Russ McCutcheon

?There is a value to that,? he said.

Frazell said the biggest obstacle cities face when starting to work collaboratively is developing trust and working relationships. Sometimes that boils down to protecting turf, he said.

But there are also genuine differences in what city residents want compared to township residents, he said. There?s also a fear of failure, Frazell said. A collaboration that fails can have a political impact for elected officials.

In Waite Park, the focus has been on looking at what resources it has and what resources other cities have that could benefit Waite Park, Johnson said.

With police services, some don?t like the idea of creating one regional department. So instead, they look at how they can help each other. Some departments have police dogs that other departments can use. St. Cloud police have a crime lab that can be used for other departments.

Each city is a different size, Johnson said, and it?s important to make sure that each has its own representation.

?You have to make sure there?s not one (city) overpowering another,? she said. ?There has to be a level playing field. Otherwise, mistrust gets in the way of wanting to do what?s best for the region.?

Federal Health Minister Mark Butler says service providers in remote Northern Territory communities are not working well together.

Mr Butler says a lack of coordination between mental health and other service providers is hindering efforts to tackle problems in remote areas.

He says sectors like health, housing and employment, need to form better working relationships to help people with mental illness.

Often people who are experiencing mental illness issues of their family members feel like that they have to go and knock on doors rather than have service providers work together around the person instead, he said.

Meanwhile, the Menzies School of Health Research says the Territory needs to establish a suicide register.

Associate Professor Gary Robinson says a register is the best way to get the whole picture on who is committing suicide and why.

He says the data provide evidence to instruct the government on how to best prevent suicides.

We think we really need to look at the whole way suicide has manifested itself over the last 25 years thoroughly, and to really tease out the different sets of risk factors and the different rates and incidences for different age groups across the population, he said.

(A) suicide register would give us an enormously greater understanding of what is going on.

Topics:
mental-health,
healthcare-facilities,
health-administration,
federal—state-issues,
alice-springs-0870,
darwin-0800

First posted

February 01, 2012 16:49:02

Memorial Hospital and the physicians of Chester and Steeleville Clinics are pleased to announce the development of the Chester Medical Group. The Chester Medical Group was formed in and effort to provide for long-term working relationships with current physicians and will help to attract and retain new doctors and medical professionals interested in providing quality patient care in a rural community setting. The new organization will include Drs. Lisa Lowry-Rohlfing, James Krieg and Stephen Platt along with general surgeons, Dr. Allan Liefer and Dr. Scott Hinze. Physician assistants, Jamie Hess, Angela Albertini and Richard Kleinschmidt will be members of the Chester Medical Group as well.
As a result of this collaborative effort between Memorial Hospital and its active medical staff, two new physicians will be joining the Chester Medical Group in the near future. Dr. Joseph Molnar from Davenport, Iowa and Dr. Shannon Price from Bettendorf, Iowa are scheduled to begin seeing family medicine patients at the Chester and Steelville Clinics beginning in April and August respectively.

By Jason Malloy

Lindsey Donovan is making inroads in two First Nations community.

The RCMP officer from Winnipegs duties have included a special focus on policing Glooscap and Annapolis Valley First Nations for the past two years.

Before they always used to inquire, why are you here? Did someone do something? Donovan recalled.

However, by spending time in the community he has built a friendly relationship with the residents.

Its kind of got past that point where the police being on the reserve is a bad thing. They know its Lindsey, hes just probably driving around to see how people are doing.

That service will continue after the two bands agreed to cover a funding shortfall to maintain the position. Prior to April 1, 2011, the federal government covered 48 per cent of the cost and the provincial government 52 per cent. The federal component will now cover 30 per cent with the bands picking up the remaining 18 per cent. It means the bands are each responsible for $12,500 of the roughly $140,000 cost. When the provincial Department of Justice learned the federal government was reducing its share, an official contacted the Municipality of the County of Kings, which helped bring the bands and province together.

The agreement was announced during a news conference last week. The one-year accord, backdated to April 1, 2011, will continue annually until one of the partners requests a change.

It is very important that the Glooscap First Nation community and the RCMP develop our positive working relationships for the betterment of our children and the families we serve, Glooscap Chief Shirley Clarke said.

