the weekly press

THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2013 A PEOPLE’S PUBLICATION FREE

B A T O N R O U G E , L O U I S I A N A

INDEXLocal & State ...........................2Commentary ............................4Business ...................................5Religion ...................................6Health ......................................7Sports ......................................8

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EXPUNGEMENT DAY IN BATON ROUGEThe East Baton Rouge Public De-fender’s Office, the Greater Baton Rouge Chapter of the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society and the Louisiana Association of Crimi-nal Defense Lawyers will present Expungement Day...See Page 3

COX EXPANDS COX TV CONNECTCox TV Connect app will now have access to 56 new national cable channels. Additionally, customers can access the app on the iPhone and iPod touch.See Page 5

HIGHER-RATED MEDICARE PLANSFirst-time enrollees in Medicare Ad-vantage plans and those switching plans were more likely to enroll in ones with a higher star rating, a study of nearly 1.3 million Medi-care beneficiaries found....See Page 7

One week and four days after the Southern Jaguars unveil it’s 2013 football signing class, head coach Dawson Odums will be honored during “Meet Coach Odums” night at the SU basketball game against Alabama A&M Feb. 18..See Page 8

SOUTHERN TO HOST MEET COACH ODUMS RELIGION NEWSThe Light of Christ Fellowship #II will be hosting their annual church anniversary on January 20, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. The church is located at 856 North Jefferson Avenue...See Page 6

THEWEEKLYPRESS.COM Celebrating 37 Years Of Service To The Baton Rouge Community 225.775.2002

LOS ANGELES, CA - As the owner of a rapidly ex-panding construction com-pany, based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Keith Tillage has always maintained that one should always ‘expect the unexpected.’ But even while being awarded the PTAC HUBZone Business of the Year, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2012 Region VI Minority Small Business Person of the Year, and as a finalist for the 2012 Black En-terprise Small Business of the Year Award, Keith Tillage, the owner of Tillage Construction, was not expecting a call from The White House.

The call from a White House Secretary was an invi-tation for Tillage, also received by 14 other distinguished small business owners, to discuss fiscal cliff fears at a summit with President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at The White House. “I was excited about meeting the President but more honored

Keith Tillage, 14 other CEO’s Invited to the White House by President Obama

See TILLAGE, on page 2Southern University grad Keith Tillage was among more than a dozen CEOs from around the U.S. to listen to President Barack Obama discuss his effort to keep the country from heading over the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

BALTIMORE, MD – The NAACP applauds President Obama for choosing civil rights icon and NAACP Chairman Emeritus Myrlie Evers-Williams to deliver his invocation dur-ing his inauguration on Janu-ary 21st.

“Myrlie Evers-Williams embodies the essence of the civil rights movement and the struggle toward the more perfect union our Constitution envisions,” stated Roslyn M. Brock, the current chairman of the NAACP National Board of Directors. “We are thrilled she

Myrlie EversWilliams to Deliver Invocation During Inauguration

See EVERS, on page 2

Myrlie Evers-Williams

BATON ROUGE, LA - Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden is applauding the promotion of the first African-American female cap-tain ever assigned to command the Baton Rouge Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit (VCU).

Jean Turner has been with the department 29 years and she will make the rank of Captain on

BRPD Violent Crimes Unit gets 1st African-American Female Commander Capt. Jean Turner to take VCU’s

Commander Capt. Jean Turner

See TURNER, on page 3

BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Department of Revenue (LDR) will begin processing 2012 state indi-vidual income tax returns on January 30, 2013. On that date, 2012 state income tax forms will become avail-able on the LDR website at www.revenue.louisiana.gov/taxforms and at LDR offices and public libraries throughout the state. Loui-siana File Online, the state’s electronic filing application, will begin accepting returns on that date, as well.

The state income tax fil-ing deadline is May 15.

LDR recommends the following steps to ensure the speed and accuracy of tax return and refund pro-cessing:

File electronically – The average refund processing time for returns filed elec-tronically is ten business days; for returns filed on paper, the delay is 12 to 16 weeks

Update your personal in-formation if you have moved or changed your name during the tax year

Double-check return in-formation – Ensure that all social security numbers and tax computations are correct;

math errors and incorrect tax table information are leading causes of delayed refunds

Include all supporting information, such as W-2s; use paperclips, not staples, if filing a paper return

Apply for extensions in a timely manner – Extension requests must be filed no later than the May 15 income tax filing deadline.

If additional tax is due, include the remittance coupon to ensure proper posting

Make checks or money orders payable to the Louisi-ana Department of Revenue; do not send cash

If filing on paper, attach the proper label to the mailing envelope

Visit the LDR website for the locations of agency head-quarters and field offices.

Louisiana File Online is the state’s free web portal for individual and business tax filers. With Louisiana File Online, taxpayers can:

File returns and pay taxes electronically

Check the status of indi-vidual income tax refunds

Amend tax returnsView business tax infor-

Louisiana State Income Tax Filing Begins January 30, 2013

See TAX, on page 3

BATON ROUGE, LA - Baton Rouge will receive a $1.5 million federal grant to help the city recover from Hurricane Isaac, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said Wednesday.

The FEMA Public Assis-tance grant, totaling $1,529,871, helps reimburse the city for equipment and supplies used during the Hurricane Isaac re-sponse and recovery. Several

departments were involved in the effort, including the airport, police, fire, emergency medical services, public works and the Mayor’s Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Pre-paredness.

“The work of local gov-ernments is crucial when di-saster strikes,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Gerard M. Stolar. “These FEMA funds help support Baton Rouge’s ef-

forts that protected the health and safety of citizens and city personnel during Hurricane Isaac.”

The grant covers the fed-eral share of the parish’s eli-gible costs for the work. Under a cost-sharing formula, FEMA reimburses the state for 75 per-cent of the total costs, while the state and/or applicant pay the

FEMA Obligates $1.5 Million to Baton Rouge for Hurricane Isaac Recovery

The new joint FEMA and state Disaster Recovery Facility, located at 1500 Main Street, Baton Rouge, will provide office space for federal and state recovery partners as they continue to assist Louisiana in her recovery from hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav and Ike. Photo, Paddy Buratto/FEMA.

See FEMA, on page 2

Page The Weekly Press

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: “Keep Calm and Dream.” Xavier University MLK Committee

GUN LAWS AND SCHOOL SHOOT-INGS ARE HEADLINE NEWS. Our Con-stitution (second amendment) gives us the right to bear arms, but our forefathers were not thinking ahead. Some were hunters and that occupation was throughout the colonies, (to feed their families) but it is a different time now!! The love of many has waxed cold and the easy access to guns has provided a means to show that love does not exist, as it did when the laws were enacted. While people have always had guns, the access and use of the guns by people who do not love is a different story. Think about it!

LOUISIANA SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE BER-NETTE JOSHUA JOHNSON was honored by family and friends in Donaldsonville on last weekend. Her roots are in this city and many were brave to forget the rain and attend the regal event. She is a great role model and was a speaker at Istrouma High years ago when she first promoted to the bench. Thank, Chief Justice! You’re the best and we are very proud of you.

XAVIER UNIVERSITY’S MARTIN LUTHER KING HOLI-DAY COMMITTEE wants you to attend their celebration as they convene a panel for a discussion of affirmative action for the 27th annual MLK week. Among the panel will be Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson.

THE INAUGURATION WATCH PARTIES are taking shape now for the January 21st date. Many are concerned about the MLK holiday but it is a great time to celebrate an African American president during this special time. It gives children something exciting to talk about if the party includes children and American history at this time.

MINORITY WOMEN IN THE FASHION BUSINESS are invited to attend this spring 2013 program. If interested visit the website and let your knowledge as the retail entrepreneurs and designers expand for your benefit.

CALLING ALL ORLEANIANS - YES, THOSE WHO ARE DISPLACED FROM NEW ORLEANS! You are asked to pay your property taxes by mail or online. You, if a former resident, have already received your bill by now, so Mayor Landrieu implores you to take care of it soon and before early February.

CONGRATULATIONS, AGAIN to our new councilmen and other elected officials. May your stay in the respective positions be a plus for us all? We implore you to remember your platform and the reason for your position.

