abba Community News




 

Here you'll find news of a more personal sort.


RECIPES FROM THE CHUCK WAGON GANG


Herbed Pork and Apples
½ tsp. each sage, thyme, rosemary, and marjoram
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
1 pork loin boneless (about 2 lbs.)
2 medium tart apples cut into 1-inch chunks
½ large onion, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 cup apple juice, divided
1/3-cup maple syrup

Combine herbs, salt and pepper; rub over roast. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Mix apples and onions with brown sugar; spoon around roast. Pour ½ cup apple juice into the pan around the roast and continue to bake 45 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 to 170 degrees. Transfer the roast, apples, and onion to a serving platter and keep warm. Pour reserve pan drippings into a heavy skillet (or leave in the roasting pan if it can be heated on stovetop). Add ½ cup apple juice and syrup. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until liquid has been reduced by half, about 1 cup. Slice roast and serve with gravy.

PERSONAL Note: The gravy really made this recipe. We all fell in love with it. Also, remember a little pink is OK. This is perfect for that traditional New Year's Day meal of pork for health, black-eye peas for luck and collards for wealth.

Jalapeno and Sausage Dip


1-cup mayo
2 pkg. cream cheese
1 (4oz.) can diced green chilies, drained
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3 finely chopped jalapenos (I substitute 1 jalapeno for a hot
red pepper for heat and color)
1 lb. sausage, browned and drained

Mix everything together except a little of the cheese. Pour into a baking dish. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top. Bake dip at 350 for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned around the edge.

For Sale - First Generation Braille Blazer


This unit is in excellent working order and in good condition. The only damage is the cover is slightly cracked on the left side and a large piece of the cover is being held together with duct tape on the right side but this doesn't affect embossing. Can handle all sizes of form feed Braille paper as well as plastics up to 8-1/2 inches. Unit comes with the following:
  • - Users Manual in Word 2003 or PDF format on disc.

  • - parallel cable

  • - power cord

  • - cover

Price: $350 (includes shipping)


PAC Mate Omni QX420


This unit is in excellent working order and in like new condition. It is only 3 years old and has all the latest upgrades for the operating system. It also has a detachable 20 cell Braille display. Unit comes with the following:
  • - Users Manual in Word 2003 or PDF format on disc

  • - JAWS screen reader for Windows Mobile

  • - QWERTY keyboard

  • - 2 CompactFlash® Type II cards

  • - Rechargeable Battery

  • - Charger and input cables

  • - leather carrying case with strap.

Price: $1500 (includes Shipping)

Contact Melody Inglesby if you are interested in either of these items at (336) 638-4115 or via e-mail at mhinglesby@triad.rr.com .

GMSAA Fundraiser -


We are pleased to announce that the Governor Morehead School Alumni Association is sponsoring a Lucky 100 Raffle. 100 tickets costing $50 each will be sold between now and August 7th. First place winner will receive $1,000; second place, $750; third place, $500; and fourth place, $250. If you would like to purchase a Lucky 100 raffle ticket, please communicate with Patricia Coley Duncan at 469-4853 or see any member of the board of GMSAA.

Update on the Lucky 300 Raffle -


As of December 18th, more than 270 of the 300 tickets have been assigned. Nearly $12,000 has already been deposited into the bank. This project is proving to be an extraordinary success. With the sale of 30 more tickets, the prize monies will be guaranteed. After that, the remaining $15,000 will be profit for the American Blind Bowlers Association. James B. has 3 tickets left which have not been assigned. Please remember that each ticket is $100 and it can be a shared expense. Good luck to all of you, as this is a great opportunity to support bowling across our country and have a chance to pad your wallet in the process.

The Greensboro host committee is going to have the hotel raffle this year. Each ticket is $5.00 per ticket. We will draw five winning tickets during the tournament. 1st place The cost of three nights at the hotel
2nd place The cost for two nights at the hotel
3rd place The cost of one night at the hotel
4th place TBA
5th place TBA
You can give your name and money to Ginger, or see a representative at one of the upcoming tournaments.


