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March 31, 2011 Page 3
Increasing funding for seniors is fiscally responsible
Every session we have a long-
standing tradition of honoring for-
mer legislators who have died in the
past two years. This session we
honored my mother-in-law, Jerry
Meyer, who served in the Senate
during the 80s. During the memori-
al service I was reflecting on what
she stood for and the wonderful
things she accomplished for the
women of North Dakota. Because
of women like her who had the
courage to stand up for the things
she believed in, North Dakota is a
better place for women, children,
and working families. She fought
for equal pay for equal work, educa-
tion, child care ... the list goes on.
It never ceases to amaze me when
I'm doing research for legislation
how many times her name will pop
up. Her tracks won't be washed out
in the first rain.
Last week in Finance and Tax we
heard SB 2242. This bill would
provide for a dollar for dollar match
for the Senior Mill Levy Match pro-
gram. Currently the appropriation
provides for a match of .667 cents
for every dollar levied locally. The
Senior Mill Levy Match was estab-
lished by the Legislature in 1971 to
provide funding for services for
senior citizens. These services
include home delivered meals, con-
gregate dining, transportation, out-
reach assistance, health related
services and the maintenance of
senior citizens centers where servic-
Capitol Report
By Shirley Meyer
State Representative,
District 36
es are provided.
The 2005 Legislative Assembly
created the senior citizen services
and programs fund. Each year dur-
ing July through December, the
state treasurer transfers to the fund
the portion of sales, use, and motor
vehicle excise tax collections that
are equivalent to the amount gener-
ated from two-thirds of one mill
levied statewide. The treasurer by
March 1 of the following year, dis-
tributes money in the fund as grants
to eligible counties for senior citi-
zen programs. The increase in
funding in SB 2242 (going up from
2/3rds of a mill to 1 mill) will pro-
vide resources for service providers
to meet the growing needs of an
increasingly aging population. And
it will allow these services to be
provided in an in-home setting
expanding the continuum of care
for the senior population. More
importantly, it will provide addi-
tional funding in support of the
many senior centers throughout the
state to make sure that they are able
to be adequately maintained so that
they are available for the elderly.
These are places where seniors
congregate and where services are
provided that assist them in main-
taining an active and independent
lifestyle. In many of our small
towns the senior center is one of the
last few active facilities in town.
I am a huge supporter of Elder
Care, anti I've seen the tremendous
benefits they provide. You can
imagine my surprise when some
members of the committee decided
that they weren't going to let this
bill come out of committee with a
"Do Pass" recommendation. All of
a sudden after a week of passing
out tax breaks for banks, tax breaks
for corporations, tax exemptions
for retail business, they decide to
draw the line on excessive state
spending by defeating a bill that
helps our senior citizens. Which by
the way are the same people who
built this state, educated us, cared
for us, and gave us the road map for
the successes we have enjoyed.
The transportation that is provided
under these programs is oftentimes
the only way that seniors can get to
church or to a doctor's appoint-
ment.
Coming into this session with a
billion dollar surplus and we can't
afford to come up with $1.5 million
to help the elderly? Providing fund-
ing for seniors isn't expanding gov-
ernment it's government being fis-
cally responsible. The longer peo-
ple stay in their own homes, the
more money the state saves.
Keep thinking spring.
Speaker' s Desk
By David Drovdal
Because I know I'm over my lit-
tle head when it comes to AC power,
the kind of electricity that comes out
of an outlet in your wall, I asked my
friend Robert Olsen of Washington
State University for help. Olsen is an
engineering professor, and he point-
ed me to a posting on the govern-
ment's National Institute of
Standards and Technology website
summarizing a report about the kind
of device I had been offered.
The NIST posting explains my
house isn't just charged for current
flowing into it from the grid, but
actually for the product of multiply-
ing that current by the power factor
of my home. With the capacitor
device in place, current should
indeed drop, but the power factor
rises in a manner that means the
Doc
(Continued from Pa9e 2)
product remains the same.
Bottom line, my house wouldn't
save a nickel with the device.
I also investigated the capacitors-
in-a-box by calling a free hotline of
the Department of Energy. I immedi-
ately got to talk to a real person who
took down my questions and got
back to me later. He noted that
power companies bill residential
customers differently from how they
bill commercial customers. But for
your home, the basic advice is that
there's no reason to think the capac-
itors will help lower your bills.
