October 23, 2024 • 37 mins
8:05: Seaport to Elect First-Ever Dog Mayor! with guest Claire Kilcullen, Associate Director of Culture & Experience at WS Development
8:15: Manufacturing jobs are back, except in states like Massachusetts with guest Steph Solis, Axios Boston Reporter
8:30: The Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office will host a veterans-focused “House to House for Heroes” with guest Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott
8:45: Medicare open enrollment information with guest Renee McInnes, Chair of the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts and CEO of the nonprofit NVNA and Hospice
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio and listen to NightSide with Dan Rea Weeknights From 8PM-12AM!
8:15: Manufacturing jobs are back, except in states like Massachusetts with guest Steph Solis, Axios Boston Reporter
8:30: The Norfolk County Sheriff’s Office will host a veterans-focused “House to House for Heroes” with guest Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott
8:45: Medicare open enrollment information with guest Renee McInnes, Chair of the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts and CEO of the nonprofit NVNA and Hospice
Ask Alexa to play WBZ NewsRadio on #iHeartRadio and listen to NightSide with Dan Rea Weeknights From 8PM-12AM!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's night Side with Dan Ray on WBZY, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
All right, thanks very much, Nicole, as we start a
Wednesday night edition of night Side. It is, of course
the middle of the work week, the work week for
all of us. I'm here every Monday through Friday night
from eight until midnight, although it will be off Tomorrow night,
and Morgan White will join us tomorrow evening, So please
(00:28):
be good to Morgan. I'm sure he will put together
a very interesting show, different type guests and just a
little personal matter that I had to deal with. I'm
dealing with and be back on Friday. And I remind
you that on Friday, we're going to do our last
pre election presidential poll. We will do that on Friday
night during the eleven o'clock hour, and anyone who was
(00:49):
called in during the week is still eligible to cast
a vote on Friday night. It's down to two candidates, obviously,
the vice president, Vice President Harris, former President Trump and
love to get a sense, we've done this now every
last twentieth hour of the week, beginning in late March, April, May, June, July, August, September,
(01:12):
and now October will be our eighth snap poll, and
we'll look back and see how things have progressed. Obviously,
the people that you're voting for have changed over the months,
but we do know who will be finally on the
ballot on November fifth, and you have an opportunity to
cast a vote on the radio, but also, of course
you can cast one in person, by the mail or
(01:35):
early at your local polling place, depending upon which stage
you lived in. My name again is Dan ra I
am the host. We have both Rob and Dan double
producing tonight, which great always makes a little bit more
comfortable for them and for me. And we have four
really interesting guests that we're going to talk to, and
we're going to get to a couple of topics. You're
gonna give you the other side of that question three,
(01:57):
The yes on question three coming up at nine o'clock,
ten o'clock when I talk with attorney Jason Greenberg, who
was just back from Israel. Jason actually went was in
Israel a year ago on October seventh. I think you've
met him. He's been on our show a couple of times,
and he's going to come back with what it was
like during the last kind of crazy hecnic couple of
weeks in Israel as a lot of rockets were flying
(02:20):
and things were occurring, and the world was heating up
over there. But let's get first off to the night
side news update. Our first guest brings us news of
the election of the first ever dog mayor in the
Seaport District of Boston. I want to introduce Claire Kilcullins.
(02:41):
She's the associate director of Culture and Experience at WS Development. Claire,
welcome tonight's side.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
I'm excited to talk about a bunch of dogs, the
best topic.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yeah, well I love dogs too. You have a bark
the vote coming up, and how how a buzz with
excitement the residents of the Seaport district over this this
very important election. Perhaps not as important as November fifth
in the scheme of big things, but certainly from the
from the seaports perspective, this is a very critical choice.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Yeah, certainly not as important, but it's definitely gotten people excited.
We had one hundred and eighty one dogs entered in
the first round and we're down to five.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Now for those of your primary.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
How did you how did you You had one hundred
and eighty five dogs, How did you whittle that down
to five. Did you have a primary?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
We had?
Speaker 4 (03:36):
We have the public vote, So in the first round
we had over forty thousand votes, and we've got until
the thirtieth in this next pooch primary round, and we've
already gotten forty thousand. So it's it's certainly been been
really exciting to see this many people pay attention and really.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Well ask I got to ask this, where are those
votes coming from? And is this Hey to put it
this way, but forty thousand votes, it sounds like a
lot of votes. How did you collect the votes? Did
you have I guess you know, ballot boxes and a
number of the businesses down in the seaport, And then
(04:15):
I mean, gee, you should you should run I think
the Comal Wealth of Massachusetts election. If you could do
a pooch primary with that many votes, I'd put you
in charge of elections in Massachusetts.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
No one gets people out to vote more than a
cute dog. So the first we've run everything through our
website Boston Sport dot xyz. So if you're listening to
make sure to vote, you have until the thirtieth. In
the first round, we let people vote as much as
they want and then we're tightening it up for this round,
so you can go, okay, we've got great coverage.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Okay, so now there were no lawsuits here from the
dogs who were eked out. There was no concern about
multiple votes. I could vote us early and often as
you want. Sound like a Chicago primer.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
It's just a fun neighborhood event. So it's really been
amazing scene.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Ever, I trust me, I'm not treating it like the
presidential election. This is only a mayoral election.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Only only a yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah, No, there cases filed, no challenges to the outcome
filed by any of the the unsuccessful dogs or their
unsuccessful owners. So you have five dogs in the final uh,
and we won't identify all of them by name, but
you have a five year old adventure loving doodle love doodles.
(05:40):
You an eight and a half month old Golden Retriever puppy.
Let me tell you that that's gonna he's that? Is
that he or she?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I'm not sure that's a het. Yeah, he's a classic American.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Golden to an eighteen month old Golden doodle that's going
to be a good one to a year old Golden Retriever.
So you may have the Golden retriever vote split. That's
a factor that I hope people have taken into into account.
A one year old you you also have a two
year old Malta pool. This is great.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
The only towld dog of a bunch, but.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
The oldest dog a great. Yeah, the oldest dog of
the bunch in human years, I guess is fourteen when
you think about it. So how can anyone and so
this is not there's no you don't have to be
a resident of the seaport now, So we.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Have now knocked about.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
To cast a vote because I have a lot of
dog lovers in my audience don't love to cast a
couple of vote or two.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Yeah, so they can go to Boston Seaport dot x
y z and vote online. And the polls are open
until the thirtieth. So we'd love to see your vote
to let you pick the first inaugural dog mayor of
the seaport.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
It's super exciting.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
So Boston Seaport dot x y Z slash dog right, Okay,
that'll that'll get you there for sure. You also can
find pictures of each of these wonderful looking dogs at
that website. I assume not that not that people are
going to vote just on the looks of the dog.
(07:22):
I mean, I'm sure there's going to be some other
considerations involved here.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Well, in election for dog mayor just voting on cuteness,
it makes sense to us.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, maybe if we could get some cute presidential candidates
that might that might make it make it a little easier. Well,
this is fine, Yeah, how did you come up with
this idea? And what's the genesis of the idea? I
think Look, I would vote for a dog from mayor
in most cities and Massachusetts if I had a chance,
to be honest with you. I mean, the dogs would
do less harm than a lot of the politicians. So
(07:54):
that's my own personal bias. How did you how did
you come up with this idea and put it, you know,
in action.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Well, if you've ever been to the seaport, you'll see
dogs everywhere. They're a huge part of the community. There's
practically a line outside the dog store Polka.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Dog every day.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
So we just really wanted to embrace that and give
the neighborhood a four leg and mascot.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
No I have been to the seaport. The seaport For
those who haven't been is an amazing place in terms
of it seems like every time I go down there,
there's five or six more high rise buildings that have
sprung up. I mean, it's it's it's a real credit
to both Mayor Menino and Mayor Walsh. Mayor Menino, I
think who really had the idea of turning those of
(08:38):
us who are old enough and have been around long enough.
