7 minute read
OP/ED
MY GLAMOROUS LIFE
Trash and feral cats. Oh, the glamorous life of a smalltown newspaper editor who gets to cover the city council!
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Most of Monday night’s Trenton City Council meeting was spent discussing citizen complaints concerning Rapid Removal, the city’s contracted trash hauler. Definitely not the most exciting meeting I’ve ever sat through, but when you think about it, getting your trash picked up every week is a pretty important thing. When it doesn’t get picked up, you’re annoyed. And it seems that several people have been annoyed enough that they’ve been calling city hall about it. Rapid Removal owner Jim Watje was at the meeting and tried to address the complaints, many of which he said were unfounded. I learned a few things at the meeting that I didn’t know before: • the solid waste transfer station located north of Trenton shuts its scale down promptly at 3:30 p.m. and the station itself closes at 4 p.m. This is a Missouri Department of Natural Resources regulation and if they don’t close it down on time, they can be subject to a fine. • the company said employees put a sticker on trash that is not taken so the owner can contact Rapid Removal to find out why it wasn’t taken. I’ve never seen a sticker. Ever. And I’ve had some things that were not taken. • the North Missouri Solid Waste Management District has a container at the Rapid Removal site for glass recycling. • the reason bulky items have not been taken in the past year is due to the threat of COVID-19. However, Watje and another Rapid Removal employee seemed to disagree with one another on whether or not bulky items are, in fact, being taken. I commented that my co-worker had called last week to inquire if a mattress would be picked up. The answer was “no” and the reason was “due to COVID.” Watje wanted to know if COVID is over or if it’s “a Democratic hoax.” I personally didn’t find that funny since I recently lost a friend to COVID-19. The fact that both employees sat within a few feet of me without wearing a mask and had no idea if I’d been vaccinated or exposed to the virus made me think they weren’t worried about getting my germs. If that didn’t scare them then I think they can probably pick up the bulky items.
But I also learned that the company spends thousands of dollars a year repairing blades and trucks that have been damaged by items that were successfully “snuck” into the trash. They have been expected to pick up asbestos left from a demolition site. Some people clean out their rental houses and, rather than get a roll-off dumpster, just leave the whole mess on the curb, expecting Rapid Removal to pick it up.
The real issue here is educating the public of what the contract with the city says Rapid Removal will (and can) do and what they won’t (and can’t) do. Watje said he will draft a letter that will be included in your city utility bill. Maybe we can eliminate some of the confusion and concern - IF residents take the time to read it.
Now, for those feral cats. There is a city ordinance that says you can be ticketed if you feed them. That’s because the more you feed them, the more they will stay around and some people (I even know some of them) don’t want a bunch of stray cats living (and reproducing) in their neighborhood. Obviously, the long-term solution to the problem is to have pets spayed and neutered. Don’t suggest that the Green Hills Animal Shelter take care of the problem unless you’re willing to make a donation to help that happen. It costs money to feed, vaccinate, spay and neuter pets at the shelter and they are certainly not looking for any more pets to house with their limited resources.
So, those are my thoughts on trash and feral cats. It might not be the most exciting breaking news but somehow when it affects YOU, it really does matter.
Reader Commends Trenton On Holiday Celebration
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor:
The City of Trenton should be very proud. It was wonderful to see such a large crowd at the Trenton Downtown Celebration on Friday evening, July 2. The Peterson Farm Brothers presented wonderful entertainment with a farm education flavor. It was really nice that they got the children involved with them.
We are very grateful for the sponsors making the event possible. The food vendors provided a choice of delicious food to choose from. And, we thank God for providing such an ideal evening for the event. Sincerely, Dan Wilford Laredo
Capitol Perspectives: Missouri’s Medicaid History
by Phill Brooks
The Missouri legislature's recent special session on Medicaid involves a dominant state issue with a long and fascinating history.
It begins in 1945 when Pres. Harry Truman called for a national health insurance program.
