June 26, 2025 • 37 mins
We kicked off the program with four news stories and different guests on the stories we think you need to know about!
Push to Vote on Tax Bill this Week - Will Millions Lose Medicaid? Jae Oh – Certified financial planned & Education Fellow at the Alliance for Lifetime Income, and author of "Maximize Your Medicare" joined Dan.
MSPCA-Angell, MASS Coalition Partners Holding Fee-Waived Adoptathon for Dogs! “Summer Ruff-Fresher” First of Three Summer Adoption Events. With Jamie Garabedian - project manager of the MSPCA-Angell’s Animal Protection Division.
JFK Presidential Library Opens New Presidential Pets Exhibit. With Alan Price - JFK Presidential Library Director.
Through the Saving Lives Swim Program, Northeast Arc will now offer free swimming lessons to children 6 months and older enrolled in the agency’s Early Intervention program. JoAnn Simons - President & CEO of Northeast Arc stopped by.
Now you can leave feedback as you listen to WBZ NewsRadio on the FREE iHeart Radio app! Just click on the microphone icon in the app, and be sure to set WBZ NewsRadio as your #1 preset!
Push to Vote on Tax Bill this Week - Will Millions Lose Medicaid? Jae Oh – Certified financial planned & Education Fellow at the Alliance for Lifetime Income, and author of "Maximize Your Medicare" joined Dan.
MSPCA-Angell, MASS Coalition Partners Holding Fee-Waived Adoptathon for Dogs! “Summer Ruff-Fresher” First of Three Summer Adoption Events. With Jamie Garabedian - project manager of the MSPCA-Angell’s Animal Protection Division.
JFK Presidential Library Opens New Presidential Pets Exhibit. With Alan Price - JFK Presidential Library Director.
Through the Saving Lives Swim Program, Northeast Arc will now offer free swimming lessons to children 6 months and older enrolled in the agency’s Early Intervention program. JoAnn Simons - President & CEO of Northeast Arc stopped by.
Now you can leave feedback as you listen to WBZ NewsRadio on the FREE iHeart Radio app! Just click on the microphone icon in the app, and be sure to set WBZ NewsRadio as your #1 preset!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's nice eyes with Dan Ray. I'm going you easy
Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thanks very much, Madison. The weather seems a lot nicer tonight.
I mean it's not perfect, don't get me wrong, but
it's a lot nicer tonight than it has been the
last couple of nights. Wherever you are here in New England,
hopefully it's a little more cool than it was the
last couple of nights. My name is Dan Ray. Rob
Brooks is the producer of the program. He's back at
(00:26):
broadcast headquarters Central at the iHeart Brain Trust Brain He's
where it's all happening. I'm simply a guy out here
somewhere in a bunker doing my show remotely. Anyway. My
name is Dan Ray, and as I said, I'm the
host of Nights Side, and we have some interesting guests
(00:47):
coming up tonight. We're going to talk with Boston Globe
opinion columnist Kareine Hajar about that mayoral race in New
York earlier this week. Very interesting development in that race,
So long to Andrew Cuomo. We'll also talk about some
comments made by a congressman up here, Congressman Auchincloss, who
(01:11):
points out that there's a lot of stores he goes
into where things now are locked up lock and key,
and in order to get maybe a tube of toothpaste
or a bottle of hair shampoo, you have to get
the clerk to unlock the locked up area. And he
feels that is enduring to the detriment of him and
(01:32):
his fellow Democrats. And they will also talk about a
news conference this morning in which the Pentagon, led by
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff US Air
Force General Dan Kin, who provided a lot of information
about those strikes on the nuclear sites in Iran over
the weekend. But first off, we have our four guests
(01:53):
this hour, and we're going to start off with a
certified financial planner and education fellow had a group called
Alliance for Lifetime Income. It's a nonprofit that educates the
public but the value of guaranteed lifetime income during retirement,
which of course includes smart healthcare cost planning. My guest
(02:14):
is named jo Jay. Welcome to Nightside, and thank you
very much for having me tonight. So your focus is medicare,
I believe, is that correct.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
I have a book I've published book IF called Maximizer Medicare.
It sits in most of the largest library systems throughout
the country.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Okay, and I assume people could also probably get that
book through Amazon dot Com or something like that, and
we can talk about that a little bit later. Most
people assume that Medicare will be there upon their retirement
and they no longer are covered by the insurance of
(02:55):
perhaps the company or the government system where they work.
Give us the overview for those who what do people
be thinking about? There's a lot of folks who listen
to my show in their twenties, thirties, forties, fifties. The
concept of Medicare probably hasn't crossed their minds recently, So
why should they What should they be thinking about? I
guess is my question.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
First of all, Well, for sure, the Medicare is health
insurance for people who are sixty five and older. And
now we have in the cross fire of current events
with the Big Beautiful Bill, the idea of subsidized health insurance,
(03:36):
meaning that mass Health, for example, in Massachusetts, does a
good job of lowering health insurance premiums for people who
have to purchase health insurance for themselves, and that is
now the subject of debate as part of the Big
Beautiful Bill, and more directly to your question, as people
get older, they're preparing for retirement, perhaps early retirement if
(03:59):
they want or are required to. Then they're trying to
build a bridge, if you will, to Medicare when everything
becomes notably less expensive than if you have to buy
health insurance for yourself without any of these tax credits
that well.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
For example, Medicare. For that matter, Medicaid, which is different
than Medicare, social Security, those are all under the big
umbrella of entitlements, but their entitlements that in most cases
people have paid over their lifetime in order to be
entitled to those benefits. And sure, I would hope that
(04:42):
you know social Security. They talk about Social Security changes.
I don't know if you're an expert in that, but
you probably know quite a bit about it. I don't
think they're going to cut the Social Security benefits. I
think they might push the retirement age out six months
or a year because Americans are living longer. What is
the danger to let's put Medicaid aside, which I think
(05:03):
is the most controversial issue. What should older Americans who
are going to rely have to rely upon Medicare? What
should they be? What are they concerned about in terms
of the big beautiful tax bill, so called big beautiful
tax bill.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Well, I think that, for example, the viability of Social
Security Medicare is still on solid footing. I realized that
it's I realized that it's very attractive to, you know,
try draw attention to these narratives that it's going bankrupt
(05:40):
or your benefits are going to be cut off. That
I don't. I would stop short of that conclusion.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, I think any political party who decided to cut
off Social Security of Medicare would be basically involved in
a circle firing squad which politicians may not be the
brightest mobs in the tree, but they get they get
to get that one Medicaid is going to have. I
think some potential cuts for people who are quote unquote
(06:07):
able body. But one of the things against this backdrop
that bothers me. And again, you're a financial guy. I
keep looking at that national debt that keeps going up.
