Tag Archives: Knox County

News, Politics, Government

Remarks by the First Lady at Kitchen Garden Planting Event

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By The White House

White House Kitchen Garden

1:16 P.M. EDT
MRS. OBAMA: How are you guys doing?

CHILDREN: Good.

MRS. OBAMA: Is it a little chilly?

CHILDREN: Yes.

MRS. OBAMA: Where are your jackets? I'm going to be the mother. Where are your jackets? (Laughter.) All right, so we're going to put you to work.

Well, welcome. This is the fifth planting of the White House Kitchen Garden. Are you guys excited?

CHILDREN: Yes.

MRS. OBAMA: So that we know who is here, I want to make sure that all these wonderful people with their cameras know which schools are here. So when I say your school name, raise your hand, or scream or something like that.

Milton Elementary School from Milton, Vermont. Woo-hoo! Yes, is that the principal? It's like woo-hoo, party on. Sarah Moore Greene Magnet Technology Academy in Knox County, Tennessee. Woo-hoo! (Applause.) Arthur D. Healey School, Somerville Public Schools in Somerville, Massachusetts. Woo-hoo! (Applause.) Benjamin David Gullett Elementary School in Bradenton, Florida. (Applause.) Yes, that was it. That was it. I know you all are cold, coming from Florida. And then we have our partners from many, many, many years — Bancroft Elementary School. (Applause.) There we go. See, they're comfortable yelling in the White House. (Laughter.) And then we have the Harriet Tubman Elementary School students. (Applause.)

So it's great to have you guys here. Are you ready to go? One of the reasons we invited these schools — Harriet Tubman School and Bancroft, they have been our partners for years. But the schools from across the country who have come, you guys are here because you are doing such wonderful things to implement the new school nutrition standards at your school. So do you like your school lunches? They are healthy and they are good? And you're eating your vegetables? And many of you have gardens of your own? Awesome. So you know what to do here, right? Are you ready to plant?

All right, let's get going. Let's do it!

END
1:18 P.M. EDT

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at The White House Press Office

News, Politics, Government

President Obama Signs Maine Disaster Declaration

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By The White House

The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of Maine and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by a severe winter storm, snowstorm, and flooding during the period of February 8-9, 2013.

Federal funding is available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the severe winter storm, snowstorm, and flooding in the counties of Androscoggin, Cumberland, Knox, and York.

In addition, federal funding is available to the state and eligible local governments on a cost-sharing basis for snow assistance for a continuous 48-hour period during or proximate to the incident period in Androscoggin, Cumberland, and York Counties and a 72-hour period in Knox County.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.

W. Craig Fugate, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security, named James N. Russo as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area.

FEMA said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at The White House Press Office

News, Politics, Government

Coroner: 2 adults, 5 children killed in Ky. fire

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A fire that roared through a ranch-style home in rural, southeastern Kentucky has killed two adults and five children, authorities said.

The identities of the victims were withheld while relatives were being notified following Saturday’s fire. Knox County Coroner Mike Blevins said autopsies were planned in Frankfort, likely on Tuesday.

Blevins said the adult victims found inside the home were a woman and her boyfriend. The woman was the mother of three of the children who died, while two other children were from another family, he said Saturday afternoon.

Blevins and Kentucky State Police said the cause of the blaze remains under investigation. Arson investigators went to the scene, but officials said no foul play was suspected.

Knox County is in a coal field region of the state. The fire broke out in the community of Gray, located about halfway between Lexington, Ky., and Knoxville, Tenn.

Troopers said someone called 911 at 9:57 a.m. Saturday. Witnesses reported flames shooting from windows and dense smoke. Firefighters stayed on the scene until the fire was out at 1 p.m., the house gutted and smoldering.

On Jan. 9, four children and their father died in an early morning blaze in Jonancy, in Pike County in the Appalachian region of the state — about 2 1/2 hours east of Gray. The mother of those children survived with serious burns. The family had been sleeping near an electric space heater when the fire began, and the space heater likely started the fire, officials said.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News