The seaport used to be just a bunch of empty
parking lots. I don't know if you're that old or
been here that long clear, but before and after pictures
of the seaport are just amazing. And Marty Walsh, you know,
basically built the seaport on the idea of Mayor Menino.
So two great mayors have you know, added an entire
(09:01):
neighborhood to Boston right on the water. Absolutely beautiful. And
I think that you're with a company called WS Development.
I assume that you folks are very much involved in
that construction process over time.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Absolutely, a lot of the construction and a lot of
the community building too. So we're hoping the dog Mayor
isn't afraid of crowds, because we love to have him
at the tree lighting that we have the holiday market
and all the other neighborhood events.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Well sure, I mean, look, there are going to be
some duties. It's not just all fun and games. I mean,
any mayor are going to have to get him around
to some meet and greets and he has to know
people in the neighborhood. And I think it's a great idea.
Thanks so much for joining us tonight. Again, let me
give people an opportunity. We're going to get some votes
in here Boston Sport dot xyz slash bark the Vote
(09:50):
twenty twenty four. Great job, Claire appreciated. This should be
a dog mayor for every neighborhood in Boston, and maybe
you're going to start a trend. So congratulations for making
outside the box great. Great job.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Thanks so much, Claire Kill Colin.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
The associate director of Culture and Experience, And what is
more cultural than a dog at WS Development. When you're
down the seaport, you'll be able to say sometime later
this month that there's a dog mayor. I think the
community will be well served when we come back. We're
going to talk about the loss of manufacturing jobs in
of all places, Massachusetts. We got some work to do
(10:29):
and We're going to talk with Steph Sallas and Axios
Boston reporter right after this break. My name is Dan Ray.
This is Nightside. To listen to WBZ, Boston's News Radio
ten thirty and your am dial. You, of course always
can just download the iHeart app and you can listen
to WBZ twenty four to seven, three hundred and sixty
five days a year. You can check out any of
(10:51):
the interviews we do on Nightside on Nightside on demand
as well, So please become part of the BZ family.
We're a growing family a long time, but we always
welcome new listeners at anytime during the day. My name's
Dan Ray. We'll be back right after this.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Now back to Dan Ray Live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Want to welcome Axio's Boston reporter Steph Solice. Steph, welcome
to night Time. How are you?
Speaker 6 (11:23):
Thank you very much, I'm good. How are you? Dan?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Excellent? One of my producers noticed the story that you wrote.
It's a tough story. Basically, it's saying that across the
country in many areas, not uniformally, but in many areas,
manufacturing jobs are back, except in states like Massachusetts. When
you say states like Massachusetts, are you talking about states
(11:46):
here in the northeast or what do you mean? Like,
what other states do you group in the Massachusetts category
that are falling behind and catching up on manufacturing jobs.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
Merrily, higher cost states that are either in the Northeast
or certain other pockets. You've got some geographical outliers, parts
of the Roust Belt. You've got Washington State and Oregon, Virginia,
but really like a lot of states where you have
(12:22):
a higher cost of living or a hard time getting workers.
It's it's where they're seeing the biggest hit.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah. Now, I guess your report is based on analysis
of government data from an organization called the Economic Innovation
Group EIG. Is that correct? It's a centrist think tank.
So this is not a group that has a political
bias and is trying to take numbers and crunch him
in such a way that makes one party or the
(12:51):
other party look good. This is a this is a
pretty objective analysis. It sounds to me like what your
report is telling us.
Speaker 7 (12:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (13:00):
Yeah, And there's a lot of good news in that
report for manufacturing as a whole.
Speaker 7 (13:04):
They did note that this is the.
Speaker 6 (13:07):
First time in fifty years that the national manufacturing industry
has recovered all the jobs lost during a recession. They've
also noted nationally, at least overall, that manufacturing jobs have
rebounded to pre pandemic levels, you know, going into that
(13:27):
more detail. The problem is, as you mentioned earlier, it's
not uniform, and so you have just a handful of
states that account for the majority of the job growth.
In Massachusetts is definitely not one of them.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Yeah, essentially, I think you identified five states that accounts
for two thirds of the job growth at Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona,
and Utah and those are some you know, classic sun
belt states. I can't describe any better than that. Massachusetts, though,
(14:03):
has lost between twenty nineteen and twenty twenty three seven
thousand manufacturing jobs. This is a problem because when you
start losing manufacturing jobs, you lose businesses. It's an indication
that you're losing businesses, and eventually you lose population, which
takes away every ten years they readjust the number of
(14:27):
seats in Congress, not the Senate seats, but the House seats.
What can Massachusetts do to turn this around? Or does
your article does your analysis get to that what can
we do to make this better?
Speaker 6 (14:40):
So the state is doing a couple of things, so
are business organizations. Just starting with the Healing administration, they
are issuing grants, they're really focusing on building talent pipelines
and starting at the middle and high school level. And
the reason that's important in because you if you wait
(15:03):
until people are adult age, they're going to have much
more time they need to spend either going to get
certain apprenticeships or other training when they're doing it right
out of high school. Another thing that's worth keeping in mind,
a couple of nuances here.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Interrupted for a second. I'm assuming when you say building
pipelines for school children, but you're talking about building schools
that are voke tech oriented schools for kids who may
not be people who are looking forward to going to
college and studying sociology but like to work with their hands,
or you know, have an aptitude and mechanical aptitude that
can actually provide people with a great career and a
(15:49):
great lifetime income. Am I right or wrong? Yes?
Speaker 6 (15:52):
But it's actually a mix. Yes, So yes, it could
include mechanics, it could include people going into entry level jobs,
but it also includes more mathematically and science and clined
students who want to go into robotics, into engineering, into
creating semiconductors, three D printing things of that sort, and
(16:14):
building jobs that require sometimes a certificate, sometimes a college
degree that you can already start getting in high school.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, you know the thing is that one
of the things I have learned over my lifetime is
that I wish I had I went to a more
classical high school, Boston Latin School, which was a great school,
went to college and to law school, and obviously have
worked worked as a with my mind and my voice
(16:43):
doing interviews for a long time in television and radio.
But tell you, when you need a plumber, when you
need an electrician, when you need h h Vac person
and a conditioning has gone out in the summertime, you
got to pay through the nose. Those are great jobs.
And I think for a long time in this country,
(17:06):
we didn't respect those jobs, and we look down on
those people who were doing those jobs. And I think
it's for us to all of us to get a
real attitude adjustment and realize how valuable the auto mechanic
is in your life. Because if the auto mechanic doesn't
put your car back on the road. You don't go
to work, and I have learned that over my lifetime,
and I just wish the politicians would understand that a
(17:28):
little bit better. And maybe your article in Axios Boston
will shake some people up and make them look at
the world a little differently. I really appreciate this article.
It was well written, well researched. We need more more
stories like this and love to have you back as
you continue develop your career as a writer and as
(17:48):
an analyst. I really appreciate you taking the time tonight, Steph.
Thank you so much. Steph Salise, Axio's Boston reporter.
