California Connection December 22, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on December 22, and will be updated on January 5. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: On behalf of the entire board of directors and staff of CCB, let me wish all of you who read or listen to the California Connection a wonderful holiday, with many fond memories and the willpower that I lack to stay away from those goodies that expand your horizons. Have a very happy new year as well. With the office closed for the holidays, our great connection crew, Ann Kysor, Gabe Griffith, and Gretchen Canejo deserve a break as well. The next connection will come out the first week of January. Finally, we have good news from staff member Marilyn Koehler. She is on the mend, wrapping presents and slowly working herself back into the scheme of things. She hopes to be back at work by mid-January at the latest, and is looking forward to talking with all of you.
The California Council of the Blind has scheduled a cruise for May 11 – 14, 2007. Come join your friends and help support CCB at the same time. For each cabin booked on the cruise Damar Travel and Carnival Cruise Lines will make a donation totaling $90 to CCB. We will depart on Friday from Long Beach and travel to the wonderful city of Ensenada, Mexico where we will have a full day to enjoy Mexico. Prices starting at $525.00 for an inside cabin and $565.00 for an ocean view. Prices include 3-day cruise, port charges, government fees and gratuities. An initial deposit of $ 50 is required and final payment is due on or before February 1, 2007. For your convenience, you are able to make monthly payments. Everyone is welcome. Tell everyone you know about it. We'd love to see your family, friends, and potential friends. For reservations and additional information, please call Dave Kronk with Damar Travel and Cruise at 800-999-6101 x422.
The LightHouse for the Blind in San Francisco has a new service to offer. The vision loss resource center can help answer questions relating to low vision such as: what cell phones are accessible or, what services and support are available to persons with low vision. If you would like to ask a question you can reach the low vision resource center at 888-400-8933.
The Society for the blind in Sacramento is looking for a communications contractor for the senior impact project. This would be a 20% part time position. The essential function of the job is to teach the reading and writing of uncontracted Braille (alphabet and whenever necessary, some contracted Braille) using both slate/stylus and Braille writer to blind and visually impaired adults. This instructor will also demonstrate basic computer skills through the use of screen access software and a typing teacher program for seniors who require typing skills. For consideration please send your resume along with a cover letter to: Society for the Blind, 2750 24th St., Sacramento Ca 95818. Fax, 916-452-2622, or
mbruns@societyfortheblind.org The application deadline is January 5, 2007.
Greater L. A. chapter member, Alexa Golden, is looking for a roommate for the ACB Convention in Minneapolis. She can be contacted at her email address
yesalexa@verizon.net
From Eric Calhoun: There will be two meetings in January for the Metrolink of Southern California. The first, committee meeting only, will be on January 6th from 10 AM to 12 Noon. Located at 818 West 7th Street, 12 th Floor, Los Angeles, CA. The second meeting is on January 26th from 10 Am to 12 Noon at the same location. This meeting will encompass the board and committee meetings. For more information go to metrolinktrains.com. If you need further information email Eric Calhoun at chargerdodger@yahoo.com or
chargerdodger@mail.com We would like all Inland Empire Chapter members to be present at these meetings. This is important because this will involve the future of train service throughout Southern California and most specifically the Riverside, Orange county and San Bernardino areas.
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection December 15, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on December 15, and will be updated on December 22. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
Dr. Catherine Campisi is retiring as Director of the Department of Rehabilitation effective as of December 22nd. We congratulate her on a very successful tenure in this position. Dr. Campisi’s plans, as she states them, are to “work part-time, travel, rest, and of course, continue to advocate for persons with disabilities.”
Rhonda King’s surgery mentioned last week has been delayed until January 2nd. We wish Rhonda our best and will keep everyone updated on how she is doing after the surgery is completed.
The California Council of the Blind has scheduled a cruise for May 11 – 14, 2007. Come join your friends and help support CCB at the same time. For each cabin booked on the cruise Damar Travel and Carnival Cruise Lines will make a donation totaling $90 to CCB. We will depart on Friday from Long Beach and travel to the wonderful city of Ensenada, Mexico where we will have a full day to enjoy Mexico. Prices starting at $525.00 for an inside cabin and $565.00 for an ocean view. Prices include 3-day cruise, port charges, government fees and gratuities. An initial deposit of $ 50 is required and final payment is due on or before February 1, 2007. For your convenience, you are able to make monthly payments. Everyone is welcome. Tell everyone you know about it. We'd love to see your family, friends, and potential friends. For reservations and additional information, please call Dave Kronk with Damar Travel and Cruise at 800-999-6101 x422.
From Eric Calhoun: There will be two meetings in January for the Metrolink of Southern California. The first, committee meeting only, will be on January 6th from 10 AM to 12 Noon. Located at 818 West 7th Street, 12 th Floor, Los Angeles, CA. The second meeting is on January 26th from 10 Am to 12 Noon at the same location. This meeting will encompass the board and committee meetings. For more information go to metrolinktrains.com. If you need further information email Eric Calhoun at chargerdodger@yahoo.com or
chargerdodger@mail.com We would like all Inland Empire Chapter members to be present at these meetings. This is important because this will involve the future of train service throughout Southern California and most specifically the Riverside, Orange County and San Bernardino areas.”
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection December 8, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on December 8, and will be updated on December 15. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
We are pleased to report that CCB staff member Marilyn Koehler is home and doing well. She is making slow but steady progress. If you would like to call her at home, you may obtain the number from the office at 800-221-6359.
Come join the Active Blind Inland Valley Chapter as we celebrate our Holiday party at Coco's Bakery Family Restaurant, located at 242 East Hospitality Lane, in San Bernardino, CA. on Saturday, December 16th @ 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. There will be a gift exchange. Gifts can not exceed more than $10.00 Please remember that there will be room for 25 to 30 people in back of Coco's restaurant. If you need any other information contact Eric Calhoun at 323-291-1850.
Eric Calhoun would like to hear from CCB members interested in emailing each other for the purpose of Leadership skills. He may be reached by the following 2 email addresses
chargerdodger@yahoo.com and chargerdodger@mail.com.
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection December 1, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on December 1, and will be updated on December 8. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: Great news on two fronts. First, as many of you know, CCB staff member, Marilyn Koehler, underwent serious stomach surgery on Monday. We are thrilled to report that the surgery appears to have gone extremely well, and that Marilyn is recovering nicely. She is still in St. Rose Hospital, Hayward, room 320C, and is expected to be released within a few days. (Call 510-264-4000, when it asks for the person's extension press 1, then enter 3203 followed by # sign.)
The other piece of good news is something that millions of people have heard all around the country. ACB has won a district court judgment which holds that the government is violating federal law by not making currency accessible. Its just the first step in what could still be a long road, but congratulations go out to Chris Gray, Melanie Brunson, and the legal team for four years of effort. This ruling underscores how much we have to be proud of as CCB members.
The Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the California Council of the Blind would like to invite members and friends to attend our upcoming holiday party on December 16 at the Proud Bird restaurant, 11022 Aviation in Los Angeles near LAX. The party will start at 11 A.M. and we will have the room until 4. You have your choice between filet Mignon or orange-crusted chicken with all the fixings. The price is $25.00 which includes your dinner, dessert, soft drinks, and door prizes. Please call Zena Reubel at 323-939-2234 to make your reservation by December 10.
Come join the Active Blind Inland Valley Chapter as we celebrate our Holiday party at Coco's Bakery Family Restaurant, located at 242 East Hospitality Lane, in San Bernardino, CA on Sat Dec 16th @ 11:00 a.m to 2:00 pm there will be a gift exchange. Gifts can not exceed more than $10.00 Please remember that there will be room for 25 to 30 people in back of Coco's restaurant. If you need any other information contact Eric Calhoun at 323-291-1850.
Eric Calhoun would like to hear from CCB members interested in emailing each other for the purpose of Leadership skills. He may be reached by the following 2 email addresses
chargerdoger@yahoo.com and chargerdoger@mail.com
You are cordially invited to attend the Christmas Party of the Bay View Chapter to be held on December 10th at the Pier 29 restaurant, located at 1148 Ballena Blvd., Alameda, CA. The entrée choices are Prime Rib, Salmon or Chicken Marsala. The cost is $16.00 per plate for members and $21.00 for guests. Please make reservations by calling Ida Johnson at 510-655-1982 or Cathie Skivers at 510-357-1986 by no later than December 5th. Jeff Thom will be on hand to conduct our brief installation ceremony. We hope you will come and meet new friends and spend some time with old ones.
The San Gabriel Valley and East L.A. chapters of the California council of the blind will be holding their annual Christmas party on Saturday, December 16 from 11:30 AM to 3:00 PM at Steven Steak House, 5332 Stevens Place, City of Commerce. (Cross Street is Atlantic). The cost for either steak, chicken or vegetarian is only $15.00. Hope to see you there, but hope you will RSVP by December 8 to either: Marie Herrera at 818-894-3722 or Patricia La France-Wolf at 626-279-2954. A $10.00 Xmas gift exchange is optional.
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection November 3, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on November 3, and will be updated on November 10. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: The CCB office will be closed on Friday November 10 for Veterans Day.
Well the Fall 2006 convention of the California Council of the Blind has come and gone, and what an outstanding event it was. Stories about robot cars racing across the desert, lively debate and elections, guests from across the country, and the renewing of old friendships and the making of new ones, are just a smattering of the highlights of the convention. Our new elections produced the addition of two members to the CCB board. We congratulate Chris Gray, who will be serving as our new Treasurer, although we are thrilled to report that current Treasurer Peter Pardini will remain on the board, and David Jackson, from San Francisco, who will be serving as a new board member. Its not too early to plan for our next convention April 12-15 at the Arden West Hilton Hotel in Sacramento. If you have ideas for that convention, please let convention coordinator Gene Lozano know at either 916-278-6988 or lozanoe@csus.edu.
International Online Symposium on Diabetes Scheduled for Wednesday, November 8, 2006
Wherever in the world you are, plan now to attend all or a part of the five-hour Accessible World Symposium on Diabetes where highly recognized medical and professional experts will provide an abundance of relevant information of special interest to individuals who are coping daily with diabetes, their family members and caregivers. The event is free and no registration is required. All you need is a Windows computer, an Internet connection, speakers, and a microphone if you wish to interact audibly with the presenters. Text chatting is available for those without a microphone. Contact Robert Acosta at 818-998-0044 or by e-mail at boacosta@pacbell.net for times and instructions on participating or if you have any other questions.
The California Council of the Blind has scheduled a cruise for May 11 – 14, 2007. Come join your friends and help support CCB at the same time. For each cabin booked on the cruise Damar Travel and Carnival Cruise Lines will make a donation totaling $90 to CCB. We will depart on Friday from Long Beach and travel to the wonderful city of Ensenada, Mexico where we will have a full day to enjoy Mexico. Prices starting at $525.00 for an inside cabin and $565.00 for an ocean view. Prices include 3-day cruise, port charges, government fees and gratuities. An initial deposit of $ 50 is required and final payment is due on or before February 1, 2007. For your convenience, you are able to make monthly payments. Everyone is welcome. Tell everyone you know about it. We'd love to see your family, friends, and potential friends. For reservations and additional information, please call Dave Kronk with Damar Travel and Cruise at 800-999-6101 x422.
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection October 20, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on October 20, and will be updated on November 3. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Gabe Griffith: Since myself and many others will be in Los Angeles for the CCB fall convention there will be no connection on October 20. The next connection will be put out on November 3.
From Jeff Thom: Long-time CCB member Gretchen Canejo has begun announcing the Connection in Spanish. We want to Thank Gretchen for filling this important need.
The shuttle stop location to get the free shuttle from LAX airport to the Four Points Sheraton Hotel is located on the lower street level in the area titled "Hotel Shuttle and Courtesy Vans". The shuttle stop is located on a narrow island across the street from the terminal exit.
As you know, we are having prime rib at this year’s banquet. In response to member concerns, the hotel has agreed to provide steak knives for that meal. Remember to sell those tickets for the annual CCB Fall Convention sweepstakes. First prize is two tickets anywhere Southwest Airlines flies. Other prizes include stays at various hotel/casinos in Laughlin Nevada.
