Upsonville – Our mail carrier, Daniel R. Campbell, was in Montrose serving on a law suit last week. His brother, George, was acting as mail carrier, and down by Barringer’s crossing his team got frightened by an engine on the cut-off and broke his cutter all to pieces. The horse did not get hurt, nor did Mr. Campbell.
Jackson – The Jackson Library will open this week. The membership fee is 50 cents a year. Books can be exchanged Tuesdays and Saturdays and every evening.
Middletown – The Middletown Literary Society held its banquet at the Haire House, Lawton, Friday evening, Jan. 29. The genial host and hostess, Mr. and Mrs. M. M. Curley, served a delicious turkey super, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Dancing was indulged in until the small hours and all the members returned home voting the Literary banquet the most enjoyable affair of the season.
North Bridgewater – Many farmers are busy hauling lime and logs during the fine sleighing.
Lynn - Bruce Williams purchased a fine four-year-old colt of Davis Deubler, a few days ago, and is now having it broken by Clinton Button, the veteran horse trainer.
Susquehanna – Joseph P. McMahon, who has been named to succeed Geo. W. Shaeff as postmaster, is a prominent citizen and businessman of the “city of stairs.” Our first introduction to Mr. McMahon was in July of 1891, when he was associated with the late William Donahue in the conduct of the Canawacta House, on Front Street, of which Martin J. Ryan is the present landlord and proprietor. Subsequently he purchased the Carrington stables, on Drinker St., where he has since successfully conducted a livery. He possesses the requisite qualifications, which will render him an efficient and popular official of Uncle Sam. ALSO The average cost per week for each inmate of the Susquehanna-Oakland poor farm, including clothing, medical care, etc., is $5.13
Tunkhannock – There is now but one legalized bar along the Montrose branch, a distance of 28 miles, and that—the Dolan House at Dimock—will disappear April 1, the temperance people having bought it. If the same conditions prevail in Tunkhannock for another year, that have for the past, Montrose will have to do the irrigating for the whole line, or in other words, it will be a long, long way to Tipperary.
Brooklyn – E. B. Goodrich, son of Eli and Cynthia Tiffany Goodrich, was born March 18, 1835, on the farm where he has always lived and where his death occurred Feb. 9, 1915—thus he was nearly 80 years of age and for the past 60 years has been one of Brooklyn’s most substantial farmers. By hard work and an intelligent devotion to business he succeeded in acquiring a fine fortune, but never engendered those feelings of envy or jealousy that often came with success. His integrity was never questioned. Upon the death of his father he purchased the old homestead and has always lived there. About 50 years ago he married Miss Delia A. Capron, of Harford, who survives him and together they have lived and labored. One son Bruce Goodrich, of Harford, and one daughter, Miss Alma Goodrich, at home, survive.
Forest City – George E. Maxey, of this place, and George W. Maxey, Esq., of Scranton, are opening a mine between Eynon and Archbald, in Lackawanna county. ALSO Cassius M. Harding, of Herrick Center, came to Forest City Tuesday. He walked the entire distance, both coming and going, a feat that few younger men would perform “Cash” is an old lumberman and doesn’t mind a little thing like rough weather.
West Auburn – Emma Thornton was quite seriously injured while coasting on the James hill by striking her head against a telephone pole. Boys and girls, it is a dangerous time to coast. At Auburn Four Corners they are having fine sleighing, the roads are just like a plank road. ALSO Action has been commenced against the school directors of this township by A. M. Maxwell, John F. Kernan, Lewis Lott, G. W. Grow, and others, to secure transportation for their children of school age to the centralized school in that township. They allege in their petition, which is signed by 57 voters of that district, that there is no schoolhouse in their school district, nor within one and one-half miles. The district schools have been closed and the directors have refused to sub-divide the district to accommodate them, they further allege. The directors are G. B. Filkins, Clark Davis, Andrew Mericle, Frank Carter and P. H. Benninger.
Ararat – Rev. G. G. Stanton met with quite a loss, recently, while on his way to Elkdale. At the foot of Arnold Hill his horse was taken sick and died.
Alford – Six carloads of army shoes, from factories at Lestershire [now Johnson City], passed through here Wednesday night, their destination being London, England. Each car contained 7200 pairs, making a total of 42,000 pairs of shoes in the entire shipment.
Montrose – William M. Post observed his ninetieth birthday anniversary on Wednesday and in observance of the culmination of nine decades made a trip to Binghamton. We have grown so accustomed to “Uncle William’s” activities that there seems nothing unusual about a man of his years going about the country on business and pleasure trips, but it is unusual when one pauses to think of it. To all outward appearances he is as active as he was twenty years ago, and this is not stretching the truth for effect. Few men possess his mental and physical faculties even at seventy years. [William was the son of David Post who, with his brother Isaac, and stepfather, Bartlett Hinds, were the first settlers of Montrose].
Fair Hill, Forest Lake Twp. – School is closed this week on account of whooping cough, also the school at Forest Lake.
Dimock – The bell for the M. E. church has arrived and will soon be placed in position. ALSO The sale of household goods at the Dolan House was largely attended on Saturday last.
After so many years of writing this column, I have lost track of the different stories I have told – and I appreciate your patience in enduring any repeated ramblings. After reading a recent letter to the editor in the local paper, I was reminded of one of those stories – I think I have told it – but maybe I have not done so. Still, even if it has been told before, it bears repeating.
When I was a law clerk, I had an interesting conversation with one of my fellow clerks – and a good friend as well – about how I ended up clerking for a judge appointed by President Clinton. My friend was from a different political ideology – and a very different upbringing – than me. I was a rural conservative and he was an urban liberal. Admittedly, those labels are pretty crude descriptions of our viewpoints – but you get the picture.
