Mental health: The rise in student suicides is just the tip of the pandemic iceberg

In late January, reports emerged of a surge in student suicides in Las Vegas, noting that Clark County reported 18 suicides over nine months of school closure — double the number of the entire previous year.

Many of my female friends share my concerns about the impact of COVID on their school-aged children for reasons ranging from:

Lack of physical contact with friends at school and elsewhere.

Growing inability for parents to balance work responsibilities with adequate oversight of younger children.

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My students need support, not standardized tests. Biden, keep your promise to end testing.

When Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump for the presidency in 2020, many of our nation’s pandemic-weary educators had reason for optimism. The change in leadership meant an exit for the spectacularly unpopular Betsy DeVos, a secretary of Education whose lack of ed credentials and support for privatization had galled public school teachers for four years. It meant we’d have a real teacher as first lady in Dr. Jill Biden, someone with first-hand knowledge of the plight of educators who could hopefully encourage President Biden to live up to his lofty campaign promises about education.  

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'We're born Indian and we die white:' Indigenous leaders in California fear COVID deaths are going undercounted

For years, Betty Sigala spoke to her family about her death: she didn’t want to be put on a machine and she didn’t want to die alone. 

When she was admitted in June to the COVID-19 care ward at her local hospital, her family refused a ventilator. One of her grandsons convinced the nurses to ignore the no visitors rule and let him in. 

He set up an iPad so the family could speak with her, then held her hand as she died.

Her granddaughter, Leticia Aguilar, 37, lit a fire for her that lasted four days and four nights, a tradition of their Pinoleville Pomo Nation. She cut her hair in mourning, and sang and gave offerings to help her grandmother on the yearlong journey she would take to her final resting place, according to their traditions. 

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A HUGE gold statue of Donald Trump holding a star wand delighted the CPAC crowds ahead of the former president's comeback speech.

The gold statue is seen wearing a pair of Stars and Stripes shorts, with a suit jacket, white shirt and a tie.

The Trump effigy is also holding what appears to be a magic wand.

Footage shows supporters taking selfies with the statue and watching in awe as it is rolled through the building.

Trump is set to make his first post-presidential appearance at the conservative gathering in Florida this weekend.

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Myanmar police fire into air to disperse protests as Suu Kyi's lawyer says access denied

(Reuters) - Police dispersed protesters in Myanmar’s two biggest cities on Friday, firing stun grenades, rubber bullets and guns into the air, witnesses said, as the challenge to the army’s bid to re-impose its rule showed no sign of slackening.

At least one person was wounded in the protests in the main city of Yangon, a witness said, and several people were hurt in the second city of Mandalay.

Police were not immediately available for comment.

The Southeast Asian country has been in crisis since the army seized power on Feb. 1 and detained government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her party leadership after the military complained of fraud in a November election her party won. The election commission said the vote was fair.

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Cancer survivor wins appeal to have assistance dog funding included in NDIS plan after three-year battle

The agency that runs the National Disability Insurance Scheme has been directed to fund the training of an assistance dog for a 63-year-old cancer survivor living with a rare autoimmune disorder, three years after she initially applied for it.

Cancer survivor wins appeal to have assistance dog funding included in NDIS plan after three-year battle https://t.co/CYBGtahnjr via @SBSNews

— 🐨Maria 🐨 (@MariaOzLakshmi) February 26, 2021

Earlier this month, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal ruled the National Disability Insurance Agency should include the $34,000 cost associated with finding and training an assistance dog in the statement of supports of the woman’s NDIS plan.

The woman lives with Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome. She has also experienced various other health conditions including osteoporosis, post-traumatic stress disorder and thyroid cancer, which had been treated with chemotherapy.

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Twelfth International Aluminum Extrusion Technology Seminar Rescheduled to May 2022

The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) and the ET Foundation have announced that they are rescheduling the dates for the Twelfth International Aluminum Extrusion Technology Seminar, previously postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The ET Seminar, now named ET 2022, will be held May 3 – 5, 2022, at the same hotel, the Hilton Orlando, in Orlando Florida. The hotel is located on Destination Parkway, minutes from I-Drive in the heart of Orlando's dining and entertainment district.

Twelfth International Aluminum Extrusion Technology Seminar rescheduled to May 2021 https://t.co/bc7bcliGd6#TwelfthInternational #AluminumExtrusionTechnology #Seminar #AEC #ETFoundation #COVID19 #alcirclenews #AlCircle

— AlCircle (@Alcircle) May 14, 2020

"The ET Seminar Committee and the AEC Board of Directors decided to postpone our most important aluminium extrusion industry event until we can ensure that everyone felt comfortable travelling and attending the ET Seminar," said AEC President Jeff Henderson. "ET is an essential event for the industry, and circumstances with the limited availability of a vaccine are just too uncertain at this time to take a chance with this, our most important and respected aluminium extrusion technology conference."

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How to select the right blower technology?

PWE takes a look at how to select the right blower technology for industrial effluent treatment plants.

Across the nation’s manufacturing industries, there is a universal dependence on the reliable supply of low-pressure air within a 0.3 to 3bar range to meet the demands of a wide variety of process applications.

@AtlasCopcoUKIRE Atlas Copco offers versatile air blower technologies for clean water & wastewater treatment. They're oil-free air & designed to enable water & wastewater companies to reduce energy costs. Read here: https://t.co/BDokGrpqHC pic.twitter.com/uvQyJFgf8o

— Duncan Ashcroft (@EnvironmentTime) February 22, 2021

Probably none are more stringent than those for water diffused aeration and filter backwashing duties within industrial effluent treatment plant (ETP) installations. And it is in this cleaning of process waste- or contaminated water to make it reusable and recyclable where selecting the right low-pressure blower technology for the job is an essential consideration.

ETP installations are to be found within the process operations of a wide variety of industries such as food manufacturing and the production of pharmaceuticals, textiles, glass, cement, paper, and pulp. They play an essential role too in the output of tanneries, chemical industries, and general manufacturing activities. 

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