Daily Egyptian WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015
DAILYEGYPTIAN.COM
SINCE 1916
VOL. 99 ISSUE 81
The Building cardboard relations Return of Live Young TIERRA CARPENTER | @Tierramc_
Almost a year after Live Young Productions Promotions & Entertainment’s “Thirsty Thursdays” were canceled, the group will be back this week with “Live Young Thursdays,” a weekly party at Social House. The group’s vice president Dorian Huff, a senior from Chicago studying radio and television, said the idea to use Social House came from the owner and one of his representatives, after he disc-jockeyed there. “The Social House chose us,” Huff said. “He basically wanted to bring in more business. He came to us and put that task on us to bring people there.” Live Young has been operating since 2013, when they started “Thirsty Thursdays” at the now closed Mexican restaurant, La Fogata, in downtown Carbondale. Events were canceled in the fall of 2014 after incidents of violence at some parties. The group’s CEO, Demetrios Layne, a senior from Itasca studying sport administration, said he holds ongoing tension between Carbondale residents and students responsible for these incidents. “There is a misconception about who caused the violence,” Layne said. Layne said another factor that contributed to the event’s extended cancellation was the persistence of city officials. “The people we always hear about but never see are the chief of police and the city attorney,” Layne said. He said he heard city officials contacted owners of venues Live Young used and said they did not want a certain atmosphere on the Strip. Layne said he attributes the city’s issue with the parties to racial prejudice. “At this point there’s no other way to put it,” Layne said. “If atmosphere means 50 people on the strip, then that atmosphere is there every weekend. When you’re using these kinds of keywords, and then the only people you’re seeing are black people, I know for a fact how I’m taking it. I’ll definitely say I have to pull the race card on that one.” The city attorney of Carbondale, Mike Kimmel, denied complaining to any business owners, but said the city received complaints about parties on the strip. For the rest of the story, plase see www. dailyegyptian.com
Holiday Wagner | @HolidayWagner Heaven Stiner, a sophomore studying architectural studies, creates a blanket for Joseph Plummer, a freshman studying architectural studies, as he sits in a cardboard box house during the Cardboard Fort Building Contest on Tuesday in the Quigley Hall Courtyard.
Rauner dumps treatment from anti-heroin measure, citing cost MONIQUE GARCIA AND KIM GEIGER Chicago Tribune
Gov. Bruce Rauner on Monday sought to rewrite a wide-ranging measure aimed at curbing heroin use, eliminating a requirement that the state’s Medicaid health care program for the poor pay for medication and therapy programs to treat addiction. The Republican governor said the state can’t afford the extra cost while “facing unprecedented fiscal difficulties.” Supporters of the original legislation argued the governor’s change creates an unfair system in which those who can afford insurance get help for their addiction while low-income patients end up in an emergency room or a courtroom. “This is a critical component of this legislation; if the only people you affect are people that have insurance, then you haven’t done that much. There is a whole swath of people out there who need health care from the state who have drug addictions,” said sponsoring Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie. “The governor is taking the position that we can’t afford to save these lives.” Lang said it was too early to say if he will ask lawmakers to override Rauner’s
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changes. Initial estimates pegged the cost of the legislation at $25 million a year, though some critics argued that figure was low. The measure also would require police departments and firehouses to stock opioid antidotes that could be used to counteract heroin overdoses, and attempts to strengthen the state Department of Human Services’ prescription monitoring program to help doctors and pharmacies detect “doctor shoppers,” a practice in which drug addicts obtain various prescriptions from several doctors. Rauner said in his amendatory veto message to lawmakers that he supported those efforts “and applaud the multifaceted approach to combating this epidemic in Illinois,” but could not back the bill if it continued to “impose a very costly mandate” on the Medicaid program. Lang contended that Rauner is looking at one side of the ledger and not taking into account savings the state would reap from other provisions that would divert addicts from hospitals and the criminal justice system in favor of drug education programs and specialized drug courts. Heroin overdose deaths have been on
the rise statewide since 2011, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data. Last year, 633 heroin overdose deaths occurred in Illinois, up from 583 in 2013. In Cook County, heroin overdose deaths remained relatively stagnant last year, down eight to 283. The legislation was watered down following pushback from pharmacies opposed to a provision that would require them to serve as take-back sites for old and unused medications. As approved, the measure would require state agencies to distribute information about how to properly dispose of medication and allow individual counties to establish take-back programs if they wish. Also stripped from the bill was a requirement that doctors take drug addiction classes to better recognize addicts and get them help. Rauner approved several other measures Monday, including: — A bill backed by the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild to allow breweries to make up to 120,000 barrels of beer per year, four times the current 30,000 limit. — A measure that provides immunity from an illegal drinking
charge to underage drinkers who bring an intoxicated friend to a hospital for medical help. — Legislation to allow the state to immediately pay fatally injured burn victims the Social Security disability payments that they would ordinarily receive after a five-month waiting period. The bill applies to burn victims whose injuries were not their fault and who have been told that they have 18 months or less to live. The measure is named for George Bailey, a Downstate man whose family struggled to care for him after he suffered fatal burns and had no income to help cover his care and living expenses. “This is an attempt to find and provide some relief for those five months,” said sponsoring Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea. “When the Social Security disability is reimbursed, it pays back to the fund.” — A measure that takes away the ability of hospitals, ambulance providers, laboratories and pharmacies to directly bill victims of sexual assault for the outpatient care they receive. Providers will be required to bill a victim’s insurer or public health care system and accept what is received as payment in full.