Dispatch News 9-6-2023

While much has been written on plants you should not consume, a delightful byproduct of growing owers is eating –or drinking – them – if you choose the right ones.

First things rst: identify your plant, do your research as to which part of the plant is edible, and if possible, select organically grown owers for your table. If you purchase owers or pick them from a roadside, they may have been treated with insecticide or fungicide.

Flowers have so many uses in the kitchen – they can be frozen, battered, baked, candied with sugar or used as a

garnish atop soups, salads, and adding decorative punch and avor to lemonade or iced tea, and cocktails. One favorite available much of the year in the Paci c Northwest is the viola/pansy clan. Pansies, with their bold, painted faces, are the supersized cousin of the wild violet. eir avor is described as mild and grassy, but they add an intricate beauty to any application. Some favorite uses are in ice cubes for cocktails, as a salad garnish, or candied for decorating cakes. I seem to recall Martha Stewart once making a

Hoedown for History on Sept. 16

Sta Reports

A Hoedown and Auction are planned for Sept. 16 from 3-6 p.m. at the Eagle’s Hall in Eatonville. Dancing will be lively with professional caller Leo Catt. Refreshments, a ra e and bene t auction will round out the program. Admission is free. e auction will Include everything from hunting equipment, artwork from local artists, and gi cards from local Eatonville establishments. Proceeds will bene t the South Pierce County Historical Society.

e South Pierce Historical Society (SPCHS) supports historical preservation in and around Eatonville. From development of the Stage Stop Museum to the preservation of Tofu House, the SPCHS has provided awardwinning historical work for the town and its surrounds. e Society works on programs to support Downtown Eatonville along Mashell Avenue, and participates in community events. SPCHS is committed to town improvements with historical focus.

Erica Browne Grivas Get Growing

Savvy Senior: How to save on prescription drug costs

Dear Savvy Senior, I take several medications for multiple health conditions and the prices keep going up, even with my Medicare prescription drug insurance. Can you recommend any tips that can help cut my costs?

— Tapped Out Tina

Dear Tina, e high cost of prescription drugs is an ongoing problem that stings everyone, but it usually a ects seniors more because they have a greater need for medications and because Medicare doesn’t cover all their drug costs.

While the In ation Reduction Act, signed into law last year, will help seniors save on their medications by negotiating lower drug prices and capping out-of-pocket spending at $2,000, it will be a few years before the law is fully enacted. In the meantime, here are some di erent strategies that can help reduce your costs so you can a ord what you need.

TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR

A good rst step is to

review your medications once a year with your doctor to nd out if any of them can be stopped or reduced. If you’re taking any brand-name drugs check to see if they are available in a cheaper generic form. Also, for any drugs you’re taking longterm ask your doctor for a cheaper three or six-month prescription, versus a one month. And nd out if any of the pills you’re taking can be cut in half. Pill splitting allows you to get two months’ worth of medicine for the price of one. If you do this, you’ll need to get a prescription for twice the dosage you need.

REVIEW YOUR INSURANCE

Carefully review your drug coverage during the open enrollment period, which runs Oct. 15 – Dec. 7 for Medicare bene ciaries. Make sure all your regular medications are covered in the plan’s formulary; that your current pharmacy is in the plan’s network; and that your plan covers additional medication coverage in the gap. To shop and compare Medicare prescription drug plans go to Medicare.gov/ plan-compare.

PAY CASH

Not using insurance for prescriptions seems counterintuitive, but in some cases, it may save you money. For example, many chain pharmacies and big-box stores like Walmart and Costco have their own prescription savings programs that may be lower than your insurance copayment. Or you can use coupons through GoodRx. com or RxSaver.com that can save you up to 80 percent o the list price of generic and some brandname drugs in certain pharmacies. Shop online: You can also save on regularly used medications by having them sent to you from a mail-

order pharmacy. Check with your health insurer or regular pharmacy to see whether it will get you a better deal. If not, check online pharmacies like CostPlusDrugs.com or HoneybeeHealth.com. With these, you may spend less in some cases than you might with insurance.

BUY FROM CANADA

Because prescription drugs are o en much cheaper north of the border, many Americans have chosen this option for years. While this is technically illegal in most states, the Food and Drug Administration generally does not stop people from doing it. If you want to explore this option use

PharmacyChecker.com, an online tool that will help you identify reputable Canadian and international online pharmacies.

GET MORE HELP

If your income is limited, you may also be able to get help through Medicare’s Extra Help program, your state pharmaceutical assistance program, or patient assistance programs. Visit Medicare.gov to see if you’re eligible and to apply.

Send your senior questions to: Savvy Senior, P.O. Box 5443, Norman, OK 73070, or visit SavvySenior.org. Jim Miller is a contributor to the NBC Today show and author of “ e Savvy Senior” book.