And I'm a baby boomer, so I'm never going to
have to pay for the national debt, but my kids
and grandkids will. So with entitlements making up a substantial
(06:28):
portion of the federal budget, I've seen figures of you know,
seventy percent and around there. How can we provide all
the services that we've promised, meaning the government, and at
the same time get that debt down to if not manageable,
(06:50):
get it down to words zero. Can that be done realistically?
Speaker 3 (06:56):
I think the path is narrow, to be candid with you.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Be difficult, difficult.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Because as you know, as you can see every day
and certainly over the past months, getting the toothpaste back
into the tube is difficult stuff. Like you rightly pointed out,
the elected officials high up on the priority list is
to be re elected. So to try to say you're
(07:26):
going to roll back benefits is a difficult task. So
now the question is how to manage that? And I
think I do think, however, that some of the questions
about Medicaid, which does affect For example, I've read a
statistic that something like more than two thirds of the
(07:50):
country will know someone firsthand who relies on Medicaid, which
is a tremendous number. You're talking about something like eighty
million people on medicaid.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
That's twenty five percent of the population.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
That's right, that's right, that's it insane.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
And when you look at it, I mean, is a
very high number, very high number. And again, if everybody
legitimately deserves it, great, But if there are people who
are milking the system, milking the system, come on. That
money should be for people who really need it. That's
my philosophical base base of operations. I want. I don't
(08:29):
mind paying taxes, not thrilled about it, but I want
to make sure it goes to people who need the help.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
And that is obstensibly what the reasoning for this able bodied.
Then that terminology that you used to regarding medicaid eligibility,
whether there's a standard that is consistent across the nation,
(08:57):
And to be candid with you, the answer to that
is probably know because of the fact of a very
very peculiar way of a combination of the way that
medicaid gets funded. Sure, meaning that in Massachusetts it's you know,
Method one, in Arkansas it'll be Method three.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Yep. There was a pre court decision today that I
think came down regarding those that that that very issue
that you're identifying.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
And that creates all sorts of imbalances. So as a result,
what we've had, we've gone through a period past the pandemic,
where there's been something called Medicaid redetermination where that was
put on hold, whether or not the people who were
entitled to medicaid, that was that entire redetermination process was
(09:50):
put on posts that had restarted Massachusetts had completed more
more quickly than pretty much every state in the country.
But that's still ongoing now. And then on top of that,
we will it is yet to be seen what happens
through the big beautiful bill and what changes that might
(10:12):
bring to Medicaid redetermination. And that is not even including
those people who are benefiting from lower health insurance benefit,
lower health insurance premiums, lower deductibles, lower out of pocket
maximums through something called the Advanced Premium Tax Credit.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
It's pretty it's pretty complicated, jaos, that's for sure. How
can folks get I know you said your book is
in every library, which is great. It's the twenty twenty
four to twenty five edition, so it's up to date.
If folks want to get that book for themselves. Is
it a tome like five pages or is it No? No,
it is readable, relatively readable.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I tried to make it relatively readable because I realized
that the population is not completely up to speed, and
it is the difficult thing about medicare and health insurance
is complicated because you've been relying on your employer for
most of the time, and now all of a sudden
you have to learn this new language. And in addition
(11:16):
to that, Medicare has this additional complication, which is the
some of the terminology looks the same, it doesn't work
exactly the same.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
And whatever the government can do to complicate things, they're
really good at that. Jay Old, thank you very much.
The book Maximize Your Medicare available I assume through Amazon,
if I would assume.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Easy anywhere you can buy a book.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Anywhere you can buy this book, and everybody seems to
use Amazon these days. Thanks very much. Look, I appreciate
you taking the time to walk us through some very
complicated issues and some very difficult issues, and love to
have you back at some point. Thank you very much
for your time tonight.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
My privilege, DN.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Beck At you we get back. We're going to give
you something that everyone's going to like. Fee waved Adoptathon
for dogs at the MSPCA. We're gonna be talking about
Jamie Garabedian. You can get a dog, no fees. This
is first of three summer adoption events. If you've ever
thought about getting a pal for around your house, ye
(12:18):
gotta stick with us. Coming back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Night Side with Dan Ray, I'm telling you Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Well, if you have ever thought about adopting a dog,
have I got a place for you to go with us?
Is Jamie Garabedian, project manager of the mspca's Angels Animal
Protection Division. And we are going to talk about a
fee waved, which means you save some money adoptethon for dogs.
(12:50):
My daughter adopted my favorite dog in the world, Corgi
Mustard is his name, and it's amazing the great dogs
that are in shelters around Massachusetts. Hi, Jamie Garabedian, how
are you.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
I'm good, how are you? Thanks for having me?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Well, I'll tell you my best friend in the world
right now is Mustard the.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Dog and great name?
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Well, oh yeah, great and a great dog. Let me
tell you, so tell us about what people could do.
This is it this weekend?
Speaker 5 (13:23):
It's this week it's running currently all the way through Sunday.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Okay, well that that includes this weekend. That's great? Uh?
And is it just uh uh in Boston or is
it in several locations. I know that MSPCA has several locations.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
Yeah, is at all for mspc Angel shelters. So there's
one in Boston, in one in Salem, and one in
Centreville on Cape Cod. And then in addition to our location,
some of our MATHS coalition partners are joining as well.
So you can go to Berkshire Humane Society, Worcester Animal
Rescue League, Boston Animal Care and Control, Thomas J. O'Connor
(13:59):
and Animal Control and Adoption Center, and then Animal Protection
Center of Southeastern Massachusetts. So we pretty much have the
entire state covered. No matter where you live, there is
a shelter near Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
And let's be clear, Massachusetts is not the size of
Alaska or Texas. So you got the entire that's for sure. Okay,
So what's the deal? What someone's listening right now and
they've said, you know, and I want to get a dog.
What do you have available? Yeah? Young dogs, older dogs,
big dogs, small dogs, all sorts of different sizes and shapes.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
I assume all of the above.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
You know, in shelters, typically we tend to see larger
breed dogs than smaller breed dogs. But that doesn't mean
we don't have any small dogs. So if you go
to MSPCA dot org flash dogs, you can find all
of the information about our open hours, the other locations
open hours, and how to see the dogs that are
available and how to come meet them.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Okay, so now can you sit at home. If you
go to the can you look up all the different
locations and see what dogs are available. Because if somebody's
looking for a Corgi, that was what my daughter wanted.
She found a Corgi at the Situate Animal Shelter. And
I'm telling you, this dog is like the smartest person
I know. I mean, trust me, way smarter than me.
