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April 16, 2014
75 cents Teller County, Colorado | Volume 53, Issue 15 A publication of
pikespeakcourier.net
Beloved nurse for 27 years at Prospect Home Care & Hospice, Betty Petersen died April 8 at the age of 72. Courtesy photo
Betty Petersen dies Hospice nurse succumbs to cancer By Pat Hill
phill@coloradocommunitymedia.com A cruel and haunting irony, the death of a nurse to hundreds of Teller County residents is an untimely loss. Nurse and confidante for 27 years with Prospect Home Care & Hospice, Betty Petersen, 72, died April 8 of cancer. Two days after her death Petersen’s co-workers gathered to mourn yet celebrate their friend and colleague. “When you think of all the patients she had, from babies to the elderly, the lives she enhanced, it’s a legacy; we all wish we were so compassionate and generous,” said Mary Barrowman, Prospect’s chief executive officer. Despite the sadness experienced by hospice nurses, Petersen loved her job, was accepted into the homes of the sick as a guest, Barrowman said. “We can’t stop death but can make it better, tolerable. We can give people time to surround themselves with the ones they love,” she said. Efforts to get Petersen to slow down were unsuccessful. “Even after the first radiation treatment, she was bargaining for two more years because she had hospice patients to see,” Barrowman said. “It’s going to be hard for all of us but we know life is to be embraced; we weren’t ready to say goodbye and Betty wasn’t ready to say goodbye.” Mary Ann Lincoln, physical therapist,, recalls Petersen’s affection and fierce advocacy for her patients. “She always maintained the good of her patients regardless of whose head she had to butt,” Lincoln said. “And that’s not always an easy thing.” Janet LaReau, executive assistant, cherishes Petersen’s friendship as well as her wisdom. “She believed in what she was doing,” LaReau said, adding that Petersen was the hospice nurse for her late father-in-law. For Christine Faughn, Helping Hands coordinator, the office is eerily empty. “We feel her (presence) all the time,” she said. Dawn Ignatius, RN and chief operations officer, paints an image of Petersen as the nurse in the crisp white uniform, cap included. “She evolved over those years but still kept that old-school nursing demeanor that I think charmed patients and made them always feel they were in the best care,” Ignatius said. “I utilized her to train all of our new nurses in documentation. She was so good at it and had absolutely no patience for anybody who wasn’t.” Ignatius estimates that Petersen attended at least 1,500 patients in the 27 years she worked at Prospect. Overcome at times with emotion, Jenna Painter, care coordinator, remembers Petersen’s energy. “She was one of the most vivacious women I’ve ever met; she had so
While President Barack Obama supports a raise in the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9, two Democratic senators have proposed the wage be raised to $10.10 an hour. Pastor David Shaw points to the benefits paid by the American taxpayer to subsidize large corporations in the form of health care and food stamps, for instance, for low-wage employees. Photos by Pat Hill
Pastor forges ahead on wage raise
Shaw plans strategy By Pat Hill
phill@coloradocommunitymedia.com On a mission to promote social justice, David Shaw is stirring the pot in the Ute Pass area with talk of raising the minimum wage. Shaw, pastor of Church in the Wildwood in Green Mountain Falls, started his campaign by staging a mini-demonstration on the streets of Woodland Park this winter. Shaw, who is not shy about stating his positions on social issues, held up a sign that screamed “Raise the Wage.” The wage issue is divisive, there’s no doubt about that. As one side argues that a raise increases prices for everybody, another emphasizes that America’s taxpayers subsidize large corporations by providing benefits for minimum-wage workers, including health care. Last month Shaw gathered members of his church to discuss the minimum wage, which, in Colorado is $8 an hour. He wants to raise it but, with that group, he was preaching to the choir. “Someone who makes $8 an hour, works 30 hours a week, would almost certainly be entitled to SNAP benefits and, if they have a young child, to WIC benefits,” Shaw said, referring to food stamps and nutritional meals for women, infants and children. Irked to the max by people who claim federal programs for the poor are entitlements, Shaw sounds off. “Entitlements are not just for the poor - I want to make that really clear; to say that the poor feel entitled is absolute nonsense,” he said. Riled up, Shaw continues. “Almost every bracket of person in America has some sort of entitlement program; it’s just a question of how it gets manufactured,” he said. A classic example, he added, is that American taxpayers pay for the health care of people who are paid poorly at certain companies. “Their owners will cry `fowl’ about a demand for an increase in their wages but who are the richest people in America?” he said. In his ongoing campaign, Shaw targets Walmart. “Six members of the Walton family (who own Walmart) have a net worth more than $150 billion,” he said. “When you shop at Walmart the price is not the price.
Colorado’s minimum wage is $8 an hour. David Shaw, pastor of Church in the Wildwood in Green Mountain Falls, is sounding alarms about the injustice of low wages. The price is the price on the shelf plus the subsidies that must be paid to a particular employee to make up for their lower wages.” Shaw argues from an economic standpoint as well as one that encompasses social justice. “There are more than 70 federal programs that help those who are struggling with poverty-related issues,” he said. At the federal level, President Barack Obama has expressed support for a $9 minimum wage while two Democratic senators, from Iowa and California, have proposed raising the federal minimum wage to from $7.25 to $10.10, in three-year increments. “Hourly wages matter; that’s part of the discussion that is far too often overlooked,” Shaw said. “If you’re freaking out about how to pay the water bill you naturally have less energy to give to your child. This is just reality.” Wage continues on Page 5
Petersen continues on Page 5 POSTAL ADDRESS
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