While both bands have agreed to fund the position, Annapolis Valley Chief Janette Peterson said it would be difficult.

Right now were on a tight budget, she said. We have to fight and struggle for every dollar we get.

Peterson also raised other concerns during the news conference.

I want some more visibility, she said. If were paying our dollars, we want to get our moneys worth.

The chief would also like to see an Aboriginal person in the position. Donovan is a Caucasian.

Kings RCMP Insp. Mike Payne said he understands Petersons concerns.

Theres no substitute for having an Aboriginal person provide Aboriginal police service, he said, but he added Donovan has built solid relationships during the past two years.

Its kind of got past that point where the police being on the reserve is a bad thing. They know its Lindsey, hes just probably driving around to see how people are doing
- Const. Lindsey Donovan

He is often personally requested for policing matters that require follow up, Payne said.

Payne added there is currently one Aboriginal member on the force.

The two bands each has about 300 members with about a third of them living on the reserves. The Glooscap band is located near Hantsport; Annapolis Valley is in the Cambridge area.

Why was funding cut?

A federal government department could not say why it cut funding for an RCMP officer to help police two Kings County First Nations communities.

After the Feb. 1 press conference where chiefs of the Annapolis Valley and Glooscap bands announced they were picking up the $25,000 shortfall, information was requested on why the federal government scaled back its funding for the position from 48 to 30 per cent.

Despite numerous calls and emails to Public Safety Canada, the question remains unanswered at press time.

Please be advised that the police service agreements between the federal government and the provinces are cost sharing agreements where the province covers 70 per cent and the federal government covers 30 per cent of policing costs. The federal government and the Province of Nova Scotia are currently finalizing a 20-year policing agreement that will begin on April 1st, spokeswoman Lisa Filipps said in an email late Feb. 3.

The new agreement will ensure that communities continue to receive the most efficient, effective and sustainable police services possible and address the interests of all parties, such as governance and accountability.

She added the current agreement covers the cost of RCMP officers in Nova Scotia, including the position discussed at last weeks news conference.

Until April 2011 the cost associated with this officer was cost-shared under the Aboriginal Community Constable Program. The federal government continues to support the position through the police service agreement.

Some people at the news conference and other officials speculated the federal government determined it was not going to fund the Aboriginal Community Constable program any longer after a review. No details from the federal government have confirmed why that might be.

jmalloy@kingscountynews.ca

As successful business is driven by successful relationships, positive mutual perceptions are critical, even more so when working with two totally different cultures. China is increasingly becoming a business hotspot for Western companies who are increasingly employing Chinese nationals in senior roles. Equally, more and more Chinese are going abroad to both invest and buy – and often send managers, some with no awareness of the difference in perceptions, to run their companies.

Both East and West must be mindful of each others cultures, and as an integral aspect of Chinese culture, mianzi must be respected. However, for successful cross-cultural interaction it needs to be understood in its fuller sense.

Generally, mianzi is defined, and believed to be understood, as merely saving face (reputation, honor or respect). Meanwhile, it is the resultant behavior and the broader manifestations of the concept that are often not recognized by us in the West – or misunderstood when they are. Chinese doing business with the West (or hoping to) need to realize how difficult it is for us to comprehend it in its totality as some of its more obscure implications result in frustration, misunderstandings, and sometimes even red hot anger.

Not saying no or voicing disagreement is one of the main aspects to cause problems in East-West working relationships. To Chinese, the reasons would be to save ones own face or anothers, but this behavior is commonly perceived by Westerners as a lack of understanding or knowledge; obstinacy; inflexibility; reluctance to admit to wrong decisions/actions or unwillingness to confront, challenge or to criticize. All of which are considered negative in a Westernized business environment, as well as being irritating, or worse.

Chinese often convey the truth through their non-verbal behavior and read others the same way, considering what they then identify as the reality over and above the spoken word. In the West we focus on direct literal communication and only now are waking up to the importance of the unspoken in communication. Even when a Westerner recognizes the subtlety of variation in voice, facial expression and body language, it can be very, very tricky for them to spot the cues in a person from an Asian culture.

