From brianrmiller88 at gmail.com Wed Nov 1 21:09:46 2017 From: brianrmiller88 at gmail.com (BrianMiller) Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2017 17:09:46 -0400 Subject: [NFBV-Alexandria] FW: Scriptalk In-Reply-To: <007a01d3534f$3435cfe0$9ca16fa0$@gmail.com> References: <001401d34918$d63ef7d0$82bce770$@com> <00af01d350df$d9916570$8cb43050$@comcast.net> <001001d3517c$c8d76430$5a862c90$@com> <00cc01d35192$a2026f60$e6074e20$@comcast.net> <007a01d3534f$3435cfe0$9ca16fa0$@gmail.com> Message-ID: <0d6201d35355$bf97f990$3ec7ecb0$@gmail.com> Dear Greater Alexandria chapter members, Here is the follow-up information that Wanda Taylor promised us at our meeting last Thursday night. Thanks, Brian Miller President Greater Alexandria Chapter of the NFB of Virginia Hi Brian, As stated at our Chapter meeting, below is the name and email address as well as telephone number of my contact at scriptalk. Please send to the chapter members. Youlanda is more than willing to answer any questions and provide much more information. Thank you. Wanda From: Youlanda Daffron [mailto:ydaffron at envisionamerica.com] Sent: Monday, October 30, 2017 8:44 AM To: 'wanda taylor' Subject: RE: Scriptalk Good morning Wanda, You most certainly can pass along my contact information. We would be happy to help them get set up with a participating pharmacy. Warm regards Youlanda Daffron CSR En-Vision America 800.890.1180 From: wanda taylor [mailto:wptaylor8 at comcast.net] Sent: Sunday, October 29, 2017 2:01 PM To: 'Youlanda Daffron' Subject: RE: Scriptalk HiYoulanda! Great hearing from you! My dob is: 4-13-53. Also, I did a presentation for the Greater Alexandria Chapter of the NFB on script talk this past Thursday. May I give them your telephone number and email for further contact regarding the script talk? Several of the members are interested in getting one and I am not sure how that happens, as I signed up for it at the National Federation of the Blind national convention . Thank you for your help and assistance. Wanda -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brianrmiller88 at gmail.com Mon Nov 6 23:45:01 2017 From: brianrmiller88 at gmail.com (BrianMiller) Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2017 18:45:01 -0500 Subject: [NFBV-Alexandria] =?utf-8?q?NFB_President=E2=80=99s_Notebook_-_we?= =?utf-8?q?ek_of_11/06/2017?= Message-ID: <009801d35759$44551990$ccff4cb0$@gmail.com> Good evening all! In the event you don?t already receive the below email from president Mark Riccobono, I wanted to forward it to you as it contains important information that is time sensitive, particularly, the urgent call to contact Congress regarding the blind tax exemption currently under consideration as part of tax reform efforts on the Hill. Thanks, Brian Miller President Greater Alexandria Chapter NFB of Virginia From: President, National Federation of the Blind Sent: Monday, November 06, 2017 12:04 PM To: President, National Federation of the Blind Subject: NFB President?s Notebook - week of 11/06/2017 President?s Notebook National Federation of the Blind Mark A. Riccobono officeofthepresident at nfb.org (410) 659-9314 Dear Fellow Federationists, I wish to call your attention to a very pressing item today. There is immediate need to get the word out about the elimination of the blind exemption in the tax proposals that are moving on Capitol Hill now. Please take a moment to call Congress, distribute the call-to-action to other members, and encourage our members to make calls as soon as possible. There were many affiliate conventions this weekend. I want to thank the NFB of Connecticut for their hospitality this weekend. I also wish to acknowledge the nearly two decades of service that Jim Antonacci gave as president of our Pennsylvania affiliate. This past weekend, Jim successfully passed the torch of leadership to Lynn Heitz. Thank you to Jim and welcome to Lynn. The 2018 National Convention will be held from July 3-8 at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando Florida. We are seeking an affiliate or a team of affiliates to serve as our host committee for 2018. If you are interested, please reach out to me as soon as possible. More details about the convention will appear in the December Braille Monitor. Critical Actions This Week: Action Needed Regarding the Proposed Tax Bill: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (H.R. 1) was introduced last Thursday, November 2, in the United States House of Representatives. Beginning in tax year 2018, this bill will repeal the standard deduction for blind people valued at $6,350 for the 2017 tax year. Please call your representative and urge him or her to maintain this critical tax deduction for the blind as soon as possible. The House Ways and Means Committee begins mark up on this bill