TAKE A BIKE RIDE, Page 5
Volume 28, Number 9
September 10, 2017
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EQUIPMENT To Page 15
"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." SUBMITTED PHOTO
– Zig Ziglar
Mentorship is one of Mark Braun's outstanding qualities.
2017 Charlie Smith Award winner tirelessly makes a difference by Jane McClure Athlete and advocate Mark Braun works to make a difference, one person at a time. His own difficult start in life has resulted in a giving spirit and a desire to help others. As a teen, Braun set the pace for Minnesota high school wheelchair athletes. He is an advocate for people with disabilities, with a focus on helping children succeed in life. He is a tireless promoter of physical fitness and wheelchair sports. His outgoing and magnetic personality draws in people
of all ages and gets them involved in whatever he is doing. This remarkable young man is the 2017 Access Press Charlie Smith Award winner. He’ll be honored at the newspaper’s annual banquet November 3 in Bloomington. “Getting the award means a lot to me,” said Braun, 23, of Mounds View. “It is a validation of the work I am doing and hope to continue to do.” Braun has many athletic titles to his credit and is now eyeing the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo and the
NEWS DIGEST Metro Mobility, other rates increase Page 3 The gift of walkability Page 4 Longtime camp is closing Page 6 Meet the award runners-up Page 7 Social Security makes changes Page 11
HONOREE To Page 8
Retirement awaits
New chapter for Radio Talking Book’s Holland by Jan Willms When Stuart Holland stepped down as manager of Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network September 5, he didn’t call it a retirement. “I think more of it as a transition rather than a retirement,” Holland said. He was a state employee since 1975, and with Radio Talking Book since 1986. “That’s a long time,” he said, “and there are too many things to do that I don’t have time for while I am in this job.” Holland’s colleagues said he and his countless contributions to Radio Talking Book will be missed. He was saluted for his dedication to make sure everyone has access to printed material. Holland has been a pioneer in providing news and pleasure reading to countless people and has been recognized nationally and internationally for his work.
How it began
Radio Talking Book predates Holland’s work for the state. The service is available to anyone who cannot read due to disability. The first program of its kind in the world, it started in 1969 as a reading service for the blind. Volunteers and a few paid staff read newspapers, magazines, and books over the radio.
Stuart Holland “Bill Kling had graduated from St. John’s University in 1965, went to grad school and returned. St. John’s wanted him to start a radio station, which he did. The station was originally Minnesota Educational Radio and then became Minnesota Public Radio,” said Holland. “Kling could not sell advertising for public radio, but he thought that maybe Minnesota State Services for the Blind would like a radio station. C. Stanley Potter, the
JAN WILLMS
Access to needed medical equipment and supplies continues to cause problems for many people with disabilities. The latest fight in Minnesota is to repeal a law which affects incontinence supplies. The law takes effect July 1, 2018. The Midwest Association of Medical Equipment Suppliers (MAMES), its members and other advocates are asking to overturn a law requiring Minnesota to bid out incontinence products. The law was tucked into the 2017 health and human service omnibus bill in the final hours of the legislative session. Bill Amberg, who is MAMES’ lobbyist, said member medical supply dealers are frustrated that the bill addition came without debate or discussing. “There wasn’t even a conversation with stakeholders.” MAMES and its allies are working to overturn the bid requirement before it takes effect next year. That could happen during the 2018 legislative session. Amberg said that if the change goes into effect next year, it would be yet another blow to Minnesota’s medical supply and durable medical equipment providers. More than half a dozen companies have closed during the past year including longtime Twin Cities firm Key Medical Supply. Key had waged a long and ultimately unsuccessful legal battle over the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) competitive bidding program as it related to enteral nutrition supplies or feeding tubes. It will also inconvenience many people who need the incontinence supplies for daily living. “It just gets tougher for people with disabilities and senior citizens,” Amberg said. “They can’t find caregivers, they can’t have reliable supplies and medical equipment for their daily lives. It’s hard to talk about people staying in their home communities on one hand and forcing them out on the other.” The trend at the state and federal level is to move more and more equipment and supplies to competitive bidding. Competitive bidding is promoted as providing savings for government as well as ease in working with fewer vendors, as well as helping suppliers deal with price reductions. The Iowa-based advocacy group People for Quality Care has been tracking the issues around competitive bidding. Over the summer the group posted a survey for people who use home medical equipment. The survey asks clients about their satisfaction with delivery of home medical equipment and supplies, what they use, and how changes have affected their lives. The survey is at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AAH-BE Competitive bidding has been rolled out around the nation since 2011, area by area and item by item. Successful bidders won exclusive contracts to provide home medical equipment and supplies. The auction program has been criticized for ending longtime relationships between suppliers and their clients, and forcing people to work with out-of-state suppliers for
director of that organization and a longtime ham radio operator, had been thinking of how to get such a station. It was a perfect meeting of the minds.” 1968 was spent doing research. The service went on the air in 1969. “Initially, it was on the air in St. Cloud and the Twin Cities and was a little paternalistic,” he said. The station organizers thought they had to “take care of those poor blind people.” It was soon realized that the blind had the same interests as everyone else. None of the books or articles read are edited in any way. “It is almost impossible to find books without any sex or violence in them today,” he said, “and the visually impaired have the same right of access as everyone else.” The station opened its doors in a building in downtown St. Paul on Wabasha Street, where the State Services for the Blind was located. It then moved to what had originally been a factory. “That was not a perfect location,” Holland recalled. “There were eight recording booths and a set of steps to get into the building. If we had a volunteer in a wheelchair, tough luck. They would have to record at home.” In 1992 Radio Talking Book moved to its current location on University AveHOLLAND To Page 15