(15:21):
Probably you're you're pretty close because you get you get
all of this through osmosis from the dogs with this
great dog. Great dog. He screened his foot last night
and when my daughter came home, he was sitting there
like holding his par up like a human body. He
send me the picture of them. Uh, and he's fine,
he's absolutely better. Yeah. I went to the went to
(15:42):
the vet and that said take him outside for a walk,
see how he's doing. Apparently he might have just I
don't know. Stubb is tallis I don't know? So how
how do people figure out Okay, they if you know,
how do they see the dogs? Do they have to
drive to each of the locations.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
No, So if you go to that website www dot
MSPCA dot org slash dog kind of a landing page
with all the information it has links on there to
each location that's participating their open hours, how to see
their available dogs, and on our website, the MSPCA dogs
will be marked with a star, so they all know
which ones are part of the event by the star
(16:20):
on their profile.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Oh, that's great. And then normally the adoption fees not
this week. The balance of this week through the through
the weekend is through Sunday.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
I assume yeah, through Sunday.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Normally.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
What are the.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Adoption fees that will be waived this week?
Speaker 4 (16:36):
What?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
What? What? How much money is someone saving if they
adopt a dog by Saturday or Sunday as opposed to
waiting until the fourth of July.
Speaker 5 (16:45):
Adoption fees range based on age across different organizations, but
I would say on average, you're saving about four hundred
dollars up an upfront adoption fee.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Wow. Wow, that's a deal.
Speaker 5 (16:57):
Yes, it is.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
That's a great deal. And you there were young dogs,
old dogs, just about every possible combination, uh is there?
And look, you probably know I end my shows with
every night with this phrase, All dogs, all cats, all
pets go to Heaven. And I truly do believe that
because dogs particularly the best. They're just they're more loyal
(17:25):
than any friend.
Speaker 5 (17:27):
They ie, they're the kindest beings.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
They are they are you know, they don't they never
talk back you. Sometimes you get into an argument with
one of your kids or with your spouse or something
like that. Uh, and somebody's noses how to joint for
the dog. Dogs just want to be with this one
to hang. That's all. They're the perfect companion, I'm telling you.
And also you know this, You know what the word
dog spelled backwards? Is?
Speaker 5 (17:55):
They sure do?
Speaker 2 (17:56):
God?
Speaker 5 (17:57):
God?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Yes. So that's that's why I think are wonderful. And
thanks so much again. Give us the website because hopefully
we've got some people who are going to go to
the website right now and look around.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
What is the website to start with, It's www dot
MSPCA dot org slash dogs and again it's fee waves
for any dog over the age of one year at
not only all four of our adoption centers, but many
of our partners across the entire states. No matter where
you live, there is a shelter near you that is
waving fees.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Perfect and just a little tip that old www stuff
you don't really need it anymore. If you just put
in MSPCA dot org org slash dogs, that'll get you there.
Trust me on that. Okay, Thanks, Thanks Jamie, Thanks really appreciated.
The project manager of the mspca's Angels Animal Protection Division.
(18:51):
Thank you for the work you do. Thank you, I
mean that, thanks for having me. Very welcome. Talk to
you soon when we get back. We're going to talk
kind of similar The JFK Presidential Library is about to
open a new presidential exhibit talking about the various pets
who have occupied the White House. Sometimes I've liked the
pets better than the presidents. To be really honest with you,
(19:13):
we'll be back on Nightside right after the news talking
more about this time we're going to be talking about pets,
just not dogs. We'll broaden the conversation right after this.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on w b Z,
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Well, we have some good news for those of you
who are interested in presidential politics. And also they're K
nine and feline friends with us is Alan Price. He's
the library director of the JFK Presidential Library. Alan Price,
Welcome to Nightside. How are you, sir.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
I'm terrific. Thanks, it's good to be with you.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
I knew the Presidential Library and its contents before it
became a presidential library. I used to spend some time
with Dave Powers we at the Federal Records Center over
on Tripella Road in Belmont. Oh.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
That's marvelous. Thank you for mentioning.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
That everything, all of the items that were held in
Carrol's I don't know if you ever seen any of
the pictures. I'm sure you're probably too young to remember that,
but David photographs. There was a deer and a great friend,
and I was in law school at the time, and
I would go over there just to get a break
from law school, and we'd walk through the library and
we'd show me different artifacts up close and personal and
(20:30):
everything from the coconut that President Kennedy used to signal
for some help after his ship was torpedoed in World
War Two, to so many other things, and of course
they're all on display, but I never saw any sort
of pets exhibit in the carols of the Federal Records
(20:50):
Center out out in Belmont. But right now, I guess
you folks are opening up a new exhibit dealing with
not only pets that might have been in the White
House during the thirty fifth president's term there sadly shortened
mine assassin's bullet, but residents going back, animal residence going
(21:13):
back quite a ways, and it starts on July first.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
Tell us about it, Allen, Well, I'm so glad you
brought up that history. And yes, we have twenty million
paper documents and thirty thousand artifacts, but we have a
special exhibit now on presidential pets, and of course the
Kennedy's had many pets, and so we spend some good
time on that. But we also have a total of
(21:38):
twenty two presidents represented all the way back to George Washington,
and you can see the history of pet ownership and
how they went from service animals and working animals to
members of the family, how the notion of pet ownership
changed over the years, and you can see how pets
were very important keeping even President Kennedy during the height
(22:01):
of the Cuban missile crisis keeping him calm. You know,
pats are very important friends during difficult times, and the
presidency can be a lonely job.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Exhibit that if you want a friend in Washington, I
think it might have been Truman that said that. I'm
not sure, but if you want a friend, washing to
get a.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
Dog, that's correct.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Now. President Kennedy had a dog with which was a
gift from Nikita Krushchev.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Yes, Pushinka, Yes, Pushinka's parents went up in space. Pashenka
is a puppy that came from that litter, and Chris
Cheff presented it to the Kennedys and it was I mean,
Pushenka is adorable and photogenic, and everybody wanted to spend
time with Pashenka. And of course there were security concerns.
(22:50):
People were worried that the dog would be electronically bugged
or radioactive, and so there's a whole Cold War intrigue
to the dog.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
At the same time, or reporting back to directly to
Moscow every day by a teletype or something whatever. Only
joking on that one, if I'm not mistaken. Caroline Kennedy
had a horse called Macaroni.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
Yes, there are at least three ponies that I'm aware
of the carolines was macaroni, and they were on the
covers of magazines. And you can take a look at
all the photos of macaroni and the actual saddle and
bridle that were used on macaroni.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yeah, macaroni is not highlighted. I did pick up some
information from your press release, but that one I pulled
out of my compendium of useless information that I have
stored in my brain. One of the pictures in the
press release that caught my eye was a picture of
First Lady Grace Coolidge and Rebella. Yes, Rebecca looked like
(23:50):
a fairly exotic animal. What's the story with Rebecca a raccoon?