GET WELL WISHES to all our friends who were or are bitten by the flu bug. One would think that a nation such as ours should know many preventative measures, but it does not seem so. The elders used to make us dress appropriately during the cold months and take many precautions, but ev-eryone is not listening to the elders. So. . . We have almost an epidemic and it is costly: lots of chills, emergency visits at the hospitals, pneumonia, headaches, sneezing, etc. Yes, we are sick. Listen to the elders and take precautions, please.

SPECIAL WISHES to Mr. William Jones who has been sick for some months for The Weekly Press and sister Marge.

THANKS for the soup during my flu illness from Ms. Francine Saunders, my dear daughter, and Martin Luther King Academy teacher Ms. Ivy Jones who has a soup ministry. Both were different in flavor but good to the taste. (Smile)

Southern University basketball is on a roll! Go Jags!!HAPPY BIRTHDAYS to Mrs. Linnie Green, Aaron O’Quinn,

Derek A. Payne, and Ms. Evelyn Edwards.With love and Sympathy to the Eames family.Have a blessed week.Love, Marge

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BATON ROUGE, LA - The 2013 MLK Day of Service project will focus on several host sites in the 70805 community with the goal of promoting commu-nity pride and respect, family togetherness, volunteerism, lit-ter prevention, and ultimately crime reduction. It will be held on Monday, January 21, 2013 from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will include: at least three grade schools, area churches, and the homes of at least four senior citizens in the area.

Volunteers will register at Living Faith Christian Center at 6:30 a.m. have breakfast, and participate in an opening ses-sion at 8:00 a.m. that will focus on the goals for the day.

Following the opening session, MLK Day of Service volunteers will be transported to their designated host site. The host site activities will in-

clude painting, litter pickup, landscaping, minor repairs, and room organizing. Refreshments will also be provided through-out the day.

MLK Day of Service volunteers will be provided a mid-morning snack as they conclude their projects for the day. They will then return to

Living Faith Christian Center headquarters where they will be served lunch.

During lunch, volunteers will receive additional informa-tion about the purpose of the project and community lead-ers will deliver short greeting with time allowed for an open discussion about ways to sus-

tain the project through the year. Everyone will be asked to participate in smaller group discussions about issues rang-ing from the teachings of Dr. King, to crime prevention, and ultimately about other ways we can all work together to make MLK Day of Service a long-term project.

2013 Martin Luther King Day of Service

that I had been chosen to weigh in on this historic issue for our country” humbly divulged by Tillage.

The President, Vice Pres-ident Biden, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Senior Advisor to the President Valerie Jarrett all listened keenly to the insights of all the entre-preneurs. While the prominent political leaders in the room listen so did the other entre-preneurs, gaining insight into the hardships faced by other industries. It was during the summit Tillage recognized that “As business owners we get tunnel vision of our own businesses but hearing from the other CEO’s in the room, each

from various industries, gave me an holistic prospective of how catastrophic the fiscal cliff could be for the country as a whole.” Subsequent to the fated meeting, Tillage would go on to assert that “If you believe in the democracy of our country as I do, then you have to trust your elected officials and trust the fact that they understand this is not a democratic or republican issue but an American issue.“

Like President Obama, Tillage remains hopefully optimistic and acknowledges that “By expanding my busi-ness with a regional office in Dallas Texas, I gambled on this administration getting this issue resolved prior to the meeting

and after actually speaking with the heads of government and business... I feel even more confident in not only their abil-ity but willingness to get it done!”

Since 2000, Tillage Con-struction has experienced sig-nificant growth as one of na-tion’s fastest-growing, 100% minority-owned construction companies. Tillage Construc-tions expertise ranges the full gamut of commercial construc-tion services, with all employees dedicated to exceptional cus-tomer service from project ac-ceptance to project completion. For more information please visit http://www.tillagecon-struction.com

TILLAGE from page 1

remaining 25 percent. The newly obligated

funds are a portion of the nearly $175.7 million in total Public Assistance recovery dollars ap-proved for the state since the Aug. 29, 2012, disaster declara-tion.

Once FEMA reimburses the state of Louisiana it is the state’s responsibility to man-age the funds, which includes making disbursements to local jurisdictions and organizations that incurred costs.

For more information on Louisiana disaster recov-

ery, click www.fema.gov/di-saster/4080 or www.gohsep.la.gov. You can follow FEMA on Twitter at www.twitter.com/femaregion6 or on Face-book at www.facebook.com/FEMA. Also visit our blog at www.fema.gov/blog.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

FEMA from page 1has received this honor and ap-plaud President Obama for his inspirational selection.”

“Myrlie Evers-Williams is a heroine,” stated NAACP Presi-dent and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “She represents the best qualities of the American people and the transformative possibili-ties of American democracy. Her selection for this sacred task will serve as a reminder to our nation that civil rights must remain at the forefront of our society.”

Evers-Williams is a highly respected civil rights icon who served as chairman of the NAACP from 1995-1998. Evers-Williams is also the widow of Medgar Evers,

who was murdered by a white su-premacist in 1963 while serving as the NAACP’s first field secretary in Mississippi. She went on to be-come the founder of the Medgar Evers Institute in Jackson, Miss and currently serves as a Distin-guished Scholar-in-Residence at Alcorn State University.

“I am humbled to have been asked to deliver the invo-cation for the 57th inauguration of the President of the United States—especially in light of this historical time in America when we will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement,” Myrlie Evers-Wil-liams said today. “It is indeed an

exhilarating experience to have the distinct honor of representing that era.”

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organi-zation. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal oppor-tunity in the public and private sectors.

Contact: Ben Wrobel at (917) 846-0658 or by e-mail at [email protected]

@naacppress for more in-formation.

EVERS from page 1

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BATON ROUGE, LA - The East Baton Rouge Public Defender’s Office, the Greater Baton Rouge Chapter of the Louis A. Martinet Legal Society and the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers will present Expungement Day, taking place at the Dr. Leo S. Butler Community Center, 950 E. Washington Street, Baton Rouge, LA, on Saturday, Janu-ary 19, 2013, from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.

The sponsors are proud to bring Expungement Day to Baton Rouge and the Dr. Leo S. Butler Community Center again this year. Expungement Day is an opportunity for anyone who has a question about expung-ing an arrest or conviction to consult with an attorney free of charge.

An arrest or conviction (even of a minor offense) can prove to be problematic because increasing numbers of entities require the disclosure of convic-tions or arrests - even those that have been expunged. Unlike in the past, an expungement order does not completely de-stroy the record. It is, instead, made unavailable to many persons although it will be still be available to a number of li-censing agencies as well as the police, sheriffs, judges and the district attorney. Complicating matters further, an expunge-ment order does not apply to records held by private entities and correcting incorrect infor-mation contained in numerous private databases is difficult and expensive.

Attorneys will be avail-able to answer questions related to why it is important to obtain expungements, how to file the necessary forms and if a par-ticular charge is expungeable at all. In addition, attorneys spe-cializing in employment and housing law will be on hand to answer any questions related to the impact of a criminal history on employment or housing op-

portunities. Persons planning on at-

tending should be aware that this is a purely informational event and participating lawyers will not be preparing or filing expungement applications.

The sponsors would like to give special thanks to City Councilwoman Tara Wicker and Mayor-President Kip Holden for allowing the use of the Dr. Leo S. Butler Community Center, to the Louisiana Law Institute and Judge Robert Mor-rison for providing material for the Expungement FAQ, and to Natasha George for organiza-tional assistance.

The East Baton Rouge Public Defenders’ Office pro-vides legal representation to indigent persons within East Baton Rouge Parish. In 1963, the United States Supreme Court in Gideon v. Wainwright held that indigent persons accused of a crime was constitutionally guaranteed the right to legal representation. The goal of the East Baton Rouge Public De-fenders’

Office is to fulfill Gideon’s promise by providing high quality legal representation to those threatened with loss of liberty and unable to afford private counsel. Through client-centered advocacy and trial excellence, the attorneys and staff ensure this goal is met for each client we are appointed to represent.

The Louis A. Martinet Legal Society traces its roots back to 1957. The society was organized for the purposes of combating racial injustices and inequalities that plagued the African-American communities during the Jim Crow era.

