One of the strongest federal anti-tobacco bills proposed in recent memory passed its first hurdle earlier today. The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Health passed H.R. 2339, also known as the Reversing the Youth Tobacco Epidemic Act of 2019. It is one of four pieces of legislation that have been introduced in Congress this […]
News
Gov. Justice appoints Sissonville pastor to vacant House seat | WCHS
(This is my awesome cousin – great man – great man for this job!)
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced he has appointed a Sissonville pastor to fill a vacant seat created after Del. Sharon Malcolm, R-Kanawha, died. T. Kevan Bartlett has been appointed to the West Virginia House of Delegates’ 39th District seat, a news release from Justice’s office said. Malcolm died at her home in September. Bartlett is the senior pastor of Maranatha Baptist Church in Sissonville. Bartlett and his wife, Linda, have two adult sons and eight grandchildren.
Source: Gov. Justice appoints Sissonville pastor to vacant House seat | WCHS
Employment at P&G expected to reach 1,400 @ P&G’s Tabler Station, WV Plant
By Matthew Umstead
MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Procter & Gamble Co. officials expect to hire about 200 more workers at its Tabler Station Road plant in Berkeley County to supplement its current workforce of about 1,200, according to the consumer goods company’s human-resources site leader.
“That 1,400 will taper down a little bit. Some of those are … temporary assignments for one, two, three years, helping us with their P&G expertise and leadership, so it will be probably in the 1,300s … but we will tip over 1,400 here this fiscal year,” Keith Busby said Wednesday in an interview.
In addition to P&G employees, there are about 800 suppliers and contractors working at the company’s 458-acre campus off exit 8 of Interstate 81, Busby said.
“By June 30, we’d like to finish our hiring … so now’s the time to get your foot in the door and get a job and have a career,” he said. “The last heavy (hiring) push is now.”
The company has announced an increase in its starting wage from $17.50 to $18.25 per hour beginning in January, Busby said. And the volume of production at the plant at 396 Development Drive continues to increase.
“By June 2020, we’ll probably have 75% of the production going, if everything stays on plan,” Busby said.
The plant will make “well over 100 million cases (of product) when all is said and done,” he said.
While production continues to ramp up inside, Busby estimated that the exterior construction of the plant is about 95% complete, and the remaining work involves the installation of production lines.
Dawn dish soap and Swiffer cleaning product lines were the last to be added at the plant in the spring, Busby said.
The first product line launched in February 2018 was for Bounce fabric softener. Other products to be made at the plant include Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Herbal Essences and Aussie shampoos; Gillette, Old Spice and Olay body washes; and Gain and Joy dish soaps.
When fully operational, the plant will be the sole supplier of the products in the United States and Canada, as well as part of Mexico, Busby said.
“No other plant in the U.S. will make them — there’s other plants in the world that make them, but they make and sell regionally,” he said.
The new plant is part of a North American supply-chain transformation, which includes the transfer of production from other P&G facilities in Kansas City, Kan.; Iowa City, Iowa; and Brockville, Ontario, that are closing or downsizing.
There are 24 P&G plants in the United States, but the Tabler Station plant was only the company’s second new site since 1971.
At the time the plant’s construction was announced in 2015, P&G said it would employ 700 full-time workers at the new site, which includes about 2.5 million square feet under roof, including a large warehouse with automation-guided vehicles that pick up product and load trucks.
P&G also has since expanded to occupy a newly constructed warehouse on Development Drive, which is used for labels and other supplies, Busby said.
Busby said P&G’s ongoing partnership with Blue Ridge Community and Technical College has resulted in the creation of a P&G certification program, which saw the first graduating class of 14 students this spring.
“We have a handful of them working here at P&G today,” he said.
Over the summer, Busby said the plant hosted its first 10 interns — nine engineering students and one majoring in human resources.
Busby said the plant’s current production volume is about 20% of the anticipated maximum, but expects that to increase to 70% to 75% by June 2020.
Source: Employment at P&G expected to reach 1,400 | West Virginia | heraldmailmedia.com
CNN’s Areva Martin calls out David Webb’s White Privilege — Just one thing, Webb is a black.
“I hate to break it to you, but you should’ve been better prepped — I’m black,” David Webb told Areva Martin.
TechCrunch
The reelection campaign will be live-streamed. US president Donald Trump has joined Amazon-owned live-streaming platform Twitch. Twitch is best known as a social video streaming platform for gamers but does host other content, including politics. The verified Donald Trump Twitch account, spotted earlier by Reuters, has just one video in the recent broadcast section so far: […]
Source: TechCrunch
Spacewalk Preps Today amid Cancer, Robotics and Agriculture Research – Space Station
[NASA article of first space walk conducted by only women. No mention of this in this article (which I liked). For another NASA article highlighting this first women’s walk, see here: https://blogs.nasa.gov/spacestation/2019/10/18/nasa-astronauts-wrap-up-historic-all-woman-spacewalk/%5D
NASA astronaut Christina Koch (right) poses for a portrait with fellow Expedition 61 Flight Engineer Jessica Meir of NASA who is inside a U.S. spacesuit for a fit check.
Source: Spacewalk Preps Today amid Cancer, Robotics and Agriculture Research – Space Station
