SEPTEMBER 28, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A9
Fixing the ACA before INDIAN,
WILDFIRE,
continued from Page A1
continued from Page A1
other healthcare moves
DRIVE A LITTLE – SAVE A BUNCH!
3893 COMMERCIAL ST SE • SALEM
MORE INFO AT NORTHERNLIGHTSTHEATREPUB.COM
The Magic
of Greg
Moreland
SATURDAY,
SEPT 29
UFC229 - Sat, Oct 6
Khabib v McGregor
WELTERWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT
9 FIGHTS IN ALL ON THE HUGE SCREEN
Live Fights at 5:00 (21 & Over) - Tickets $13
Reserved Seating Available Now Online.
OPEN CAPTION SHOWING
Family Show at 6:30 pm
21 & Over at 8:15 pm
$7 for guest under 18,
$10 for 18 & Over
Jurassic World:
Fallen Kindom (PG-13)
TUES, OCT 2
6PM, TICKETS ARE $4/EACH.
Special showing with captioning shown
on screen with the movie.
Today in History
The Boston Red Sox’s Ted Williams plays a double-header
against the Philadelphia Athletics on the last day of the regular
season and gets six hits in eight trips to the plate, to boost his
batting average to .406. No major league player since him has
hit .400.
— September 28, 1941
Food 4 Thought
“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness.
Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”
— Scott Adams, Dilbert creator. Born Sept. 28, 1957
The Month Ahead
Friday, September 28
Opening night of Pentacle Theatre’s Dracula. A suspenseful
and thrilling adaption of the Brian Stoker classic by playwright
Steven Dietz. Show starts at 7:30 p.m., at Pentacle Theatre, 324
52nd Ave NW in Salem. Tickets available at pentacletheatre.
org
Saturday, September 29
Star Wars Party at The Archive in downtown Salem. Half the
cafe will be decorated in honor of Jedi, the other half belongs
to the Sith. Go in costume and join the fun. All ages between 9
a.m. and 4 p.m. $5 cover charge after 8 p.m.
Wedding & Event Show. For the second consecutive year,
Willamette Heritage Center hosts vendors, gift bags, and a
fashion show to help for soon-to-be-wed couples have fun
planning their big day. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at at the WHC, 1313
Mill Street SE in Salem. For more information, contact Liz
McIntire at lizm@willametteheritage.org
The Cherry City Roller Derby kicks off their tenth season by
pitting the 8 Wheel Assassins and the Boneyard Brawlers
against the Air Raid Roller Girls and Heartless Heathens from
Portland. Goes down at the Salem Armory, 2310 17th St NE.
Saturday Night Dance & Potluck. Featuring music by Lee
Nicholas and Diane. Admission is $5. 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at
Keizer/Salem Area Seniors, 930 Plymouth Drive NE.
September 29 through October 31
EZ Orchards Harvest Festival. Combine family fun and
education in a farm setting. We have hay rides, an Oregon-
shaped corn maze, a petting zoo, face painting, pie eating
contests, a pumpkin patch, pony rides, caramel apples, apple
cider, donuts, gold/gemstone mining activities, and much
more. Admission: $8.
Monday, October 1
Keizer City Council meeting, 7 p.m., Keizer Civic Center, 930
Chemawa Road NE.
Thursday, Oct. 4
OSCF Speaker Series Presents: Jennifer Roberts. Join us for
a conversation regarding the cultural power of recipes. This
event is free and takes place in Hearing Room B at the Oregon
State Capitol. Noon to 1 p.m.
Saturday, October 6
Oregon’s Bounty. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Oregon State Capitol,
900 Court St NE in Salem.
Sunday, October 7
Male Ensemble Northwest Concert. This group of singers
and conductors kick off St. Paul’s 2018-19 Evensong Concert
Series. Starts at 4 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1444
Liberty Street SE in Salem.
Monday, October 8
Columbus Day
Saturday, October 13
Out of the Darkness Walk. Fundraising for the American
Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Online registration closes
12 p.m. on August 12, but anyone can register in person day of
the event. Check-in starts at 9 a.m, walk starts 10 a.m. at State
Capitol Steps, 900 Court St NE. For more information contact
Ari Woods at oregon@afsp.org or call 503-951-3012.
some prescribed burning.”
As the West Coast can be-
gin to breathe a sigh of re-
lief as the fi re season wanes,
communities in North and
South are still waiting to be-
gin recovery from Hurricane
Florence, not to mention
hurricane-related recoveries
still being executed in Puer-
to Rico and Houston, Texas.
Asked what could be done to
better prepare communities
across the country from mass
devastation, Schrader said it
begins with recalculating the
FEMA budget.