Adobe Stock

SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY APPLICATIONS

10:30

State seeks help for likely blood shortage

By Brett Davis e Center Square

e Washington State Department of Health is trying to head o a blood shortage this summer by partnering with the Northwest Blood Coalition to urge more blood donations.

am

LADY OF GOOD COUNSEL CATHOLIC

CHURCH

229 Antonie Ave. N. 253-875-6630 Saturday

OPEN DOORS OPEN TABLE R T S O P E N M I N D S Eatonville United Methodist Church Worship Service 10:30am 185 Mashell Ave N. Church: 360.832.4021 Home: 360 832 4562 Cell: 361 330 9666 Pastor Bernard Preston Ritchea

LEARN MORE ABOUT FRIENDS OF EATONVILLE LIBRARY

e Friends of the Eatonville Library operates as a fundraising group to assist the Eatonville community. Primarily, it does so by accepting books and other donations and conducting book sales during the year. All of the funds are used to supplement the various library programs that enrich the local community.

(360) 832-4315

Pastor Larry Dorothy

Christ Episcopal Church 210 5th St. SW Puyallup, WA 98371 253-848-2323 www.episcopallup.com

According to the Department of Health, between Memorial Day and Labor Day demand for blood remains constant and transfusion needs increase, but donations go down.

10515 269TH ST. E., GRAHAM, WA 98338

www.livingwordlutheranchurch.com

(253) 846-1276 SUNDAY 9:30 AM WORSHIP SERVICE

To learn more about the group, contact Mike Eaton at 253-310–7709 or reach him in person at the library any Friday. ere is no obligation. Application forms to join the organization are available at the library.

Also, e Friends of the Eatonville Library Group is currently operating with only two members — in contrast to 10-13 members in the pre-Covid era. e group seeks members and volunteers. Contact Mike Eaton.

ALCOHOL ANONYMOUS MEETINGS OFFERED

Alcoholics Anonymous is available for people who have a problem with alcohol. Meetings begin at 7 p.m. Tuesdays, noon Wednesdays and 9 a.m. Saturdays at the corner of Carter and Rainier.

SUBSCRI

Christina Hill ppccirc@paci cpublishingcompany.com PUBLISHER: Paci

e Paci c Northwest Region of the Red Cross does not expect to have enough blood to meet patient needs this month without an increase in donations.

Donating blood is safe and can help save the lives of others, DOH stressed, noting that donations are crucial for people undergoing surgeries, blood disorder treatments and cancer care.

Most people who are at least 18 years old and weigh a minimum of 110 pounds can donate blood. Visit these websites for more information: RedCrossBlood. org; BloodworksNW. org; Vitalant.org/ donate; or CRBS. net/donate.

ALANON HELP

Alanon is available to help people struggling with a loved one’s drinking. Call 425-830-0314.

Submit information to dispatch@pacifcpublishing.com

Phone and Internet Discounts Available to CenturyLink Customers

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission designated CenturyLink as an Eligible Telecommunications Carrier within its service area for universal service purposes. CenturyLink’s basic local service rates for residential voice lines are $30.50 per month and business services are $43.50 per month. Specific rates will be provided upon request.

CenturyLink participates in the Lifeline program, which makes residential telephone or qualifying broadband service more affordable to eligible low-income individuals and families. Eligible customers may qualify for Lifeline discounts of $5.25/month for voice or bundled voice service or $9.25/month for qualifying broadband or broadband bundles. Residents who live on federally recognized Tribal Lands may qualify for additional Tribal benefits if they participate in certain additional federal eligibility programs. The Lifeline discount is available for only one telephone or qualifying broadband service per household, which can be either a wireline or wireless service. Broadband speeds must be at least 25 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload to qualify.

CenturyLink also participates in the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which provides eligible households with a discount on broadband service. The ACP provides a discount of up to $30 per month toward broadband service for eligible households and up to $75 per month for households on qualifying Tribal lands.

For both programs, a household is defined as any individual or group of individuals who live together at the same address and share income and expenses. Services are not transferable, and only eligible consumers may enroll in these programs. Consumers who willfully make false statements to obtain these discounts can be punished by fine or imprisonment and can be barred from these programs.

If you live in a CenturyLink service area, visit https://www. centurylink.com/aboutus/community/community-development/ lifeline.html for additional information about applying for these programs or call 1-800-201-4099 with questions.

Recipe: Never too many tomatoes

by Lynda Balslev Special to the Dispatch

Take advantage of the season's last cherry tomatoes on the vine with this easy one-skillet stovetop dinner. Begin by roasting the tomatoes until they begin to break down and release their juices. Once this happens, stir in fresh garlic, briny capers and herb sprigs to round out the flavors and mingle with the juices, creating a light and luscious sauce. Then add whitefish fillets to the pan sauce, transfer to the oven, and let them roast in the pan juices.

