Making Birthday Celebrations Even Better

(NAPSI)—Birthdays: we all have them, and we all have a chance to make them memorable for the people we care about. From unique ideas for celebrating to top birthday gifts at any age, here are some ways to put the happy in these special occasions, turning every birthday into a “birthYAY!”

A World of Birthday Wishes

No matter how you express it, the love you feel when wishing someone a happy birthday is universal. So the next time a friend or family member’s big day comes around, surprise them by saying it in a different language. Strut your international style by reciting your best Bosnian, “Sretan ro?endan”, or Bulgarian, “Chestit Rozhden den.” Or show off those superior language skills in Swahili, “Siku ya kuzaliwa ya furaha,” or Swedish, “Grattis på födelsedagen.” Get the whole list online and get ready to send your best birthday wishes!

Making the Most of Milestones

We all know that one person who loves to stretch their day of celebrating into a whole week…or even a month! And while any age is worth recognizing, milestone birthdays are the perfect opportunity to get a little carried away. How about welcoming each new decade with a unique way to celebrate? Turning 30? Think of 30 fun things to do, however big or small. Feeling adventurous? Go skydiving, bungee jumping or rock climbing with a few of your closest friends. Like to keep it low key? A new hairstyle, massage or treating yourself to a gift of flowers or chocolates is a great way to go. Check out more awesome ideas and start planning.

Now Trending: Buzz-Worthy Birthday Surprises

Speaking of birthday gifts, nobody knows more about finding the right one than the team at 1-800-Flowers. Which gifts rise to the occasion? Truly original is the way to go, and their very own decorative birthday flower cakes take the cake. New to the collection is a vibrant floral cake creation, designed to brighten their celebration at any age.

Fall is a popular birthday season, the perfect time for sending their new Harvest Glow Bouquet, a farmhouse-style design full of rustic charm. And because you can never go wrong with a classic, their exclusive Magnificent Roses—in radiant red or passionate purple—leave a lasting impression.

Plants are having their moment, and 1-800-Flowers is now offering more green and blooming beauties than ever. Try a unique, new glass succulent terrarium, or their best-selling Happy Birthday Succulents by Lula’s Garden. And because birthdays were made for indulging, 1-800-Flowers is serving up some exclusive hand-dipped strawberries from the newest addition to their family of brands, Shari’s Berries.

So there you have it! The scoop on making birthdays special, straight from the experts. For more on sending smiles for birthdays, or any day, call 1-800-FLOWERS, visit

www.1800flowers.com

, or visit a retail store. To find one nearby, visit

florist.1800flowers.com

NJ Pick-6 Rises to $2.4 Million for Feb. 3. Drawing

TRENTON (Jan. 31, 2020) – The Pick-6 drawing on January 30 produced seven winners of $2,957 for matching five out of six white balls drawn. The $2.4 million drawing will be held Monday, February 3, 2020.

The winning numbers for the Thursday, January 30, drawing were: 01, 06, 12, 19, 26 and 49. The XTRA Multiplier was: 05. By adding XTRA for an additional $1.00 per play, winners are able to multiply their non-jackpot prizes by the XTRA number drawn.

Acting Executive Director James Carey announced that there were 414,039 tickets purchased for the drawing and of those sold, thousands were prizewinners! For correctly matching four numbers, 467 ticketholders won $41 each and 81 others won $205 each with the addition of XTRA. Moreover, for correctly matching three numbers 7,969 ticketholders won $3.00 each and 1,297 others won $15 each with the addition of XTRA. 8,647 ticketholders each won $2.00 for correctly matching two numbers with the addition of XTRA on their purchase.

NJ Religious Leaders Guilty of Conspiracy To Evade Paying Millions in Taxes

NEWARK, N.J. – The leader and the main treasurer of the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ were sentenced to federal prison today for their respective roles in a scheme in which both men caused the church to pay millions of dollars in personal expenses for the leader that the leader then omitted from his personal tax returns, U.S Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Jermaine Grant, 44, of Burlington Township, New Jersey, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and Lincoln Warrington, 49, of Bergen County, New Jersey, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison. Both men previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martini to Count One of the indictment against them, charging them with conspiring to defraud the United States. Judge Martini imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court:

