Bringing you News that Counts
Bringing you News that Counts
|
|
May 5, 2008
IN THIS ISSUE
For more information about Palm Beach County’s programs and services, visit us online at www.pbcgov.com. If you have any questions or to provide feedback, you can e-mail us at countenews@pbcgov.com or call 355-2754. To unsubscribe to Count-e-News, click here.
Nationally Recognized Litigators Attend Fair Housing Law Symposium The symposium featured John P. Relman, Esq., of Washington, D.C., who is nationally known for his litigation of fair housing and fair lending cases. He obtained a $2.4 million jury verdict for housing discrimination against families with children. Relman has also written and lectured extensively in the areas of fair housing and fair lending law and is the author of the Housing Discrimination Practice Manual. The featured luncheon keynote speaker was Melissa Harris-Lacewell (pictured above), an associate professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University. Harris-Lacewell is the author of the 2004 award-winning book: Barbershops. Bibles and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Political Thought. April marked the 40th anniversary of the enactment of the federal Fair Housing Law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, creed, national origin, sex, familial status and disabilities and encourages fair housing opportunities for all citizens. County Celebrates Building Safety Week
“The important work we do is often overlooked until a catastrophic tragedy occurs,” said Palm Beach County Building Official Rebecca Caldwell. “When building safety and fire prevention experts inspect buildings during and after construction, it helps to ensure that the places where you live, learn, work and play are safe.” Building safety and fire prevention codes address all aspects of construction, such as structural soundness of buildings, reliability of fire prevention and suppression systems, plumbing and mechanical systems, and energy efficiency and sustainability. To ensure a building is safe requires the active participation of building safety and fire prevention officials, architects, contractors, engineers and others in the construction industry, as well as property owners. “Public safety is our number one concern,” said Caldwell. “During Building Safety Week and all year long, building safety and fire prevention officials are here to help protect you and your community.” Did you know that incomplete permitted work could prevent the sale of your house? Do you know what projects require a permit and which ones do not? And why you should always hire licensed contractors to perform work on your home? What do building green and living green really mean? What are some ways to “harden” your older home for the next storm? To provide answers to these and other questions, the Palm Beach County Building Division will be joined by the Contractor Certification Division and Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue during an open house on May 8 from 9 a.m. to noon. Come and meet your Palm Beach County code officials at our Vista Center complex, 2300 N. Jog Road in West Palm Beach. Refreshments will be provided. There will be lots of good information via videos and brochures about pool safety, mold prevention, green building, and preparing for natural disasters, among other subjects. There will be coloring sheets and stickers for the kids, and we encourage everyone to stop by to learn about the essential safety work of the Palm Beach County Building Division and other code officials. Building Safety Week began in 1980 and is sponsored by the International Code Council. The ICC develops the codes that form the basis of the Florida Building Code, and are most widely used to construct residential and commercial buildings, including homes and schools. Local Businesses Invited to Learn “How to Do Business with Spain”
In attendance will be Trade Commissioner Belen Cristino and Director of International Department and Institutional Relations Isabel Dival. “This seminar is recommended for anyone interested in doing business with Spain,” said Al Zucaro, chairman of the World Trade Center Palm Beach, who organized the seminar.
The seminar is one item of the Consulate General of Spain’s familiarization tour of Palm Beach County from May 8 and 9. The group is visiting the Palm Beach County Convention Center, the Florida Research Park, Scripps Florida, the Port of Palm Beach and the South Florida Water Management District. The consulate’s last stop will be the School District of Palm Beach County to discuss K-12 exchange programs with school officials.
Those interested in attending the international trade seminar on May 9 are requested to pre-register. The event is free to the public. For more information, please call Claudia Lopez at the Palm Beach County Economic Development Office, (561) 355-3624. May is National High Blood Pressure Education Month The Cooperative Extension’s Family and Consumer Sciences Division wants to keep residents informed about the dangers of high blood pressure during National High Blood Pressure Education Month. High blood pressure, also called hypertension, increases your risk of getting heart or kidney disease, or of having a stroke. Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women in the nation. One in every four American adults has high blood pressure. The disease is especially dangerous because it gives no warning signs or symptoms. Anyone can develop high blood pressure, but some people are more likely to develop it than others. Being inactive and overweight can increase your risk of high blood pressure. For this reason, a healthy lifestyle is very important. Everyone, regardless of race, age, gender, or heredity, can help lower their chance of developing high blood pressure by doing the following: If your blood pressure is normal, all of the above tips will help you keep it that way. They are also recommended if your blood pressure is high. However, it is much better to keep your blood pressure from getting high in the first place.
Hey Teens: Volunteer at the Library this Summer!
Contact your local library branch for more information about becoming a VolunTeen.
|
The Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity recently hosted a day-long symposium to help raise public awareness of fair housing laws and the fight to eliminate housing discrimination. The April 25 event at the West Palm Beach Marriott was hosted in conjunction with the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, Inc. 
When you enter a house or building, you may not be thinking about whether it is properly constructed and safe. Fortunately, the safety experts at the Palm Beach County Building Division think about building safety and fire prevention every day. To help raise awareness of building safety, the Building Division is observing Building Safety Week, May 5-11. The theme is Building Safety: Where You Live, Work and Play.
Small businesses are invited to attend the international trade seminar “How to do Business with Spain” on May 9 from 8 to 11 a.m. The event will be held at the Business Development Board, 310 Evernia Street in West Palm Beach.
Last summer, more than 300 VolunTeens assisted with the Palm Beach County Library’s Summer Reading Program, which encourages children to read while they are on vacation from school. This year the program will be offered from June 9 to August 1.