All Posts in "Everything Else"

Learn about installing rain gardens using native plants in landscaping, the concept behind “minimum risk pesticides” and much more at the free Natural Yard Care Workshop on Nov. 9 from 8 a.m. to noon.

Space is limited and pre-registration is required by this Friday, Nov. 4. To register for the workshop contact Teresa Lewis at 253-798-2480 or tlewis1@co.pierce.wa.us.

The workshop was originally offered for landscapers and is now opened up to the public as well. Pierce County, in partnership with the City of Tacoma and the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, will host this workshop at the Tacoma Mall Plaza, located at 2702 South 42nd Street, Room 210, Tacoma, WA 98409.

More information, including presentations offered at the workshop, is available at www.piercecountywa.org/naturalyardcare.

Contributing Author by — November 2, 2011 in Everything Else

Initiative 1163 must be defeated because its $80 million cost cannot be paid for without tax increases or cuts to vital senior services.  Like the rest of the nation, the State of Washington has grappled with crippling budget deficits for four legislative sessions.  With Governor Gregoire calling a special 30-day legislative session to deal with the crisis, there’s an additional 1.4 billion reasons to oppose I-1163.

As the Washington Research Council wrote in its new initiative analysis:  “I-1163:  One, twice, still not a priority.”

Voters, don’t be fooled. I-1163 represents the wrong priorities.  Mandatory caregiver training and criminal background checks are already required by law.  I-1163 costs $80 million in the next two years and benefits just one interest group – Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

Every daily newspaper in the state, including the News Tribune and the Seattle Times, have taken a position on this measure and urge voters to say NO 1163.

State officials agree.  At a time when they couldn’t agree on much, 82 percent of lawmakers voted to delay the previous training initiative, I-1029.  At a time when the Legislature was eliminating entire programs, elected officials were unwilling to fund a new government project.  Only SEIU and their few allies supported the expensive new program.

Last spring, the Legislature cut more than $500 million in medical services and in-home care to seniors and adults with disabilities.  Eliminated were vision and hearing aids, dental care, and a reduction in prescription drugs coverage.  In-home care services, which allow seniors and the people with disabilities to safely stay in their homes with the help of visiting caregivers, were slashed. Overall, there were more than $2 billion in cuts at DSHS, affecting children, the mentally ill, and the working poor.  Other areas of the state budget were slashed as well, including public education and prisons staffing.

Less than four months later, state agencies have prepared additional 10 percent cutbacks to address the latest shortfall, including the elimination of another $873 million at DSHS.  Care will end for 17,000 seniors and adults with disabilities; the Health Care Authority has sharply reduced emergency room visits for poor people receiving Medicaid; and our correctional facilities are releasing hundreds of inmates and mental patients into the community.

The state is desperate for money.  There is simply no way to pay for I-1163.

Our industry is absolutely committed to the highest standards of training and professional business practices.   That isn’t what this initiative is about. It’s about a powerful special interest writing self-serving policy for their own benefit.

How does SEIU propose to pay the $80 million price tag of I-1163?   SEIU’s selfish, cavalier approach to the current budget crisis is unconscionable. Whose medical services will be eliminated to pay for I-1163? Whose school lunches do they intend to cut? Whose taxes do they intend to raise?  How many seniors will go without care so the SEIU can fund their training program?

In addition to forcing a new program onto an unwilling state government, 1163 will require significant new costs on long term care, which will drive up the cost for residents and clients.  Nursing homes, adult family homes, and home care businesses will have to pay thousands of dollars per year to fund SEIU’s new program.  How many long term care workers will lose their jobs?  How many vulnerable adults will see the quality of their care diminished because long term care centers are forced to cut costs to pay for new training they neither want nor need?

To preserve services for seniors and people with disabilities, the only responsible thing to do is vote NO on 1163.

For addition information on the No on Initiative 1163 campaign, please visit: http://www.no1163.com/

 

(Julie Ferguson is co-chair of People Protecting Our Seniors – NO 1163 (www.no1163.com) is a broad-based coalition that includes organizations advocating for senior protection, disability rights, residential housing, long term care, business and consumer advocates.  The coalition members care for more than 500,000 seniors and people with disabilities in the State of Washington.)

Contributing Author by — October 28, 2011 in Everything Else

One in eight older Americans has Alzheimer’s disease.  According to a special report on Alzheimer’s disease put out by the Alzheimer’s Association, the number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease will escalate rapidly in the next 10 to 20 years as the baby boomer generation ages.  And while Alzheimer’s disease was first identified more than 100 years ago, it hasn’t been until the last 30 years that there has been any momentum in the research for symptoms, causes, risk factors or treatments.  Which leaves the 14.9 million unpaid caregivers with few resources.

Artist and author, Dan Koffman is trying to change that.  Koffman’s father had Alzheimer’s and his experience watching the toll on his mother while she cared for his father eventually led to his publishing several picture books designed to provide engagement and conversation with individuals with dementia.  Each book includes large pictures of easily recognized objects (fruits or hand tools for instance) with the goal of stimulating communication.  Koffman continued that theme in his latest book, Life in the US Military, which focuses on veterans with memory loss.  Over 600,000 military veterans have memory loss.  His latest book is a partnership with the Ladies Auxiliary VFW and includes familiar military themes such as equipment, a salute and vehicles.

Koffman hopes to write 30 different titles in all.  When he’s not working on that project, he’s on the web with a weekly webcast called Operation: Never Forget! Which focuses on veterans with memory loss and creating a support structure for caregivers.  To find him online go to webtalkradio.net/shows/operation-never-forget.  To learn more about his books or to order one, go to www.lifeintheusmilitary.com.  The book can be ordered online or a mail in order form is available for download.

Bonnie Dickson by — October 26, 2011 in Everything Else

What do a P-51, a concert violin, a toy train collection and an old beach cabin have in common?
All four were turned into creative gifts to charity, made in lieu of cash.

That’s right. Your favorite nonprofit might be the best place to give things you had never considered giving them, because you figured what they need most is cash to sustain their missions.

What sorts of things?  Maybe your spouse collects vintage baseballs, but none of your daughters wants to inherit them.  Maybe you inherited a beach cabin back in Minnesota, but you never use it.  Maybe you wound up with a classic Dusenberg that is gathering dust in a garage.

The best market for memorabilia is usually another collector.   If you donate them to a favorite charity instead, three good things happen.  The charity sells them for cash, you may receive a tax break, and those baseballs still wind up in the hands of someone who loves them.

Likewise, that old cabin on the lake you feel guilty for neglecting can provide a hefty gift to charity, allowing you to hang on to other assets for your own use.   This makes a lot of sense, especially when other assets have declined in value.

You also receive a subtle bonus when you turn a keepsake into a charitable gift.  If you simply sell it, you might suffer seller’s remorse.  Giving it to charity triggers a ripple effect.   That concert violin might fund a scholarship for a music student.   That vintage car might provide job training for someone struggling to find work.

Check the attic.  What you thought was part of your dusty past may have a future.

Mike Robinson is Senior Vice President of Planned Giving at United Way of Pierce County. Please consult a qualified estate planner before making a charitable gift.

Contributing Author by — October 26, 2011 in Everything Else