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CoA speaker explains what hospice is—and isn’t
By Alice Waugh
The vast majority of people with a terminal medical condition want to die peacefully at home rather than in a hospital, but many seniors don’t know that Medicare will cover hospice care with no out-of-pocket expenses, a hospice representative said at a Council on Aging talk.
Erin Sanford, a patient transition representative from AseraCare Hospice, explained what hospice offers and how Medicare covers it while also dispelling some misconceptions at the November 16 session in Bemis Hall.
The word hospice is related to hospitality, or “providing a place of shelter for weary travelers,” Sanford said. The first hospice was founded in 1967 in London by Dame Cicely Saunders, who felt that end-of life care should provide pain relief, preserve the patient’s dignity, and help the patent and family with the psychological and spiritual pain of death. Medicare added a hospice benefit in 1983. Medicaid, MassHealth and most private insurance plans also have a hospice benefit.
[Read more…] about CoA speaker explains what hospice is—and isn’t
Town still awaiting word on extension request for school project
By Alice Waugh
School officials are still waiting for a response to their request from the state for more time to achieve enough “yes” votes to allow the school building project to go forward.
At a meeting of three town panels on December 5, Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall said she had spoken by phone to representatives of the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) and gotten “verbal approval of additional time to work with the community” until at least the end of February.
[Read more…] about Town still awaiting word on extension request for school project
Roadside trees marked for culling
Dead trees including this one on Weston Road have been targeted or removal by the DPW. (Photo by Alice Waugh)
By Alice Waugh
The Department of Public Works will host a December 19 public hearing to discuss the fate of several roadside trees that have been slated for removal for public safety purposes.
Twelve of the 28 trees within the town’s roadside rights of way have been targeted because they interfere with sight lines at the intersection of Route 117 and Lincoln Road, where 12 are targeted adjacent to 203 Lincoln Rd. Others were tagged because they are dead. The specific trees are listed on the notice of the hearing, where residents with any comments or objections to the removals may speak. The hearing will be held at 8 p.m. at the DPW headquarters at 30 Lewis St.
Any trees cut down by the DPW will be brought in segments (unsplit) to its Lewis Street site, where residents are welcome to take them for firewood or other purposes. If a contractor is hired, that company will haul away the wood, said DPW head Chris Bibbo.
Branches from trees as well as many others that were removed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and other storms are also available in the form of wood chips at the DPW. Anyone with a Lincoln transfer station sticker may take wood chips and logs.
Town Office Building renovations coming along
The Lincoln Town Office Building
By Alice Waugh
Officials and workers have been pleasantly surprised at the craftsmanship they’ve discovered inside the walls of the century-old Town Office Building, whose renovation project is proceeding on schedule.
At a November 16 Council on Aging presentation, Richard Thuma of project manager Bargmann Hendrie + Archetype, Inc. and Assistant Town Administrator Anita Scheipers showed photos of the building’s interior wall structure with angled braces between the vertical studs, which is not something found in modern buildings. [Read more…] about Town Office Building renovations coming along
Sign up for winter fun with Lincoln Rec
Keep limber in winter with all sorts of activities, including ballroom dancing and yoga for adults, basketball and musical theater for kids, and skiing for everyone!
- Visit the Lincoln Recreation website for information or in-person registration
- Download the winter 2013 brochure
- Register for activities
One month ago today…
Hurricane Sandy damaged plenty of Lincoln tress — many still at the height of their autumn colors.
Accuweather.com offers some amazing statistics on Sandy: the second-lowest barometric pressure ever reorder for a hurricane (27.76 inches at sea), waves of 39.67 feet (recorded at a buoy about 20 miles east of Bermuda), and 9-foot storm surges in New Haven and The Battery, N.Y. Lincoln got off fairly lightly, though more than half of homes in town lost power in the storm, and the muffled roar of generators could be hear in many neighborhoods for days afterward. Still, it could have been worse — Redhouse, Md., got 26 inches of snow.
Elizabeth Cherniak of South Great Road heard a loud crash as a tree fell across power lines on the road adjacent to her driveway. “Then a transformer exploded—it was like a bomb going off,” she said. “Then I noticed little fires up in the wires and the tree trunk was glowing” as the tree began to burn. Fortunately the heavy rain doused the fire quickly.
How did Lincolnites vote?