Speaker 4 (23:57):
And yes, Grace Coolidge had Rebecca the raccoon. You know
a lot of photo ops, but you shouldn't startle the
raccoon because the raccoon could bite people who startled the raccoons. Yes,
and Grace would say, you know, wild animals don't startle it.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Yeah, well this was said according to your press release. Here,
I always wanted to attribute to the Coolidge White House
for the President's Thanksgiving dinner. Now, did someone send him
a raccoon for the raccoon to be a guest at
the dinner, or to be actually part of the dinner.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
Yet, I will say personally, I'm not so sure. But
it's amazing the number of pets that were gifted to
presidents over time, many of whom never kept the pet,
but simply referred them to the zoo because they were
too exotic.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Well, one of the pets that most recent vintage was
the German shepherd that bids some of the secret servicemen.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
In the Biden administration.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Yeh, I think I think the Biden administration led all
of the presidencies with animal bites.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
I mean it's possible, It's possible.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Yeah, what when is that? This is going to start
on July first? Correct if I'm not mistaken?
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Correct?
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Is this included with a normal visit? Is it part
of the regular admission or is it a separate admission.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
It's part of the regular admission, and you can see,
of course, the life and legacy of President Kennedy and
then in a separate space. It's really wonderfully done. You
wouldn't You couldn't possibly have more fun in a museum.
You will learn all about the presidential pets.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Yeah, I mean only if you had a barrel full
of monkeys, That's that's what you'd need to top it off.
But I don't think there is a barrel full of
monkeys involved here. Yeah, no, it's it's great to you know,
talking about McCarney Caroline one of Caroline Kennedy's ponies. I
see again in your press release. I did not know
this that Teddy Roosevelt, great outdoorsman, had a pony named Algonquin.
(26:14):
I didn't even realize they had an elevator in the
White House when Roosevelt was president. But the pony got
to ride the elevator.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
Yes, yes, it's true. Roosevelt had so many pets. It's
really remarkable. He was a great, you know, outdoorsman and
loved animals of all kinds. And he received many more
pets as gifts than he could actually keep at the
White House. So he was one who referred many to
the local zoo. But his collection of pets is extraordinary,
(26:45):
and I think he really meaningfully interacted with all of them.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
By the way, I'm a big fan of the library.
I actually did the live I was we broadcast the
opening ceremonies, so the opening day back in October of
nineteen seventy nine, a day that I will never never forget.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Oh that's remarkable.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
You probably weren't even born then, but.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
Well, you know, it's probable that I may be the
last library director who actually lived during President Kennedy's lifetime,
though I was only six months old when he passed.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Really okay, well you sound young, and that's good. That
is good.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
That is also I'll try to keep that.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Oh no, I'm totally serious, you know, talking about Coolidge.
Coolidge grave is in Vermont, down a little side road,
and it's not all that impressive. But I just fascinated
by Coolidge because obviously he he spent time here in
Massachusetts as governor, but is interred in Vermont, Plymouth, Vermont,
(27:53):
and I remember walking over by his grave one day,
and as you can see, I'm kind of his street geek,
and it was very unimpressive, and I just thought he
was just on the side of a road in a
little little town cemetery in Plymouth, Plymouth, Notch, New Hampshire,
and kind of spoke a little bit about his presidency.
(28:17):
I mean, it was fairly simple. It was a simpler
time in America, you know, coming up there. Yeah, one
hundred years, one hundred years from now. We probably he
would have been president at this point one hundred years ago,
now that I think about it.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
Right right, right, yeah, And the Presidential Library System doesn't
come up until FDR creates it and he backdates it
to Hoover. But it's much harder to access the history
of prior presidents.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Alan, I really enjoyed chatting with you. Sound like a
great library director. And as they say, I spent many
many days with my friend Dave Powers, and he was
he was just a compendium of valuable information. I'm a
compendium of useless information. But it was quite bad. Quite
a guy. And sometime I get the library, I want
to look you up. Okay, thanks, Alan, appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
Well, let me know when you're here. I'll show you
a few things.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
I promise I will. Thanks Alan, we'll talk again, Alan Price,
you take care the library Director of the JFK Presidential Library.
Thanks again. When we get back, we're going to talk
about the Northeast ARC and they're offering free swimming lessons
to children six months in older. And this is a
program called through the Saving Lives Swim Program. We're going
(29:28):
to talk with Joeanne Simon's president and CEO of Northeast
ARC Organization. I'm very familiar with They do great work.
And we'll be talking with joe Inn right after the
break here on Night Side.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
It's Night Side with Dany Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
All right. I think all of us are familiar with
the various arcs around the Commonwealth. Joanne Simmons is very
familiar with the arcs because Joeanne is the president and
CEO of the Northeast ARC and they have a swimming
program up there which is available for kids as young
as six months old. Joanne, welcome to Night sid How
(30:06):
are you hey?
Speaker 6 (30:07):
Good, good evenings then, and thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
You're welcome. So tell us about the swimming, the swimming program.
I was unaware that you were doing this.
Speaker 6 (30:16):
Well, I'm going to tell you how it came out.
Is that you may not be aware that drowning is
the leading cause of death for children with autism, and
just last summer in this country, over twenty six children
with autism drowned, and most under the age of There.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Was a story. It was a story in one of
the local newscasts tonight about a little boy eight years
old who I believe is dealing with Did you see
that story.
Speaker 6 (30:43):
Tragedy in Clinton? Little boy eight years old with autism
who is nonverbal wandered, which is very common with children
with actism. Of them wander they have anxiety and to
deal with their anxiety, wandering often a release to them
(31:03):
and they're attracted to water. And unfortunately, the tragedy that
unfolded in in Clinton was not the first one of
this kind, and it made us realize that there was
something that we could do as a leading provider of
services to people with disabilities and autism. We've developed a
program that will pay for swimming lessons for any child
(31:28):
birth to three that are in our early intervention programs,
which we operate in many cities, in towns in the
North Shore and cay Van. And we're doing this because
we think the most important thing you could do is
save a life and financial means should not be a
(31:49):
barrier for a child to learn to swim.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Let me ask you a question, if I could, is
this available for children who have been dying gnosed with
autism or for any child between those.
Speaker 6 (32:03):
Ages, Well, any child who's in an early intervention program
they may have autism. Then they have down to them,
then they have a speech delay they may have.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
When you said early intervention, I wasn't sure. And of
course we know that that with children. Sometimes children are
not diagnosed with autism until they're one and a half.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Two years old exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
So that's something that people should be thinking about, and
it's what do you what do you do if you
have a child that has autism and is a little
or or again some sort of a developmental issue, who's
older than three? Why is it cut off at three?
