[MN-at-Large] What's Happening in Minnesota

[dandrews920 at comcast.net]

Hi Everyone,

 

It is really hard these days to know which season we're in. Just last week,
we experienced temperatures in the high 80's here in the Twin Cities, but by
last Sunday there was snow on the back steps here. I believe that one of our
members, Jeff Kubas, reported 7 inches of snow where he lives in the
Baxter-Brainerd area. 

 

There is plenty of information to cover here so let's get right to it.

 


National Convention Coming Soon


Our national convention is coming soon. It will take place in Houston Texas
from Saturday, July 1 through Thursday, July 6. As usual, we have a
headquarters hotel and also an overflow hotels. Both hotels are very nice,
but all meetings and other events occur in the main hotel. The headquarters
hotel is The Hilton Americas-Houston, 1600 Lamar Street, Houston, TX 77010.
There phone number is 800-236-2905. If you try to reserve a room and they
are full, or if you just would like to be in a hotel that is perhaps a
little quieter, our overflow hotel is Marriott Marquis Houston, 1777 Walker
St,, Houston, TX 77010, phone: 877-622-3056.

 

There is a lot of information about the convention on our website at
<http://www.nfb.org/convention> http://www.nfb.org/convention, including
links to pre-register. There is also a pre-registration process for
attending the national convention virtually as well.

 

Each year, our state Board of Directors approves some funding to provide
financial assistance to individuals needing such assistance to attend.
Please see the separate announcement which was sent on April 16 to this
list.

 


Legislative Activities


We have also sent a separate announcement and call to action regarding a
hearing in the Minnesota House this Thursday to phase out the use of the
Section 14C subminimum wage certificates in Minnesota. If you haven't
already done so, please read this announcement and help by contacting
members of the House Ways and Means committee.

 

We continue working to broaden our bill to protect blind parents to include
all disabled parents since this has been a key to get this legislation
passed in other states. We are closely watching legislation that affects how
we vote, transportation, and also legislation providing budget increases for
State Services for the Blind. Watch for more details.

 

Regarding our national efforts, we now have forty-three co-sponsors,
including Minnesota's Angie Craig, for our Medical Devices Nonvisual
Accessibility Act and five for the Transformation to Competitive Integrated
Employment Act. This is a strong showing in the early parts of the 118th
Congress, but we need to keep pressing to really show that our priorities
are important. Please call or email your representatives and ask them to
cosponsor the Medical Device Nonvisual Accessibility Act (H.R. 1328) and the
Transformation to Competitive Integrated Employment Act (H.R. 1263).

 


Minnesota BELL Program Next August


We are proceeding with our plans to have an in-person BELL program here in
Minnesota next summer in cooperation with BLIND Incorporated. BELL stands
for Braille Enrichment for Literacy and Learning and it incorporates braille
along with other interesting activities to help make learning fun for our
blind kids. Our Minnesota BELL Academy will begin on August 7, and it will
go through August 18. lease be on the look-out for children ages 4-12 who
could benefit and give us the names of the parents of kids who would be
interested. There is also a need for volunteers for this program. If you
have questions or would like to learn more about opportunities to volunteer,
contact Briley O'Connor at bell at nfbmn.org <mailto:bell at nfbmn.org> . Also,
please note that BLIND Incorporated has the Buddy and the Prep programs for
blind youth in June and July as well.

 


Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library is Moving


The Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library will be moving from its
current location in Faribault to the Minnesota Department of Education
Building in Northeast Minneapolis. This building is located at 400 NE
Stinson Blvd, Minneapolis, MN 55413-2614. However, the Faribault address is
still the official current address. An official written announcement for
library patrons will come out very shortly and I will send that to this list
when it is available. 

 


River Bend Chapter Date Change for May


Please note that the River Bend Chapter will occur on May 18 this month due
to scheduling issues. Normally, their meetings are on the second Thursday,
but is being delayed by one week for May only due to scheduling conflicts. 

 


Dates to Keep in Mind


*	April 25 7:00 PM - Rochester Chapter Meeting
*	May 2 7:00 PM - National Presidential Release
*	May 3 6:00 PM - NFB of Minnesota Board of Directors meeting
*	May 18, 7:00 PM - River Bend Chapter Meeting (special date for this
month only)
*	May 20 10:00 AM - Metro Chapter Meeting
*	May 21 7:00 PM At Large Chapter Meeting
*	May 23 7:00 PM Rochester Chapter meeting
*	May 31 - National Convention pre-registration closes
*	June 12-23 - BLIND Incorporated Buddy Program
*	July 1-6 - National Convention in Houston, TX
*	July 10-28 - BLIND Incorporated PREP program
*	August 7-18  - Our Minnesota BELL Academy

 

Best regards,

 

Steve Jacobson, President

National Federation of the Blind of Minnesota

www.nfbmn.org <http://www.nfbmn.org/> 

(612) 872-9363

Pronouns: he, him, his

 

www.nfb.org <http://www.nfb.org/> 

Live the life you Want.

 

 

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