The salesmen I met mentioned an
association between their outfit and
a finance company. I think that
means some good souls have gone
into debt to buy the capacitors-in-a-
box in an effort to save money. From
my point of view, that's a cruel fate,
indeed.
At least I got a free steak meal for
my trouble. All I'm saying is this: be
careful you don't pay a lot for your
dinner. When it comes to saving on
household energy bills, there are
indeed tactics that work. Check with
your local public utility for ideas and
advice. On the web, one site worth
visiting is
http://www.energysavers.gov/fips/.
Seize the day and make the effort
to' educate yourself about energy
conservation using reliable sources.
The dollar you save really can be
your own.
(Dr. E. Kirsten Peters, a native of
the rural Northwest, was trained as
a geologist at Princeton and
Harvard.)
To edmr
Senility has no boundaries in society
To the editor:
This is in response to Lloyd
Omdahl's syndicated column in the
March 17 editions, where he
trashed the North Dakota
Legendary 2011 travel guides
events across the state in a pitiful
attempt to be funny.
He scoped the May 28-29
Dakota Cowboy Poetry Gathering,
held annually at Medora, in his
crosshairs and pulled the trigger,
referring to the classic gathering as
an x-rated, anything goes, profane,
crude, guitar banging event. First
off, I can personally testify that
Lloyd has never once attended the
Dakota Cowboy Poetry Gathering
in its highly successful 24-year his-
tory, where western and cowboy
culture is celebrated and preserved
and attended by entire families.
Study cowboy history as far back as
you please, you'll discover the cul-
ture to be one of the most strict,
courteous, respectful and polite in
mixed company of any humanity
groups.
The Gathering was honored
nationally in 2000 by the Library of
Congress in Washington D.C. as "A
local legacy" for its accuracy in its
preservation of its culture. In
January of this year it was honored
at the National Cowboy Poetry
Gathering held in Elko, Nev., for
the same.
As a university professor and
North Dakota lieutenant governor,
Lloyd held positions of respect and
more importantly, great influence
on generations of our state's youth
at a very formative and influential
period of their lives. For a person of
this caliber to write an article so low
• is unacceptable. If he desires to be a
clown I suggest he re-enter politics
and leave humor to a real humorist.
His article also took a sharp jab at
your church services saying, "The
Lakota Turkey Barbecue will be
held June 17-19 with an all-faith
church service slated for Sunday.
All-faith means it will represent the
lowest common denomination for
people of faith." Perhaps senility
has no boundaries in society.
Bill Lowman
Founder/Director, Dakota
Cowboy Poetry Gathering
Bill would allow Game and Fish to buy land
From the Speaker's Desk I have
the best chair in the chamber - we
have many schools that visit the
Capitol during the session and most
sit in the balcony for at least part of
a session. From my chair I can
watch these students and see the
interest and curiosity they have for
the process.
Most students I get a chance to
visit with are awed by the process
and it would be interesting if they
would relay their thoughts about it.
A few of these students will be
future legislators sitting on the floor
making the decisions of tomorrow.
A person can spend lots of money
and go to Washington D.C. and see
old buildings or you can come to
Bismarck and see how the political
system does work.
This week, the floor action will
include some of the major funding
bills and North Dakota's version of
earmarks. One such ear tag that I
saw was a provision to allow Game
and Fish to spend up to $850,000 to
purchase private land. Past legisla-
tures have voted not to allow the gov-
ernment to purchase any more land
but this bypasses that issue by only
allowing the purchase with money in
their (our) trust account. To me this
is unfair competition for the private
sector. Game and Fish says they are
paying fair market value but they also
are the party that is setting what fair
market value is. They also are com-
peting with individuals that have to
use after tax mrney to pay for the
land and the individuals have to
make a living off that land.
Governments only add to the
cost of their services when they pur-
chase land. The $850,000 is only
seed money because there are many
green groups and conservation
groups that have tax deductible
donations that they will give to
Game and Fish to enable the pur-
chase of many more acres than was
first imagined in the bill. There is
no shortage of land for them to pur-
chase simply because sellers are
looking for the deepest pocket. In
one case the landowner has already
sold 90 percent of the rights, such as
hunting rights, to the government
and now wants to sell the land for
full value. The only party that
would pay that amount is a govem-
merit agency. The real question
should be is this a country of private
ownership or public ownership? If
the government continues to pur-
chase land we will be the buffalo
commons again. The old saying
that land is power is still true today.
