By Southland Savvy
Monica Manly, 16, of Calumet City, is in Washington, D.C., this week to meet with congressional leaders and gain their support for epilepsy public health programs and more research toward a cure for epilepsy.
Manly is one of 40 young people from across the country participating in Kids Speak Up!, a national program coordinated by the Epilepsy Foundation. The program, which runs today through Thursday, rallies young ambassadors with epilepsy between the ages of 8 and 17 to personally petition congressional leaders for aid in assuring better access to care, improved public education and more research toward a cure for epilepsy.
"Monica was selected to participate in Kids Speak Up! to represent the approximately 350,000 children who are living with epilepsy," said Eric Hargis, president and CEO of the Epilepsy Foundation. "She is an ideal candidate because of her efforts to spread awareness of epilepsy in her community. Her courage is an inspiration to us all."
New this year is the congressional briefing in which Greg Grunberg, star of NBC's "Heroes," who also serves as a Foundation spokesman in honor of his son Jake, who has epilepsy, will highlight the need for increased support of epilepsy research and the importance of public awareness and understanding of the condition. Joining Greg, will be Jason Snelling of the Atlanta Falcons -- who lives with epilepsy, and Geoffrey Pope of the Philadelphia Eagles -- whose grandmother has epilepsy.
Epilepsy is the most common neurological condition in children and affects nearly 3 million people in the United States. According to the World Health Organization, more than 300,000 children under the age of 15 live with epilepsy in the United States.
About Me
- Bob Bong
- I have more than 40 years in the news business and have successfully evolved into an electronic journalist. Comings & Goings and Southland Savvy track news about businesses in Chicago's Southland.
Carr Gardens has new home in Blue Island
By Bob Bong
Southland Savvy
Carr Gardens, a home and garden store in Blue Island, recently moved from its longtime home on Western Avenue to new digs at 2357 York St.
“We moved at the end of February after 12 years on Western,” says owner Candace Carr. “It’s a smaller store but in a much better location. There’s more foot traffic. We’re smack dab in the middle of everything.”
Carr says that while she and co-owner husband Steve Carr are evaluating their wares, they have already added clothing to their list of offerings.
“We have men’s Hawaiian shirts and spring scarves for women,” says Carr.
The Carrs live in Blue Island and Candace is a firm believer in the 3/50 Project, which asks residents of a community to spend $50 a month among three businesses in that community.
“It’s not a big commitment,” she says. “But if only a fraction of the community did it, the results would be fantastic for local businesses.”
The store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call 708-824-9171 or visit www.carrgardens.com
Under construction
A Firestone Complete Auto Care Center is going up next to the Shell gas station at 191st Street and LaGrange Road in Mokena.
Martial arts academy opens
Spire Complete Martial Arts Academy opened recently at 17104 South Park Ave. in South Holland. Owner is Dr. Michael D. Adams. The phone number is 708-357-0279.
Creamery springs back
All six Creamery locations – New Lenox, Homer Glen, Orland Hills, Frankfort, Mokena and Manteno – are now open again in a sure sign that spring is right around the corner. And the Southland eatery chain is once again offering 99-cent hot dogs on Weenie Wednesdays. For more information, visit www.mycreamery.com They also have a fan page on Facebook.
Papa’s Fresh Foods opens in Palos Heights
Papa’s Fresh Foods, a European-style restaurant and deli, has opened in the former White Hen Pantry at 12207 S. Harlem Ave. in Palos Heights. The store offers meats, salads, sandwiches and breakfast. For more information, call 708-923-0109, or check out this video.
Southland Savvy
Carr Gardens, a home and garden store in Blue Island, recently moved from its longtime home on Western Avenue to new digs at 2357 York St.
“We moved at the end of February after 12 years on Western,” says owner Candace Carr. “It’s a smaller store but in a much better location. There’s more foot traffic. We’re smack dab in the middle of everything.”
Carr says that while she and co-owner husband Steve Carr are evaluating their wares, they have already added clothing to their list of offerings.
