| Butler might scrap prescription plan
Butler County is re-evaluating its prescription drug relief program for low-income families because of a dramatic drop in participation. Enrollment has dropped sharply since the programs inception in 2003, largely because retail stores such as Wal-Mart and Meijer are offering deep discounts at their pharmacies. Only 14 people used the program in 2006, according to the county, leading officials to question whether it should continue. .
IT'S ALL ABOUT HOME
If you've ever been in a greenhouse, you know the air is warm, welcoming and teeming with life. Such is the concept behind THE GREEN HOUSE@CALVARY, a new ministry of Calvary Baptist Church, scheduled to open April 1. The Green House, for people with dementia or Alzheimer's, will be among two other residences on the 56-acre property. One, the Community Retirement Center, is for people over 62 who make no more than $17,500 a year; the other, the Gardens at Calvary, is apartments with several levels of care but not for people with dementia. The Green House, a company with headquarters in Washington, D.C., with a focus on residents and life-giving surroundings, will be the first in Georgia when completed and one of seven in the U.S. There are currently 35 million Americans over 65, which will double by 2030.
Spouses close even if one is in nursing home
EDMONTON, Alberta, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- Even if one spouse is placed in a nursing home, married couples work hard to maintain closeness and keep their marriages alive, says a Canadian study. Robin Stadnyk of the University of Alberta says she was surprised to discover that home-based spouses were heavily involved in the lives of their institutionalized partners and that many of the couples stayed active together both inside and outside the nursing home. Stadnyk, a post-doctoral researcher, reviewed data from a qualitative study of 52 community-dwelling spouses in three Canadian provinces: Alberta, Manitoba and Nova Scotia. She found that the participants were heavily involved in their spouses' lives, not only through caretaking duties like doing laundry and helping with personal hygiene, but also through nurturing activities that brought them closer together.
Jury Deliberates In Care Home Death
10:30 AM UPDATE: Channel 11s Kimberly Easton reporting from Alleghany County Courthouse said jury deliberations are now in their second day in the Martha Bell murder trial. An Allegheny County jury reached a verdict in the case of a former nursing home administrator charged in the death of a patient. Martha Bell was found guilty Thursday afternoon on the following counts: guilty of involuntary manslaughter, guilty of neglect, guilty of conspiracy and guilty of reckless endangerment. Bell was charged with involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors said the former Ronald Reagan Atrium One Nursing Home was understaffed. Defense attorneys argue the Robinson Township home was well run and the patient's death was a tragedy, but not a crime.
Milling about in Williamstown
Now that the dust (and much contaminated soil) has settled on the former Photech property on Cole Avenue in Williamstown, the town appears to have attracted two very reasonable development proposals one from a North Berkshire firm that wants to build condominiums and one from a Kansas company that specializes in assisted living centers ( see story ). While the Transcript normally would lead the cheerleading for a local business, the Eby Group's proposal for an assisted living center with 46 residential units looks a lot more promising than Scarafoni Associates' proposal for 16 condominiums at least on first blush. First, there's the purchase price: Eby proposes to pay the town $179,500, while Scarafoni wants to put up $1. Then there's the contamination issue: Eby says it would deal with all contamination as part of its estimated $5 million construction cost.
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