Speaker 6 (17:55):
Thanks Dan, talk to you again.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I hope we came back on a talk with Norfolk
Dounty Sheriff Patrick McDermott. He's got a couple of programs
going on to help veterans. Okay again, some veterans sadly
end up in the criminal justice system. There are veterans projects,
particularly one in which that I'm someone involved within Minnesota,
(18:18):
in the state of Minnesota, to try to make give
bret veterans not necessarily a break, but allow them to
be seen a little differently. And this is this is
not that program, but This is another program that Sheriff
Patrick McDonough of Norfolk County will explain to us on
the other side of the break right after the news
at the bottom of the hour Here on a Wednesday
(18:39):
night on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Well, I want to welcome Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott.
Norfolk County Sheriff McDermott, how are you tonight.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
I'm doing fantastic, Dan, Thanks for having me back again.
Appreciate it well.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Love to have you back whenever. And I know that
you have a soft spot in your heart for our veterans,
our heroes who have come home, and you're trying to
do whatever you can along with I guess Braintreem mayor
Aaron Joyce amongst others. Tell us what's happening on Saturday
November ninth, that's what four days after the election, so
(19:22):
we're talking about a little over two weeks away. You
have a program called House to House for Heroes. Tell
us about it.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Yeah, Dan, this is something near and dear to my
heart as the son of a World War two veteran
and growing up in a household that really put veterans
on a pedestal and making sure that Veterans Day was
always celebrated in my household and then threw up my family.
So this is a way for me and my staff,
as well as hundreds of volunteers to do some veterans outreach.
(19:49):
On Saturday, November ninth in Braintree, we rolled this program
out in Quinsy to a rounding success. Over three thousand
veteran households were visited by volunteers and so we're rolling
this out consistently throughout Norfolk County and Braintree is our
next opportunity. So on that Saturday, November ninth, we have
thirteen hundred Braintree veterans that we want to share some
(20:12):
vital information about important resources and especially the new benefits
that are available to veterans and things sparring, you know,
going from health benefits, housing benefits, mental health counseling. You know,
obviously financial benefits that are available and especially those that
just recently came online with the signing of the Heroes
(20:34):
Act by the Heally Driscoll administration of the Legislature this
past August. So we're going to be rolling out a
packet of information. We're going to go door to door
to all the households in Braintree for these veterans who
have served and given us so much of their service
over the course of their career, in their life, and
this is just a small token of our appreciation to
(20:56):
make sure they know of the services that they can
avail them to benefit their life and moving forward.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Now, have you compiled the list? Do you know what
houses you're hitting or are you hitting every house in
the community to try to find veterans. Veterans traditionally have
not been people. You know. They have done their time,
you know, done their service. They come home and they
tend most tend to melt into the community and live
(21:25):
a good in productive life like our dad did as
a World War Two veteran. My dad was also a
World War Two veteran. So when you talk about Veterans
Day in your home, it was the same way in
our home growing up. But so my question is there
were some veterans who you almost got to go and say, hey,
look there's some help here for you, and we're not
giving you anything.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
You've earned this, they've earned it, and we've and we've
been able to partner with the local Veterans Service officers
in every town, and brain Tree has been very cooperative.
We've also got a lot of help from the town
clerk through the voting roles. A lot of times people
will identify as a veteran through the census documents, so
(22:06):
we've been able to compile those lists through public records
as well as through voluntary addresses that have been given
to us from the veterans themselves. So and we want
to make sure we reach everybody, so certainly our list
is not exhaustive. And so if anybody hears this message
and would like a packet delivered to them, they can
contact their local Veterans Service agent in their town, and
(22:29):
this particular on town of brain Tree, and we'll make
sure they get a packet out to them. But you're right,
veterans tend to come back from their service and do
kind of melt right into the community, and it's very
rare we can get them to talk or tell stories,
and that's why I make a point to make my
rounds around to all the local dav halls the American
legions to really try to get the word out about
(22:51):
some of the benefits that these veterans have earned and
they deserve to hear about them, and a lot of them,
especially when we roll this out in Quinsy, they were
very appreciative and the big thing was a lot of
these programs they didn't know about, so we want to
make sure that they know about them.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Now, do you need more people on November ninth? And
do you have to live in Braintreet to be a volunteer?
Would you need some more help? What can we do
to help you?
Speaker 5 (23:20):
We welcome all volunteers and we find that the volunteers
get so much out of this. So we've reached out
to the local community organizations and Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts,
you know, sports groups. But every citizen is invited to
come to Braintree to participate in this and so we
have an online sign up. You can actually find that
sign up on all of our social media Facebook, Instagram,
(23:43):
or x formerly known as Twitter, and our handle for
all of those is at Norfolk Sheriff or if you
want to send us an email, you can send us
an email at info at Norfolk SHERIFFMA dot org and
we will send you a link that you register for
that event. So all volunteers are welcome. We're inviting veterans
(24:04):
and the volunteers back to our brain Republic Safety campus
after the event for a little cookout and celebration.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
That's great. I wish you the best of luck. Is
this a rain or shine event? Obviously as we get
into November, you know you might just have the bad
luck of having a rainy weekend. Uh is this on?
This like a football game? Is not a baseball game?
But they get canceled or does it go?
Speaker 5 (24:30):
No doubt about it. We take our lessons from our veterans.
You get up and you do the job. Rain or shine, snow,
sleep or hopefully we're praying for a little sunshine that day.
But yes, this event goes on no matter what the
weather circumstances are.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
That's great. How's everything going down at your House of Correction? There?
You got the big one right in the middle of
one twenty eighth, the Norfolk House of.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
Correction, the only prison in the country that is located
in the middle of federal highway system. So but everything
has gone pretty well. I've been sheriff now for four
years since COVID, our numbers have dropped, which is generally
a good thing. I think that, you know, with the
Massachusetts has been kind of on the forefront of decarceration
(25:15):
and focusing on you know, mental health, counseling, substance use
disorder issues. So for those that are incarcerated right now,
we're dealing with a lot of tough issues. But my focus,
at least with my administration and all of the Massachusetts
sheriffs are on the cutting edge of the concept of
re entry begins on day one, and that includes all
of our justice involved individuals. And you know, as we
(25:37):
speak about veterans, veterans also fall sadly into the criminal
justice system, and with the Trial court having their Veterans Court,
we participate with the trial court, and we also have
programs in the House of Correction that are geared towards
veterans and their re entry back into the community after
they've done their sentence. So we really focus on on
(25:58):
the better things that people have to offer, and we
hope that, you know, as we see our programs unfold,
that we'll have a lot of success. And the success
for us is a reduction in the recidivism rate people
coming circling back through the criminal justice system.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
I do some work with a couple of friends of
mine out in Minnesota who are involved in their legal community.
Minnesota and Nebraska have worked with a model veterans court program.
It's called the Veterans Defense Project. It essentially basically sets
up a court where if a veteran messes up, there's
some consideration given to the circumstances. This model legislation which
(26:37):
passed in Nebraska. It hasn't passed here, but hopefully over
time we'll get this back here so that all veterans
across the country will be treated fairly and given some
consideration for the service and what they might have been
subjected to, not only while they're in your custody, but
as they enter into the criminal justice system. Not to
(26:57):
whitewash things at all, but basically everybody need to understand
that veterans of special people, and some of them have
gone through things that none of us will imagine or
experience in our lifetime. So, as a former US Attorney
assistant US attorney, a USA out in Minneapolis has introduced
(27:18):
me to the program, and I can if you're interested,
I can put you in touch with them as well,
if that's something it would be great appealing to.
Speaker 5 (27:24):
You, Okay, and I I have the honor of service
the president elect of the Massachusetts Sheriff's Association. Our executive
director is the former director out in Minnesota. So it
would be fitting that we move forward and.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Mentioned mentioned to you your pal, Hank Say he's assistant US.
Wasn't assistant US attorney, He's a law profit out there
in Minnesota. Hank Shehay. Pretty easy to remember and a
great and a great Yay Norfolk.
