Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Oct. 13, 1994, edition 1 / Page 5
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Injured Worker Wants Scrutiny Of Compensation System lo the editor: I would like to address an issue that concerns a great number of working people of North Carolina ? that being the so-called worker's compensation system. I suffered a back injury at work in March of !???? year As with a lot of back injuries, it didn't seem serious to me at first. As time has passed, it has become very serious and I'm facing surgery now. For three months I continued working with certain weight-lifting restrictions. During this time period, it got increasingly difficult for me to do my job within these guidelines. I informed my doctor and my em ployer, and their compensation carri er of these difficulties and was promptly fired from my job and de nied any compensation benefits. Although the insurance company has paid for my doctor and hospital costs for the testing, they still deny compensation. These tests have con cluded that I must have a surgical procedure, which may or may not return me able to function normally. So, after being out of work for 15 weeks with no income at all. I'm facing at least a two-month recovery time. Then I'm faced with finding another job, and when you have a recent history of serious back prob I lems, that is no easy task. I've worked in industrial construction most of my life, and I know what happens to applications from 48 year-old men with recent back surgery. I, like most workers, have worked all my life and never had a serious injury. But like most folks, I as sumed that if I was unfortunate enough to be injured, I would not have to worry about losing every thing that I've worked all my life to acquire. Well, you say, get a lawyer and Fight for your rights. Sure! First you get a lawyer and they correspond back and forth for several weeks with no results. Then your attorney Files for a hearing with the industrial commission; that will take three to six months. Then when it goes to hearing, it takes about six months to get a ruling. So for at least a year you have to fend for yourself and do the best you can. You either have to go on wel fare or have enough money saved to live for a year. Is this how we are supposed to be treated? I don't think so! There may be some hope, though. There is a group called the Clergy and l-ayman's Alliance for Justicc. They arc holding a pre-election Whatever Happened To Lemon Ice Cream? Have you ever had a food craving that just wouldn't go away? If so then you can relate to my dilem ma. I can't find lemon ice cream any more That's my punishment for tak ing the dream stuff for granted all these years. Ice cream has always been one of my favorite comfort foods. It's a shared love, judging from the space grocery stores devote to ice cream products. But I must now be the only person in Brunswick County who craves lemon ice cream It's a craving developed while a freshman at the University of North Carolina, where Angel Might members routinely served punch and cookies to Air Force ROTC cadets after every Tuesday drill. As a cadet. I was on the "receiving end" of the punch, but still took a interest in how it was made Many weeks it started with a lemon base obtained from a dairy in Durham Rver since then, lemon ice cream has ranked right at the top. above peach and strawberry, chocolatc mint, and cookics and cream When in dulging. that was first choice The grocery store that I counted on to always carry lemon ice cream it no longer docs. It's been that way since early summer. At first I thought my husband was pulling the standard male "looks-straight-into the-refrigerator-and-can't-see-it" routine at the grocery store Me would come home and claim. "They didn't have it, honey, so I got Rocky Road ..." I would go three days later and voila, lemon ice cream, tubs of it Then all of a sudden Don's lament gained credibility; I couldn't find it either, no matter what day of the week I showed up Management has said on several occasions they're having "deliv ery" problems with a certain dairy company, but that doesn't satisfacto rily explain why the red and yellow "Pixie" boxes of Neapolitan, Orange-Pineapple and Raspberry flavors have doubled and lemon has disappeared. The mystery remains unsolved What happened to the lemon ice cream? Do they even make it anymore? Maybe it's the name that turns people off, lemon pucker-upper No, that doesn't figure. We go for lemon meringue pies, lemon ices and lemonade and they're all sweet and tangy too. Unless you've been in lemon withdrawal or it's equivalent, you can't imagine what it's like to search groccry stores in strange towns. I'm seriously considering making my own with the freezer my hroiher- and sister-in-law gave us for Ouistmas. All we need is a recipe. health care forum on Oct. 28, from b-11 p.m. at the Brunswick Com munity College Odell Williamson Auditorium If you have been injured on the job or know anyone who has been injured and denied benefits, please call Ella Gray at 