The
South Bend (Ind.) Tribune ran an interesting story about
cop cars equipped with $20,000 worth of electronics, including a laptop, overhead lights, an alarm, a Global Positioning System device and at least one
radio.
All of the electronics wear out even the biggest car batteries to the point where the cars won't start. A group of
Notre Dame students are working out a solution.
Officer Fatalities on the Rise
During the first six months of 2007, the number of U.S. law
enforcement officers who died [PDF] on the job increased by 44 percent. More than 100 officer deaths were recorded by the first six months, according to preliminary statistics from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial
Fund and Concerns of Police Survivors.
In fact, this is the highest midyear total since 1978.
How are they dying? The single
largest cause of death for officers is traffic-related incidents, which have increased by 36 percent from the midyear total in 2006.
So far this year, 35 officers have died in automobile crashes, six were killed by automobiles while outside their cars and four died in motorcycle crashes.
The average age of the officers who
died is 37. These are not rookies: The average years of
service is more than 10. Click here to see
the names and circumstances of officer deaths for this year and previous years.
Here are some more fast facts:
- Texas, with 13, experienced the most law enforcement
officer fatalities during the first half of this year.
- North Carolina had eight fatalities.
- Florida, Georgia
and South Carolina
each had five.
- Ten of the deaths involved officers of the federal law enforcement.
As I think about this story and the first story in the
column today, I have to wonder if all those electronic gadgets distract cops
while they are driving. I have a hard enough time keeping up with a cell phone
while I drive. Imagine listening to a two-way radio and having a cell phone and computer in your car while trying to be alert to criminal activity...
When Doctors Won't See You
The
Huntsville (Ala.) Times provides a useful look at the problem of doctors who will not accept new Medicare patients. The problem is bad and could grow worse.
The paper told the story of one woman who was rejected by 27 doctors before she could find one who would accept Medicare patients. Look at this passage:
The lack of local doctors accepting new Medicare
patients could become a crisis by 2011, when the first baby boomers become
eligible for the federal health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.
The paper also identifies
this problem:
Huntsville family physician Dr. Melissa
Behringer, president of the Madison County Medical Society, said many doctors
have stopped taking Medicare patients because they are fed up with the
program's payment formula. Medicare is due to slash physician payments by 9.9
percent in 2008, although Congress has voted to override planned cuts for the
past five years.
"Why would you accept a payment plan that every year
threatens to cut you 3 percent to 10 percent?" Behringer asked. "We
want to take care of our patients, but we're also running small businesses and
have to be able to pay our employees."
The
Wall Street Journal also ran a story on this topic last week. That
story included this passage:
When Medicaid patients seek care, they often find themselves locked out of the
medical system. In a 2006 report from the Center for Studying Health System Change, a nonprofit research group based
in Washington,
nearly half of all doctors polled said they had stopped accepting or limited
the number of new Medicaid patients.
That's
because many Medicaid programs, straining under surging costs, are balancing
their budgets by freezing or reducing payments to doctors. That in turn is
driving many doctors, particularly specialists, out of the program.
The
dwindling number of doctors who accept Medicaid is a large, little-discussed
hurdle to some ambitious efforts to broaden health-care coverage. Expanding
Medicaid eligibility or using the private Medicaid HMOs is a linchpin in
universal-coverage initiatives in Massachusetts
and other states -- as well as some 2008 presidential candidates' platforms.
UAW Talks with the 'Former Big Three'
The United Auto
Workers is beginning to talk with Chrysler, Ford and General Motors about the future. Of course,
anyone who lives or works near a car plant should keep an eye on this.
Along with talks about the car industry come talks about labor. The autoworkers
union has lost 60,000 members in the last two years to buyouts, and the auto companies will
be asking for big concessions to stay alive. NPR says
the real tensions won't hit until about September. It is expected that the
companies may try to reduce some retiree obligations. The companies spent $11 billion on health care last year for more than a million dependents and retirees.
The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit
News will be all over this.
Racehorse
Doping
The
San Diego Union-Tribune's investigation shows many of the state's top
trainers have been cited for drug violations.
If you cover a state that has racing, it would be
worth a look at the state's racing commission records.
One of the most interesting ways to spend an evening in Nashville is to take a
seat in
and witness some of the most curious court cases around.
Sometimes they are tragic, sometimes comical, but there is always
something different to be seen.
For some real-life comedy, take a trip to your local night court. What does the night
commissioner see night after night?
