« February 2022
Welcome to AREA -
Androscoggin Retired Educators Association - Many thanks to Crystal Ward, Mona Ervin, Gina Fuller, and Linda DeSantis for the contributions this month.
Newsletter Notes!
Please feel free to contribute to
your newsletter. You can send contributions to me by emailing them
to - area@mainenet.org
or rfuller@mainenet.org
NEXT MEETING -
March 9, 2022 Meeting of AREA
AREA will meet on March 9, 2022 at 10:30 at the Green Ladle in Lewiston. The meeting will start at 10:30 followed by our speaker, Japheth Els, AARP Maine Outreach Director. A very engaging and passionate speaker, he will talk about various AARP programs designed to assist our 50+ community along with ways that AREA members can become involved in the local community. He is planning to bring handouts for those in attendance.
The room rental fee of $100, will be covered by our dues. The meal will cost members $ 15.50. This fee includes tax and gratuity. The meal will be Chef’s choice.
Please fill out the form below and mail it to our March hostess by March 1, 2022
Crystal Ward
171 Montello Street
Lewiston, ME 04240
If you need to
ask a question please call:
Gina Fuller: (cell) 818-438-8663 (home)
207-783-9091
Crystal Ward: (home) 207-7867084
Click
this link, download the form, and print! March 9,
2022 - Lunch Reservation
from Mona Ervin
The following information is from
AARP.
Scam activity in the U.S. is at an all-time high, and the need for a meaningful, broad-based response has never been more urgent.
Much of the problem lurks below the surface, with frauds going unreported and consumers not adequately protected. Yet by one estimate, identity theft and related crimes skyrocketed to $56 billion in 2020, more than triple the amount from the prior year.
While cost estimates vary widely, the pandemic has given us reason to believe that reported losses are just the tip of the iceberg.
COVID-19 continues to stir fear and anxieties that scammers capitalize on. Among the factors:
- News headlines about COVID testing,
treatments and government benefits have prompted a wave of efforts to
deceive consumers, such as false promises to move individuals to the front
of the line – for a fee.
- Increased stress and social
isolation have made people more vulnerable to con artists. When anxiety
rises, the ability to think rationally declines. Criminals thrive in such
an environment.
- The increased embrace of computers for remote work, retail purchases and social connections has created a vast new population to target for online fraud. Such scams jumped 25 percent in the first part of 2021, according to the TransUnion credit bureau.
Those factors are just highlights of a larger, grim picture. A recent AARP survey found that nine in 10 Americans (229 million people) encountered a fraud attempt in the past year – and that one in six (33 million people) lost money as a result. A separate poll found that almost 60 million Americans lost money to phone scams last year.
Do not fall victim to fraud, remember, if something sounds too good to be true, it is probably fraudulent. You can avoid succumbing to phone scams by answering only those calls from phone numbers that you recognize. Let all other calls go to voice mail or your answering machine.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
from Crystal Ward
Here’s what going on in Augusta as of Feb 18,
2022
1. Governor Mills has put $14.7 million in her proposed
budget to pay a ONE TIME COLA of 2.4%to bring up the COLA from
the 3% we arereceiving to 5.4%, the total COLA amount. Yes, getting money
is good BUT this does nothing to help us into the future. If next
year it is again over the 3% cap we are right back in this mess. It also
DOES NOT increase the amount you can get COLA figured on, so this
move does not help us going forward. We are going to take this fight
to the Appropriations Committee and we will need your help!! The
cost to fix this and help us into Future is about $148 millions, so
we have a steep hill to climb. We will be taking action the Week of
Feb, 28. and I will be sending you more info as I receive it.
The terrible changes made in 2011 are making everyone in
Maine PERS go backwards and each year it gets worse. By not receiving the
COLA on the whole amount of your pension, we lose money and buying power
each year!! Many retired people do now or are moving into qualifying
for government assistance programs.
2. Another issue being
worked on is setting up a Trust for retired monies that has been in
law forsome time but not done. Here is the testimony my MEA Lobbyist John
Kosinski onthis issue:
“My name is John Kosinski and I am here on behalf of theMaine Education Association to testify in support of LD 1901, An Act To ProtectFunding for Health Care for Retired Teachers by Establishing an Investment Trust Fund. The MEA represents approximately 24,000 educators in Maine,including 5,000 retired educators. During previous debates concerning the retiree health care program, we learned of language in statute requiring the creation of an irrevocable trust for funds that are appropriated but not expended as part of the state’s retiree health care program for teachers and qualified ed techs. Title 5 §286-B stipulates the requirement for the state to create an irrevocable trust for state employees, retired teachers and first responders – three separate trusts. The state employee trust was created butt here is no record of such a trust being created for retired teachers (and qualified ed techs) although statute states a trust should have been created before July 1, 2011. Over the past many months, representatives of MEA have been working with our State Treasurer to better understand the issue. Treasurer Beck and his office have done a wonderful job of working through the process and we appreciate their efforts. Based on the latest communications with our State Treasurer, we believe current law provides the framework he needs to create the trust “
So it looks like we will have this established.