ATTENTION: To all who are selling the CCB Sweepstake Tickets, if you have not already sent them and the money to the CCB office, PLEASE DON'T. please bring the money and the ticket stubs to the convention and give them to Marilyn Koehler at the Registration Desk and please make sure your chapter name is on the back of the tickets so that you will get credit for the sales.
The auction at the Fall Convention will be a live auction, to be held at the banquet. It will start at approximately 9-15 PM, and even those not attending the banquet are welcome to come and participate. We intend to have the auction items on display in the exhibit so that all of you can think about the great deals up for bid. We welcome your donation of new items for the auction, with a value of not less than $25.
The CCB jackets, bearing the CCB logo and motto, will be ready for sale at the fall convention. Jackets are available in sizes small through 4X and will sell for $30-$40. Inquire about your jacket at the CCB auction table in the exhibit room.
The California Council of the Blind has scheduled a cruise for May 11 – 14, 2007. Come join your friends and help support CCB at the same time. For each cabin booked on the cruise Damar Travel and Carnival Cruise Lines will make a donation totaling $90 to CCB. We will depart on Friday from Long Beach and travel to the wonderful city of Ensenada, Mexico where we will have a full day to enjoy Mexico. Prices starting at $525.00 for an inside cabin and $565.00 for an ocean view. Prices include 3-day cruise, port charges, government fees and gratuities. An initial deposit of $ 50 is required and final payment is due on or before February 1, 2007. For your convenience, you are able to make monthly payments. Everyone is welcome. Tell everyone you know about it. We'd love to see your family, friends, and potential friends. For reservations and additional information, please call Dave Kronk with Damar Travel and Cruise at 800-999-6101 x422.
For those of you that browse the web and occasionally visit the CCB website and would like to make recommendations on possible changes, you are invited to participate in a discussion on Saturday afternoon October 28. The purpose of this meeting is to gather information and recommendations regarding possible changes or modifications that will help make the website easier to use by all of us. This meeting will be held in place of the Technology committee business meeting at the fall CCB convention.
From Jeff Thom: The American Council of the Blind will be holding its legislative seminar from February 25-27, 2006. CCB will be sending 8 representatives to Washington, D.C. For those of you who want to learn a great deal about the federal issues of greatest concern to us, and who have a desire to walk the lengthy halls of Congress to reach out to the largest Congressional delegation in the country, this tiring, yet unforgettable experience is for you. We attempt to select a combination of veterans and new faces, and those from geographical areas of the state. Please contact me as soon as possible at 916-995-3967 if you would like to be considered. Organizational and communications skills, the ability to absorb information quickly, and the desire to bring about change in the lives of blind and visually impaired persons are some of the criteria used in making selections.
Due to health concerns, Al Biegler has submitted his resignation from the board of directors. Let me hasten to add that these issues are not life-threatening and will not end his many activities in Butte County. Let me take this opportunity to commend Al on his excellent work on the CCB board of directors, and to wish him our very best.
Because Al's term does not end until December 31, 2007, our Fall Convention elections will include the filling of this one-year unexpired term, with nominees to be made from the floor.
Be sure to get your name badge holder from a BRLC member. No more clipping onto your clothing; this handy holder hangs around your neck and has a zipper container for your hotel key etc. as well. The price is only $5 and it can serve any time you need instant I.d. and will last for years.
"CCB member, Beatrice Bell is seeking a driver/ride to the Fall CCB Convention in Los Angeles. Contact Beatrice at 650-712-1106."
SPONSOR A Blind HIGH SCHOOL student AT THE CCB FALL CONVENTION. The Association for Multicultural concerns (AMC) invites you to sponsor a high school student to attend the CCB’s fall convention on Friday. Your $15 will cover the cost of lunch for the Blind and Vision Impaired students from marshal High school in Los Angeles. As a sponsor, you will have an opportunity to meet and have lunch with the student you’ve sponsored during the AMC luncheon. For more information, contact Lillian Scaife, AMC President, at 562-494-4306 or lmscaife@verizon.net. Come meet and support CCB’s leaders of the future! The topic at the AMC luncheon on Friday will be Diversity, Identity, and Cultural Characteristics. Come listen to Richard Vicenzi, co-founder and Executive Director of Operations of the Global Diversity Institute.
If you have resolutions to submit to the resolutions committee this fall you can e-mail them to Lucy Greco at lucy@accessaces.com or call her with them at 510-898-0704.
From Dan Kysor, CCB Director of Governmental Affairs: State-wide ballot measures for the upcoming general election descriptions are now available on the legislative area on our toll free line as well as our website www.ccbnet.org Also, for a more detailed voting guide, contact the California secretary of state for the audiocassette guide. Call 916-657-2166.
The Social Security Administration is announcing that the cost of living adjustment for 2007 will be 3.3 percent. We'll have the SSP cni adjustment levels shortly for you.
Remember that the Governmental Affairs Committee will meet at our upcoming convention at 4 10 pm on Saturday, October 28th. All are welcome.
The next quarterly meeting for the Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities will be held on Wednesday, October 25, from 10:00 AM - 3:15 PM at the Red Lion Hotel, 1401 Arden Way, in Sacramento. People wishing to attend who require accommodations for their disabilities should refer to the meeting notices or event flyers for advance notice time frames. You can download a meeting agenda at
http://www.edd.ca.gov/gcepdevents.asp
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection October 13, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on October 13, and will be updated on October 20. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: The CCB fall convention will be held at the Four Point Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750 Airport BLVD, Los Angeles, CA 90045, From Thursday October 26, through noon on Sunday October 29 2006. Preparations are already well on the way for making this convention one to rival our spring gathering. Pedestrian safety, insurance discrimination, the present and future of robotics, employment, not to mention the fun of CCB elections, are among the convention items for your education and enjoyment. Availability of the $80 room rate, for either single or double occupancy, has been extended to October 16th or until all guest rooms are occupied. If you have not already done so please make you reservations now by calling 310-645-4600 or 1-800-325-3535.
The shuttle stop location to get the free shuttle from LAX airport to the Four Points Sheraton Hotel is located on the lower street level in the area titled "Hotel Shuttle and Courtesy Vans". The shuttle stop is located on a narrow island across the street from the terminal exit.
In preparing the convention pre-registration announcement, we inadvertently failed to include an item permitting pre-registration for the Single Mingle. Anyone who wishes to pre-register for this event may do so as part of their pre-registration for the price of $10. If you have already pre-registered, but wish to register for this event, you may still add this to your pre-registration.
Although no illness has occurred due to processed spinach, a decision was made to change the banquet entree from Chicken Florentine to prime rib. We are aware of concerns that some have expressed surrounding the selection of prime rib and are attempting to address them. Obviously, if your issue is a dietary one, you can address that directly with the hotel.
Remember to sell those tickets for the annual CCB Fall Convention sweepstakes. First prize is two tickets anywhere Southwest Airlines flies. Other prizes include stays at various hotel/casinos in Laughlin Nevada. Tickets should be turned in to the CCB office as soon as possible and more tickets can be provided to you. You can, however, bring them to the convention. Remember that half of the proceeds go to your chapter or affiliate, so be sure and write the name of your chapter or affiliate on the back.
The auction at the Fall Convention will be a live auction, to be held at the banquet. It will start at approximately 9-15 PM, and even those not attending the banquet are welcome to come and participate. We intend to have the auction items on display in the exhibit so that all of you can think about the great deals up for bid. We welcome your donation of new items for the auction, with a value of not less than $25.
The CCB jackets, bearing the CCB logo and motto, will be ready for sale at the fall convention. Jackets are available in sizes small through 4X and will sell for $30-$40. Inquire about your jacket at the CCB auction table in the exhibit room.
The California Council of the Blind has scheduled a cruise for May 11 – 14, 2007. Come join your friends and help support CCB at the same time. For each cabin booked on the cruise Damar Travel and Carnival Cruise Lines will make a donation totaling $90 to CCB. We will depart on Friday from Long Beach and travel to the wonderful city of Ensenada, Mexico where we will have a full day to enjoy Mexico. Prices starting at $525.00 for an inside cabin and $565.00 for an ocean view. Prices include 3-day cruise, port charges, government fees and gratuities. An initial deposit of $ 50 is required and final payment is due on or before February 1, 2007. For your convenience, you are able to make monthly payments. Everyone is welcome. Tell everyone you know about it. We'd love to see your family, friends, and potential friends. For reservations and additional information, please call Dave Kronk with Damar Travel and Cruise at 800-999-6101 x422.
For those of you that browse the web and occasionally visit the CCB website and would like to make recommendations on possible changes, you are invited to participate in a discussion on Saturday afternoon October 28. The purpose of this meeting is to gather information and recommendations regarding possible changes or modifications that will help make the website easier to use by all of us. This meeting will be held in place of the Technology committee business meeting at the fall CCB convention.
From Jeff Thom: The American Council of the Blind will be holding its legislative seminar from February 25-27, 2006. CCB will be sending 8 representatives to Washington, D.C. For those of you who want to learn a great deal about the federal issues of greatest concern to us, and who have a desire to walk the lengthy halls of Congress to reach out to the largest Congressional delegation in the country, this tiring, yet unforgettable experience is for you. We attempt to select a combination of veterans and new faces, and those from geographical areas of the state. Please contact me as soon as possible at 916-995-3967 if you would like to be considered. Organizational and communications skills, the ability to absorb information quickly, and the desire to bring about change in the lives of blind and visually impaired persons are some of the criteria used in making selections.
Due to health concerns, Al Beiger has submitted his resignation from the board of directors. Let me hasten to add that these issues are not life-threatening and will not end his many activities in Butte County. Let me take this opportunity to commend Al on his excellent work on the CCB board of directors, and to wish him our very best.
Because Al's term does not end until December 31, 2007, our Fall Convention elections will include the filling of this one-year unexpired term, with nominees to be made from the floor.
Be sure to get your name badge holder from a BRLC member. No more clipping onto your clothing; this handy holder hangs around your neck and has a zipper container for your hotel key etc. as well. The price is only $5 and it can serve any time you need instant I.d. and will last for years.
CCB member, Beatrice Bell is seeking a driver/ride to the Fall CCB Convention in Los Angeles. Contact Beatrice at 650-712-1106.
SPONSOR A Blind HIGH SCHOOL student AT THE CCB FALL CONVENTION. The Association for Multicultural concerns (AMC) invites you to sponsor a high school student to attend the CCB’s fall convention on Friday. Your $15 will cover the cost of lunch for the Blind and Vision Impaired students from marshal High school in Los Angeles. As a sponsor, you will have an opportunity to meet and have lunch with the student you’ve sponsored during the AMC luncheon. For more information, contact Lillian Scaife, AMC President, at 562-494-4306 or lmscaife@verizon.net. Come meet and support CCB’s leaders of the future!
The San Francisco chapter invites the members of Bay Area Chapters to its annual pizza/bingo party from 12 to 4 on October 21 at the Western Park Apartments, 1280 Laguna Street, San Francisco. The cost is $10 for lunch of pizza, salad, and dessert; door prizes; bingo; and the drawing for the raffle: first prize $200. So that we can plan appropriately, please make your reservation by calling Sandra Fancher, chair of the event, at (415) 474-3659 to request vegetarian or meat pizza.
From Lucy Greco, Chair resolutions committee: It is once again time to start thinking about those resolutions. It is a great help to the resolutions committee if you can get us your resolutions as early as possible. You can e-mail them to lucy@accessaces.com or if you don’t have e-mail you can call Lucy at 510-898-0704 and she will be happy to write them down for you.
The law firm of Arias Ouzels, & Gina is gathering complaints from the visually impaired about the Los Angeles MTA bus system. Currently, a class action lawsuit is pending regarding failure to call out stops, pass-ups, failure to provide schedules in alternative format, and failure to provide an accessible website. If you have any experiences with the MTA, please share them by contacting Louis Pacella or Stephanie Lai at 310-670-1600, or email MTAclass@aogllp.com.