Socialism believes that the govern-
ment should own or control.
There is a suggestion to start a
deer depravation program through
Game and Fish. The argument is a
small rancher is losing some hay
and if the program is in place they
could recover their loss. I agree
with the problem of deer deprava-
tion but think of this scenario: A
wealthy individual purchases a
quarter of "land as an investment
because they want a hunting camp
for themselves and their friends.
They plant 160 acres of crop to
attract the deer. Hunting season
comes and they shoot the big buck,
then submit a claim for depravation
on the crop and get paid a profit for
the loss. The local rancher submits
a claim in the spring and is told all
the funding is spent. If the local
rancher gets mad and sues, a judge
could find the state liable for all
depravation because we indicated
responsibility by starting the pro-
gram. The taxpayers would be on
the hook for the bill. It goes to
show that there are two sides to
every story.
Less invasive sinus surgery brings relief
This small tool makes a huge difference to sinus sufferers
through the Balloon Sinuplasty procedure. St. Joseph's Hos-
pital Badlands ENT has the only certified Balloon Sinuplasty
treated with medication prescribed
by your doctor-antibiotics, nasal
and steroid sprays-steam. How-
ever, for about twenty percent of
patients medication will not pro-
vide symptom relief, and surgery
will be recommended.
"Despite this debilitating condi-
tion, many patients choose not to
move for-
ward and
'continue
suffering,"
says Dr.
James
Williams,
Otolaryn-
gologist at
Badlands
E N T .
"Possibly Dr. James
t h e y ' v e Williams-Otolaryn-
heard sur-
gical sto- goIogist at Bad-
ries that lands ENT
inspire
them to opt out rather than try
something that could remedy the
problem. Regardless, Balloon Sin-
uplasty is an entirely different type
of procedure than we've offered in
the past and we're excited about the
benefits it offers patients."
Balloon Sinuplasty Technology
is a safe and minimally invasive
system used as a tool by surgeons
when treating chronic sinusitis.
Doctors thread a guide wire
equipped with a tiny balloon into
the sinus and gently inflate the bal-
loon just enough to open the pas-
sageway. The sinus is then
flushed, leaving the sinus open and
clear and allowing the return of
physician in the region.
Sinus sufferers know the misery
involved in dealing with sinus is-
sues.
Facial pain and pressure,
headaches, difficulty breathing, fa-
tigue and sore throat are common
symptoms which are often aggra-
vated by teeth pain, a loss of the
senses of taste and smell, green or
yellow nose discharge and bad
breath. In fact, more than 7 million
people in our nation are affected by
chronic sinusitis, and they range in
ages from toddler to adult.
If these symptoms are familiar
to you, there is good news. A new
surgery called Balloon Sinuplasty
is now available at St. Joseph's
Hospital and Health Center's Bad-
lands ENT, Allergy and Hearing
Clinic, and it has opened a whole
new world, literally, for patients
who have experienced it.
Chronic sinus infections, one of
the most common types of sinus
problems, are inflammations of the
sinus lining lasting three months or
more. Sinuses are air-filled pock-
ets that surround the nose. Each
sinus has an opening through which
mucus drains. Sinus infections are
most commonly caused by bacter-
ial, viral and/or microbial infec-
tions. Structural issues such as
blockage of the sinus opening can
also lead to chronic sinus infec-
tions. If the opening is closed, nor-
mal sinus drainage may not occur.
This condition may lead to infec-
tion and inflammation of the si-
nuses. In medical terms it is known
as sinusitis, in the patient's terms-
misery.
Sinus infections are typically
healthy sinus drainage. There is lit-
tle to no disruption of the anatomy
or tissue. The technology is much
like a balloon angioplasty done to
open blocked arteries. Tens of
thousands of patients have experi-
enced the benefits of the Balloon
Sinuplasty system
"The bone in the nose is remod-
eled and healed through this proce-
dure which leads to long term
health in the sinuses," explains Dr.
