•December 13, 2017•

Lovington Village Board donated $500 for Breakfast with Santa and heard complaints concerning a neighborhood dog.

Trustee Pam Anklam reported five complaints had been signed against one dog, and the village attorney suggested sending a letter to the dog owner stating it needs to be contained. Anklam pointed out that if the dog is vicious court action will be required.

The merry-go-round that had been removed from Tom Conn Park was sent to a new home. Dennis Garmon reported the piece of playground equipment has been removed because it was in bad shape; however, because Bill Harlin wished to purchase it, trustee Anklam moved the old merry-go-round be sold to Harlin for $1 with the remaining board supporting unanimously. Read More

Should You Question the Tax Reform Bill? 

President Trump ran on a platform for tax cuts for the middle class and working people. He has also stated that he wants to bring corporations back to America and create jobs.

Under the current GOP tax reform bills there is no guarantee that jobs will be coming back to America. What the plan promises is that wealthy corporations will get a permanent 15% tax reduction. The benefits/if any to the middle class will only be temporary. Anyone who makes less than $100,000 a year will see their taxes increase in the next 10 years.  Read More

Photo furnished
Pictured is Windsor Elementary School sixth grader Rory Hite.

•December 6, 2017•

Rory Hite, a sixth grade student at Windsor Elementary School in Windsor has started a “Blankets for the Homeless” drive.

“It is all about how the homeless people don’t have many blankets, and I would just like to help them by giving them blankets,” Hite said.

Rory said the last time his father and he were in Saint Louis they bought about 60 hamburgers and gave them to the homeless people who were gathered in one of the small parks downtown.

It was there Rory came up with the idea: these people need blankets to keep them warm this winter.

He has secured a trailer, and his goal for the blanket drive is to fill the trailer with blankets.  Read More

•December 6, 2017•

Influenza (flu) activity is starting to increase across the country just as friends and family are coming together for the holidays. Getting a flu shot is the best line of defense when it comes to protecting yourself, and those around you, from getting the flu.

The flu causes millions of illnesses, hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, and thousands or tens of thousands of deaths each year in the United States. The majority of hospitalizations and deaths occur in people 65 years and older, but even healthy young children and younger adults can have severe disease or even die from influenza.

“One of the biggest myths about getting a flu shot is that is that it gives you the flu. I’m here to say it has been scientifically proven that the flu vaccine does not give you the flu,” said Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Director Nirav D. Shah, M.D., J.D. “December 3-9, 2017 is National Influenza Vaccination Week and I encourage everyone who has not gotten their flu shot this season to get it sometime during the week to help protect you and those you care about during the holidays and beyond.” Read More

•December 6, 2017•

By Wendell Potter,
Rural Health News Service
Medicare and drug coverage: some good news, some bad

One of the benefits of the Affordable Care Act to Medicare beneficiaries has been the gradual closing of a big and costly gap called the “doughnut hole” in the prescription drug (Medicare Part D) program. By the end of 2020—if the ACA is not repealed or altered substantially by Congress—the doughnut hole will be completely closed.

In 2010, people hit the doughnut hole coverage gap when the total amount they and their plan had paid for prescription drugs reached $2,800 in a coverage year. At that point, people had to pay the full cost of their prescription drugs until they had reached the out-of-pocket spending limit established by the law. In 2010 that limit was $4,550. After someone paid that much, their plan paid 95 percent of the cost of their drugs for the rest of the year.

The gap has been shrinking a little every year since the ACA (Obamacare) was enacted in 2010. This year, those enrolled in the Part D program personally paid 40 percent of the cost of brand-name drugs in the doughnut hole and 51 percent of the cost of generic drugs. Next year, the percentages will drop to 35 percent and 44 percent, respectively. In 2020 and beyond, Medicare Part D beneficiaries will pay 25 percent for both brand-names and generics.  Read More