The scenario of saving face can also involve verbal untruths. This is wholly acceptable to the Chinese, who do not view themselves or the act as deceitful as they believe their non-verbal behavior conveys the real truth. However, the lack of verbal truthfulness and openness is easily misconstrued in the West as a lack of interest, cunning or, at worst, crass dishonesty. All of which impedes the development of strong relationships and partnerships, which, for sustainability and longevity rather than expediency, must be built on mutual trust and respect.

In the West we most certainly share the value of some of the positive aspects of mianzi. We prize integrity, personal pride and dignity, dislike humiliation and appreciate the importance of praise and recognition.

However, this is balanced with an emphasis on transparency and open, direct communication.

In 2005 a survey carried out by China Youth Daily resulted in 93 percent of respondents admitting to face being very important and 75 percent acknowledging that making a mistake in public was, by far, the most humiliating experience they could ever have. If the same questions were asked of youth today, I believe that the percentages will have decreased significantly. With Westernization fast taking hold in the new generation, many have a greater awareness of the cultural differences through their constant exposure to media, education, travel and increased diversity all around them in the cities. They are therefore adapting, both consciously and subconsciously, to a blend of the two cultures, and will continue to do so even more aggressively as time goes on.

What is seen and heard in an individual creates many judgments, and compositely form the perception of that person. Therefore, the differences in appearance, person-to-person communication and behaviors between the two communities and individuals can easily lead to wrongful and pejorative perceptions being formed. Successful business is driven by successful, symbiotic relationships. Perception affects all interactions between people and eventually affects the speed and depth of a relationship. For successful business, perception management is therefore a critical factor to give the competitive edge. Emanating from the interpretation of how one looks, sounds and behaves, the conclusions reached may well be complicated by the difference in cultures if this is not recognized.

Resulting problems can easily be avoided by creating awareness of these pitfalls but then employing appropriate tools at the outset to everyones advantage. Our offering of intelligent perception management at Positive Presence focuses and integrates all these aspects and provides the necessary tools while also developing people and organizations to their full impact and relationship potential.

My conclusion is that it is not for Westerners to decide whether mianzi is outdated, any more than it is for Chinese to convey that we have unacceptable customs and behavior.

At present it is for us both to understand and respect the differences between the two cultures and do what we can to minimize any challenges that result. Meanwhile, be aware that the variations are now eroding and blending naturally through globalization. We can therefore hopefully look forward to a time in the-not-so-distant future where we can enjoy a tolerant and diverse mono-culture that eases the path to the world peace and prosperity we all so desperately seek.

The author is managing director of Positive Presence, a London-based image consultancy. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily 02/03/2012 page8)

WASHINGTON (WXOW) – USSenator Herb Kohl again makes another pitch to leave three FBI offices open, including one in La Crosse.

The bureau is proposing closing three of their six offices in Wisconsin. Besides La Crosse, Kenosha and Wausau are on the list.

In a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller III, Kohl arguedthat thethe remaining offices in Madison, Eau Claire, and GreenBay will have long distances to drive inorder to respond to requests for assistance.

The letter, in part, states distanceswill be so great as to limit the FBIs ability to respond to top priority issues including terrorism threats and threats to critical infrastructure, gang violence, drug trafficking, gang violence, and financial fraud.

Kohl also mentioned the relationships built betweenlocal law enforcement and the FBI.

During a Senate Judiciary hearing last December, Kohl also made his case for keeping the offices open to Attorney General Eric Holder.

A copy of Kohls letter to Director Mueller is below.

———————————————————————————————————-

February 1, 2012

The Honorable Robert S. Mueller, III
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20535

Dear Director Mueller,

I am writing to ask you to reconsider the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) proposal to close three of Wisconsins six Resident Agency offices (RAs), in Kenosha, La Crosse, and Wausau, as part of its Strategic Placement of Facilities Initiative. As we discussed last month at the Judiciary Committees FBI oversight hearing, I strongly object to these closures and ask that you modify the proposal to ensure that they do not have a negative impact on Wisconsin. At the hearing, you said that you would consider additional information and review the decision. Based on reports from local and federal law enforcement officials in Wisconsin, I have detailed specific information to supplement my November 10, 2011 letter to you. I look forward to continuing our dialogue and working with you to modify the proposal.

