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A competition bringing together athletes with intellectual disabilities from around the world will be immortalized on a new postage stamp.
© USPS 2015
The U.S. Postal Service is issuing a commemorative stamp in honor of the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles this summer.
The Forever stamp went on sale nationwide Saturday. It features the logo for this summer’s competition, which will be held July 25 to August 2.
“The Postal Service is pleased to honor Special Olympics, an organization that — for nearly five decades — has changed the world by creating opportunities for children and adults with intellectual disabilities,” said Dean Granholm, pacific area vice president for the postal service. “Using these stamps on your cards, letters and packages is a great way to show your support for these athletes.”
Special Olympics holds alternating winter and summer world games every two years in locations around the globe.
The Los Angeles games are expected to draw over 7,000 athletes from 177 countries, including 344 competitors from across the United States.
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In more good news, New Hampshire is about to become the first state to make it illegal to pay those with disabilities less than the minimum wage:
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With legislation signed this week, New Hampshire is set to become the first state in the nation to make it illegal for people with disabilities to be paid less than minimum wage.
Gov. Maggie Hassan signed a bill Thursday prohibiting subminimum wage in New Hampshire. The new law will take effect in 60 days.
“New Hampshire has a strong tradition of treating all of our citizens with respect and dignity, and by making New Hampshire the first state to prohibit employers from paying subminimum wages to people who experience disabilities, Senate Bill 47 helps build on that tradition,” Hassan said.
Previously, New Hampshire law allowed employers to obtain permission to pay those with physical or mental impairments less than minimum wage.
Though no businesses in the state are currently taking advantage of the provision, Hassan said that updating the state’s policies to officially end the practice affirms that “fully including all people is critical to the strength of our society, our democracy and our economy.”
Since the 1930s, federal law has allowed employers to request special permission from the U.S. Department of Labor to pay those with disabilities less than the federal minimum, which is currently $7.25 per hour. However, the issue has become divisive in recent years.
In 2012, the National Council on Disability recommended to President Barack Obama that subminimum wage be phased out and a federal law passed last year instituted new limits on who’s eligible to enter employment situations paying less than minimum wage. Nonetheless, many families and advocates continue to argue that there is a place for sheltered workshops and similar opportunities for individuals unable to thrive in competitive employment.
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On the bad news front: a teacher in Marietta, Georgia is accused of putting a boy with autism in a trash can:
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A veteran special education teacher is accused of putting a second-grader with autism in a trash can, saying his behavior was similar to Oscar the Grouch on “Sesame Street,” according to school system police.
Mary Katherine Pursley, a teacher at Mt. Bethel Elementary in Marietta, Ga., was attempting to calm the child during an after-school program last Thursday, witnesses told police.
“The accused talked with the victim about Oscar the Grouch and his ‘trashy behavior’,” Pursley’s arrest warrant states. “The accused told the victim, ‘If he had trashy behavior like Oscar, he’d go to the trash can.'”
Pursley then allegedly picked up the child by his legs, held him upside down and put him head-first into a trash can, according to police.
“Are you going to stop yelling now?” Pursley asked the boy, witnesses said.
The boy was crying, screaming and yelling “stop” while being held by Pursley, the arrest warrant states. She then set the boy down on the floor. The incident was witnessed by two paraprofessionals and the school after-school director. Other students in the classroom also witnessed Pursley’s actions, according to police.
Pursley, 45, of Atlanta, was arrested Monday night and charged with cruelty to children in the first degree, Cobb County jail records showed. She was released early Tuesday after posting $5,000 bond.
Pursley, who has been with the school district for 21 years, is on administrative leave with pay while the matter is under review, a spokeswoman for the school system said.
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