Verne Hill
Thursday News
10 ‘sleeps’ before Christmas. 18 days left in 2022.
Reminder: If your wipers are ON, keep your headlights ON.
Job Fair: Goodwill location on University Parkway (WS) TODAY til 2pm
‘Career Expos’ and ‘Job Fairs’ happening across the Triad. https://www.ncworks.gov/
Important ‘shipping deadline dates’ if you want it there before Christmas…
Saturday (Dec 17) US Postal Service – Ground and First-Class Mail
https://www.axios.com/2022/12/13/holiday-shipping-deadlines-2022
Extreme weather across the nation.
Deadly tornadoes in the south. Winter Storm warnings in the North.
Over 60 tornado confirmations over the past 48 hours in states including Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Mississippi.
According to the US Department of Transportation, over one million automobile accidents each year are related to weather.
*A majority of those accidents happen when it’s raining and when roads are wet.
*Safety Tip: Never use ‘cruise control’ while driving in the rain.
*Insurance experts strongly recommend that even in a minor fender bender, always call the police and get a police report – don’t try to decide or determine who was at fault. Also, call your insurance company, take pictures and let them handle it from there. https://www.wfmynews2.com/article/news/local/you-know-how-to-drive-safely-in-the-rain-but-they-dont-state-farm-greensboro-amber-smith-no-cruise-control-always-call-police-drive-defensively/
AAA: The average for regular unleaded (in NC) is $2.98 a gallon. Yeah!!
https://gasprices.aaa.com/?state=NC
Winter Weather Preparedness
Vehicle: Check your tires. Make sure they are properly inflated.
If your car battery is close to 3 years old, have it checked, even replaced.
Home: Never leave portable heaters unattended.
Keep portable heaters at least 3 feet away from furniture and drapes.
More information: News Blog at wbfj.fm
Health officials strongly encourage people to stay home when sick.
Continue ‘healthy hygiene’ such as hand washing and covering your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing. Also, experts recommend getting vaccinated against flu and COVID – to best protect against illness heading into the holiday season.
*Vaccines protect against severe cases of Covid-19 and Flu.
Local shot sites: https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/
College Basketball: Wake Forest over App State ((67-66) last night at the Joel.
The ‘perfect’ Christmas gift? Some of the TOP commonly regifted items include…
Cosmetics (Health and beauty products)
Candles (especially scented candles)
Clothing
Electronics
Housewares
Prime pollution? Amazon generated 709 million pounds of plastic waste back in 2021, an 18% increase from 2020, according to a new report from environmental group Oceana. FYI: The amount of total plastic waste created by the e-commerce giant (Amazon) is enough to circle the Earth more than 800 times in the form of those packing ‘air pillows’, Oceana estimated in its report released this week.
*About 26 million pounds of the company’s plastic waste flowed into the world’s waterways and oceans last year — up from 23.5 million pounds in 2020 — despite Amazon’s repeated pledge to reduce its plastic pollution from harming aquatic life…
Shock and sadness: Stephen “tWitch” Boss, professional dancer and ‘house DJ’ on Ellen’s daytime talk show, passed away on Monday. He was 40.
His death has been ruled as a suicide.
‘tWitch’ was on the Ellen show from 2014 until the show ended in May 2022.
He was runner-up on the reality show “So You Think Can Dance in 2008.
NOTE: If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/14/entertainment/stephen-boss-twitch-dead/index.html
RECALL: State health officials are working with local health departments to make sure that all food establishments are aware of a Texas oyster RECALL – that the oysters in question are discarded and any illnesses are reported. If you have purchased Texas oysters since Nov. 17 be sure to check the packaging to see if they were harvested in the TX1 area. www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/dshs-recalls-oysters-harvested-area-southeastern-galveston-bay
God and country?
Survey from The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a religious liberty law firm, finding that just 47% of Americans (in their survey) were able to place religious freedom as a First Amendment protection.
*The survey asked Americans to what degree they think religion is part of the solution or part of the problem in the issues that our nation faces today. This year only 50% — so half of Americans — thought that religion was part of the solution to the issues our country is facing. (An unexpected drop from over 60% in last year’s survey).
