Accepting Applications for $1 Billion Rural High-Speed Internet Program. Deadline November 2, 2022

Biden-Harris Administration Now Accepting Applications for $1 Billion Rural High-Speed Internet Program   $1 Billion Increase in USDA ReConnect Program Round 4 Funding through the Historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law   WASHINGTON, Sept. 9, 2022 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA is now accepting applications for ReConnect Program loans and grants to expand access to high-speed internet for millions of people in rural America nationwide. The Department is making more than $1 billion available, thanks to President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The program is a critical piece of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to connect every American to affordable, reliable, high-speed internet.   “Ensuring that the people of rural America are connected with reliable, high-speed internet brings new and innovative ideas to the rest of our country, and it remains a core priority for President Biden,” Vilsack said. “That’s why high-speed internet is an important part of USDA Rural Development’s work with rural communities. Reliable high-speed internet opens the world’s marketplace to rural business owners. It enables them to expand their businesses and give more jobs and opportunities to people in their own community.” On Sept. 6, USDA began accepting applications for loans, with available funds of $150 million, grants with available funds of $700 million, and combination loan/grant awards using $300 million under the ReConnect Program. These funds were appropriated under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, also known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Governmentwide, the law provides an historic $65 billion investment to expand affordable, high-speed internet to all communities across the U.S. The application deadline is Nov. 2. For additional information, see page 47690 of the Aug. 4 Federal Register (PDF, 231 KB). USDA has made several improvements to the ReConnect Program for the current round of applications. Collectively, these improvements increase the availability of funding in rural areas where residents and businesses lack access to affordable, high-speed internet. They include: ·     Allowing applicants to serve areas where at least 50% of households lack sufficient access to high-speed internet. ·     Adding a funding category for projects where 90% of households lack sufficient access to high-speed internet. For applications submitted under this category, no matching funds will be required. ·     Waiving the matching funds requirement for: (a) Alaska Native Corporations, (b) Tribal Governments, (c) projects proposing to provide service in colonias, (d) projects proposing to serve persistent poverty counties and (e) projects proposing to provide service in socially vulnerable communities. Additionally, to ensure that rural households in need of internet service can afford it, all awardees under this funding round will be required to apply to participate in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). The ACP offers a discount of up to $30 per month towards internet service to qualifying low-income households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal Lands. As a result, ACP-eligible households can receive internet at no cost and can sign up and check their eligibility at GetInternet.gov. The Department’s actions to expand high-speed internet access in rural areas are key components of the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to help America build back better in its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic  In the first round of the ReConnect Program, USDA invested $656 million to create or improve high-speed internet access for rural customers across 33 states and territories. In the second round of the ReConnect Program, USDA invested $850 million to create or improve high-speed internet access for rural customers across 37 states and territories. To date, USDA has announced $356 million in critical investments through the third round of ReConnect funding, for a total of $1.8 billion invested through the ReConnect Program since the program’s inception. More investments will be announced in the coming weeks. Background: ReConnect Program To be eligible for ReConnect Program funding, an applicant must serve an area where high-speed internet service is not available at speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) (download) and 20 Mbps (upload). The applicant must also commit to building facilities capable of providing high-speed internet service at speeds of 100 Mbps (download and upload) to every location in its proposed service area. To learn more about investment resources for rural areas, visit www.rd.usda.gov or contact the nearest USDA Rural Development state office. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, Rural Development provides loans and grants to help expand economic opportunities, create jobs and improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in rural areas. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and high-poverty areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov. If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.

October 2022. International Day of the Girl Child and in Honor of Domestic Violence Awareness month.

 
The Greater Los Angeles Female Genitaila Mutilation (FGM) Taskforce invites you to an upcoming event in the month of October. 

On October 11th, the FGM Taskforce is hosting a panel  discussion in celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child and in Honor of Domestic Violence Awareness month.

To register, follow this link:https://forms.gle/UuQe4mWSwvF6QmNB9
You may also find the zoom info on our flyer provided below. 
Please save the date and we hope to see you there!
Best Regards, 
 
Jocelyn Zelaya
Community Engagement Coordinator 
 African Communities Public Health Coalition 
5757 W. Century Blvd Suite #600 Los Angeles, CA 90045
www.africancoalition.org

U.S. National Fire Academy is accepting applications for course deliveries between Oct. thru Dec 2022

Student Recruitment NFA Resident Course Vacancies NFA Training News | Sep 12, 2022 The U.S. Fire Administration's National Fire Academy is accepting applications for resident courses with vacancies; especially course deliveries between Oct. thru Dec. R0655 – Advanced Science of Hazardous Materials Response – Oct. 16-21. R0254 – Special Operations Program Management – Nov. 6-11. R0763 – New Executive Chief Officer – Nov. 13-18. R0258 – Management of Safety in Response to Hazardous Materials/WMD Incidents – Nov. 28-Dec. 8. R0645 – Leadership In Supervision – Dec. 11-16. Click here for a list of resident course deliveries scheduled through March 2023 with vacancies. How to Apply: ·        Students must apply using the electronic application form available on the NETC Online Admissions Application website ·        Block 3: Student Identification (SID) Number: If you do not already have a FEMA SID, please follow the directions at https://cdp.dhs.gov/femasid ·        All applications require electronic approval from the head of your sponsoring organization. ·        Applicants should not make plans to participate in a course until you have been notified in writing by the Admissions Office. For help completing your application, contact our Admissions Office, Monday – Friday between 7 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. ET, at 800-238-3358, ext. 1035 or by email at netcadmissions@fema.dhs.gov

 

Black Emergency Managers Association International Washington, D.C.

bEMA International Cooperation, Collaboration, Communication, Coordination, Community engagement, and  Partnering (C5&P)   A 501 (c) 3 organization

Space Privateer's. Debris Removal in Space. September 2022

Emergency Management opportunities in SPACE.  

Debris Removal, and environmental concerns.

BEMA International

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Better Satellite World Making Space for New Space with Privateer’s Alex Fielding, Part 2 The risk of start up in an industry as complex as commercial space and satellite is made even more intense by the challenges that are part of our business. Yet all around the world, people are looking at the opportunities, the new space of space and making the leap. These are our innovators, and this podcast series will bring them to you. The third episode of this series features the second part of a conversation with Alex Fielding, co-founder and CEO of Privateer. Alex tells us in the podcast: “When the Russians blew up 1408 . . . today, if you go in Privateer and you turn on all the pieces of Kosmos 1408 debris, and you paint their orbits, which – hey, when a bomb goes off in space, pieces of things go everywhere. Like, there’s a lot of Kosmos 1408 that is up there, and there’s a tremendous amount we can’t see or track because it’s smaller than 10 centimeters. We don’t know where it is. We just know it’s fast moving and very dangerous, the stuff that we could see, that we can see today. I could not tell you, and I mean, this is what I do for a living and I really love it. I really care about it. I could not tell you with any certainty or accuracy if all of the pieces that we can see of 1408, what percentage they are of the warhead that it was blown up with and the total mass of the Kosmos 1408 satellite.”