Grant and Warrington used their leadership positions in the church to divert to Grant millions of dollars belonging to the church and its members for Grant’s personal use and benefit. The defendants used a variety of methods to carry out the scheme. For example, Grant and Warrington created a purported entertainment company that portrayed Grant as an industry mogul whose wealth was derived from his success in the industry, thereby concealing from church members that his lifestyle was supported entirely by the church and donations from its members. Grant and Warrington also used the church’s money to pay Grant’s other personal expenses, including payments for rental real estate properties, vacations, high-end luxury items, and private school tuition for Grant’s minor children. Grant, with Warrington’s assistance, then omitted these benefits from his individual income tax returns, resulting in the evasion of a substantial amount of tax due and owing to the United States. In total, Grant and Warrington concealed millions of dollars in income from the IRS, and failed to pay at least $250,000 in taxes.

The plea agreements in this matter include a requirement that the church will develop and present to the United States a plan designed to ensure the church’s compliance with applicable federal income tax laws going forward. Before the United States returns to the church certain cash and property seized during execution of the search warrants in this case, the compliance plan must address the disposition of that cash and property and ensure that they are returned for the benefit of the church rather than for the personal benefit of Jermaine Grant or any other individual.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Martini sentenced Grant and Warrington to three years of supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI’s Newark Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie, and IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John R. Tafur, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencings.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret A. Mahoney, Senior Trial Counsel for the National Security Unit in Newark, and First Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig.

Defense counsel:

Grant: Gerald Lefcourt Esq., New York

Warrington: Richard Levitt Esq., New York

5 Resume Tips to Wow Recruiters in 2020

Gloucestercitynews.net (February 1, 2020)–Let’s say you found a job posting where you believe your skills will fit like a glove. You applied to it by sending a resume and not only did you not get the job, but you also didn’t even get called in for an interview.

What do you think might have gone wrong?

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It is safe to assume at this point that the fault lies within your resume.

Without a perfect resume, a recruiter will never even know what they missed. Being the first point of contact, your resume needs to be flawless. It is through this piece of document that you are going to dazzle the recruiter and score a place in the shortlist.

These are the 5 resume tips that will wow any recruiter in 2020:

Structure your resume in neat sections

Structuring your resume not only makes it look appealing, but it also breaks down the information in brief relevant sections. This helps the recruiter take in one piece of information at a time and thus makes it easy to read and comprehend.

The presentation of information on a resume is more important than the information itself. Wrongly presented, it will have no impact on the recruiter and thus has no relevance. So, be incredibly careful about what you put in your resume and how you display it.

The first thing you need to do is decide what sections will go on your resume.

Compose the following sections in the order given below to cover every information a recruiter needs to know about you:

Header

Personal Information

Profile Title

Summary

Key Skills

Professional Experience

Education

You can also add additional sections like ‘Certifications’ or ‘Additional information’ if you have data that can be filed under these. Add these sections only if they are relevant to the role you are applying for and you are positive that adding this information will favor your chances at a shortlist.

2. Make your resume easy to read

Most resumes that get tossed are due to their length or bulkiness.

These

statistics

by CareerBuilder show that 66% of employers said a resume should be one page long for new college graduates and 77% agreed that it should be at least two pages long for seasoned workers.

So, do yourself a favor and optimize the length of your resume. Discard all the fluff and only keep the essential information that a recruiter needs to know on your resume.

This eye-tracking

study

suggests that recruiters spend an average of 7 seconds on a single resume, that is not enough time for them to go through everything in detail. This means recruiters are only focusing on a few key points before making their decision about a candidate.

A cluttered resume might turn their interest off immediately as they won’t have any idea where to start looking for the required information.

To ensure that your resume gets read at least once, use one-liner bullet points instead of paragraphs to describe your past roles & responsibilities in the ‘Professional Experience’ section.

Further, categorize points under relevant subheadings and highlight the important information to draw the attention of recruiters towards it.

3.Write effective professional experience statements

However high your qualifications may be, they won’t score you a job if you haven’t presented them effectively on your resume.

Following are a few actions that you can take to make your resume more effective:

Bring the STAR method into action as it brings a cause-effect relationship in your statements. STAR stands for:

S stands for the ‘situation’ that demanded your contributions.

T stands for the ‘task’ you performed.

A stands for the ‘actions’ you took to perform the assigned task.

