• Stay Active with the Winter Walk Challenge
• Make the Most of Working from Home
• New Laws for Motorists
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day: Kindness Rocks!

Join the Winter Walk Challenge

Make it an active new year with the Winter Walk Challenge! Walking is all it takes to complete weekly challenges and earn entries in our Monday drawings for $35 Amazon gift cards.

Your name will be entered in the iPad Grand Prize Drawing just for signing up, so sign up today!

Making the Best of Working from Home

It can be difficult to stay focused and active while working from home. After months of trying different strategies, here are the methods the 511 Contra Costa team found most helpful:

Take active breaks. A heart-healthy 15-minute walk benefits both body and mind for a more enjoyable and productive workday. (Your four-legged friend won’t mind either!)

Go ‘out’ for lunch. Set up a picnic in another room to get away from your work area for a bit. You might also try dining al fresco at a nearby park with some take-out or a brown-bag lunch.

Stand up. Mix things up so you’re not sitting all day. Stand-up desks can cost as little as $250.

New Year, New Laws for Motorists

With 2021 now upon us, here are three new laws affecting motorists worth knowing about:

Unattended children in motor vehicles: Exempts a person from civil or criminal liability for trespassing or damaging a vehicle when rescuing a child who is 6 years old or younger in immediate danger from heat, cold, lack of ventilation, or other dangerous circumstances. [Effective Jan. 1, 2021]

“Move Over, Slow Down” amendments: The “Move Over, Slow Down” law has been expanded to apply to local streets and roads. Drivers approaching a stationary emergency vehicle displaying emergency lights, including tow trucks and Caltrans vehicles, must move to another lane when possible, or slow to a reasonable speed on all highways, not just freeways. [Effective Jan. 1, 2021]

Points for distracted driving: Beginning July 1, violating the hands-free law for a second time within 36 months of a prior conviction for the same offense will result in a point being added to a driving record.

MLK, Jr. Day: Kindness Rocks!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is January 18, and it’s the only federal holiday designated as a national day of service. It’s often promoted as a day ‘on’ instead of a day off to encourage volunteerism and acts of kindness.

Embrace the spirit of the day by doing something uplifting in your community – rake leaves for a neighbor, make a donation to a food bank, or leave a painted kindness rock or chalk art message during your Winter Walk Challenge outing. Doing good will make you feel great!