As I explained in my November letter, I oppose these closures because the geographic distance between the remaining RAs and the communities they serve will be so great as to limit the FBIs ability to respond to top priority issues including terrorism threats and threats to critical infrastructure, gang violence, drug trafficking, gang violence, and financial fraud. This distance will sever the well-established partnerships with local law enforcement and the relationships with Wisconsins tribal nations that the Department of Justice and FBI have long made an effort to nurture, and leave large parts of Wisconsin underserved by the FBI.

Agents in these local RAs are the eyes and ears for the FBI in their jurisdictions. And, as we know, rural areas are not immune from threats that the FBI is most focused on, such as terrorism and other serious criminal enterprises. If these closures occur, hundreds of additional miles will separate the remaining RAs and the communities they must serve. For example, agents in Wausau can drive to the northernmost central counties and the Lake Superior border with Canada in nearly half the time it would take agents from the next closest RAs in Eau Claire and Green Bay. Your office has suggested that the Eau Claire RA could cover the La Crosse RAs jurisdiction. However, it takes nearly two hours to drive the 90 miles from Eau Claire to La Crosse under ideal weather conditions. These trips will only be made more difficult, and may at times be impossible, during the winter months. Furthermore, at least doubling the amount of territory for which a single RA is responsible may place an undue burden on that RA, especially when coupled with the risk of severing valuable community ties.

Over your nearly 11 years as Director of the FBI, you have emphasized the importance of the FBI working closely with its state and local law enforcement partners as well as community groups and businesses. The agents working in the RAs slated for closure have developed close working relationships with these groups. If displaced, the agents would be unable to maintain these close working relationships by virtue of geographic proximity. As you know, agents in local RAs are critical partners with local law enforcement, leveraging resources to combat terrorism and other serious crimes that are in the FBIs interest to investigate. In addition, the Department of Justice has made strengthening law enforcement relationships with tribal nations a special priority and local RAs in Wisconsin have played an important role in those efforts.

While the FBI has reoriented its priorities since September 11th, 2001 to have a much greater focus on terrorism, we all know that terrorists know no boundaries and that they will seek out and exploit gaps in our law enforcement capabilities. Terrorist organizations have taken to the Internet to encourage individuals in US cities large and small to radicalize and carry out attacks in their hometowns. You have also said that unaffiliated lone wolf extremists pose an equally serious threat. As we have seen, from the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing to the shootings at Fort Hood, rural areas can be precisely the places terrorists seek to plan and carry out attacks. While the RAs slated for closure cover rural areas, the agents in those RAs are on the ground and in the community, and most likely to be the first line of defense to prevent and respond to these threats.

The FBI plays an important role in protecting our critical infrastructure from terrorism and other threats. Many businesses and military installations that are critical to our states and our nations infrastructure security are located near the RAs proposed for closure. For example, Trane Incorporated has a plant in La Crosse that designs and manufactures cooling technology with nuclear and military applications. Dairyland Power, a decommissioned nuclear power plant just outside of the city, stores spent nuclear fuel rods. Three bridges span the Mississippi River between La Crosse and Minnesota, and a system of seven locks and dams control the rivers flow. Fort McCoy, Wisconsins largest military installation, is located less than 40 miles from La Crosse. The next closest RA in Eau Claire is 90 miles away. Volk Field Air National Guard Base is located less than 60 miles from La Crosse and would be 90 miles from the next closest RA in Madison. Local law enforcement and community members know to alert the RA when threats to infrastructure arise and the La Crosse agents can respond quickly. If these closures occur, the remaining RAs, if even alerted to a threat in the area currently covered by La Crosse, would have significantly longer response times.