“We have men’s Hawaiian shirts and spring scarves for women,” says Carr.
The Carrs live in Blue Island and Candace is a firm believer in the 3/50 Project, which asks residents of a community to spend $50 a month among three businesses in that community.
“It’s not a big commitment,” she says. “But if only a fraction of the community did it, the results would be fantastic for local businesses.”
The store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call 708-824-9171 or visit www.carrgardens.com
Under construction
A Firestone Complete Auto Care Center is going up next to the Shell gas station at 191st Street and LaGrange Road in Mokena.
Martial arts academy opens
Spire Complete Martial Arts Academy opened recently at 17104 South Park Ave. in South Holland. Owner is Dr. Michael D. Adams. The phone number is 708-357-0279.
Creamery springs back
All six Creamery locations – New Lenox, Homer Glen, Orland Hills, Frankfort, Mokena and Manteno – are now open again in a sure sign that spring is right around the corner. And the Southland eatery chain is once again offering 99-cent hot dogs on Weenie Wednesdays. For more information, visit www.mycreamery.com They also have a fan page on Facebook.
Papa’s Fresh Foods opens in Palos Heights
Papa’s Fresh Foods, a European-style restaurant and deli, has opened in the former White Hen Pantry at 12207 S. Harlem Ave. in Palos Heights. The store offers meats, salads, sandwiches and breakfast. For more information, call 708-923-0109, or check out this video.
Southland's Lipinski the only Illinois Democrat to vote against health reform bill
The only Southland congressman to vote against the landmark health care reform bill passed Sunday evening was Dan Lipinski (D-3rd), who put out this statement.
“My decision to vote against the Senate health care bill is the result of months of studying our broken health care system, developing and analyzing various proposals for reform, studying legislation, and listening closely to my constituents. ...
“As I have said many times, I strongly believe reform is needed to lower soaring health care costs and make insurance coverage more affordable and accessible for individuals and working families. But reform must be done right. The Senate bill does make a number of improvements to our health care system, including expanding access and reforming health insurance by doing such things as immediately banning discrimination based on pre-existing conditions for children, prohibiting lifetime coverage limits, and banning rescissions. Unfortunately, the bill also contains a number of serious flaws, and many of the good aspects could have been done without passing this massive bill. The Senate bill does not do enough to lower the skyrocketing cost of health care, cuts more than $400 billion from Medicare, is not fiscally sustainable over the long term, and breaks with the status quo by providing federal funding for abortion and abortion coverage. This bill was also marred by backroom deals that benefit pharmaceutical companies and other special interests. In the final analysis, I cannot support such a deeply flawed bill."
As a diabetic, Lipinski's decision not to support the Democratic plan has irritated others in his party who claim that were he not a congressman, Lipinski wouldn't be able to get health insurance on his own.
Every other Illinois Democrat voted for the legislation, while every Republican from Illinois voted against.
Lipinski goes on to highlight his concerns about the failure of the bill to affect insurance premiums for more than two-thirds of working Americans and the possibility of local health-care providers losing so much money as to become unprofitable.
“As the Congressional Budget Office has stated, the Senate health care bill would do little to affect the cost of premiums for those who currently get their health care through large employers. Since 70 percent of Americans who are not on Medicare are in this group, this bill fails to sufficiently reduce costs for the majority of working families in the Third District. The Senate bill also does not include several specific measures that were in the House bill that could increase competition. These include the elimination of the health insurance industry’s anti-trust exemption and a provision to begin to require health care providers to disclose their prices.
“I am also concerned that the bill’s more than $400 billion in Medicare cuts could have ramifications for seniors in my district. For instance, the Senate bill reduces Medicare reimbursements to providers – such as hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and home health agencies – by over $200 billion. The Chief Actuary of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has stated that these cuts would likely result in roughly 20 percent of providers becoming unprofitable; this could lead to providers refusing to take care of seniors on Medicare. And if these cuts are going to be made to Medicare, the money should at least be put in the Medicare Trust Fund instead of being spent elsewhere as this bill does. In addition, unlike the House bill, the Senate bill does not allow the government to negotiate for lower drug prices, which I have long supported."
