the Myanmar army. An estimated 500,000 Rohingyapeople remain in Myanmar, including almost 130,000 in confined camps that are fenced in and where movement is severely restricted.
Efforts to return up to 3,450 refugees to Myanmar began earlier this week. Oxfam welcomes the commitment by the Government of Bangladesh and UNHCR to ensure returns only happen in conditions that are safe, voluntary and dignified. Refugees long to return to their homes, but many say they fear going back without a guarantee of rights and justice.
Rohingya people living in camps in Myanmar have told Oxfam staff how endless checkpoints and confusing bureaucracy are cutting them off from healthcare, education and work. Many describe waiting days or even weeks for a permit to go to the hospital, while some said they knew of people who had died waiting, including mothers in labor. A generation of children are missing out on an education, since not all camps have formal schools, and there is only one secondary school to serve 23 camps. Adults can no longer earn a living through agriculture or fishing, leaving them reliant on meagre food rations.
The Government of Bangladesh has shown great generosity in hosting almost a million Rohingya in what has become the world's largest refugee camp. Yet Rohingya people cannot leave the camp without permission and only have access to the most basic healthcare and education, and are not allowed to work.
Elizabeth Hallinan, Advocacy Manager for Oxfam's Rohingya Response, said: "Rohingya people feel as though they are in limbo with no end in sight. They are alive, but merely surviving. Immediate action is needed so they are free to travel and work to provide for their families."
One Rohingya man in Myanmar told Oxfam: "I want you to imagine what it is like to have no rights, no business, children have no education. It is like a prison ... Except this is the next level prison, because we do not know how many years we have to stay here."
Another said: "The Rohingya are like a person inside a deep well ... The surrounding people give him food and assistance, but no one thinks about the ladder and getting him out of the well."
Those in Myanmar but outside the camps face similar restrictions: they need permission to travel outside their villages and are often cut off from vital services. The accounts Oxfam has heard echo the findings of other organizations including the UN, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty.
Oxfam is calling on the Government of Myanmar to end restrictions on movement and ensure equal rights for all. The root causes of violence in Rakhine State must be addressed, as outlined in the Rakhine Advisory Commission recommendations.
The Government of Bangladesh should give refugees the chance to lead meaningful lives by allowing them to work and receive training. But it also needs ongoing support from the international community to care for so many refugees; the UN estimates that $950.8 million will be needed to fund the Rohingya response in 2019 but only a third of that figure has been pledged by governments around the world.
Renee Hoffpauir-Klann Pledges to Support Congressional U.S. Term Limits
WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 -- U.S. Term Limits issued the following news release:
U.S. Term Limits (USTL), the leader in the national, non-partisan movement to limit terms for elected officials, is gathering support from state lawmakers across the nation. Its mission is to get 34 states to apply for an amendment proposal convention specific to term limits on Congress. Louisiana state senate candidate (district 30), Renee Hoffpauir-Klann, has committed support for term limits on Congress by signing the Term Limits Convention pledge.
USTL President, Philip Blumel, commented on the pledge saying, "Klann's
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 -- U.S. Term Limits issued the following news release:
U.S. Term Limits (USTL), the leader in the national, non-partisan movement to limit terms for elected officials, is gathering support from state lawmakers across the nation. Its mission is to get 34 states to apply for an amendment proposal convention specific to term limits on Congress. Louisiana state senate candidate (district 30), Renee Hoffpauir-Klann, has committed support for term limits on Congress by signing the Term Limits Convention pledge.
USTL President, Philip Blumel, commented on the pledge saying, "Klann'ssupport of term limits shows that there are individuals who are willing to listen to the majority of voters who want term limits. America needs a Congress that will be served by citizen legislators, not career politicians."
The U.S. Term Limits pledge is provided to candidates and members of state legislatures. It reads, "I pledge that, as a member of the state legislature, I will cosponsor, vote for, and defend the resolution applying for an Article V convention for the limited purpose of enacting term limits on Congress."
In the 1995 case, Thornton v. U.S. Term Limits, the Supreme Court of the United States opined that only a Constitutional Amendment could limit the terms of U.S. Senators and House Representatives. According to Nick Tomboulides, Executive Director of USTL, the best chance of imposing term limits on Congress is through an Article V Proposal Convention of state legislatures.
"The Constitution allows for amendments to be proposed by either 2/3 of Congress or 2/3 of the states. While we'd like for Congress to take the high road and propose term limits on itself, our goal is to trigger the latter, a national convention specifically for a term limits amendment," claims Tomboulides. "That is why it is important to get buy-in from state legislators," he added. Once proposed, the amendment must be ratified by 38 states.
Blumel noted, "More than 82% of Americans have rejected the career politician model and want to replace it with citizen leadership. The way to achieve that goal is through a congressional term limits amendment. Renee knows this and is willing to work to make sure we reach our goal."