Over the course of our clerkship – and many hours on the basketball court – we had developed a friendship as well as a respect for each other – to the point that we did not avoid political discussions, we loved them. We sparred frequently – and some of our discussions had crossed lines that neither of us intended to cross. Thankfully, neither of us held a grudge – and the anger quickly turned into both apologies and laughter.
It was during one of these exchanges that my friend confronted me with a question that was something like – if you feel that way, why are you here? It took me by surprise – and my friend stated that he had only sought out clerkships with judges that had similar ideologies, i.e., were appointed by President Clinton. I had never really thought about that question – it had never crossed my mind that I would not want to serve as a clerk to a judge who had a different political ideology.
In terms of my clerkship, I had worked in Judge Vanaskie’s law firm (before he had become a judge) while I was a student at the University of Scranton. I had gained a tremendous amount of respect for him – and when I heard that he had been appointed and confirmed to a federal district judge position, I applied to work in his chambers. I did not care who had appointed him – or that he came from a different political party. I simply knew that he was a hard worker, a tremendous legal mind, a gifted writer and that he would be a terrific mentor. My life has been filled with so many blessings – and the three years I served as a law clerk for Judge Vanaskie certainly is near the top of the list – I cannot understate the impact that the Judge had on my early development as an attorney.
Politically, we disagreed – and sometimes strongly – but those conversations were not too frequent. A judicial chamber is not a political place – the discussions center on the cases, the facts, the law, the draft opinions and the constant revisions and editing process. We knew that we came from different political viewpoints – but those viewpoints were not relevant to the job that we had to do. A trial court very rarely gets a case that involves the hot button political or policy issues – and even when it occurs, the personal opinions of the judge simply do not come into play. A judge applies the law to the facts provided without regard to his or her personal beliefs, political opinions or ideological viewpoints.
Even in the rare instances where a judge receives a case of first impression, his or her duty remains to segregate any personal views and look solely to the law itself. If a judge does not believe that he or she can set personal beliefs aside in rendering a decision, then the judge would recuse himself or herself from the case. This direction is not any different than the same job that we ask jurors to perform – to set aside their personal beliefs and act as a fair and impartial factfinder. The rule of law depends upon the ability of both judges and juries to apply the law to the facts without regard to their personal opinions.
Of course, there are occasions when judges (and jurors) make mistakes – even the best judges do. This is the reason that we have set up an appellate court system that serves to correct those mistakes – and the appellate system have panels of judges to hear cases which further minimizes the potential for improper personal viewpoints from improperly influencing a judicial decision. There is a real genius in our legal system – and the beauty of our system is often tainted by our desire to ascribe partisan motivation to judicial decisions that we dislike rather than recognizing that the law may have dictated a particular result.
So, after reading the letter to the editor, I was reminded that there are those that believe that judges make decisions based upon ideological leanings. I can only tell you that my experiences as a law clerk with a trial judge who had a different political ideology never revealed any ideologically-driven reasoning in the decision-making process.
Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at our website www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org or discuss this and all articles at http://dadesk.blogspot.com/.
Closing up the donut hole
Ann, 66, called for a refill of her asthma inhaler and was astounded at the co-pay. “This is 4 times what I paid the last time I got this refilled,” she told the pharmacist. The pharmacist explained to Ann, who has Medicare, why the price shot up. Most Medicare prescription drug plans have a coverage gap, also called the "donut hole." This means there is a temporary limit on what the drug plan will cover for medications. The donut hole begins after you and your drug plan have spent a certain amount for covered drugs. In 2015, once you and your plan have spent $2,960 on covered drugs (the combined amount plus your deductible), you are in the donut hole.
The coverage for generic drugs works differently from the discount for brand name medications. To illustrate, once you reach the donut hole in 2015, you will pay 45% of the plan's cost for covered brand name prescription drugs and 65% for generic drugs. For example, Ann has reached the coverage gap. She goes to the pharmacy to get a covered generic drug. The price for the drug is $20, plus a $2 dispensing fee. Ann will pay 65% of the plan’s cost for the drug and dispensing fee ($22 x 0.65 = $14.30). The $14.30 amount she pays will be counted as out-of-pocket spending to help her get out of the gap.
The donut hole has not been popular. Thus, thanks to the Affordable Care Act, the coverage gap will continue to shrink each year and will disappear by 2020. But until then, are there ways to avoid falling into the donut hole? The first is to ask your doctor for a less expensive generic drug. Not only does this save you money at the pharmacy, but it also helps you to steer clear of the donut hole. The second way to sidestep the donut hole is to fill your generic prescriptions at a store that offers inexpensive generics to those without insurance. Good examples of this are pharmacy chains which have a list of many generic drugs for only $4. The key here is to use a store that does not have your insurance on file, since normally the prescription would have to be run through your insurance. Since it is not run through your insurance, it does not count against the donut hole. The third way is seek out programs that offer help or assistance with prescription drug cost such as PACE (Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly). Often, these programs will pay the majority or all of the costs for some expensive drugs. The fourth way is to apply for assistance from the Medicare Extra Help program, which will pay Part D costs and bypass the donut hole. The qualifications are based on income and assets, and many Medicare beneficiaries with only Social Security income usually qualify. Go to Medicare.gov and see if you qualify.
Ann listened to the pharmacist and went to do some additional research so that she could save money. Eventually she did because the pharmacist equipped her with ways to more easily climb out of the donut hole.
Ron Gasbarro, PharmD is a pharmacist, medical writer, and principal at Rx-Press.com. Write him at ron@rx-press.com.