Speaker 6 (32:43):
Well early, you know, we have to start somewhere, and
this is the first year that we're doing it, so
we're rolling it out to see. Obviously, we are very
fortunate because he was all of the ahilanthropist and Marvel
head who established the Changing Lives fund that these dark
a few years ago, has graciously stepped forward to fund
(33:06):
the Saving Lives program here and so we're going to
start with the children that we serve because we see
them for us to three and we're partnering, which what
makes us unique is we're not going to actually provide
the swimming lessons. We're partnering with the Yomsta, the North Shore,
the Metro North YMCA and the North Shore Jewish Community Center,
(33:26):
which all have swim lessons for children of this age
in a variety of locations. So we want families to
be able to go where they would be normally seeking
out swim lessons, maybe for their family as well. And
you know, we hope that we could you know, you know,
expand this. So we're starting with something that we we Obviously,
(33:47):
the other challenge is that the YMCAs are also inundated
with just requests for swimming lessons, and so we don't
want to create a demand that you know, our YMCA
partners you know, can't neither.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Well, okay. So so for the parents of children who
have whether autism or other you know, I think you're
referred to them as developmental issues, is what's the property, yeah,
or just if.
Speaker 6 (34:13):
They're you know, reached out to the Northeast Dark and
if they're interested in our early Intervention program, which is
a free program that you can self proport to, we
can do an evaluation, get them signed up for all
sorts of services. And in addition, this is an added benefit.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
Again just focusing on this, the child has to be
between the age of six months in three three and
the autism obviously is one one diagnosis that you would
deal with. What is the some of the other diagnoses
or the umbrella term for all of these diagnoses, it's just.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
Just to development.
Speaker 6 (34:53):
No, not just because of the ratism. It can be
any kind of delay. It could be a speech delay,
it can be a motor issue, it might be could
be terrible positive and.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
So they would be joy And I just want to
make sure I understand that I'm sorry, and I know
I'm I'm interrupting you there, and I apologize, but I
want all parents to understand if the umbrella issue would
probably be any form of a developmental issue, they should
contact you, folks if they're interested in getting swimming lessons
for their son or daughter between the age of six
months and three years.
Speaker 6 (35:28):
Correct, and yes, and if they're living in the north
Shore in the Cape Ann area, those are that's the
catchment areas where we currently provide early intervention services. And
this is open to anybody in our who received those services.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Okay, but again I assume that someone when you say
Cape Ian area without listing every city in town, I
assume someone who is up in that general north Shore
Cape Ann area. Uh, if they can get you know,
they have to transport their child to the swim lessons
and all of that.
Speaker 6 (36:01):
Again, well they do, but early intervention actually provides services
in the home environment as well. So the first step
would be getting in touch with the Northeast Dock Early
Intervention Program.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Okay, how did they do that?
Speaker 6 (36:16):
They can south before they can just www dot any
hyphen a arc dot org.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
And again we're talking over each other. It's just any
hyphen uh aar c aar c dot org. That w
w W is No one has to use that anymore,
so no one, you know, so, I mean it's like
he confuses people sometimes, So give it to me without
(36:44):
w W one more time.
Speaker 6 (36:46):
Any hyphen a arc dot org or just google Northeast
arc Early Intervention.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Perfect. Okay, Hopefully some folks have been able to write
down what they have to write down and just get
in touch with the Northeast r Thanks very much, Johayne.
I appreciate it. Thanks for the work you do.
Speaker 6 (37:03):
Thank you Jed for having us Okay, supporting us.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Okay, you know you can always count on me. Thank
you so much. Nine o'clock News is coming when we
get back. We're going to talk about that mayoral primary
election in New York City a couple of nights ago
and a stunning upset. We're going to be talking with
Boston Globe opinion writer Karine Hajar, who wrote a very
interesting piece in the Boston Globe today on a shift
(37:28):
within the Democratic Party that some Democrats are now beginning
to become concerned about back on nights out after this
It's nice eyes with Dan Ray. I'm going you easy
Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Thanks very much, Madison. The weather seems a lot nicer tonight.
I mean it's not perfect, don't get me wrong, but
it's a lot nicer tonight than it has been the
last couple of nights. Wherever you are here in New England,
hopefully it's a little more cool than it was the
last couple of nights. My name is Dan Ray. Rob
Brooks is the producer of the program. He's back at
(00:26):
broadcast headquarters Central at the iHeart Brain Trust Brain He's
where it's all happening. I'm simply a guy out here
somewhere in a bunker doing my show remotely. Anyway. My
name is Dan Ray, and as I said, I'm the
host of Nights Side, and we have some interesting guests
(00:47):
coming up tonight. We're going to talk with Boston Globe
opinion columnist Kareine Hajar about that mayoral race in New
York earlier this week. Very interesting development in that race,
So long to Andrew Cuomo. We'll also talk about some
comments made by a congressman up here, Congressman Auchincloss, who
(01:11):
points out that there's a lot of stores he goes
into where things now are locked up lock and key,
and in order to get maybe a tube of toothpaste
or a bottle of hair shampoo, you have to get
the clerk to unlock the locked up area. And he
feels that is enduring to the detriment of him and
(01:32):
his fellow Democrats. And they will also talk about a
news conference this morning in which the Pentagon, led by
the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff US Air
Force General Dan Kin, who provided a lot of information
about those strikes on the nuclear sites in Iran over
the weekend. But first off, we have our four guests
(01:53):
this hour, and we're going to start off with a
certified financial planner and education fellow had a group called
Alliance for Lifetime Income. It's a nonprofit that educates the
public but the value of guaranteed lifetime income during retirement,
which of course includes smart healthcare cost planning. My guest
(02:14):
is named jo Jay. Welcome to Nightside, and thank you
very much for having me tonight. So your focus is medicare,
I believe, is that correct.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
I have a book I've published book IF called Maximizer Medicare.
It sits in most of the largest library systems throughout
the country.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Okay, and I assume people could also probably get that
book through Amazon dot Com or something like that, and
we can talk about that a little bit later. Most
people assume that Medicare will be there upon their retirement
and they no longer are covered by the insurance of
(02:55):
perhaps the company or the government system where they work.