Three of the scholarships awarded by the Jewish Guild for the Blind went to three Californians. They are Heather Bandy, Reseda, CA; Haben Girma, Oakland, CA and Rebecca Marcus, San Diego, CA. Anyone interested in finding out about these scholarships for the year 2007 can contact Gordon Rovins at 212-769-7801 or by email to
guildscholar@jgb.org
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection October 6, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on October 6, and will be updated on October 13. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: The CCB fall convention will be held at the Four Point Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750 Airport BLVD, Los Angeles, CA 90045, From Thursday October 26, through noon on Sunday October 29 2006. Preparations are already well on the way for making this convention one to rival our spring gathering. Pedestrian safety, insurance discrimination, the present and future of robotics, employment, not to mention the fun of CCB elections, are among the convention items for your education and enjoyment. Reservations can now be made by calling 310-645-4600 or 1-800-325-3535. Rates are $80 for either single or double occupancy.
The shuttle stop location to get the free shuttle from LAX airport to the Four Points Sheraton Hotel is located on the lower street level in the area titled "Hotel Shuttle and Courtesy Vans". The shuttle stop is located on a narrow island across the street from the terminal exit.
In preparing the convention pre-registration announcement, we inadvertently failed to include an item permitting pre-registration for the Single Mingle. Anyone who wishes to pre-register for this event may do so as part of their pre-registration for the price of $10. If you have already pre-registered, but wish to register for this event, you may still add this to your pre-registration.
Although no illness has occurred due to processed spinach, a decision was made to change the banquet entree from Chicken Florentine to prime rib. We are aware of concerns that some have expressed surrounding the selection of prime rib and are attempting to address them. Obviously, if your issue is a dietary one, you can address that directly with the hotel.
Remember to sell those tickets for the annual CCB Fall Convention sweepstakes. First prize is two tickets anywhere Southwest Airlines flies. Other prizes include stays at various hotel/casinos in Laughlin Nevada. Tickets should be turned in to the CCB office as soon as possible and more tickets can be provided to you. You can, however, bring them to the convention. Remember that half of the proceeds go to your chapter or affiliate, so be sure and write the name of your chapter or affiliate on the back.
The auction at the Fall Convention will be a live auction, to be held at the banquet. It will start at approximately 9:15 PM, and even those not attending the banquet are welcome to come and participate. We intend to have the auction items on display in the exhibit so that all of you can think about the great deals up for bid. We welcome your donation of new items for the auction, with a value of not less than $25.
SPONSOR A Blind HIGH SCHOOL student AT THE CCB FALL CONVENTION. The Association for Multicultural concerns (AMC) invites you to sponsor a high school student to attend the CCB’s fall convention on Friday. Your $15 will cover the cost of lunch for the Blind and Vision Impaired students from marshal High school in Los Angeles. As a sponsor, you will have an opportunity to meet and have lunch with the student you’ve sponsored during the AMC luncheon. For more information, contact Lillian Scaife, AMC President, at 562-494-4306 or lmscaife@verizon.net. Come meet and support CCB’s leaders of the future!
The San Francisco chapter invites the members of Bay Area Chapters to its annual pizza/bingo party from 12 to 4 on October 21 at the Western Park Apartments, 1280 Laguna Street, San Francisco. The cost is $10 for lunch of pizza, salad, and dessert; door prizes; bingo; and the drawing for the raffle: first prize $200. So that we can plan appropriately, please make your reservation by calling Sandra Fancher, chair of the event, at (415) 474-3659 to request vegetarian or meat pizza.
From Dan Kysor, Director of CCB Governmental Affairs: Great news to report, our bill putting blind and visually impaired individuals on emergency preparedness committees for the state of California was signed into law late last week. SB 1451 by Christine Kehoe was signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as Chapter 600. You may find his comments either on our website www.ccbnet.org under the capitol report on the governmental affairs link or on our toll free line weekends and after 4 pm weekdays under the legislative report section. Dan also provides a complete update on all statewide legislation. Finally, he reports that the Governor vetoed all IHSS legislation this year.
From Lucy Greco, Chair resolutions committee: It is once again time to start thinking about those resolutions. It is a great help to the resolutions committee if you can get us your resolutions as early as possible. You can e-mail them to lucy@accessaces.com
or if you don’t have e-mail you can call Lucy at 510-898-0704 and she will be happy to write them down for you.
MUNI in San Francisco has developed a network of NextBus LED displays that share real-time vehicle information with riders. The displays relay information specific to each stop they serve, such as vehicle arrival times, which lines utilize the stop and announcements of events affecting MUNI's service. To make these text displays accessible to riders with visual, cognitive and language-based disabilities, MUNI has equipped each display with a Talking Sign transmitter. Currently MUNI is demonstrating a new assistive system, called Push-to-Talk. It consists of a push button and speaker connected to the NextBus display. When a user pushes the button, the text from the NextBus display is translated to speech and broadcast over the speaker. The trial Push-To-Talk system is installed at the bus shelter at the South East intersection of Duboce and Church streets. This shelter serves the inbound J-Church and the crosstown 22-Filmore. MUNI invites anyone interested in this new application of assistive technology to stop by the location and try it out. To help us decide if we should pursue this type of system, we are requesting feedback and comments from MUNI riders. Please contact MUNI Accessible Services with any comments or questions about the NextBus Push-To-Talk system demonstration at: MUNI Accessible Services One South Van Ness Avenue, 3rd Floor, #1106 San Francisco, CA 94103 415-701-4485 or e-mail jamie.osborne@sfmta.com
Some of Frank Welte’s contact information published last week was incorrect. Contact information for Frank if you would like to help out with his White Cain Walk is as follows:
White Cane Walk, 1432 San Carlos Ave. #6, San Carlos, CA 94070-2205. Attn: Frank Welte, Event Chair. Phone: (650) 508-8329. Cell: (650) 576-4177. Email: fwelte@sbcglobal.net
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection September 29, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on September 29, and will be updated on October 6. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
The office will be closed on Friday, September 29. If you have an urgent matter, call Jeff Thom at 916-995-3967.
From Jeff Thom: The CCB fall convention will be held at the Four Point Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750 Airport Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045, From Thursday, October 26, through noon on Sunday, October 29, 2006. Preparations are already well on the way for making this convention one to rival our spring gathering. Pedestrian safety, insurance discrimination, the present and future of robotics, employment, not to mention the fun of CCB elections, are among the convention items for your education and enjoyment. Reservations can now be made by calling 310-645-4600 or 1-800-325-3535. Rates are $80 for either single or double occupancy.
Remember to sell those tickets for the annual CCB Fall Convention sweepstakes. First prize is two tickets anywhere Southwest Airlines flies. Other prizes will include a three-day two-night stay at the Ramada Express Hotel/Casino, a three-day two-night stay at the Pioneer Hotel and Gambling Hall and a stay at Harrah’s in Laughlin, Nevada. Tickets should be turned in to the CCB office as soon as possible and more tickets can be provided to you. You can, however, bring them to the convention. Remember that half of the proceeds go to your chapter or affiliate, so be sure and write the name of your chapter or affiliate on the back.
California, you have asked for it and we have listened. The California Council of the Blind has scheduled a cruise for May 11 – 14, 2007. Come join your friends and help support CCB at the same time. For each cabin booked on the cruise Damar Travel and Carnival Cruise Lines will make a donation totaling $90 to CCB. We will depart on Friday from Long Beach and travel to the wonderful city of Ensenada, Mexico where we will have a full day to enjoy Mexico. Prices starting at $525.00 for an inside cabin and $565.00 for an ocean view. Prices include 3-day cruise, port charges, government fees and gratuities. An initial deposit of $ 50 is required and final payment is due on or before February 1, 2007. For your convenience, you are able to make monthly payments. Everyone is welcome. Tell everyone you know about it. We'd love to see your family, friends, and potential friends. For reservations and additional information, please call Dave Kronk with Damar Travel and Cruise at 800-999-6101 x422.
The auction at the Fall Convention will be a live auction, to be held at the banquet. It will start at approximately 9:15 PM, and even those not attending the banquet are welcome to come and participate. We intend to have the auction items on display in the exhibit so that all of you can think about the great deals up for bid. We welcome your donation of new items for the auction, with a value of not less than $25.
From AC Transit: Special Notice of Mid-Term Vacancy, AC Transit District Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) Applications are being accepted from individuals who are interested in volunteering to serve on the District’s Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) to fill 4 (four) mid-term vacancies through February 28, 2007. To obtain applications or further details and duties of the volunteer position please contact AC Transit District Secretary’s Office, at 1600 Franklin Street, 10th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612-2806 or by phone at 510-891-7284. Applications may be faxed to 510-891-4705.
From the Office of the CA Secretary of State. Now available, a five audio tape set recording of the CA state voter information guide for Propositions 1-A through 1-E and Propositions 83 through 90 as well as information about candidates running for statewide office. To obtain a set of these tapes call 916-657-2166.
From Lucy Greco, Chair resolutions committee: It is once again time to start thinking about those resolutions. It is a great help to the resolutions committee if you can get us your resolutions as early as possible. You can e-mail them to lucy@accessaces.com or if you don’t have e-mail you can call Lucy at 510-898-0704 and she will be happy to write them down for you.
From Frank Welte: In celebration of national White Cane Safety Day, I am please to announce the first annual Peninsula White Cane Walk. Date: Saturday, October 14, 2006. Time: 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Place: downtown Menlo Park, CA. About the event: Blind and vision impaired Californians and their friends will march around two key intersections along El Camino Real in Menlo Park, Oak Grove Ave. and Menlo Ave. Both of these intersections feature accessible pedestrian signals. To join the planning committee for this event or for more information contact as follows: White Cane Walk, 1432 San Carlos Ave. #6, San Carlos, CA 94070-2205. Attn: Frank Welte, Event Chair. Phone: (650) 508-8329 Cell: (650) 5760-4177. Email: fwelte@sbcglobal.net
From helping hands for the Blind: Ken Metz will appear on a disability program at 3 pm on Tuesday, October 3. The station is KPFK Fm. To listen via the Internet, go to:
www.kpfk.org.
The Axis Dance Company in Oakland is looking for an education director. For more information visit www.axisdance.org or call 510-625-0110. Application deadline is October 14.
The Greater L.A. Chapter of the California Council of The Blind will be having their annual barbecue fund raiser, Saturday, October the 7th, from 11 A.M. till 3 P.M. in Kenneth Hawn Park which is located at 4100 South La Cienega and the cross street is rodeo. The meal will cost $15.00 that will include drinks and dessert. There will be a vegetarian meal for those people that don't eat meat and door prizes as well. For more information, please contact Pam or Ken Metz at (310-559-0170.) If you think that you will attend, please make your reservations by October the 5th so that we will have an idea how many people will be attending.
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection September 22, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on September 22, and will be updated on September 29. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: The CCB fall convention will be held at the Four Point Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750 Airport Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045, from Thursday, October 26, through noon on Sunday, October 29, 2006. Preparations are already well on the way for making this convention one to rival our spring gathering. Pedestrian safety, insurance discrimination, the present and future of robotics, employment, not to mention the fun of CCB elections, are among the convention items for your education and enjoyment. Reservations can now be made by calling 310-645-4600 or 1-800-325-3535. Rates are $80 for either single or double occupancy.
Remember to sell those tickets for the annual CCB Fall Convention sweepstakes. First prize is two tickets anywhere Southwest Airlines flies. Other prizes will include a three-day two-night stay at the Ramada Express Hotel/Casino, a three-day two-night stay at the Pioneer Hotel and Gambling Hall and a stay at Harrah’s in Laughlin, Nevada. Tickets should be turned in to the CCB office as soon as possible and more tickets can be provided to you. You can, however, bring them to the convention. Remember that half of the proceeds go to your chapter or affiliate, so be sure and write the name of your chapter or affiliate on the back.
