Access Alaska

91 Arrested When ADAPT Told Obama Administration Won't Support Inclusion of Long Term Services in Health Care Reform

Washington, D.C.--- Ten members of ADAPTB met with Obama Administration officials in the White House today, and came away disappointed at the lack of commitment from the administration on inclusion of long term services and supports in health care reform. The administration stated that its only commitment currently is to extend insurance to the people who are uninsured, and that the people in nursing homes and institutions would need to continue to wait until an unspecified time in the future when it is proven that the health care reform worked. Angered by that response, 500 ADAPT members immediately stretched out along the White House fence, using handcuffs and chains to secure themselves. The Capitol Police ultimately arrested 91 people.

"This is unequivocally a civil rights issue, and we thought we had a civil rights president," said Bruce Darling, ADAPT Organizer from Rochester, New York. "He took the oath of office on the Lincoln bible, and has spoken repeatedly about inclusion and integration. But after today, it seems clear that inclusion doesn't apply to us or to the thousands of people trapped for years behind institution and nursing home walls and those of us who are aging with nursing homes looming in our futures. Instead of the promised 'change' we are just getting more of the same old thing."

Obama officials in the one hour meeting with ADAPT included Nancy-Ann De Parle, Counselor to the President and Director of the White House Office of Health Reform, aka the President's Health Care Czar; Jeff Crowley, Director of Office of National AIDS Policy and an advisor on the administration's development of disability policies; Henry Claypool, Director of the Office of Disability in Health and Human Services (HHS); and Mike Hash, coordinator of the HHS-White House reform efforts.

"My heart is broken," said Dawn Russell, ADAPT organizer in Denver, Colorado. "Throughout the Presidential campaign, ADAPT worked hard to educate the Obama campaign. We came to believe in the Obama promise of 'change,' and we really believed that President Obama was the person who really would 'free our people' from being imprisoned in nursing homes and other institutions. Untold numbers of people have died or been abused waiting for th eir freedom, and we just got told we aren't important enough and so we have to keep waiting."

ADAPT will be making visits to Congress during the week, seeking more co-sponsors for the Community Choice Act, legislation which would give older and disabled Americans the choice to live in their own homes and communities with the services and supports they need. Current Medicaid policy forces people into nursing homes and other institutions in order to get the assistance they need, despite the fact that both the aging and disabled communities have consistently indicated they prefer home and community based services to the generally higher cost institutional services that rob them of control of their lives.

"The President can give millions more people health insurance, but if health care reform doesn't include long term services and supports, then all the health care in the world won't keep those people from being forced into nursing homes against their will," said Linda Anthony, ADAPT Organizer from Pennsylvania.

# # # FOR MORE INFORMATION on ADAPT visit our website at http://www.adapt.org/

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By Cindy Skrzycki
Tuesday, February 24, 2009; D02

The Bush administration shut off a source of information last fall about abuse and neglect in long-term care facilities that people suing nursing homes consider crucial to their cases.

The change, which affects the $144 billion nursing-home industry, was enacted with no public notice or attention.

"This is pretty stunning," said Mark Kosieradzki, a plaintiff attorney in Plymouth, Minn. "Nobody was told. It was just done."

The rule designates state inspectors and Medicare and Medicaid contractors as federal employees, a group usually shielded from providing evidence for either side in private litigation.

The restrictions affect about 16,000 nursing facilities and 3 million residents in the United States. The practical effect is to force litigants to go to greater lengths, including seeking court orders, to get inspection reports or depositions for cases they are pursuing or defending.

"This change hurts nursing-home residents and their families by allowing bad practices to be kept in secret by nursing homes and inspectors," said Eric M. Carlson, an attorney with the National Senior Citizens Law Center in Los Angeles. "Government inspectors have the right to go into nursing homes and investigate, and they learn things that residents and families otherwise could never find out."

The new rule, which was issued in September, generally prohibits state health departments and contractors from participating in private lawsuits involving facilities that are in the federal assistance program without approval by the head of the Department of Health and Human Services.

The rule was justified as being necessary to accommodate the hiring of new contractors to make Medicare payments to providers, perform audit and fraud reviews, and do survey, certification and enforcement work for the program.

Requests for these employees to participate in private cases "divert employees from their federal survey, certification and enforcement responsibilities," the Bush administration said in a supporting document. "The cumulative effect of these requests can impede these activities."

The effect of the directives has started to play out in the nation's courtrooms. Requests for information, once fairly routine, now are stalled between state and federal officials.

Anne Marie Regan, an attorney with the Kentucky Equal Justice Center, a nonprofit poverty legal advocacy and research center, said the change has slowed a case she is pursuing on behalf of an 85-year-old man who was evicted from a nursing home in 2007.

Priscilla Shoemaker, legal counsel for the American Health Care Association in Washington, said nursing homes "are in the same boat" because they also have difficulty getting information on how state inspectors determine penalties, citations and orders to shut down homes.

From the Washington Post.

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Tags: autism, vaccine, children

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All the entities concerned with the operation, ownership, and management of Mary Conrad Center, including the SOA, are continuing discussions with potential new owners. Should the need arise; the provisional license will be considered for extension.

December 24, 2008 - State grants Mary Conrad home temporary license

The owner of the embattled Mary Conrad Center has agreed to sell the home within 60 days, state health officials said Wednesday.

The health department seized control of the nursing home last Thursday after a five-day investigation, revoking its license and saying it posed an "immediate danger to the health, safety or welfare" of its roughly 90 residents.

The state found medication errors, unclean kitchens and residents with unattended injuries, among other problems, said Public Health Director Beverly Wooley.

December 19, 2008 - State assumes control of nursing home

More here

State health officials said today they are taking over a long-term care center in Anchorage due to the alleged "immediate danger to the health, safety or welfare" of its residents.

he 78-unit Mary Conrad Center was sold this year to RainDance Healthcare Corp. Inc., a Seattle company owned by a controversial former nursing home executive who had stints involving corporate lawsuits and bankruptcy.

State officials said they served a notice today of immediate license revocation to RainDance following the results of a recent inspection at the nursing home. They said revoking a license is a "rare step."

The inspection last week "revealed conditions which the state believed to present an immediate danger to the health, safety or welfare of individuals receiving services at the center," the state said. It provided no details of its inspection.

The state Department of Health and Social Services said it has brought extra staff to the center to manage it. RainDance will be able to appeal the license revocation.

Last year, the Cook Inlet Housing Authority decided to sell the center after it and Providence Health and Services could not agree on terms for renewal of Providence's lease agreement to run the center.

When Turner visited the center after the proposed sale was announced, he told residents and families that he planned no changes in staffing levels, employee benefits and services to residents.

Follow the story on ADN.

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A self-taught portrait artist born in Peru, Jaen traveled across Europe in the 1930s and ’40s painting world leaders. In the 1950s and ’60s he wrote and directed Spanish-language radio and TV shows. Once, in a New York City hotel lobby, he hugged Albert Einstein.

“When I met him, I kissed him like he was my father,” Jaen said. “To me he was very special.” Now it’s Jaen who seems special. Sitting alone at an antique table in the empty Marlow Manor dining hall a week ago, he longed for company. But nearly all of his fellow pensioners were gone.