According to the last nationwide poll on term limits conducted by McLaughlin & Associates, conducted in January 2018, term limits enjoys wide bipartisan support. McLaughlin's analysis states, "Support for term limits is broad and strong across all political, geographic and demographic groups. An overwhelming 82% of voters approve of a Constitutional Amendment that will place term limits on members of Congress."
View Klann's signed pledge here (https://www.termlimits.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/A5-Hoffpauir-Klann-Renee-LA-HD-30.png).
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U.S. Term Limits is the largest grassroots term limits advocacy group in the country. We connect term limits supporters with their legislators and work to pass term limits on all elected officials, particularly on the U.S. Congress. Find out more at termlimits.org.
OSF HealthCare: Consumers Embrace New Urgent Care Option
PEORIA, Illinois, Aug. 23 -- OSF HealthCare issued the following news:
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- OSF Urgo Celebrates Successful First Year
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Sharon Russell of Normal, Illinois is an amateur actor who had just finished up a performance at Heartland Theater when she took a dramatic fall and rolled her foot as it caught the edge between the pavement and grass after a Saturday night performance last month. The painful grimace that quickly crossed her face was no acting job.
Russell knew a trip to a busy emergency department was not how she wanted to spend the next few hours but when the morning came, even before
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PEORIA, Illinois, Aug. 23 -- OSF HealthCare issued the following news:
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- OSF Urgo Celebrates Successful First Year
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Sharon Russell of Normal, Illinois is an amateur actor who had just finished up a performance at Heartland Theater when she took a dramatic fall and rolled her foot as it caught the edge between the pavement and grass after a Saturday night performance last month. The painful grimace that quickly crossed her face was no acting job.
Russell knew a trip to a busy emergency department was not how she wanted to spend the next few hours but when the morning came, even beforeher morning coffee, Russell grabbed her smart phone, made the first available appointment and headed to the OSF Urgo urgent care clinic in a shopping center along Veterans Parkway in Normal.
In pain, and hobbling on crutches she already had at home, Russell was greeted at the door and quickly whisked into an exam room.
"To be able to get just right in there, get the diagnosis right away and get the help that I needed and be told what to do: 'Go home, do this, don't do this, take this, don't take that,' I think it helped my overall recovery process because I'm doing really well, Russell shared.
Russell was so impressed with her experience, she gave a Facebook shout out to her OSF Urgo caregivers.
"They were so good and so kind and quick! I think the key thing is it was so quick to be able to get in to see somebody so easily," she gushed.
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Sharon Russell, OSF Urgo Patient
"The doctor even said, 'You've healed this really well. What you did when it originally happened and the fact you got to see somebody right away probably really helped."
[Category: Health Care]
Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast Program Pairs Local Companies With NASA Expertise
SPACE COAST, Florida, Aug. 23 -- The Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast issued the following news release:
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- Technology Docking Program continues to fuel innovation.
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The Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast (EDC) has introduced four local companies into a collaboration with NASA subject matter experts through the EDC's Technology Docking Program.
A strategic alliance powered by the EDC and NASA, the Technology Docking Program matches Brevard companies together with NASA expertise to solve a defined commercial technology challenge. This
... Show Full Article
SPACE COAST, Florida, Aug. 23 -- The Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast issued the following news release:
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- Technology Docking Program continues to fuel innovation.
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The Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast (EDC) has introduced four local companies into a collaboration with NASA subject matter experts through the EDC's Technology Docking Program.
A strategic alliance powered by the EDC and NASA, the Technology Docking Program matches Brevard companies together with NASA expertise to solve a defined commercial technology challenge. Thisunique collaboration fuels innovation and enhances the inventory of technologies in the Space Coast region, stimulating the local economy and ensuring Brevard County remains competitive on a global scale.
Since its inauguration in 2015, the Technology Docking Program has engaged 95 companies through direct interface with NASA representatives. Local companies such as SeaDek Marine Products, Alluvionic, GeNO LLC, and more, have benefited from this strategic partnership.
"Innovation is a key driver in today's economy," said Lynda Weatherman, President and CEO of the EDC. "The Tech Docking Program, which is nearing its 100th company, fuels our innovative ecosystem, leading to new business investment and opportunities on the Space Coast."
The four companies selected to participate in the 2019 program are:
Entech Innovative Engineering
Innovative design, professional engineering and fabrication-build services of specialized systems, machinery and structures.
Falcon Power
Developer of patented motor / generator / transmission system.
Millennium Engineering and Integration Company
World-class engineering services, solutions, and products company for the space, defense, intelligence, cyber, aviation, and healthcare markets
Raider Outboards
Designer and producer of multi-fuel, submersible, lightweight outboard motors and associated parts that include military, search and rescue and commercial/retail customers.