California, you have asked for it and we have listened. The California Council of the Blind has scheduled a cruise for May 11 – 14, 2007. Come join your friends and help support CCB at the same time. For each cabin booked on the cruise Damar Travel and Carnival Cruise Lines will make a donation totaling $90 to CCB. We will depart on Friday from Long Beach and travel to the wonderful city of Ensenada, Mexico where we will have a full day to enjoy Mexico. Prices starting at $525.00 for an inside cabin and $565.00 for an ocean view. Prices include 3-day cruise, port charges, government fees and gratuities. An initial deposit of $ 50 is required and final payment is due on or before February 1, 2007. For your convenience, you are able to make monthly payments. Everyone is welcome. Tell everyone you know about it. We'd love to see your family, friends, and potential friends. For reservations and additional information, please call Dave Kronk with Damar Travel and Cruise at 800-999-6101 x422.
Dr. Richard Mander, CEO of HumanWare will be coming to speak to us on Friday evening. We look forward to hearing from him.
Our ACB representative will be ACB board member and president of the Maryland Council, Patrick Sheehan. He is an incredibly hard worker in many areas, including transportation and access to technology, and will be an outstanding addition to our program.
The auction at the Fall Convention will be a live auction, to be held at the banquet. It will start at approximately 9-15 PM, and even those not attending the banquet are welcome to come and participate. We intend to have the auction items on display in the exhibit so that all of you can think about the great deals up for bid. We welcome your donation of new items for the auction, with a value of not less than $25.
From AC Transit: Special Notice of Mid-Term Vacancy, AC Transit District Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) Applications are being accepted from individuals who are interested in volunteering to serve on the District’s Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) to fill 4 (four) mid-term vacancies through February 28, 2007. To obtain applications or further details and duties of the volunteer position please contact AC Transit District Secretary’s Office, at 1600 Franklin Street, 10th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612-2806 or by phone at 510-891-7284. Applications may be faxed to 510-891-4705.
From Lucy Greco, Chair resolutions committee: It is once again time to start thinking about those resolutions. It is a great help to the resolutions committee if you can get us your resolutions as early as possible. You can e-mail them to lucy@accessaces.com
or if you don’t have e-mail you can call Lucy at 510-898-0704 and she will be happy to write them down for you.
Graduates from guide dogs for the blind will be pleased to know that there will be an alumni reunion this November 9 through the 11th at the Holiday Inn Gateway hotel in downtown San Francisco. Workshops, tours and a dance featuring a 7-piece swing band are just a few of the exciting features of this inaugural event. For further information, go to www.guidedogs.com or contact the alumni association director Theresa Duncan at 800-295-4050.
From Eugene Lozano: Attention people with vision disabilities: Disability Rights Advocates has filed a complaint against California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for barriers on sidewalks, intersections and crosswalks (see list of “Selected Streets Maintained by Caltrans” below). These barriers make it difficult or dangerous for persons with vision disabilities to navigate sidewalks, intersections and crosswalks. Such barriers include, but are not limited to, lack of curb cuts, unsafe curb cuts, unsafe crosswalk markings (such as brick pattern), lack of detectable warnings, protruding objects (such as low-hanging tree limbs), and crumbled or uneven pavement. If you have encountered any such access barriers please contact Mary-Lee Kimber at: Voice: 510.665.8644, ext. 114, Fax: 510.665.8511, TTY: 510.665.8716. Please find the selected streets on our website at www.ccbnet.org. Please look on the California Connection link.
The BrailleNote classic previously advertised here by Andy Baracco has dropped in price to $1950. If interested, call 818 885-8559 weekdays after 6 PM, or all day on weekends, or send Email to: wq6r@socal.rr.com
The Greater L.A. Chapter of the California Council of The Blind will be having their annual barbecue fund raiser, Saturday, October the 7th, from 11 A.M. till 3 P.M. in Kenneth Hawn Park which is located at 4100 South La Cienega and the cross street is rodeo. The meal will cost $15.00 that will include drinks and dessert. There will be a vegetarian meal for those people that don't eat meat and door prizes as well. For more information, please contact Pam or Ken Metz at (310-559-0170.) If you think that you will attend, please make your reservations by October the 5th so that we will have an idea how many people will be attending.
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection September 15, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on September 15, and will be updated on September 22. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: The CCB fall convention will be held at the Four Point Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750 Airport Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045, From Thursday, October 26, through noon on Sunday, October 29, 2006. Preparations are already well on the way for making this convention one to rival our spring gathering. Pedestrian safety, insurance discrimination, the present and future of robotics, employment, not to mention the fun of CCB elections, are among the convention items for your education and enjoyment. Reservations can now be made by calling 310-645-4600 or 1-800-325-3535. Rates are $80 for either single or double occupancy.
Remember to sell those tickets for the annual CCB Fall Convention sweepstakes. First prize is two tickets anywhere Southwest Airlines flies. Other prizes will include a three-day two-night stay at the Ramada Express Hotel/Casino, a 2-day 3-night stay at the Pioneer Hotel and Gambling Hall and a stay at Harrah’s in Laughlin, Nevada. Tickets should be turned in to the CCB office as soon as possible and more tickets can be provided to you. You can, however, bring them to the convention. Remember that half of the proceeds go to your chapter or affiliate, so be sure and write the name of your chapter or affiliate on the back.
Dr. Richard Mander, CEO of HumanWare will be coming to speak to us on Friday evening. We look forward to hearing from him.
Our ACB representative will be ACB board member and president of the Maryland Council, Patrick Sheehan. He is an incredibly hard worker in many areas, including transportation and access to technology, and will be an outstanding addition to our program.
We are still looking for someone to translate and record the connection in Spanish. If you are interested please call Jeff Thom at 916-995-3967 or e-mail him at
jsthom@comcast.net and let him know you’re interested.
It appears the disk copies of the CCB fall convention announcement were sent out in word format. If you would like to receive this Announcement in "ASCII Plain text" file format, please contact the CCB office at 1-800-221-6359 or send an e-mail request to
ccotb@ccbnet.org CCB Webmaster, Dan Kysor, also suggests that you could copy and paste the Fall convention announcement from the CCB web page www.ccbnet.org and save it into your favorite text editor as a "plain text ASCII" file."
We are proud to announce that a hardworking CCB member Teddie-Joy Remhild has been appointed to the State Independent Living Council. We know that she will do an outstanding job in that capacity.
From Lucy Greco, Chair, Resolutions committee: It is once again time to start thinking about those resolutions. It is a great help to the resolutions committee if you can get us your resolutions as early as possible. You can e-mail them to lucy@accessaces.com
or if you don’t have e-mail you can call Lucy at 510-898-0704 and she will be happy to write them down for you.
Peter Schellin is seeking a non-smoking roommate for the Fall 2006 Convention.
Contact Peter at 805-554-4260 or by e-mail at mugan@mugan.org
From Eugene Lozano, Jr. : Attention people with vision disabilities: Disability Rights Advocates has filed a complaint against California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for barriers on sidewalks, intersections and crosswalks (see list of “Selected Streets Maintained by Caltrans” below). These barriers make it difficult or dangerous for persons with vision disabilities to navigate sidewalks, intersections and crosswalks. Such barriers include, but are not limited to, lack of curb cuts, unsafe curb cuts, unsafe crosswalk markings (such as brick pattern), lack of detectable warnings, protruding objects (such as low-hanging tree limbs), and crumbled or uneven pavement. If you have encountered any such access barriers please contact Mary-Lee Kimber at:
Voice: 510.665.8644, ext. 114, Fax: 510.665.8511, TTY: 510.665.8716
Please find the selected streets on our website at www.ccbnet.org please look on the California Connection link.
(This follows after this report)
Marlene Chait is a doctoral student doing research on women with disabilities. The topic of her research deals with finding what helps women with disabilities feel like they are leading full and satisfying lives or what they would like to have different. If you’re interested you can contact her by phone at 215-332-1967 or e-mail at
Marchait@comcast.net
The Greater Los Angeles Chapter is going to have their annual fundraiser Saturday, Oct. 7th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Kenneth Hahn Park, 4100 South Lacienga, Los Angeles. Cost is $15.00 for drinks and meal. Vegetarian dishes are available.
Call Pam or Ken Metz for reservations at 310-559-0170.
Rose Harter, President of the Alameda Chapter is in Highland Hospital, 1411 E. 31st Street in Oakland, CA. She is very ill. If you would like to send cards to Rose the center advised us that it would be best to send them to her home. Rose Harter, 831 Adams Street # 2, Albany, CA 94706. Donations are needed to help with her expenses. Donations can be made to: East Bay Center For the Blind, 2928 Adeline Street, Berkeley, CA 94703.
Please make check payable to the East Bay Center For the Blind and please put in the memo of your check, or include a note, that this donation is for Rose Harter.
If there are any questions please call the East Bay Center for the Blind at 510-843-6935.
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
SPECIAL NOTICE
Attention people with vision disabilities:
Disability Rights Advocates has filed a complaint against California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for barriers on sidewalks, intersections and crosswalks (see list of “Selected Streets Maintained by Caltrans” below). These barriers make it difficult or dangerous for persons with vision disabilities to navigate sidewalks, intersections and crosswalks. Such barriers include, but are not limited to, lack of curb cuts, unsafe curb cuts, unsafe crosswalk markings (such as brick pattern), lack of detectable warnings, protruding objects (such as low-hanging tree limbs), and crumbled or uneven pavement. If you have encountered any such access barriers please contact Mary-Lee Kimber at:
Voice: 510.665.8644, ext. 114
Fax: 510.665.8511
TTY: 510.665.8716
SELECTED STREETS MAINTAINED BY CALTRANS
1. Berkeley: Ashby Ave. (also known as Highway 13) from Tunnel Rd. to Ashby Ave. at I-80
2. Emeryville: San Pablo Ave. (also known as Highway 123) from route 580 at San Pablo (in Oakland) to Route 80 (in Richmond) at Cutting Boulevard.
3. Hayward: Jackson Street (also known as Highway 92) from Jackson Street at 880 to Foothill Blvd. at 580 (Oakland City Limit) Jackson Street turns into Foothill Blvd.
4. Hayward: Mission Boulevard (also known as Highway 238) from Mission Blvd. and Industrial PKWY W. to E. 14th St./Oakland City Limits
5. Hayward: Skyline Boulevard (also known as Highway 92) from Skyline Blvd. at Half Moon Rd. to 880 FRWY
6. San Francisco County: Veterans Boulevard (also known as Highway 1) from Veteran's Blvd. at Golden Gate Bridge to Lake St.
7. San Francisco County: Presidio Blvd. (also known as Highway 1) from Presidio Blvd. at Cross Over Dr. to 18th St.
8. San Francisco County: Van Ness Ave. (also known as Highway 101) from Van Ness Ave. at Mission St. to Lombard St.
9. San Francisco County: Lombard Street (also known as Highway 101) from Lombard St. at Van Ness Ave. to Broderick St.
10. San Francisco County: Richardson Ave. (also known as Highway 101) from Richardson Ave. at Broderick St. to Doyle St.
1. Berkeley: Ashby Ave. (also known as Highway 13) from Tunnel Rd. to Ashby Ave. at I-80
2. Emeryville: San Pablo Ave. (also known as Highway 123) from route 580 at San Pablo (in Oakland) to Route 80 (in Richmond) at Cutting Boulevard.
3. Hayward: Jackson Street (also known as Highway 92) from Jackson Street at 880 to Foothill Blvd. at 580 (Oakland City Limit) Jackson Street turns into Foothill Blvd.
4. Hayward: Mission Boulevard (also known as Highway 238) from Mission Blvd. and Industrial PKWY W. to E. 14th St./Oakland City Limits
5. Hayward: Skyline Boulevard (also known as Highway 92) from Skyline Blvd. at Half Moon Rd. to 880 FRWY
6. San Francisco County: Veterans Boulevard (also known as Highway 1) from Veteran's Blvd. at Golden Gate Bridge to Lake St.