today, Monday, November 6. The best way to contact your member of Congress is to call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for the office in question. Emailing your member of Congress is also a good idea. If you do so, please copy JPare at nfb.org. News: Presidential Release: The November release is available at https://nfb.org/presidential-releases. NFB Scholarship Program: We are accepting scholarship applications from November 1, 2017, to March 31, 2018. This annual program offers thirty scholarships worth from $3,000 to $12,000 to eligible students, from high school seniors beginning their freshman year in the fall semester of 2017, up through graduate students working on their PhD degrees. Go to www.nfb.org/scholarships for complete rules and requirements. Santa Letter Program: Santa?s coming, Santa?s coming, and he?s sending Braille letters to children all over the country. That?s right it?s the time of the year for the NFB Santa Letter Program. Beginning next Monday, November 13, parents can submit an application for their young blind child to receive a Braille letter from Santa. This letter also comes with a coloring page, a recipe, a craft, and song lyrics. The print for each of these items is sent along as well. Once the program is open, you will be able to apply at https://nfb.org/santa-letters. The program runs until December 15. Tactile Art Program: As of October 27, 2017, we have had 415 applicants for the Tactile Art Program, with at least a quarter of those participants completing the pre-survey as well. We hope to have five hundred tactile art kits out by the end of the year. Independence Market Closures: The Independence Market will be closed Friday, November 10, and Monday, November 13. NAPUB Call: The National Association to Promote the Use of Braille (NAPUB) is pleased to announce its first telephone conference/presentation/discussion on issues surrounding Braille in the United States. On Thursday, November 9, NAPUB will be pleased to have Curtis Chong share his experiences with the Orbit Reader 20. The Orbit Reader 20 is a twenty-cell, eight-dot refreshable Braille display. The call will take place at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 6:00 p.m. Mountain, 5:00 p.m. Pacific. The call-in information is (605) 472-5772, code 154426#. BRAL Contest: The NFB of Illinois, in partnership with the National Association to Promote the Use of Braille (NAPUB) is pleased to extend the 2017-18 Braille Readers Are Leaders (BRAL) contest to any NFB affiliate that wishes to participate. If your affiliate submits $100 to the NFBI, an unlimited number of children in your state can enter the contest. The kids can start reading on December 15, so that amount should be received by the NFBI before that date. Contact Patti Chang at pattischang at gmail.com for transaction details. The NFB of Illinois will take care of the administrative details for the contest, including providing and mailing out all prizes. Each participating affiliate, however, will be responsible for publicizing the contest within its own state. The complete contest rules, registration form, and the reading log form will be available by November 8 on the website, http://www.nfbofillinois.org. Autonomous Vehicle Summit: On Wednesday, October 25, we hosted a meeting of automakers, advocates, disability organizations, and ride-sharing providers regarding the development of autonomous vehicles. The intention of the meeting, titled ?The Promise: Autonomous Vehicles and the Disability Community? was to reinforce the necessity that these future cars be made accessible to all people, especially those with disabilities. As stated in a joint press release from the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the NFB : ?Autonomous vehicles offer disabled Americans opportunities for increased mobility and independence, as well as reliable transportation that could vastly increase employment opportunities.? -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brianrmiller88 at gmail.com Thu Nov 9 15:26:51 2017 From: brianrmiller88 at gmail.com (BrianMiller) Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2017 10:26:51 -0500 Subject: [NFBV-Alexandria] Alexandria Harmonizers Holiday Show Message-ID: <008b01d3596f$2b889690$8299c3b0$@gmail.com> Good morning! Please indulge your chapter president as he presents the following shameless plug! Many of you, perhaps thousands of you, have asked about the Alexandria Harmonizers holiday show. So before you all show up with torches at my apartment door, please behold the below information, and also attached as a an accessible PDF flyer! Yours truly as well as our fellow chapter member, Aaron Simoneau, will be on stage to entertain you for these shows! I?d love to see everyone there! The Alexandria Harmonizers PRESENT Peace & Joy: An A Cappella Holiday Concert With Special Guests Virginia Bronze TBD Pratt Street Power December 2nd at 8:00PM and December 3rd at 2:00PM T.C. Williams High School 3330 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22302 Tickets: $25, $30 or $35 www.harmonizers.org or https://www.eventbrite.com/o/alexandria-harmonizers-15043680749 20% Senior (65+) and 50% Student Discounts on $25 and $30 seats The Alexandria Harmonizers, Inc. gratefully acknowledges the operational support it receives from the Commission for the Arts of Alexandria, Virginia. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: Holiday Show Flyer 2 w guests and QR final version 2.pdf Type: application/pdf Size: 295460 bytes Desc: not available URL: From brianrmiller88 at gmail.com Mon Nov 13 20:04:09 2017 From: brianrmiller88 at gmail.com (BrianMiller) Date: Mon, 13 Nov 2017 15:04:09 -0500 Subject: [NFBV-Alexandria] FW: City of Alexandria Invites Comment on Draft Vision Zero, Police Traffic Safety Plans In-Reply-To: <587085677.35261858.1510172929663.JavaMail.appuser@conn03.ne02.us-west-1b.prd1.ebcolo.com> References: <587085677.35261858.1510172929663.JavaMail.appuser@conn03.ne02.us-west-1b.prd1.ebcolo.com> Message-ID: <00e801d35cba$91b9ed30$b52dc790$@gmail.com> Good afternoon all, I wanted to share the below announcement about the opportunity to provide input on the Vision Zero document under development by the city of Alexandria. We?ve discussed this issue at several chapter meetings. Please take a moment to provide input and let the city know that the blind and visually impaired of Alexandria care about this effort. Thanks, Brian Miller President Greater Alexandria Chapter of the NFB of Virginia From: Alexandria eNews [mailto:noreply at everbridge.net] Sent: Wednesday, November 08, 2017 3:29 PM To: brianrmiller88 at gmail.com Subject: City of Alexandria Invites Comment on Draft Vision Zero, Police Traffic Safety Plans You are subscribed to the free Alexandria eNews service. Replies to this message will not be received. For correspondence, please use the contact information in the body of the message. City of Alexandria Invites Comment on Draft Vision Zero, Police Traffic Safety Plans For Immediate Release: November 8, 2017 The City of Alexandria invites public comment at alexandriava.gov/VisionZero on draft versions of two key documents that will guide efforts to make local streets safer. The Vision Zero Action Plan outlines strategies to eliminate all traffic deaths and serious injuries in Alexandria by 2028, while the Police Traffic Safety Plan focuses on the role of traffic enforcement and education in preventing serious crashes. ?As a Vision Zero community, Alexandria recognizes that traffic injuries and fatalities are preventable,? said City Manager Mark Jinks. ?The Vision Zero Draft Action Plan is a roadmap that will help guide City staff, key partners, and the entire community in reaching our shared goal of making our streets safer.? The Alexandria Police Department?s Traffic Safety Plan is an integral part of the Vision Zero initiative, and acknowledges both the unique role of the City?s police department in traffic safety and the importance of traffic safety in the police department?s mission. ?The safety of our community is of paramount importance to the Alexandria Police Department,? said Chief Michael Brown. ?Our goal for this traffic safety plan is to create a safe, viable and balanced system to help eradicate traffic crashes, serious injuries and fatalities, while promoting voluntary compliance with traffic laws through education and enforcement.? These plans highlight the City?s multidisciplinary, multi-departmental approach to improving safety for pedestrians, cyclists, motorists and passengers. The Alexandria City Council unanimously adopted the Vision Zero international traffic safety concept in January, and work on the Action Plan began in February. The draft plan includes an overview of the City?s efforts to achieve Vision Zero; the process involved in building the Action Plan; strategies and action items that various departments will undertake; funding needed; and a call to action for the community to stay involved in this key safety initiative. The City used a four-part process to build the plan: data analysis, evaluating best practices, an interdepartmental working group, and public input. More than 1,000 residents, visitors, employees, and business owners participated in the Vision Zero Action Plan process and provided feedback on the challenges of safely moving around Alexandria. The plan highlights the top three safety concerns reported by the community in a public survey earlier this year: distracted driving, speeding, and the running of red lights or stop signs. The public is invited to review the draft plans, and provide online input