Letter Writer Complains of Bridge Card Use for Junk Food

In Friday's edition of the Benton Harbor/St. Joseph Herald Palladium, a letter to the editor complains about Bridge card users "on more than one occasion" purchasing "Twinkies, frozen pizzas, Doritos, and several two-liter bottles of Pepsi."

The writer states that he "believe(s) that Bridge Card purchases should be limited to healthy, wholesome, staple foods only - fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, milk, whole grain breads etc., and not include junk-food items such as chips and sugar-filled beverages."

Now I am not sure when the last time I saw anyone buy Twinkies at the local supermarket. I am not even sure there are any Twinkies, although there probably are.

Certainly, I have personally bought the other things on the list: frozen pizzas, Doritos, and Pepsi. I probably should not admit it, although my waste line would certainly expose the truth, that these are something like staples in my household.

I know that fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, etc. should instead be what we snack on. So, I don't object to the notion that we ALL should eat more healthy foods.

I live in Stevensville which has just opened a brand, spanking new Meijer store. When you first enter the grocery end of the store, you can be overwhelmed by the wonderful produce section. I mean it is absolutely beautiful. Fresh lettuce of numerous varieties, apples, corn, grapes, and myriad other fruits and vegetables bountifully greet shoppers.

Stevensville is not Bloomfield or Forest Hills, but we do have fewer children than the state average who qualify for the federal free/reduced price lunch program. Slightly more than 20% of the children in our school district qualify for this program. According to the State's Center for Education Performance and Information (CEPI) state-wide 46% of children in fall 2010 qualified for free/reduced price lunch.

I could be wrong, but my recollection is that the city of Benton Harbor (where 90% of children qualify for free/reduced price lunch) does not even have a grocery store. There are Aldis, Sav-A-Lot, Meijer, and a wonderful Hispanic market/restaurant La Perla, but these are all in the Township outside city limits. There are plenty corner "party stores" which sell a limited selection of foods. There is also at least one Family Dollar Store which carries canned goods, boxed cereal, and the like.

So, while I agree with the statement that we all should eat more healthy foods, the fact of the matter is that in some communities fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are harder to come by than in other areas. In the more affluent areas, like Stevensville, some of us (and I am guilty as charged) still fall to the temptation of buying junk food rather than more wholesome foods.

And frankly, I think the letter writer's mention of Twinkies is probably an embellishment.

The letter to the editor which got me going this morning can be found at:

www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/06/03/opinion/letters/5058068.txt

Food Bank Gives Aid to Storm Victims

Brayden Thurston, 2, wore a big grin as he toddled behind his mother in line for food.

That's because this would be his first meal in days that didn't consist of cold hot dogs, said his mother Jessica Thurston.

The Thurstons were among hundreds who finally received help days after a Sunday wind storm knocked out electrical power and destroyed their food supplies.

The Thurstons, who live in Triangle Mobile Home Park, were reached by a group of volunteers targeting poverty-stricken neighborhoods with the offering of food.

"It's going to help," Jessica Thurston, 20, said with a small smile as she returned to her mother's waiting car with a box of groceries.

Many people who could not afford to refill their pantries after the storm were individually notified of the Food Bank of South Central Michigan handout at Trinity Lutheran Church Friday morning.

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110604/NEWS01/106040314/Food-bank-gives-storm-victims

10 years of Grand Rapids' drug needle exchange program: Why backers say it works

On a recent Thursday evening, a heroin addict stepped through a Heartside neighborhood door and did what some would have thought impossible in West Michigan.

He legally traded his dirty needles for a free batch of new syringes, a simple swap experts say reduces the spread of AIDS, hepatitis C and other diseases.

The Clean Works program at 54 S. Division Ave. in Grand Rapids has been in business just over 10 years, armed with evidence it is paying off.

“It works. It works on many levels,” said Tami VandenBerg, chairwoman of the Grand Rapids Red Project, the nonprofit organization that oversees the program. It is marking its 10th anniversary with a 6:30 p.m. reception Saturday at the Pyramid Scheme in downtown Grand Rapids.