7. San Francisco County: Presidio Blvd. (also known as Highway 1) from Presidio Blvd. at Cross Over Dr. to 18th St.
8. San Francisco County: Van Ness Ave. (also known as Highway 101) from Van Ness Ave. at Mission St. to Lombard St.
9. San Francisco County: Lombard Street (also known as Highway 101) from Lombard St. at Van Ness Ave. to Broderick St.
10. San Francisco County: Richardson Ave. (also known as Highway 101) from Richardson Ave. at Broderick St. to Doyle St.
11. San Jose: Portoal Ave. (also known as Highway 82) from Portola Ave. (In West San Jose near the Santa Clara City Limits) to W. San Carlos (in Southeast San Jose)
12. San Jose: Highway 87 from N. 1st Street (about .5 miles northeast of the SJ international airport) to Highway 85 (Santa Teresa Blvd)
13. San Jose: Highway 101 from La Cruz Blvd (near Channing Ave.) to Cochrane Blvd (Near the Border of Morgan Hill)
14. San Jose: Highway 680 from Landess Ave (near Milpitas Border) to Story Road
15. San Jose: Highway 880 from Trimble Road (near Santa Clara Border) to W. Hamilton Ave (near Campbell border)
16. San Jose: Highway 280 From Lawrence Expwy the 280 then becomes the 680
17. Santa Cruz: Potrero St . (also known as Highway 9) from Potrero St. at Hwy 1 to Mora St. at Hwy 1
18. Santa Cruz: Cabrillo Hwy/Mission Street (also known as Highway 1) from Cabrillo Hwy/Mission St. at Western Dr. to City Limits
19. Los Angeles County: Santa Monica Blvd. (also known as Highway 2 ) from North Virgil Ave. at Silver Lake Blvd. to Glendale Blvd.
20. Los Angeles County: Lincoln Blvd. (also known as Highway 1) from Lincoln Blvd. at W. Manchester to County Limits
21. Long Beach: Pacific Coast Highway (also known as Highway 1) from Pacific Coast Highway at Long Beach Fwy to Eastern Long Beach City Limits
22. Long Beach: Long Beach Freeway (also known as Highway 710) from Highway 1 to Northern City Limit
23. Bakersfield: Golden State Ave. (also known as Highway 204) from Buck Owen at Golden State Ave. to E. Brundange Ln.
24. San Diego County: San Diego-Coronado Bridge (also known as Highway 75) from Interstate 5 at San Diego-Coronado Bridge/4th St. to 6th St.
25. San Diego County: 4th Ave. (also known as Highway 75) from4th Ave. at Orange Ave./Silver Strand Blvd. to Palm Ave. at 13th St.
26. San Diego County: San Pasqual Valley Rd. (also known as Highway 78) from San Pasqual at Bear Valley PKWY to Pine St. at Main St.
27. Oceanside: Mission Ave. (also known as Highway 76) from Mission Ave. Hwy at San Diego Fwy to Northeast City Limits
28. Santa Clara: El Camino Real (also known as Highway 82) from Lawrence Exwy (West) to Winchester Blvd. (East)
California Connection September 8, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on September 8, and will be updated on September 15. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: The CCB fall convention will be held at the Four Point Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750 Airport Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045, from Thursday, October 26, through noon on Sunday, October 29, 2006. Preparations are already well on the way for making this convention one to rival our spring gathering. Pedestrian safety, insurance discrimination, the present and future of robotics, employment, not to mention the fun of CCB elections, are among the convention items for your education and enjoyment. Reservations can now be made by calling 310-645-4600 or 1-800-325-3535. Rates are $80 for either single or double occupancy.
Remember to sell those tickets for the annual CCB Fall Convention sweepstakes. First prize is two tickets anywhere Southwest Airlines flies. Other prizes will include a three-day two-night stay at the Ramada Express Hotel/Casino and a stay at Harrah’s in Laughlin, Nevada. Tickets should be turned in to the CCB office as soon as possible and more tickets can be provided to you. You can, however, bring them to the convention. Remember that half of the proceeds go to your chapter or affiliate, so be sure and write the name of your chapter or affiliate on the back.
Dr. Richard Mander, CEO of HumanWare will be coming to speak to us on Friday evening. We look forward to hearing from him.
Our ACB representative will be ACB board member and president of the Maryland Council, Patrick Sheehan. He is an incredibly hard worker in many areas, including transportation and access to technology, and will be an outstanding addition to our program.
We are still looking for someone to translate and record the connection in Spanish. If you are interested please call Jeff Thom at 916-995-3967 or e-mail him at
jsthom@comcast.net and let him know you’re interested.
It appears the disk copies of the CCB fall convention announcement were sent out in word format. If you would like to receive this Announcement in "ASCII Plain text" file format, please contact the CCB office at 1-800-221-6359 or send an e-mail request to
ccotb@ccbnet.org CCB Webmaster, Dan Kysor, also suggests that you could copy and paste the Fall convention announcement from the CCB web page www.ccbnet.org
and save it into your favorite text editor as a "plain text ASCII" file."
Rose Harter, President of the Alameda Chapter is in Highland Hospital,1411 E. 31st Street in Oakland, CA. She is very ill. If you would like to send cards to Rose the center advised us that it would be best to send them to her home. Rose Harter, 831 Adams Street # 2, Albany, CA 94706. Donations are needed to help with her expenses. Donations can be made to the: East Bay Center For the Blind, 2928 Adeline Street, Berkeley, CA 94703. Please make check payable to the East Bay Center For the Blind and please put in the memo of your check or include a note that this donation is for Rose Harter. If there are any questions please call the East Bay Center for the Blind at 510-843-6935.
From Andy Baracco: For sale, BrailleNote QT-32 Classic. This includes a 32-cell Braille display, QWERTY keyboard, KeySoft version 7.01 Build 25, parallel and serial ports as well as CF and PCMCI card slots. It comes with all the original accessories and many additional ones. Asking price is $2500, which includes shipping anywhere in the U.S. or Canada. i will accept bank or personal checks, but I prefer Paypal. If interested, call 818 885-8559 weekdays after 6 PM, or all day on weekends, or send Email to:
wq6r@socal.rr.com
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection September 1, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on September 1, and will be updated on September 8. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: The CCB fall convention will be held at the Four Point Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750 Airport BLVD, Los Angeles, CA 90045, From Thursday October 26, through noon on Sunday October 29 2006. Preparations are already well on the way for making this convention one to rival our spring gathering. Pedestrian safety, insurance discrimination, the present and future of robotics, employment, not to mention the fun of CCB elections, are among the convention items for your education and enjoyment. Reservations can now be made by calling 310-645-4600 or 1-800-325-3535. Rates are $80 for either single or double occupancy. In addition, we will be holding our annual fall sweepstakes, with first prize being two tickets from Southwest Airlines anywhere in the country, and other great prizes to be announced. Tickets should soon be distributed to your chapters, along with more details.
Dr. Richard Mander, CEO of HumanWare will be coming to speak to us on Friday evening. We look forward to hearing from him.
Our ACB representative will be ACB board member and president of the Maryland Council, Patrick Sheehan. He is an incredibly hard worker in many areas, including transportation and access to technology, and will be an outstanding addition to our program.
We are still looking for someone to translate and record the connection in Spanish. If you are interested please call Jeff Thom at 916-995-3967 or e-mail him at
jsthom@comcast.net and let him know you’re interested.
It appears the disk copies of the CCB fall convention announcement were sent out in word format. If you would like to receive this Announcement in "ASCII Plain text" file format, please contact the CCB office at 1-800-221-6359 or send an e-mail request to
ccotb@ccbnet.org CCB Webmaster, Dan Kysor, also suggests that you could copy and paste the Fall convention announcement from the CCB web page www.ccbnet.org
and save it into your favorite text editor as a "plain text ASCII" file.
From Dan Kysor, CCB Governmental Affairs Director: Thanks to everyone who called and wrote letters regarding SB 1451, Kehoe. The bill has passed both houses of the legislature and now moves on to the Governor where he has 30 days to either sign or veto the bill. We are confident of a bill signing so please get your support letters in: Send your letters regarding this important emergency preparedness legislation to: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, First Floor Capitol Building, Sacramento, Ca. 95814 email
governor@gov.ca.gov or Phone 916-445-2841 Dan also reports that he has the current 2005-2006 legislative report available both on the web, www.ccbnet.org and the 800 number, 800-221-6359.
From Andy Baracco: For sail, BrailleNote QT-32 Classic. This includes a 32-cell Braille display, QWERTY keyboard, KeySoft version 7.01 Build 25, parallel and serial ports as well as CF and PCMCI card slots. It comes with all the original accessories and many additional ones. Asking price is $2500, which includes shipping anywhere in the U.S. or Canada. i will accept bank or personal checks, but I prefer Paypal. If interested, call 818 885-8559 weekdays after 6 PM, or all day on weekends, or send Email to:
wq6r@socal.rr.com
The Stockton Stingrays beep ball team is seeking players throughout California to be team members or other beep ball teams to compete against the Stingrays. If interested please contact David Vigil at 209-465-8001 between 5 PM and 10 PM Monday through Friday.
If anyone who has a master of social work from an accredited university is interested in working at Patton State Hospital, a challenging forensic setting, please file your application to Patton State Hospital, 3102 E. Highland Ave., Patton, CA 92369, Attention Human Resources, by August 25. For questions, call Veronica Kauffman, LCSW, at (909) 425-7282.
Sensory Access Foundation (SAF) is seeking a highly skilled individual to perform comprehensive evaluations to determine accessibility needs for employment and educational contexts for people who are blind or visually impaired. Must have comprehensive knowledge of assistive technology for the blind and visually impaired. Bachelor’s degree and experience in systems analysis/configuration between mainstream and assistive technologies for people who are blind or visually impaired is required. Basic knowledge of screen reader customization is preferred. Salary is dependent on experience. Email resume and cover letter to Marie King at mking@sensoryaccess.com
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection August 25, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release
has been revised on August 25, and will be updated on September 1. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the
message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to
be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: The CCB fall convention will be held at the Four Point Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750 Airport BLVD, Los Angeles, CA 90045, From Thursday October
26, through noon on Sunday October 29 2006. Preparations are already well on the way for making this convention one to rival our spring gathering. Pedestrian
safety, insurance discrimination, the present and future of robotics, employment, not to mention the fun of CCB elections, are among the convention items
for your education and enjoyment. Reservations can now be made by calling 310-645-4600 or 1-800-325-3535. Rates are $80 for either single or double occupancy.
In addition, we will be holding our annual fall sweepstakes, with first prize being two tickets from Southwest Airlines anywhere in the country, and other
great prizes to be announced. Tickets should soon be distributed to your chapters, along with more details.
Our ACB representative will be ACB board member and president of the Maryland Council, Patrick Sheehan. He is an incredibly hard worker in many areas,
including transportation and access to technology, and will be an outstanding addition to our program.
Due to term limits, CCB needs to replace its current Braille Institute Advisory Committee representative, Rick Plath, as soon as possible. I will select
a nominee from among those expressing interest. If interested, please contact me either by phone at 916-995-3967 or e-mail at
jsthom@comcast.net
I will want to know why you are interested and what you feel qualifies you to serve successfully in this capacity.
Dan Kysor has some great news this week. Our emergency preparedness legislation, SB 1451, Kehoe has cleared the assembly and goes back to the
senate for concurrence. The bill will then go to the governor. We'll keep you posted. The legislature will end its 2005-2006 session this next week.
Dan will be reporting on all bills we have been following at that time on his hotline.
Dan also reports that our bill to require 20% blind occupancy of boards that receive rehab funds has been placed on the inactive file. We encourage all
to advocate to Senator Alquist to please change her ill-advised decision to remove the bill from being heard. Her number is 916-651-4013. There are only
two weeks left in this year’s session so please act quickly.
From Mitch Pomerantz: Andrea Miller is a land lord who has affordable apartment units to rent. These units are available to special populations and are
below the fair market value so they are affordable to those who are on a fixed income. Call 909-239-3927 if interested. These units include a newly furnished
bedroom, newly furnished living room, newly furnished kitchen and bathroom, free phone, all utilities, free cable T.V. with all premium channels, free
housekeeper comes in to clean, all household supplies included, and all are recently painted.
The Stockton Stingrays beep ball team is seeking players throughout California to be team members or other beep ball teams to compete against the Stingrays.