Early organizers concen-trated their efforts not just in the city streets, but also in the hallways, corridors, and floors of our local courtrooms. Since its founding, Martinet has dili-

Expungement Day in Baton Rouge Saturday

BATON ROUGE – For the first time ever, a trio of LSU’s art galleries will join forces to present a three-part retrospec-tive featuring the works of in-ternationally renowned artist and designer Peter Shire.

The LSU Museum of Art, the LSU School of Art Alfred C. Glassell Jr. Exhibition Gallery and the LSU Student Union Art Gallery – working with the LSU College of Art & Design and the Department of Interior Design – will each hold respective ex-hibits as part of a program which presents an overall, in-depth study of Shire’s work over the past four decades.

The entire retrospective is set to run at various lengths between the three venues from Jan. 31 through April 14.

Shire was recently awarded the 2013 Nadine Carter Russell Endowed Chair, a rotating resi-dency within the LSU College of Art & Design. The School of Interior Design will host this prestigious position, selecting Shire as their recipient. Shire will deliver a lecture on Wednesday, Jan. 30, in Room 103 of the LSU Design Building, as part of the LSU College of Art & Design’s Distinguished Lecture Series. The lecture begins at 5:25 p.m. The lecture is free and open to the public.

“An exhibition of Shire’s remarkable oeuvre has been long overdue,” said LSU Mu-seum of Art Executive Direc-tor Jordana Pomeroy. “We are excited to begin a new era of working on campus-wide col-laborative projects among LSU’s art venues.”

Born in the Echo Park district of Los Angeles, where he currently lives and works, Shire is a graduate of the famous Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and was a member of the Memphis Group. He has had more than 100 solo exhibitions nationally. His work can be found in more than 35 muse-ums worldwide including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Mu-seum of Art, the Smithsonian, the Victoria & Albert Museum and The Israel Museum. He has

completed more than 25 public art works including the North Hollywood Gateway, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and many more.

Shire revolutionized the design of household objects, striving to confront issues of modernity while examining the practical needs of society. The artist’s playful attitudes towards life translate well into his bold, colorful chairs, tables and other functional household constructions.

“For the past 30 years, Peter Shire has created furniture bursting with unconventional funkiness and vessels with eccentric personalities,” said LSU Museum of Art Curator Natalie Mault. “His works are one-of-a-kind in terms of style and production. Each work is as unique and quirky as the artist himself. They begin as a series of conceptual sketches, some of which will be on display in the exhibit. These sketches lead to a final rendering. After materials are purchased, cut and welded,

the item is finished with an ap-plication of special automotive-style paint and assembled with unique hardware, making each piece of furniture unique.”

Shire’s works transcend the boundaries of tradition design. His teapots, for example, meld the usefulness of the traditional object with a uselessness of un-usual shape and complex form. Several of his famous teapots will be on display during the retrospective, including “Giant Torso” (1990), a large, metal tea-pot that looks more like indus-trial machinery than a piece of kitchenware.

“Shire’s work evokes his-torical dialogues about form versus function,” Pomeroy ex-plained. “By revolutionizing the design of household ob-jects, Shire strives to confront the issues of modernity. A teapot is not just a teapot when it be-comes an aesthetic object that challenges its core function as a vessel for hot water.”

The LSU Museum of Art – located on the fifth floor of the Shaw Center for the Arts,

100 Lafayette Street, in down-town Baton Rouge – will host its Peter Shire exhibit, titled “Practi-cally Absurd: Art & Design by Peter Shire,” from Jan. 31-April 14. The display presents four iconic works from the artist’s time with the Memphis group, including the “Anchorage” tea-pot (1983), “Obelisk” armoire (1981) and “Cahuenga” lamp (1985); six quirky chairs; four geometrical, ceramic teapots and three giant teapots; two whimsical lamps and tables; three decorative laminate tables and bookcases; one flamboy-ant rug; two unique purses; one hanging, steel cherub; a dozen artist sketches; and a selection of unusual silverware, produced from 1980- 2009.

The exhibition will also feature Shire’s innovative “Bel Air” chair (1981). Although it is recognizably Memphis in style, the chair was heavily in-fluenced by Los Angeles culture. The chair’s shape was inspired by a beach ball, and the back is

LSU Visual Arts Venues Come Together to Present Retrospective Highlighting Works by Artist, Designer Peter Shire

See ARTS, on page 5

Jan 15, 2013. She will then take command of BRPD’s Violent Crimes Unit.

“This promotion repre-sents an important milestone that is well-deserved,” Mayor Holden said. “I am confident that Capt. Turner will make us all proud in her new capac-ity.”

Police Chief Dewayne White said Turner has an ex-ceptional work ethic, and is dedicated to her job and serving the citizens of Baton Rouge.

“Capt Turner gives atten-tion to every case and she is a confident, reliable, police officer

who is committed to making a difference,” Chief White said.

Turner said she appreci-ates all the help that she received to get where she is today.

“I want to first thank God for this opportunity to serve the Baton Rouge community. I also want to thank those individuals who have encouraged me to be the best at my job and helped me make a difference for this department and community,” she said.

Please contact Scott Dyer with the Mayor’s Office at (225) 389-7957 for any additional in-formation you may need.

TURNER from page 1

mation for current and previ-ous years

Louisiana File Online is a public service from the Depart-ment of Revenue. There are no fees associated with its use.

Visit www.revenue.louisiana.gov/fileonline.

Taxpayers may also use commercial tax preparation software to file their state in-come taxes.

TAX from page 1

See EXPUNGEMENT, on page 8

Washington, DC – Lisa Rice, Vice President of the National Fair Housing Alliance, has issued the following statement in response to the Qualified Mortgage and Ability to Repay rule adopted today by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Rice is among a panel of experts set to discuss the new rule at a Baltimore field hearing this morning sponsored by the Bureau.

“The Consumer Finan-cial Protection Bureau’s intent in drafting this rule is to protect consumers from irresponsible mortgage lending. We appreciate that the QM is broadly defined and that there are no down-pay-ment or credit score requirements for QM loans.

“But if our nation is to fully recover from our economic crisis we must put an end to the dual credit market which has relegated borrowers of color to nonprime and subprime markets and into higher cost loans, and was the root of the most devastating hous-ing crisis in our nation’s history. The QM rule has a tiered system – one where some mortgages have a safe harbor and others have a rebuttable presumption. The National Fair Housing Alliance strongly encouraged the CFPB to offer a rebuttable presumption for all mortgages.

“One of the things we are heartened by is the prominence of the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity which is housed in the CFPB. This Of-fice is charged with ensuring that rules like the QM Rule will be implemented in a fair manner and that the CFPB’s supervision and enforcement efforts are com-prehensive and diligent so that we do not see an environment where under-served borrow-ers are steered to higher cost loans.

“The QM rule is being an-nounced in Baltimore, a city that has suffered some of the worst effects of a dual mortgage market. One of the nation’s largest cases of discrimination was brought by the City of Baltimore on behalf of its African-American and Latino residents who received unsustain-able higher cost mortgages when they actually qualified for lower cost, sustainable mortgages.

“It is also important to note that the safe harbor provision in the QM rule does not exempt lenders from discrimination or fair lending claims. Even borrow-ers who receive a ‘safe harbor’ loan or a Qualified Mortgage in general can be discriminated against. The fair housing com-

BY VICTORIA BRUCE

Last January, when our docu-

mentary film, We’re Not Broke, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, we were elated. The film’s message about how mul-tinational corporations are cheat-ing the American people out of desperately needed tax revenue to the tune of $100 billion a year was sure to reach the masses. The night after it screened for the first time, we gathered around the television and watched President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address. Our jaws dropped. “No Ameri-can company should be able to avoid paying its fair share of taxes by moving jobs and profits over-seas,” he said to a round of tepid congressional applause. “From now on, every multinational com-pany should have to pay a basic minimum tax.” It was as if our president had been at our film screening and was aghast from what he’d learned.

That speech was the last time we heard anything from The White House about mak-ing billion-dollar corporations pay their fair share. Obama cam-paigned in 2008 with the promise to close corporate tax loopholes. And as a U.S. senator from Illi-nois, he’d been a co-signer on Sen. Carl Levin’s CUT Loopholes Act. But in his first four years as president, Obama made zero at-tempts to reign in the tax dodging of GE, Verizon, Apple, Pfizer or any of the biggest 300 companies that squirrel profits offshore to avoid paying income tax to the U.S. Treasury. While multinational corporations experienced record profits, the American people suf-fered a recession that rivaled the great depression.

