The Department of Health and Human Services this week released its updated list of Health Professional Shortage Areas. It is a very long list, and so is broken up into four links, which follow, in both standard text format and in PDF format.
Text links
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-moses/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=page+56027-56076
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-moses/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=page+56077-56126
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-moses/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=page+56127-56176
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-moses/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=page+56177-56186
PDF links
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-moses/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=page+56027-56076.pdf
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-moses/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=page+56077-56126.pdf
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-moses/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=page+56127-56176.pdf
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-moses/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2000_register&docid=page+56177-56186.pdf
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Officials in the Chicago area recently seized several machines used to make fraudulent documents, several hundred fake green cards and Social Security Cards, as well as $2500 in cash.
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Officials in Phoenix have broken up three separate fraudulent document rings with the arrests of almost 20 people, including four people employed by the state, three by the Motor Vehicle Division and one by the Department of Transportation. During the three-month investigation, 30 to 35 fake IDs were sold each week. They were sold for $1200 to $1500 each. The fake IDs looked authentic because they were made by the state, and the information on the IDs was placed in government computers, meaning that they would register as real if checked. The information placed in the computers, however, was false.
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The Washington, D.C. subway system, the Metro, facing a shortage of qualified escalator mechanics in the US, is looking abroad for workers. It currently employs only half of the 102 mechanics needed to maintain its elevators and escalators. This means that repairs take twice as long as they should, resulting in customer anger and complaints. Metro has advertised for mechanics in 25 cities, but has not had any luck, in part because of the low wages offered. The wages are set by a union contract. To find the necessary employees, Metro is investigating Eastern European countries, where there are a number of skilled mechanics out of work. If Metro finds and hires foreign workers, it would be the first mass transit system in the US to employ foreign workers.
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Two immigrant welcome centers recently opened their doors in Iowa. The facilities, in Muscatine and Sioux City, offer job placement services, child care, assistance with transportation and housing, and English classes. They are part of Gov. Tom Vilsack’s efforts to increase immigration to the state to make up for its decreasing population.
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Last week we mentioned the case of an immigration inspector in Nogales who has been suspended following allegations that he misused a federal law enforcement database to check on the records of friends. The inspector’s attorney is planning to fight the FBI, which conducted the investigation. He believes the inspector has been the victim of selective prosecution based on his race, pointing out that most minor violations such as this do not receive the publicity the government has generated over this one.
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Courts in South Florida are having an increasing problem conducting some trials because of a shortage of federally certified Haitian Creole interpreters. Because the government suspended the certification testing for Creole, there won’t be any more interpreters in the near future. The government maintains that the limited need for Creole interpreters does not justify the cost of providing the certification test, about $500,000. Of more than 160,000 federal trials during 1999 that needed interpretation, only 533 required Creole interpretation. A person does not have to be federally certified to translate in federal court. However, some certified translators are concerned that judges do not have the knowledge necessary to determine whether a translator is qualified.
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Sunday, September 17 was Citizenship Day, and saw many oath ceremonies across the country. One ceremony was held on board the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where 191 people were sworn in as US citizens. In South Florida, more than 7,000 people participated in a single ceremony on Sunday, and on Monday another 7,000 were sworn in.