If interested please contact David Vigil at 209-465-8001 between 5 PM and 10 PM Monday through Friday.
From Rose Paynes: For sale, Small Talk Ultra Unit from GW Micro. I bought this unit a few months ago, but it has seen less than 6 hours of usage. I bought
this unit with my own license of Window-Eyes. It will be removed upon completion of sale. However, I would be willing to help the buyer install their own
license of Window-Eyes if requested. Unit comes with all accessories and paperwork. Please contact me at
goalball@gmail.com
with any questions or to make an offer.
If anyone who has a master of social work from an accredited university is interested in working at Patton State Hospital, a challenging forensic setting,
please file your application to Patton State Hospital, 3102 E. Highland Ave., Patton, CA 92369, Attention Human Resources, by August 25. For questions,
call Veronica Kauffman, LCSW, at (909) 425-7282.
Sensory Access Foundation (SAF) is seeking a highly skilled individual to perform comprehensive evaluations to determine accessibility needs for employment
and educational contexts for people who are blind or visually impaired. Must have comprehensive knowledge of assistive technology for the blind and visually
impaired. Bachelor’s degree and experience in systems analysis/configuration between mainstream and assistive technologies for people who are blind or
visually impaired is required. Basic knowledge of screen reader customization is preferred. Salary is dependent on experience. Email resume and cover
letter to Marie King at mking@sensoryaccess.com
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection August 11, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on August 11, and will be updated on August 18. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: The CCB fall convention will be held at the Four Point Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750 Airport BLVD, Los Angeles, CA 90045, From Thursday October 26, through noon on Sunday October 29 2006. Preparations are already well on the way for making this convention one to rival our spring gathering. Pedestrian safety, insurance discrimination, the present and future of robotics, employment, not to mention the fun of CCB elections, are among the convention items for your education and enjoyment. Reservations can now be made by calling 310-645-4600 or 1-800-325-3535. Rates are $80 for either single or double occupancy. In addition, we will be holding our annual fall sweepstakes, with first prize being two tickets from Southwest Airlines anywhere in the country, and other great prizes to be announced. Tickets should soon be distributed to your chapters, along with more details.
Our ACB representative will be ACB board member and president of the Maryland Council, Patrick Sheehan. He is an incredibly hard worker in many areas, including transportation and access to technology, and will be an outstanding addition to our program.
Effective the last week of August, our outstanding Spanish connection reader, Lupe Medrano, has increased time commitments that will unfortunately require her to cease producing our Spanish connection. If anyone is interested in performing this very worthwhile task, please contact Jeff Thom at 916-995-3967 or the CCB office at 800-221-6359.
Due to term limits, CCB needs to replace its current Braille Institute Advisory Committee Representative, Rick Plath, as soon as possible. I will select a nominee from among those expressing interest. If interested, please contact me either by phone at 916-995-3967 or e-mail at jsthom@comcast.net I will want to know why you are interested and what you feel qualifies you to serve successfully in this capacity.
From Dan Kysor: Everyone is urged to contact their assembly member in order to urge them to support SB 1114 which may be heard on the assembly floor on August 16. We also need you to call Senator Alquist as she is being pressured to drop the bill. You can register your support of SB 1114 by calling 916-651-4013.
From Rose Paynes: For sale, small Talk Ultra Unit from GW Micro. Unit was bought a few months ago but has had less than 6 hours of usage. I bought this unit with my own license of window-eyes. It will be removed upon completion of sail. However, I would be willing to help the buyer install their own license of window-eyes if required. The unit comes with all accessories and paperwork. Please call with any questions or to make an offer. I can be reached at 916-688-8957.
The Greater Long Beach chapter of CCB will be holding it annual barbecue on Saturday, August 9, 2006 from 12 noon to 4 P.M. The location is El Dorado Park West, 2400 Studebaker Road, Log Beach, with the entrance being at the El Dorado Park and Golf Course entrance just north of 2400 Studebaker Road. Balloons and humans will be posted to direct folks to the proper area. The cost for adults is $12 in advance $15 at the door, and for children 5-11 years of age, $5 in advance and $7 at the door. The menu includes pork ribs, chicken, links, potato salad, baked beans, desert, soda and bottled water. We would love to see you at this barbecue as the eating is great, but so is the camaraderie and raffle/door prizes. For reservations, please call Barbara Harrison at 232-691-3948.
From Barbara Rhodes: Kaiser Permanente is helping out people with visual impairments who are often unable to tell the differences between many pill bottles. "Rex" the talking prescription bottle is now being offered in all Kaiser Permanente Stanta Clara pharmacies, and is being rolled out to all 140 KP pharmacies in northern California thanks to area Pharmacy Director, Judy Thomas. "Rex" looks like a normal pill bottle with an enlarged plastic bottom. It speaks when a button on the side of the base is depressed. It gives name, prescription number, medication, and instructions for use. It also describes side effects. The voice and bottle can not be separated. The built-in battery is guaranteed for at least 300 plays if the member listens to all of the information every time. The talking pill bottle comes to visually impaired members at no extra charge.
If you are interested in the small Prodigy glucose meter, here's something which may be of interest. A gentleman here in California has a company called Services To Go. Perry Wolf Is the husband of Pat LaFrance Wolf, a member of CCB and ACB. Perry sells the meter and accessories in kit form. If given permission he will Braille the code number of the strips and set up the meter with code key, date and time. Permission must be granted because it is necessary to open the bottle of strips to get the required code key. He also gives brief instructions on use, though his instruction tape has not yet been completed.
The kit contains: 1 meter, 1 box of 50 strips, 1 control Solution, 1 Pen lancet, 1 case, and 2 AAA Batteries. The price is $85 plus shipping and tax where applicable. Services To Go, Temple City, Ca 91780. Phone 626-279-2954.
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection July 28, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on July 28, and will be updated on August 4. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: The CCB fall convention will be held at the Four Point Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750 Airport BLVD, Los Angeles, CA 90045, From Thursday October 26, Through noon on Sunday October 29 2006. Preparations are already well on the way for making this convention one to rival our spring gathering. Pedestrian safety, insurance discrimination, the present and future of robotics, employment, not to mention the fun of CCB elections, are among the convention items for your education and enjoyment. Reservations can now be made by calling 310-645-4600 or 1-800-325-3535. Rates are $80 for either single or double occupancy. In addition, we will be holding our annual fall sweepstakes, with first prize being two tickets from Southwest Airlines anywhere in the country, and other great prizes to be announced. Tickets should soon be distributed to your chapters, along with more details. Our ACB representative will be board member and president of the Maryland Council, Patrick Sheehan. He is an incredibly hard worker in many areas, including transportation and access to technology, and will be an outstanding addition to our program.
Effective the last week of August, our outstanding Spanish connection reader, Lupe Medrano, has increased time commitments that will reluctantly require her to cease producing our Spanish connection. If anyone is interested in performing this very worthwhile task, please contact Jeff Thom at 916-995-3967 or the CCB office at 800-221-6359.
From Dan Kysor: Dan reports that we still need letters from the Los Angeles area sent to the following legislators regarding support of SB 1114, Elaine Alquist, our board representation bill. West Los Angeles assembly member Karen Bass can be reached by calling 916-319-2047 or if you are in Southern Los Angeles, contact Assembly member Mark Ridley Thomas at 916-319-2048.
If you are interested in the small Prodigy glucose meter, here's something which may be of interest. A friend of ours here in California has a company called Services To Go. Perry Wolf Is the husband of Pat LaFrance Wolf, a member of California Council Of The blind and ACB. Perry sells the meter and accessories in kit form. If given permission he will Braille the code number of the strips and set up the meter with code key, date and time. He also gives brief instructions on use, though his instruction tape has not yet been completed. Permission must be granted because it is necessary to open the bottle of strips to get the required code key. The kit contains: 1 meter, 1 box of 50 strips, 1 control Solution, 1 Pen lancet, 1 case, 2 AAA Batteries. The price is $85 plus shipping and tax where applicable. Services To Go, Temple City, Ca 91780. Phone 626-279-2954.
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection July 21, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on July 21, and will be updated on July 28. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at
916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: For the past week, Pat LaFrance-Wolf has been hospitalized with serious kidney problems. We hope that she will be home by the time you see this connection. Even if not, you can e-mail her at her regular e-mail address or call on her cell if you have it. Pat is a truly incredible lady, and we wish her the best.
A group of us recently returned from the 45th annual ACB convention in Jacksonville, Florida. Attendees worked hard, but had a good time. Many CCB members were extremely active at the convention and Jeff Thom was elected to the ACB Board of Directors. (Editor’s note: congratulations to Jeff on a hard fought victory) Stay tune for an ACB convention report in the next Blind Californian.
From Dan Kysor: Great news for those who are flying to the convention in Los Angeles, Southwest Airlines has a $49 one way rate anywhere in California. This rate is good until July 27th. For further information, contact them at 866-281-8464. Make sure you mention this is their internet rate.
Dan reports that we still need letters from the Los Angeles area sent to the following legislators regarding support of SB 1114, Elaine Alquist, our board representation bill. West Los Angeles assembly member Karen Bass can be reached by calling 916-319-2047 or if you are in Southern Los Angeles, contact Assembly member Mark Ridley Thomas at 916-319-2048.
If you are interested in the small Prodigy glucose meter, here's something which may be of interest. A friend of ours here in California has a company called Services To Go. Perry Wolf Is the husband of Pat LaFrance Wolf, a member of California Council of the Blind and ACB. Perry sells the meter and accessories in kit form. If given permission he will Braille the code number of the strips and set up the meter with code key, date and time. He also gives brief instructions on use, though his instruction tape has not yet been completed. Permission must be granted because it is necessary to open the bottle of strips to get the required code key. The kit contains: 1 meter, 1 box of 50 strips, 1 control Solution, 1 Pen lancet, 1 case, 2 AAA Batteries. The price is $85 plus shipping and tax where applicable. Services To Go, Temple City, Ca 91780. Phone 626-279-2954.
Please feel free to pass this along to anyone you think might be interested.
FOR SALE: BrailleNote Classic with a 32-cell Braille display, which runs Keysoft 4.01 and comes with the carrying case, the AC adapter, the cables to connect it to your computer, the large print and CD-ROM users guide, and also the external disk drive. I’m asking $3,000, but I’m very willing to negotiate. If you’re interested (or know of someone who is), please contact Stacy Cervenka at stacy_cervenka@brownback.senate.gov or during the day at 202-224-6521. NOTE: If you need to email me privately, please do so at stacy_cervenka@brownback.senate.gov.
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection June 23, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on June 23, and will be updated on June 30. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
The CCB fall convention will be held at the Four Points Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750 Airport Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045, from Thursday October 26, through noon on Sunday October 29 2006. Preparations are already well on the way toward making this convention one to rival our Spring gathering. Pedestrian safety, insurance discrimination, the present and future of robotics, employment, not to mention the fun of CCB elections, are among the convention items for your education and enjoyment. Reservations can now be made by calling 310-645-4600 or 1-800-325-3535. Rates are $80 for either single or double occupancy. In addition, we will be holding our annual Fall Sweepstakes, with first prize being two tickets from Southwest Airlines anywhere in the country, and other great prizes to be announced. Tickets should soon be distributed to your chapters, along with more details.
CCB will be holding its annual caucus breakfast meeting on Wednesday morning of the ACB convention in Jacksonville. This event is free but you must be a CCB member to attend. Please call the office at 1-800-221-6359 to let us know if you will be attending this breakfast. Just remember that members-at-large, as well as chapter and affiliate members are eligible to attend
From: Jeff Thom, CCB President; Coletta Davis, Chair and members of the CCB Scholarship Committee: The California Council of the Blind's "2006 - 2007 Scholarship Application" submittal deadline has been extended to July 1, 2006. Please advertise this extension widely.
We are beginning to develop a photo gallery on the CCB website, ccbnet.org. Those of you with the disability of having vision are urged to take a look. Also, if you, or someone you know, has digital photos of members or others who are blind or visually impaired that would consent to be on our website photo gallery, you are urged to submit their pictures to the office at ccotb@ccbnet.org. Pictures will not, of course, be used without appropriate written consent.