Last year saw the most pub-lic light ever shed tax inequality, with a big part of the Occupy Wall St. movement devoted to calling out tax dodgers. Still, Washington remained silent on changing the broken system. In mid-December, CEOs of the biggest multination-

als came to the White House for closed-door meetings. Two weeks later, a deal was drafted in the Senate, passed by Congress and signed by Obama that had a total of zero revenue from multina-tional corporations to help our staggering deficit.

The fact that the New Year’s fiscal cliff avoidance package completely ignored any source of revenue from multinational tax dodgers is an abomination. With the country scrounging for revenue only from the very, very wealthy, this “deal” actu-ally increases the deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade. There wasn’t a single mention of closing corporate tax loopholes, ending deferral (the practice that lets multinationals wait until they repatriate their profits to pay tax) or making them bring back the $1.5 trillion they’ve been stockpil-ing untaxed during the past eight years. Nothing was mentioned about this enormous rip-off that leaves domestic business scram-bling to compete while multina-tional corporations are laughing all the way to their shareholder meetings.

Instead, middle-class fami-lies will see less in their paychecks and those living really well will take a much bigger hit. All the while billion-dollar corporations continue to ask for more favors, more tax breaks, and what’s even more obscene, a “territorial tax system” —a permanent tax holi-day where they’ll never pay any tax on the profits that they book offshore. Now that the fiscal cliff has been averted temporarily, it’s time for Obama to close his ear to the Big Business lobby and open it to the American people.

Victoria Bruce is co-director/producer of We’re Not Broke; a film about how multinational corporations are cheating the American people out of desper-ately needed tax revenue. It will stream free on Hulu beginning on Jan. 15 www.werenotbrokemoive.com.

WILLIAM REED

NNPA Columnist

African-American sports pundit, Rob Parker created a clamor and got himself sus-pended for saying on live tele-vision: “My question is … Is he a brother or is he a cornball brother? He’s not real… He’s kinda Black, but he’s … off into something else… I keep hearing these things… he has a White fiancé…there’s this talk … he’s a Republican.”

Robert Griffin III’s reply to the criticism was: “I don’t want to be the best African-American quarterback; I want to be the best quarterback. But to fans … who think that way and look at me as an African-American, it’s impor-tant I succeed for them.”

Race is still a category that separates and divides us, but the image and illusion around RGIII is evidence that some of the historical boundaries that separate the races are breaking down. RGIII is that All-Ameri-

can guy next door that you root for even if he plays for a team not your own. It’s been an incredible National Football League (NFL) rookie campaign for the Red-skin quarterback. The number of RGIII jerseys sold by the NFL is more than any other player in a single year since the NFL began keeping track. Griffin III broke the record previously held by Brett Favre. Griffin wears number 10 for the Redskins, with “Griffin III” on his back. This makes him the first player in the history of the “Big Four” professional sports leagues NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA to have a Roman numeral on the back of his jersey, as the NFL changed the rule in 2012 to allow players to include generational titles in their names. Griffin previously had “Griffin III” on the back of his jersey while in college, which was actually necessary in order to distinguish him from the other Robert Griffin on the Baylor team.

After being drafted second

by the Washington Redskins, RGIII signed a four-year $21.2 million contract that had a $13.8 million signing bonus. Andrew Luck was drafted first by the Indianapolis Colts and got a slightly bigger team contract. But, Griffin has made more money with the endorsement deals he has with Castrol Motor Oil, EA Sports, Subway, Gato-rade, Nissan and Adidas. A Masters Degree candidate in communications, RGIII has become a media darling.

Griffin is a force to be reck-oned with. He’s now the face of one of the most storied NFL franchises in one of the nation’s top 10 media markets. He’s got personality, skills, a big smile, and plenty of talent. Overall, marketers have been extremely impressed with Griffin’s poise in interviews and remembering brand message points.

In regards to Griffin’s “White fiancé,” studies say that interracial marriages “are good for society.” Among opposite-

sex married couples, one in 10 (5.4 million couples) are interra-cial. In 2010, multiracial Ameri-cans numbered 9 million, or 2.9 percent of the total population – but 5.6 percent of the multiracial population is under 18.

Griffin III met his fiancée, Rebecca Liddicoat, at Baylor. He proposed to her in 2010. She’s White, and “a total non-issue” among the parents. “She doesn’t see him as African American; she sees him as a man,” Griffin’s mom told the Washington Post. Jacqueline. And Robert Griffin, Jr. say that in their household, “faith development was essen-tial” and that “He doesn’t see her as a Caucasian woman; he sees her as a woman.”

RGIII was born in Okinawa, Japan. In 1997 the family settled in Copperas Cove, Texas, were RGIII attended high school and was a three-sport star in bas-ketball, football, and track and named to USA Today’s 2007 All-

BY GEORGE E. CURRY

NNPA Columnist

In the wake of the killing of 20 schoolchildren in New-town, Conn. last month and just before Vice President Joe Biden presented a list of proposals to President Obama this week that includes banning assault weap-ons and limiting sales of high-capacity ammunition clips, the president of the National Rifle Association expressed confi-dence that new gun legislation will stall in Congress.

In an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State Of The Union,” NRA President David Keene said, “I would say that the likelihood is that they are not going to be able to get assault weapons ban through this Con-gress.”

When asked about placing limits on high-capacity ammu-nition clips, Keene replied, “I don’t think ultimately they are going to get that, either.”

Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), referring to Keene, said on CNN, “I think he’s wrong.” Murphy explained, “Newtown fundamentally changed things. The NRA doesn’t get this.”

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) acknowledged that it will not be easy to get Congress to ban assault weapons.

He told CNN, “I think we have the possibility, but it’s going to be difficult.” Cum-mings said the prospects are brighter for Congress to place restrictions on high-capacity magazines and require ex-panded background checks.

A 10-year ban on the sale

of assault weapons expired in 2004, largely as a result of pres-sure exerted by the NRA. The organization has risen from being founded in 1871 to help improve marksmanship to a powerful 4 million-member lob-bying organization that takes in more than $200 million in annual revenue.

According to Opensecrets.org, NRA spent $20 million in the last election cycle, all on friendly lawmakers who score well on the NRA’s political scorecard. The combination of big bucks and political pressure have made too many members of Congress fearful of bucking the powerful gun lobby, a group that doesn’t even want machine guns banned.

But there are growing in-dications that the NRA’s po-litical clout might be vastly overrated.

“The gun lobby had an abysmal 2012 election cycle. They spent more than $11 mil-lion to defeat President Obama, warning that on Election Day, “Americans will vote either to defend or surrender freedom in the most consequential na-tional decision in U.S. history.” They also failed to elect their preferred candidate in six of their seven top targets for the U.S. Senate. And more than two-thirds of incumbents who lost their seats in the House of Representatives were backed by the NRA, including four Demo-crats,” noted Media Matters, the watchdog group.

And the NRA got a poor return on its political invest-ment.

“According to open gov-ernment group the Sunlight Foundation, the NRA Political Victory Fund, the NRA’s politi-cal action committee, received a less than one percent return on $10,536,106 spent on inde-pendent expenditures during the election cycle,” the media monitoring group also found. “The NRA spent 0.44 percent of its money supporting winning candidates and 0.39 percent op-posing losing candidates. The NRA Institute for Legislative Action, the organization’s lob-bying arm, garnered a 10.25 percent return on $7,448,017 spent on the election. In seven Senate races where the NRA spent more than $100,000, six of the NRA-backed candidates lost.”

That trend did not start with the November elections, according to ThinkProgress, a liberal blog.

Paul Waldman, contrib-uting editor at The American Prospect, analyzed data from the last four federal elections – 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010.

“The conclusion to be drawn from these data will be surprising to many: The NRA has virtually no impact on congressional elections,” he wrote. “The NRA endorse-ment, so coveted by so many politicians, is almost mean-ingless. Nor does the money the organization spends have any demonstrable impact on the outcome of races. In short, when it comes to elections, the NRA is a paper tiger.”