Make this recipe with any thick whitefish, such as sea bass, halibut or swordfish. Choose fillets that are center-cut and about ¾-inch thick. The fish will roast quickly; cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of the fish. It's cooked when it's opaque though the center and easily flakes.

Dinner couldn't be any simpler — or more delicious.

ROASTED SEA BASS WITH BLISTERED TOMATO AND CAPER SAUCE

Active time: 30 to 35 minutes

Total time: 30 to 35 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

GRIVAS from Page 1Æ

frozen cylinder filled with pansies by using a vodka bottle as a mold on her television show, but I could be wrong. I’m pretty sure of the elements, but as the boxes say, ingredients may have shifted over the years in memory. It was like most Martha projects, exacting but exquisite.

Rose petals bring a variety of scents and flavors to your recipes, from floral to sweet or slightly spicy. For my wedding I attempted to recreate a rose lemonade popular at Mr. Falafel in Brooklyn many years ago. Unfortunately, I used too heavy a hand and my batch tasted like liquid perfume. Rose hips, the hard seed

• 1 1/2 pounds cherry tomatoes (left on the vine, optional)

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing on the fish

• Kosher salt

casing that forms after the flowers, are beloved for containing massive amounts of vitamin C and are popular additions to floral tea blends.

Easy-to-grow calendula blossoms have a slightly bitter taste and look charming in a salad or floating in a summer soup. Another great choice for salads, soups, or drinks is the ethereal blue star-shaped borage flowers, which taste like cucumber and just look fabulous. For a spicy kick, throw nasturtiums in the mix - they have a peppery edge like arugula.

Speaking of arugula, don’t neglect its paleyellow blossoms at the end of the season, which share the same pepper power as

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme, oregano or marjoram

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 heaping tablespoons drained capers

the leaves.

Many herbs carry their leaf flavor into their flowers, and you can take full advantage of this in your creative cooking. Basil blossoms, especially from purple-leafed types, make a stunning finishing touch for caprese salad, pizza, pasta, or Thai dishes depending on the cultivar. You can choose Italian, Thai or African types. The latter two skew toward licorice in flavor. You can really have fun with some large edible blossoms. Both the flowers of elder shrubs (Sambucus nigra and S. canadensis), and squash flowers can be battered and fried into fritters. In the case of the trumpet shaped squash blossom, they can be stuffed

1. With a paring knife, make a small incision in the tomatoes. (This step will hasten their cooking process.)

2. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

3. If using the stovetop, heat the oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the tomatoes and cook until they begin to break down and release their juices, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, herb sprigs, garlic, capers and vinegar. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes to meld the flavors, stirring frequently.

5. Brush the fish with the oil and season with salt and black pepper. Nestle the fish in the pan between the tomatoes. Transfer the pan to the oven. Roast until the fish is just cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.

6. Garnish with lemon zest and fresh herbs. Serve immediately.

• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

• 4 center-cut whitefish fillets, such as sea bass or halibut, each about 6 ounces

• Finely grated lemon zest

with soft cheese. Elder flowers are also used in cordials and simple syrups for cocktails and mocktails.

(The elderberry wine made famous in Cary Grant’s vintage screwball comedy film “Arsenic and Old Lace” is made from Sambucus nigra berries, not the blossoms.)

The much-maligned dandelion punctuating many a lawn makes a sweet cordial, syrup, or wine as well – just choose flowers from a field you know is cultivated organically. I once sampled some decadesold dandelion wine put up in a Coke bottle from a grandmother’s basement– it had quite a kick and would have been delicious on vanilla ice cream.

Lynda Balslev is an award-winning writer, cookbook author, and recipe developer based in Northern California. Visit TasteFood at TasteFoodblog.com.

The tiny pompoms of chive blossoms make a savory vinaigrette. So-called “garlic chives” have white blossoms and standard chive plants have rosy pink flowers. Despite the names, the taste is similar, but the pink color looks so pretty in a jar.

Lavender flowers have a strong and sweet flavor often used in baking, teas, and ice cream – like at Molly Moon’s, for instance. The English varieties (L. angustifolia) are they types most chosen for cooking because they have less oil than the French types used to make perfume.

So next time you’re wondering what’s for dinner, take a stroll in the garden for inspiration.

Photo by Lynda Balslev

State receives $23M in grant funding to bolster energy grid resilience

By Randy Bracht e Center Square

Washington state has been allocated more than $23.4 million in federal grant funding to make its energy grid more resilient against wild res and other natural disasters.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced the allocation in a Tuesday news release. e funding was awarded to the Washington State Department of Commerce by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Deployment O ce and was authorized by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law enacted in 2021 that Murray helped pass.