Speaker 5 (27:51):
County Sheriff to carry that in the legislative session.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah, say hi to my pal and former colleague. You're
a pr guy, Peter Wilson. You've got a good guy there.
We'll talk soon.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
You got it, absolutely, Thanks Dan, Thanks.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Thanks so much, Talk you soon. All Right, we've got
one more interview coming up, and we're going to talk
about hospice, home Care Alliance of Massachusetts and Medicare. Medicare
enrollment is now open, so you really want to listen,
and we may bring this next guest back at some
(28:24):
point later on this month. Answer your Medicare questions, but
stick with us. We'll get you. We'll get you some
information that you very well might need, and then we're
going to go to a couple of topics. At least
I'm going to talk about question three in the ballot
about ride SHARE's drive right share driver's ability to unionize.
And we're also going to talk with a Massachusetts attorney
(28:44):
just back from Israel. He's going to tell us what's
going on on the ground over there as that in
that fighting intensifies. Back on night Side right after this.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Now back to Dan Way Live from the Window World,
Nice Sight Studios, Many Besy New Twvidio.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Well, I think most of you know that the Medicare
open enrollment period has kicked off on October fifteenth, or
about eight days into that. Into that process with me
is Renee mckinnis. She's the chair of the Home Care
Alliance of Massachusetts as well as the CEO of the
nonprofit envy NA and Hospice. So let's first of all, Renee,
(29:23):
let's start off with an explanation. Explanation of what is
the Homecare Alliance of Massachusetts. And then I want to
know what envy NA and Hospice does tell us about
Home Care Alliance Massachusetts. Who do they serve? Who do
you say?
Speaker 7 (29:36):
Absolutely so, that's an association that serves the state of
Massachusetts for all many home care and hospice organizations, but
also private duty home care, so private care. Really they're
really an advocacy group, an association that connects us.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
So it's a business association.
Speaker 7 (29:59):
I assume it's you know, it's yes, it is. It's
a non yep, it is. And you know they work
very closely with the state House and the legislators and
present bills and help to advocate for home care and
hospice organizations.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
So, and what is NVNA that acronym. I'm not familiar
with that acronym. It's ENVY DNA in hospice. What does
that stand for?
Speaker 5 (30:24):
Right?
Speaker 7 (30:24):
Not many people are So it's nor Well Visiting Yourse
Association in hospice. But we do cover twenty seven towns,
so it's not just normal south of Boston.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Right, Okay, Now, medicare open enrollment. What do people need
to know? We know first of all that it is
already underway. If you are a medical if you're on
one of these programs, do you have to sign up
again every year? Or is it? Is it less complicated
than that?
Speaker 6 (30:52):
Oh?
Speaker 7 (30:53):
You know what it really isn't I love?
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Oh, I here you go ahead.
Speaker 7 (30:59):
It's super complicated actually, And so people get very confused,
and we'd like to I'm just trying to educate people
truly to to have their options and to decide for themselves.
I'm not telling people what to decide, but there are
differences between Medicare and Medicare advantage or you know, many
(31:21):
people call it many different things, right, so they'll talk
about Medicare with a supplement plan or Medicare.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Advance of some words we can't use on the radio.
Speaker 7 (31:31):
Right exactly exactly, So you know, it really important for us,
really in my association Home Care Alliance, but also for
all my colleagues out there across the nation, is that
it's a real struggle working with Medicare advantage. So for
patients that are signing up for these plans, they need
(31:52):
to understand that they may have access to care concerns,
so particular when they travel. But many organizations are not
taking some of these plans because the reimbursement for home
health can be fifty to sixty percent below our direct cost.
(32:13):
Now does the consumer know or understand that, No, But
what they need to know is that could be access
to care concerns. So when they leave the hospital they
want to go to a particular rehab they want to
go to a particular skilled nursing facility for rehab or
a home care. They may have limited access depending on
(32:33):
the network and which they're in and which physicians, which hospitals,
which home cares will take their insurance. Prior authorizations are
very cumbersome and they can delay you in the hospital
waiting for a post acute setting.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Well, you know what's frustrating. What is frustrating about this
is Medicare is a program that people paid into during
their life span.
Speaker 7 (33:00):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Medicaid is different, okay, But Medicare is a program that
people paid into and the government sold it as a
program as something that people can rely on. And it
seems to me that there's that some of the circumstances
have changed so that it makes it more difficult one
for people to understand it and to access the program.
(33:21):
And it sounds like you're trying to clarify that for people,
which which my hat's off to you on that one.
Speaker 7 (33:28):
Well, and I think that you know, when you're looking
at these programs, really understand what you're signing up for.
And it may look cheaper, the monthly premium may look
better to you, and it probably is but when you
really need care, you may want to have choice, right,
so choice of your specialty position, choice of where you
(33:49):
want to go for surgery, choice of where you want
to go for rehab, and you may not have that
access or option, so it does limit your choice. You
can also have a lot of out of pocket costs
if you're out of network, So if you choose to
go out of network. So, Dan, we've gotten many calls
at my organization and we started this program, a navigator
(34:10):
program really to help people navigate healthcare in general. And
we get a lot of calls from people I don't
understand I can't go to this particular rehab. They tell
me I have to go there, and I don't want
to go there, and you know, we try to educate
them and we say, you know, what is your insurance, Well,
it's a Medicare advantage plan and there's restrictions around that.
But you have to wait for another year until open
(34:33):
enrollment to switch back to Medicare with a supplemental plan.
And yes, the premiums are more expensive monthly, but you
really need to weigh out the cost benefit and really
educate yourself before you sign out.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
This is so frustrating. It's so frustrating to me that
programs like this, which people paid for, paid for, they
have to now almost big and negotiate to get the
government said, hey, you sign up this program. I remember
when Medicaid was sold. And conversely, don't want to put
you in the middle of a political debate here. But conversely,
we got people coming across the border who are taking
(35:10):
care of with hotel rooms, meals, ebt cards, whatever you want.
And yet you know, older Americans who were looking for
just a little bit of help are frustrated and denied
that help, and it is infuriating. It's absolutely infuriating.
Speaker 7 (35:25):
The good news is that Medicare it started to recognize
that because they're giving their Medicare dollars to a managed
care plan, that actually it's not saving Medicare money, right,
So it's not saving the government money and actually possibly
(35:46):
people aren't getting the access to care they need. So
some of these plans are backing down because their margins
aren't what they were. Because Medicare is really recognizing an
understanding it really has to be about the patient right
and the care. So it has to be patient centered
care and it can't.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Be of course, it should be the patient. How can
people get in touch with you to get a little
bit of a better understanding. Is there a website we
can send people to. What is it?
Speaker 7 (36:15):
Yep, NVNA dot org and my they can email me
directly at our MCI n ees at ENVNA dot org.
So that's my email. Happy to answer any questions or
walk them through anything. I'm not, as I said, Dan,
(36:37):
I'm not telling people what to choose. I'm just hoping
that eruptions.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
That's that's a great service you're performing. And again, the
easiest website, folks is n v NA simple as that
stands for No Well Visiting Nurses Association so n b
n A. But it serves five thousand people in twenty
seven self, so commune. And if you're not in the
South Shore, hopefully you can find a similar type group
(37:04):
in your in your area. Renee, thank you very much
for what you do.