Not exactly.“If you’ve been following

the issue of guns over the last few years, you know that these have been good times for gun advocates,” according to Think-Progress. “In a landmark 2008 decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court settled a longstanding ques-tion by declaring that the 2nd Amendment confers an indi-vidual right to own guns. Under Barack Obama’s administration, the only pieces of legislation on guns have expanded gun rights; for instance, gun owners are now allowed to bring firearms into national parks as a result of legislation Obama signed in 2009. The assault weapons ban passed under Bill Clinton expired in 2004, and despite early indications the Obama administration might try to renew it, they have made no moves to do so.”

Public opinion on gun con-trol has moved, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. It showed that 38 percent of Americans favor stricter gun measures, a 13-point increase from last year and the high-est it has been in more than a decade.

Now is the time for Obama to make his move. If not, the NRA will do it for him.

George E. Curry, former ed-

itor-in-chief of Emerge magazine,

is editor-in-chief of the National

Newspaper Publishers Associa-

tion News Service (NNPA.) He

is a keynote speaker, moderator,

and media coach. Curry can be

reached through his Web site,

www.georgecurry.com. You can

also follow him at www.twitter.

COMMENTARY The Weekly Press

RGIII Takes Care of Business

The views expressed in the editiorial columns are not necessarily the veiws of The Weekly Press or its staff. Address all opinions and comments to: Letters to the Editior, P.O. Box 74485 Baton Rouge, La. 70874 or E-mail them to: [email protected]

NRA Maintains Stranglehold on Congress

Why the complete silence on the Easiest way to bring in Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in Revenue?

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Statement of the National Fair Housing Alliance

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reminiscent of a shark fin or beach wave. Even the title was taken from the five-star luxury hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. The “Bel Air” chair is Shire’s most significant contribution to the Memphis design group and became an iconic symbol for the group.

The LSU Museum of Art will also present a series of exciting educational programs including lectures, workshops and interactive school tours for all ages designed to further explore the exhibition. These include a “Gallery Talk” event with Shire on Sunday, March 10, at 2 p.m. The event, where Shire will tour the gallery and discuss his works on display, is free with museum admis-sion. For more information or to schedule a tour, contact Coordinator of School and Community Programs Lucy Perera at 225-389-7207 or email [email protected].

Located on the first floor of the Shaw Center for the Arts, the Alfred C. Glassell Jr. Ex-hibition Gallery’s Peter Shire exhibit is titled “Serious Fun: Works by Peter Shire.” The ex-hibition – on display Jan.31-March 24 – will include seven sculptures from Shire’s Hok-kaido series, including “The Palace at 4 a.m.” (1993) and “Gaijin” (1993), as well as four of Shire’s unique teapots and 20 prints of Shire pieces.

A joint opening reception for the LSU Museum of Art and Glassell Gallery exhibits will be held on Thursday, Jan. 31, from 6-8 p.m. in the Shaw Center for the Arts.

The Union Art Gallery, located on the second floor of the recently renovated LSU Student Union, will present its Peter Shire exhibit, titled “Peter Shire: A World of Geo-metrics.”

This exhibition will ex-plore the many talents of the renowned and idiosyncratic designer. Shire’s whimsical, postmodern style defies tradi-tional categorization, incorpo-rating elements of futurism, art nouveau and art deco. His of-

ten-utilitarian sculptures have been exhibited in the United States as well as Italy, France and Japan. Shire will also be on hand to give an informal tour of the exhibit during an opening reception on Sunday, Feb. 3 from 2-4 p.m. The Union Art Gallery’s exhibit will be on display February 3-24.

A full-color cata-logue, “L.A. to LA: Peter Shire at LSU,” accompanies the three-part retrospective. Lamar Advertising Company and Nadine Carter-Russell, as well as the LSU Student Union Art Gallery, LSU School of Art, LSU Graphic Design Student Organization and the LSU Museum of Art underwrote the catalogue, in part. “L.A. to LA: Peter Shire at LSU” will be available for purchase at all three locations during the exhibitions, and will also be distributed nationally through LSU Press.

The LSU Museum of Art seeks to enrich and inspire through collections, exhibi-tions, conservation and edu-cation, serving as a cultural and intellectual resource for LSU, Baton Rouge and beyond. The museum represents one of the largest university-af-filiated art collections in the South and serves as a vital anchor for the Arts District in downtown Baton Rouge. The museum’s location in the Shaw Center for the Arts provides a world-class facility in which to present a diverse range of exhibitions and educational programs. The museum also offers a high-profile venue for rental events, as well as a museum store featuring work by local artisans. The museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Thursday from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m.; and Sunday from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. For more information, contact Renee B. Payton, marketing director, at 225-389-7206, email [email protected], visit www.lsumoa.com or follow the LSU Museum of Art on both Facebook and Twitter.

ARTS from page 3

BATON ROUGE -- Cox Communications in Baton Rouge announced today that its Cox TV Connect app will now have access to 56 new national cable chan-nels. Additionally, customers can access the app on the iPhone and iPod touch. The application creates a ‘second screen’ experi-ence for customers to watch live television programming in their home on their iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch device.

“Cox is continuing to ex-pand television viewing options for our customers, particularly with ‘off-TV’ experience,” said Jacqui Vines, Senior Vice Presi-dent and General Manager of Cox Southeast Region. “The new enhancements to TV Con-nect give customers the choice and flexibility to watch their fa-vorite programming anywhere in their home, without a TV.”

Access to live programming

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See CONNECT, on page 7


RELIGION

CHURCH DIRECTORYNot forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. - Hebrews 10:25

EMAIL YOUR CHURCH NEWS ARTICLES TO

[email protected]

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BY DONALD LEE

Just the other day, I watched the movie “Instinct,” starring An-thony Hopkins and Cuba Good-ing Jr. For those who haven’t yet seen it, the film’s about an anthropologist placed in an insti-tution for the criminally insane. Hopkins’ character, Ethan Pow-ell, is the anthropologist. Good-ings’ character, young psychia-trist Theo Caulder, spends time trying to understand Powell’s behavior.

This film is an excellent example of what happens to us when we get caught up in the “illusion” that we, not God, are running things.

There’s this awesome scene in the movie in which Caulder interviews Powell. Caulder speaks as if he has all power in his hands. Mind you, there isn’t anybody else in this room but the interviewer and the interviewee.

The interviewee, Powell, is increasingly vexed by the young interviewer’s arrogance. Hence, this scene:

“I’m not ‘the one’ to say if you’re competent for a hearing, a chance of getting out of here?” an arrogant Caulder asks Powell.

“I’m ‘the one,’ “ the young, visibly perturbed Caulder con-tinues. “I’m the one, Ethan.”

A much, much older, wiser, and calm Ethan Powell responds: “The one in control, huh?”

An overly confident Caul-der answers: “Yes.”

At that point, Powell grabs Caulder with resounding force

and slams him to the table, holding all power in his hands.

With an obvi-ously helpless Caulder pinned down, Powell asks authoritatively: “Who’s in control?!”

Then Powell grabs some nearby duct tape and tapes Caulder’s mouth shut. He then puts Caulder in a choke hold and tells him that he (Caulder) has three chances to write down (with a crayon on a sheet of paper) what it was that Powell stripped from him. Powell, still applying unbearable pressure to Caulder’s neck, says that if he (Caulder) doesn’t get it right, he’d snap his neck (with no hesitation or remorse).

“Who is in control?” Pow-ell asks the scared, defenseless Caulder. “Are you? Am I? The guards outside? The warden in his office? Who is in control?”

Powell tells Caulder: “This will be a very simple test. Pass or fail. Life or death.”

Powell continues: “Now, you write on this paper what I have taken from you. What have you lost? Write it! Write it!”

Caulder writes: “Con-trol.”

Quickly balling up Caul-der’s written response, Powell says: “Wrong! You never had control. You only thought you had it --- an illusion.”

Powell asks again: “What have you lost. What did I take? Write it! Write it!”

Caulder writes in response:

“My freedom.” Powell balls

that up, adding: “You think you were free? … In the middle of the night when you wake up sweating, with your heart pounding ---- what is it that has you all tied up as you are? Tied up in little knots. Is it ambition? You’re no mister to

me, boy.” With his arms still locked

around Caulder’s neck, Powell tells the crying Caulder: “O.K. One last chance. You think I won’t do it? There’s one psy-chiatrist less in the world.”

