ALERT - Reach Out and Read and Reading is Fundamental funding in Danger

Please contact Senator Jon Kyl’s office at http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm and ask him to vote NO on the Coburn Amendment, which is being voted on Monday, November 29th. You can also call Abby Donovan, Senator Kyl’s education staffer at 202-224-4521. Below is a short script for your use.

If the amendment passes, it would end ALL funding for Reach Out and Read, including 6 million dollars in the current budget proposals. Reach Out and Read is technically an earmark, despite being a national program with 11 years of federal funding. This amendment would devastate national and state Reach Out and Read Programs as well as Reading is Fundamental (RIF), which provides books for low income children and Tribal Programs. Reach Out and Read is a proven school readiness program serving children 6 month-5 years, with 182 programs in 13 counties serving over 124,000 children in Arizona.

We need your assistance and we only have a very small window of time to mobilize to make sure that Reach Out and Read and Reading is Fundamental, are not removed from the budget. Please call Abby and email Senator Kyl.

Here is some language that you can use for your email to Senator Kyl:

“Subject Line: Vote NO on Coburn Amendment 4697

I urge Senator Kyl to vote No on the Coburn Amendment (SA-4697-510), which is scheduled for a vote on Monday, November 29th.

As you know, Reach out and Read is a proven, pediatric school readiness program that works with more than 3.95 million, low-income children and their families at more than 4,500 hospitals and health centers in fifty states. We currently serve 124,000 children in Arizona at 182 programs.

I urge you to vote NO on the Coburn Amendment.

Thank you,

First Name/Last Name

Reach Out and Read Arizona”

Proposed Cigarette Product Warning Labels

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Tobacco Control Act) requires that cigarette packages and advertisements have larger and more visible graphic health warnings.

FDA issued a proposed rule, Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements, proposing to modify the required warnings that appear on cigarette packages and in cigarette advertisements. These new required warnings would consist of nine new textual warning statements accompanied by color graphics depicting the negative health consequences of smoking.

The Tobacco Control Act requires FDA to issue final regulations requiring these color graphics by June 22, 2011. It also specifies that the requirement for the new health warnings on cigarette packages and advertisements will take effect 15 months after issuance of this final rule.

To view all the images, and for information on how to vote for them, please click click.

The Power of Assets: Helping Kids to Thrive

A training opportunity for people interested in asset based community development.

The Search Institute's 40 Developmental Assets are based on extensive research in youth development, resiliency, and prevention. They represent the relationships, opportunities and personal qualities that young people need to avoid risks and to thrive. Studies of more than 2.2 million young people in the United States consistently show that the more Assets young people have, the less likely they are to engage in a wide range of high-risk behaviors and the more likely they are to thrive.

Participants in the training will:

• Learn about the 8 categories of the Developmental Assets
• Increase your readiness to apply Developmental Assets in your relationships and community
• Explore how Assets protect young people from risky behaviors
• Discover the ways Assets protect young people from risky behaviors
• Discover the ways Assets promote healthy and positive behaviors
• Fell prepared to share your knowledge and build Assets with others

REGISTER TODAY. Space is limited! Lunch will be provided.

Contact Julio Quezada at 525-6060 or jquezada@northcountryhealthcare.org

$10 for the day (Scholarships available)

Training info:

Date: Tuesday, December 7, 2010, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Location: Coconino County Health Department, Ponderosa Room, 2625 North King Street, Flagstaff, AZ

Homeless and Runaway Youth: Who They Are and What They Need

Free workshop on Friday, November 19th, 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Location: The McGee Auditorium, Flagstaff Medical Center

Refreshments and pizza will be served following the panel discussion and a presentation by the PEACE Project.

RSVP by calling 928-679-7318 or e-mailing resuding@coconinokids.org

Mental Health Wellness Week November 14 - 20, 2010

Mental health is how people think, act and cope with life and the stressors and challenges that are part of the human experience. The state of one’s mental health can influence the ways in which they look at themselves, their life and others around them. It also strongly influences an individual's potential for achieving their goals and is an important tool in obtaining and maintaining a feeling of well being.

Mental Health Wellness Week -- a grassroots public education campaign focused on promoting mental health wellness across the country, taking place November 14-20 -- is designed to:

• Promote an understanding of mental health wellness
• Address the mind/body connection
• Provide evidence-based approaches to improving both mental and overall physical wellness
• Help individuals find support groups and wellness events in their local communities
• Address coping skills such as:
• Stress management techniques (i.e. yoga, breathing exercises, and progressive muscle relaxation)
• Mindfulness, (i.e. "living in the moment")
• Lifestyle behaviors (i.e. physical activity, writing, having a support network)
• Setting realistic goals, evaluating different lifestyle choices and techniques that help both body and mind to improve mental health wellness

http://www.mhww.org/

Voters approve Arizona medical marijuana measure

(Associated Press) Arizona voters have approved a measure that would legalize medical marijuana in the state.

Proposition 203 won by a tiny margin of just 4,431 votes out of more than 1.67 million votes counted. The measure started out losing by about 7,200 votes on Nov. 2 and the gap gradually narrowed in the following 10 days.

The measure began Friday losing by about 1,500 votes, then surged ahead by 4,421 votes.

Maricopa was the only Arizona county with ballots still outstanding on Saturday. The county says it finished counting all the remaining provisional and early ballots Saturday.

The final, unofficial count was 841,346 in favor of the measure and 837,005 opposed.

Fall Mountain Bike Ride with Friends of Coconino County Parks

Friends of Coconino County Parks is offering a Mountain Bike Ride Saturday, November 20. It will go from the Navajo Ramada at Fort Tuthill County Park out to Rogers Lake – the County’s newest “park”! (Coconino County Parks and Recreation purchased Rogers Lake on Monday using monies from the Coconino Parks and Open Space Program and “Growing Smarter” land conservation funds.)

This is an intermediate-level ride, totaling about 15 miles round trip along non-technical Forest Service roads, with an elevation gain/loss of ~750 feet. At the Lake, we'll revisit the acquisition efforts by the County and discuss a future Friends of Coconino County Parks project – a multi-use trail from Fort Tuthill to Rogers Lake. We'll return to Fort Tuthill via a similar route. Fort Tuthill is located at Exit 337 and I-17, just across Highway 89A.

All riders must bring and wear a helmet and have a mountain bike in good repair. It is also suggested that you bring water, a snack, and a spare tire tube (or two).

To participate, simply show up. For more information or to become involved in the Friends, please visit www.friendsofcocoparks.org or email
fccp@rocketmail.com.