Speaker 7 (37:09):
It's it's well thank you.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Anytime we can give you some help, you let us know.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 7 (37:15):
Okay, I appreciate it. Thank you very welcome.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
Thanks. Okay. So that takes her a nightside news update
coming up on the other side, we're going to talk
take another shot in Massachusetts ballot question three, and we
will talk with Roxanna Rivera, she's coach here of the
Yes and Three coalition. We spoke with someone last night
who was no. One the question, and feel free you
can ask whatever questions you want. Later, we're going to
(37:38):
talk about what is going on in Israel from someone
who was in the ground there earlier this month for
an extended period of time. Boston attorney Jason Greenburg back
on Nightside right after this
It's night Side with Dan Ray on WBZY, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
All right, thanks very much, Nicole, as we start a
Wednesday night edition of night Side. It is, of course
the middle of the work week, the work week for
all of us. I'm here every Monday through Friday night
from eight until midnight, although it will be off Tomorrow night,
and Morgan White will join us tomorrow evening, So please
(00:28):
be good to Morgan. I'm sure he will put together
a very interesting show, different type guests and just a
little personal matter that I had to deal with. I'm
dealing with and be back on Friday. And I remind
you that on Friday, we're going to do our last
pre election presidential poll. We will do that on Friday
night during the eleven o'clock hour, and anyone who was
(00:49):
called in during the week is still eligible to cast
a vote on Friday night. It's down to two candidates, obviously,
the vice president, Vice President Harris, former President Trump and
love to get a sense, we've done this now every
last twentieth hour of the week, beginning in late March, April, May, June, July, August, September,
(01:12):
and now October will be our eighth snap poll, and
we'll look back and see how things have progressed. Obviously,
the people that you're voting for have changed over the months,
but we do know who will be finally on the
ballot on November fifth, and you have an opportunity to
cast a vote on the radio, but also, of course
you can cast one in person, by the mail or
(01:35):
early at your local polling place, depending upon which stage
you lived in. My name again is Dan ra I
am the host. We have both Rob and Dan double
producing tonight, which great always makes a little bit more
comfortable for them and for me. And we have four
really interesting guests that we're going to talk to, and
we're going to get to a couple of topics. You're
gonna give you the other side of that question three,
(01:57):
The yes on question three coming up at nine o'clock,
ten o'clock when I talk with attorney Jason Greenberg, who
was just back from Israel. Jason actually went was in
Israel a year ago on October seventh. I think you've
met him. He's been on our show a couple of times,
and he's going to come back with what it was
like during the last kind of crazy hecnic couple of
weeks in Israel as a lot of rockets were flying
(02:20):
and things were occurring, and the world was heating up
over there. But let's get first off to the night
side news update. Our first guest brings us news of
the election of the first ever dog mayor in the
Seaport District of Boston. I want to introduce Claire Kilcullins.
(02:41):
She's the associate director of Culture and Experience at WS Development. Claire,
welcome tonight's side.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
I'm excited to talk about a bunch of dogs, the
best topic.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yeah, well I love dogs too. You have a bark
the vote coming up, and how how a buzz with
excitement the residents of the Seaport district over this this
very important election. Perhaps not as important as November fifth
in the scheme of big things, but certainly from the
from the seaports perspective, this is a very critical choice.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Yeah, certainly not as important, but it's definitely gotten people excited.
We had one hundred and eighty one dogs entered in
the first round and we're down to five.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Now for those of your primary.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
How did you how did you You had one hundred
and eighty five dogs, How did you whittle that down
to five. Did you have a primary?
Speaker 3 (03:35):
We had?
Speaker 4 (03:36):
We have the public vote, So in the first round
we had over forty thousand votes, and we've got until
the thirtieth in this next pooch primary round, and we've
already gotten forty thousand. So it's it's certainly been been
really exciting to see this many people pay attention and really.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Well ask I got to ask this, where are those
votes coming from? And is this Hey to put it
this way, but forty thousand votes, it sounds like a
lot of votes. How did you collect the votes? Did
you have I guess you know, ballot boxes and a
number of the businesses down in the seaport, And then
(04:15):
I mean, gee, you should you should run I think
the Comal Wealth of Massachusetts election. If you could do
a pooch primary with that many votes, I'd put you
in charge of elections in Massachusetts.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
No one gets people out to vote more than a
cute dog. So the first we've run everything through our
website Boston Sport dot xyz. So if you're listening to
make sure to vote, you have until the thirtieth. In
the first round, we let people vote as much as
they want and then we're tightening it up for this round,
so you can go, okay, we've got great coverage.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Okay, so now there were no lawsuits here from the
dogs who were eked out. There was no concern about
multiple votes. I could vote us early and often as
you want. Sound like a Chicago primer.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
It's just a fun neighborhood event. So it's really been
amazing scene.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
Ever, I trust me, I'm not treating it like the
presidential election. This is only a mayoral election.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Only only a yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah, No, there cases filed, no challenges to the outcome
filed by any of the the unsuccessful dogs or their
unsuccessful owners. So you have five dogs in the final uh,
and we won't identify all of them by name, but
you have a five year old adventure loving doodle love doodles.
(05:40):
You an eight and a half month old Golden Retriever puppy.
Let me tell you that that's gonna he's that? Is
that he or she?
Speaker 3 (05:48):
I'm not sure that's a het. Yeah, he's a classic American.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Golden to an eighteen month old Golden doodle that's going
to be a good one to a year old Golden Retriever.
So you may have the Golden retriever vote split. That's
a factor that I hope people have taken into into account.
A one year old you you also have a two
year old Malta pool. This is great.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
The only towld dog of a bunch, but.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
The oldest dog a great. Yeah, the oldest dog of
the bunch in human years, I guess is fourteen when
you think about it. So how can anyone and so
this is not there's no you don't have to be
a resident of the seaport now, So we.
Speaker 3 (06:37):
Have now knocked about.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
To cast a vote because I have a lot of
dog lovers in my audience don't love to cast a
couple of vote or two.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
Yeah, so they can go to Boston Seaport dot x
y z and vote online. And the polls are open
until the thirtieth. So we'd love to see your vote
to let you pick the first inaugural dog mayor of
the seaport.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
It's super exciting.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
So Boston Seaport dot x y Z slash dog right, Okay,
that'll that'll get you there for sure. You also can
find pictures of each of these wonderful looking dogs at
that website. I assume not that not that people are
going to vote just on the looks of the dog.
(07:22):
I mean, I'm sure there's going to be some other
considerations involved here.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Well, in election for dog mayor just voting on cuteness,
it makes sense to us.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, maybe if we could get some cute presidential candidates
that might that might make it make it a little easier. Well,
this is fine, Yeah, how did you come up with
this idea? And what's the genesis of the idea? I
think Look, I would vote for a dog from mayor
in most cities and Massachusetts if I had a chance,
to be honest with you. I mean, the dogs would
do less harm than a lot of the politicians. So
(07:54):
that's my own personal bias. How did you how did
you come up with this idea and put it, you know,
in action.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Well, if you've ever been to the seaport, you'll see
dogs everywhere. They're a huge part of the community. There's
practically a line outside the dog store Polka.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Dog every day.
Speaker 4 (08:10):
So we just really wanted to embrace that and give
the neighborhood a four leg and mascot.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
No I have been to the seaport. The seaport For
those who haven't been is an amazing place in terms
of it seems like every time I go down there,
there's five or six more high rise buildings that have
sprung up. I mean, it's it's it's a real credit
to both Mayor Menino and Mayor Walsh. Mayor Menino, I
think who really had the idea of turning those of
(08:38):
us who are old enough and have been around long enough.
The seaport used to be just a bunch of empty
parking lots. I don't know if you're that old or
been here that long clear, but before and after pictures
of the seaport are just amazing. And Marty Walsh, you know,
basically built the seaport on the idea of Mayor Menino.
So two great mayors have you know, added an entire
(09:01):
neighborhood to Boston right on the water. Absolutely beautiful. And
I think that you're with a company called WS Development.