Powell, much calmer at this point, adds: “Last try. Get it right. What have you lost? What did I take from you? Write it.”

Caulder picks up the crayon and writes: “My ILLU-SION.”

A satisfied Powell re-sponds: “Yeah, congratula-tions.”

Then Powell lets go of Caulder’s neck, kisses him on the cheek, and then snatches the duct tape off of his mouth.

Powell, teaching Caulder a lesson, walks around the room and says to him: “You’re still a student, after all. And you’ve lost nothing but your illusions and a little bit of skin.”

The scene ends with Powell winking at Caulder, an indication that their interviewer-interviewee relationship can resume as long as there is an understanding between the two of them.

And so the Holy Spirit led me to use this movie scene as a way of showing a correlation be-tween art mirroring life.

The way Ethan Powell deals with Caulder, to a degree, resembles how our heavenly Fa-ther deals with us. In order for us to truly have a relationship with Him, through Christ, we must first be stripped of our “illusions.”

We must realize that we’re not in control. We only think we are. We’re not free. We have personal issues that keep us in bondage. And we’ll stay in bond-age until we’re locked in a room with God.

When he strips us of our illusions, then, and only then, will we be free.

Also, please rent the follow-ing movies: “Bedazzled” (parental discretion advised); “Tribulation”; and “Left Behind”. All of these movies talk about what happens when we don’t conscientiously walk with Christ.

(Donald Lee, an author and

free-lance journalist, is founder-

pastor of Kingdom Living Christian

Center in Dallas. Kingdom Living

Christian Center holds service via

teleconference each Sunday at 10 a.m.

at (218) 862-4590 [code: 279498#].

Intercessory prayer via teleconfer-

ence is from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. Mon-

days – Fridays. The church also has

3:30 p.m. service each Sunday at

Millbrook Healthcare & Rehabilita-

tion Center, 1950 W. Pleasant Run,

in Lancaster, a southern suburb of

Dallas. Lee can be reached for prayer

or comment at pastordonjlee@yahoo.

com or [225] 773-2248.)

God Must Strip Us Of Illusions That We’re The Ones In Control

DonaldLee

PORT ALLEN, LA – The Light of Christ Fellowship #II will be hosting their annual church anniversary on January 20, 2013 at 2:00 p.m.

The church is located at 856 North Jefferson Avenue and the public is invited to attend FREE.

For additional information, please contact Pastor Elliot Brown, Sr. at (225) 485-7319 or the church at (225) 339-1755.

Church Anniversary at The Light of Christ Fellowship #II

DR. JAMES L. SNYDER

I am not superstitious [knock

on wood] but some things hap-pen to me that leave me a little bit suspicious. I am not sure if there is a connection between su-perstitious and suspicious, but if there were, that would explain a lot in my life.

I start every year with high hopes of making certain changes in my life. If I had a quarter for every change I wanted to make in

my life but didn’t, I would have all the change I need.

This past week was one of those weeks. I was minding my own business, which for me is a full-time job without benefits, and no matter what I did; I was either a day late or a dollar short.

I had to go across town for a business meeting and as my luck would have it, I hit every red light. I am not sure but it seemed that there were 1,937 traffic lights in route to my destination.

I had a gift card that I can-not remember when I got it, but I thought I would get a nice gift for myself. I selected my gift, went to the cash out counter and was informed that my gift card had expired “yesterday.” I think I have just too many yesterdays in my life. I would like a card once that would expire “tomorrow”. I have plenty of them.

The bookstore that I do my business was having a special on a book that I really wanted. I

got to the store, stood in line for well over an hour and, as my luck would have it, the person in front of me got the last one. Where’s my gun when I need it?

I believe if there are 100 people playing a $10 million lottery I would be number 101. I come so close so many times, but you know what they say, an inch missed is like a mile missed.

When my wife and I started

As My Luck Would Have It

See MY LUCK, on page 7

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CHILDREN from page 4

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munity urges the CFPB to pay particular attention to the qual-ity of QM products serving communities of color and to ensure these borrowers have access to sustainable and af-fordable mortgages.

“It will be critically im-portant for the CFPB to not sanction any compensation scheme that would encourage or allow lenders to steer bor-rowers to higher cost mortgages

when they qualify for lower cost products, even if those higher cost mortgages fall within the parameters of the QM rule.

“Fair housing advocates look forward to working with the CFPB to make sure all bor-rowers have access to safe, sound and fairly-priced loan products.”

Housing Alliance (www.nationalfairhousing.org).

HOUSING from page 4

USA Track and Field team.Griffin has to be consid-

ered “quite a catch.” RGIII graduated high school a se-mester early after being “class president” and “7th place” in the class. He began attending Baylor University during the spring 2008 semester when he was 17. While a member of Baylor ’s track and field

teams, Griffin graduated in three years with a degree in political science and a 3.67 GPA. Griffin made the Dean’s List twice.

William Reed is head of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/seminar projects through the Bailey Group.org.

BUSINESS from page 4

lavision, G4, Hallmark Movie Channel, Oxygen, Sprout, and Tennis Channel, bringing the total to over 90 channels. In addition to the flexibility of Cox TV Connect on more devices, customers can now schedule DVR recordings remotely. The Cox TV Connect is available at no additional charge in the Apple App Store to customers who have Cox TV Essential or Advanced TV, and have Cox Preferred, Premier or Ultimate Internet service. TV Connect is scheduled to deploy to the Baton Rouge market on Friday, January 11, 2013.

Cox Communications is a broadband communications and entertainment company, providing advanced digital video, Internet and telephone services over its own nation-wide IP network. The third-largest U.S. cable TV company, Cox serves more than 6 million residences and businesses. Cox Business is a facilities-based provider of voice, video and data solutions for commercial

customers, and Cox Media is a full-service provider of national and local cable spot and new media advertising.

Cox is known for its pi-oneering efforts in cable tele-phone and commercial services, industry-leading customer care and its outstanding workplaces. For seven years, Cox has been recognized as the top operator for women by Women in Cable Telecommunications; for five years, Cox has ranked among DiversityInc’s Top 50 Compa-nies for Diversity, and the com-pany holds a perfect score in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. More information about Cox Com-munications, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, is available at www.cox.com and www.coxmedia.com.

MEDIA CONTACT: Sha-ron Souther Bethea with Cox Communications at 225-237-5141 or by e-mail at [email protected] for more in-formation

CONNECT from page 5

Doctors and health care providers have formed 106 new Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in Medicare, ensuring as many as 4 million Medicare beneficiaries now have access to high-quality, coordinated care across the United States, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today.

Doctors and health care providers can establish ACOs in order to work together to provide higher-quality care to their patients. Since passage of the Affordable Care Act, more than 250 Accountable Care Orga-nizations have been established. Beneficiaries using ACOs always have the freedom to choose doc-tors inside or outside of the ACO. ACOs share with Medicare any savings generated from lower-ing the growth in health care costs, while meeting standards for quality of care.

“Accountable Care Orga-nizations save money for Medi-care and deliver higher-quality care to people with Medicare,” Secretary Sebelius said. “Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more doctors and hospitals are work-

ing together to give people with Medicare the high-quality care they expect and deserve.”

ACOs must meet quality standards to ensure that savings are achieved through improving care coordination and providing care that is appropriate, safe, and timely. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has established 33 quality measures on care coordination and patient safety, appropriate use of preven-tive health services, improved care for at-risk populations, and patient and caregiver experience of care. Federal savings from this initiative could be up to $940 million over four years.

The new ACOs include a diverse cross-section of physi-cian practices across the coun-try. Roughly half of all ACOs are physician-led organizations that serve fewer than 10,000 benefi-ciaries. Approximately 20 per-cent of ACOs include community health centers, rural health cen-ters and critical access hospitals that serve low-income and rural communities.

The group announced today also includes 15 Advance Payment Model ACOs, physi-

cian-based or rural providers who would benefit from greater access to capital to invest in staff, electronic health record systems, or other infrastructure required to improve care coordination. Medicare will recoup advance payments over time through fu-ture shared savings. In addition to these ACOs, last year CMS launched the Pioneer ACO pro-gram for large provider groups able to take greater financial re-sponsibility for the costs and care of their patients over time. In total, Medicare’s ACO partners will serve more than 4 million beneficiaries nationwide.