Don't Overlook This Tax Credit


Many disabled taxpayers and parents of disabled children may be overlooking a valuable tax credit that could boost their tax refunds by up to $5,600 or more - even if they are not required to file federal income tax returns.

The IRS says one in four eligible taxpayers miss out on the Earned Income Tax Credit - or EITC - because they don't check it out.

The credit has been making the lives of working people a little easier for 35 years. Yet it remains little known, possibly because people move into and out of eligibility as their income, marital statuses and parental statuses change.

You may qualify if your income was under $48,000 last year and you, or your spouse, worked or received disability retirement benefits under an employer plan and were under the minimum retirement age, or if you worked and care for a disabled child. The amount of your EITC depends on several factors, such as the amount of your earned or disability income, your filing status, whether you have children and how many, etc.

To get the credit, you must:

  1. file a federal income tax return

  2. claim the credit.

Many communities have volunteer income tax assistance sites or local IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers, which will compute your EITC and prepare your return without charge. To locate a volunteer site, call your community's 211 or 311 number for local services or call the IRS at 1-800-906-9887.

Some states have a similar tax credit, increasing the dollars due eligible EITC recipients.

EITC information is available in alternative formats for people with print disabilities at www.irs.gov .

Follow the homepage link to "Accessibility", then the link to "Accessible IRS Tax Products" and select the appropriate link to download accessible forms or Publication 596, Earned Income Credit. The IRS web site provides accessible electronic files in formats including: ASCII Text (.txt), Braille Ready Format (.BRF), and Talking Tax forms in PDF that work with MSAA compliant screen reading software and Braille display devices.


Blind Bowlers Score With Their Own League


Click here to read

Here are tips on bowling both as a totally blind bowler and as a partially sighted bowler.
Bowling blind or as a partial


Reach out

Here is where ABBA members can be updated about our felow members who may be sick, getting married or any special achievement.


Job Prospects

My name is Kevin Kentish and I'm the Director of Recruitment at NYCIB which is located in the heart of Brooklyn, New York City Industries for the Blind, Inc. (NYCIB) is a 501(c) 3, not-for-profit company that was founded and incorporated in November of 1995. We provide meaningful on-site and off-site employment opportunities to people who are blind or visually impaired in the greater New York City area. We currently have a number of openings in our sewing division for visually impaired individuals who are either experienced sewers or those who are willing to be trained. All positions are hourly wage positions and include full medical coverage and are available immediately. I would greatly appreciate if you could provide me with some information on how I can get these employment opportunities posted on our site or if you have individuals who are currently seeking employment, please feel free to contact Kevin Kentish at 718 854 7300 ext 241 or email me at kkentish@nycib.org

I would be happy to answer any questions that you may have about the company and the positions available.


White House Issues Executive Order for Federal Disability Employment

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
July 26, 2010

Executive Order - Increasing Federal Employment of Individuals with Disabilities By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to establish the Federal Government as a model employer of individuals with disabilities, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. Approximately 54 million Americans are living with a disability. The Federal Government has an important interest in reducing discrimination against Americans living with a disability, in eliminating the stigma associated with disability, and in encouraging Americans with disabilities to seek employment in the Federal workforce. Yet Americans with disabilities have an employment rate far lower than that of Americans without disabilities, and they are underrepresented in the Federal workforce. Individuals with disabilities currently represent just over 5 percent of the nearly 2.5 million people in the Federal workforce, and individuals with targeted disabilities (as defined below) currently represent less than 1 percent of that workforce.

On July 26, 2000, in the final year of his administration, President Clinton signed Executive Order 13163, calling for an additional 100,000 individuals with disabilities to be employed by the Federal Government over 5 years. Yet few steps were taken to implement that Executive Order in subsequent years.