As you have acknowledged in Congressional testimony, rural areas and small to mid-sized cities are not immune to serious crimes that fall under the FBIs purview, such as drug trafficking, gang violence and financial fraud. While drug trafficking has always been a pervasive problem in southeastern Wisconsin, law enforcement agencies in rural areas of the state are increasingly finding large trafficking operations in rural areas to evade authorities. You have also testified that gangs are no longer limited to urban areas, but have migrated to more rural settings. New gangs have recently infiltrated the streets of La Crosse, for instance, bringing illegal drugs such as methamphetamines from larger cities. Financial fraud can occur anywhere – a $2.5 million dollar Ponzi scheme was recently uncovered with victims spread across rural Wisconsin and Minnesota. The people who live in less populous parts of Wisconsin have a right to expect the FBI to investigate these serious crimes in their communities.

Over the past three years this Administration has made it a priority to strengthen relationships with tribal nations, particularly in the area of public safety. When President Obama signed the Tribal Law and Order Act in 2010, he said, I intend to send a clear message that all of our people, whether they live in our biggest cities or our most remote reservations, have the right to feel safe in their community and to raise their children in peace and enjoy the fullest protection of our laws. Serious crimes on tribal lands are prosecuted primarily by federal law enforcement and therefore as the primary federal law enforcement authority in Indian Country, the FBI must maintain a strong presence. The proposed closures would prevent the Menominee Safe Trails Task Force, based in Green Bay, from effectively combating the rise of gangs, drugs and violent crime in tribal lands. Agents from the Wausau and La Crosse RAs often conduct investigations on behalf of the task force due to their proximity to tribal nations. If agents from other RAs cannot reach those nations as quickly or as often, fewer crimes will be investigated and fewer perpetrators will be brought to justice. The nations trust in federal law enforcement will suffer as a result.

Closing the Wausau RA will seriously impair the relationships that have been established by this office and the two tribal nations within its jurisdiction. The Lac du Flambeau Nation is located 80 miles from the Wausau RA, but is 175 miles from the next closest RA in Green Bay. The Bad River Nation is located 150 miles from the Wausau RA, while it is 240 miles from the next closest RA in Green Bay. The Administration has made clear that combating violent crime in tribal communities and holding perpetrators accountable is a priority, but federal law enforcement remaining in Eau Claire and Green Bay will not be as effective if they are located so far away.

Further, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) specifically called on the FBI and other agencies to enhance coordination of intelligence and law enforcement resources with tribal agencies in its recently released National Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy. According to ONDCP, criminals seek out tribal lands to traffic illegal drugs across the northern border because tribes often lack the law enforcement resources to go after them. There are two Wisconsin tribal nations on Lake Superior near the border, and the closest RA is in Wausau. The ONDCPs requirement that the FBI effectively serve the public safety needs of tribal communities will be difficult to achieve if the Wausau RA closes and the remaining RAs must travel great distances to reach the tribal lands.

I understand that the FBI plans to maintain the number of agents in Wisconsin and will move agents from La Crosse and Wausau to Eau Claire in order to continue to cover the La Crosse and Wausau RA territories. However, these assurances do not assuage the serious concerns raised in this letter about the ability of these agents to quickly respond to threats in both rural and more populated areas in Wisconsin. Moreover, these distances will inhibit the ability of the FBI to develop and maintain the close ties with local law enforcement and the community necessary to maintain the utmost vigilance in protecting the people, Native American tribes, and critical infrastructure in this large geographic area.

Thank youfor your prompt attention to this matter. Again, I look forward to working with you to modify the FBIs proposal to ensure that our federal law enforcement officers have the tools they need to keep the people of Wisconsin safe.

INLINE: PRO ARTE QUARTET

Performing in 1940 in Madison, Wis., the Pro Arte Quartet learned, while onstage, that its native country had been invaded by Germany. Unsure what to do, the group finished its performance, then sought musical asylum, remaining in the United States and flourishing artistically. It became the first quartet in residence at any major American university, dwelling at the University of Wisconsin.

Today, the ensemble, which was founded in 1911-12, remains a fixture in the world of strings, setting the standard for those who seek to marry skilled playing and exemplary education. “From its very founding, the Pro Arte Quartet has been known as an exponent of modern music,” University of Missouri Professor Eva Szekely noted in an email. Szekely added the group’s success paved the way for other quartets-in-residence like MU’s Esterhazy Quartet, of which she’s a member, to exist.