Also today HHS issued a new report showing Affordable Care Act provisions are already having a substantial effect on reducing the growth rate of Medicare spending. Growth in Medicare spending per benefi-ciary hit historic lows during the 2010 to 2012 period, according to the report. Projections by both the Office of the Actuary at CMS and by the Congressional Bud-get Office estimate that Medi-care spending per beneficiary will grow at approximately the rate of growth of the economy

for the next decade, breaking a decades-old pattern of spending growth outstripping economic growth.

For more information on the HHS issue brief, “Growth in Medicare Spending per Benefi-ciary Continues to Hit Historic Lows,” visit: http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2013/medicarespendinggrowth/ib.cfm.

Additional information about the Advance Payment Model is available at http://www.innovations.cms.gov/initiatives/ACO/Advance-Payment/index.html.

The next application pe-riod for organizations that wish to participate in the Shared Sav-ings Program beginning in Janu-ary 2014 is summer 2013. More information about the Shared Savings Program is available at https://www.cms.gov/Medi-care/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/sharedsavingspro-gram/index.html?redirect=/sharedsavingsprogram/

Contact: HHS Press Office at 202-690-6343 or by e-mail at [email protected] for additional information.

More Doctors, Hospitals Partner to Coordinate Care for People With Medicare

Providers Form 106 New Accountable Care Organizations

First-time enrollees in Medi-care Advantage plans and those switching plans were more likely to enroll in ones with a higher star rating, a study of nearly 1.3 million Medicare beneficiaries found.

An increase of one star in the ratings made it 9.5% more likely a first-time Medicare Advantage enrollee would choose a given plan, the study published in Tues-day’s Journal of the American Medical Association found. Simi-larly, for those switching plans, a higher star rating was associ-ated with a 4.4% greater chance of enrollment.

“One interpretation of these findings suggests that publicly reported star ratings could be achieving one of their intended purposes of guiding beneficiaries toward higher-quality plans,” Rachel Reid from the the Cen-ters for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Innovation Cen-ter, in Baltimore, and colleagues wrote. “Consequently, CMS may consider continued evolution of the rating methods to ensure that the quality information conveyed continues to reflect attributes im-portant to both the agency and beneficiaries.”

In 2011, CMS created a star rating for Medicare Parts C and D -- its Medicare Advantage and prescription drug benefit plans. Ratings incorporate data from several sources, including the Healthcare Effectiveness Data

and Information Set quality mea-sures, the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Sys-tems survey, the Health of Seniors survey, and other data sets.

Star ratings ranged from 2.5 stars to five stars, but only three contracts received five-star rat-ings. Plans with more stars are deemed to be of higher quality and better performers than those with fewer stars.

Also starting last year, CMS began to award bonuses to plans rated three stars and above, and provided five-star plans with year-long open enrollment. Bo-nuses in 2012 were projected at about $3.1 billion, or 3% of total payments.

But awareness and use of Medicare Advantage’s star-rating system has been mixed, Jack Hoadley, PhD, of the Health Policy Institute at Georgetown University, in Washington, wrote in an accompanying editorial.

A 2011 survey found that only a third of seniors had heard of the star ratings and just 6% had heard “a lot” about the system, Hoadley noted. Additionally, only a third of those who had heard of the system reported using it to choose a health plan.

“It seems likely that familiar-ity with the system will increase as the Medicare program con-tinues to publicize the ratings,” he wrote.

To test the association be-tween Medicare Advantage star

ratings and enrollment, Reid and her CMS colleagues analyzed beneficiary behavior in 2011, the first year of the overall star ratings.

The study consisted of 952,000 first-time enrollees and 323,000 beneficiaries switching plans. Researchers used logit regression to assess the link be-tween star ratings and enroll-ment, controlling for plan benefits and generosity.

With few exceptions, the re-sults were statistically significant, Reid and others noted.

“Our finding of a positive association between star ratings and enrollment provides insur-ance companies with additional justification to pursue higher quality,” the authors noted. “In addition, as state insurance ex-changes are created, our findings argue for careful consideration of communication of quality infor-mation when presenting health plan options.”

However, star ratings were less likely to influence the young-est, black, low-income, rural, and Midwestern enrollees.

The study can’t link the ob-served preference for star ratings with the increase in higher-rated plans’ enrollment. For example, more highly rated plans may have more aggressive marketing.

Reid and the others noted additional study is needed to find out if the selection of highly rated plans is associated with subse-

quent quality of care, health outcomes, and improvements in the Medicare Advantage pro-gram as a whole. To help spur a more comprehensive rating system, they suggested adding complaints, appeals, audits, and satisfaction data into star ratings, which could encourage disen-rollment from lower-performing plans.

Despite the study’s limita-tions, it’s valuable to see enroll-ees may be using star ratings in making their choices, Hoadley said, adding that “It is critical for the program to keep improving the available plan ratings and to make them increasingly avail-able and relevant to the needs of consumers.”

If enrollees are in fact basing their decisions on the Medicare Advantage star ratings, it means the program could better harness skyrocketing costs by encour-aging high quality, he noted. Conversely, enrollees ignoring a plan’s performance means that plans could pay less attention to their cost and quality.

“If consumers choose plans without careful consideration of costs and quality, an important incentive for plans to manage their costs and quality is dimin-ished,” Hoadley wrote. “If plans can rely on current enrollees to ignore large premium increases or lower performance ratings, they may take fewer steps to prevent these negative changes.”

Seniors Favor Higher-Rated Medicare Plans

our marital journey, we did not take a vow of poverty. It just has turned out that way. As soon as we have a little cash ahead, my wife begins to wonder what is going to break in the house. And, as luck would have it, she is usually right.

All week long, my week went like this. All week long, I could not catch anything and then, as my luck would have it, I caught a cold. I did not set out at the beginning of the week to catch a cold. Whoever threw that cold at me I would like to find out right now. Of course, why I caught it in the first place is to be questioned. I really did not see it coming.

Why is it you cannot catch what you want but usu-ally can catch what you do not want?

A friend of mine always reminds me along this line that, “That’s life.”

I caught a cold and now I did not know what to do with it.

I got up late in the morn-ing, put on my bathrobe and went toward the kitchen wheezing and coughing as I shuffled down the hallway. When I got to the kitchen the Gracious Mistress of the Par-sonage looked at me with one of “those looks” and said rather sternly, “Don’t you dare give that cold to me.”

I was sick but I was not too sick to know a death threat when it came my way.

When it comes right down to it, I am really a gen-erous person. I would give you the shirt off my back if you needed it. However, when I have something like “a cold,” I cannot give it to anyone. No-body wants it! Believe me, the cold I have to give I would give freely.

“You turn around,” my

wife said very sternly, “and march yourself right back into bed.” Not only did I catch a cold, but also I am now catch-ing the dickens.

I must confess that I am an expert at catching the dick-ens, I have just never figured out what to do with it when I got it. If I were good at catching luck as I am with catching the dickens I would be the luckiest man in the world. If someone knows a profitable market for “dickens” please contact me soon.

Slowly I turned, step by step, I walked down the hall-way, it seemed like of thousand miles, and I finally threw myself into bed. Thankfully, the bed caught me.

And so, as luck would have it, I have caught the cold, caught the dickens from my wife, and now I plan to catch up on some sleep.

I am not sure if you starve a cold and feed a fever or if you feed a cold and starve a fever. So in my confusion, I fed my-self.

Resting on my bed, I thought of one of my favorite Bible verses. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 KJV).

Life is full of ups and downs. Just when you think you are up you find yourself on the way down. The important thing in life is to have a safety net. For me, Jesus is my safety net and has never let me down. He will always catch me.

Rev. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of God Fel-lowship, PO Box 831313, Ocala, FL 34483. He lives with his wife, Martha, in Silver Springs Shores. Call him at 1-866-552-2543 or e-mail [email protected]. His web site is www.jamessnyderministries.com.

MY LUCK from page 6


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SPORTS

Courtesy Southern U.