“The problem we've got
is that the budget is based on
intensity and frequency cal-
culated in the 1980s. With
climate change, FEMA has
documented that the storms
are occurring more often and
they are much more violent.
We have not adjusted the base
FEMA budget because Re-
publicans don't want to deal
with the base reality of what
stuff costs,” he said.
He added that reform of
federal fl ood insurance pro-
grams – and thought into how
and where people are allowed
to build – needs to begin.
“We shouldn't allow new
homes to be built in fl oodways
or fl oodplains or on the beach,
that's ridiculous. We also have
to fi gure out a fl ood insurance
program that doesn't bankrupt
a retired couple living in Til-
lamook,” he said. “The Re-
publicans want to privatize
the thing and they found out
a lot of their constituents don't
like that idea because the rates
would go through the roof.
Government can defray some
of the costs as long as people
take responsibility for other
things.”
GRIDLOCK,
continued from Page A1
have the speaker represent the
American people,” Schrader
said.
Other
considerations
in the proposed changes
would lessen the ability of
the speaker of the house to
block votes on proposed bills.
The speaker of the house
also gets to determine which
bills are put forth for votes,
and whether the bills can be
amended during the voting
process. Many bills, when
they do arrive on the fl oor,
are there under closed rules,
which means they cannot be
amended.
“If a bill has bipartisan
support, then it should get a
vote and, once on the fl oor, we
should have the opportunity
to amend it,” Schrader said.
Under the proposed rule
changes, any bill with support
from 290 members of the
House of Representatives
would automatically go to
the relevant committees for
mark-up and be forwarded
to the fl oor for a vote. Both
parties would also have the
opportunity to submit one
germane amendment for
consideration during the fl oor
deliberations.
On the topic of healthcare, Rep. Kurt Schrader is advocating for
fi xing the Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA), but it’s a step he sees as
necessary before moving into discussions around a universal option.
“Healthcare is still primarily an employer-based deal. Up un-
til recently that was a pretty good deal with single-digit increases,
but the bleedover of problems in the insurance markets is prompt-
ing the insurance companies to jack up their small business rates,”
Schrader said.
Schrader said everyone he knows knows of someone else hit
with gobsmacking healthcare bills, but the system isn’t as broken as
those stories might lead voters to believe.
“There’s only about 10 percent that are getting it from the bro-
ken part of the market. My focus is how do you fi x that,” he said.
Among the proposals forwarded by the Problem Solvers Caucus,
of which he is a member, is restoring a cost-sharing program that
was canceled under the administration of President Donald Trump
and creating a national reinsurance pool. A reinsurance pool would
assist insurance companies in covering the claims of high-cost en-
rollees.
“Oregon was able to establish a reinsurance program this year
and it’s helping to keep the rates down. It’s not that way in the
rest of the country,” Schrader said. “Restoring the cost-sharing pay-
ments makes it so people don’t get worse and cost the system more
down the line.”
Another hurdle is establishing and enforcing a baseline set of
benefi ts for all healthcare insurers. One of the ways the current
administration has sought to undermine the ACA was by allow-
ing substandard policies – known as association plans – to qualify
as coverage under the now-defunct insurance mandate. The plans
often do not meet the baseline coverage required by the ACA.
“The idea behind the ACA was not just to treat you when you
get sick, but to treat you before you get sick. Let’s prevent it. It’s
expensive to do both at the same time, but if we do the prevention
stuff now the costs will go down over time, especially for very ill
people,” Schrader said. “If we can make people healthier going into
the end of life piece, it will cost us less going forward.”
Once the ACA is working as intended, Schrader said, the discus-
sion about what to do next, possibly a universal coverage option,
can happen on surer footing.
TRADE: ‘It will be devastating to
an iconic Oregon industry’
(Continued from Page A1)
“Nike and Columbia are
wary because the fact is their
products are made by people
around the world, but I went
up and visited the new hazel-
nut facility in Donald and they
are worried about selling them.
The price has fallen precipi-
tously, and Turkey is going to
fi ll that void. That's a market
we'll lose and it will be dev-
astating to an iconic Oregon
industry,” he said.
Schrader laid the blame at
the feet of Republicans who,
he said, are not willing to in-
tervene in the president's ac-
tions.
“The Republicans should
be stepping up here, but the
Republicans aren't doing
anything,” he said. “There is
no Republican party nation-
ally, there's some vestiges of the
business-oriented, fi scally re-
sponsible conservative in Or-
egon and a bit in Washington.
But that is gone in most of the
country, and especially in D.C.
They are spending money left
and right, they are increasing
the defi cit. Democrats cannot
be held accountable for the re-
cent largesse that has gone on.”
Schrader credits the base
supporters of the Trump ad-
ministration in their attempt
to hang in with their chosen
leader, but felt the trust was
misguided.
