would like to begin this month by thanking Tom Brick for his work on summarizing the disability organizations position papers for the upcoming legislative session. Tom will be helping us at Access Press with the legislative reporting on the session along with all of our regulars contributors. It’s great to have Tom on board. Many of you know Tom Brick, but for those of you who don’t, he recently retired from the State Council on Disabilities earlier this year and has been a long time advocate in the disability community.
On very short notice Kathy Hagen, one of the most outstanding lawyers from the Disability Law Center put together a very readable and comprehensive explanation of the new Supreme Court ruleing in Tennessee. This is something we, as citizens with disabilities, need to be aware and knowledgeable of.
Daniel Wilkins of Luckey, OH, gives us some of his thoughts on disability culture. Dan has had his own web site, www.thenthdegree.com for many years. If you haven’t seen Dan’s web site and his unique collection of T-shirt with disability related slogans-check it out and buy yourself a new T-shirt for the summer. Thanks Dan for your contribution to Access Press.
Dr. Roy Grizzard, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy, was brought to town for Medtronic’s first “Career Exploration Day” for students. Se page 7 to find out more. Dr. Grizzard has offered to have a phone interview with Access Press, and I thought that if the readers of Access Press had any work-related questions they would like to have answered, I could use the interview to get the answers straight from the top. Send your questions to [email protected].
The Cardinals Nest, a new club for youth with disabilities, has opened in Blaine. I hear it is a cool place to be. Take some time on Monday evenings to check out the nest! More information is on page 3.
Courage Center is opening a new fitness and wellness facility at their Golden Valley site. It offers a wide variety of exercise options for people with disabilities. After reading Derek’s article, I think I’ll check it out myself. The grand opening is in April. Contact Courage Center for more details.