Newtown resident and former Read School librarian Pia Ledina reached out to The Newtown Bee this week to announce the planned "gentle re-opening" of her Turning The Page independent specialty bookstore in Monroe.

Ledina writes: "The doors to your local independent children's bookshop have been closed to the public for nearly nine-and-a-half weeks now...

"We still aren't completely positive this is all going to work out, but we are hopeful, and so excited to be allowed to welcome you into our readers' paradise once again... but we are a little nervous about it as well. We take our responsibility to keep your family (and ours) safe very seriously, and we have spent a huge amount of time thinking about how to handle things so that we are all as safe as possible," she continued.

So effective Wednesday, May 20 Ledina will once again do business via Turning The Page By Appointment, a personalized shopping experience in which one family reserves the entire shop for 30 minutes. These blocks will be separated by a 15-minute buffer during which she will wipe down everything that has been touched, etc.

Sign ups for these appointments will be posted on the store's website — www.turningthepagebooks.com — and appointments may be made well in advance.

Ledina will also continue to provide #Call4Curbside pickup service.

All persons entering the bookshop will be required to wear a mask (unless under 2 years old, per CDC guidance); if someone does not have a mask, the store will have a small supply of 3-layer non-surgical paper masks available for purchase at $2 each. All employees will be wearing masks and gloves, and there will be a plastic shield at the checkout desk as well.

Any items touched or reviewed during a customer's visit be placed on a special cart and will be cleaned prior to being reshelved. The store's public restroom will only be accessible in an emergency, and all purchases will be via Credit Card, Check, Venmo, or PayPal; Turning The Page will not be accepting cash.

Child Care Assistance Sought

Congresswoman Jahana Hayes joined a number of colleagues May 12 in calling for a $100 billion investment in the child care sector following the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader McCarthy, the House members outline a proposal providing $50 billion in the form of short-term stabilization funding and an additional $50 billion in long-term recovery funding to support students, families and providers.

“Even before this pandemic, over 44 percent of people in Connecticut lived in a child-care desert,” said Congresswoman Hayes. “After conversations with childcare providers in my district, I know that this problem is only going to get worse and only a fraction of providers in our state will be able to survive this crisis. We need to ensure that these critical services, which make it possible for parents to return to the workforce and children to grow and thrive, are stabilized and supported. I am calling on my colleagues to prioritize this vital sector in any future legislative package.”

The lawmakers’ $50 billion long term investment would expand current funding and tax credits to support families and students while also creating new grant programs for childcare infrastructure and workforce development. Under their proposal, the financial burden associated with child-care would be significantly reduced for families by:

*Requiring employers to extend the grace period to use a Dependent Care Assistance Plan;

*Enhancing and making the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit refundable;

*Providing an increase in mandatory federal child care funding through the Child Care Entitlement to States and temporally waiving the state match for that increase so more families can access subsidized child care;

*Reauthorizing the Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) program at $200 million annually to provide more child care support to student parents.

The letter also calls for the creation of competitive infrastructure grants to support both the renovation and new construction of childcare facilities, with priority given to those areas of the country that have been hardest hit by the pandemic. In addition to prioritizing facilities, the House members are requesting an investment in the higher education of our nation’s early childhood educators by offering $20 million per year for a student loan repayment program.

Self-Employed Benefit Update

Newtown's State Rep Mitch Bolinsky issued an update this week reminding self-employed individuals that back on April 30, Connecticut's Department of Labor (CTDOL) authorized self-employed individuals could apply for federal unemployment benefits. Unfortunately, the system was not able to handle those claims at that time.

But Rep Bolinsky says the site is now updated and working, including the elusive "red button," making it possible to complete the two-step activation process for the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program. Self-employed individuals must follow the following steps to activate:

*Pursuant to Federal guidelines, self-employed individuals, including independent contractors and “gig” workers, are required to first apply through the Connecticut unemployment system located at http://www.filectui.com;

*Before proceeding to the next step, applicants must receive a determination notice in the mail from the Connecticut Department of Labor prior to accessing and applying for benefits under the newly-designed Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

More information can be found on the DOL site http://www.ctdol.state.ct.us/UI-OnLine/index.htm.

Attention Women Business Owners

The US Small Business Administration has published Women-Owned Small Business Federal Contracting program regulations that will provide a free, online certification and eligibility application process for women-owned small businesses and economically-disadvantaged women-owned small businesses. The timeline for implementation of changes to SBA’s WOSB program has been delayed to accommodate those affected by the current pandemic.

Starting July 15, 2020, SBA will begin to implement changes consistent with the Small Business Act as amended in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015. In addition to the certification requirement for firms seeking WOSB and EDWOSB set-aside contracts, the regulations detail certification options for applicants and require authorized third-party certifiers to notify applicants of their fees and the option to use SBA’s free online certification process.

Some important timelines for firms to keep in mind:

*The current self-certification process will remain available for firms until October 15, in sba.gov;

*Between now and July 15, WOSBs must download their documentation, currently housed in the WOSB Program Repository, from sba.gov;

*On July 15, firms can begin submitting applications for initial processing; and

*On October 15, SBA will begin issuing decisions on certification.

Manufacturers Pivot To PPE

After seeing a news story about a local fabricating shop producing metal nose strips for homemade face masks, Edward Morris, president of P/A Industries in Bloomfield took action. He knew that he could significantly increase the number of strips produced and contacted the fabricator.

Within 24 hours, Morris and his team reengineered their machines, convinced a metal supplier to donate the first coils and started production.

All of the production was donated with the help of Erickson Metal, Hillery Company, and Marion Manufacturing. These metal nose strips are being shipped around the country to groups ranging from sewing clubs to health care organizations, from 45,000 in three weeks to 120,000 strips in 18 hours.

Morris plans to make 400,000 metal strips and is recruiting other manufacturers to join in the effort.

When healthcare workers in Northwest Connecticut called for more PPE, Okay Industries immediately accepted the challenge. With the help of their community and local leaders, Okay Industries found a space for production, a design for a face shield and funding.

The superintendent of schools, Nancy Sarra, gave the CEO of Okay Industries, Jason Howey, access to New Britain High School with no hesitation. Howey called David Obedzinski, president of the Community Foundation of Greater New Britain and, “he had $20,000 to buy supplies, elastic, plastic and foam, within 24 hours.”

Over 30 volunteers stepped up, an assembly line was created and the group made 1,000 shields on their first day of production. Within one week 22,000 masks came off the assembly line and 14,000 are being donated to Hartford HealthCare. “In times of crisis, people want to help,” Howey said.

And with the shortage of N95 masks available, Pucuda Leading Edge in Madison expanded to make urgently needed masks that are an effective and affordable option for the public to help save medical grade equipment for medical personnel.

The company, that makes safety netting for construction, sports, and amusement industries retooled part of its plant to make convenient, effective and affordable masks individuals can use to go grocery shopping, get take-out food or run other essential errands while staying more protected and practicing social distancing with greater confidence.

CEO John Rexroad said, "We can all feel safer when more of us use masks whenever we need to venture out, especially during this growing COVID-19 pandemic. We’re moving fast to serve our community and nation during this challenging time."

The 100 percent US cotton masks are available in white or a choice of colors, are washable, reusable, durable, and hypoallergenic according to Rexroad. They can be ordered through a special website masksforcitizens.com.