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Tags: ADAPT, Rep. Barney Frank, Sen. Chris Dodd, Sen. Richard Shelby, housing, disability, civil disobedence, justice, protest, disability rights

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From The New York Times (July 22):

Savage Stands by Autism Remarks By JACQUES STEINBERG

Michael Savage, the incendiary radio host who last week characterized nearly every child with autism as “a brat who hasn’t been told to cut the act out,” said in a telephone interview on Monday that he stood by his remarks and had no intention of apologizing to those advocates and parents who have called for his firing over the matter...

...

...On the July 16 installment of his program, which is broadcast every weekday, Mr. Savage suggested that “99 percent of the cases” of autism were a result of lax parenting...

...Read the entire article (free registration may be required).

...Read a related article.

---------------

TAKE ACTION!

Not only did Michael Savage claim that children with autism are a fraud, he used offensive language, referring to them as "idiots," "morons," and "brats."

Let's send a message to Michael Savage, his talkshow, and all his syndicators and commercial supporters. Tell them that people with disabilities, including children with autism, make up 1 in 5 Americans, and that his comments are inaccurate, offensive, and tantamount to hate speech. Encourage sponsors to pull their advertising dollars. Tell broadcasters that this sort of hate-filled rant is unacceptable.

Michael Savage michaelsavage@paulreveresociety.com

Talk Radio Network P.O. Box 3755 Central Point, Oregon 97502 Phone: 541-664-8827 Fax: 541-664-6250

The Savage Nation The Paul Revere Society 150 Shoreline Hwy, Bldg E Mill Valley, CA 94941 Fax: 415-339-9383

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Radioshack Media Relations_ Riverfront Campus _Mail Stop #CF7-130_300 RadioShack Circle _Fort Worth, TX 76102-1964_ Phone: (817) 415-3300_ Fax: (817) 415-2585_ E-mail: media.relations@RadioShack.com

AFLAC 1-800-99-AFLAC (1-800-992-3522) Laura Kane, 2nd Vice President External Relations Aflac Incorporated_1-706-596-3493 Mechell Clark_ Media Relations Manager_ 1-706-243-8004 news@aflac.com

Budweiser Anheuser-Busch, Inc. One Busch Place St. Louis, MO 63118 Email through their site: http://contactus.anheuser-busch.com/contactus/email.asp 1 800 DIAL BUD (1 800 342 5283)0

From Justice for All Blog

Tags: MichaelSavage, Autism, advocacy

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State Sen. Eric Kearney (D-Cincinnati) is introducing a bill that would grant people with disabilities protection under Ohio's hate crime law.

Senate Bill 349 was prompted by February's attack of Ashley Clark, a mentally disabled Talawanda High School senior.

"Anyone can become disabled ... I think people realize that it's a great equalizer," Kearney said Friday.

"Most families have somebody, a relative, who is disabled and people will empathize with that."

Hate crime laws provide additional punishment for criminal offenses if the crime can be shown to be motivated by race or animosity toward specific groups of people.

If the bill is passed, it would put disability in the same category as race, color, religion, and national origin.

"This will put people on notice that the state of Ohio views those actions with the same severity as they do crimes against any other group," said Lin Laing, executive director for Center for Independent Living Options in Cincinnati.

Kearney is a member of the center's board of directors.

Ohio is one of 23 states that do not include disability as part of their hate crimes legislation, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Does Alaska? Read more here on Cincinnati.com

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Read more World-class marksman - The Denver Post

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(WASHINGTON, DC) – Earlier today, by a vote of 27 to 0, the House Judiciary Committee unanimously passed HR 3195, the ADA Restoration Act, introduced by former Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis), and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD).  Additionally, the House Education and Labor Committee also marked-up the bill, where it passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 43 to 1.  The following statement was made by Congressman Sensenbrenner at the Judiciary Committee mark-up:

“One of our finest moments occurred eighteen years ago when President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law.  It was with that stroke of a pen that this country took a significant step forward in eliminating the barriers that for far too long kept disabled Americans from fully participating in the American dream.  Prior to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, disabled Americans faced not only physical barriers in almost all aspects of society but also attitudinal barriers, which relegated them to a form of second class citizenship. Moreover, because federal and state laws were ill-equipped to protect disabled Americans at the time, the false stereotypes and discriminatory treatment employed by others created a vicious cycle.

“Last summer, I joined with my friend, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, to introduce the ADA Restoration Act (ADARA).  The bipartisan legislation that we introduced quickly garnered nearly 250 cosponsors.  We introduced the ADARA to enable disabled Americans utilizing the ADA to focus on the discrimination that they have experienced rather than having to first prove that they fall within the scope of the ADA’s protection.  With this bill, the ADA’s “clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination on the basis of disability” would be properly restored and the ADA can rightfully reclaim its place among our Nation’s civil rights laws.“The ADARA was originally drafted as a response to a number of Supreme Court cases that chipped away at the broad protections of the ADA.  The impact of these Supreme Court decisions has been to exclude millions of disabled workers from the ADA’s protections and requirements for employers.  Let me say that again—millions of Americans who want to work and who were otherwise intended by Congress to be able to work free from discrimination, have had the door shut in their faces because of these decisions.“The courts have created a situation in which disabled Americans can now be discriminated against by their employers because of their impairments, but these citizens are not considered disabled enough by our federal courts to invoke the protections of the ADA.“This is unacceptable.  No other civil rights law, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, requires a victim of discrimination to first prove that she or he is worthy of the law’s protections before proving a discrimination case.  Nor should the ADA require such proof.  The ADA is a civil rights law and should be interpreted as such.“The Substitute Amendment that I am joining Chairman Conyers in offering reflects a hard sought compromise between members of the disability community and members from the business community.  By its very nature, no one is completely satisfied with a compromise.  Both sides made concessions to the other during their arduous negotiations.“As in the original ADA that passed Congress in 1990, the substitute keeps the requirement that an impairment must “substantially limit a major life activity” in order to be considered a disability.  As written, the ADARA would have broadened the definition of disability.  The compromise defines “substantially limits” as “materially restricts” and contains explicit language rejecting the Supreme Court’s more restrictive interpretation.“The substitute also contains a non-exhaustive list of examples of major life activities.  It further notes that major life activities also include major bodily functions and contains a non-exhaustive list of examples of major bodily functions.“The substitute amendment contains language making it clear that the “regarded as” prong of the definition covers situations in which an employee is discriminated against because of his or her actual or perceived impairment, whether or not the impairment is perceived to substantially limit a major life activity.  “Regarded as” would not apply to transitory and minor impairments where an impairment is considered “transitory” if it has an expected duration of six months or less.  Accommodations need not be made to someone who is disabled solely because he or she is “regarded as” disabled.“The ADA has been one of the most effective civil rights laws passed by Congress.  Its continued effectiveness is paramount to ensuring that the transformation that our nation has undergone continues in the future and that the guarantees and promises on which this country was established continue to be recognized on behalf of all its citizens.“The substitute amendment before us today is the result of hard work and countless hours of good-faith negotiations between staff, disability advocates, and business groups.  I look forward to passage by this Committee today, and expect broad bipartisan support when this bill reaches the House floor.”

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Duane was once Executive Director at Access Alaska. Congratulations Duane!

Tags: WashingtonState, Alaska, Access Alaska, Independent Living, Duane French

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Disability advocates and business leaders are close to reaching a proposed deal to recommend language to Congress that would resolve their conflicts over the ADA Restoration Act.

The proposed language, which could still change, would redefine "disability" to be any actual, past or perceived physical or mental impairment that "substantially limits a major life activity" and then defines this phrase to mean "materially restricts a major life activity," according to details released by the American Association of People with Disabilities.

The proposal also includes a non-exhaustive list of covered major life activities, and defines the operation of major bodily functions as a covered major life activity.

Find out if your major life activities or  major bodily functions are covered  here.

Tags: AmericanAssociation of People with Disabilities, ADA, ADA Resoration Act

NOTE: The article mistakenly refers to Andrew Imparato, AAPD's President and CEO as Michael Imparato.

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Read the entire article here.

Tags: housing, senior housing, low income housing, fairbanks alaska

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“Death is natural and necessary, but not just. It is a random force of nature; survival is equally accidental. Each loss is an occasion to remember that survival is a gift.”

Disability and human rights activist Harriet McBryde Johnson died at her home in South Carolina on June 3. The world has lost a passionate and dedicated advocate for social change. Untold numbers in the disability community and beyond have lost a caring friend and role model. Johnson was a civil rights lawyer, a weaver of tales, and a spokesperson for the dignity and humanity of people with disabilities. Her articles and essays for the New York Times, including a Sunday magazine cover piece, thrust Harriet onto the national stage. She wrote passionately and with humor about a quite serious topic: her right and the rights of others, to exist in the world as a person with a disability. Her withering critique of those who would deny her existence was delivered with a calm and open-hearted voice, and her generosity of spirit was evident always.

Johnson, who was born with a neuromuscular disease, drew national attention for her opposition to "the charity mentality" and "pity-based tactics" of the annual Jerry Lewis muscular dystrophy telethon. Lewis told the Chicago Tribune he had no intention of making peace with opponents such as Johnson. He likened the idea of meeting with them to entertaining Hezbollah or insurgents in Iraq.

The protests started after Lewis wrote a 1990 Parade magazine article in which he imagined being disabled. Among his conclusions, "I realize that my life IS half, so I must learn to do things halfway. I just have to learn to try to be good at being half a person."

Articles by Harriet McBryde Johnson

Unspeakable Conversations

He insists he doesn't want to kill me. He simply thinks it would have been better, all things considered, to have given my parents the option of killing the baby I once was, and to let other parents kill similar babies as they come along and thereby avoid the suffering that comes with lives like mine and satisfy the reasonable preferences of parents for a different kind of child. It has nothing to do with me. I should not feel threatened.

Whenever I try to wrap my head around his tight string of syllogisms, my brain gets so fried it's . . . almost fun. Mercy! It's like ''Alice in Wonderland.''

It is a chilly Monday in late March, just less than a year ago. I am at Princeton University. My host is Prof. Peter Singer, often called -- and not just by his book publicist -- the most influential philosopher of our time. He is the man who wants me dead. No, that's not at all fair. He wants to legalize the killing of certain babies who might come to be like me if allowed to live. He also says he believes that it should be lawful under some circumstances to kill, at any age, individuals with cognitive impairments so severe that he doesn't consider them ''persons.'' What does it take to be a person? Awareness of your own existence in time. The capacity to harbor preferences as to the future, including the preference for continuing to live.

At this stage of my life, he says, I am a person. However, as an infant, I wasn't. I, like all humans, was born without self-awareness. And eventually, assuming my brain finally gets so fried that I fall into that wonderland where self and other and present and past and future blur into one boundless, formless all or nothing, then I'll lose my personhood and therefore my right to life. Then, he says, my family and doctors might put me out of my misery, or out of my bliss or oblivion, and no one count it murder.

Not Dead at All - Why Congress was right to stick up for Terri Sciavo

Today, more than 1.7 million mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, are lost in America's disability gulag. Today's gulag characterizes isolation and control as care and protection, and the disappearances are often called voluntary placements. However, you don't vanish because that's what you want or need. You vanish because that's what the state offers. You make your choice from an array of one.

But now the gulag faces a challenge from people who know the fear firsthand.

Overlooked in the Shadows

New Mobility Magazine Person of the Year 2003: A Life Well Lived

Books by Harriet McBryde Johnson

Too Late to Die Young: Nearly True Tales from a Life

Review here.

And here.

Accidents of Nature

Others here.

Tags: disabilityrights, ADA, Jerry Lewis Telethon, death, heroes

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Subject: Change in Van Tran Fare

In August 2007, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) reviewed the Fairbanks North Star Borough’s Van Tran service and found that Van Tran service was experiencing a pattern and practice of Van Tran ride denials. This was, in part, due to the growth in Van Tran rides requested and the lack of Van Tran resources to meet the demand.

The Fairbanks North Star Borough submitted a compliance plan to FTA that addresses the denied rides by developing a new application and eligibility assessment process, which the borough is reviewing with agencies serving individuals with disabilities and through a series of public hearings. This review will be on going over the next several years.

In analyzing the denied rides, the borough also reviewed the Van Tran fare structure. Currently, Van Tran offers a single, one-way ride for $2.00 and a monthly pass good for unlimited rides for $36.00. The outcome of this review determined that with the higher cost in fuel and with improvements to the fixed route bus system, Van Tran should eliminate the monthly pass and have each ride be $2.00. The fixed route bus system should continue to provide reduced monthly passes to individuals with disabilities and seniors for $18.00. This was presented to the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly in the FY2009 budget and was approved on May 8, 2008.

Therefore, effective July 1, 2008 Van Tran will no longer provide the $36.00 monthly pass. All Van Tran rides will cost $2.00 and can be pre-purchased through one-way ride coupons. The fixed route bus system will continue providing monthly passes for individuals with disabilities and seniors for $18.00.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause your clients. If you have any questions, please contact me at 460-2924 or at dleone@co.fairbanks.ak.us.

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While her classmates sat in their classroom in Parsons learning the three Rs, 9-year-old Allie Jones was in Washington, D.C., last week learning lessons in history, politics and life.

It is in Washington where Allie saw direct action in progress -- the same type of direct action that has led to change over the years from the civil rights movement.

Martin Luther King Jr. once wrote in a letter from Birmingham jail, "Why sit-ins, marches and so forth? Isn't negotiation a better path? You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored."

Allie was in Washington for the 25th anniversary of ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today), a group that uses direct action to fight for legislation to promote services in communities instead of warehousing people with disabilities in institutions and nursing homes.

"It's about having access to everything, so they have their rights like everyone else does," Allie said.

Way to go Allie! Read more here in the Parsons Sun.

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Her flight, had which departed six hours late, landed at Newark at about 1:20 a.m. The wheelchair service she'd requested was nowhere in sight. Brehm returned to the plane to sit and wait, but a flight attendant told her she must get off so the crew could leave.

She then stood on the jet bridge, balancing on her cane, to wait. About 30 minutes later, another flight attendant exited the plane and asked if she needed help. The woman eventually returned with a wheelchair attendant.

"Here I am, at 2 a.m., 83 years old, all by myself," Brehm says. "There wasn't one person in this whole huge airport. I don't know what I would have done if she hadn't come out."

Airlines are obligated to provide free, prompt wheelchair assistance between curbside and cabin seat to comply with the 21-year-old Air Carrier Access Act, an anti-discrimination law.

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NOME, Alaska (AP) -- Lance Mackey couldn't shake four-time champion Jeff King and his faster team.

So Mackey pulled off a stunt at the Elim checkpoint -- 123 miles from the Nome finish line -- that proved to be the turning point en route to winning his second consecutive Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday.

Mush here for more.

Official Iditarod site.
More here.

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NOME, Alaska (AP) -- Lance Mackey couldn't shake four-time champion Jeff King and his faster team.

So Mackey pulled off a stunt at the Elim checkpoint -- 123 miles from the Nome finish line -- that proved to be the turning point en route to winning his second consecutive Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Wednesday.

Mush here for more.

Official Iditarod site.
More here.

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Read more here.

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Nataline Sarkisyan, a 17-year-old from Glendale, Calif., died Thursday just a few hours after her insurer, CIGNA HealthCare, approved a procedure it had previously described as "too experimental."

Read more here.

More here at CNN.

Follow all the news here.

Visit CIGNA (A Business of Caring) here. Let them know what you think

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More here.

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(Published: November 15, 2007)
PALMER — Mary Kvalheim wants you to help stop the abuse of parking spaces for the handicapped in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

Kvalheim, a borough assemblywoman, proposed a law that would give everyone the power to file a complaint whenever they see a vehicle inappropriately parked in a spot that bears the familiar blue, reserved-parking sign. The system would work much the same way complaints about fireworks or incessantly barking dogs are handled, borough attorney Nick Spiropoulos said Wednesday.

It would be in effect everywhere in the borough except within the city limits of Palmer, Wasilla and Houston. The cities have their own enforcement programs.

Anyone could file a complaint, so long as they’re willing to testify to it in court, he said.

The borough Assembly scheduled a public hearing for 7 p.m. Tuesday on Kvalheim’s proposal.

Robert Guertin, chief borough code compliance officer, said the proposed law levies a $125 fine for a first offense and $250 for a second offense. However, Guertin said his officers would issue only a warning to first-time offenders.

Anyone issued a citation could either pay the fine or contest the complaint in court.

Kvalheim said watching people park in spaces that are designated for disabled people drives her nuts. She has a parking sticker of her own for medical reasons, she said, but she’s championed this issue for decades.

“It’s always been a bone of contention with me because of my husband being handicapped,” she said.

Her husband, Ray, started using a wheelchair after his back was broken , Kvalheim said. He died in 1994.

Kvalheim said she and her husband were told that they should move out of Alaska, where “conditions weren’t made for handicapped people.”

They stayed in Wasilla. But along with forcing a wheelchair through snowy parking lots, Kvalheim said, they found maddening the abuse of parking spaces for the handicapped.

In the late 1980s she asked then-Sen. Jalmar Kerttula, D-Mat-Su, to pass a statewide bill addressing the unauthorized use of parking reserved for people with disabilities. The bill passed, although with no promise of enforcement.

But state law allows municipalities to enforce the law on their own, Spiropoulos said. That’s what Kvalheim’s measure would do.

Right now, Wasilla is on the leading edge of enforcement when it comes to parking laws. Wasilla code compliance officer Mike Rager has turned the abuse of disability parking space into a crusade. Rager, who has held his position at the city for two years, spends more than half of his time enforcing the city’s parking laws for the handicapped.

He works on it between other code enforcement duties, like checking to see that businesses keep their trash containers closed and that signs aren’t too close to city roads, he said.

“It takes up a lot of time, partially by choice, but it gets applauded by businesses and folks in the community,” Rager said.

Marguerite Goodman sings Rager’s praises. She is an independent living specialist at Access Alaska, a nonprofit aimed at helping disabled Alaskans live independently.

When people park in the reserved spot near their front door, she said, she often calls him.

“He’s our guy,” Goodman said.

Goodman said she thinks expanding the law across the borough is a good move. Enforcement is a common problem, she said.

“It’s obvious, when you go to the store or the shopping center (people think) 'Oh, if they leave the car running it’s OK.’ No, it’s not,” Goodman said. “It really strikes a chord for a lot of us.”

Guertin said he doesn’t envision borough code compliance officers spending as much time on parking enforcement as Rager does if the law passes.

They won’t patrol parking lots, he said, although if they happen to see someone misusing a spot, they could write them up.

If it passes, the borough law would rely mostly on residents to report violators, he said.

“The person who’s doing the complaining is going to have to fill out a complaint form,” Guertin said. “We need the public to be sharing this information with us.”

Find Daily News reporter Rindi White online at www.adn.com/contact/rwhite or call 352-6709.

Article here.

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According to the lawsuit, Mahala Ault and Dan Wallace of Illinois and Stacie Rhea of Iowa are each able to stand but can't walk far. Ault has multiple sclerosis. Wallace lost his left foot in an accident. And Rhea has Lou Gehrig's disease.

More here.

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People Mover sells reduced-fare monthly passes for seniors and people with disabilities for $15. These passes offer unlimited rides for a calendar month. For more information, call 343-6332 or 343-6543.

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In a move that could have far-reaching implications for businesses, Congress is considering the most sweeping changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) since the employment law went into effect in 1990.

A recently introduced bill would radically expand the number of persons and conditions covered by ADA by changing the definition of “disabled” to include temporary or correctable conditions such as poor eyesight. The bill—the ADA Restoration Act of 2007—would also do away with the current ADA requirement that an impairment must “substantially limit one or more major life activities” to be considered a disability. Virtually the entire U.S. working population could be covered by the law under the proposed changes.

“The Chamber will actively oppose these radical changes because they would not address the needs of those who are deserving of ADA’s protections but, instead, divert significant compliance and enforcement resources to ‘gotcha’ lawsuits that already overwhelm enforcement agencies and the courts,” says U.S. Chamber Executive Vice President of Government Affairs Bruce Josten.

In 2006, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that of the 15,575 charges filed under ADA, there was reasonable cause to believe discrimination occurred in only 5.6% of the cases.

Any changes to the definition would also affect other portions of ADA law, including Title III public access provisions. Title III calls on virtually every business serving the public—regardless of size or number of employees—to make their facilities accessible to people with disabilities.

In addition, the Department of Justice is already planning to implement revised accessibility guidelines. “Expanding the class of people who can assert a claim for accessibility will subject businesses and other facility operators to greater confusion and litigation,” Josten says.

Go to the Chamber website to comment on this article.

To contact the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

U.S. Chamber of Commerce
1615 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20062-2000
Main Number: 202-659-6000

To contact the Alaska Chapter visit their website.

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And her home state just happens to be one of the worst in the country in terms of providing funding for at-home care, which is why members of the outspoken disability-rights organization ADAPT converged on Chicago this week for five days of "protest against Illinois systems that starve people with disabilities . . . of their rights and their independence." Donna was with them, of course.

Read more about Martin here.

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Five times in the last dozen years, bills on medically assisted suicide have risen in the California Assembly, and five times they have failed.

In every instance, a great deal of the credit for their demise goes to a constituency associated with advancing personal choice and civil rights — namely, the disability rights movement.

Read more here.

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By JULIA O'MALLEY, jomalley@adn.com

Published: June 15, 2007

Lynn Cragholm lived 73 years without walking the street in protest, but her lack of experience didn't show Thursday at the corner of Fireweed Lane and A Street.

Facing traffic, her hair swept into a graceful, gray top-knot, she waved a sign that read: "Work Hard, Pay Taxes, Raise a Family, Get Shafted by Rep. Coghill."

Cragholm joined about 60 seniors who demonstrated on all four corners of the intersection in support of SeniorCare, a program that provides $120 a month to low-income people over 65. SeniorCare is set to end June 30, but supporters hope to pressure the Legislature to extend it in a special session that begins here on June 26.

You can read the full story online at:

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/anchorage/story/8978567p-8893993c.html

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June 5, 2007

By John Wisely
Free Press Staff Writer

A still combative Jack Kevorkian promised again not to assist any more suicides but also said he will press for natural rights, including the right to doctor-assisted suicide.

The famous felon, who was released from prison Friday after serving more than 8 years on a second-degree murder conviction, held court for more than hour at Southfield's Skyline Club, answering questions from the media and quoting philosophers and statesmen.

"(Assisted suicide) is a natural right; you were born with that right," Kevorkian said as more than a dozen photographers snapped away and video cameras rolled. "You have all your rights in you."

Kevorkian appeared stronger than he had at his release from prison. He stood the entire time he talked, gestured frequently and sipped water only occasionally.

He said his hepatitis isn't bothering him currently, but he worries that his liver disease could flare up at any time. He wore one of his trademark powder blue cardigan sweaters and a blue jacket that he said he bought at a thrift store for $15.

Kevorkian wouldn't say if he would do anything differently in the crusade that launched him to international fame, but said he hopes to foster appreciation of the 9th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says that rights spelled out in the Constitution don't deny or disparage other rights retained by the people.

"That's your savior," Kevorkian said.

About a dozen members of Not Dead Yet, a disabilities rights organization, protested outside. Kevorkian's lawyer, Mayer Morganroth, said they were entitled to their opinion "and he's entitled to his," pointing at his client.

Kevorkian wasn't bothered by their presence: "Let the crippled people demonstrate," Kevorkian said.

Contact JOHN WISELY at 248-351-3696 or jwisely@freepress.com

SOURCE: Detroit Free Press

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From the Anchorage Daily news:

Anchorage resident John Stripe, 86, died May 13, 2007, at Third Medical Group Hospital, Elmendorf AFB. He resided in Anchorage for the past 36 years.

A memorial Mass will be at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. A reception will be afterward in the parish hall. A graveside service with military honors will be at 2 p.m. at Fort Richardson National Cemetery. John was born Feb. 3, 1921, to Jerrold and Lena Stripe in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he was raised. As a young man, John joined the Army and at this time met and married his wife "Barbara Honey" as he called her. He was a veteran of World War II

At the age of 29, soon after discharge from the Army, John was stricken with polio. He courageously fought this disease, was hospitalized for a year and was left paralyzed from the waist down. Being determined to finish college and to have the best chance to recuperate, he and his family moved to Portales, N.M., where he finished college and went on to become a teacher.

In 1965, he and his family moved to Portland, Ore., and John worked as a social worker for the welfare department. After his daughter married and moved to Anchorage, he and his wife made the decision to follow to further enjoy their grandchildren.

His family wrote: "John had the ability to overcome the limitations of his disabilities with a desire to be able to live independently and became a huge advocate for others with disabilities. He served on the boards of many organizations such as Assets and most recently, Access Alaska. He traveled to Juneau annually to participate in the Key Campaign and was able to help make Anchorage a safer, more easily accessible place for all the handicapped and disabled. After the death of his wife of 53 years, John became the proud owner of an electric mobility scooter and with its use, shed his crutches, gaining many newfound freedoms in life. He could be seen all over Anchorage shopping, sightseeing, attending community events, and visiting all of his friends, especially in the downtown area.

"John's exuberance for life gave him have a special glow that you could see and feel in his presence. His keen intellect and sharp mind made him a very interesting person to know. This never diminished slightly even in his golden years. His greatest joys and pleasures were derived when he spent time with his children and grandchildren. Having formed unique and special bonds with each, he was able to provide valuable advice, guidance, mentoring and the deepest of affection for each of them. To ease the sorrows of our huge loss, we have been able to find solace in the thoughts of him being united with our Lord and reunited with his bride." He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Kathy and Jack Appolloni; grandchildren, Angie Huff, Michael, Monica and Megan; great-grandchildren, Tiffany, Brittney and Mikey; and great-great-grandson, A.J., all of Anchorage.

John was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara; and son, Jerrold. Memorial donations may be given to Salvation Army Meals on Wheels. Arrangements are with Anchorage Funeral Home and Crematory.

Published in the Anchorage Daily News on 5/16/2007.

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More in the IndependenceFirst Newsletter

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ANCHORAGE, AK – With the aid of 89,000 members, AARP is calling on U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens to stand with the overwhelming majority of Alaskans and vote to give Medicare the power to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices. Murkowski and Stevens are two of the few remaining Senators yet to publicly state their position on this important issue, and their votes are critical to the bill’s success.

On Wednesday, April 4, AARP members throughout Alaska and across the country will be calling Senators and urging them to support legislation that could help lower Medicare drug prices for Alaska’s Medicare beneficiaries.

According to a recent AARP poll, 85% of Alaska residents want Medicare to leverage the buying power of 43 million Medicare members to negotiate lower prices for prescription drugs. “You would think this would be an easy decision for Senator Murkowski and Senator Stevens. Our polls show that Alaska residents support giving Medicare the power to bargain for lower drug prices,” said Ken Osterkamp, AARP Alaska State Director. “AARP members want – and deserve - to know if Senator Murkowski and Senator Stevens will side with their constituents or with the pharmaceutical industry on this important issue.”

Americans pay more than anyone else in the world for most brand-name drugs. In 2006, on average, brand name prescription drug prices increased 6.2 percent for a sample of 193 brand-name drugs widely used by older Americans. During that same period general inflation was just 3.2 percent. Older Americans are the largest consumers of prescription drugs, with a typical senior taking four prescriptions daily.

Giving Medicare the authority to use its bargaining power to negotiate with drug companies to help achieve even lower drug prices would strengthen the Medicare drug benefit even further.

Earlier this year, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4, the “Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act of 2007” by a bipartisan vote of 255 – 170. AARP strongly supported H.R. 4 and is now putting its weight behind passing similar legislation in the Senate.

AARP is tracking key votes in the 110th Congress and reporting back to its 38 million members how Congress votes on legislation AARP members are interested in like health care.

“Giving Medicare bargaining power is a key issue for AARP Alaska’s 89,000 members, and we will be letting them know how their elected officials voted on this matter,” said Osterkamp.

Contact info

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Law & Order: Criminal Intent is featuring an episode called "The Silencer", starring a talent-heavy cast of Deaf actors, including:

Deanne Bray more here and here.
Alexandria Wailes
Garrett Zuercher
Darren Frazier
Hillary Baack
Willy Conley
Raymond Luczak

Adding to the excitement, NBC broke history by hiring the most Deaf extras (35 people) for a network TV episode.

Please tune in to your local NBC provider on Tuesday, April 3rd at 9pm to watch the exciting bullet-ridden drama unfold!

Read more about deafness as portrayed on TV here.

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(Published: April 2, 2007)

Linda Spencer was trying to focus on her most immediate problem: Her mattress on the floor at Brother Francis Shelter was good for only two more days. Then she had to find another place to sleep.

It was 25 degrees outside and snowing.

For an hour, she'd been meaning to catch the bus to somewhere she could get on the Internet. But the blind man next to her at Bean's Cafe was singing hymns and the sound soothed her, taking her mind out of the humid soup kitchen, away from the shuffle and the smell of bleach. She decided she'd catch the bus later, maybe after lunch.

Her shelter time was almost up, she told the others cupping mugs at the table. They nodded. They knew the drill: Spend 30 days in the shelter, then you have to leave and you can't come back for 30 more. There's an exception for people who are making serious progress getting a place to live. But Linda's time had run out and she wasn't getting more.

Maybe she could sleep outside on layers of cardboard, suggested the blind man.

Or camp out in that van off Muldoon with the bad transmission, someone else advised.

"I just love singin' " said a child-size grandmother in a spotty kuspuk. She smiled, showing her pink gums, and launched into "I'll Fly Away." Linda and the blind man joined in.

Linda, 59, doesn't drink or do drugs. She's never been in trouble with the law. She was married once, has a daughter and worked as a jeweler. But in the '80s, she suffered a head injury and her life began to fray. Like many at the shelter, an overwhelming list of troubles trails behind her.

A few years back, she hurt her Achilles tendon running for the bus and that put her in a wheelchair for a while. Then there was a diagnosis of colon cancer. Then surgery. Was all that before or after the fight with her family, and the mistake with paperwork that made her disability payments quit coming? It's hard to keep the dates straight. While she was in a homeless shelter in Washington state, there was a flood in her house in Alaska. Mold moved in.

In December, she locked her belongings in a storage unit in Eagle River and took a bed at the Rescue Mission. Now life is the bus schedule, the meal schedule, the rules of the shelter and all the lines to stand in; the paperwork for housing, disability payments and health care. Misplaced forms. Faxes that never make it.

"Sometimes I get lost. Sometimes I get sidetracked. It's part of my problem," she said.

Some days she gets desperate and frustrated. She has difficulties with her doctors and her social workers and the women in the shelter who complain about her snoring. She wants to protest or sue. On the day she was trying to catch the People Mover bus, she had government paperwork in her breast pocket along with some toilet paper.

"People say that everybody has choices, but sometimes the choices suck," she said. "Sometimes there are no answers."

Finally, she got the bus, but it was late arriving at the transit center, so she missed her connection. She took a place on a bench to wait for No. 13. A man next to her swayed forward, his eyes glassy.

"Sometimes I think about it, you know?" the stranger said. "I'm a drifter. I haven't really found my place yet."

"You're still looking," Linda assured him.

She was thinking about her daughter who just had a baby in Washington. You can tell a lot about a tree by the fruit it bears, she said. She keeps a neat folder with a copy of her girl's birth certificate. And pictures of her prom. They're 20 years old.

"My daughter. I love her dearly. She's been the greatest joy in my life. Be sure to put that in the paper," she said.

Just then, a black-haired woman breezed in. She was keyed up and chewing gum. Linda had met her at the Rescue Mission. She calls her "The Raven," because she's usually up to mischief.

"Got kicked out of the hostel," The Raven said. She was carrying a garbage bag and a wad of cash. "I owe you a dollar."

"No you don't, you owe me 25 cents," Linda said, adding that she was getting kicked out of the shelter too.

"They said I wasn't making sufficient progress," Linda said.

A woman on a neighboring bench butted in.

"And, you can't go to AWAIC because you're not abused, right?" she said.

"Want me to beat you up?" asked The Raven, half-joking.

"Could you do it where it doesn't hurt?" Linda said.

The bus rolled up. It was too late to get to the Internet place, but Linda got on anyhow. So did The Raven. The bus pulled onto Sixth Avenue. Scenes of Fairview scrolled past the windows: gritty snow, the iron fence around the downtown cemetery, a woman with a case of beer in the parking lot of Carrs on Gambell. The Raven pieced through a stack of pictures someone left. She laughed too loud and snorted.

The bus slowed. Linda stood and took a few steps forward, like a woman walking upriver.

"I love you!" The Raven called, yelling the digits of her phone number.

The doors sighed open and let Linda out into the street.

"I love you, too," she called back, repeating the numbers to herself so she wouldn't forget.

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Joined by Wounded Soldier, Caregivers, Advocates for Military Families, Medical Experts

Washington, DC - Today on Capitol Hill, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) joined with advocates for wounded soldiers and their families to announce a new legislative initiative, co-sponsored by Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), to improve the detection, assessment and treatment of traumatic brain injury and expand support systems for members and former members of the Armed Services with traumatic brain injury and their families. Senator Clinton also announced introduction of legislation to help ensure wounded soldiers receive the disability benefits they need and deserve and to further protect military family financial benefits. Senator Clinton was joined by Sergeant Ted Wade U.S Army 82nd Airborne Division, who incurred a severe traumatic brain injury and his wife Sarah Wade of Chapel Hill, NC; Lee Woodruff, TBI caregiver and co-author with husband Bob Woodruff of New York Times bestseller In An Instant; Dr. Bert Vargas, a resident at New York University School of Medicine who served as an Air Force flight surgeon in Iraq and leadership from the Wounded Warrior Project, the Military Officers Association of America, the National Military Family Association, the Brain Injury Association of America and the American Academy of Neurology.

"If you serve your country your country must serve you. This is the promise our country must keep to the men and women who enlist, who fight and who return home often bearing the visible and invisible scars of sacrifice. We have a duty to reform and ready the military for the increasing number of veterans suffering from complex injuries like traumatic brain injury. Today we are taking steps needed to ensure our men and women in uniform and their families have the care and support they need and deserve," said Senator Clinton.

Senator Clinton today introduced legislation to build on the groundbreaking "Heroes at Home" initiative she authored and secured in law last year aimed at helping U.S. troops and their families to transition after deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan and get the help they need with readjustment to work and coping with post-traumatic stress disorder and TBI. Today, Senator Clinton announced a new initiative to expand Heroes at Home by:

• Improving the screening process for our troops before deployment to improve TBI diagnoses after deployment. Traumatic brain injury, which affects approximately one out of every 10 returning service members, has been identified as the "signature wound" affecting soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Multiple deployments and prevalent use of IEDs have put service members at increased risk of sustaining more than one mild or moderate TBI. However, mild and moderate TBI may go undetected, especially if a service member has sustained more obvious injuries. It also can be difficult to distinguish mild TBI from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder since both conditions have common symptoms, such as irritability, anxiety and depression. Senator Clinton's bill will improve detection of mild and moderate TBI by implementing an objective, computer- based assessment protocol to measure cognitive functioning both prior to and after deployment. Senator Clinton's bill will require that the same assessment tool be used across all branches of the Armed Services and for every member of the Armed Forces who will be deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Helping families struggling to take care of a loved one with training and certification for dealing with brain injuries and psychological injuries. Family members of returning soldiers with TBI are often ill-equipped to handle the demands of caring for their loved one, which in some bases can become a full-time responsibility. Senator Clinton's bill will establish a Traumatic Brain Injury Family Caregiver Personal Care Attendant Training and Certification Program, which would train and certify family caregivers of TBI patients as personal care attendants, enabling them to provide quality care at home and at the same time qualify for compensation from the VA.
• Expanding Access to Needed Care. Service members and veterans continue to face problems in accessing needed medical and mental health care, especially veterans or Guard and Reserve members who live in rural areas. Senator Clinton's bill will help increase the reach of needed care for TBI by expanding use of telehealth and telemental health services. Senator Clinton's bill will create a demonstration project, administered jointly by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs that would use telehealth technology to assess TBI and related mental health conditions and facilitate rehabilitation and dissemination of educational material on techniques, strategies and skills for servicemembers with TBI.

"The proposals in this legislation were built on the recommendations of family caregivers now tending to the wounds of their loved ones who have incurred Traumatic Brain Injuries on our nation's behalf. Senator Clinton and the Wounded Warrior Project have listened to these families and their requests for help and we applaud her for her leadership on this legislation. We stand committed to assisting the Senator in seeing this bill through to enactment," said John Melia, Executive Director of the Wounded Warrior Project.

The Heroes at Home Act of 2007 is endorsed by the Wounded Warrior Project, National Military Families Association, Military Officers Association of America, American Academy of Neurology and Brain Injury Association of America.

Senator Clinton today also announced introduction of legislation to help ensure wounded soldiers receive the disability benefits they need and deserve and to further protect military family financial benefits:

• Restoring Disability Benefits for Injured and Wounded Warriors Act of 2007. Following up on complaints she heard from New York soldiers at Walter Reed about widespread problems with disability claims, Senator Clinton today introduced legislation that will restore disability benefits for wounded and injured members of the Armed Forces. The act will direct reviews of disability claims, traumatic injury claims and the Physical Evaluation Board process, and re-open cases that warrant an increased disability benefit rating or traumatic injury payment. In addition, the bill will increase the availability of legal counsel for members appealing their disability cases, and direct the GAO to investigate efforts currently being made by the Department of Defense to address deficiencies in the Disability Evaluation Systems; the adequacy of the Department of Veterans Affairs Disability Schedule for Ratings as it relates to the nature of wounds our warriors suffer in combat today; and to report on the standards and procedures of Physical Evaluation Boards.
• Protecting Military Family Financial Benefits Act of 2007. Senator Clinton also introduced legislation that will protect financial benefits for military family members by closing gaps in coverage for Death Gratuity and Survivor Benefits beneficiaries and improve pre-deployment counseling and services for all members of the Armed Forces. Everyday single parents deploy to distant battlefields and leave their minor children in the care of a financially ill-prepared guardian or caretaker. Unfortunately, when tragedy strikes and a military service member makes the ultimate sacrifice, minor dependent children and families are excluded from receiving benefits and entitlements. In too many cases, pre-deployment systems and processes designed to protect military family financial benefits are under-resourced or not available and create unnecessary burden for survivors. Senator Clinton's bill will require each military service to provide adequate pre-deployment counseling and services to every deploying member of the Armed Forces to ensure that families and dependents receive survivor benefits and entitlements.

These bills are supported by the Wounded Warrior Project, National Military Families Association, Military Officers Association of America, American Legion and the Gold Star Mothers.

As New York's first Senator to serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Clinton has made it one of her top priorities to ensure that our brave men and women in uniform have the healthcare and support they need. She has pressed for an independent investigation of the conditions at Walter Reed and called for a new GI Bill of Rights to once again honor the service and invest in the future of our men and women in uniform. She authored legislation signed into law last year that required an audit of widespread pay issues wounded soldiers are facing, recently released by the Army showing continuing problems. Senator Clinton has fought to ensure service members have the body armor they need. She has also secured in law access to TRICARE military health benefits for all drilling members of the National Guard and Reserves and their families.

Source: Senator Clinton
www.clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=271591&&

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There will be sign language interpreters and volunteers to help Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind enjoy the programs and events. There will also be golf carts or wheelchairs to help people who might have trouble walking over all those paths. The Zoo’s gift shop and coffee shop will be open. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will staff an information table and kid’s tent.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Accessibility Team, with help from the Alaska Zoo, Access Alaska, and the Assistive Technologies Library of Alaska (ATLA), hope this will be a Mother’s Day you, your family, and your friends will never forget. Bring your cameras and come relax and enjoy International Migratory Bird Day at the Zoo. For more information, e-mail karen_laubenstein@fws.gov or laura_whitehouse@fws.gov

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Traumatic Brain Injury Awareness Month

Developmental Disability Awareness Month

Thanks Governor Palin

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The bill does not appear to be online yet.

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MS AWARENESS: Seven years ago, Doug Toelle was hauling supplies by snowmachine in the Brooks Range when some of the machines got stuck in overflow at 20 below.

As the group struggled to get the sleds out of the ice, he suddenly found that he was frozen and not because of the cold.

“My body shut down and wouldn’t move,” Toelle said in a recent letter to the Fairbanks City Council. “Tim Woller almost ran over me as I tried to get an uncooperative body to behave and react. I realized something was really, really wrong.”

Not long after that harrowing experience, Toelle was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the beginning of a struggle of a different kind.

The council approved a resolution designating this past week as Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Week. According to one estimate, about 200 people in the Fairbanks area have MS, a chronic and disabling disease of the central nervous system.

It strikes people in different ways, with symptoms that range from mild to severe. The disease can “erode a person’s abilities and hopes, halt a career and unravel the fabric of families,” yet there is research that holds promise, the council resolution said.

Some people are homebound with the illness, while others have a tough time getting around. Toelle said he can walk, but “every step requires thought and planning” because the disease inhibits the communication that takes place between his brain and his muscles.

“My primary symptoms are fatigue, lack of balance, limited mobility and pain,” he said.

Toelle, 50, has been a successful entrepreneur and consultant in information technology for two decades. He helped launch the first Internet Service Provider in Fairbanks, Polarnet, and has been involved in numerous other enterprises.

He said that he no longer has the energy it takes to run his own business, but he is grateful for the opportunity to help aging and disabled Alaskans as the new development director for Access Alaska.

The agency provides services to people with MS and other disabilities, with the goal of helping them continue to lead productive lives.

Toelle said that those who want to know more about Access Alaska can go to www.accessalaska.org or drop by the office in what once was the deli section of Foodland at 526 Gaffney.

Those who are dealing with MS are invited to attend the MS Support Group, which meets on the second Wednesday of the month from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Access Alaska.

From the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

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Minnesota's baby boomers want exactly what the state's long-term care system lacks: technology and creative programs that will help them remain independent and at home in their frail and elderly years.

That is one of the main conclusions of a study and survey being released today by Ecumen, a Shoreview-based provider of nursing homes and community services for the elderly.

Executives with the organization hope the results will inspire lawmakers and caregivers to try new approaches and programs before the massive boomer generation reaches retirement age.

Nine of 10 boomers in the survey said they want to live in their own homes rather than in rental apartments or nursing facilities. Most of the 564 survey respondents, ages 42 to 60, said they would pay more for a long-term care system that provides better community services.

"Boomers are saying, 'Give us some more options,' " said Eric Schubert, Ecumen's communications director. " 'Help us live where we want to live, how we want to live.' "

More here

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Dickerson, who was still practicing at age 91, had a reputation as a fierce advocate for the poor and underprivileged and argued many cases involving racial and gender discrimination.

More in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

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More from Anchorage Daily News

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The Service Coordination model allows consumers who experience major mental illness to be in charge of their recovery plan while utilizing Service Coordinators for case management to help locate and access services in the community. Service Coordinators also provide skill building assistance for these consumers. Service coordination and skill building can be provided in the individual’s home, community or office settings.

Access Alaska no longer provides in-house therapy services. Consumers now have the advantage of obtaining therapy services that best meet their needs and preferences from a variety of community sources.

Individuals who have experienced a brain injury may still receive pre-vocational skill building, advocacy, housing, and transportation assistance through our Independent Living Center. Cognitive rehabilitation assistance is also available in our computer laboratory which utilizes software for brain re-training and skill building in memory, attention, learning and problem solving. Our Head Injury Support Group continues to meet every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month from 6:00-7:45 p.m. This group is open to all individuals who have experienced a head/brain injury.

To refer individuals who experience major mental illness to a Service Coordinator, please contact 248-4777 to speak with our Information & Referral Specialist.

If you have any questions about these changes, please feel free to contact Dana Spinney directly at 263-1913.

See also Anchorage Services, Disability Services, Family Services, News

These teams are part of the first-ever and only pro-sports league in Cambodia. With tens of thousands of Cambodians missing limbs due to landmines laid during the country's civil war, the league was launched as a way to help rehabilitate amputees and to raise the profile of the landmine issue.

Read or Listen here.

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Anchorage lawyer Jim Gottstein has emerged as a player in a national controversy over the psychiatric medication Zyprexa, which is Eli Lilly's best-selling drug.

An advocate against forced medication in the treatment of mental illness, Gottstein obtained documents about the drug that had been sealed in Outside lawsuits against Eli Lilly and provided them to a New York Times reporter. According to the Times, the records showed a decade-long effort to downplay the drug's health risks in order to protect sales.

Read more.

More on the PsychRights website.

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Read more in the Anchorage Daily News

"I sympathize with how complex Medicaid is for clients, health care providers, program managers, as well as employees. We also find it difficult as legislators to find a legislative fix for most of these problems," Senate President Lyda Green, R-Wasilla said.

See also Alaska, Health Care, Keep your eye on this one, News, Our Blog, Politics

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From the Anchorage Daily News

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DISCRIMINATION WATCH

"No dog, no dog," shouted the driver and another worker when District resident Joe Orozco and his guide dog tried to board a Todays Bus from Washington to New York. Orozco protested that the company is required by law to accommodate service animals, but the workers continued to block his entry and laughed, he says, when he threatened to call police. Once he called police, the workers said he could ride if the dog was put in the bottom of the bus with the luggage. They relented after police came.

When Orozco tried to board the return bus the next day, a Todays Bus employee in New York yanked his ticket away and tried to return his money, he says.

The bus pulled away. After Orozco called police, workers said he could take the next bus but ordered him to sit in the back. He complied, but he is filing a complaint with the Justice Department, which enforces the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Todays Bus did not respond to four telephone messages left for the manager and owner.

The ADA guarantees interstate service to disabled passengers; that includes providing access, with advance notice, to people in wheelchairs. But many of the companies that pick up passengers curbside -- the so-called "Chinatown buses" -- simply ignore the law. In 2004, regulators checked 14 companies that operate between Washington and New York, and cited 11 of them for violating the ADA. The Justice Department launched an investigation in October 2004. "We continue to work on it," spokeswoman Cynthia Magnuson said last week.

Gathering evidence seems quick and easy to CoGo, who recently called Todays to ask about wheelchair access. The man who answered refused to give his name, but his answer was clear: "No wheelchair."

To register a complaint, call the Justice Department, 800-514- 0301.

Source: The Washington Post

Outraged? Email or call Todays Bus

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More information available here.

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By Jimmy Tobias
January 30, 2007

As Fortune 500 companies continue to diversify their offices with different types of top-tier students, candidates with disabilities may prove to be the next target audience.

Last week, PepsiCo - the parent company of Pepsi, Frito-Lay and Tropicana - visited the University specifically to recruit students with disabilities, both physical and mental, for employment positions.

The recruitment effort, which included a dinner and formal presentation, was facilitated by Morris Street Partners, a New York-based organization that currently has projects with PepsiCo and Merrill Lynch and aims to increase the number of disabled persons in the corporate workplace.

To help companies draw in students with disabilities, Morris Street Partners hosts events that are just like standard on-campus recruitment ones but are exclusive - and tailored - to disabled students.

Last week's initiative was PepsiCo's first disability-focused recruitment project with Morris Street Partners, said PepsiCo Director of Executive Staffing John Delpino, who heard about Morris Street Partners through a disabled executive at PepsiCo.

After deciding to "get [their] tail wet," Delpino said, PepsiCo officials deemed the disabled a "very important population" and decided to go after it.

And those students taking advantage of Morris Street Partners' services are singing the company's praises.

"The idea behind the company is inspiring," said College freshman Julie Gutowksi, who does marketing for the company on campus.

"Hopefully, [it] will take hold on college campuses, as well as in the business world," she said.

Gutowksi began working at Morris Street Partners after attending one of their recruitment sessions last semester with Merrill Lynch.

One Wharton senior, who is currently utilizing Morris Street Partners' services - and who refused to disclose her name because of the sensitive nature of her own disability, an auditory- processing disorder that impairs hearing - is currently in the early stages of recruitment at PepsiCo.

She called Morris Street Partners' work "very insightful," adding that, "as long as the disability does not affect [the person's] performance as an employee," why not hire them?

Still, officials at Morris Street Partners say they are not offering these services just for the sake of being considerate.

"It is not about being nice - it is about being smart," said Susan Lang, the CEO of Morris Street Partners.

Lang added that the non-profit organization approaches its work from a business perspective.

Rich Donovan, who started the organization last March, added that "Morris basically aims to bring disabled individuals into the market economy."

Donovan, who has cerebral palsy, called the disabled a significant national minority and pointed out that "this is something that hasn't been attempted before in a meaningful way."

Morris Street Partners is active on five campuses and is in contact with 15 others. It will return to campus next year with a new, although not-yet-chosen, name.

Career Services, which typically organizes on-campus recruitment events, advertised this event, but most of the planning was done by Morris Street Partners themselves, Barbara Hewitt, associate director of Career Services, wrote in an e-mail.

Source: ) Copyright 2007 The Daily Pennsylvanian

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