NATIONAL ORGANIZATION CHOOSES UTAH FOR HOME BASE
1ST ANNUAL AMERICAN CITIZEN AWARD - HONORING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT
Salt Lake City, Utah, November 20, 2017– Founded in 2012, the British Citizen Awards is a ceremony that recognizes individuals doing extraordinary works in their local community. Now, the founders of the British Citizen Awards have assisted in the development of the American Citizen Award (ACA).
At 11:00 am on Tuesday, November 21, 2017, a press conference is being held in the Utah State Capitol Rotunda to officially announce the acceptance of nominations for the first-ever American Citizen Awards. People from across the United States are being urged to recognize local people doing extraordinary things for others by nominating them for this prestigious national award. Nominations are being welcomed until March 23, 2018.
“The awards were created to recognize people, from all walks of life, who work tirelessly to make a positive impact on society and whose selfless giving for the benefit of others would otherwise go unrecognized.” - Michael Faulkner, Founder, British Citizen Awards
The American Citizen Award will recognize 50 extraordinary individuals for their selfless accomplishments which positively impact their communities at a formal medal presentation ceremony to be held at the Utah State Capitol Building on May 31, 2018.
The endeavor to recreate in the U.S., what has been so well received in the U.K. since 2015, is a collaboration between The Awards Recognition Bureau (UK), Red Shoes Living (US), Utah State Senator Daniel Thatcher and a diverse group of U.S. Patrons, Ambassadors and Corporate Partners.
“This award is similar to the UK’s Queen’s Honours but is restricted to everyday people whose achievements may otherwise be overlooked. Whether these individuals fundraise for a cause, educate or care for others, excel in their career for the good of other colleagues or perform other acts worthy of recognition, the American Citizen Award platform is a way for America to thank them.” - Lonnie Mayne, Red Shoes Living
Sara Yarrow, American Citizen Award development director, said: “It is inspiring to meet those who are the best of humanity and we look forward to honoring these exceptional people and we remain indebted to the forward-thinking people who have helped bring this to life. Senator Daniel W. Thatcher has been instrumental, and a driving force in making Utah the home of the inaugural award ceremony. We are honored that he accepted our invitation to become a Patron of the program, alongside Lonnie Mayne, founder of Red Shoes Living who is an alliance partner of the program.”
“We are also exceptionally proud of the individuals who have agreed to align with us in our Ambassador program, namely Joni L. Crane of Boy Scouts America, business visionary Lew Cramer, and Ric Cantrell from the Office of the Utah Attorney General.”
In the UK, The British Citizen Award program has attracted support from several high-profile Patrons, including Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, who stated: “The greatest kindness you can afford to give someone is to listen. This organization listens to the citizens of this great country and not only hears the stories but rewards monumental efforts.”
Who inspires you? Nominations are free, so nominate someone incredible in one of the following categories: community, industry, arts, education, healthcare, business, volunteering and charitable giving, and international achievement.
Email mike@americancitizenaward.com to request a nomination form, or visit www.americancitizenaward.com to apply online.
Nominations: Contact mike@americancitizenaward.com
To become a Sponsor: Contact sara@americancitizenaward.com or joni@americancitizenaward.com
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GORGOZA PARK WELCOMES FAMILIES AND GUESTS FOR
THANKSGIVING WEEKEND
Site of Proposed Woodward Park City Facility to Open for Holiday Family Fun
PARK CITY, Utah., November 20, 2017 – Gorgoza Park, part of the POWDR Adventure Lifestyle Co., will be open for the Thanksgiving holiday from Wednesday, November 22 through Sunday, November 26, 2017. Just two miles east of Parley’s Summit, families in the greater Salt Lake valley will have easy access to enjoy seven tubing lanes and the Fort Frosty snow play area.