Twenty years later, Congress added two health-care provisions of Truman's vision into the Social Security law. It was signed by Pres. Lyndon Johnson in Truman's Missouri home town of Independence with Truman present.
One part is Medicare that covers health costs for persons over the age of 64 years, regardless of income, and others with specific health-care issues.
Just like Social Security, there is a payroll tax to cover the costs.
In a way, Medicare is a federal government-run health-care savings account for your retirement years.
In contrast, Medicaid covers the lower income unable to afford health insurance or pay medical bills -- without a payroll tax to cover future costs.
Unlike Medicare, Medicaid is a partnership with states to administer and partially finance the program in return for much larger matching federal dollars, so long as a state complies with federal Medicaid rules.
States can refuse the partnership. Arizona did not implement a Medicaid program until 1982 - nearly two decades after the federal Medicaid program was created.
A major expansion of Medicaid occurred in 1997 when Congress approved the Children's Health Insurance Program to provide coverage for children in families with higher incomes.
In 1998, Mo. Governor Mel Carnahan won legislative approval to fund the CHIP program that expanded Medicaid coverage to children with families below 300 percent of federal poverty level -- more than $60,000 in today's dollars for a family of three.
It was a highly partisan issue. In both Missouri's House and Senate, a majority of Republicans voted against the measure, citing a GOP theme of "Medicaid for millionaires."
The growth of Medicaid costs has become an increasing problem for the state budget.
In the middle of the 19801981 fiscal year, Missouri State Auditor Jim Antonio warned that rising Medicaid costs would exceed what the legislature had appropriated.
It has become common that in Missouri Medicaid requires a supplemental appropriation in the second half of a budget year because the initial appropriation failed to fully cover rising Medicaid costs.
I've suspected lawmakers deliberately passed an underfunded Medicaid appropriation to make "welfare" spending appear smaller knowing they later would have to pass additional Medicaid funding in a supplemental appropriations that gets less news coverage.
In 2005, Republican Gov. Matt Blunt won legislative approval for Medicaid coverage cuts that legislative budget staff estimated would toss more than 40,000 from Medicaid coverage. Some news reports cited a much higher figure.
Two years later, a revised plan restored some of those cuts in a measure that renamed the state Medicaid program to MO HealthNet -- a term I do not use in my stories since most of the money for the program comes from the federal "Medicaid" program.
Years later, Senate Appropriations Chair Kurt Schaffer, RColumbia, echoed what I had heard from other budget experts that a major problem was the rising cost of prescription drugs covered by Medicaid because of new and highly expensive medications.
The biggest step to try to control the growing Medicaid costs has been to funnel Medicaid coverage through managed care companies which has led to criticisms about coverage difficulties for recipients.
Simply cutting Medicaid coverage is not as simple as you might think.
Hospitals, nursing homes and large numbers of Missourians who rely on Medicaid include the elderly and medical institutions in Republican rural areas.
Some of the elderly on federally-funded Medicare also get state Medicaid coverage for nursing home costs which are not covered by Medicare.
It makes Medicaid more than just a "welfare" program supported only by Democrats.
In fact, one of every six Missourians receives Medicaid. [Phill Brooks has been a Missouri statehouse reporter since 1970, making him dean of the statehouse press corps. He is the statehouse correspondent for KMOX Radio, director of MDN and an emeritus faculty member of the Missouri School of Journalism. He has covered every governor since the late Warren Hearnes.]
GUEST EDITORIAL
ELECTED OFFICIALS ADDRESSES
SEN.
ROY BLUNT 260 Russell
Senate
Office Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-5721 SEN. JOSH
HAWLEY B40A Dirksen Senate Office
Bldg. Washington,
D.C. 20510
U.S. REP. SAM GRAVES 1135 Longworth
House
Office Bldg.
Washington,
D.C. 20515
STATE SEN. DAN HEGEMAN
RUSTY BLACK
Room 115C State Capitol Bldg 201 W. Capitol Ave. Jefferson City, MO 65101