The current Pro Arte lineup is squarely in the middle of celebrating its centennial with a full season of concerts and several newly commissioned pieces in tow. The tour brings the ensemble to Columbia next week as part of the University Concert Series.

Playing in the group is “a little like” playing for “the New York Yankees or something,” said cellist Parry Karp, who has played with the quartet for 36 years. “None of them are original members, but they feel that tradition there, and they try to keep living up to that.” The current incarnation of the quartet — which features Karp, violinists David Perry and Suzanne Beia and violist Sally Chisholm — has been playing together since 1995. “Some people say quartets age like wine — that takes a long time,” Karp said. “It’s a very complicated thing because you need four strong individuals, but you also want to sound as one.”

Speaking to the unique roles and relationships within quartets, Szekely said: “A string quartet, they say, functions much like a marriage only harder since it is made up of four individuals. Close working relationships develop; one learns to accept each member’s strengths and weaknesses, to appreciate what they bring to the ensemble and to handle differences of opinion as a natural path to reaching consensus, all in the interest of the common goal: to present the best artistic performance possible. A quartet with the long tradition of the Pro Arte has gone thru many changes in their personnel. … Ample time is needed to allow for the necessary adjustments, and the Pro Arte Quartet has navigated these occurrences over the decades with admirable success.”

In one sense, the group’s members can read each other as well or better than they can decipher the musical scores before them, developing a sensitivity and awareness to each other’s movements and phrasing, Karp said; in a wholly other sense, they continue to push ahead, constantly revisiting standards of the string quartet canon and embracing progressive new works.

“The quartet repertoire is one of the greatest repertoires in Western music,” Karp said. “And it has remained very, very viable in the 20th and now in the 21st century. Hundreds of quartets are being written every year because great composers are very challenged and interested in writing for it. I think it’s because you can get such an incredible blend, and then … if you want to, you can have four distinct individual voices.”

Indeed, four modern composers — Walter Mays, Paul Schoenfield, William Bolcom and John Harbison — are marking the centennial with new compositions. The group will perform Mays’ “String Quartet No. 2 — Dreaming Butterfly” in Columbia, and the composer, a professor at Wichita State University, has plans to be in town for the concert, Karp said.

Audiences who have heard Mays’ quartet have found it “very engaging,” Karp said. The piece achieves an intersection between folklore and a string-laden fever dream; the work is based on the common Chinese tale of Chuang Tzu, an early philosopher who chronicled a curious dream in which he became a butterfly. After waking and recognizing his human form, he began to wonder whether he had dreamed himself a butterfly or whether he actually was a butterfly, dreaming up his entire human existence. Fittingly, Karp described the piece’s tone as playful and amorous at times, beautiful and funereal at others. An entire movement, he said, is played solely with pizzicato, or a plucking technique.

Mays’ work is bookended on Thursday’s program by Haydn’s “String Quartet in C Major, Opus 54, No. 2″ and a work for a quartet by Belgian songsmith Cesar Franck. The former “includes one of the most beautiful slow movements I think Haydn ever wrote.” Franck’s piece, among the last he ever completed, is “symphonic in scope” yet possesses “very personal harmonic language,” Karp said.

“It’s a very honest work, too,” he added. “It’s not heard, I think, as often as it should be. We’re playing it a lot this season — it’s a great pleasure to play it because it’s a real masterpiece.”

Adding another layer of meaning, Franck’s work was adopted by his countrymen in the original Pro Arte Quartet. At the time the group originated, the piece was barely two decades old and became something of a cornerstone of its repertoire. This threading-together of the classical and modern and the historic and innovative is truly at the heart of what the quartet does. As group members interact with the students in their university’s robust chamber music program and audiences from all corners of life, they hope not to point to themselves but to those who have supplied them with notes and rhythms and accents.

“Hopefully, we inspire them to see this incredible repertoire and what a wonderful existence it is to have as your daily companions the greatest composers that ever lived, who wrote some of the greatest works for this combination,” Karp said.

Reach Aarik Danielsen at 573-815-1731 or e-mail ajdanielsen@columbiatribune.com.