"Fiberglass is the ideal vehicle for Entech Innovative Engineering to get into the space industry, as it has applications in aerospace, aircraft technology, architecture and transportation," said John Marhoefer, Owner of Entech Innovative Engineering. "Our move from Orlando to Rockledge has shifted our engineering firm's business strategy. We are picking something to develop instead of reacting to a client's needs. We are focused on developing structural transparent and moldable composites in fiberglass. I'm excited about the opportunity to work with NASA on new fiberglass technologies because what's currently available isn't cost-effective enough."
"The EDC continues to be a leader in building strategic partnerships on the Space Coast for up-and-coming technology firms seeking access to the high-tech talent and innovative mindsets in the larger firms and governmental sectors in our area," stated Dr. Abram Walton, EDC Innovation Council Chair and Professor, College of Business at the Florida Institute of Technology. "We continue to see an increase in the rigor and quality of the applicants for the NASA Tech Docking Program and look forward to continuing to support innovation and entrepreneurship through our region."
Companies looking to receive input from NASA can learn more by visiting the Technology Docking Program website at http://www.spacecoastedc.org/TechDocking
For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy
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About the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast
The Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast (EDC) is dedicated to attracting new business and investment and expanding existing industry throughout the Space Coast, influencing change on government laws and regulations affecting economic development, promoting the Space Coast to encourage new investment, supporting efforts of Space Coast military installations, and relaying new programs and procedures to assist manufacturing and high-tech companies. The EDC is a private, not-for-profit coalition whose stakeholders are business leaders committed to the economic growth and stability of Florida's Space Coast. Visit http://www.SpaceCoastEDC.org
[Category: Economics]
Brady Campaign: Families File Lawsuits Against Major Gun Dealer That Supplied Serial Killer With Firearms
WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 -- The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence issued the following news release:
Family members of two victims killed by a notorious serial killer filed lawsuits against the gun dealer who sold alleged straw purchased firearms used in the killing. The lawsuits were filed today by the families of Charles David Carver and Meagan Leigh Coxie. The gunman, a convicted and a known serial killer, has admitted to murdering Carver and Coxie. The lawsuits allege that the gun dealer, Academy Sports + Outdoors, illegally and negligently sold guns in multiple straw purchases to Dustan Lawson
... Show Full Article
WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 -- The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence issued the following news release:
Family members of two victims killed by a notorious serial killer filed lawsuits against the gun dealer who sold alleged straw purchased firearms used in the killing. The lawsuits were filed today by the families of Charles David Carver and Meagan Leigh Coxie. The gunman, a convicted and a known serial killer, has admitted to murdering Carver and Coxie. The lawsuits allege that the gun dealer, Academy Sports + Outdoors, illegally and negligently sold guns in multiple straw purchases to Dustan Lawson-- the man who supplied weapons to the gunman. Jonathan Lowy and Erin Davis of Brady, Mary Schiavo of Motley Rice, and Mills Ariail of the law offices of R. Mills Ariail, Jr. are counsel for the families.
Mary Schiavo of Motley Rice said:
"We are committed to obtaining justice for these victims, while helping their families find answers and meaning. We don't want to see any other family endure such an avoidable tragedy. Academy Sports + Outdoors should have followed the law."
Mills Ariail of the law offices of R. Mills Ariail, Jr. said:
"When a gun dealer chooses to engage in irresponsible and illegal sales practices that arm dangerous people, they should be held responsible."
Erin Davis, Senior Counsel, Trial and Appellate Litigation at Brady stated:
"While most gun dealers care deeply about their responsibility to keep guns out of the wrong hands, some gun dealers put profits over people by illegally selling guns to straw purchasers."
These are the second and third lawsuits filed by Brady against Academy Sports + Outdoors on behalf of victims killed by the gunman. The first lawsuit, Coxie v. Academy Sports and Outdoors, was filed in December of 2018 on behalf of Johnny Coxie's family. The gunman confessed to killing a total of seven people, including Charles David Carver, Meagan Leigh Coxie, and Johnny Coxie.
The complaint alleges that the gunman used a Glock pistol purchased from Academy Sports + Outdoors to kill Charles David Carver, Meagan Leigh Coxie, and Johnny Coxie. In July, a trial judge denied Academy Sports + Outdoors' motion to dismiss the first lawsuit filed on behalf of Johnny Coxie's family.
Brady is dedicated to reducing gun injuries and deaths in American gun violence. For over 30 years, Brady has worked in the courts to reform dangerous gun industry practices that give criminals and dangerous people access to guns, winning over $30 million in settlements and verdicts, and precedent-setting rulings in courts, including: Alaska, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
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Brady has one powerful mission -- to unite all Americans against gun violence. We work across Congress, the courts, and our communities with over 90 grassroots chapters, bringing together young and old, red and blue, and every shade of color to find common ground in the common sense. In the spirit of our founders Jim and Sarah Brady, we have fought for over 25 years to take action, not sides, and we will not stop until this epidemic ends. It's in our hands.