3. The last issue concerns a bill to increase the
amount of your pension that is NOT taxed. Currently it is $10,000 this
bill would increase this to $15,000, then increase $5000 a year untill it
was equal to Social Security which is currently $36,000. This would
help retired teachers as they would save that taxed money.
I
will try to keep you informed and thank you your help ..
Crystal
Ward , Legislative Chairperson MEA-Retired
Covid TESTS
from Mona Ervin
The February 15 issue of the Lewiston Sun Journal had information in the Sun Spots Column about Medicare recipients being able to order FREE Covid-19 tests for home use. If you missed it, here is the address to use to order on line:
Each household can receive up to 4 tests.
If you do not have access to a computer or would prefer to call here is the number to use:[ tel:1-800-232-0233 ]1-800-232-0233.
There is a lengthy back log of orders so do not expect to receive your tests for quite a while.
Winter Reminder: As we get into the months of February and March, the snow tends to be heavy with moisture. If you shovel, shovel only small amounts at a time and rest between each shovel of snow. Let someone know that you are out shoveling as heart attacks are not uncommon among senior citizens while shoveling heavy, wet snow. Better yet, let someone else handle the snow for you. We want to see everyone in good health and back at our meetings.
Animal
Quiz for AREA
1. What is the world’s fastest 4 legged
animal?
2. What is the world’s largest land animal?
3. What is the
largest sea creature?
4. What is the fastest animal in the air?
5.
What animal can go the longest without eating?
6. What is the world’s
largest reptile?
7. What is the world’s largest amphibian?
8. What
is the world’s longest lived marine mammal?
9. What is the world’s
longest lived land mammal?
10. What organism can live 500+
years?
11. What animal kills the most humans per year?
12. What
animal is the King of the Jungle?
13. Which animal is known as the King
of the Sky?
14. What animal is mans best friend?
15. Which is most
favored, the dog or the cat?
Answers
1. Cheetahs are the
world's fastest land animal, capable of reaching speeds of up to 70
mph.
2. The African Elephant is the largest land animal on Earth
with some adult males capable of reaching 3.5m in height and weighing more
than 5,000kg.
3. The Antarctic blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus
ssp. Intermedia) is the biggest animal on the planet, weighing up to
400,000 pounds (approximately 33 elephants) and reaching up to 98 feet in
length.
4. The peregrine falcon is the fastest aerial animal,
fastest animal in flight, fastest bird, and the overall fastest member of
the animal kingdom. The peregrine achieves its highest velocity not in
horizontal level flight, but during its characteristic hunting
stoop.
5. Crocodiles, as one of the oldest reptiles of the planet can
go for a few months without food, and in extreme cases, they can go up to
three years without food. They save energy by moving slow and at times by
being motionless too.
6. Reaching lengths of more than 23 feet (6.5 m)
and weights over 2,200 pounds (~1,000 kilos), the saltwater
crocodile is the largest reptile on the planet and is a formidable
predator throughout its range.
7. The Critically
Endangered Chinese giant salamander is the world's largest
living amphibian, reaching lengths of more than 1.8m. It belongs to a
small and ancient group of salamanders.
8. The bowhead
whale has the longest lifespan of all marine mammals and can live
200years plus. The Greenland shark had been estimated to live to
about 200 years, but a study published in 2016 found that a 5.02 m (16.5
ft) specimen was 392 ± 120 years old, resulting in a minimum age of 272
and a maximum of 512.
9. Humans are the longest-lived land mammal,
so are towards the top of the list of long-living mammals.
10 The ocean
quahog is a fist-size clam that can live to be 500 years or older.
Some researchers believe the sturdy quahog's secret to a long life is its
ability to protect its proteins from damage.
11. Mosquitoes kill more
than 1,000.000 humans per year.
12. The lion is the King of the Jungle
because of it roar, which can be heard 5 miles away; it has raw power and
strength; fears no animal and maintains order in the pride.
13. The
eagle.
14. Dogs
15. Cats are more popular than dogs in 91
countries, and dogs more popular in 76 countries. The United States,
Australia, and the UK are all dog-people
countries
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Be well. Stay well.