“They think the president
knows better but, with all due
respect, he doesn't know much.
It's very dangerous because
they are going to lose their
farms at the end of the day,”
Schrader said.
Deadline looming Spirit Chorus
for D.C. ornaments seeks singers
Every year since 1970, the
U.S. Forest Service has provided
a Christmas tree to appear on
the West Lawn of the U.S. Capi-
tol for the holiday season. This
year, the tree will be provided
by the Willamette National
Forest from the Sweet Home
Ranger District. The theme
for the 2018 initiative is “Find
Your Trail” and commemorates
the 175th anniversary of the
Oregon Trail, and the 50th an-
niversary of the National Trails
System. In addition, 70 smaller
companion trees will be sent
and appear in offi ces through-
out the nation’s capitol.
Oregonians are invited to
help create 10,000 ornaments
to adorn the trees. The Oregon
State Capitol will host three
events this fall that will have or-
nament making stations for the
public at Oregon’s Bounty, Sat-
urday, October 6, from 10 a.m.
to 2 p.m.
The Capitol will offer vol-
unteers, ornament ideas, and
supplies (furnished by the U.S.
Forest Service and the Oregon
State Capitol Foundation.)
There is no charge to make
ornaments, and families are en-
couraged to join the fun. If you
wish to make an ornament for
the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree
and drop it off at the Oregon
State Capitol, please download
a specifi cation sheet at www.
capitolchristmastree.com un-
der the Participate heading. All
ornaments will be boxed up
and sent off after the October
6 event, so the deadline to turn
them in is 2 p.m. that day.
Oregon Spirit Chorus,
a women’s a cappella sing-
ing group, invites singers in
the community to join their
Christmas Chorus and perform
around the greater Salem area
through mid-December.
Rehearsals begin on Tues-
day, Oct. 2, at Salem Elks
Lodge, 2336 Turner Road S.E.
Sessions run from 6:30 to 8
p.m.
To learn more visit oregon-
spirit.org. To RSVP the invita-
tion to join the chorus email
kathy.scheel@oregonspirit.org.
looking
back in
the KT
5 YEARS AGO
Vandals hit stand again
A nagging old problem has
resurfaced at McNary High
School—the concession stand
on the football fi eld has been
broken into yet again.
Saturday, October 27
Stayton Ghost Tour & Chocolate Walk. Victorian-themed
guided tour of historic Downtown Stayton with chocolate
treats after every stop. Participants are encouraged to wear a
costume. Starts at 5 p.m. with tours leaving every 15 minutes
at the Brown House Event Center, 425 North 1st Avenue in
Stayton. Presale tickets are $15 until October 18th, where they
will be sold for $20.
Add your event by e-mailing news@keizertimes.com.
been John Tahsuda, the prin-
cipal deputy assistant secretary
for indian affairs, who has for-
bidden the school's adminis-
trators and employees from
talking with congressional rep-
resentatives.
“This is complete bullsh-t.
No one's ever done it before.
I can't help people if they can't
talk to me,” Schrader said. “This
is the fi rst time I've had any ad-
ministration just tell someone
they can't talk to their congres-
sional representative.”
Schrader said he's talked to
leaders of several congressional
committees that oversee Che-
mawa, along with other Native
American boarding schools,
who support his desire for a
congressional hearing on the
matter, but it would not take
place until after the mid-term
elections or possibly 2019.
Responses from the Depart-
ment of Education and Health
and Human Services arrived
recently addressed many of the
questions – focused on fund-
ing and health services – asked
of those agencies, but Schrader
said the responses up to that
point were of the “see the pol-
icy handbook” variety.
“They are afraid some-
one is going to say something
that makes them look bad. It's
wrong at the core and these
kids deserve a little more, not
less,” Schrader said.
10 YEARS AGO
Debate on signs
could expand
maze
sudoku
Councilor Cathy Clark has
voiced interest in adding further
restrictions to the city’s sign
code. She said it was a matter
of the aesthetic goals of River
Road.
15 YEARS AGO
Celts, Olys play to draw
After winning fi ve games in a
row, the Lady Celts soccer team
was just inches short of another
win against Sprague. Mid-fi eld-
er Ali Reti says the draw will
make them even more focused
during their next game.
Enter digits
from 1-9 into
the blank
spaces. Every
row must
contain one
of each digit.
So must every
column, as
must every
3x3 square.
20 YEARS AGO
District seeks bond as
schools fi ll to brim
Maze by Jonathan Graf of Keizer
Growth and overcrowding
have pushed the Salem-Keizer
School District to ask voters to
support a bond for 177 million
dollars. The district is expected
to grow by 700 students a year.