2
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2004
Seniors’ health plan to expand
BY MARK PUENTE
STAFF WRITER
Gov. Mike Easley announced
an expansion to a state prescrip
tion program last week that will
ensure another 150,000 seniors the
chance to participate by lowering
eligibility requirements.
Senior Care offers as much as
$1,200 per year for medication to
people not on Medicare or private
health insurance.
Before its expansion, the program
covered three types of diseases: car
diovascular, diabetes and chronic
obstructive pulmonary diseases. The
new benefits remove these restric
tions and will cover any illness.
The program is funded by
national tobacco settlement funds
that go directly into the state’s
Health and Wellness Trust Fund.
Ad found to have illegally endorsed Ballantine
BY KAVITA PILLAI
ASSISTANT STATE & NATIONAL EDITOR
The N.C. Board of Elections
decided Friday that a TV adver
tisement mentioning gubernato
rial candidate Patrick Ballantine
violated state elections law.
The ad, funded by the Republican
Governors Association, expressly
advocated Ballantine’s election
instead of advocating for an issue,
the board found.
All five board members three
Democrats and two Republicans
voted that the ad was in viola
tion of elections law.
Don Wright, general counsel for
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The expansion will allow people
to participate who are at or below
250 percent of the federal poverty
level. It also allows those new to
the program to get S6OO between
now and the end of the year.
Von Valletta, president of the
state chapter of senior advocacy
group AARP, said she would not
be surprised to see 500,000 people
participating eventually.
“It’s a significant amount of help
for a significant amount of people,”
she said. “It is one of the best (pro
grams) in the country. But we need
help to get the word out to North
Carolina seniors to enroll in the
plan by the end of the year so they
can get the money.”
BUt Rep. Jim Gulley, R-
Mecklenburg, is skeptical about
the motives behind the program’s
the board of elections, said if RGA
had filed with the state as a politi
cal action committee, the ad would
have been in compliance with the
law. Instead, RGA claimed that the
ad was about issue advocacy.
Scott Falmlen, executive direc
tor of the N.C. Democratic Party
and the individual who filed the
complaint, said corporate contri
butions funded the ad.
He added that the BOE decision
shows that the complaint is not a
partisan tactic to attadc Ballantine.
“We’re delighted that the Board of
Elections found that our complaint
was with merit,” Falmlen said. “Even
expansion two months before
Election Day. “It is a good use for
the tobacco money, but absolutely,
it is an election year tactic.”
He said Easley, who is seeking
re-election, announced the expan
sion to garner more votes in his
race against Republican candidate
Patrick Ballantine.
Easley’s campaign office could
not be reached as of press time.
But Theodore Arrington, a
professor of political science at
UNC-Charlotte, said politicians
should set aside party beliefs and
determine whether the program’s
expansion is good public policy.
Dolly Mullen, a professor of polit
ical science at UNC-Asheville, said
when elected officials don’t follow
through on the promises they make,
the constituents who put them in
more significant was that it was a
unanimous, bipartisan vote, indicat
ing that the ad RGA ran was paid for
with illegal contributions”
The Ballantine campaign told
The (Raleigh) News & Observer
that it did not have any connection
to the RGA ad. A spokesman for the
campaign refused to comment on
the issue to The Daily Tkr Heel.
The issue of coordination
between RGA and Ballantine was
not pursued by the Democratic
Party, Wright said.
Falmlen added that coordina
tion was not a primary part of the
Democrats’ argument.
*2004 CSC
office have to be the first to call then
hand. “Voters can take retribution
on political parties. If Easley didn’t
think it would help him in the polls,
he wouldn’t have done it”
But it remains to be seen whether
or not this move will give Easley a
boost. He was leading Ballantine 51
percent to 35 percent, with 14 per
cent of voters undecided, according
to a poll conducted in August for
WUNC radio, WRAL-TV and The
(Raleigh) News & Observer.
Sen. Richard Stevens, R-Wake,
said the program is good because
of the health care issues all citizens
face. “As long as it helps North
Carolinians, it is a good use of the
tobacco money.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
"We hope that the Republican
Governors Association will abide by
the law” he said. “And we hope that
Patrick Ballantine will encourage the
outside groups that are in support of
him to abide by the law as well.”
The board will reconvene
Thursday after consulting with the
state district attorney as required
by law. The N.C. Democratic Party
has not requested any specific pen
alty but likely will do so this week.
“I’m sure we’ll be making a case
to the state board (this) week, but
we haven’t gotten that far,” Falmlen
said.
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
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Jennifer Schmitt of Chapel
Hill and her 5-year-old
son, Sky Om-Landes, walk
along a pier after a fishing
expedition at University
Frances fails to cripple
state’s holiday weekend
BY ALEX GRANADOS
STAFF WRITER
Despite anxiety about the path
of Hurricane Frances, there was no
shortage of visitors to the state of
North Carolina during Labor Day
weekend.
Connie Nelson, communica
tions manager for the Cape Fear
Coast Convention and Visitors
Bureau, said Friday that she didn’t
expect the hurricane to interfere
with the weekend.
“In addition to the travelers
who normally come for Labor Day,
we are expecting people leaving
(Florida) for safer destinations,”
Nelson said.
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DTH/RAY JONES
Lake on Monday afternoon.
Although the rain forced
many to change their Labor
Day plans, some people were
able to enjoy the outdoors.
She said local officials were not
concerned about the holiday storm,
which made landfall this weekend
in Florida and is now inching
toward the state’s panhandle.
“We just don’t anticipate any
emergency measures being neces
sary,” Nelson said.
While some transportation offi
cials didn’t expect decreased holi
day travel, coastal rentals during
the weekend told a different story.
At Kure Beach, just 12 of the
26 units at the Moran Motel were
rented Saturday, said Dianna
Pemell, who runs the business.
At the nearby Sand Castle Inn,
Norris Teague reported a similarly
poor showing on what is normally
the last big hurrah of the tourist
season.
called it one of the worst
Labor Day draws in his 31 years at
the motel.
“My own sister didn’t want to
come,” he said.
A flurry of midweek cancella
tions bought occupancy rate at
Wrightsville Beach’s Blockade
Runner hotel to about 60 percent,
said Bill Baggett, one of the hotel’s
owners.
“It’s a beautifiil weekend to have
nobody here,” he said.
Fears that Frances would
somehow make its way up to the
Carolina coast proved unfounded,
but Nelson said there is no way of
knowing what people will do until
the path of a storm is known.
“You just don’t know until weath
er events actually make landfall,”
she said.
Patty McQuillan, spokeswoman
for the N.C. Department of Crime
Control and Public Safety, said the
Raleigh communications office
reported road traffic that was light
er than usual during the weekend.
But she said traffic was expected
to pick up as tourists return home
Monday night and this morning.
The Associated Press
contributed to this article.
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(Eljr Doily (Ear lUrri
P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Michelle Jarboe, Editor, 962-4086
Advertising & Business, 962-1163
News, Features, Sports, 962-0245
One copy per person; additional copies may be
purchased at The Daily Tar Heel for $.25 each.
© 2004 DTH Publishing Corp.
All rights reserved
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