Show f 3 Salina SunGunnison Valley NewsSanpete News am i From the Publisher I t 1 This week we received a letter from an anonymous reader concerning our series on Medicaid fraud Following our policy of printing signed letters only this reader's letter will not be published Nevertheless we feel that some of the concerns mentioned should be addressed According to the letter’s author we did a great disservice by not providing Dr Richard Nay a chance to comment While Nay has not been directly quoted in any of the articles we have spoken with and quoted Peter Stirba Nay’s attorney who said all inquiries about the case should be directed to him After receiving this letter however we did contact Dr Nay We told him about the concerns expressed by the reader and he provided us with this written statement: “I have been advised by Lori Olsen by my lawyer not to speak directly to the press Do wisdom teeth have some However from this Medicaid unit and deny these false allegations power? will let my reputation am confident that will be completely exonerated Do those who have a big in this community for the past fifteen years speak for itself” As we continue to examine this issue we want to look at the Medicenough mouth to accommodate aid system as a whole Some doctors say that rural physicians are these extra teeth have more wisdom than the regular Joe? We are currently looking into this alletargeted for fraud investigations My husband has a huge mouth gation and will present our findings in a future issue mean his mouth is big enough to We will also follow the actions of the Utah Legislature In a recent room all four of his wisdom teeth Rules Committee decided to ask the Departhearing the Administrative without any problem Me on the ment of Public Safety’s Appropriations Committee to look into the fraud other hand never had any wisdom unit teeth come in or bother me At this point both the fraud unit and some physicians are being Does this mean something? Is accused of wrongdoing The courts have not made a decision one way or the other on the matter and we will not either We cannot decide who he blessed with wisdom and lack mental aptness? Let me tell some is guilty and who is innocent but we can try to look at the issue from all you the reason wisdom teeth are angles And that’s what we’ll continue to do Wisdom teeth named such It's because these teeth come in during the late teens or early twenties During the “age of wisdom” What?? Last Friday our son had all four of his wisdom teeth removed by an oral surgeon Wow was it slick They took us back and my son sat in the dental chair They gave us some instructions and made sure we didn’t have any was dismissed to the questions waiting room for some more "How to take care of the patient at home” instructions was given a prescription and instructed to go get 't filled before the pharmacy closed was January' gone about 20 minutes My son was done and waiting for me when got back Can you believe it? He hadn’t had anything to eat for about 14 hours and he was hungry So got him a milk shake as we pulled into town At home he tried to get his deadened mouth to cooperate with the spoon He finally stood in front of a mirror to watch what was going on He would spoon in a scoop of milkshake and then toss his head back and let the stuff slide down He had milk running down his chin and onto his shirt It was a riot to watch We laughed until we cried Now figured he would be in some pain once the medication wore off even thought he might be up in the night for medication or ice packs for the swelling was wrong! Our son slept great and was up the next morning asking if he could go to Provo to a couple of basketball games What was a doting mother to do?? His friend assured me he would do all the driving and would be our son’s “mom" for the day So let him go When teeth out by Kathy Erickson Manager Six County RSVP Volunteer Center Six County Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) AARP program and Six County Area Agency on Aging work together to organize resources to benefit seniors in rural Utah For five years Robert Doughtie AARPTax-AidCounselor has lugged his personal computer from his home and set it up in senior citizen centers in the Six County area in order to prepare income tax returns for seniors and low income residents As one of only four AARPTax-Aidvolunteers serving Sevier Millard Beaver Juab Sanpete Piute and Wayne Counties Doughtie had the option of either taking his personal with him or doing tax returns computer by hand This year — thanks to a new association between RSVP the VolunteerCen-te- r and Six County AARP Area Agency on Aging — area seniors will be able to have their taxes prepared by trained counselors at local sites in their own counties on computers that will stay at each of these sites This solution was made possible because dedicated individuals identified a problem found networking partners and worked together to find a solution to the problem A few months ago Robert Doughtie approached Kathy Erickson manager of Six County RSVPand the Volunteer Center of Sevier County to see if she could help recruit volunteers to train as AARPTax-Aidcounselors Together they worked hard to get information on the program the need for volunteers and the benefits to pro Hermansen’s Mill Now Stocks Roller Mills Pancake Specialty Mixes Bear Lake Jams & Syrups Lehi & & Stop by 204 South 100 East Gunnison for more information or Call 528-31- out to the public spective through public service announcements newspaper articles and ters The printers will make it possible counselors to print individual tax returns which isessenlial for the program IRS supplies TCE (Tax Counseling for (he Elderly) funds and training to AARP “Intuit” the manufacturer of the ProSeries Software is donating a copy of their Software to each VITAVTCE site This software is valued at $26(X) per site The tax preparation software is only s available for use by trained A hut the computers will he availfor use by seniors able under gui lines set by each local Senior Center Board effort between This networking the IRS Intuit Six AARP County Area Agency on Aging the Utah State Department of Aging Six r County RSVP and the VolunteerCen-teis an extraordinary example of working together and Getting Things Done This effort has resulted in donation of computer hardware and software conservatively estimated at $40(XX) which will directly benefit seniors in this service area Although more volunteers are needed (especially in Sanpete and Juab counties) they are very pleased with the wonderful volunteers who have stepped forward to meet this challenge Erickson apprized her supervisor Six County Area