I assume that you folks are very much involved in
that construction process over time.
Speaker 5 (09:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Absolutely, a lot of the construction and a lot of
the community building too. So we're hoping the dog Mayor
isn't afraid of crowds, because we love to have him
at the tree lighting that we have the holiday market
and all the other neighborhood events.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Well sure, I mean, look, there are going to be
some duties. It's not just all fun and games. I mean,
any mayor are going to have to get him around
to some meet and greets and he has to know
people in the neighborhood. And I think it's a great idea.
Thanks so much for joining us tonight. Again, let me
give people an opportunity. We're going to get some votes
in here Boston Sport dot xyz slash bark the Vote
(09:50):
twenty twenty four. Great job, Claire appreciated. This should be
a dog mayor for every neighborhood in Boston, and maybe
you're going to start a trend. So congratulations for making
outside the box great. Great job.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Thanks so much, Claire Kill Colin.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
The associate director of Culture and Experience, And what is
more cultural than a dog at WS Development. When you're
down the seaport, you'll be able to say sometime later
this month that there's a dog mayor. I think the
community will be well served when we come back. We're
going to talk about the loss of manufacturing jobs in
of all places, Massachusetts. We got some work to do
(10:29):
and We're going to talk with Steph Sallas and Axios
Boston reporter right after this break. My name is Dan Ray.
This is Nightside. To listen to WBZ, Boston's News Radio
ten thirty and your am dial. You, of course always
can just download the iHeart app and you can listen
to WBZ twenty four to seven, three hundred and sixty
five days a year. You can check out any of
(10:51):
the interviews we do on Nightside on Nightside on demand
as well, So please become part of the BZ family.
We're a growing family a long time, but we always
welcome new listeners at anytime during the day. My name's
Dan Ray. We'll be back right after this.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Now back to Dan Ray Live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
Want to welcome Axio's Boston reporter Steph Solice. Steph, welcome
to night Time. How are you?
Speaker 6 (11:23):
Thank you very much, I'm good. How are you? Dan?
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Excellent? One of my producers noticed the story that you wrote.
It's a tough story. Basically, it's saying that across the
country in many areas, not uniformally, but in many areas,
manufacturing jobs are back, except in states like Massachusetts. When
you say states like Massachusetts, are you talking about states
(11:46):
here in the northeast or what do you mean? Like,
what other states do you group in the Massachusetts category
that are falling behind and catching up on manufacturing jobs.
Speaker 6 (12:00):
Merrily, higher cost states that are either in the Northeast
or certain other pockets. You've got some geographical outliers, parts
of the Roust Belt. You've got Washington State and Oregon, Virginia,
but really like a lot of states where you have
(12:22):
a higher cost of living or a hard time getting workers.
It's it's where they're seeing the biggest hit.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Yeah. Now, I guess your report is based on analysis
of government data from an organization called the Economic Innovation
Group EIG. Is that correct? It's a centrist think tank.
So this is not a group that has a political
bias and is trying to take numbers and crunch him
in such a way that makes one party or the
(12:51):
other party look good. This is a this is a
pretty objective analysis. It sounds to me like what your
report is telling us.
Speaker 7 (12:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (13:00):
Yeah, And there's a lot of good news in that
report for manufacturing as a whole.
Speaker 7 (13:04):
They did note that this is the.
Speaker 6 (13:07):
First time in fifty years that the national manufacturing industry
has recovered all the jobs lost during a recession. They've
also noted nationally, at least overall, that manufacturing jobs have
rebounded to pre pandemic levels, you know, going into that
(13:27):
more detail. The problem is, as you mentioned earlier, it's
not uniform, and so you have just a handful of
states that account for the majority of the job growth.
In Massachusetts is definitely not one of them.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Yeah, essentially, I think you identified five states that accounts
for two thirds of the job growth at Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona,
and Utah and those are some you know, classic sun
belt states. I can't describe any better than that. Massachusetts, though,
(14:03):
has lost between twenty nineteen and twenty twenty three seven
thousand manufacturing jobs. This is a problem because when you
start losing manufacturing jobs, you lose businesses. It's an indication
that you're losing businesses, and eventually you lose population, which
takes away every ten years they readjust the number of
(14:27):
seats in Congress, not the Senate seats, but the House seats.
What can Massachusetts do to turn this around? Or does
your article does your analysis get to that what can
we do to make this better?
Speaker 6 (14:40):
So the state is doing a couple of things, so
are business organizations. Just starting with the Healing administration, they
are issuing grants, they're really focusing on building talent pipelines
and starting at the middle and high school level. And
the reason that's important in because you if you wait
(15:03):
until people are adult age, they're going to have much
more time they need to spend either going to get
certain apprenticeships or other training when they're doing it right
out of high school. Another thing that's worth keeping in mind,
a couple of nuances here.
Speaker 2 (15:24):
Interrupted for a second. I'm assuming when you say building
pipelines for school children, but you're talking about building schools
that are voke tech oriented schools for kids who may
not be people who are looking forward to going to
college and studying sociology but like to work with their hands,
or you know, have an aptitude and mechanical aptitude that
can actually provide people with a great career and a
(15:49):
great lifetime income. Am I right or wrong? Yes?
Speaker 6 (15:52):
But it's actually a mix. Yes, So yes, it could
include mechanics, it could include people going into entry level jobs,
but it also includes more mathematically and science and clined
students who want to go into robotics, into engineering, into
creating semiconductors, three D printing things of that sort, and
(16:14):
building jobs that require sometimes a certificate, sometimes a college
degree that you can already start getting in high school.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Yeah. Yeah, Well, you know the thing is that one
of the things I have learned over my lifetime is
that I wish I had I went to a more
classical high school, Boston Latin School, which was a great school,
went to college and to law school, and obviously have
worked worked as a with my mind and my voice
(16:43):
doing interviews for a long time in television and radio.
But tell you, when you need a plumber, when you
need an electrician, when you need h h Vac person
and a conditioning has gone out in the summertime, you
got to pay through the nose. Those are great jobs.
And I think for a long time in this country,
(17:06):
we didn't respect those jobs, and we look down on
those people who were doing those jobs. And I think
it's for us to all of us to get a
real attitude adjustment and realize how valuable the auto mechanic
is in your life. Because if the auto mechanic doesn't
put your car back on the road. You don't go
to work, and I have learned that over my lifetime,
and I just wish the politicians would understand that a
(17:28):
little bit better. And maybe your article in Axios Boston
will shake some people up and make them look at
the world a little differently. I really appreciate this article.
It was well written, well researched. We need more more
stories like this and love to have you back as
you continue develop your career as a writer and as
(17:48):
an analyst. I really appreciate you taking the time tonight, Steph.
Thank you so much. Steph Salise, Axio's Boston reporter.
Speaker 6 (17:55):
Thanks Dan, talk to you again.
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I hope we came back on a talk with Norfolk
Dounty Sheriff Patrick McDermott. He's got a couple of programs
going on to help veterans. Okay again, some veterans sadly
end up in the criminal justice system. There are veterans projects,
particularly one in which that I'm someone involved within Minnesota,
(18:18):
in the state of Minnesota, to try to make give
bret veterans not necessarily a break, but allow them to
be seen a little differently. And this is this is
not that program, but This is another program that Sheriff
Patrick McDonough of Norfolk County will explain to us on
the other side of the break right after the news
at the bottom of the hour Here on a Wednesday
(18:39):
night on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
Well, I want to welcome Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott.
Norfolk County Sheriff McDermott, how are you tonight.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
I'm doing fantastic, Dan, Thanks for having me back again.
