Real-life job skills. The joy of cooking. Friendship and camaraderie

References on a résumé. Hope for a more stable life.

Such is the bounty that comes to mothers working at Plates Café and Catering, a program of the St. John's Shelter Program for Women and Children.

The training program prepares mothers who were homeless for careers in the restaurant and hospitality sectors. So far, the 2-year-old program has trained 38 women, with 89 percent placed in jobs. Twenty-eight more are in training.

Plates Café, at Depot Park in south Sacramento, is a restaurant that serves weekday lunches and offers catering services. The trainees learn all aspects of food service and hospitality – from food safety to menu planning to serving.

The income from Plates goes toward St. John's Shelter programs. Plates trainees live at the shelter or in subsidized housing, and receive services such as child care and transportation.

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Four years ago Norfolk Police joined forces across the country in adopting black zip-up polo shirts and combat trousers which are considered ''more practical and hard-wearing''.

It was part of a trend which has gradually seen bobbies move away from the traditional shirt and tunic favoured by Dixon of Dock Green towards a look described by some as ''paramilitary''.

But from January, 47 officers from Norfolk's Wymondham safer neighbourhood team will take part in a trial of specially designed white shirts.

A Norfolk Police spokeswoman said: ''The white shirt sees a return to the traditional image of British policing with a collar and tie replacing the black zip-up polo shirt.

''Independent academic research has identified that the public regard the time-honoured image of police officers as more professional, honest and approachable than its black counterpart.''

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Jackie Hernandez’s face lights up when she talks about working with children at Ferguson K-8 School in York, Pa., and her goal to collect 835 complete uniforms for needy children there. Hernandez, 33, a senior in the human development and family studies (HD FS) program at Penn State York, is conducting the uniform drive as part of her internship under the guidance of faculty member JeanMarie St. Clair-Christman, Ph.D., assistant professor of HD FS. 

A collection box is located in the lobby of the Main Classroom Building outside the admissions office and advising and career development through Thursday, Nov. 29. Donation boxes were also located at Old Navy on Route 30 through Nov. 13.

Items to be collected include shirts - solid colors, blue and white; pants - khaki and blue jeans; children’s coats - small, medium and large; and coats for teenagers - all sizes.

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If you've seen any Audrain County deputies out patrolling lately, you may have noticed something different.

The deputies are sporting new uniforms and have traded in their brown and tan colors, worn since the 1980s, for a charcoal gray ensemble. 

"We've been looking into changing colors and have been working with the uniform company for a while, and we all agreed unanimously on charcoal gray. And, it does look sharp," Sheriff Stuart Miller announced Thursday. The new department uniform, he said, is charcoal gray shirts, black pants (gray stripes up each pant leg), with black ties and a black hats. 

While some deputies are already sporting the new digs, Miller said there are some still waiting for theirs.

"The reserve and patrol division and court bailiffs have already started wearing their uniforms. The jail division uniforms will be ordered after the first of the year," Miller said.

Department uniforms were traditionally purchased by deputies using the department's $600 uniform allowance that is offered in intervals of $300 twice a year – once in June and once in December "to help keep the uniforms looking good," the sheriff said. From now on, Miller said the uniforms will be purchased through the department budget and that "everyone in the department is on board with that decision."

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Under their new collective bargaining agreement, Transportation Security Administration officers get to spend more taxpayer money on their uniforms every year than a United States Marine Corps lieutenant can spend in a lifetime.

“TSA employees will see their uniform allowances nearly double to $446 per year,” the House Transportation Committee noted on the TSA’s new collective bargaining agreement.  “By comparison, a combat Marine Lieutenant receives a one-time uniform allowance of $400.  The cost of the increase in TSA uniform allowance is an estimated $9.63 million annually.”

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., faulted TSA for failing to streamline its bureaucracy or address criticism of security failures, such as the recent inspector general report on the failure to screen checked baggage at the airport in Honolulu, Hawaii.

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Local Girl Scouts will celebrate this 100th anniversary year of the organization’s founding on Veterans Day, when 25 Scouts will march in Nashua’s parade wearing vintage uniforms representing each of the 10 decades.