through November 26, at alexandriava.gov/VisionZero. City Council will hold a public hearing on the Draft Vision Zero Action Plan on December 16, as part of the meeting that begins at 9:30 a.m., in the City Council Chamber at Alexandria City Hall (301 King St.). For media inquiries, contact Andrea Blackford, Senior Communications Officer, at andrea.blackford at alexandriava.govor 703.746.3959. The City of Alexandria is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended. To request a reasonable accommodation, e-mail geralyn.taylor at alexandriava.gov or call 703.746.4084, Virginia Relay 711. # # # This release is available at www.alexandriava.gov/100499. To change your subscription choices, click here to login . To request removal of your account, email enews at alexandriava.gov. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brianrmiller88 at gmail.com Mon Nov 20 17:07:52 2017 From: brianrmiller88 at gmail.com (BrianMiller) Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2017 12:07:52 -0500 Subject: [NFBV-Alexandria] Name a school Message-ID: <018801d36222$1a7483d0$4f5d8b70$@gmail.com> Good morning! I received the attached letter in my capacity as chair of the Alexandria Commission for Persons with Disabilities and I wanted to share it with the Greater Alexandria chapter. The city is currently entertaining suggestions for naming of one of our elementary schools, so put on your creativity caps and make your suggestions to the committee through the attached form. I'm not saying "Schooly McSchoolface" should be selected, but would it be so bad if it was? *smile* Thanks, Brian Miller President Greater Alexandria Chapter of the NFB of Virginia -----Original Message----- From: Miladis Martinez Gutierrez [mailto:Miladis.Martinez at alexandriava.gov] Sent: Monday, November 20, 2017 10:44 AM To: BrianMiller Subject: RE: Letter from ACPS Here it is, I think that this will work. Miladis Martinez Gutierrez Administrative Support IV Alexandria Office of Human Rights 123 N. Pitt Street, Suite 230 Alexandria, Virginia 22314 703.746.3140 703.838.4976 Fax -----Original Message----- From: BrianMiller [mailto:brianrmiller88 at gmail.com] Sent: Monday, November 20, 2017 10:34 AM To: Miladis Martinez Gutierrez Subject: RE: Letter from ACPS Hi Miladis, No, this is not accessible either... It appears as though someone simply copied the image into a Word document. The image is the problem; screen reading technology cannot read a picture effectively. What they need to do is take the original Word document and save that as a PDF, not just scan the picture of a PDF into a Word file; that will not work. Thanks for trying, though! Brian M -----Original Message----- From: Miladis Martinez Gutierrez [mailto:Miladis.Martinez at alexandriava.gov] Sent: Monday, November 20, 2017 9:46 AM To: BrianMiller Subject: RE: Letter from ACPS Good morning Mr. Miller, We recived the letter in the mail and I had scaned to send it. I have converted the PDF file to a word document. I hope it works for you, please let me know. Thanks Miladis Martinez Gutierrez Administrative Support IV Alexandria Office of Human Rights 123 N. Pitt Street, Suite 230 Alexandria, Virginia 22314 703.746.3140 703.838.4976 Fax -----Original Message----- From: BrianMiller [mailto:brianrmiller88 at gmail.com] Sent: Saturday, November 18, 2017 9:52 AM To: Miladis Martinez Gutierrez Subject: RE: Letter from ACPS Hi Miladis, This is not an accessible document. It appears to just be an image, and as such cannot be read with assistive technologies. Can you please ask them to send a Word version, or an accessible PDF of this document? Many thanks, Brian Miller Chair ACPD -----Original Message----- From: Miladis Martinez Gutierrez [mailto:Miladis.Martinez at alexandriava.gov] Sent: Friday, November 17, 2017 5:07 PM To: Adam Osterman; allen.schirmer (allen.schirmer at bankwithunited.com); ashliowen2 (ashliowen2 at gmail.com); brianrmiller88 (brianrmiller88 at gmail.com); dani.schirmer (dani.schirmer at gmail.com); Debby Critchley; Doug Goist (dgoist at aol.com); eaba448 (eaba448 at gmail.com); katie.filous (katie.filous at gmail.com); kfee (kfee at lsm.com); Mark Friese; Mary Hamil Parker; mdanforth2 (mdanforth2 at comcast.net); patrick.ryan.dennis (patrick.ryan.dennis at gmail.com); Raquel Rosa; wptaylor8 (wptaylor8 at comcast.net) Subject: Letter from ACPS Attached is a letter that was received from the Alexandria City Public School naming committee. Miladis Martinez Gutierrez Administrative Support IV Alexandria Office of Human Rights 123 N. Pitt Street, Suite 230 Alexandria, Virginia 22314 703.746.3140 703.838.4976 Fax -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: ACPS letter to the chair.docx3.docx Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document Size: 119300 bytes Desc: not available URL: