Towns, schools watching fuel prices

Published in the Current

(Sep 15, 2005): Scarborough students and school staff might need to “wear more sweaters” this winter, as the district has frozen all discretionary spending to save money that could be needed to pay higher-than-expected heating oil and diesel prices.

“There are very few accounts that we actually control,” said Superintendent Bill Michaud. He has stopped all spending on textbooks, office supplies and audio-visual materials, while allowing for some exceptions to be made on a case-by-case basis.

He said the district had considered canceling all field trips, because of the cost of diesel fuel for the buses transporting students and teachers to various locations.

“There are some field trips that are closely tied to the curriculum” and many that are outside of school but still in town, such as science trips to Scarborough Marsh and the town’s beaches.

He said the district will be reviewing all field trip requests, and “obviously some of them are going to be eliminated.”

Sports teams will be allowed to use buses only for required meets and contests, he said. There will be no more buses to scrimmages or exhibition games.

“We’ve also considered turning the thermostat down” to save energy, said Michaud. All the school buildings in town except for the primary schools are heated by natural gas, which does not allow the schools to lock in a price. And the district has not been able to lock in a price for what heating oil it does use, estimated to cost $500,000 a year.

Michaud will review the district’s fuel spending in early January to see whether it can afford to end the spending freezes.

Town Manager Ron Owens said if fuel prices stay about the same as they are now, the town and school combined could be more than $100,000 over the budgeted amount for diesel fuel, most of which is used for school buses.

If diesel prices, which are now falling, go back up, the budget hole would be bigger, as much as $700,000, if prices climb $1.20 a gallon above where they were two weeks ago, when the town got its last shipment of diesel.

“We can do some things to try to absorb that,” Owens said, such as reducing engine idling and finding ways to eliminate duplicate vehicle trips.

But if the hole is larger than about $100,000, Owens said he would seek approval from the council to cover the extra costs with money in the town’s reserve account.

Cape Elizabeth Superintendent Alan Hawkins told the School Board Tuesday he is starting to collect information about projected fuel costs, and might appoint a group to discuss what should be done.

Cape Town Manager Mike McGovern has asked all town departments to find additional ways to conserve fuel, in addition to their regular conservation measures, such as using timers on lights and boilers and using energy-efficient windows and light fixtures.

In South Portland, school Business Manager Polly Ward said the city and schools together locked in a heating oil price last spring, so that is not a concern.

She said district employees are concerned about diesel fuel costs and the cost of natural gas, but are not yet restricting field trips.

“Right now we don’t have any reason to believe that we’re not going to be properly budgeted” for fuel expenses, she said.

New Medicare drug benefit: What you need to know

Published in the Current

(Sep 14, 2005): Seniors on Medicare, or those approaching age 65, have a big choice looming regarding Medicare's new prescription-drug coverage program.

While seniors will be given plenty of information, including from government agencies and advertising by large insurance companies, the wealth of information may actually make it harder to decide on the best prescription drug program for you.

Starting Oct. 1, insurance companies will begin a marketing campaign targeting senior citizens, to convince them to buy one or another Medicare-approved prescription drug insurance plan, collectively called Medicare Part D.

Starting on Nov. 15, those on Medicare will need to sign up for a specific drug coverage plan in order to be eligible for help paying the costs of prescription drugs starting on Jan. 1, 2006.

In the lead-up to what promises to be a complex decision-making process, Medicare drug specialist Katlyn Blackstone from the Southern Maine Agency on Aging is holding a series of seminars around Cumberland and York counties to inform seniors about the new prescription drug system.

There are 77,000 Medicare recipients in Cumberland and York counties, and “all of you will have to make some kind of decision regarding Medicare Part D,” even if that choice is not to participate, Blackstone said at a meeting with seniors in South Portland last week.

How it works

The Medicare prescription drug plan is separate from the hospital insurance program, called Part A, and outpatient insurance covering doctor’s office visits, called Part B.

Medicare Part D replaces the Medicare-approved drug discount card program that started in early 2004, meaning that people involved in those programs will have to choose a new Part D plan.

These prescription drug plans are offered by private insurance companies, who will charge a premium – projected to be about $35 a month, at least for the first year.

Benefits, under Part D, start with a $250 deductible, which must be paid by the individual. There is no insurance to help pay for the first $250 of drugs you use each year.

Under all the Part D prescription drug coverage plans, fees are charged at the full rate, not a discounted rate like with the current drug discount cards.

So, for example, if a person is taking a drug, and is in a drug discount plan with a payment of $25 for a drug that costs $100, the person would have to pay the full $100 for two months, and then $50 the third month, before the insurance kicks in.

After the person pays the $250 deductible, the new drug coverage insurance plans, under Medicare Part D, will pay 75 percent of the cost of the drugs.

That means seniors will be required to pay the remaining 25 percent – until the total cost of the drugs reaches $2,250.

Under Part D, therefore, a senior has to pay $500 of their own money, in addition to the $250 deductible, for a total of $750 out-of-pocket.

Beyond that, there is what Blackstone called a “coverage gap” in which “you are responsible for all of your drug costs” until the total cost of your drugs reaches $5,100.

This means the senior would have to spend another $2,850 of their own money – for a total out-of-pocket cost of $3,600.

After that, the drug insurance plan will pick up 95 percent of the cost of all drugs, leaving 5 percent to be paid by the senior.

These out of pocket costs for prescription drugs are an annual expense. And, the $35 premiums must be paid monthly as well.

How to get help

Before the sign-up period begins, seniors can ask for help paying the costs of the premiums and prescription drugs, once they have decided on a prescription drug plan.

Blackstone said everyone should fill out a form from the Social Security Administration to see if they qualify for help, based on their income level and other assets such as bank accounts.

The value of a senior’s home, and any vehicles, are not included in the income calculation.

People with Mainecare and Medicare will have no premium, no deductible, no gap in coverage, and co-payments at or below $5 per prescription, even for brand-name medications – though only if their medications are on the list of specific drugs covered by their plan.

If those people spend more than $3,600 in a year, then even the co-payment is waived.

People who live in nursing homes and on Mainecare will have no co-payments or any out-of-pocket expenses, Blackstone said.

Choosing a plan

There will be as many as 20 prescription drug coverage plans available to choose from in Maine.

All of the Medicare Part D plans must be approved by the Maine Bureau of Insurance. None of the plans offered will provide coverage for purchasing drugs from Canadian pharmacies.

The Medicare information booklet, mailed each October to recipients, will include a listing of all plans available in Maine and phone numbers to call for more information.

But even before that, the insurance companies can advertise their plans, including calling seniors directly.

“They’re not allowed to enroll you over the phone,” Blackstone said, warning seniors not to be talked into signing up too quickly.

She urged seniors to look carefully at all the plans, including asking what medications each plan covers (called its “formulary”) and how much it will cost, including co-payments.

“The companies want your business. Up front they are most likely going to be very generous in their formularies. … Later on that might change. We’re not sure,” Blackstone said.

Some drug coverage plans will require prescriptions be filled by mail, while others will be honored by local pharmacies.

Penalty for delay

Enrollment is not automatic, except for people on Medicaid (or Mainecare) or in Medicare savings plans. But even then, there is a choice to be made.

“If you have Mainecare and Medicare … you will be automatically assigned to a plan by the end of the year if you don’t pick one,” Blackstone said.

People with Veterans Administration prescription coverage, TRICARE or Federal Employee Health Benefits coverage do not need to sign up.

People on retiree prescription plans will get a letter by Nov. 15, telling them whether they need to sign up for Medicare Part D.

A person who decides not to sign up by May 15, 2006, and is not in a comparable plan, will have to pay a penalty if they sign up later.