R stands for the ‘result’ in the form of an achievement figure.

An example of using this method can be seen in this one-liner point: “Delivered

10+ articles

weekly which increased the web site’s

traffic by 20%

”

Include as many achievement figures as you can while keeping them relevant: These numbers will help you back up your claims and make you look like a competent and useful asset. Performance figures prove that your contributions were helpful for the company.

For instance in the example, “Delivered

10+ articles

weekly which increased the web site’s

traffic by 20%

” the number of articles and the web site’s traffic is achievement figures.

Use

action verbs

to begin each one-liner point as it gives a tone of assertiveness to your resume. Words like ‘Managed’, ‘Spearheaded’ can give your resume a wow factor.

4.Keep your resume relevant to the job you are applying for

An irrelevant resume is not going to help you get any interviews. For instance, it makes no sense to mention your first job as a busboy or the many internships you did if you have been in the workforce for over 10 years.

Volunteering experience, internships, and similar information are required by inexperienced professionals or students, not someone who has already made their mark in the professional world.

These tips will help you keep your resume relevant:

If you have changed industries and your old job doesn’t fit anywhere near the new profile you are targeting, leave it off your resume.

People with more than 3 years of experience do not need to mention internships or volunteering experiences.

Use keywords as it helps you get past the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Recruiters set the ATS to explicitly look for keywords in resumes before shortlisting them. You can find these keywords in the job description of your target job. Select the keywords that apply to you and customize your resume accordingly.4

Never forget to mention your contact details

4.Keep your resume relevant to the job you are applying for

Even if your resume got shortlisted, a recruiter will never be able to contact you to further your prospects if they do not have any means of contacting you.

So before you submit your resume, make sure that you have correctly input all the necessary contact details in your resume which include:

Contact Number

Email Address

Current Location

Conclusion

Looking back, these are the 5 resume tips to wow recruiters in 2020:

Structure your resume by filing information under relevant sections.

Enhance the readability of your resume by cutting out any clutter and highlighting important information.

Make your resume effective by using the STAR format, using action verbs, and including performance figures.

Increase the relevancy of your resume by only including relevant information and using keywords.

Provide the correct contact details to enable a prospective employer to easily touch base with you.

Author’s Bio:

Aditya Sharma

On a quest to help professionals across the world land their dream jobs, Aditya lives and breathes

Hiration where he’s a Co-Founder and the unofficial CPO (Chief Problem-solving Officer) of the AI-powered

online resume builder

and platform to help job-seekers find their way in the treacherous job market.

How to Encourage Your Kids to Brush Every Day

Gloucestercitynews.net (January 31, 2020)–Getting a good bedtime routine going can make it easier to get your kids to sleep. Therefore, it’s important to teach them to do things like put on their own pajamas and read a book. The problem is, when it comes to tooth brushing, many kids are reluctant to do it and may spend ages messing around and generally not doing what you ask. If your kids are refusing to brush, here are some ways to encourage them to get into good habits.

Find Out What They Dislike About Brushing

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While sometimes a refusal to brush is simply laziness — or wanting to do something more fun — there can be a number of reasons why kids hate brushing their teeth. Some kids dislike the feel of brushing their teeth, but this can be helped if you brush for them until they’re older. Other kids hate the taste of toothpaste, so you could remedy this by making your own paste and utilizing different techniques to see if that makes your child happier.

Let Them Choose a Toothbrush

You wouldn’t want someone to pick out a toothbrush for you, so let your child have some input. It’s important to get a toothbrush with a head that’s small enough for their mouth, otherwise, they’ll struggle to get in the corners. An electric toothbrush can also make things more fun for them. According to Method Dental,

electric toothbrushes have a number of advantages

and can be good for kids.

Use a Reward Chart

If you’ve had success using the reward chart method with your child, then add toothbrushing to their daily goals so they can earn stars or smiley faces. Once they’ve collected enough, you can reward them with a non-sugary treat. And as they get older, the chart should be used to record their brushing every night before bed.

Use an App

The modern form of a reward chart, apps can be a good way to encourage children to pick up good habits, as well as ensuring they learn the right technique. There are many

toothbrushing apps for kids

that can be downloaded for free on the app store or Google Play. These apps will generally show a cute cartoon that ensures your child brushes correctly and for the recommended amount of time.

