Opinions
cont’d
obituaries
(continued)
Patricia Melbye Becchio 08/24/49-05/13/17
Patricia Melbye Becchio, born in Chicago to Gustave and Helen Melbye, came to Santa Barbara at age of eight with her parents. A 1967 graduate of San Marcos High School, Pat worked in special education for Goleta Union School District. She is survived by husband John P. Becchio, sons Charlie and Micah, daughters Katie and Lindsay and her sisters Karen Hickman and Margo. A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, May 20, 2017 at 11:00 at Arnoldi's Cafe.
letters
Write Your Senators
T
he American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed by Republicans in Congress will, if passed by the Senate, return Americans to a broken health-care system that ignores basic health-care needs of women and their families. The bill allows insurance companies, once again, to eliminate coverage for birth control and prenatal and maternity care, and coerces them not to cover abortion services. Women who struggle each month to pay their bills will pay more to prevent pregnancy, pay more for prenatal medical care, and pay more for labor and delivery. New parents, supported by Medicaid, will be required to find work within 60 days of delivery or lose their coverage. Members of Congress and their families, whose insurance coverage is exempted from AHCA provisions, will be untouched by these restrictions. To compound the potential harm, the AHCA “defunds” Planned Parenthood, singling out the health-care nonprofit from all Medicaid providers and hospitals that provide reproductive care. Planned Parenthood is reimbursed with federal funds for basic preventive reproductive services; it does not receive federal funding for abortion services. Fifty-four percent of Planned Parenthood health centers are in health-professional-shortage areas and rural or medically underserved areas. Planned Parenthood health centers provide preventive care to many who otherwise would have nowhere to turn. Although Planned Parenthood health centers comprised 10 percent of the country’s safety-net centers that offered family planning in 2010, they served 36 percent of patients served by all centers. The AHCA puts life-saving medical care out of reach for our most vulnerable communities by making health insurance unaffordable for an estimated 24 million Americans and cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood. The effects will be felt not just by women struggling to make ends meet but also by their families and their communities. States like Texas and Indiana have suffered serious public health consequences when communities lost access to Planned Parenthood. The Senate must reject this terrible bill in order to keep the protections of the Affordable Care Act and
to make sure that Planned Parenthood health centers continue to serve all the clients who depend on them. Urge Senators Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris to stand firm for reproductive health care.
Florence Katz 07/19/22-05/06/17
—Barbara Lindemann, Chair, Board of the Planned Parenthood Central Coast Action Fund
Kind Hands
W
ords can’t say how thankful I am for Habitat for Humanity’s A Brush with Kindness program. Sunday morning, all the wonderful volunteers appeared and went to work in all directions. Some hand-washed my mobile home until it sparkled. Some tore off the old, ratty, dangerous carpeting on the carport steps. Some braced the hand railing. Others painted. Other people moved plants and swept up. One attacked the bougainvillea that was taking over the roof. It was like an organized whirling dervish of people happily doing. I provided snacks and a lunch of chili, Caesar salad, herbed bread, and cake. Away these volunteers went, back to doing, and then exited. I was in awe by how much was accomplished by these many hands. What words can thank these kind volunteers? People can call Habitat for Humanity at 692-2226 and volunteer, or make a charitable donation at 6860 Cortona Drive, Suite A, Goleta 93117. —Danel Trevor, Carpinteria
For the Record
¶ This year’s Summer Camp Guide should have said that the Earthlight Pictures Animation & Live-Action Filmmaking classes take place in June, not July. See independent.com/summercamp2017 for more. Call (503) 697-7914, email info@earthlightpictures.com, or visit earthlightpictures.com. ¶ Last week’s Arts Life photo of Omar Souleyman came courtesy KCSB-FM 91.9.
The music stopped for “Aunt Flo,” Florence Katz, May 6, 2017. She was surrounded by memories, friends, and family who celebrated her. She lived an interesting and meaningful ninety-four years. Many would not know that she starved during the Great Depression, was a child prodigy on the piano, and attended Juilliard on a music scholarship. She collaborated many eminent musicians throughout her long life, and was one of the Romero family’s first student and friends after they escaped Franco Spain. At the age of ninety she was celebrated at the Center for Successful Aging talent show by playing a Chopin nocturne. Among her many adventures in life were visits to Easter Island, the Galapagos, Machu Pichu, Mexico, and Alaska. She served in the WAC’s in WWII. Unable to support herself through music she worked in the film industry in Hollywood and was proud of her Union membership. Her sense of adventure brought a large part of her family to sunny California. She was amazed by all the new techindependent.com
nologies, and enjoyed books and music in the later part of her life which was spent in Santa Barbara. She was a friend and mother although she had no children of her own. Her sister Mollie and husband George preceded her. She is survived by an extended family of over thirty-three. Donations in her honor can sent to the Southern Poverty Law Center or Music Academy of the West. We can always remember when we hear a piece of Chopin “played properly.”
Stephen Thomas Sewell
“We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us.” – Charles Bukowski Stephen Thomas Sewell laughed and lived well until he lost a brave battle against lymphoma at 67 years of age. Born in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Georgia and Henry (Hank) Sewell, a descendant of Samuel Sewall, Steve lived fiercely and freely. Leaving home at age 14, he alternated between working as an editor, a bartender at Harry’s Bar in Century City, a stage actor, a sympathetic protester among the fray wherever youth were uprising from Isla Vista to Berkeley to Paris, and a wine savant at Lucas & Lewellen Vineyards. But his true calling was writing, and then editing and rewriting. A voracious reader, classic movie aficionado, oenophile, brilliant poet, the ultimate Anglophile, Steve was a noble polymath and his intellect was as unmatched as his wit, humility, kindness, and constant generosity. All who loved him are invited to celebrate his life on Sunday, May 28th at 4 pm at a private memorial. Contact Katy at (805) 602-7055 or Anjie at (805) 3635959 to join us.
Death Notices Marcelino T. Dorado, DOD 05/07/17 (59) Santa Barbara, CA Renee Marie Callens, DOD 05/11/17 (84) Carpinteria, CA Natalie Torres, DOD 05/14/17 (87) Santa Barbara, CA
MAY 18, 2017
THE INDEPENDENT
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