“The holidays are a time for families to make memories doing what they love with the ones they love,” says Tom Butz, Gorgoza Park general manager. “Gorgoza is a gathering place for families to enjoy the great outdoors together, and we’re excited to be open for the Thanksgiving weekend and offer fun family adventures in the mountains during the holiday.”
The recent snowfall and cold temperatures provided the right conditions for Gorgoza Park to open for Thanksgiving. Daily operations for the 2017/18 season will begin Saturday, December 2, 2017.
Gorgoza Park Thanksgiving Hours are as follows:
Wednesday, November 22 – Saturday, November 25: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Sunday, November 26: 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Gorgoza is the location for the proposed Woodward Park City, a year-round action sports center built to accommodate the diverse training needs of a dozen sports. Different from anything else in the region, the world-class facility will be designed for year-round training and fun that complements Utah’s outdoor and active lifestyle for seasoned athletes, professionals and beginners alike.
Pricing and additional information about holiday tubing is available at www.gorgozapark.com.
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Jonathan Carey "Champion for the Disabled" Born September 12,1993 Killed by caregivers on February 15,2007
The verdict is in: GUILTY. Famous NY Times Whistle- Blower Jeffrey Monsour is vindicated after severe retaliation for reporting systemic and deadly abuses
“This victory in federal court will open the door and pave the way for other employees to do the right thing, to speak up and to come forward and report systemic abuses and gross mismanagement.” ”
— –Jeffrey Monsour - NY Times Whistle-Blower
ALBANY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, November 21, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Governor Andrew Cuomo’s State agency for the developmentally disabled, the Office of People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) was found guilty of retaliation against a hero and champion for the disabled – Jeffrey Monsour. OPWDD has numerous severe and deadly systemic failures that Mr. Monsour has brought to the State’s attention that are costing many innocent people their lives. New York State still appears to not even care about these vulnerable individuals’ lives or finally providing them safe care and services, but instead attack whistle-blowers. The State’s only defense was literally a joke; their defense was solely based on a false accusation against Mr. Monsour that was proven to be untrue. Things mentioned in court were horrendous and many of the major systemic failures that allow countless children and adults with developmental disabilities to be raped or die prematurely in these unsafe facilities and group homes were blocked from being heard by the jury. What is important and needs to be shouted from the rooftops is that the jury brought forth the verdict of GUILTY!
“This victory in federal court will open the door and pave the way for other employees to do the right thing, to speak up and to come forward and report systemic abuses and gross mismanagement.” –Jeffrey Monsour - NY Times Whistle-Blower
“Jeffrey Monsour is a hero, he is an amazing person, and he is a strong voice and defender for the voiceless and the defenseless. Mr. Monsour has fought long and hard for close to two decades to end dangerous conditions, discrimination and to save the lives of countless vulnerable people.” - Michael Carey – Advocate for people with disabilities and their families
Jeffrey Monsour is victorious; New York State is guilty of retaliation against Mr. Monsour who became famous for blowing the whistle to the New York Times regarding New York State protecting and recycling known abusers of the disabled. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/13/nyregion/13homes.html. New York State is doing the same thing that the Catholic Church was doing shuffling known abusers around and allowing them to violate and harm many other innocent victims. This extremely damning investigative report was the first of over thirty pieces in the award winning “Abused and Used” investigative reporting series which was a runner up for a Pulitzer Prize. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/nyregion/abused-and-used-series-page.html Although there are extremely disturbing circumstances surrounding this trial, including the fact that most of the evidence and facts of most of what Mr. Monsour was bringing to light were never heard or seen by the jury, the verdict is GUILTY.
Well known advocate and expert in the area surrounding systemic abuses and reforms to fix these severe problems, Michael Carey, was blocked from being able to testify on Mr. Monsours behalf against the State. The State of New York does everything imaginable to silence whistle-blowers and experts that know the truth and will expose what is really going on behind closed doors. Other extremely disturbing things witnessed were;
• Everything that brought this case directly to Governor Cuomo’s doorstep was blocked from this trial and the jury. Governor Cuomo was protected and shielded, but he is just as guilty as OPWDD.