Take Them to the Dentist

If nagging doesn’t work, try taking the kids to a child-friendly dentist who can talk to them about brushing their teeth. Kids often don’t care if their teeth look a little yellow or if their breath smells, but the fear of having cavities or missing teeth might be enough to get them to brush more often.

From the first moment your child’s baby teeth come through, it’s important to teach them oral hygiene skills that’ll turn into good habits for life. While brushing your teeth isn’t the most exciting thing your kids can do, if you make a game out of it and reward them for remembering to brush, they are more likely to do it.

Quick and Easy Ways to Make Your Home More Eco-Friendly

Gloucestercitynews.net (January 31, 2020)–People are thinking a lot more about their carbon footprint these days, the idea of making your home eco-friendlier is not new, but it is becoming essential. From those who want to reduce their

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environmental impact to those that are preparing their home to sell, being more environmentally conscious is more popular than ever. Make the right eco-friendly changes to your home, and you can even add value to your property, meaning that you can advance up the property ladder even faster. If you\’re looking for ways to make cost-effective changes to your carbon footprint, here are some of the greenest ways to make your home eco-friendlier.

Water Waste

As one of the more expensive utility bills, it always pays to be smarter about your water use. When it comes to being environmentally aware, most people look at electricity consumption, but your use of water is just as vital. Think about the many ways that you can save water, starting with making repairs on any leaking pipes or

a dripping faucet

. Consider installing a showerhead that comes with a low-flow option, and you can save thousands of liters of water every year.

Get Hot and Stay Cool

Temperature is where a lot of people fail when it comes to their carbon footprint. Relaxing at home if it’s too cold or too hot can be very frustrating, so it’s always tempting to play with the air-con or heating system to get the right temperature

to relax in. Check your air-conditioning system and your furnace, making sure to

make a note of your SEER and AFUE

. These two measurements will give you a much clearer idea of your energy efficiency and can have a large bearing on your utility bills.

Always Insulate

One of the most effective ways to use less energy is to need less. Insulated walls and attics prevent cooled or heated air from escaping outside, meaning that you aren’t going to be wasting your energy by constantly adjusting the temperature. You can even go beyond traditional materials by investing in more

eco-friendly materials for your insulation

. Sheep\’s wool and cotton are common options for greener insulation, but there are many materials to consider if you want to improve your insulation and remain environmentally conscious.

Eco-Aware Lighting

Most people have already looked at energy-efficient light bulbs, but if you haven’t researched them lately, then you might be amazed by the drop in prices. While the cost of energy-saving light bulbs used to be quite prohibitive, modern options are much more wallet-friendly. Remember, you don’t have to swap every lightbulb immediately. Buy one or two energy-efficient bulbs every payday and replace your older lightbulbs with the newer bulbs as needed. Take your time, and you’ll soon have all of the

environmentally friendly lighting

that you’ll need.

Turning your home int0 somewhere more eco-friendly doesn’t have to mean huge disruption or costs. Often, it is the small changes to your home that will have the most impact. Whether you\’re putting your property on the market or you want to reduce your carbon footprint, these quick and easy eco-friendly tips could save you a fortune and boost the asking price of your home.

How to Properly Spruce Up Your Home’s Curb Appeal

Gloucestercitynews.net(January 31, 2020)–Though it’s on the inside that counts, a properly spruced up exterior can help you boost your home’s value, your own comfort, and of course help boost the quality of your neighborhood. With luck, you might even convince your other neighbors to put effort into their own homes, so all, in all you end up living on a picture-perfect street.

You will be proud to call your house home, and when the time comes your property will sell faster and for more because of your efforts. Don’t dally, however, because the best way to spruce up your home’s curb appeal is to do it for yourself, so start today and follow this guide:

Upgrade Your Gutters

We don’t often think about our gutters. They help keep rainwater away from the sides of our house, what else do we need to know about them, right? The reality is that

keeping your gutters clean from debris is so important

, as it helps protect your foundation, stops soil from eroding, and keeps mold and mildew away from your home.

Thankfully there are options that mean you don’t have to get up on a two-story ladder and risk your safety. Instead you can opt for a covered gutter that prevents leaves and other items from falling in, but still safely manages your rainwater.