Appreciate it well.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
Love to have you back whenever. And I know that
you have a soft spot in your heart for our veterans,
our heroes who have come home, and you're trying to
do whatever you can along with I guess Braintreem mayor
Aaron Joyce amongst others. Tell us what's happening on Saturday
November ninth, that's what four days after the election, so
(19:22):
we're talking about a little over two weeks away. You
have a program called House to House for Heroes. Tell
us about it.
Speaker 5 (19:28):
Yeah, Dan, this is something near and dear to my
heart as the son of a World War two veteran
and growing up in a household that really put veterans
on a pedestal and making sure that Veterans Day was
always celebrated in my household and then threw up my family.
So this is a way for me and my staff,
as well as hundreds of volunteers to do some veterans outreach.
(19:49):
On Saturday, November ninth in Braintree, we rolled this program
out in Quinsy to a rounding success. Over three thousand
veteran households were visited by volunteers and so we're rolling
this out consistently throughout Norfolk County and Braintree is our
next opportunity. So on that Saturday, November ninth, we have
thirteen hundred Braintree veterans that we want to share some
(20:12):
vital information about important resources and especially the new benefits
that are available to veterans and things sparring, you know,
going from health benefits, housing benefits, mental health counseling. You know,
obviously financial benefits that are available and especially those that
just recently came online with the signing of the Heroes
(20:34):
Act by the Heally Driscoll administration of the Legislature this
past August. So we're going to be rolling out a
packet of information. We're going to go door to door
to all the households in Braintree for these veterans who
have served and given us so much of their service
over the course of their career, in their life, and
this is just a small token of our appreciation to
(20:56):
make sure they know of the services that they can
avail them to benefit their life and moving forward.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Now, have you compiled the list? Do you know what
houses you're hitting or are you hitting every house in
the community to try to find veterans. Veterans traditionally have
not been people. You know. They have done their time,
you know, done their service. They come home and they
tend most tend to melt into the community and live
(21:25):
a good in productive life like our dad did as
a World War Two veteran. My dad was also a
World War Two veteran. So when you talk about Veterans
Day in your home, it was the same way in
our home growing up. But so my question is there
were some veterans who you almost got to go and say, hey,
look there's some help here for you, and we're not
giving you anything.
Speaker 5 (21:44):
You've earned this, they've earned it, and we've and we've
been able to partner with the local Veterans Service officers
in every town, and brain Tree has been very cooperative.
We've also got a lot of help from the town
clerk through the voting roles. A lot of times people
will identify as a veteran through the census documents, so
(22:06):
we've been able to compile those lists through public records
as well as through voluntary addresses that have been given
to us from the veterans themselves. So and we want
to make sure we reach everybody, so certainly our list
is not exhaustive. And so if anybody hears this message
and would like a packet delivered to them, they can
contact their local Veterans Service agent in their town, and
(22:29):
this particular on town of brain Tree, and we'll make
sure they get a packet out to them. But you're right,
veterans tend to come back from their service and do
kind of melt right into the community, and it's very
rare we can get them to talk or tell stories,
and that's why I make a point to make my
rounds around to all the local dav halls the American
legions to really try to get the word out about
(22:51):
some of the benefits that these veterans have earned and
they deserve to hear about them, and a lot of them,
especially when we roll this out in Quinsy, they were
very appreciative and the big thing was a lot of
these programs they didn't know about, so we want to
make sure that they know about them.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
Now, do you need more people on November ninth? And
do you have to live in Braintreet to be a volunteer?
Would you need some more help? What can we do
to help you?
Speaker 5 (23:20):
We welcome all volunteers and we find that the volunteers
get so much out of this. So we've reached out
to the local community organizations and Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts,
you know, sports groups. But every citizen is invited to
come to Braintree to participate in this and so we
have an online sign up. You can actually find that
sign up on all of our social media Facebook, Instagram,
(23:43):
or x formerly known as Twitter, and our handle for
all of those is at Norfolk Sheriff or if you
want to send us an email, you can send us
an email at info at Norfolk SHERIFFMA dot org and
we will send you a link that you register for
that event. So all volunteers are welcome. We're inviting veterans
(24:04):
and the volunteers back to our brain Republic Safety campus
after the event for a little cookout and celebration.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
That's great. I wish you the best of luck. Is
this a rain or shine event? Obviously as we get
into November, you know you might just have the bad
luck of having a rainy weekend. Uh is this on?
This like a football game? Is not a baseball game?
But they get canceled or does it go?
Speaker 5 (24:30):
No doubt about it. We take our lessons from our veterans.
You get up and you do the job. Rain or shine, snow,
sleep or hopefully we're praying for a little sunshine that day.
But yes, this event goes on no matter what the
weather circumstances are.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
That's great. How's everything going down at your House of Correction? There?
You got the big one right in the middle of
one twenty eighth, the Norfolk House of.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
Correction, the only prison in the country that is located
in the middle of federal highway system. So but everything
has gone pretty well. I've been sheriff now for four
years since COVID, our numbers have dropped, which is generally
a good thing. I think that, you know, with the
Massachusetts has been kind of on the forefront of decarceration
(25:15):
and focusing on you know, mental health, counseling, substance use
disorder issues. So for those that are incarcerated right now,
we're dealing with a lot of tough issues. But my focus,
at least with my administration and all of the Massachusetts
sheriffs are on the cutting edge of the concept of
re entry begins on day one, and that includes all
of our justice involved individuals. And you know, as we
(25:37):
speak about veterans, veterans also fall sadly into the criminal
justice system, and with the Trial court having their Veterans Court,
we participate with the trial court, and we also have
programs in the House of Correction that are geared towards
veterans and their re entry back into the community after
they've done their sentence. So we really focus on on
(25:58):
the better things that people have to offer, and we
hope that, you know, as we see our programs unfold,
that we'll have a lot of success. And the success
for us is a reduction in the recidivism rate people
coming circling back through the criminal justice system.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
I do some work with a couple of friends of
mine out in Minnesota who are involved in their legal community.
Minnesota and Nebraska have worked with a model veterans court program.
It's called the Veterans Defense Project. It essentially basically sets
up a court where if a veteran messes up, there's
some consideration given to the circumstances. This model legislation which
(26:37):
passed in Nebraska. It hasn't passed here, but hopefully over
time we'll get this back here so that all veterans
across the country will be treated fairly and given some
consideration for the service and what they might have been
subjected to, not only while they're in your custody, but
as they enter into the criminal justice system. Not to
(26:57):
whitewash things at all, but basically everybody need to understand
that veterans of special people, and some of them have
gone through things that none of us will imagine or
experience in our lifetime. So, as a former US Attorney
assistant US attorney, a USA out in Minneapolis has introduced
(27:18):
me to the program, and I can if you're interested,
I can put you in touch with them as well,
if that's something it would be great appealing to.
Speaker 5 (27:24):
You, Okay, and I I have the honor of service
the president elect of the Massachusetts Sheriff's Association. Our executive
director is the former director out in Minnesota. So it
would be fitting that we move forward and.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
Mentioned mentioned to you your pal, Hank Say he's assistant US.
Wasn't assistant US attorney, He's a law profit out there
in Minnesota. Hank Shehay. Pretty easy to remember and a
great and a great Yay Norfolk.
Speaker 5 (27:51):
County Sheriff to carry that in the legislative session.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah, say hi to my pal and former colleague. You're
a pr guy, Peter Wilson. You've got a good guy there.
We'll talk soon.