• Governor Cuomo promised a well paying job outside of the OPWDD hostile work environment in May of 2012 to Mr. Monsour that never materialized. Direct evidence was blocked from the jury regarding this fact. Thankfully a damning email from OPWDD administrators clearly documenting OPWDD management trying to protect the governor did come in.
• The trial was suspiciously moved from Albany, NY where whistle-blower Jeffrey Monsour is well known, to Syracuse, NY, where no one knew of him.
• The trial was placed just before a holiday, the same trick used against another famous whistle-blower, Susan Mclaughlin, which occurred around the release of the first NY Times exposé.
• Radon gas poisoning, the number two cause for lung cancer, that Mr. Monsour brought to the State’s attention in 2007 was blocked and kept out of this case and from the jury. Radon has killed many dozens of residents and staff since Mr. Monsour blew the whistle on these unsafe conditions over ten years ago in 2007.
• Male direct care staff transporting woman and girls with disabilities alone in darkened vans with no surveillance cameras was blocked from being heard by the jury among many other systemic failures that harm or kill those living in residential care facilities and group homes through New York State.
Michael Carey was unable to tell the jury of the wide-scale and rampant physical and sexual abuse and deaths occurring in New York State’s extremely dangerous and deadly system. These are the State of New York numbers every month that average;
• 7,800 calls to Governor Cuomo’s internal abuse hotline for the disabled, again every month, the vast majority of these abuses and crimes will never be witnessed or reported, there is an abuse epidemic.
• Close to 375 deaths are reported every month or 11-13 deaths reported every day, many are due to gross negligence. Most deaths of people with disabilities are never reported to local authorities, including Medical Examiners and Coroners, and are internally covered-up. Again, this is an epidemic of deaths and a large percentage of these deaths are preventable. The number one known cause of these deaths within OPWDD is staff not calling 911, these are felony criminal offenses.
Rob Sadowski, the awarded Super Lawyer who represented Mr. Monsour spun circles around State attorneys. One thing is for sure, the State not only was partially exposed, but their attorneys came off as buffoons. Another one of the most disturbing parts of this trial was to watch a person lie under oath regarding knowledge of returning known abusers back to work with people with disabilities, many State documents reveal the exact opposite. And yes, you can get the picture from this press release and some of the corruption surrounding this court case and trial that those documents were never allowed to be seen by the jury.
Here are just some of the highlights from Rob Sadowski’s closing arguments;
“Jeff is especially gifted and brave”
“Jeff’s FOIL requests were made because he wanted to know how wide-spread the systemic problems were”
“Jeff went up the chain of command, all the way to the top”
“Jeff claimed to the State when bringing systemic failures to their attention and when they looked the other way, I will go to Dateline, I will go to the New York Times”
This federal court case further exposes New York State’s extremely dangerous system that is not protecting or providing safe care for people with disabilities.
Abuses against our most vulnerable are crimes, they are felonies in New York State, but if they are regularly kept from local authorities, which they are, emergency legislative actions must be taken to protect people with disabilities and ensure their equal rights. No longer can 911 and local police be bypassed. 911 call systems must be immediately called by all mandated reporters regarding all sexual abuse and rapes, as well as obviously all other crimes and medical emergencies. Currently, Governor Cuomo has directed these sex crimes and many other matters that Mr. Monsour and Mr. Carey have brought directly to his attention to be internally reported to another one of his agencies where almost all disappear, they are covered-up. Please donate and support this vital Civil Rights Movement for the disabled and their families, but also for our country and the world, the maltreatment and unequal treatment of the disabled is an international societal problem that must be addressed now. People with disabilities are equal and just as valuable and precious as anyone else- period. http://jonathancareyfoundation.org/donate/
Michael Carey
The Jonathan Carey Foundation
(518) 852-9377
email us here