Deal with Your Exterior Wall

The exact steps you will take will depend entirely on what your wall is made of. Brick does well with being power washed to rid it of any accumulated grime. Paint needs to be washed, sanded down, and then repainted. Due to the size of the job, bringing in a professional team is definitely recommended, because when it comes to sprucing up your home,

clean exterior walls

is going to have the biggest impact.

Upgrade You Doors (and Windows)

If you aren’t happy with your home’s trimmings, then it is time to invest in them. Either paint and add decorative elements to the features you have now or replace them entirely. If you want your home to pop, for example, consider painting your window trimmings the same color as your front and garage doors.

Start Gardening, Today

Installing fully mature plants is expensive, but if you are willing to put in the work and be patient you can end up

having a stunning front and rear garden

. Add a rose wall, for example, or plant a young sapling. It won’t look its best the first year, but over time your landscaping will be stunning (and budget-friendly).

Don’t Forget Lighting

It’s not necessary to light up every inch of your property, but you will want to invest in quality lights at least for your driveway and front door. This is so that you can see clearly when dealing with keys and it helps keep you safer.

Your curb appeal adds a lot to your home but waiting to do something about it until you are ready to sell is a big waste. Start today and make the above improvements for yourself, because you deserve to be proud of where you live.

New Jersey Doctor Admit Roles in Health Care Fraud Scheme

TRENTON, N.J. – A doctor with offices in Washington, Hackettstown, and Succasunna, New Jersey, and his co-defendant today admitted their roles in a health care conspiracy to bill Medicare and private health insurance companies for medical services fraudulently claimed to have been provided by a licensed medical doctor, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Parminderjeet S. Sandhu, 66, of Long Valley, New Jersey, and Paramjit Singh, 62, of Ohio, each pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court to informations charging them with conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

“Dr. Sandhu defrauded Medicare and private insurers – and, worse, put his patients at risk – by allowing those patients to be treated by Singh, a man who had lost his medical license,” U.S. Attorney Carpenito said. “Our office continues to work tirelessly to protect the integrity of federal healthcare programs and to make sure that patients do not suffer unnecessary harm from unscrupulous healthcare providers like these two defendants.”

“It\’s frightening to think that your doctor could be putting your health in the hands of someone who is practicing without a license,” FBI Newark Special Agent in Charge Gregory W. Ehrie said. “Dr. Sandhu put his patients at risk while defrauding them as well as their insurers. The FBI remains committed to investing its resources to combat these types of schemes because patients have every right to expect that the care they are receiving is from a qualified medical professional who is acting in the patient\’s best interest. We urge anyone who is aware of healthcare fraud to contact us.”

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

From August 2014 through October 2017, Sandhu and Singh caused $2,211,975 to be billed to Medicare and private health insurance companies for medical services claimed to have been provided by Sandhu at Sandhu’s medical practice, Medical Care Associates Urgent Care Inc. In reality, those services were actually performed by Singh, whom Sandhu had hired to treat patients, despite knowing that Singh had lost his license to practice medicine anywhere in the United States. Sandhu issued prescriptions – including prescriptions for opioids – in Sandhu’s name for patients seen by Singh, even though Sandhu never met with the patients himself. As a result of the conspiracy, Sandhu’s medical practice was paid $1,162,253 for treatment fraudulently provided by Singh.

Under terms of the plea agreement, if the court accepts the plea, each defendant will be sentenced to 18 months in prison. In addition, Sandhu and Singh have each agreed to pay $1,162,253 in restitution. Sandhu has agreed to forfeiture of $829,561 and Singh has agreed to forfeiture of $332,692. Sentencing is scheduled for April 28, 2020.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Ehrie; the Warren County Prosecutor\’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor James L. Pfeiffer; the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Col. Patrick J. Callahan; and the Hackettstown, Roxbury and Washington Township police departments with the investigation leading to today’s guilty pleas.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph N. Minish of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Asset Recovery and Money Laundering Unit.

Coast Guard medevacs man from fishing vessel 50 miles off Manasquan Inlet

MANASQUAN INLET, N.J. —(January 29, 2020)– The Coast Guard medevaced a man from a fishing vessel 50 miles off Manasquan Inlet, Thursday afternoon.

Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay watch standers received a call from the captain of the fishing vessel Enterprise requesting a MEDEVAC for a crew member experiencing severe abdominal pain.

A Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew was launched to assist, arrived and transferred the crew member aboard.

After the crew member\’s condition worsened, an Air Station Atlantic City MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter aircrew was launched, arrived, and medevaced the crew member to awaiting emergency medical services personnel at Atlantic City Care Regional Medical Center.

\”The Coast Guard trains everyday for events like this,\” said Petty Officer 1st Class Daniel Box, watch stander at the Sector Delaware Bay command center. \”Because of that training we were able to coordinate multiple Coast Guard assets to get the crew member medical attention as quickly as possible.\”

Love Your Money: U.S. Spends $113.5 Million to Give Rural America High Speed Internet

In the last few weeks alone the U.S. government has spent a whopping $113.5 million to help bring

Gloucestercitynews.net graphics

high-speed broadband to several rural areas throughout the country. In some of the cases multi-million-dollar investments will provide high-speed internet service to just a few hundred households, raising serious questions about the taxpayer investment. The money flows through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) via a Trump administration program known as

ReConnect

that will ultimately dole out hundreds of millions of dollars for the cause.

The program was launched as a result of President Donald Trump’s

Interagency Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity

established in April 2017 to identify legislative, regulatory, and policy changes that could promote agriculture and prosperity in rural communities. Headed by USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, the task force includes 22 federal agencies and local leaders typical for bureaucratic government adventures. The government officials made dozens of recommendations

outlined in a

lengthy report

that essentially asks American taxpayers for a monstrous investment. The goal is to provide rural America with world-class resources, tools and support to build robust, sustainable communities for generations to come, according to the USDA.

Key among the issues preventing this is high-speed internet availability, the task force found. It also recommends modern utilities, affordable housing, efficient transportation and reliable employment to improve quality of life as well as economic development and a better workforce. So far, most of the taxpayer investment has gone to internet, though it may not seem like the most urgent of the issues pressing rural America. This may be especially true since rural America includes around 46 million of the nation’s roughly 325 million people, according to the task force figures, which also reveal that rural America includes 72% of the nation’s land. “Rural America is home to many different racial and ethnic demographics and a wide array of economic activities,” the task force report states. “These residents live in a variety of settings, from counties bordering suburbs to remote and isolated areas.”

Is high-speed internet really so essential that the Uncle Sam must spend such huge sums of money? Does lack of broadband connectivity create a crisis? Broadband is defined by law as 10 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream and 1 Mbps upstream. The government’s initial funds “will generate private sector investment to deploy broadband infrastructure to provide high-speed internet e-Connectivity to as many rural premises as possible, including homes, community facilities for healthcare and public safety, schools, libraries, farms, ranches, factories, and other production sites,” according to the USDA. ReConnect offers unique federal financing and funding options in the form of loans, grants, and loan/grant combinations to facilitate broadband deployment in the targeted areas.

Let’s take a look at some recent examples of how the money is being allocated. So far this month alone the government doled out $113.5 million to bring rural America high-speed broadband, though it’s not certain when the projects will be completed so that roughly 14% of the population can surf the internet. The first investment, for

$23 million

, will improve rural e-Connectivity for 2,643 households and 78 businesses in North Dakota. The USDA’s North Dakota Rural Development director says broadband technology is a utility as important as water, sewer and electricity. Two days later the USDA announced another

$48 million

investment to bring high-speed broadband infrastructure to 22,600 rural households in Virginia. About a week later another

$11 million

went to similar projects in Minnesota and northern Iowa that will serve 1,395 rural households and more than 100 business. “When Americans are connected to high-speed internet, productivity and prosperity skyrocket,” according to USDA Deputy Secretary Stephen Censky. “This task of providing rural Americans with broadband is of the highest importance for President Trump and his Administration. We cannot leave millions of Americans out of the successes of this booming economy simply because they do not have access to the internet.”

Capping off the month were allocations of

$5.7 million

for high-speed broadband projects that will serve 489 households, 24 farms and eight businesses in Nebraska and

$18.7 million

to bring 6,300 households and 383 farms in West Virginia internet. The last disbursement, announced just two days ago, is a

$7.1 million

grant to improve e-Connectivity for 1,250 households in north central Arkansas. It may seem like a hefty price tag, but the USDA assures it’s important because it will connect residents to opportunities in education, health care and economic development.

source

Judicialwatch.org