When Grand Rapids Mayor John Logie proposed a needle exchange in 1997, about 25 percent of those living with AIDS or the HIV virus in Kent County contracted it from injection drug use.

That figure has plummeted to about 5 percent, a reduction VandenBerg attributes primarily to needle exchanges. Part of the drop may be due to the death of some those injection users counted in the 1997 numbers.

www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/06/10_years_of_grand_rapids_drug.html

Girls on the Run Teaches Confidence in Battle Creek

Since early March, young girls involved in Girls on the Run trained and prepared not only for Thursday night's 5K run through Binder Park Zoo, but for life in general.

"It basically empowers girls with a greater sense of self-awareness and achievement, a sense of community and just becoming a strong, confident young woman," council director Carrie Wilson said.

The race ended with high-fives, camera flashes and smiles from participants and spectators alike. For first-year coach of the St. Joe team, Jodee Cape, it was easy to see how much the girls have enjoyed their journey.

"The girls absolutely love it," Cape said. "On our last day, we told them, 'Tuesday is the party and Thursday is the run,' and they were all really bummed out because they just enjoyed it so much."

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110603/NEWS01/106030309/Running-purpose

Allegan County Volunteer Medical Corps starts with free clinic

For a few hours on Saturday, ... Fennville High School was a free medical clinic.

That brief transformation was due to an Allegan County United Way effort to create a Volunteer Medical Corps to serve the underinsured, something organizers believe is the first of its kind in the state.

Using a $49,000 Volunteer Michigan grant, the largest of seven awarded throughout the state, the United Way purchased electronic medical records software, laptop computers and iPads and four portable exam tables in the lead-up to organizing the one-day free clinic.

United Way volunteer coordinator Karen Hancock-Owen said 32 individuals were given medical treatments between the clinic’s 9 a.m.-to-5 a.m. hours, though many more received ancillary services for needs such as family planning and mental health. The effort’s 76 volunteers were prepared to provide services for as many as 100 patients.

“It went wonderfully,” Hancock-Owen said. “People came in throughout the day.”

She said that in some cases, the clinic was able to provide help for more immediate problems.

“One person found out they had pneumonia; we were able to set them up with medication,” Hancock-Owen said. The student concession area by the school gym served as a pharmacy for the day, stocked with sample packs of medications provided by area medical establishments. “A family with strep throat came in, and we were able to treat them.”

Allegan County Health Department’s medical director, Dr. Rick Tooker, volunteered his time during the clinic and said it served to educate the patients.

“We’re trying to help them understand when they really “We’re trying to help them understand when they really need to seek medical help,” he said. “It’s a teachable moment.”

www.allegannews.com/articles/2011/05/30/local_news/2.txt

Budget-saving changes to welfare could break the bank for Michigan families

Four years ago, Orintha Petrimoulx was holding down two jobs and working her way off welfare. An unexpected pregnancy and premature birth left her without employment and a new, full-time role as caretaker for her special-needs son.

Now, the single mother of two provides for her family on $489 a month in cash assistance and dreams of the day when she can be self-sufficient.

She says two bills moving through the Michigan legislature could crush those dreams.

“It’s really concerning,” she said. “I was hoping to be able to get out on my own within a year, but if this goes through, I won’t even be able to pay my bills.”

State legislators are looking to trim the budget for the Department of Human Services by enforcing a tight 48-month limit on cash assistance for families, saving the state $60 million.

If it passes, Petrimoulx would lose all of her cash benefits.

Local low-income advocates and families contend that the $60 million savings isn’t worth the havoc these changes will wreak on the most vulnerable in the community.

“The repercussions of this decision are enormous,” said Jackie Doig, senior staff attorney at the Center for Civil Justice in Saginaw. “It will mean a complete loss of cash assistance to some of the most vulnerable families, particularly in families where a parent has to stay home to care for a child with disabilities.”

www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/05/budget-saving_changes_to_welfa.html

Does Michigan Treat Inmates Better Than School Children?