Williams. "Unlike other proce-
dures, there is only minor bleeding
and the procedure doesn't even re-
quire packing the site. Usually
within 24 hours the patient is back
to doing normal activities. This is
a significant advantage that we can
now offer our patients, especially
those who lead a busy lifestyle or
those who are concerned with post-
operative pain, scarring and bleed-
ing."
One of most exciting aspects of
the technology is that it can be
safely performed on children, some
even as young as 18 months of age.
However, generally children and
teens do not require sinus surgery.
"For over 90% of sinusitis pa-
tients who have the balloon proce-
dure, it's a permanent fix,"
Williams says. "Many people who
have the procedure get their sense
of taste and smell back. Since the
inflammation of tissue is resolved,
air flow can return along with those
two senses. There's no guarantee,
but it's a possibility."
Balloon Sinuplasty was devel-
oped in 2005 by the Menlo Park,
California-based Acclarent and
since then has grown in popularity
with patients and doctors.
"It is a national and international
form of treatment now," says Dr.
Williams. "We are excited to offer
this surgical option to our patients.
Any time you can offer a service
which reduces trauma and speeds
recovery time, with a high rate of
success, it enhances the benefit to
the patient and increases our satis-
faction as health care providers.
This procedure offers multiple ben-
efits and can make a huge differ-
ence in people's lives. It is
definitely the wave of the future in
sinus surgical treatment."
St. Joseph's Hospital and Health
Please Fast- Track
Referral from : Badlands ENT Clinic 701-456-4700
Phone/Fax: St. Joseph's Hospital and Health Center
How did you hear'about Balloon Sinuplasty TM Technology?
n Web n Billboard
n Newspaper El Radio
El Telephone Hold Message El TV
El Other:
The following questionnaire is intended to help define your symptoms and provide valuable information and itiOhts for your
doctor. ,Answer the questions, rating to the best of yo4Jr ability the problems you have experienced over,he past two weeks.
Sino.Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-20)
I. Con=ider how iove thepmldom is whim
ye experieP, c,e it acml how frequently it
how "bid" it . l:r./cirr t f, nu d'wt
con,eq:xdl with how yOU fell
2. Please the moll itaporUt i*rrrs
affe<ng your ho=l (mn of 5 item=),
Patient Name:
Date:
% Need to blow nose
i
I
0 I 2
3 4 ! S
I 3. Runy no 0 1 2 ! 3 4 ]
I ,. i 0 i
i
...... !
0
....... g_ ....... i
o
0
) I
1 2 i 3 4 i $
S. Post-nasll , 0 1 2 3 ! 4 5 0
I , s O
i 7. F fi., 0 1 2 3 i 4 5 O
8. Dlzzies, 0 i 1 Z 3 I 4 i S 0
9. Ear pain 0 1 2 3 ', 4 5 O
I 4 i
,0. F,,.,,.,. ' o i i 3_ i ! s _o j
i a I Difficuhy falling asleep 0 1 2 3 I 4 5 O
I 12 Vkeupat.tt 0 i 1 i 2 3 4 j S
............................................... - ....... ............... ........ ........ _
} 13 o=lp 0 I 2 3 | 4 5 0
0 i 1 2 { 3 1 4 i 5 0
_:_ ...._t ................................. J ' ,
................................ i, i-
15 Fatigue ' 0 1 i 2 ! 3 -4 0
.......... ]i, o "
q ' I- 5
, ........................... ....... -- i "
, 17 Reduced concentration 0 1 2 ; 3 i 4 5 0
i 18, Fruod /resde. / intalde 0 1 i 2 i 3 4 5 0
'9 Sad 0 1 2 3 i 4 5 0
! ....................... f" ; ..... t i t
' ;tO, Emb=rr,d i 0 1 2 3 4 i 5 ] 0 i
01096 by Jay F P€nflo. MJ, W$h,ngto Un,vertry ol t Medtclr, e, St LOU, M,,Ioun
If you think you're having sinus issues take this test and share it with your doctor or bring
it to Badlands ENT.
Center Badlands ENT is currently
the only facility in the region offer-
ing the option of Balloon Sinu-
plasty.
For information or if you would
like to discuss the results of your
Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-
20) form you can call 701-456-
4700.
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