842-6742. She will assist you with information. Every one must band together and call this to the attention of our elected offi cials, in order to stop this mistreat ment of injured workers. Gerald Agner Supply Something Afoul? To the editor: Something is afoul in our commu nity. Drugs and roadside litter are rampant. Where are the sheriff's deputies? I watch the police blotter in the Beacon ? terrible, but not any litter arrests (even though we now have new signs saying littering is a S 1,000 violation of our rights to a clean county) and not many drug ar rests either, just robberies and killings stemming from the drug traffic. The Brown campaign tells me they have placed $3,000 of signs in the county. I see only Hewett signs. No evidence but a lot of common sense tells mc something is going on. I am not into politics (a new resi dent) and not interested in a political future. I do desire clean roadways and a clean sweep on drug dealers so people will stop stealing to pay the "drug bill." Is that much to ask after a lifetime of work and tax pay ments? Ixn Froehlich Holden Beach Friday Defended To the editor: I have known Jeanine Friday for seven years now, and what she has achieved by the giving of her time and talents, her knowledge and ex perience. her personal funds and most of all her TLC" is miraculous. Yes, her feline friends as well as the animals and the birds at the "re serve" are contained for their own safety and welfare as per Brunswick County law. Teddi Neal's so-called pet felines roam freely around the wooded area near her home, as well as in the neighbors' yards. None wear collars or tags. Although I question the validity and actual purpose of the Animal Welfare League per personal experi ence, I do commend them for com ing to Jeanine 's aid when she des perately needed help. The only fault that Jeanine Friday might have is that her heart is too big and soft. She just couldn't say "no." When donations fell short, she used her own personal funds, and all of her animals received expert care and certainly lots of TLC. 1 know that Jeanine is heartsick over the fact that she, healthwise, is unable to continue her "dream" of caring for these needy animals. I al so know that anyone "touched" by Jeanine will never forget her nor her worthwhile efforts. Ms. Neal would do well to re search a subject before writing a col umn of "crazy notions." Helen Hendricks Bolivia Flu Season Is Just Around The Corner., Don't let it catch you. Dr. Kirk Steptoe is now administering the influenza vaccine in his office at the Doctor's Complex. If you think you are considered a "high risk" individual and would benefit by the vaccine, call Dr. Steptoe today to see if this vaccine is recommended for 919-7 These ii\jections qualify for Medicare reimbursement. KIRK R. STEPTOE, M.D. Board Certified Internal Medicine Serving your complete adult health care needs Medicare, BCBS, Champus ? 12 Medical Center Dr. (Turn at Brunswick Hospital) PO Box 330, Supply, NC 28462 mm mamm M m mm mmm mm mm mm mmm mmm mm m mm imm mmihh mmmi Criticism Undeserved To the editor: As an original founder of the Animal Welfare League, 1 take ex ception with Teddi Neal's letter of Oct. 6. 1 am appalled by her opinion, her purpose and her callous attitude toward "unwanted animals. The purpose of the League was, and should be, to encourage the spaying and neutering of animals and to help finance the cost of the aforementioned purpose. We also try to help place animals in caring homes whenever possible. I, for one, am very happy to see the great strides made by members under the leadership of Alma Tolson, Wallace Smith and Kathleen Thome. Besides caring for injured wild life, jeannine Friday has also been caring for and placing dogs and cats for adoption. She has large fenced-in areas for the dogs with shelters off the ground. I am so impressed with Jeannine 's love of animals that I have her take care of my puppy when we travel. Our Maggie was an unwanted 6 week-old dropped off in 10-degree weather. She is trying to fill the void left by our previous dog, who gave us 13 years of much love and some wonderful memories. These dedicated people do not de serve criticism. We do need many more just like them. Eileen Kellagher Long Beach Priorities Questioned To the editor: Recent media lead stories stated that the United States Naval Res erves (who have so often been called to active duty, i.e., Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, etc.) could not be paid due to a shortfall in funds. During the same time period, other media stories reported that Biliary was us ing defease department funds to feed and house unwanted aliens from Caribbean countries. A question of priorities? Not real ly. These moves are just two more notches in the smoking gun that the cretin in the White House uses against the Armed Forces of the United States. Together with his massive cuts in defense appropriations, base clos ings and love affair with homosexu als in the military, the cretin uses ll 1 ' ' new approaches constantly to down grade our fighting troops in order