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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 2016)
NEWS & COMMENTARY WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Eye health a window to overall health Eye disease and de- creased vision can impact productivity and adverse- ly affect quality of life. It can lead to blindness and disability. We are all aware of the beneicial preven- tive health measures that have become incorporated into our day to day lives. Comprehensive eye exams can provide the same pos- itive results with regard to our vision – particularly in preventing the ill effects of glaucoma, macular degen- eration, and diabetic reti- nopathy. The problem with the three diseases listed is that early on they may not pro- duce any symptoms. Glau- coma has often been called the “sneak thief of sight” in that a sufferer is not aware of it until signiicant vision has been permanently lost. In fact, half of the approxi- mately 3 million Americans with this disease are un- aware that they have it until they see an eye doctor. Di- abetes is perhaps the most common cause of blindness in working aged individu- als. More than 30 million people in our country have this disease, and approxi- mately one third of them are unaware that they have it. It is not unusual for the diag- nosis to be made in an eye doctor’s ofice. And despite the fact that macular degen- eration runs in families, it too is often not discovered until visual acuity has been reduced signiicantly. There are good and effective treatments for these three diseases. It is important for all individ- uals to have a general eye screening (which includes a comprehensive dilated eye examination) at around the age of 40. There are many good ophthalmologists and op- tometrists in our area. Please plan on seeing the practitioner of your choice. The key to preventing visual loss is early detec- tion. PERS is a promise for public service I am a third-generation ireighter with about 20 years left to serve before I retire. I follow in the foot- steps of my grandfather and great grandfather who showed me the importance of public service and of keeping my word. I do my best to live up to their leg- acy every day as I work to protect my community here in Umatilla County. Unfortunately, some politicians in Salem want the state to pay their obliga- tion to retired ireighters. Instead they want to take money from my retirement to pay the state’s debt. This rolls back the beneits I was promised when I was hired. It is also an unfair Ponzi scheme that allows state leadership to dodge respon- sibility. My family would take a double hit because my wife is teacher. These attacks af- fect more than ireighters. Teacher pensions, public nurse pensions, all public employee pensions would be reduced. If these proposals were to pass, our only hope will be the Oregon Supreme Court would once again tell the politicians in Salem that they can’t go back on their word. They cannot reduce the beneits we were prom- ised when we were hired. It is unfortunate that after two lengthy and costly lawsuits that lesson wasn’t already learned. MATT FISHER HERMISTON Measure 97 beneits students For more than 20 years, Oregon has been disinvest- ing in public education. This November, voters have an opportunity to turn that around by voting yes on ballot Measure 97, which asks large and out- of-state corporations to pay their fair share. As an educator I am deeply committed to the success of all students. I have been an educator for 15 years and have spent the last 10 years as a kin- dergarten teacher in Herm- iston. Even in our rela- tively small town, classes are crowded, programs are often cut, and even in kindergarten, children are not always prepared. For example, in Oregon 60 percent of all 3 and 4 year olds don’t attend any pre-K programs, leaving many children reeling when they do reach kindergarten. The bottom line is that we are missing an op- portunity for educational success for our students. All students, including kindergarteners, deserve a well-rounded education, which includes PE, librar- ies and technical educa- tion that keep disappearing from schools. That is why I am voting yes on Measure 97. The biggest 1,051 cor- porations in the state de- serve to give a little back to our students. Because, I’m tired of seeing my kids fall behind. Measure 97 doesn’t have to be a partisan or one-sided issue. Because ultimately, Measure 97 is about our kids and doing right by them. And if we don’t do something to im- prove education, we are letting them down. MARTHA LIEBE HERMISTON DR. MICHAEL DEITZ HERMISTON Great iPhone meets great network. iPhone 7 on U.S. Cellular. ® Switch now to get 7GB of data per line for only $49 a month. Plus, a strong signal in the Middle of Anywhere. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Umatilla County Fire District 1 Battalion Chief Jeff Adkins, right, and Kenda Irby, associate for Gas Transmission Northwest, hold up a check for a new cardiac monitor. Fire District 1 gets new cardiac monitor Umatilla County Fire District 1 has a new cardiac monitor in one of its ambu- lances thanks to a $32,500 grant from TransCanada Corporation. The new monitor will replace one of ive aging monitors, Battalion Chief Jeff Adkins said in a news release, allowing the dis- trict to focus on securing funding for the remaining monitors. The monitor will be placed in the district’s irst-responding advanced life support ambulance. “Last year, we responded to almost 3,400 emergency medical calls,” Adkins said. “Having this monitor could literally affect thousands of lives.” The donation was made through TransCanada’s Gas Transmission Northwest Pipeline. Gas Transmission Northwest has operated a natural gas pipeline in the Hermiston area since 1961. Rick Duncan, Regional Director for TransCanada, said in a statement that the companies understand and appreciate the role that irst responders play in a com- munity and wanted to sup- port that. “We believe in support- ing the communities where we have pipelines because thriving communities are good for everybody,” he said. POWERFUL TOOLS FOR THE CAREGIVER Build a tool kit for taking better care of yourself while caring for a loved one. FREE, must pre-register, please call 541-667-3509. 3:00pm - 4:30pm Thursdays starting Oct. 13 through Nov. 17 Conference room 7 PREVENT T2 INFO SESSION O ne out of every three American adults has prediabetes - and 90% don't know it! Learn how the Prevent T2 program can help prevent or delay the progression to type 2 diabetes. (Prevent T2 classes will be scheduled to meet participants needs.) 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A Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee (currently $1.82/line/month) applies; this is not a tax or gvmt. required charge. Additional fees (including Device Connection Charges), taxes, terms, conditions and coverage areas apply and may vary by plan, service and phone. Offers valid at participating locations only and cannot be combined. See store or uscellular.com for details. Device Protection+: Enrollment in a DP+ Plan is required for this promotion. The minimum monthly price for DP+ is $8.99 per month per Smartphone. A service fee/deductible per approved claim applies. You may cancel DP+ anytime. Property insurance coverage is underwritten by American Bankers Insurance Company of Florida. The Service Contract Obligor is Federal Warranty Service Corporation in all states, except in CA (Sureway, Inc.) and OK (Assurant Service Protection, Inc.). All these companies operate under the trade name Assurant. Limitations and exclusions apply. For more information, see an associate for a DP+ brochure. 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