Give us the overview for those who what do people
be thinking about? There's a lot of folks who listen
to my show in their twenties, thirties, forties, fifties. The
concept of Medicare probably hasn't crossed their minds recently, So
why should they What should they be thinking about? I
guess is my question.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
First of all, Well, for sure, the Medicare is health
insurance for people who are sixty five and older. And
now we have in the cross fire of current events
with the Big Beautiful Bill, the idea of subsidized health insurance,
(03:36):
meaning that mass Health, for example, in Massachusetts, does a
good job of lowering health insurance premiums for people who
have to purchase health insurance for themselves, and that is
now the subject of debate as part of the Big
Beautiful Bill, and more directly to your question, as people
get older, they're preparing for retirement, perhaps early retirement if
(03:59):
they want or are required to. Then they're trying to
build a bridge, if you will, to Medicare when everything
becomes notably less expensive than if you have to buy
health insurance for yourself without any of these tax credits
that well.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
For example, Medicare. For that matter, Medicaid, which is different
than Medicare, social Security, those are all under the big
umbrella of entitlements, but their entitlements that in most cases
people have paid over their lifetime in order to be
entitled to those benefits. And sure, I would hope that
(04:42):
you know social Security. They talk about Social Security changes.
I don't know if you're an expert in that, but
you probably know quite a bit about it. I don't
think they're going to cut the Social Security benefits. I
think they might push the retirement age out six months
or a year because Americans are living longer. What is
the danger to let's put Medicaid aside, which I think
(05:03):
is the most controversial issue. What should older Americans who
are going to rely have to rely upon Medicare? What
should they be? What are they concerned about in terms
of the big beautiful tax bill, so called big beautiful
tax bill.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Well, I think that, for example, the viability of Social
Security Medicare is still on solid footing. I realized that
it's I realized that it's very attractive to, you know,
try draw attention to these narratives that it's going bankrupt
(05:40):
or your benefits are going to be cut off. That
I don't. I would stop short of that conclusion.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Yeah, I think any political party who decided to cut
off Social Security of Medicare would be basically involved in
a circle firing squad which politicians may not be the
brightest mobs in the tree, but they get they get
to get that one Medicaid is going to have. I
think some potential cuts for people who are quote unquote
(06:07):
able body. But one of the things against this backdrop
that bothers me. And again, you're a financial guy. I
keep looking at that national debt that keeps going up.
And I'm a baby boomer, so I'm never going to
have to pay for the national debt, but my kids
and grandkids will. So with entitlements making up a substantial
(06:28):
portion of the federal budget, I've seen figures of you know,
seventy percent and around there. How can we provide all
the services that we've promised, meaning the government, and at
the same time get that debt down to if not manageable,
(06:50):
get it down to words zero. Can that be done realistically?
Speaker 3 (06:56):
I think the path is narrow, to be candid with you.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
Be difficult, difficult.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Because as you know, as you can see every day
and certainly over the past months, getting the toothpaste back
into the tube is difficult stuff. Like you rightly pointed out,
the elected officials high up on the priority list is
to be re elected. So to try to say you're
(07:26):
going to roll back benefits is a difficult task. So
now the question is how to manage that? And I
think I do think, however, that some of the questions
about Medicaid, which does affect For example, I've read a
statistic that something like more than two thirds of the
(07:50):
country will know someone firsthand who relies on Medicaid, which
is a tremendous number. You're talking about something like eighty
million people on medicaid.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
That's twenty five percent of the population.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
That's right, that's right, that's it insane.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
And when you look at it, I mean, is a
very high number, very high number. And again, if everybody
legitimately deserves it, great, But if there are people who
are milking the system, milking the system, come on. That
money should be for people who really need it. That's
my philosophical base base of operations. I want. I don't
(08:29):
mind paying taxes, not thrilled about it, but I want
to make sure it goes to people who need the help.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
And that is obstensibly what the reasoning for this able bodied.
Then that terminology that you used to regarding medicaid eligibility,
whether there's a standard that is consistent across the nation,
(08:57):
And to be candid with you, the answer to that
is probably know because of the fact of a very
very peculiar way of a combination of the way that
medicaid gets funded. Sure, meaning that in Massachusetts it's you know,
Method one, in Arkansas it'll be Method three.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Yep. There was a pre court decision today that I
think came down regarding those that that that very issue
that you're identifying.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
And that creates all sorts of imbalances. So as a result,
what we've had, we've gone through a period past the pandemic,
where there's been something called Medicaid redetermination where that was
put on hold, whether or not the people who were
entitled to medicaid, that was that entire redetermination process was
(09:50):
put on posts that had restarted Massachusetts had completed more
more quickly than pretty much every state in the country.
But that's still ongoing now. And then on top of that,
we will it is yet to be seen what happens
through the big beautiful bill and what changes that might
(10:12):
bring to Medicaid redetermination. And that is not even including
those people who are benefiting from lower health insurance benefit,
lower health insurance premiums, lower deductibles, lower out of pocket
maximums through something called the Advanced Premium Tax Credit.
Speaker 2 (10:32):
It's pretty it's pretty complicated, jaos, that's for sure. How
can folks get I know you said your book is
in every library, which is great. It's the twenty twenty
four to twenty five edition, so it's up to date.
If folks want to get that book for themselves. Is
it a tome like five pages or is it No? No,
it is readable, relatively readable.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I tried to make it relatively readable because I realized
that the population is not completely up to speed, and
it is the difficult thing about medicare and health insurance
is complicated because you've been relying on your employer for
most of the time, and now all of a sudden
you have to learn this new language. And in addition
(11:16):
to that, Medicare has this additional complication, which is the
some of the terminology looks the same, it doesn't work
exactly the same.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
And whatever the government can do to complicate things, they're
really good at that. Jay Old, thank you very much.
The book Maximize Your Medicare available I assume through Amazon,
if I would assume.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
Easy anywhere you can buy a book.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Anywhere you can buy this book, and everybody seems to
use Amazon these days. Thanks very much. Look, I appreciate
you taking the time to walk us through some very
complicated issues and some very difficult issues, and love to
have you back at some point. Thank you very much
for your time tonight.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
My privilege, DN.
Speaker 4 (11:55):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Beck At you we get back. We're going to give
you something that everyone's going to like. Fee waved Adoptathon
for dogs at the MSPCA. We're gonna be talking about
Jamie Garabedian. You can get a dog, no fees. This
is first of three summer adoption events. If you've ever
thought about getting a pal for around your house, ye
(12:18):
gotta stick with us. Coming back on Nightside right after this.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Night Side with Dan Ray, I'm telling you Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Well, if you have ever thought about adopting a dog,
have I got a place for you to go with us?
Is Jamie Garabedian, project manager of the mspca's Angels Animal
Protection Division. And we are going to talk about a
fee waved, which means you save some money adoptethon for dogs.
(12:50):
My daughter adopted my favorite dog in the world, Corgi
Mustard is his name, and it's amazing the great dogs
that are in shelters around Massachusetts. Hi, Jamie Garabedian, how
are you.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
I'm good, how are you? Thanks for having me?
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Well, I'll tell you my best friend in the world
right now is Mustard the.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
Dog and great name?