Based on the unofficial Lincoln tally for the November 6 election, here’s a breakdown of voting percentages for Lincoln and, where applicable, the comparable state and U.S. results. Some of these totals don’t add up to 100 percent because of blank ballots and/or votes cast for candidates other than the Democrat or Republican. There were 3,670 ballots recorded; only six were left blank in the spot asking for choice of U.S. president.
In a nutshell, Lincoln had the same outcomes as the rest of Massachusetts on everything except for ballot question 2 (prescribing medication to end life), which Lincolnites approved by an almost two-thirds majority but which state voters narrowly defeated. There’s more information on each 2012 ballot question below the table.
In 2008, there were 3,448 Lincoln ballots tallied for president; Obama beat Biden by a margin of 75 percent to 23 percent, compared to this year’s margin of 71 percent to 29 percent.
| Candidate | % | Candidate | % | ||
| President | Lincoln | Obama (D) | 71% | Romney (R) | 29% |
| Mass. | Obama (D) | 61% | Romney (R) | 38% | |
| U.S. | Obama (D) | 51% | Romney (R) | 48% | |
| U.S. Senate | Lincoln | Warren (D) | 66% | Brown (R) | 34% |
| Mass. | Warren (D) | 54% | Brown (R) | 46% | |
| U.S. Rep. (5th District) | Lincoln | Markey (D) | 76% | Tierney (R) | 24% |
| Mass. | Markey (D) | 76% | Tierney (R) | 24% | |
| Question 1 | Lincoln | Yes | 77% | No | 10% |
| Mass. | Yes | 86% | No | 14% | |
| Question 2 | Lincoln | Yes | 64% | No | 33% |
| Mass. | Yes | 49% | No | 51% | |
| Question 3 | Lincoln | Yes | 62% | No | 30% |
| Mass. | Yes | 63% | No | 37% | |
| Question 4 | Lincoln | Yes | 47% | No | 42% |
| Question 5 | Lincoln | Yes | 72% | No | 16% |
| Question 6 | Lincoln | Yes | 58% | No | 27% |
Question 1 – Availability of motor vehicle repair information
Question 2 – Prescribing medication to end life
Question 3 – Medical use of marijuana
Question 4 – Proposition 2½ override for school building project:
“Shall the Town of Lincoln be allowed to exempt from the provisions of Proposition 2½, so-called, the amounts required to pay the Town’s allocable share of the bonds issued for the purposes of paying the costs of designing, renovating, rebuilding, equipping and furnishing the Lincoln School located on Ballfield Road, Lincoln, including payment of costs incidental or relate thereto?”
Question 5 – Corporations are not people/limit political contributions (nonbinding):
“Shall the state senator from this district be instructed to vote in favor of a resolution calling upon Congress to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution affirming that (1) corporations are not entitled to the constitutional rights of human beings, and (2) both Congress and the states may place limits on political contributions and political spending?”
Question 6 – Direction to Congress and President (nonbinding):
“Shall the state representative form this district be instructed to vote in favor of a resolution calling upon Congress and the President to: (1) prevent cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Veterans benefits, or to housing, food and unemployment assistance; (2) create and protect jobs by investing in manufacturing, schools, housing, renewable energy, transportation and other public services; (3) provide new revenues for these purposes and to reduce the long-term federal deficit by closing corporate tax loopholes, ending offshore tax havens, and raising taxes on incomes over $250,000; and (4) redirect military spending to these domestic needs by reducing the military budget, ending the war in Afghanistan and bringing U.S. troops home safely now?”
Tabla music and pizza this Sunday
Sandeep Das
The Birches School and Lincoln Nursery School are hosting a concert featuring tabla master Sandeep Das from Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble on Sunday, Dec. 2 at 3:30 p.m. A children’s singalong led by music teachers Mark Weltner and Abby Zocher will follow Sandeep Das’ performance. Families are invited to a pizza party after the concert at the Birches School (14 Bedford Road, Stone Church across from Bemis Hall).
Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for children, $30 for families and $10 for seniors. Please pay online at www.birchesschool.org or with cash or check at the door. For more information, call Elizabeth ten Grotenhuis at 781-728-5438.
New and improved Lincoln Links!
I finished alphabetizing my spice rack so I thought I’d categorize and beef up the Lincoln Squirrel’s Lincoln Links. Have a look!