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2nd Class Postage at Tryon, North Carolina 28782
and additional post offices. Postmaster: send
address changes to The Tryon Dail) Bulletin, PO.
Box 790. Tryon. N. C. 2«782
THE WORLD’S SMALLEST DAILY NEWSPAPER
Founded Jan. 31, 1928 by Seth M. Vining
(Consolidated with the Polk County News 1955)
Jeffrey A. Byrd, Editor and Publisher
The Tryon Daily Bulletin (DSPS 643-360) is
published daily except Sat. and Sun. for S35 per
year by the Tryon Daily Bulletin, Inc. 106 N. Trade
St., P.O. Box 790, Tryon. N.C. 28782
The Tryon Daily Bulletin
Phone 859 9151
Printed In the THERMAL BELT of Western North Carolina
20 Pages Today
Vol. 65 - No. 162
TRYON. N.C 28782
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 25,1991
200 Per 1 ops
The weather Monday, high 82,
low 47, hum. 72 percent.
Peter Hahn stopped Tuesday
morning with a "communica
tion" and a comment. The $160
billion dollar figure reported in
a conversation between Con
gressmen Charles Taylor and
Newt Gingrich couldn't be
right, he said.
Malpractice insurance and
related costs couldn't be costing
America $160 billion dollars a
year, he said. That's half the
national defense budget.
Well, I wasn't sure if it was or
wasn't. So I went to the copy
drawer to pull out the original
to see if The Bulletin made a
typographical error (which
rarely occurs anymore!).
No, in fact that's what the
Congressman's press release
said - $160 billion.
Well, Congressmen have
been known to make typo
graphical errors. So, I called
Doug Bassett, the LA (legisla
tive assistant) who issued the
press release for Taylor's office.
He looked up the Employee
Benefit Research Institute Spe
cial Report just issued this
month and found that America
spent an estimated $676 billion
on health care in 1990 - 12.4%
(Continued On Back Page)
No School On
September 30
There will be no school on
Monday, September 30, sche
duled as a teacher workday.
From 8:30 a.m. until 3:30
p.m. on September 30, Polk
County teachers will meet with
Dr. Willard Daggett in the
library at Tryon High School to
begin the curriculum process
for grades 6-8.
Accident Reported
Kathryn Potter of Tryon was
charged with unsafe movement
after an accident on Pacolet
Street in Tryon Monday.
Tryon Officer Frankie Greene
said Potter backed her 1969
Volkswagon out of her parking
space in front of the McCall,
McCall & McCall dentist office
into the path of a 1988 Ford
pick up truck driven by Brad
ford Price of Columbus.
Greene said no one was hurt,
but $750 damage was done to
the pick up truck, and $250
damage to the VW.
Correction
Bobby Foy of Tryon says he
was injured in a collision while
riding his moped in Columbus
last week.
While he had no broken
bones, Foy said he is out of
work with a knee injury and a
neck injury.
A story Tuesday reported no
injuries in that accident.
Eloise Johnson
Johnson Honored
Eloise T. Johnson, Home
Economist with the Polk
County Cooperative Extension
Service, has received the Early
Career Award of Excellence by
the North Carolina Association
of Extension Home Economists.
She was recognized for her
work with Habitat for Humanity
Home Owners Association,
working with the Social Ser
vices Department to help food
commodity recipients become
more knowledgeable of ways to
use the food they receive, pro
grams on the awareness of the
abuse problem in Polk County,
networking with agencies and
organizations to provide educa
tional information to county
citizens and strengthening the
home economics program.
Eloise has been working for
the Polk County Extension
Service a total of nine years.
Can St Luke's Help
Doctors Prepare
For Future Stability?
Today we present the fourth
and final installment in a series
of stories by Claire Wharton
on the challenges facing the
Thermal Belt medical commu
nity.
"Medicare is here; it's with
us," said St. Luke's Hospital
Board Chairman Joe Claud.
In fact, Medicare is going to
become a major factor in health
care everywhere as America's
"baby boomers" enter retire
ment by the year 2010.
And by the time the baby
boomers are over 60, there will
be a smaller work force footing
the bill, said Dr. Richard Tri-
firo, a family practitioner in
Columbus.
However, industries and cor
porations in the future will
likely balk if the difference
between Medicare reimburse
ments and high medical charges
continue to be passed on to
private insurance and self-
paying patients, Claud said.
In the face of these chal
lenges, the tnistees and admin
istrators of St. Luke's Hospital
have not been idle.
In the past five years the hos
pital has implemented a geriat
ric program, Care Givers, and
(Continued On Back Page)