Speaker 2 (13:13):
Well, oh yeah, great and a great dog. Let me
tell you, so tell us about what people could do.
This is it this weekend?
Speaker 5 (13:23):
It's this week it's running currently all the way through Sunday.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Okay, well that that includes this weekend. That's great? Uh?
And is it just uh uh in Boston or is
it in several locations. I know that MSPCA has several locations.
Speaker 5 (13:38):
Yeah, is at all for mspc Angel shelters. So there's
one in Boston, in one in Salem, and one in
Centreville on Cape Cod. And then in addition to our location,
some of our MATHS coalition partners are joining as well.
So you can go to Berkshire Humane Society, Worcester Animal
Rescue League, Boston Animal Care and Control, Thomas J. O'Connor
(13:59):
and Animal Control and Adoption Center, and then Animal Protection
Center of Southeastern Massachusetts. So we pretty much have the
entire state covered. No matter where you live, there is
a shelter near Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
And let's be clear, Massachusetts is not the size of
Alaska or Texas. So you got the entire that's for sure. Okay,
So what's the deal? What someone's listening right now and
they've said, you know, and I want to get a dog.
What do you have available? Yeah? Young dogs, older dogs,
big dogs, small dogs, all sorts of different sizes and shapes.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
I assume all of the above.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
You know, in shelters, typically we tend to see larger
breed dogs than smaller breed dogs. But that doesn't mean
we don't have any small dogs. So if you go
to MSPCA dot org flash dogs, you can find all
of the information about our open hours, the other locations
open hours, and how to see the dogs that are
available and how to come meet them.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Okay, so now can you sit at home. If you
go to the can you look up all the different
locations and see what dogs are available. Because if somebody's
looking for a Corgi, that was what my daughter wanted.
She found a Corgi at the Situate Animal Shelter. And
I'm telling you, this dog is like the smartest person
I know. I mean, trust me, way smarter than me.
(15:21):
Probably you're you're pretty close because you get you get
all of this through osmosis from the dogs with this
great dog. Great dog. He screened his foot last night
and when my daughter came home, he was sitting there
like holding his par up like a human body. He
send me the picture of them. Uh, and he's fine,
he's absolutely better. Yeah. I went to the went to
(15:42):
the vet and that said take him outside for a walk,
see how he's doing. Apparently he might have just I
don't know. Stubb is tallis I don't know? So how
how do people figure out Okay, they if you know,
how do they see the dogs? Do they have to
drive to each of the locations.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
No, So if you go to that website www dot
MSPCA dot org slash dog kind of a landing page
with all the information it has links on there to
each location that's participating their open hours, how to see
their available dogs, and on our website, the MSPCA dogs
will be marked with a star, so they all know
which ones are part of the event by the star
(16:20):
on their profile.
Speaker 2 (16:21):
Oh, that's great. And then normally the adoption fees not
this week. The balance of this week through the through
the weekend is through Sunday.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
I assume yeah, through Sunday.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Normally.
Speaker 4 (16:34):
What are the.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Adoption fees that will be waived this week?
Speaker 4 (16:36):
What?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
What? What? How much money is someone saving if they
adopt a dog by Saturday or Sunday as opposed to
waiting until the fourth of July.
Speaker 5 (16:45):
Adoption fees range based on age across different organizations, but
I would say on average, you're saving about four hundred
dollars up an upfront adoption fee.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Wow. Wow, that's a deal.
Speaker 5 (16:57):
Yes, it is.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
That's a great deal. And you there were young dogs,
old dogs, just about every possible combination, uh is there?
And look, you probably know I end my shows with
every night with this phrase, All dogs, all cats, all
pets go to Heaven. And I truly do believe that
because dogs particularly the best. They're just they're more loyal
(17:25):
than any friend.
Speaker 5 (17:27):
They ie, they're the kindest beings.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
They are they are you know, they don't they never
talk back you. Sometimes you get into an argument with
one of your kids or with your spouse or something
like that. Uh, and somebody's noses how to joint for
the dog. Dogs just want to be with this one
to hang. That's all. They're the perfect companion, I'm telling you.
And also you know this, You know what the word
dog spelled backwards? Is?
Speaker 5 (17:55):
They sure do?
Speaker 2 (17:56):
God?
Speaker 5 (17:57):
God?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
Yes. So that's that's why I think are wonderful. And
thanks so much again. Give us the website because hopefully
we've got some people who are going to go to
the website right now and look around.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
What is the website to start with, It's www dot
MSPCA dot org slash dogs and again it's fee waves
for any dog over the age of one year at
not only all four of our adoption centers, but many
of our partners across the entire states. No matter where
you live, there is a shelter near you that is
waving fees.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
Perfect and just a little tip that old www stuff
you don't really need it anymore. If you just put
in MSPCA dot org org slash dogs, that'll get you there.
Trust me on that. Okay, Thanks, Thanks Jamie, Thanks really appreciated.
The project manager of the mspca's Angels Animal Protection Division.
(18:51):
Thank you for the work you do. Thank you, I
mean that, thanks for having me. Very welcome. Talk to
you soon when we get back. We're going to talk
kind of similar The JFK Presidential Library is about to
open a new presidential exhibit talking about the various pets
who have occupied the White House. Sometimes I've liked the
pets better than the presidents. To be really honest with you,
(19:13):
we'll be back on Nightside right after the news talking
more about this time we're going to be talking about pets,
just not dogs. We'll broaden the conversation right after this.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
You're on Night Side with Dan Ray on w b Z,
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Well, we have some good news for those of you
who are interested in presidential politics. And also they're K
nine and feline friends with us is Alan Price. He's
the library director of the JFK Presidential Library. Alan Price,
Welcome to Nightside. How are you, sir.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
I'm terrific. Thanks, it's good to be with you.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
I knew the Presidential Library and its contents before it
became a presidential library. I used to spend some time
with Dave Powers we at the Federal Records Center over
on Tripella Road in Belmont. Oh.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
That's marvelous. Thank you for mentioning.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
That everything, all of the items that were held in
Carrol's I don't know if you ever seen any of
the pictures. I'm sure you're probably too young to remember that,
but David photographs. There was a deer and a great friend,
and I was in law school at the time, and
I would go over there just to get a break
from law school, and we'd walk through the library and
we'd show me different artifacts up close and personal and
(20:30):
everything from the coconut that President Kennedy used to signal
for some help after his ship was torpedoed in World
War Two, to so many other things, and of course
they're all on display, but I never saw any sort
of pets exhibit in the carols of the Federal Records
(20:50):
Center out out in Belmont. But right now, I guess
you folks are opening up a new exhibit dealing with
not only pets that might have been in the White
House during the thirty fifth president's term there sadly shortened
mine assassin's bullet, but residents going back, animal residence going
(21:13):
back quite a ways, and it starts on July first.