The penalty is a percentage of the premium, based on how many months after the May 15, 2006, enrollment deadline the person signs up.

For example, if a person signs up a month late, they will have to pay the premium, plus 1 percent of the premium, each month. If a person signs up a year late, the surcharge would be 12 percent of the premium.

For more information about the new Medicare Part D drug coverage plans, call Southern Maine Agency on Aging at 396-6500 or 1-800-427-7411.

Locals divided on Patriot Act

Published in the Current

SCARBOROUGH (Sep 8, 2005): Local residents are torn about the expansion of the USA PATRIOT Act, with some worried about government invasion of privacy, while others want the act expanded to provide more security against terrorism.

At a forum on the issue last week, Pauline Levin of Scarborough noted media reports “that abuses have occurred” under the provisions of the law, enacted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, to help federal agents fight terrorism.

But Arline Neumann, also of Scarborough, said she wants police powers extended. “I feel the Patriot Act protects me to stay alive,” she said at the forum, held at the Scarborough Public Library.

The law’s official name is an acronym standing for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism,” but it is often referred to simply as the “Patriot Act.”

The lead federal prosecutor in Maine, Paula Silsby, defended the law as something that provides police and investigators with "tools (that) facilitate the prosecutors' job" and are "necessary" to protect the public.

Several provisions are up for renewal by Congress this fall, which has led to a national debate on how much privacy people are willing to give up in exchange for a measure of security.

One controversial provision up for reconsideration allows federal agents to demand copies of records of books people have borrowed from libraries or purchased at bookstores, and, under some circumstances, to force library or store officials to remain silent about the demand forever.

Shenna Bellows, executive director of the Maine Civil Liberties Union, said her group agrees government should have tools to protect the public. “Our concern is the expansion” of investigative powers and restrictions on public knowledge or judicial oversight of the process, she said.

That “increases our necessity to trust government officials,” which is not always a good idea in a democracy, she said.

Librarians have also been concerned, with Wendy Miller of the Maine Library Association noting that America has a strong tradition of intellectual freedom.

In response to a question from Patricia Doyle, a resident of Westchester County, N.Y., who was visiting Levin, Miller said she would not report to police a person who asked her for a book on how to make bombs.

Shortly after 9/11, a man asked Miller for help finding books on Iraq and Pakistan, she said. She felt nervous initially, but then dismissed it as her own reaction because of the timing of the request. He wasn’t doing anything illegal, she said. “He’s just looking for information.”

The very fact that a man’s search for books on a particular topic worried Anne Altern, a South Portland resident born in Norway.

“In this country, you can buy a gun and no record is kept. … You can go to a library and check out a book and the record is always there,” she said.

Scarborough resident Jack Kelley said the danger is real, despite a “philosophy of privacy” that pervades American culture.

Drawing a distinction between day-to-day crimes and terrorism, Kelley said “failure to prevent a crime can result in somebody’s death” but failure to prevent an act of terrorism could result in destruction of a city.

Neumann said she didn’t mind if the government wanted to look at her book-borrowing records. “Before 9/11 I would have cared,” but now she does not, she said.

Most people in the room, whether they supported or opposed parts of the Patriot Act, said they believed there are terrorists “out there” who want to harm American citizens, and are using the Internet – freely and anonymously available in many libraries – as one tool in their efforts.

Bellows said her group’s concerns include ensuring the government doesn’t “waste taxpayer dollars” investigating peaceful groups. She noted that the FBI recently released 1,000 pages documenting investigation and surveillance of the American Civil Liberties Union, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by the ACLU.

Silsby said the Patriot Act strikes a “balance” between freedom and safety. “I think we all agree that we have to remain safe in order to be free,” she said.

Neumann noted that 9/11 hijacker Mohammed “Atta looked like an average American businessman carrying a briefcase.” A search of his clothes or his luggage would have turned up nothing, she said. “He used the plane as his weapon.”

