Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Slow Down in that Work Zone! In the past when I'd come upon a work zone and have to slow down, I'd get as irked as any other driver. Like everyone else, I'm often in a hurry. But after researching for this post last week, something changed in me. I learned some statistics that made me want to slow down in a work zone. The Federal Highway Administration reports that every year, more than 40,000 people are seriously injured in work zone-related crashes, and more than 800 people are killed. Did you know that most of those injured or killed are drivers and passengers? This is the 10th annual National Work Zone Awareness Week, which kicks off at the start of the construction season to attract national attention to drive carefully through highway construction and repair sites. Most deaths and injuries in work zones are caused by rear-end collisions. Many collisions occur before the construction work zone begins, where lanes close and cars merge. Drivers cutting in at the last minute cause sudden stops, and inattentive drivers going too fast aren't ready for traffic to slow or stop. 12:55:11 PM     National Cell Phone Recycling Week While you're doing your spring cleaning this year, it's a good bet you'll stumble upon countless "treasures", and surely amongst these things will be an old cell phone or two. My three old cell phones have taken residence underneath my bed purely because I haven't known what else to do with them. Now- problem solved! April 6-12th is National Cell Phone Recycling Week. This event is a build up to Earth Day, trying to spread the message that recycling cell phones reduces greenhouse gas emissions and conserves natural resources. Only 10% of cell phones are recycled each year, mostly because people don't know where to recycle them. This week, you can take your old cell phones, PDAs and accessories to major cell phone retails stores (AT&T, Best Buy, LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Office Depot, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Sprint, Staples, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless) and drop them off to be properly recycled. Some fun facts: The 11 million cell phones collected for recycling in 2008 saved enough energy to power more than 2,035 US households for a year. Recycling the 100 million cell phones that are no longer used annually would save enough energy to power 18,500 US households for a year. - Colleen [Gov Gab: Your U.S. Government Blog] 12:53:45 PM     State Begins Accepting Medical Marijuana Applications. Five months after voters approved a ballot measure to allow people with "debilitating" illnesses and diseases to use marijuana, the state today begins taking applications for the Michigan Medical Marijuana Program. But it will take weeks before patients can legally use marijuana. Once state health officials receive an application for approval they have 15 days to review it. If approved, the state will mail out a picture ID card within five days. "We should be issuing the cards probably by the end of April," said James McCurtis of the Michigan Department of Community Health, which will oversee the program. Michigan is the 13th state to legalize medical marijuana. For the full article, see Charlie Cain, "State starts taking medical marijuana applications; But patients will have to wait weeks for needed state ID", Detroit News, April 6, 2009. [Red Tape Blog] 12:51:36 PM

© Copyright 2009 Jocelyn Shaw. Last update: 5/4/2009; 2:50:13 PM. Photo curtesy of Marjorie O'Brien