The parade, which will kick off at about 11:20 a.m. Sunday at Holman Stadium after military ceremonies, will go east on Amherst Street and south on Main Street to Lake Street. It will disband at Elm Street Middle School.

Girl Scouts of America founder Juliette Gordon Low organized the first troop on March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Ga. Jane Murray, a lifetime Girl Scout and Nashua Scout leader, said there are 2.3 million Girl Scouts and about 890,000 adults, primarily volunteers, in the nation.

Murray said the uniforms the local Scouts will wear are official GSA uniforms. They will highlight the changes in fashion for girls and women throughout Scouting’s 100 years. Each adult leader will wear the original 1912 uniform design.

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Search and rescue (SAR) teams from around the country, including Marlborough, have been provided with matching uniforms so they will be more easily identified by members of the public.

The overalls with SAR's grey and orange checkerboard colours have plenty of pockets for all their gear and are highly visible in the bush.

Previously, each region organised their own uniforms but after the Canterbury earthquakes, when units from around the country assisted in Christchurch, a need was recognised for uniformity.

Members of Marlborough SAR are front from left, Oli Polson, former chairman John Scobie, chairman Daryl Sladen, Malcolm Brenndan, Mark Boyd and Russell Montgomery; centre from left, John King, Alister Neal and Karen King; rear from left, Terry Stevens, Paul Rennie, Corbin Moore, Alex Bradley and Haydn Sutton.

When Mad Men first arrived on our screens in 2007, it ushered in a nostalgic craze for 1950s pencil skirts and buttoned-up blouses. And, from Louis Vuitton to Topshop, the "secretary" look has remained popular over the last few years. This fashion originated in a time when there were few attractive career options open to women, but becoming a flight attendant was one of them. The cabin aisle quickly became a place for fashions à la mode, and that tapered office look took to the skies as young women embraced the opportunity to get out of the typing pool and travel the world.

The women serving the Don Drapers of the day their in-flight old fashioneds wore beige skirt suits, complete with pillbox hats and salmon-colored scarfs or, a couple of years later, bright-red minidresses. We know this because we can see them in Cliff Muskiet's vast collection of flight-attendant uniforms.The 47-year-old Dutchman has been collecting cabin-crew uniforms for more than 20 years, photographing them and putting them up on his website.The fashion world often turns to nostalgia for inspiration, and Muskiet's collection takes that obsession with retro style to a whole new level. He now has more than 1,000 pieces, from airlines as diverse as Air Burkina, Carnival and Wizz Air. Muskiet, who has himself been working as a flight attendant for KLM since 1987, explains his obsession over the phone from Amsterdam.

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Beginning Nov. 1, Mount Vernon Police will take a new look onto the streets as they switch from gray to navy blue uniforms.

The current uniforms use a light gray shirt and charcoal gray slacks, but the color is not the biggest difference between the two uniforms. The old uniform pants are wool and need to be dry cleaned. The new uniforms are a poly-rayon blend and permanent press, water repellent, reinforced in key stress areas and have a slight stretch factor so they move with the officer.

Cpl. Robert Morgan showed off the new uniform to city council Monday and talked about the details Thursday.

Morgan said the new uniforms are more comfortable, have more features and are easier to get when they hire a new officer or need to replace a damaged uniform.

The officers will also be receiving new nylon equipment belts and holsters, but they are not in yet. The nylon will cost about half as much as the old leather belts, wear better and are lighter.

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TTC chairman Karen Stintz guarantees transit workers won’t be wearing maroon and grey after they redesign the Red Rocket’s uniforms.

Stintz said the TTC is planning to revamp its uniforms as one part of the ongoing push to modernize the system.

"It doesn’t need to cost a lot of money because we pay for the uniforms anyway,” Stintz said Tuesday. “Whether we pay for dated polyester uniforms or we pay for more modern comfortable uniforms is something I think we should be looking at.”

Stintz wouldn’t speculate on what colour or colours the new uniforms may be.

“I’ve had enough controversy for a little while so I’m not going to pick a colour and have everyone decide they hate it because I didn’t consult,” she said. “I think it is fair to say they will not be maroon and grey.”

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