Democrats on the far left have vowed to introduce new bills to get the provisions they wanted that aren't in this bill. And Republicans have vowed to get this overturned. So the debate, really, is far from settled.
Reaction on Twitter by Southlanders, via the SavvyTweets page, was immediate and varied.
“My decision to vote against the Senate health care bill is the result of months of studying our broken health care system, developing and analyzing various proposals for reform, studying legislation, and listening closely to my constituents. ...
“As I have said many times, I strongly believe reform is needed to lower soaring health care costs and make insurance coverage more affordable and accessible for individuals and working families. But reform must be done right. The Senate bill does make a number of improvements to our health care system, including expanding access and reforming health insurance by doing such things as immediately banning discrimination based on pre-existing conditions for children, prohibiting lifetime coverage limits, and banning rescissions. Unfortunately, the bill also contains a number of serious flaws, and many of the good aspects could have been done without passing this massive bill. The Senate bill does not do enough to lower the skyrocketing cost of health care, cuts more than $400 billion from Medicare, is not fiscally sustainable over the long term, and breaks with the status quo by providing federal funding for abortion and abortion coverage. This bill was also marred by backroom deals that benefit pharmaceutical companies and other special interests. In the final analysis, I cannot support such a deeply flawed bill."
As a diabetic, Lipinski's decision not to support the Democratic plan has irritated others in his party who claim that were he not a congressman, Lipinski wouldn't be able to get health insurance on his own.
Lipinski goes on to highlight his concerns about the failure of the bill to affect insurance premiums for more than two-thirds of working Americans and the possibility of local health-care providers losing so much money as to become unprofitable.
“As the Congressional Budget Office has stated, the Senate health care bill would do little to affect the cost of premiums for those who currently get their health care through large employers. Since 70 percent of Americans who are not on Medicare are in this group, this bill fails to sufficiently reduce costs for the majority of working families in the Third District. The Senate bill also does not include several specific measures that were in the House bill that could increase competition. These include the elimination of the health insurance industry’s anti-trust exemption and a provision to begin to require health care providers to disclose their prices.
“I am also concerned that the bill’s more than $400 billion in Medicare cuts could have ramifications for seniors in my district. For instance, the Senate bill reduces Medicare reimbursements to providers – such as hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and home health agencies – by over $200 billion. The Chief Actuary of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has stated that these cuts would likely result in roughly 20 percent of providers becoming unprofitable; this could lead to providers refusing to take care of seniors on Medicare. And if these cuts are going to be made to Medicare, the money should at least be put in the Medicare Trust Fund instead of being spent elsewhere as this bill does. In addition, unlike the House bill, the Senate bill does not allow the government to negotiate for lower drug prices, which I have long supported."
Democrats on the far left have vowed to introduce new bills to get the provisions they wanted that aren't in this bill. And Republicans have vowed to get this overturned. So the debate, really, is far from settled.
Reaction on Twitter by Southlanders, via the SavvyTweets page, was immediate and varied.
mikeproper: RT @aleagueofherown: Welcome to the civilized world, America. #hcrDennis Robaugh can be reached at dennis@southlandsavvy.com
LauraKoni: I think he cared about this one the mostRT @KevinKuhle: Kansas, Villanova and Healthcare bill - Obama is 1 for 3 this weekend....
electadam (this is Adam Kinzinger, running for Congress to unseat Democrat Debbie Halvorson) Could Nancy Pelosi be elected in Illinois' 11th District? I don't see see a difference between Nancy Pelosi or Debbie Halvorson
LauraKoni Best part of Obama press conference is Biden didn't speak. Will healthcare fix foot in mouth disease? I know many people suffer from this
ranzeb45 What a historic day. Immediate Benefits: http://bit.ly/d3KCvF #HCR Proof that hard work and determination pays off.
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