to justify his own cowardice. John McAleer Calabash Wants A High-Rise To the editor: I have written many letters along with some friends of mine since 1990 when the Sunset Beach Tax payers Association (SBTA) had al ready delayed a new high-rise bridge 10 years. The price keeps go ing up with each year. This insignifi cant ostrich-like group should take their heads out of the sand and face reality ? that it is not their island, it is a barrier island and they should not be living on it. It was put there by God to protect the mainland. I live on the mainland right across the street from the Intracoastal Waterway, a highway for boats. They have obstructed highway traf fic long enough. Would you be able to obstruct traffic on Interstate 95? Boats are held up for long peri ods. When they are finally let go they rush to make up time. They do not observe no-wakc signs and dam age boats and docks. People are delayed for hours try ing to get across . The ones on the island are trying to get to work, school, business, golf tee-off's, doc tor or dentist appointments. People are tied up in their cars trying to get on the island with frozen food de frosting, melting ice cream, scream ing cooped-up children, your blad der bursting, your patience gone. Business falls off on either side of the bridge when the traffic is at a standstill. The line of traffic backs up 4 miles or more. I have been late for work or couldn't get home because the traf fic was tied up. People have been stranded on the island sometimes for days because of freak high tides when the floating bridge did not meet at the exit for cars to go over. Think of a fire on the island when this bridge is broken, or cannot meet for anything to cross over. A nice breeze from the ocean would set all the homes on fire like a tinder box. Don't try to get your valuables out, for they are gone What if our police department has a call for domestic violence on the beach? One officer goes, the situa tion gets out of hand and the officer is stranded with no back-up because the bridge crank got stuck.. .a dead person and officer. A drowning or choking person on the beach? Sorry, the tide is too low. The EMTs can't get there. All this because they don't want a high-rise bridge? Will you be able to sleep knowing you caused a death because you wanted to keep the en trance to the island a secret? Wake up. It's in Money magazine, New York papers. Southern Living and yes, we are almost over populat ed. But you must conform and go with the times. This area is no longer 50 residents and fishermen from the mountains coming down to fish. You moved here, didn't you? So now you own it? I moved here along with hundreds after me all being told, "And you have Sunset Beach right here." We can't even get there at times, and 12 years ago 1 used to walk or ride my bike there over the bridge. We go to Ocean Isle to swim, as we know we will be able to get back home ? to day. The SBTA has come up with more things to delay progress. They sued, made T-shirts, bumper stick ers. People with those signs didn't even live here. Ask Nivan Milliken, who was the first one over that pontoon bridge when it only went into dirt on the other side. He knows it is outdated. They think up more and more ex cuses why not conform to progress and enjoy it with the life we have left to live. Let's try to be adult about this, take our heads out of the sand and look at what has happened over the years of putting this matter off ? wasted time, money and effort. Think of all those island people try ing to get off in an emergency and the bridge is broken. I hope I never see it. Those holding the new bridge up ? I hope they are stranded there. Mary L. Noorigian Sunset Beach (More Letters, Following Page) AT SHALLOTTE POHT BRING HOME THEftKACON On Sale At VILLAGE MART One Day 1M1 Appreciate The Advantages Of Our Home Equity Loan. You're probably asking yourself, it's fall, tax-deductible. Of course, you should con why should 1 be worrying about spring- suit your tax advisor for complete details, time? Well, April will be here before you What's more, you'll be able to access know it. And you'll be wishing you'd made your Home Equity Line of Credit simply those home improvements, puiehased that by writing a check. Then you can use the new car or paid for your child's education money for all sorts of things. So what are with a Home Equity Line of Credit from you waiting for? Call or stop by your near NationsBank. Because, as you probably by NationsBank today. And ask about our already know, interest on home equity lines Home Equity Line of Credit. Rest assured, ofcredit is one of the few things that are still you'll have a new appreciation for April 15. NationsBank ySA Official Sponsor 1996 U.S. Olympic Tbam Credit is subject u> approval NationsBank subsidiary banks are Members FDIC and Equal Housing Lenders O ?1994 NationsBank Corporation
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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Oct. 13, 1994, edition 1
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