Murray said the Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience State and Tribal Formula Grants Program is designed to “strengthen and modernize America’s power grid against disruptive events and natural disasters.”

Funding is being

distributed over ve years based on such factors as population size, land area, probability and severity of disruptive events, and a locality’s “historical expenditures on mitigation e orts.”

Under that criteria, qualifying states, territories, and tribes will then allocate monies to a “diverse set of projects, with priority given to e orts that generate the greatest community bene t providing clean, a ordable,

and reliable energy,” Murray’s statement said. Her o ce did not immediately reply to an emailed request from e Center Square citing examples of projects which might qualify for funding.

Murray’s statement said global warming is stirring “more destructive storms that cripple broad segments of our nation’s aging electrical grid.”

She noted that weather and climate events can a ect

#1 Selling Tractor in THE

the reliability of all aspects of the grid — from power generation and transmission to demand needs. Disruptive events, such as wild res, can damage physical components and lead to spikes in energy demand that overwhelm available electrical supplies causing brownouts and blackouts.

“ e climate crisis is on our doorstep and families in Washington state are seeing its challenges rsthand,

from extreme temperatures to increasingly dangerous wild res,” said Murray. “Making our grid more resilient and more able to withstand extreme weather events is absolutely critical to ensuring that families … aren’t le in the dark or in dangerous temperatures when disaster strikes,” said Murray, adding that she was “proud to have worked to secure this essential funding as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”

Adobe Stock

State officials field questions over proposed refrigerant program

By Randy Bracht

The Center Square

Washington Department of Ecology officials faced a variety of questions during a public hearing last week regarding a pending state ban on certain refrigerant products and the agency’s related management program to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Not all questions received immediate answers.

“We will have to do some digging … we’ll be looking into it,” Ecology’s Linda Kildahl said in response to one query during the Aug. 24 webinar hearing, which attracted more than 100 online viewers.

The reply was repeated a few times in various iterations by Kildahl, Ecology’s lead on “HFC” rulemaking, and other agency officials.

Ecology is tasked with regulating hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, which are considered “super-pollutants” contributing to climate change if discharged into the atmosphere. To mitigate that possibility, the agency has developed proposed regulations scheduled for adoption in November and initial implementation in 2024. They will have wide-ranging fiscal and environmental implications for manufacturers, users and trades people dealing with stationary air conditioning, refrigeration and heat pump systems in Washington.

Some of the questions posed during the hearing were esoteric. One person asked if a refrigerant specified for a supermarket’s existing cooling system could still be used if the system is retrofitted and modernized, but the refrigerant is now on the state’s list of banned products.

Another question was more fundamental: what is Ecology’s definition of “a leak” in a refrigerant system?

After months of prior sessions with affected stakeholders and accepting informal comments, the agency’s formal public comment period closes Thursday. After that, Kildahl said, Ecology will review and respond to all comments in a document called a “concise explanatory statement.”

In 2020, Washington legislators passed a bill signed by Gov. Jay Inslee to prohibit the use of certain refrigerants.

In 2021, the law was expanded to direct Ecology to adopt additional regulations and responsibilities. They aim to complement federal requirements in moving to more environmentally friendly refrigerants as part of an effort to reduce Washington’s greenhouse gas emissions by 95% by 2050.

Ecology is setting new maximum thresholds for the “global warming potential,” or GWP, of refrigerants, plus establishing a management program for businesses and industries with larger commercial systems currently in use.

Scores of buildings — supermarkets and other retail food outlets, cold storage warehouses, agricultural processing plants and industrial facilities, office buildings, apartment complexes, even ice skating rinks — could be subject to future state compliance, monitoring and reporting requirements.

“The new refrigerant management program will address the approximately 3.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent that leak into the atmosphere every year,” Ecology said in a news release issued in July. “That’s equivalent to what comes out of the tailpipes of about 740,000 cars. While HFCs pose a real risk to the climate, the good news is that safer alternatives are readily available. Many manufacturers have already made the switch.”

As proposed, manufacturers of stationary air conditioning units, both residential and non-residential, sold in Washington will need to comply with new regulations. However, the rule is not being applied to “mobile” air conditioning systems, such as A/C units found in trains, planes, and automobiles. Other thresholds were previously established in 2021 for small cans of refrigerant typically used to recharge A/C units in vehicles, and a ban was imposed on “nonessential” consumer products such as aerosol-propelled noise makers and cleaners used on electronics.

Stuck? Check out the solutions on our social media on Sept. 10! @pacificpubco on Twitter and Instagram and Pacific Publishing Company on Facebook!