This organization, which has spoken at our Fall Convention, is willing to make presentations to any CCB chapter located in L.A County. The Center for Health Care Rights (CHCR) is a non-profit health care advocacy organization located in Los Angeles County. CHCR's mission is to improve consumer access to quality health care. Since 1984, CHCR has been the major provider of free Medicare education, counseling and legal services to Los Angeles County residents. We provide information and help with Medicare, Medi-Cal, Medicare managed care and Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage. Our services are funded by government and private foundation grants. For more information on our community education programs or to schedule a presentation, contact Anita Chun, community education coordinator at 213-383-4519 ext. 3016.
Job Announcement: Full time dual VI/O&M itinerant position open for 2006-2007 school year for the Marin County Office of Education. Contact Mary Bachelder, Personnel Director at 415 499 5854. Pat Leader, Editor
Please feel free to pass this along to anyone you think might be interested.
FOR SALE: BrailleNote Classic with a 32-cell Braille display, which runs Keysoft 4.01 and comes with the carrying case, the AC adapter, the cables to connect it to your computer, the large print and CD-ROM users guide, and also the external disk drive. I’m asking $3,000, but I’m very willing to negotiate. If you’re interested (or know of someone who is), please contact Stacy Cervenka at stacy_cervenka@brownback.senate.gov or during the day at 202-224-6521.
NOTE: If you need to email me privately, please do so at stacy_cervenka@brownback.senate.gov.
Good news from Dan Kysor, our emergency preparedness legislation has unanimously passed the Assembly Government Organizations Committee and moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Dan Kysor has two items for sale. One is a 4 track minidisk mini disk mixer, $250 or best offer. The other is a Yamaha q-chord electronic instrument, $250 or best offer. Contact Dan or Ann at 916-372-9869 or email dan@kysor.net
Come one, come all to the San Diego Chapter of the California Council of the Blind's fundraiser. The date is July 15 at high noon. The theme is "the dog days of summer." The place is the Blind Community Center, 1805 Upas Street; just 2 blocks north of the San Diego Zoo. The event will include dinner, a prize drawing, (with the top prize being $50.00), and our speakers, Ann and Dan Kysor. Ann is the president of Guide Dog Users of California, while Dan is the California Council of the Blind's capitol representative. The cost of the event is $15.00. However, if you buy 2 books of raffle tickets, your dinner will cost only $5.00. Come join us for a wonderful and informative afternoon. For information contact Lee Morton at (619) 223-1259, or glek99@earthlink.net.
The Virginia M. Woolf Foundation is providing even more publications for the visually impaired and blind. All publications are viewable on a computer screen and can be printed on paper. The significant thing is that the type is large enough so the visually impaired can read more easily and they are compatible with screen readers for the blind. The foundation previously had made available 89 classic books with titles ranging from Alice in Wonderland and Animal Farm to Walden and Wuthering Heights. > One source to get the foundation's books is www.ebookmall.com. None of these books cost more than $6.95 and most are less.
From Lori Castner: The Optacon user list would like people to know that Optacons can still be repaired and repairers are located in several countries. They are seeking all nonworking or unused Optacons to be repaired and put back in circulation. There is also a chance that some of these machines can be rewired to work with modern displays that other technology currently isn't compatible with. For more information or if you have questions contact braille@panix.com
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection June 16, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on June 16, and will be updated on June 23. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
The CCB fall convention will be held at the Four Points Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750 Airport Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045, from Thursday October 26, through noon on Sunday October 29 2006. Reservations can now be made by calling 310-645-4600 or 1-800-325-3535. Rates are $80 for either single or double occupancy.
CCB will be holding its annual caucus breakfast meeting on Wednesday morning of the ACB convention. This event is free but you must be a CCB member to attend. Please call the office at 1-800-221-6359 to let us know if you will be attending this breakfast.
We are beginning to develop a photo gallery on the CCB website, ccbnet.org. Those of you with the disability of having vision are urged to take a look.
From CCB President, Jeff Thom: The following item has been included without prior consultation with the Editor of the Connection: Congratulations are in order for CCB board
member and connection editor Gabe Griffith who will soon be joining the staff of HumanWare in their customer service department.
We are beginning to develop a photo gallery on the CCB website, ccbnet.org. Those of you with the disability of having vision are urged to take a look.
From Dan Kysor: On June 21, 2006 SB 1451 by Senator Christine Kehoe will be heard in the Assembly Governmental Organizations Committee. in room 4202 of the state capitol. The bill establishes an advisory committee within the Office of the State Fire Marshall to put forth recommendations on safety procedures, evacuation procedures and methods for disbursement of accessible emergency information to people with disabilities. Please let these committee members know of your support:
Assembly Governmental Organizations
Jerome Horton, Chair, Inglewood 310-412-6400
Dennis Mountjoy, Vice Chair, San Bernardino 626-359-8305
Greg Aghazarian Stockton 209-473-6972
Rudy Bermudez Orange County 562-864-5600
Ron Calderon East L.A. 323-838-5858
Ed Chavez West Covina 626-961-8492
Joe Coto San Jose 408-277-1220
Bonnie Garcia Palm Springs 760-321-8522
Jay La Suer La Mesa 619-465-7723
Lloyd Levine Van Nuys 818-904-3840
Carol Liu Pasadena 626-577-9944
Alberto Torrico Fremont 510-440-9030
Leland Yee San Francisco 415-557-2312
Gloria Negrete-Mcleod Pomona 909-622-1278
For further information contact Dan Kysor at 916-371-1514
This organization is willing to make presentations to any CCB chapter located in L.A County. The Center for Health Care Rights (CHCR) is a non-profit health care advocacy organization located in Los Angeles County. CHCR's mission is to improve consumer access to quality health care. Since 1984, CHCR has been the major provider of free Medicare education, counseling and legal services to Los Angeles County residents. We provide information and help with Medicare, Medi-Cal, Medicare managed care and Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage. Our services are funded by government and private foundation grants. For more information on our community education programs or to schedule a presentation, contact Anita Chun, community education coordinator at 213-383-4519 ext. 3016.
Come one, come all to the San Diego Chapter of the California Council of the Blind's fundraiser. The date is July 15 at high noon. The theme is "the dog days of summer." The place is the Blind Community Center, 1805 Upas Street; just 2 blocks north of the San Diego Zoo. The event will include dinner, a prize drawing, (with the top prize being $50.00), and our speakers, Ann and Dan Kysor. Ann is the president of Guide Dog Users of California, while Dan is the California Council of the Blind's capitol representative. The cost of the event is $15.00. However, if you buy 2 books of raffle tickets, your dinner will cost only $5.00. Come join us for a wonderful and informative afternoon.
For information contact Lee Morton at (619) 223-1259, or
glek99@earthlink.net.
From Gabe Griffith: I owe an apology. The number to call to sign up to get your bill in Braille from Pacific Gas and Electric Company is actually 1-866-743-9757. Please call this number if you would like to sign up for the program.
The Virginia M. Woolf Foundation is providing even more publications for the visually impaired and blind. All publications are viewable on a computer screen and can be printed on paper. The significant thing is that the type is large enough so the visually impaired can read more easily and they are compatible with screen readers for the blind. The foundation previously had made available 89 classic books with titles ranging from Alice in Wonderland and Animal Farm to Walden and Wuthering Heights. > One source to get the foundation's books is www.ebookmall.com. None of these books cost more than $6.95 and most are less.
To whom it may concern: My name is Mark Benson. I work as a recruiter for Envision in Wichita, KS. We currently have a need for several skilled blind or low-vision machine operators. We offer competitive employment and assistance for any re-location costs. I would like very much to speak with a representative from your organization to see if you know of anyone who might be interested in working for us. Please visit our website (link provided below) and learn more about us and our job opportunities. Thank you and I look forward to speaking with you. Mark Benson. Phone: 1-888-425-7072. Web site:
www.envisionus.com
From Lori Castner: The Optacon user list would like people to know that Optacons can still be repaired and repairers are located in several countries. They are seeking all nonworking or unused Optacons to be repaired and put back in circulation. There is also a chance that some of these machines can be rewired to work with modern displays that other technology currently isn’t compatible with. For more information or if you have questions contact braille@panix.com
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection June 9, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on June 9, and will be updated on June 16. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
The CCB fall convention will be held at the Four Points Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750 Airport Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045, from Thursday, October 26, through noon on Sunday, October 29, 2006. Reservations can now be made by calling 310-645-4600 or 1-800-325-3535. Rates are $80 for either single or double occupancy.
If you are a college student, are entering college, or know anyone who is a college students, please remind them the CCB scholarship application deadline is June 15th. The application can be acquired on line at www.ccbnet.org or by calling 1-800-221-6359 or by emailing your request to ccotb@ccbnet.org Although the application must be post marked by June 15th , supporting documents may arrive later in the month of June.
CCB will be holding its annual caucus breakfast meeting on Wednesday morning of the ACB convention. This event is free but you must be a CCB member to attend. Please call the office at 1-800-221-6359 to let us know if you will be attending this breakfast.
Dan Kysor regretfully reports that AB 1847 sponsored by Californians for Disability Rights was killed in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The bill authored by Tim Leslie would have increased a state tax credit for small businesses to make accessibility improvements to their buildings. Assemblyman Leslie, while attempting to access a resteraunt with Ms. Wheelchair California encountered access barriers and couldn't enter the facility which prompted the legislation.
CCB members have been reporting mixed results in accessing electronic voting machines during the primary election. If you had any difficulties, please email dan at dan@kysor.net or telephone 916-371-1514.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company is now offering billing information in Braille. This information will be in addition to the print bill a customer usually receives and not in place of it. This important billing information will allow you to compare last year’s monthly usage with this same month’s usage this year for both your gas and electric commodities. PG&E seeks delighted customers and looks forward to any feedback you might provide. To enroll or if you have any questions, please call Dan Cooley at 415-973-6646.
Liz Daniels and her husband have formed an e-mail list for blind/visually impaired translators. If you’re interested send a message to BlindInterpreters-owner@yahoogroups.com,
explaining how you would fit in to this group. Liz also offers professional translating services. You can reach her at lalobasabe@sbcglobal.net or by telephone at 323-254-9213. Finally, the Helen Keller Rehabilitation and Training Institute in Costa Rica is in need of donated braillewriters. If anyone is interested in donating one they can reach Liz at the above contact information.
From Robert Acosta: Helping Hands for the Blind invites old time radio fans to their audio chat room every Thursday evening at 8pm Eastern Time. Rob Turner, the President of the Glendale-Burbank Chapter will be making a presentation in our Tektalk Room Thursday June 8 at 8 pm Eastern time. Rob will discuss those needed tips to surf the Internet. For more information on how to access our audio chat room write to Pat Price at pat@patprice.org
From Robert Acosta, Helping Hands for the Blind: Jonathan Mosen will be leading a tutorial discussion on Skype on Monday evening June 12, 2006, at 8 pm EDT. For more information on how to access the site write to Pat price; pat@patprice.org.
George Smith is looking for any individuals who have had problems obtaining books, or other materials, for taking classes from the Red Cross. You can contact George at 510-836-2462.
Prudence Minivan has a CCTV for sale. It is a 2002 Atlas 610 by Telesensory with an attached Sony Monitor. It is in excellent condition. She is asking $1,000 or best offer. If interested, call 925-837-4746 or e-mail prudence@burnettsearch.com
The El Dorado Center for the Visually Impaired is seeking an instructor of independent living skills for visually impaired adults. We are located in El Dorado, in the foothills of the Sierras halfway between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe. Three plus years experience in teaching the blind or a Master Degree in living skills for the visually impaired is needed. Knowledge in technology or computers is a plus. Contact edc4blind@directcon.net or 530-626-6715 The El Dorado Center for the Visually Impaired is in need of a jumbo brailer. If you have a used brailer in good condition, please contact me at edc4blind@directcon.net or 530-626-6875 or my home phone at 530-622-6860.
