Release date is summer 2020
The founder of the national advocacy group Levees.org has recently signed a book deal with Mango Publishing, based in Miami. Sandy Rosenthal’s book––Words Whispered in Water: Why the Levees Broke in New Orleans––is about how she exposed the culprit in the catastrophic flooding during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Mango is currently one of the fastest growing independent publishers according to Publisher’s Weekly. The book is Rosenthal's story about how she became a citizen investigator and unraveled a multi-million dollar cover up that media and an elite engineering trade group took part in. In her quest for the vetted facts, Rosenthal faced one of the most powerful agencies in the Federal government––the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers––and won. Click here for an excerpt from Words Whispered in Water: Why the Levees Broke in New Orleans. Rosenthal’s website states the book will be out in summer of 2020, coinciding with the 15th anniversary of the disaster which took 1,577 lives (according to the National Hurricane Center).
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GUARDIANS OF OPIOID-DEPENDENT BABIES SEEK MDL CLASS CERTIFICATION BEFORE JUDGE POLSTER
Leading medical experts testify that in-utero opioid exposure causes birth defects (CLEVELAND, OHIO) Attorneys representing America’s most innocent victims in the nation’s prescription opioid crisis took a significant step today within the Multi-District Litigation before Judge Daniel Polster in Cleveland, Ohio by seeking class certification of the guardians responsible for children injured by in-utero exposure to opioids and diagnosed with Neo-Natal Abstinence System or drug dependence. States, cities, municipalities, hospitals and Native Americans have already gained such class certification status. Those classes do not include guardians of children who were born with Neo-Natal Abstinence Syndrome or drug dependent. This would be the first-time children diagnosed with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, due to the opioid use of their birth mothers, would finally have redress of the lifelong physical and development disabilities and defects these children do and will experience, said Attorney Scott Bickford. Mr. Bickford, who has argued on behalf of children with NAS for nearly two years before Judge Polster, said his team is being expanded by the legal expertise of Marc Dann, the former Attorney General of Ohio, and class-action experts Kelly and Tom Bilek. “These children are the most vulnerable and blameless victims of the opioid crisis and will need lifelong medical monitoring and surveillance, as well as medical and social support services,” said Mr. Dann. “This generation of children is not yet lost but will be without substantial intervention. For two years, their needs have been subordinated to the less urgent needs of government entities which do not have the legal ability to bring claims for these children, do not owe the duty of care to them and will never guarantee their on-going needs are met. Nevertheless, the child’s guardian will surely face and bear the fiduciary responsibility,” Dann added. The legal filing, with supporting evidence from leading medical experts in the areas of NAS and the scientific relationship between in-utero opioid exposure and birth defects, puts forth studies and testimony to support these arguments, making these main points: · The nation is vastly undercounting the number of NAS babies, and data shows the number of babies with NAS babies born in the U.S.--now estimated at one every 15 minutes by the Centers for Disease Control– are far greater than the official government count because of flaws in how this information is gathered. · Babies are sent home from hospitals to guardians with little awareness of what the child and caregiver will face. While physical deformities may be evident when a baby is born, the growing medical science in the NAS area shows opioid exposure in the womb impacts brain size and development which results in long-term developmental effects such delays in walking, talking, hyperactivity, impulsive behaviors, aggression, learning disabilities and other problems which won’t demonstrate until the child ages. · Governments, schools and other institutions don’t understand the needs of these children because there is no registry of babies with NAS. Thus, families have no roadmap for the challenges ahead. Such a map can only be provided by establishing a registry and providing long-term medical monitoring and research. “This will allow for the program to reach out to the impacted families at the appropriate times,” wrote West Virginia Dr. Charles Werntz III, and also help identify the most hard-hit regions. Certification of a nationwide class of guardians of NAS children must occur in 2020, the attorneys argue in today's filing on behalf of families in 34 state class actions. This is underscored by the fact that nationwide, one of every five pregnant women on Medicaid has been prescribed opioids, the filing claims. “In addition to medical monitoring claims to the guardian, plaintiffs seek to ensure that money needed to pay for testing and epidemiology is actually spent for the direct benefit of children born with NAS. More urgently, intervention and education of doctors and women of child-bearing age is required to immediately stop the possibility of more such births by educating them and the public that opioids cannot be used during pregnancy,” said Mr. Dann. The link to the filing and supportive statements is here: nas_opioid_2020_01_07_ts__motion-brief-appendix-proposed_order-declaration_with_exhibits.pdf Certified teachers, teachers working on certification, and instructional support professionals seeking employment in a Louisiana charter school are invited to attend the 14th annual free Teacher Fair presented by the Greater New Orleans Collaborative of Charter Schools on Saturday, March 7, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Hynes Charter School Gym, 990 Harrison Ave., New Orleans, LA. 70124.
“Full and part-time positions are available for certified teachers and those who will be certified by Summer 2020,” said Greater New Orleans Collaborative of Charter Schools (GNOCCS) President Latoye Brown. This is the largest, single-day charter school employment fair in Louisiana, according to GNOCCS Director Dr. Ken Ducote. Charter schools from across Louisiana are invited to participate and interview candidates at this free event. There is room for 65 schools to participate, but tables must be reserved as soon as possible since space is limited, said Dr. Ducote. Interested teachers are encouraged to pre-register online at www.gnocollaborative.comby March 2. Pre-registered candidates will have exclusive access to participating charter schools for the first hour of the event, from 9 a.m. – 10 a.m., upon presentation of their Event Brite tickets. Walk-ins are welcome from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. Bring sufficient printed copies of resumes. Additionally, interested candidates can post resumes for Louisiana charter school leaders to review on the GNOCCS website prior to the event. GNOCCS operates the first centralized website in Louisiana to facilitate the recruitment of quality teachers for charter schools. The main features of this effort are an on-going system of website-posting of applicant resumes and charter school available positions. “Principals and administrators will conduct on-site screening interviews at the Teacher Fair and share information about the benefits of working at their charter schools,” said Dr. Ducote. “Teachers and aspiring teachers should bring multiple copies of their resumes, teaching certificates, references and any other relevant information for immediate consideration. Degreed professionals interested in obtaining teacher certification may also obtain information on becoming certified from attending universities.” The fair is sponsored by the Greater New Orleans Collaborative of Charter Schools (GNOCCS) with support from the School Leadership Center (SLC) of Greater New Orleans and the Pro Bono Publico Foundation. One new feature of this year’s fair will be the attendance of agencies assisting teachers in finding quality affordable housing and in securing reasonable mortgages. Regularly updated charter school vacancy listings are available online at www.gnocollaborative.com. All degreed school professionals are invited to attend; including teachers, nurses, counselors, coaches, administrators, etc. For additional information about registration as a teacher or an interviewer, email [email protected] or call (504) 897-6110. Schools can also register at www.gnocollaborative.com. |
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