Michigan should treat its schoolchildren as well as it treats its prisoners, says Nathan Bootz, the Ithaca schools superintendent.

Bootz makes the suggestion in a letter to Gov. Rick Snyder that’s getting lots of attention on the Internet. Here’s an excerpt from the letter:

“Consider the life of a Michigan prisoner. They get three square meals a day. Access to free health care. Internet. Cable television. Access to a library. A weight room. Computer lab. They can earn a degree. A roof over their heads. Clothing. Everything we just listed we do not provide to our school children,” Bootz’s letter reads...

www.mlive.com/opinion/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/05/julie_mack_column_does_michiga.html

GR Press Editorial: Why Michigan's public defender system needs reform

For poor people in Michigan, justice is uncertain and at times unattainable. A recent report from the Campaign for Justice, a coalition seeking to change the state’s dismal system for indigent defense, highlights the need for reform.

The report details 13 cases of men who were wrongly convicted or, at least, convicted on suspect grounds. In each case, the men received an inadequate defense because of court-provided attorneys who did not have the time, resources or ability to adequately do the job.

Michigan is one of only seven states that leaves trial-level indigent defense entirely to counties. Counties set their own pay rates for attorneys and maintain wildly varied standards for representation. In Wayne County, for instance, part-time public defenders handle as many as 2,800 cases each year, an unworkable caseload that far exceeds national standards for public defenders.

No surprise then that Michigan has one of the worst public defender systems in the nation, according to a 2008 report from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association...

www.mlive.com/opinion/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/05/editorial_why_michigans_public.html

The full Campaign for Justice report can be found at:

www.michigancampaignforjustice.org/docs/MI_failedjustice_bookletFINAL.pdf

State Budget Eliminates Funding to Help the Poor Bury Their Dead

Governor Snyder and the Republican leadership have a basic agreement about the budget. Final details will be worked out in conference committee. There are major cuts to the state budget. Advocates for the poor are celebrating that they were able to save some programs from being scrapped completely, although many were cut back. Here's one program which did not survive.

Barely noticed by those of us in the media, the budget will eliminate a program that helps poor families bury their dead. Michigan has been among about a dozen states which set aside money to help. The state would help pay for a cheap casket, basically a cloth-covered fiberboard box. Most cemeteries require some kind of concrete box or vault. The cheapest, is called a rough box. State funds paid for it and a basic funeral service and then someone to dig the grave.

As recently as ten years ago, the average payment to help a family bury a loved one was $1290. The state reduced the rate over the years. Since 2007, the maximum the state would pay is $700. Last year the average payment was $569.

Now, families will be on their own.

Nationally, the average funeral costs about $7000. Struggling families cannot afford it.

www.michiganradio.org/post/no-state-help-bury-poor

Truancy Academy Formed with School and Family Court Partnership

A truancy academy that works with potential dropouts is helping students stay in school and graduate, an official told the Berrien County Board of Trustees' administration committee Thursday.

The academy, operated by Berrien Springs Public Schools and the Family Division of Berrien County Trial Court, is to remain open for the 2011-12 school year.

The academy provides classroom instruction for about 20 children ages 12-14 each semester.

The school also works with kids in other areas, among them conflict resolution skills and appropriate social behavior, said Julie Weber, who coordinates the program.

"Our goal is to address, for one semester, the issues that can stand in the way of acceptable attendance," Weber said.

Weber works for Berrien Springs schools, which took over the program last year after the Berrien Regional Education Service Agency ended its involvement.

The truancy academy serves all 13 school districts in the county, although three do not participate, she said.

In operation since 2000, the academy uses a building provided by the county on Dean's Hill Road in Berrien Township. The budget for the current school year is about $160,000, said Ellen Hasse, business manager for Berrien Springs schools.

www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/05/22/local_news/4849712.txt