There will be a worksite accommodations seminar held on June 22, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. The location is Oakland State building, 1515 Clay Street, Oakland, 94612, room 10. This seminar is for clients of the Department of Rehabilitation and covers topics such as rights at work, requesting reasonable accommodations, working with the employer to get what is needed and others. This will be presented by Crystal Pedilla from Protection and Advocacy Inc. RSVP to Gigi at 510-622-2801 Monday through Thursday or e-mail at agenriqu@dor.ca.gov For special needs, contact Karen Crowe at 510-622-2933.
Silicon Valley Council of the Blind (SVCB) Presents:
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Informational Seminar.
When: Saturday June 17, 2006, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Where: Monte Vista Terrace, 1101 Grant Rd., Mountain View CA.
Why: To receive information, get updated on ADA issues with a blindness focus while meeting and networking.
Presenter: Eve Hill, Esq., Executive Director, Disability Rights Legal Center, Los Angeles, CA.
Cost: $10.00 per person including lunch.
Deadline: May 31, 2006 RSVP: Lupe Medrano, President SVCB P.O. Box 493 Mountain View, CA 94042. Please indicate your format of choice for handouts with your RSVP For questions please call 408 979-9590
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection June 2, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on June 2, and will be updated on June 9. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
CCB will be holding its annual caucus breakfast meeting on Wednesday morning of the ACB convention. This event is free but you must be a CCB member to attend. Please call the office at 1-800-221-6359 to let us know if you will be attending this breakfast.
Dan Kysor reports that our emergency preparedness legislation, SB 1451 by Christine Kehoe has cleared the Senate and now moves to the assembly.
The Golden Gate Chapter luncheon that was supposed to be on June third has been canceled.
Liz Daniels and her husband have formed an e-mail list for blind/visually impaired translators. If you’re interested send a message to
BlindInterpreters-owner@yahoogroups.com explaining how you would fit in to this group. Liz also offers professional translating services. You can reach her at
lalobasabe@sbcglobal.net or by telephone at 323-254-9213. Finally, the Helen Keller Rehabilitation and Training Institute in Costa Rica is in need of donated Braillewriters. If anyone is interested in donating one they can reach Liz at the above contact information.
From Robert Acosta: Helping Hands for the Blind invites old time radio fans to their audio chat room every Thursday evening at 8 pm Eastern Time. Rob Turner, the President of the Glendale-Burbank Chapter will be making a presentation in our Tektalk Room Thursday June 8 at 8 pm Eastern time. Rob will discuss those needed tips to surf the Internet. For more information on how to access our audio chat room write to Pat Price at
pat@patprice.org
George Smith is looking for any individuals who have had problems obtaining books, or other materials, for taking classes from the Red Cross. You can contact George at
510-836-2462.
Prudence Minivan has a CCTV for sail. It is a 2002 Atlas 610 by Telesensory with an attached Sony Monitor. It is in excellent condition. She is asking $1,000 or best offer.
If interested, call 925-837-4746 or e-mail prudence@burnettsearch.com
The El Dorado Center for the Visually Impaired is seeking an instructor of independent living skills for visually impaired adults. We are located in El Dorado, in the foothills of the Sierras halfway between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe. Three plus years experience in teaching the blind or a Master Degree in living skills for the visually impaired is needed. Knowledge in technology or computers is a plus. Contact dc4blind@directcon.net
or 530-626-6715. The El Dorado Center for the Visually Impaired is in need of a jumbo brailler. If you have a used brailler in good condition, please contact me at
edc4blind@directcon.net or 530-626-6875 or my home phone at 530-622-6860.
There will be a worksite accommodations seminar held on June 22, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. The location is Oakland State building, 1515 Clay Street, Oakland, 94612, room 10. This seminar is for clients of the Department of Rehabilitation and covers topics such as rights at work, requesting reasonable accommodations, working with the employer to get what is needed and others. This will be presented by Crystal Pedilla from Protection and Advocacy Inc. RSVP to Gigi at 510-622-2801, Monday through Thursday or e-mail at
agenriqu@dor.ca.gov For special needs, contact Karen Crowe at 510-622-2933.
Silicon Valley Council of the Blind (SVCB) Presents: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Informational Seminar.
When: Saturday June 17, 2006, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Where: Monte Vista Terrace, 1101 Grant Rd., Mountain View CA.
Why: To receive information, get updated on ADA issues with a blindness focus while meeting and networking.
Presenter: Eve Hill, Esq., Executive Director, Disability Rights Legal Center, Los Angeles, CA.
Cost: $10.00 per person including lunch.
Deadline: May 31, 2006.
RSVP: Lupe Medrano, President SVCB P.O. Box 493 Mountain View, CA 94042.
Please indicate your format of choice for handouts with your RSVP.
For questions please call 408 979-9590
The East L.A. Chapter of CCB, will be hosting their annual fundraiser on Saturday, June 10, 2006. The location is 1226 South McBride; East L.A. Cross Street Olympic.
The time will be 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM. The fee for attending is $12 for adults and $6 for children under six years old. The menu will consist of barbarcoa, enchiladas, beans, rice, salad, and ice cream for dessert. We will have cokes, beer, and wine. Marie Herrera put a joy basket together. There will be the usual 50 50 raffle, the page count and candy jar count and door prizes. Come join us for good food, good friends, lots of fun and door prizes. For more info, please contact Maria Lopez at 323-268-4526 or Louie Herrera at
818-894-3722.
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection May 26, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on May 26, and will be updated on June 2. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
From Jeff Thom: California, you have asked for it and we have listened. The California Council of the Blind has scheduled a cruise for May 11 – 14, 2007. Come join your friends and help support CCB at the same time. For each person booked on the cruise Damar Travel and Carnival Cruise Lines will make a donation of $ 45 to CCB. We will depart on Friday from Long Beach and travel to the wonderful city of Ensenada, Mexico where we will have a full day to enjoy Mexico. Prices starting at $525.00 for an inside cabin and $565.00 for an ocean view. Prices include 3 day cruise, port charges, government fees and gratuities. An initial deposit of $ 50 is required and final payment is due on or before February 1, 2007. For your convenience, you are able to make monthly payments. Everyone is welcome. For reservations and additional information, please call Dave Kronk with Damar Travel and Cruise at 800-999-6101 x422.
Kurt Weston is currently pursuing his MFA degree at California State University, Fullerton and was selected as one of the students CCB will sponsor to attend the ACB convention in Jacksonville this summer. SACRAMENTO, May 30, 2006 – In another flourish of ongoing progress, Alice Parente, executive director of Very Special Arts, California, is pleased to congratulate board member and artist Kurt Weston, Huntington Beach, on winning the international contest “Transformations”. The jury made of top tier art experts from around the nation, selected Weston as part of the 23 artist exhibit from a pool of 292 international artists. Winners will exhibit their work at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts, Washington D.C., from June 5th-29th.” As a further honor, Weston’s work was selected as the artwork for the exhibit’s publicity pieces.
DISABILITY CAPITOL ACTION DAY 2006 Access Equals Choices! People of all disabilities, family members, and supporters UNITE to push back the budget cuts and protect our freedom & way of life. Thursday, June 1, 2006. Educational Forum, March to Capitol, Rally, and Legislative Visits. Accessible transportation will be available from Hayward, Tri-Valley, and Fremont. Exact times to be announced. Please call Jessica at 510-881-5743 x29 to reserve a spot or get more information. The event will be held at the Grand, 1215 "J" Street directly across from the Sheraton downtown Sacramento beginning at 10 a.m with a march to the west steps of the state capitol at 12 noon.
Dan Kysor CCB director of Governmental Affairs reports great news that AB 1847 by Leslie has cleared the Assembly Revenue and Tax Committee. The bill would equalize the state tax credit for accessibility improvements to small businesses to that of the current federal tax credit. CCB is in strong support. There is also an update to the capitol report at 1-800-221-6359.
George Smith is looking for any individuals who have had problems obtaining books, or other materials, for taking classes from the Red Cross. You can contact George at 510-836-2462.
Prudence Minnihan has a CCTV for sale. It is a 2002 Atlas 610 by Telesensory with an attached Sony Monitor. It is in excellent condition. She is asking $1,000 or best offer.
If interested, call 925-837-4746 or e-mail prudence@burnettsearch.com
The El Dorado Center for the Visually Impaired is seeking an instructor of independent living skills for visually impaired adults. We are located in El Dorado, in the foothills of the Sierras halfway between Sacramento and South Lake Tahoe. Three plus years experience in teaching the blind or a Master Degree in living skills for the visually impaired is needed. Knowledge in technology or computers is a plus. Contact edc4blind@directcon.net
or 530-626-6715.
The El Dorado Center for the Visually Impaired is in need of a jumbo Brailler. If you have a used brailer in good condition, please contact me at edc4blind@directcon.net or 530-626-6875 or my home phone at 530-622-6860.
There will be a worksite accommodations seminar held on June 22, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM. The location is Oakland State building, 1515 Clay Street, Oakland, 94612, room 10. This seminar is for clients of the department of rehabilitation and covers topics such as rights at work, requesting reasonable accommodations, working with the employer to get what is needed and others. This will be presented by Crystal Pedilla from Protection and Advocacy Inc. RSVP to Gigi at 510-622-2801 Monday through Thursday or e-mail at
agenriqu@dor.ca.gov For special needs, contact Karen Crowe at 510-622-2933.
Silicon Valley Council of the Blind (SVCB) Presents: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Informational Seminar. When: Saturday June 17, 2006, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Where: Monte Vista Terrace, 1101 Grant Rd., Mountain View CA. Why: To receive information, get updated on ADA issues with a blindness focus while meeting and networking. Presenter: Eve Hill, Esq., Executive Director, Disability Rights Legal Center, Los Angeles, CA. Cost: $10.00 per person including lunch. Deadline: May 31, 2006. RSVP: Lupe Medrano, President SVCB P.O. Box 493 Mountain View, CA 94042. Please indicate your format of choice for handouts with your RSVP For questions please call 408 979-9590
The East L.A. Chapter of CCB, will be hosting their annual fundraiser on Saturday, June 10, 2006 The location is 1226 South McBride; East L.A. Cross Street Olympic The time will be 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM. The fee for attending is $12 for adults and $6 for children under six years old. The menu will consist of barbarcoa, enchiladas, beans, rice, salad, and ice cream for dessert. We will have cokes, beer, and wine. Marie Herrera put a joy basket together. There will be the usual 50 50 raffle, the page count and candy jar count and door prizes. Come join us for good food, good friends, lots of fun and door prizes. For more info, please contact Maria Lopez at 323-268-4526 or Louie Herrera at 818-894-3722.
The State Independent Living Council along with DOR and ILRC of Santa Barbara invite you to attend a community work group on June 9 from 10 AM to 3 PM. The location is Tri-Counties Regional Center 505 E. Montecito Street Santa Barbara. Reasonable accommodation requests must be made by May 30. To make requests call SILC at 1-866-745-2889.
Joan Underdown has for sale a 52 inch, 5 section folding cane with rubber handle, red reflective tape and teardrop tip. Asking price is $15. Call 559-251-2735.
Thank you for reading,
Gabe Griffith
California Connection May 19, 2006
Welcome to the California Connection, the weekly news service provided in English and Spanish by the California Council of the Blind. This news release has been revised on
May 19, and will be updated on May 26. Remember that in order to have a message in on the next connection, please provide the message either to the office or to me directly at 916-505-8780 or gabe@griffith.net by Wednesday before the connection is recorded, or it will need to be placed in the following connection.
The Secretary of State’s office has announced that large print ballot pamphlets are available for the upcoming June primary election. Large print ballot pamphlets can be requested by contacting the Secretary of State’s Elections Division at 916-657-2166 or online at www.ss.ca.gov/elections/elections_lgprint.htm. They will also be distributed to select libraries, as well as community centers that serve senior citizens and independent living centers throughout the state.
From Jeff Thom: California, you have asked for it and we have listened. The California Council of the Blind has scheduled a cruise for May 11 – 14, 2007. Come join your friends and help support CCB at the same time.