Ross Bumgardncr Agency on Aging Director of the need for counselors to have access to computers at arious locations in the service area Mr Bumgardner agreed that having this resource available would be a great benefit to seniors He also felt the seniors could put computers to use for other center activities throughout the year Bumgardner made arrangements to place surplus 486 and Pentium I computers at most of the Six County AAA funded Senior Centers Although these computers are not as large nor as fast as is necessary forcurrent professional office use they are adequate for purposes and would also be available fQr seniors to use forothei activities at the centers Although computAARPTax-Aidtraining iscurrently ers decrease drastically in value as new underway at the Richfield SeniorCcn-teranthe computer lab at North Sevier technology is developed each of these Middle School Other training sessions computers had originally cost between $1000 and $1700 may be scheduled if volunteers are However there were no printers availfound for Juab Sevier Beaver and able for these computers Sanpete counties AARP counselors will be Doughtie contacted IRS and AARP sources negotiated for and received available by appointment at local sites ten ( 0) new Hewlett Packard LaserJet from February thru April 15 Watch 100 printers valued at $399 to $499 your local paper fora linalicd listing of each These pri n ters belong to the IRS AARPTax-Aidsites but will be placed at local senioi cen- There is still time to get involved if you are interested in becoming a volunteer counselor! Contact Robert Doughtie at or EARN MORE With the Y2K CD ( Ifyou wish to get involved in projects which are solving priority needs in yourcommunity — orifyourorganiza-tiowants to invite RSVPand the Volunteer Center to network with you to Get Things Done — contact Kathy Erickson at 896 9222ext 28ortolI-free- : ext 28 Call today Picture the Difference YOU can make! k on Add $ 2000 to an existing CD for an extra 10 your existing rate for the remaining term of your CD Mid-Wint- 9 2000 checks groans from pain and strong medication that makes you sleep the day away There is no horrifying ending to this story Our son did fine He followed the doctor's instructions He had a great time with his friends at the ball games Do our kids in their late teens or early twenties arrive at an “age of wisdom?" These teeth may hold some power that prevents wisdom Teenagers aren’t known for their but wisdom hope my now “wisdom son gains some wisdom soon Our other son now twenty years old realized how wise his parents are once his wisdom teeth were removed It may be the that brings wisdom extraction have never had my wisdom teeth extracted I’m still waiting for And what about my huswisdom band? Is he wise with his size 32 mouth instead of a regular mouth that only holds 28 teeth? He may but I’ve never accused be smart him of being wise blue Off The Top is the product of Lori's rambling and disjointed thoughts This conversational style piece may be somewhat exaggerated and does not reflect the opinion of this newspaper Letter to the Editor Picture yourself volunteering with RSVP clients think of having wisdom images of black and see 1 What about Truth in Advertising? To the Editor: The ad states "Watch for the best ne ws coverage ol the Valley in 2(XM) in hometown newspaper!" your Does that mean we can expect to see more wrestling track and otherathlelic news? Will we see more hometown faces and school club and community Gmfh §30GMEQ updates? hope to find the 2(XX) Gunnison Valley News as interesting as the hometown newspapers Irom the surrounding communities that enjoy weekly Thanks Kathy Lin Eggleston Gunnison Answers by: Utah State University Extension Specialists dty 2 to 3 inches down The plants are very sensitive to over watering and will develop root rot quickly if kept too wet Water the pot thoroughly letting excess water drain out of the bottom Answer by : Jerry Goodspeed Apply an USU Extension Horticulturist lertilier once a week to keep plants Even though the holidays are gone have lobe With healthy during the holidays Once the yourpoinseltiasdon’l a little care they can still brighten up eolorlul bracts drop off reduce watering and lerlilialiontogive the plants a your home for months to come rest period Trim the poinsettia hack so Poinsettiasare native Mexican plants that just a few leaves are left They love the holiday season because With proper care poinsettia bracts they are shortday plants that require can be maintained until about Marchor long nights to launch thcircolorchangc The colorful bracts of these plants arc April Once they begin to fall cut the plant back leaving about six buds For leaves not flowers with the most comthe first couple of weeks it will !Kk like mon bract color being red The (lower buds are the red or green buttons in the a stick Water and fertilize as before and by May it will start to leal out again a bracts that small to centerofthe open To keep it small and compact cut it yellow flower Healthy poinseltias have and early Septemdark green leaves below the bracts and back about ber to stimulate branching foliage all the way to the base Beginning the first of October put Consider these tips to keep your the plant in complete darkness as soon poinsettia healthy and bright Poinseltias need a minimum of six as the sun sets allowing a minimum of 14 hours of darkness A bag can be hours of indirect sunlight each day placed over the plant or it can be set in Protect the plants from freezing a closet throughout the day By the end temperatures especially when transol November it will start to color and porting them Place them in a lightfilled room away from drafts They do best in you will he able to enjoy it for another rooms between 55 and 65 degrees at season Poinseltias can he taken outdoors night and 65 to 70 degrees during the in the spring when the danger of a day Keep poinseltias away fromdrafty locations and avoid exposing them to freee is past Place the plants in a location and they can lie enshady below F 50 temperatures degrees Water poinseltias when the soil is joyed throughout the summer MY POINSETTIA IS STILL LOVELY IIOW CAN I KEEP IT THAT WAY? er Savings or Open a new CD with 21 minimum of $ 2000 for an added to our already great rates Extra 10 The APY will vary depending Ranging from 4 44 on your existing to 670 rate Please call the Credit Union for details Im-Sto- ck Support Your Local Credit Unions! 25 to 50 Apparel for the m- 268 South Main 84 West Main Moroni Equal Opportunity Lender Member NCU A Must Be Eligible for Ephraim Membership pirit Mountain Apparel & Specialties L 151 South Main Gunnison 528-509- 2 |