Families Should Visit Ready.gov to Learn Steps to Prepare for Hurricanes and Severe Weather
 
WASHINGTON - As Hurricane Earl moves toward Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and then up toward the East Coast of the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is urging all Americans in East Coast states to take steps now to prepare their families and businesses for hurricanes and severe weather.  While there are currently no hurricane warnings or watches in effect for the U.S. mainland, current projections from the National Hurricane Center show the storm could affect states up and down the East Coast and storm tracks can change quickly and unexpectedly.  With this in mind, FEMA is coordinating through its regional offices to aggressively prepare should severe weather affect the East Coast and encouraging all Americans to visit www.ready.gov for helpful tips on preparing for hurricanes, flash flooding, and other disasters.
 
"Hurricane Earl should serve as a reminder to all of us of the importance of being prepared for hurricanes and other emergencies," said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate.  "At FEMA, we're taking steps to aggressively prepare should a hurricane make landfall along the East Coast, but FEMA is only one part of the team.  Even if this storm doesn't make landfall, everyone should visit Ready.gov now and learn how to make your family safer and better prepared."

King George County is prepared if weather conditions require opening evacuation shelters. The primary shelter locations are the King George High School and Citizens Center. Citizens are asked to bring photo ID, special care items, medications, some food, pillows, board games, etc.  Additional shelters would be opened on an as needed basis.
King George also has an animal/pet shelter operations plan. Only service animals are allowed in the human shelters. The animal pound and King George Middle School are pet shelters and would open on an as needed basis.
Citizens will be notified by KGALERT and local media on locations and other instructions about shelter openings.

Click on the image above to get information about Hurricane Earl from NOAA.

What are local governments doing to prepare for a potential storm?

Do you like to sing?
The Chesapeake Choral Arts Society, under the direction of Michael K. Santana, will be conducting auditions on Mondays, August 30th and September 13th beginning at 6:30 p.m. by appointment. All auditions will take place at the La Plata United Methodist Church, 3 Port Tobacco Road (at the intersection of Routes 6 and 301).
Auditions will consist of vocal warmups, pitch matching and vocal exercises to determine the singer's vocal range.  No prepared piece is necessary! High School age singers and up are welcome!
The choir meets regularly from September – June, rehearsing at the La Plata United Methodist Church on Monday evenings from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m., and producing three different concerts throughout the year.
 Please call 301-642- 0594 to set up an audition appointment.  Hope to see you there!

Dear Delegate Gilbert:
 
 I am writing concerning the article I read on August 2 in which you blame the crowd at “wine and cheese parties” for shoving the Chesapeake Bay cleanup down the throats of the agricultural community.
 
As rural legislators, your district and my district share many similar characteristics, however, our districts have a major distinction and that is my district is down river of yours.  This is particularly important because your area of the state is a nutrient hotspot -- meaning you import corn, export chicken and keep the manure, sending the nitrogen and phosphorous downstream through your surface and groundwater.
 
Indeed, two days before I read your article I was at Northern Neck Community Days.  It was there that I saw some old friends, including a waterman in his 60’s who had not worked in over a month.  The reason he hadn’t worked was because in mid-June he had caught what we refer to locally as “watermen’s disease” (vibrio vulnificus).   Watermen’s disease is caused when bacteria which thrive in polluted waters of the Chesapeake Bay infect a nick or cut.

The local March of Dimes Committee with Community Director, Nicole Tippett-Burn is pleased to announce the upcoming events for the March of Dimes of the Lower Northern Neck. Committee recently met at the Kilmarnock Entertainment Center located in Kilmarnock to discuss the fundraising opportunities and kick off upcoming events. BOWLING for BABIES,  Bowl a Thon at the Kilmarnock Entertainment Center, Saturday, September 18, 11-1pm, unlimited bowling fun for the entire family. Lane sponsorship is $200 per lane with a team of 6. Lunch menu available for an additional charge.
 
We hope everyone will come out and enjoy while sponsorship a worthy cause. The March of Dimes walk will be held on Sunday, October 10th, location to be announced. Dr. James Hamilton has accepted nomination to be March of Dimes Walk Leader. We encourage past committees and groups to please contact us and everyone participate in this fun, healthy and entertaining event. For more information about the March of Dimes, collection cartons, pins, banners, forming teams and preparing for the March for Baby walk on October 10th, please call Kelly Kellum at the Family Maternity Center NN at (804)435-7005 or Shirley Dodson-McAdoo at (804)435-3504.

DAHLGREN,Va. -- With the opening of a new USO Center at Naval Support Facility (NSF) Dahlgren in July, service members and their families at both Dahlgren and NSF Indian Head have access to a unique “home away from home” at both bases.

Both the Dahlgren USO and the USO Center at Indian Head, which has been in operation for several years, are operated by USO-Metro, a private non-profit organization that serves military personnel in Washington, D.C., Maryland and northern Virginia with five centers located on area military installations and four more at area airports.

The Westmoreland Planning Commissioners, District Planning Office staff and nine county residents worked non-stop for two and a half hours this Monday afternoon to improve the language in a new Comp Plan’s final draft.
The commission conducted the advertised public hearing on the document in July and was poised to complete its comprehensive planning effort on Aug. 2, when District 3 Supervisor Lynn Brownley rocked the meeting room with critical remarks.