A6 Friday, January 25, 2013 Lakeshore News
SENIOR MAY LOSE HER DRIVER’S LICENCE
Helga Dodds, who is in her mid-80s, had four more years on her driver’s licence when she received information in the mail in December saying she had to be retested in order to keep driving her car. She was puzzled. She’s never had an accident nor received a speeding ticket. It’s a new program to test seniors, based on DriveABLE in Alberta and it is to be taken every two years. www.driveable.com The first step was a three-question cognitive test by a doctor. She took the form to the doctor she’s been seeing for 12 years and who knows she has a clear health history. She passed two questions but not the third. Helga was born in Denmark and came to Canada in 1952. She learned how to speak and read English, but not write. She was unable to write in letters the numbers 209 and 4059. She was very upset to be told that she didn’t pass. When her blood pressure was taken, it was 190/90. The doctor faxed the form to DriveABLE. Helga has been waiting for the next step since Dec. 11. It’s very stressful. She said the test she completed was not fair due to her being ESL and unable to write English. It had nothing to do with cognitive impairment. She has a daughter in Westbank and other kids in Alberta so they are unable to help her. She called a younger lifelong friend, and asked her to phone me so I would inform other seniors to be prepared when they get their letter in the mail requesting a medical exam to drive. Next is a computer test, the first one free with a repeat costing $150. Helga has never touched a computer. She is even more stressed at the thought. The final test is one in Kelowna or Kamloops where the senior drives a car with two controls, the second for the tester. The cost is $150. It must be scheduled two months in advance and someone must drive the senior there. Helga found that there is no support for seniors having to go through DriveABLE. There are months of anxious waiting for a letter to arrive telling them the second and third test they have to do to retain their driver’s licence. Helga went to the Access Centre a week ago to see if the
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staff knew anything about the next phase of testing. She was told that she can take the computer and driving tests in Salmon Arm, however, they did not know where. More anxiety and stress for her. She says if seniors are good drivers with good records, they should not be treated like this. “It makes me sick!”
CAN YOU HELP A SENIOR WITH TESTS?
Are you interested in coaching a senior through the DriveABLE tests? Let’s make a list of people who can work with seniors, men with men and women with women, until they get their licence renewed. I believe there should be a charge, not only for time, but also for use of the coach’s vehicle. In the event of failure to pass, the coach can help the senior sell the car and buy a scooter. Write me at sallys1@telus.net if you would like to be a coach. If I get five responses, I will call a mid-week afternoon meeting over coffee and announce it in this column so everyone who is interested can attend.
PENNIES WILL NO LONGER BE CIRCULATED
taken over have seen their values decrease by 50 to 90 percent. “We have a choice now,” she said. “Pass a resolution to ban any more GMOs. If you do not make such a decision, you are making the decision to support industrial farming.” When she made a presentation to NORD in spring of 2011, she was told that NORD would form an agricultural advisory committee to study the issue and bring a proposal to the board. Now, 18 months later, it appears this committee is ready to meet although Bee SAFE opposed its “industrial farming” structure and mandate over a year ago. Bee SAFE is now encouraging all citizens opposed to GMO crops to lobby their own director and try to pass the ban in each area one at a time.
UKRAINIANS CELEBRATED MALANKA
Last week was New Years according to the Julian calendar and the celebration was called Malanka. CBC’s Rick Mercer danced at Malanka with a Ukrainian dance group in Saskatoon, and I attended Malanka in Kelowna sponsored by the Dolyna Ukrainian dancers.
Beginning Feb. 4, 2013, we will no longer give a cashier a penny, nor receive a penny in change. Cash transactions will be rounded to the nearest five cents. The rounding will not be done on single items but on the total bill of sale. Electronic transactions, such as those on debit cards or credit cards, would still be registered in cents. The one-cent coin will retain its value indefinitely.
DO NOT ALLOW MORE FARMING OF GMO CROPS
Huguette Allen spoke to the North Okanagan Regional District board on January 16 on the need to preserve agriculture in the area. If any more farms are permitted to grow crops with genetically engineered organisms, GMOs, it would jeopardize organic farms because wind and insects cross-pollinate plants of the same family from one farm to another. Once an organic farm has been contaminated, it’s impossible to go back. She said 62 countries have banned or insisted on labelling GMO foods. So far, GMO crops grown in Canada are corn, sugar beets, soy and canola. GMO crops go hand in hand with Factory Farms. Property values in areas where Factory Farming has
As with many important Ukrainian banquets of long ago, Vic and his Ukrainian Band greeted people with Ukrainian dance music as they entered Malanka in Kelowna. Vic Ukrainetz of Kelowna is the tsymbaly player on the right. A caterer and her family from Dauphin, Manitoba brought delicious, authentic Ukrainian food. She is an operating room nurse who caters to banquets on the side. She and her family travelled from Dauphin to Kelowna and brought a trailer containing frozen food for 360 people. When I met people at my table or in the buffet line, I asked where they were born. Not one was born in the Okanagan. Goodeve? My mother came from near there. Yorkton? I took nurse’s training there! It’s a small world. The next Ukrainian feast will be on Feb. 3 as part of the Vernon Winter Carnival. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of Sally Scales and do not necessarily represent those of Lakeshore News and its staff. sallys1@telus.net • 250-832-4831
Letters to the Editor
Logging at White Lake
It would seem that the petitions, calls and letters opposing all logging in White Lake were a waste of time and failed us miserably. A new logging license was issued on December 22nd, 2012 to start the logging again. After enduring years of logging trucks thundering down
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Pari Road, beginning at 3:00 p.m. and continuing every twenty minutes thereafter, day and night – enough! Logging companies, politicians and vested interests have used White Lake as their own personal fiefdom for too long. Perhaps now the only thing left for us is civil disobedience....
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a line of residents blocking the logging road just might get the message across: No logging in White Lake! Maybe it is time for the residents of White Lake to stand up and be Idle No More. M. Derrington, White Lake
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I am wondering if anyone knows the whereabouts of a lady by the name of Willma Timms. We became puppy pals when her and her husband Phil purchased one of our border collie pups about 7 years ago (His name is Toby and he is very smart). Willma always kept us posted on Toby’s progress, and her and Phil’s well being. Last year Phil passed away, and I have Letters to the Editor: Letters to the Editor are welcome, provided they are about a local issue. Name and phone number required. Lakeshore News reserves the right to edit or refuse any submissions.
Jeff Morrison Publisher
Letters to the editor are welcome, providing they are about a Michelle Weisinger Jeff Morrison l o c a l Chris Faltin Sales Editor Publisher issue. Name Email: and phone number required. Lakeshore News reserves the right to edit or refuse any submissions. lsn@lakeshorenews.bc.ca
Seeking friend’s whereabouts
Denise Buffie Reception
Subscription: $70.00 plus HST per year outside the distribution area. Second Class Mail Registration #5600
not heard from her since. Her mail is returned and not forwarded and her phone number has been given to someone else. (Her previous address was Willma Timms, 1090-8th Ave NE Salmon Arm). If anyone knows of her well-being it would be greatly appreciated–please contact Doris Squair at 250-547-6530. Doris Squair, Lumby
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