Journal
The
NEWS | Sheriff’s Log [2] ARTS | Artists capture beauty and mystery of the PNW [9] COMMUNITY | Animal Shelter partners with Wooftrax [11]
WEDNESDAY, August 26, 2015 n VOL. 108, NO. 34 n 75¢
Barged across blue seas Pharmacy 101: Facts to know
By Anna V. Smith Journal reporter
By Anna V. Smith
Staff photo/ Anna V. Smith
Journal reporter
Three houses on the barge headed to San Juan Island.
Three houses bound for settlement in the Phase 2 of Sun Rise neighborhood were barged in on high tide late Wednesday, Aug. 19, through Jackson Beach as a crowd of curious spectators watched from the beach. The houses were brought over by San Juan Community Home Trust, and are the first of 12 total houses to be barged over. The three houses were from the early 1900s, and were moved off of high-value properties in Victoria, B.C. and will be sold to low
and moderate-income homebuyers as permanently affordable homes. According to Executive Director Nancy DeVaux, the Home Trust has been fundraising and planning the event for the last year. “We heard that OPAL Community Land Trust on Orcas had been moving houses, so we started looking into it,” DeVaux said. “And we decided that not See BARGED, Page 5
A small sign taped to the counter at the Friday Harbor Drug Store explains to customers that “If you have any questions regarding the price of your prescriptions, please don’t hesitate to ask.” If a customer is looking for a way to potentially pay less for their prescriptions, they should pay heed to the sign. Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies each have their own restrictions for payment, in addition to each person’s individualized plan that affects how much a medication costs. According to a Consumer Reports article, some pharmacies can be bound by contract to first try and bill the claim through a patient’s insurance company unless the customer asks for a different option, as is the case at Friday Harbor Drug, as well as Ray’s General Store and Pharmacy on Orcas Island.
Asking questions
In some cases there are cheaper alternatives to the price of a
patient’s medication. According to Cristina DuVall, pharmacy manager at Friday Harbor Drug, pharmacists cannot offer these cheaper options unless a patient inquires, because limitations put on them by contracts and laws. Their intent, said DuVall, is to keep pharmacists by being influenced by drug companies and choosing a medication for a patient that might not be the right fit. “So there has to be a line then to show that we’re not swayed by any one company in any way, or have any kickbacks for any particular company,” DuVall said. “And that’s the best way to do it, is to be objective and it has to come from the patient’s request. We’re not permitted to offer any incentives or price breaks for patients unless they request them.” But DuVall said that they automatically run a geriatric discount for patients ages 65 and over that takes 10 percent off their bill. Sometimes, though DuVall says rarely, paying cash or credit for medication can be cheaper than a See PHARMACY, Page 4
Return of the wasps | What you can do By Cali Bagby
Contributed photo
There are at least seven species of wasps in the Northwest.
Journal interim editor
Summer on the islands is marked by farmers’ markets, sunset walks on the beach and barbecues at the park. On the flip side these warmer months also signify the return of wasps. According to Russel Barsh, director of the Lopez-based nonprofit laboratory Kwiaht, there are at least seven species of wasps in the Northwest, including native and introduced European and Western yellow jackets, baldfaced hornets and paper wasps. The Journal wants to know: are there more wasps out and about this summer?
Weather
Barsh said that the weather in spring is one way to determine an abundance of yellow jackets or wasps. A cool wet spring decreases wasp populations because it reduces the survival of the previous year’s queens, which must spend winter in a tree cavity, under a log, or in a
social insects remained active and are raising larger families as the summer lingers on,” said Barsh. “The later-emerging wasps and predatory flies and beetles are not doing super well because there’s not much left around to eat, but they are relatively numerous and diverse for now, surviving more on flower nectar than prey, and in my experience, behaving rather gently.” wood-pile until the weather is warm enough for them to emerge, hunt and start laying eggs, he said. Since we had a mild spring we should be seeing a small increase in the population. Barsh added that the recent heat wave has caused plants to flower early, which in turn attracted insects earlier in the season. “While some insect species just finished their year early and have gone dormant, some
The colony
According to “Yellow Jackets and Paper Wasps” by WSU entomologists Arthur L. Antonelli and Roger Akre, in the late summerearly fall, worker yellow jacket populations and their colonies are at their peak. Then the colony begins to decline, and their deserted nests See WASPS, Page 4
Sales deadline
Copy & Sales Deadline: Friday, Sept. 26, 2014
2015 Savor the San Juans guide publishes the week of Sept. 30 in the Journal, Sounder & Weekly. Sales Deadline: Wed., Sept. 16, 2015. For more info, call the Journal 378-5696.