Speaker 5 (28:01):
You got it, absolutely, Thanks Dan, Thanks.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Thanks so much, Talk you soon. All Right, we've got
one more interview coming up, and we're going to talk
about hospice, home Care Alliance of Massachusetts and Medicare. Medicare
enrollment is now open, so you really want to listen,
and we may bring this next guest back at some
(28:24):
point later on this month. Answer your Medicare questions, but
stick with us. We'll get you. We'll get you some
information that you very well might need, and then we're
going to go to a couple of topics. At least
I'm going to talk about question three in the ballot
about ride SHARE's drive right share driver's ability to unionize.
And we're also going to talk with a Massachusetts attorney
(28:44):
just back from Israel. He's going to tell us what's
going on on the ground over there as that in
that fighting intensifies. Back on night Side right after this.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Now back to Dan Way Live from the Window World,
Nice Sight Studios, Many Besy New Twvidio.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Well, I think most of you know that the Medicare
open enrollment period has kicked off on October fifteenth, or
about eight days into that. Into that process with me
is Renee mckinnis. She's the chair of the Home Care
Alliance of Massachusetts as well as the CEO of the
nonprofit envy NA and Hospice. So let's first of all, Renee,
(29:23):
let's start off with an explanation. Explanation of what is
the Homecare Alliance of Massachusetts. And then I want to
know what envy NA and Hospice does tell us about
Home Care Alliance Massachusetts. Who do they serve? Who do
you say?
Speaker 7 (29:36):
Absolutely so, that's an association that serves the state of
Massachusetts for all many home care and hospice organizations, but
also private duty home care, so private care. Really they're
really an advocacy group, an association that connects us.
Speaker 2 (29:57):
So it's a business association.
Speaker 7 (29:59):
I assume it's you know, it's yes, it is. It's
a non yep, it is. And you know they work
very closely with the state House and the legislators and
present bills and help to advocate for home care and
hospice organizations.
Speaker 5 (30:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
So, and what is NVNA that acronym. I'm not familiar
with that acronym. It's ENVY DNA in hospice. What does
that stand for?
Speaker 5 (30:24):
Right?
Speaker 7 (30:24):
Not many people are So it's nor Well Visiting Yourse
Association in hospice. But we do cover twenty seven towns,
so it's not just normal south of Boston.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Right, Okay, Now, medicare open enrollment. What do people need
to know? We know first of all that it is
already underway. If you are a medical if you're on
one of these programs, do you have to sign up
again every year? Or is it? Is it less complicated
than that?
Speaker 6 (30:52):
Oh?
Speaker 7 (30:53):
You know what it really isn't I love?
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Oh, I here you go ahead.
Speaker 7 (30:59):
It's super complicated actually, And so people get very confused,
and we'd like to I'm just trying to educate people
truly to to have their options and to decide for themselves.
I'm not telling people what to decide, but there are
differences between Medicare and Medicare advantage or you know, many
(31:21):
people call it many different things, right, so they'll talk
about Medicare with a supplement plan or Medicare.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Advance of some words we can't use on the radio.
Speaker 7 (31:31):
Right exactly exactly, So you know, it really important for us,
really in my association Home Care Alliance, but also for
all my colleagues out there across the nation, is that
it's a real struggle working with Medicare advantage. So for
patients that are signing up for these plans, they need
(31:52):
to understand that they may have access to care concerns,
so particular when they travel. But many organizations are not
taking some of these plans because the reimbursement for home
health can be fifty to sixty percent below our direct cost.
(32:13):
Now does the consumer know or understand that, No, But
what they need to know is that could be access
to care concerns. So when they leave the hospital they
want to go to a particular rehab they want to
go to a particular skilled nursing facility for rehab or
a home care. They may have limited access depending on
(32:33):
the network and which they're in and which physicians, which hospitals,
which home cares will take their insurance. Prior authorizations are
very cumbersome and they can delay you in the hospital
waiting for a post acute setting.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Well, you know what's frustrating. What is frustrating about this
is Medicare is a program that people paid into during
their life span.
Speaker 7 (33:00):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (33:00):
Medicaid is different, okay, But Medicare is a program that
people paid into and the government sold it as a
program as something that people can rely on. And it
seems to me that there's that some of the circumstances
have changed so that it makes it more difficult one
for people to understand it and to access the program.
(33:21):
And it sounds like you're trying to clarify that for people,
which which my hat's off to you on that one.
Speaker 7 (33:28):
Well, and I think that you know, when you're looking
at these programs, really understand what you're signing up for.
And it may look cheaper, the monthly premium may look
better to you, and it probably is but when you
really need care, you may want to have choice, right,
so choice of your specialty position, choice of where you
(33:49):
want to go for surgery, choice of where you want
to go for rehab, and you may not have that
access or option, so it does limit your choice. You
can also have a lot of out of pocket costs
if you're out of network, So if you choose to
go out of network. So, Dan, we've gotten many calls
at my organization and we started this program, a navigator
(34:10):
program really to help people navigate healthcare in general. And
we get a lot of calls from people I don't
understand I can't go to this particular rehab. They tell
me I have to go there, and I don't want
to go there, and you know, we try to educate
them and we say, you know, what is your insurance, Well,
it's a Medicare advantage plan and there's restrictions around that.
But you have to wait for another year until open
(34:33):
enrollment to switch back to Medicare with a supplemental plan.
And yes, the premiums are more expensive monthly, but you
really need to weigh out the cost benefit and really
educate yourself before you sign out.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
This is so frustrating. It's so frustrating to me that
programs like this, which people paid for, paid for, they
have to now almost big and negotiate to get the
government said, hey, you sign up this program. I remember
when Medicaid was sold. And conversely, don't want to put
you in the middle of a political debate here. But conversely,
we got people coming across the border who are taking
(35:10):
care of with hotel rooms, meals, ebt cards, whatever you want.
And yet you know, older Americans who were looking for
just a little bit of help are frustrated and denied
that help, and it is infuriating. It's absolutely infuriating.
Speaker 7 (35:25):
The good news is that Medicare it started to recognize
that because they're giving their Medicare dollars to a managed
care plan, that actually it's not saving Medicare money, right,
So it's not saving the government money and actually possibly
(35:46):
people aren't getting the access to care they need. So
some of these plans are backing down because their margins
aren't what they were. Because Medicare is really recognizing an
understanding it really has to be about the patient right
and the care. So it has to be patient centered
care and it can't.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Be of course, it should be the patient. How can
people get in touch with you to get a little
bit of a better understanding. Is there a website we
can send people to. What is it?
Speaker 7 (36:15):
Yep, NVNA dot org and my they can email me
directly at our MCI n ees at ENVNA dot org.
So that's my email. Happy to answer any questions or
walk them through anything. I'm not, as I said, Dan,
(36:37):
I'm not telling people what to choose. I'm just hoping
that eruptions.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
That's that's a great service you're performing. And again, the
easiest website, folks is n v NA simple as that
stands for No Well Visiting Nurses Association so n b
n A. But it serves five thousand people in twenty
seven self, so commune. And if you're not in the
South Shore, hopefully you can find a similar type group
(37:04):
in your in your area. Renee, thank you very much
for what you do.
Speaker 7 (37:09):
It's it's well thank you.
Speaker 2 (37:12):
Anytime we can give you some help, you let us know.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 7 (37:15):
Okay, I appreciate it. Thank you very welcome.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
Thanks. Okay. So that takes her a nightside news update
coming up on the other side, we're going to talk
take another shot in Massachusetts ballot question three, and we
will talk with Roxanna Rivera, she's coach here of the
Yes and Three coalition. We spoke with someone last night
who was no. One the question, and feel free you
can ask whatever questions you want. Later, we're going to
(37:38):
talk about what is going on in Israel from someone
who was in the ground there earlier this month for
an extended period of time. Boston attorney Jason Greenburg back
on Nightside right after this
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