Copyright 2012 Columbia Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Navajo Nation Delegates met with New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez on February 3 to discuss its working relationships. Pictured, from left are, President Ben Shelly, First Lady Martha Shelly, Gov. Martinez, Council Delegate LoRenzo Bates, Council Delegate Mel Begay and Council Delegate Edmund Yazzie.

Senior safety professionals from partner organization on Fort Belvoir and in the Military District of Washington shared ideas on how to make the installation a safer place to live and work, during a meet and greet Jan. 26, at the Fort Belvoir Officers Club.

The Fort Belvoir Safety Office hosted the first meeting with more than 15 organizations to improve its communication and working relationships in order to quickly and efficiently resolve safety issues in the future.

To have a good safety program, I think the bottom line is building good relationships with people, said Henry Brown, MDW Command Safety, Fort Lesley J. McNair. I think the benefit of today is for us to share ideas and listen to others ideas. If you need assistance with something, Im sure somebody in this room has figured it out already.

Members of the Belvoir safety office gave presentations on the purpose of the meeting and stressed how timely reporting can help the safety office solve problems faster.

The best development that came out of the meeting was building relationships so they can all help one another in the future, said organization representatives.

Safety is everyones job, said Dorothy Lymuel, American Water Environmental Health amp; Safety Manager. If everyone is on the same sheet of music it makes the song hum. Ive met quite a few of the safety people here, but there are quite a few Ive never seen before. This guy may have experiences he can share with me when I have an issue so I dont have to reinvent the wheel. It saves time, money and lives.

The benefit of good working relationships amongst the safety professionals is important to people outside of those groups as well.

Fort Belvoir Garrison Commander Col. John Strycula shared his expectations of the safety professionals at Fort Belvoir. He stressed that collaboration is essential to managing the overall safety posture for all partners on Fort Belvoir. Working together and empowering additional duty safety representatives in each unit allows everyone to gain valuable resources.

Headquarters Department of the Army, Army Headquarters Services has been on Fort Belvoir for a little over a year. Having the opportunity to meet groups that have been in similar situations will be a huge benefit to HQDA, according to Donald Green, HQDA, Army Headquarters Services chief safety officer.

The lessons they have learned will help us out enormously, said Green. A lot of these organizations and groups are already off the ground and running. We get lessons learned and better business practices.

Green is in charge of 12 buildings on post and shares industrial hygiene and other inspection information with the Fort Belvoir Safety Office.

The Belvoir safety office and safety organization employees expressed an interest in implementing these meetings as recurring events in order to continue to grow the safety operation on post and in the MDW.

This is just the beginning of something that can be very beneficial, said Susan Roeder, Fort Belvoir Safety director. We have a lot of tenant units at Belvoir, plus we have units in the surrounding areas that if we work together we can have a better safety program.

Now that all three members of Lady Antebellum have found love, it brings a new dynamic to the trio, according to newly married Lady A member Hillary Scott. Were all happier, says Hillary, who is on the road with fellow Lady Antebellum members Dave Haywood and Charles Kelley on the second leg of their Own the Night 2012 World Tour. Weve always had a really close friendship from the beginning, but I think weve seen each other grow. Ill speak for myself that Im in a much happier place. Were excited to all be going through the same things quickly after the other, so its really fun. Love is in the air.

Hillary married drummer Chris Tyrrell in January, and Dave proposed to girlfriend Kelli Cashiola in December.

For Charles, who wed wife Cassie McConnell in 2009, having the other two members of Lady Antebellum now experiencing new love and marriage adds a fresh dimension to the friendship in the trio. They can relate to me now, Charles told reporters prior to a No. 1 celebration for their songs Just a Kiss and We Owned the Night. Its interesting. I was the first one to get married and it was very interesting coming onto a bus with two single people, so its nice [that they are] going through the same thing and you know were gonna figure out the next step when kids come, what thats going to be. Well stick them in the bottom bay of the bus so you dont hear them when they cry, he jokes.

[Well] make a really wicked nursery under there, chimes in Hillary. The familys grown.

For now, Hillary is content starting married life with husband Chris, and she says she cherishes each stage of life. I think you have to enjoy where you are in that moment. I have a lot of great memories being single on the road with these guys, but Im also so excited about starting a life with my husband and the fact that its a new chapter.