4 from S.P. ready to go

Published in the Current

SOUTH PORTLAND (Sep 8, 2005): Four firefighter-paramedics with the South Portland Fire Department are ready to head to the Gulf Coast as part of a 20-member team from Maine.

"We're just waiting for a phone call," said Fire Chief Kevin Guimond. "I wish we could offer more people, but we've still got to cover the city."

Guimond said he and others in the department have also been working the last two days to set up a shelter in Maine for evacuees, but it now looks like they will not get this far, he said.

Lynette Miller of the Maine Emergency Management Agency said South Portland is one place a statewide task force is considering as a possible site for meeting up with evacuees to find out what they need and sending them elsewhere in the state.

She said federal agencies have halted "mass relocations" out of the disaster-affected area, citing evacuees' unwillingness to go so far from home.

Editorial: Not so far

Published in the Current

(Sep 8, 2005): While the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina is 1,600 miles away, people in our towns – even just down the street – are feeling its effects and getting involved.

Jack Malcolm of Cape Elizabeth and Ellen Thornton of Scarborough are back in their respective homes, relieved survivors of the storm. Aid donations are pouring into anywhere that is set up to collect them, whether a container truck at the Maine Mall or a firefighter's rubber boot at the Cape Elizabeth transfer station.

And though we felt only rain from Katrina, another “disaster” made landfall here: The federal response was not well coordinated. Cape’s Water Extrication Team was on standby, only to be told to stay put. The federal agency in charge said they weren’t needed.

Local firefighters and others signed up to help, too, but the feds are now saying they have everyone they need in place or on the way.

It’s hard to believe that, given the pictures and reports coming out of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, where thousands of people are still trapped in their homes or places of work by floodwaters contaminated with hazardous chemicals and sewage.

Only a couple days ago looting and random shootings were reportedly commonplace in the ruins of New Orleans, and hundreds – if not thousands – who had survived the hurricane were in danger of dying before help arrived. It certainly seemed, from this far away, as if more rescuers in boats, like the WETeam, and more public-safety workers, like the firefighters, could have helped.

We know now that if the feds had acted faster in the immediate aftermath of the storm, more people might have been saved, or at least rescued earlier.

Only time will tell whether the feds were right to delay Maine’s offers of aid, but that’s not enough for people in our community, who want to help.

Though we fear they may not be, we hope the feds are making the right decisions now, after failing so miserably just days ago. And we can take heart, knowing that if more help is needed – whether tomorrow, next month or next year – we have people in our communities who are standing up to say “I will.”

Thanks to them. We should all be proud of their willingness to serve, and should join them in whatever way we can, whether by donating food, money or time.

Four years already

This issue begins our fifth year here at the Current, and we owe it all to two groups of people: our readers and our advertisers. Without you, we would not have survived, nor would we be continuing to thrive and grow, still working each week to become the best community newspaper we can be.

In some ways, to some of us, it seems like yesterday a small group of us were in a small upstairs office putting together the first issue of the more than 200 we have published since.

And in other ways, we have grown to become a stronger weekly paper than we had hoped, always with the news from Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth and South Portland, but expanding our range to include developments at the Statehouse, and deepening our coverage in our towns to explore specific areas such as business, religion and, as always, schools, police and town government.

We have also introduced our readers to interesting and enlightening people who live nearby, and have helped make and strengthen connections within our communities.

We have illuminated social issues, trends and controversies, and have received countless positive comments. But we are not resting on our achievements. Rather, we push forward each week, striving to be even better, and in that effort, we need your assistance.

Your story ideas, comments and friendly faces are all important to us. Please contact Jeff Inglis, editor, at 883-3533, or by e-mail at currjeff@maine.rr.com, at any time with anything you would like to say. We welcome letters to the editor, guest columns, news tips, neighborhood updates and anything else you would like to send our way.

Thanks again for reading and participating in this, your community’s newspaper.

Jeff Inglis, editor