This is our final newsletter of 2021 (no issue on December 29). The CCC wishes everyone safe travels, much merriment, and a great start to the new year!
Happy Holidays!
New this week:
Registration is now open for the CCC’s 4-hour, 2022 Cultural Competence training presented by Elizabeth Neptune in two Zoom sessions: January 12th from 9 – 11 am and January 14th from 9 – 11 am. Attendance at both sessions is required for the contact hour certificate, but participants only need to register for the first session on January 12th. At that session, participants will receive the link to attend part 2 of this training. This is open to staff of all CCC partner organizations. More details coming soon.
Elizabeth Consalvi with the G.E.A.R. Parent Network wants G.E.A.R. families and community partners to know that they are conducting their weekly support group, but will not be holding any workshops this week. However, “next week please join us on Wed, December 29th for our Ho-Ho-Ho Holiday Baking Fun with your kids at 10 a.m.” Learn more and reserve your spot here.
Washington County Adult Education & Axiom Education & Training Center are holding a Certified Clinical Medical Assistant Training as a hybrid – Zoom & in-person class. The course runs from January 25 to June 22nd, 2022. Details in this flyer.
- Wednesdays, January 26 to March 16, 2022, 6:00 – 8:30 PM
- Mondays, February 7 to March 28, 2022, 5:30 – 8:00 PM
Prerecorded webinars on gardening-related topics
for last-minute gift shoppers
The University of Maine Cooperative Extension is offering bundles of prerecorded webinars about various gardening-related topics for last-minute gift shoppers. The On Demand Webinars series includes bundles of three to four prerecorded webinars about starting and maintaining a home orchard, gardening with native plants, composting and soil health, and seed selection and starting. The webinars allow viewers to watch and learn at their own pace and include lists of recommended resources. The webinar bundles are offered on a sliding scale fee of $0–$30. More information about how to purchase the bundles is available on the gardening webpage. For more information or to request a reasonable accommodation, contact Rebecca Long, 207-743-6329; extension.gardening@maine.edu.
On Friday, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the stay on OSHA’s ETS mandate. The mandate applies to employers with at least 100 employers and requires covered employers to, among other things, require either vaccination or weekly COVID testing. “To further complicate matters, writes attorney Anne-Marie Storey, “petitions have already been filed with the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the ETS. However, given the new and impending deadlines, employers would be wise to proceed with coming into compliance with aspects of the ETS required by January 10, including the notices, policies, and vaccination information. Read more here.
In another update on this matter, Rudman Winchell covers how employers should calculate whether they meet the 100 employee threshold. The ETS provides some information about how to calculate that number.
- All employees are counted, including full time, part-time, seasonal, and temporary;
- Remote workers are counted (even though they may not be subject to either the testing or vaccination requirement);
- Employees (seasonal or otherwise) employed primarily by a staffing agency are counted by that agency, not the temporary employer to whom they are assigned;
- Independent contractors are not counted;
- If an employer (a single corporate entity) has multiple locations, all employees at all locations are counted;
- Two or more related entities may be regarded as a single employer if they handle…continue reading
Virtual Book Club
Regina Grabrovac of Healthy Acadia invites you to an online discussion of the book: Reinventing Food Banks and Pantries: New tools to end hunger by Katie S. Martin at 1 PM via Zoom, every other Tuesday between January 4th and February 15th. Learn more here.
The Power in Aging Project