As the Nation's largest employer, the Federal Government must become a model for the employment of individuals with disabilities. Executive departments and agencies (agencies) must improve their efforts to employ workers with disabilities through increased recruitment, hiring, and retention of these individuals. My Administration is committed to increasing the number of individuals with disabilities in the Federal workforce through compliance with Executive Order 13163 and achievement of the goals set forth therein over 5 years, including specific goals for hiring individuals with targeted disabilities.

Sec. 2. Recruitment and Hiring of Individuals with Disabilities.

  • (a) Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor, the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall design model recruitment and hiring strategies for agencies seeking to increase their employment of people with disabilities and develop mandatory training programs for both human resources personnel and hiring managers on the employment of individuals with disabilities.

  • (b) Within 120 days of the date the Office of Personnel Management sets forth strategies and programs required under subsection (a), each agency shall develop an agency specific plan for promoting employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. The plan shall be developed in consultation with and, as appropriate, subject to approval by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, and shall, consistent with law, include performance targets and numerical goals for employment of individuals with disabilities and sub goals for employment of individuals with targeted disabilities.

  • (c) Each agency shall designate a senior-level agency official to be accountable for enhancing employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities and individuals with targeted disabilities within the agency, consistent with law, and for meeting the goals of this order. This official, among other things, shall be accountable for developing and implementing the agency's plan under subsection (b), creating recruitment and training programs for employment of individuals with disabilities and targeted disabilities, and coordinating employment counseling to help match the career aspirations of individuals with disabilities to the needs of the agency.

  • (d) In implementing their plans, agencies, to the extent permitted by law, shall increase utilization of the Federal Government's Schedule A excepted service hiring authority for persons with disabilities and increase participation of individuals with disabilities in internships, fellowships, and training and mentoring programs.

  • (e) The Office of Personnel Management shall assist agencies with the implementation of their plans. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall implement a system for reporting regularly to the President, the heads of agencies, and the public on agencies' progress in implementing their plans and the objectives of this order. The Office of Personnel Management, to the extent permitted by law, shall compile and post on its website Government wide statistics on the hiring of individuals with disabilities.

Sec. 3. Increasing Agencies' Retention and Return to Work of Individuals with Disabilities.

  • (a) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management, in consultation with the Secretary of Labor and the Chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, shall identify and assist agencies in implementing strategies for retaining Federal workers with disabilities in Federal employment including, but not limited to, training, the use of centralized funds to provide reasonable accommodations, increasing access to appropriate accessible technologies, and ensuring the accessibility of physical and virtual workspaces.

  • (b) Agencies shall make special efforts, to the extent permitted by law, to ensure the retention of those who are injured on the job. Agencies shall work to improve, expand, and increase successful return to work outcomes for those of their employees who sustain work-related injuries and illnesses, as defined under the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA), by increasing the availability of job accommodations and light or limited duty jobs, removing disincentives for FECA claimants to return to work, and taking other appropriate measures. The Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall pursue innovative re employment strategies and develop policies, procedures, and structures that foster improved return to work outcomes, including by pursuing overall reform of the FECA system. The Secretary of Labor shall also propose specific outcome measures and targets by which each agency's progress in carrying out return to work and FECA claims processing efforts can be assessed.

Sec. 4. Definitions.

  • (a) "Disability" shall be defined as set forth in the ADA Amendments Act of 2008.

  • (b) "Targeted disability" shall be defined as set forth on the form for self identification of disability, Standard Form 256 (SF 256), issued by the Office of Personnel Management, or any replacements, updates, or revisions thereto.

  • Li>(c) Not less than 1 year after the date of this order and in consultation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, and the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management shall review the effectiveness of the definition of targeted disability set forth in SF 256 and replace, update, or revise it as appropriate.

Sec. 5. General Provisions.

  • (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
    (i) authority granted by law to a department or agency, or the head thereof; or
    (ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

  • (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations, and shall not be construed to require any Federal employee to disclose disability status involuntarily.

  • (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

BARACK OBAMA
THE WHITE HOUSE,
July 26, 2010.

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