Athletic Media Relations

BATON ROUGE, LA - Southern Jaguars basketball is off to a fast start in SWAC play and Jaguars fans can be there to #StandUnited with the teams during several television and radio broadcasts in 2013.

Southern men’s and wom-en’s basketball programs are

scheduled to make TV appear-ances on Cox Sports, ESPNU and SWAC TV, and will have four men’s games and two women’s games broadcasted live on Downtown Radio 97.7 FM.

Southern makes its home television debut on Cox Sports, Monday, Jan. 14 when the Jag-uars host defending SWAC regular season and tournament

champion Mississippi Valley in a doubleheader starting at 5:30 p.m.

Men’s Basketball is slated for a nationally televised ap-pearance on ESPNU Jan. 21 on the road against Alabama A&M, who joined Southern as the only SWAC team to post an upset over an SEC foe this season after defeating Miss State.

SU Hoops Slated For Several Broadcast Appearances

Southern to Host Meet Coach Odums on Feb. 18

BATON ROUGE, LA - One week and four days after the Southern Jaguars unveil it’s 2013 football signing class, head coach Dawson Odums will be honored during “Meet Coach Odums” night at the SU bas-ketball game against Alabama A&M Feb. 18.

Odums and his wife, Audrey, and their daughter, Jasmine, 9 and son, Jaiden, 1, will be introduced to the Jag-uar Nation. Members of Odums newly minted coaching staff will be present as well.

Southern will also offer the 2013 football schedule posters

autographed by Odums to the first 200 fans to arrive for the Jaguars home game at the FG Clark Activity Center.

Tipoff for the Alabama A&M game is slated for 2 p.m. and will be televised live on Cox Sports Television (Ch. 37, HD Ch. 1037)

Coach Odums

Southern University will commemorate the outstanding playing career of SU basket-ball alum and NBA head coach Avery Johnson in a court nam-ing ceremony Feb. 2 in the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

The ceremony will take place during halftime of the men’s basketball game against Grambling. Tipoff for the women’s game is slated for 2 p.m., immediately followed

by the men. The game will be televised live on Cox Sports Television (Ch-37, HD Ch-1037).

“Alumni contributions separate great programs from good ones, and allow great programs to stay on top,” said Dr. William Broussard, SU athletics director.

“The accelerated restora-tion of SU Men’s Basketball in the past two years is due,

in no small part, to alumni contributions--big and small--and none have been more sig-nificant thus far than Coach Johnson’s.”

S o u t h e r n h a s a l s o deemed Grambling game on Feb. 2 as “Alumni Night” and encourages alumni from both Southern and Grambling to attend. Tickets are available at the SU ticket office and are $7 for general admission.

Southern To Honor Avery Johnson Feb. 2

Details of the proposed sale of the Sacramento Kings to a Seattle group was the topic of a conference call last week among the NBA and members of its relocation committee, Yahoo! Sports reported, citing uniden-tified league sources.

The call last Tuesday, ac-cording to the report, detailed what NBA officials described as “a non-binding set of deal points” on the purchase by the group led by Chris Hansen and Steve Ballmer for $525 million, Yahoo! Sports’ sources said.

And though the conference call was a week ago, no deal has been finalized. According to multiple media reports, talks have continued on the sale that if completed would clear the way for the NBA to return to Seattle as the Sonics.

Seattle lost the Sonics in 2008 when owner Clay Bennett moved them to Oklahoma City to become the Thunder. Ironi-cally, Bennett is the chair of the relocation committee.

Among the points made on the call, according to Yahoo! Sports’ sources: The Seattle

group would buy 65 percent of the Kings, the 53 percent majority owned by the Ma-loof family and another 12 percent from minority owner Bob Hernreich.

The sale price is consid-ered an overall valuation of the franchise.

Throughout the negotia-tions, the Maloofs have sought to keep a small percentage of the team, sources told Yahoo!, but the Seattle group wants the family completely out of the organization.

The Kings have until March 1 to file for relocation to Seattle for the 2013-14 season. According to multiple media reports, they would play two seasons in KeyArena while a new arena is built.

King County and the city have a deal with Hansen to build the $500M arena south of downtown Seattle once the sale is complete. Local officials already have approved funding of the project.

The new ownership group also would change the team’s name back to the Sonics.

Sacramento Kings to Seattle Looking More and More Likely

Sacramento Kings fan Darren Fitch calls on the Maloof family, owners of the Kings to sell the team to local buyers.

Lakers center Dwight Howard has been cleared to play on Sunday night against the Cavaliers.

Howard has been battling with a shoulder injury since Jan. 4, after colliding with Clippers forward Caron Butler. The Lakers big man tried to play through pain but aggravated it the following Sunday against the Denver Nuggets.

The injury was reported as a torn labrum by the Lak-ers. Howard later corrected the report, saying the labrum was just pulled away from the bone, not torn.

Howard missed three

games this week, all losses. The Lakers have dropped six straight.

Pau Gasol was also seen at Staples Center and while he won’t play (concussion), he did seem improved since getting hit in the nose by Nuggets center JaVale McGee. Gasol said he was “feeling better.” He still has to pass through the league’s strict concussion tests before a return.

The Lakers are expected to start Earl Clark in place of Gasol, and rookie Robert Sacre will come off the bench with Howard returning to the start-ing lineup.

Dwight Howard Back from Shoulder Injury

Dwight Howard is averaging 17.3 points and 12.4 rebounds this season.

Today’s question about the Broncos comes from Rod Ridley. To submit a question for consideration, send an e-mail to The Denver Post’s Jeff Legwold.

Q: I noticed that (Peyton) Manning didn’t throw deep at all (against the Ravens). Was the cold a reason for that? I’m guessing it affected his neck and arm, and he just couldn’t throw the downfield passes to loosen up that defense. Your thoughts?

A: Rod, other than Knee-gate, Peyton Manning’s play in the frigid conditions Satur-day may be the most talked about item on the discussion and rant pile that followed the Broncos’ upset loss.

The Denver Post’s NFL reporters post analysis, notes and more on this blog focus-ing on the Denver Broncos.

if the cold prevented Manning from airing things out Saturday. Manning spent the season rehabbing his right arm and shoulder as part of his recovery from his neck surgeries. He had already admitted to wearing a glove on his throwing hand because his grip was different in his post-surgery career.

Manning had multiple surgeries to repair a disc issue in his neck that caused dam-age to the nerve grouping that affects his right triceps, which then impacted his ability to grip and throw the ball. He began wearing a glove on his throwing hand first in prac-tice, then later in games as the season wore on.

Asked in the days before the Ravens game why he was wearing a glove on his throw-ing hand for the first time in his career, Manning said:

“I certainly don’t think I would have had to wear the glove had I not been injured last year. It’s part of my injury, some things that I’ve had to adjust. I’ve been pretty con-sistent in kind of letting you guys know that all year long, that I’m in a different body, some things are different for me. So I’ve had to adjust. That’s the reason for that as much as anything. That’s re-ally kind of what it is.”

Saturday was a histori-cally cold home game for the Broncos — second coldest home game in team history, coldest home playoff game in team history. It was uncharted ground for both the Broncos and Manning.

He has said the cold didn’t impact him physically, in terms of throwing the ball deep. And while coach John Fox didn’t offer a definitive answer if the cold had an im-pact on the offensive game-plan and Manning’s plays, he did say:

“I don’t believe so.”A look at the video says it

was likely a football decision to kneel down. But it may also have been a physical issue. Most medical people I’ve talked to about Manning’s injury and recovery have said it could well be into his second season with the Broncos before the nerves have regenerated fully and that there would always be some uncertainty about how much the nerves would re-generate.

Did Cold Weather Put Peyton Manning, Broncos Offense on Ice?

gently worked to ensure that the poor and neglected of the community, regardless of race, received fair and equal access to the justice system, election protection, and equal treatment under the law.

Criminal defense lawyers, for criminal defense lawyers, founded the Louisiana Associa-tion of Criminal Defense Law-yers in 1985. LACDL protects

the individual Constitutional rights of those accused of crimi-nal offenses, encourages cooper-ation among criminal defenders through educational programs and other assistance to promote justice and the common good, and assists the courts, the leg-islature and law enforcement agencies in crafting criminal justice policies that are fair, just and reasonable.

EXPUNGEMENT from page 3

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