Speaker 4 (21:15):
Tell us about it, Allen, Well, I'm so glad you
brought up that history. And yes, we have twenty million
paper documents and thirty thousand artifacts, but we have a
special exhibit now on presidential pets, and of course the
Kennedy's had many pets, and so we spend some good
time on that. But we also have a total of
(21:38):
twenty two presidents represented all the way back to George Washington,
and you can see the history of pet ownership and
how they went from service animals and working animals to
members of the family, how the notion of pet ownership
changed over the years, and you can see how pets
were very important keeping even President Kennedy during the height
(22:01):
of the Cuban missile crisis keeping him calm. You know,
pats are very important friends during difficult times, and the
presidency can be a lonely job.
Speaker 2 (22:13):
Exhibit that if you want a friend in Washington, I
think it might have been Truman that said that. I'm
not sure, but if you want a friend, washing to
get a.
Speaker 4 (22:20):
Dog, that's correct.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Now. President Kennedy had a dog with which was a
gift from Nikita Krushchev.
Speaker 4 (22:29):
Yes, Pushinka, Yes, Pushinka's parents went up in space. Pashenka
is a puppy that came from that litter, and Chris
Cheff presented it to the Kennedys and it was I mean,
Pushenka is adorable and photogenic, and everybody wanted to spend
time with Pashenka. And of course there were security concerns.
(22:50):
People were worried that the dog would be electronically bugged
or radioactive, and so there's a whole Cold War intrigue
to the dog.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
At the same time, or reporting back to directly to
Moscow every day by a teletype or something whatever. Only
joking on that one, if I'm not mistaken. Caroline Kennedy
had a horse called Macaroni.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
Yes, there are at least three ponies that I'm aware
of the carolines was macaroni, and they were on the
covers of magazines. And you can take a look at
all the photos of macaroni and the actual saddle and
bridle that were used on macaroni.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Yeah, macaroni is not highlighted. I did pick up some
information from your press release, but that one I pulled
out of my compendium of useless information that I have
stored in my brain. One of the pictures in the
press release that caught my eye was a picture of
First Lady Grace Coolidge and Rebella. Yes, Rebecca looked like
(23:50):
a fairly exotic animal. What's the story with Rebecca a raccoon?
Speaker 4 (23:57):
And yes, Grace Coolidge had Rebecca the raccoon. You know
a lot of photo ops, but you shouldn't startle the
raccoon because the raccoon could bite people who startled the raccoons. Yes,
and Grace would say, you know, wild animals don't startle it.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
Yeah, well this was said according to your press release. Here,
I always wanted to attribute to the Coolidge White House
for the President's Thanksgiving dinner. Now, did someone send him
a raccoon for the raccoon to be a guest at
the dinner, or to be actually part of the dinner.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
Yet, I will say personally, I'm not so sure. But
it's amazing the number of pets that were gifted to
presidents over time, many of whom never kept the pet,
but simply referred them to the zoo because they were
too exotic.
Speaker 2 (24:52):
Well, one of the pets that most recent vintage was
the German shepherd that bids some of the secret servicemen.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
In the Biden administration.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Yeh, I think I think the Biden administration led all
of the presidencies with animal bites.
Speaker 4 (25:12):
I mean it's possible, It's possible.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Yeah, what when is that? This is going to start
on July first? Correct if I'm not mistaken?
Speaker 4 (25:23):
Correct?
Speaker 2 (25:24):
Okay?
Speaker 4 (25:24):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Is this included with a normal visit? Is it part
of the regular admission or is it a separate admission.
Speaker 4 (25:33):
It's part of the regular admission, and you can see,
of course, the life and legacy of President Kennedy and
then in a separate space. It's really wonderfully done. You
wouldn't You couldn't possibly have more fun in a museum.
You will learn all about the presidential pets.
Speaker 2 (25:49):
Yeah, I mean only if you had a barrel full
of monkeys, That's that's what you'd need to top it off.
But I don't think there is a barrel full of
monkeys involved here. Yeah, no, it's it's great to you know,
talking about McCarney Caroline one of Caroline Kennedy's ponies. I
see again in your press release. I did not know
this that Teddy Roosevelt, great outdoorsman, had a pony named Algonquin.
(26:14):
I didn't even realize they had an elevator in the
White House when Roosevelt was president. But the pony got
to ride the elevator.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
Yes, yes, it's true. Roosevelt had so many pets. It's
really remarkable. He was a great, you know, outdoorsman and
loved animals of all kinds. And he received many more
pets as gifts than he could actually keep at the
White House. So he was one who referred many to
the local zoo. But his collection of pets is extraordinary,
(26:45):
and I think he really meaningfully interacted with all of them.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
By the way, I'm a big fan of the library.
I actually did the live I was we broadcast the
opening ceremonies, so the opening day back in October of
nineteen seventy nine, a day that I will never never forget.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Oh that's remarkable.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
You probably weren't even born then, but.
Speaker 4 (27:10):
Well, you know, it's probable that I may be the
last library director who actually lived during President Kennedy's lifetime,
though I was only six months old when he passed.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Really okay, well you sound young, and that's good. That
is good.
Speaker 4 (27:24):
That is also I'll try to keep that.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
Oh no, I'm totally serious, you know, talking about Coolidge.
Coolidge grave is in Vermont, down a little side road,
and it's not all that impressive. But I just fascinated
by Coolidge because obviously he he spent time here in
Massachusetts as governor, but is interred in Vermont, Plymouth, Vermont,
(27:53):
and I remember walking over by his grave one day,
and as you can see, I'm kind of his street geek,
and it was very unimpressive, and I just thought he
was just on the side of a road in a
little little town cemetery in Plymouth, Plymouth, Notch, New Hampshire,
and kind of spoke a little bit about his presidency.
(28:17):
I mean, it was fairly simple. It was a simpler
time in America, you know, coming up there. Yeah, one
hundred years, one hundred years from now. We probably he
would have been president at this point one hundred years ago,
now that I think about it.
Speaker 4 (28:30):
Right right, right, yeah, And the Presidential Library System doesn't
come up until FDR creates it and he backdates it
to Hoover. But it's much harder to access the history
of prior presidents.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Alan, I really enjoyed chatting with you. Sound like a
great library director. And as they say, I spent many
many days with my friend Dave Powers, and he was
he was just a compendium of valuable information. I'm a
compendium of useless information. But it was quite bad. Quite
a guy. And sometime I get the library, I want
to look you up. Okay, thanks, Alan, appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (29:03):
Well, let me know when you're here. I'll show you
a few things.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
I promise I will. Thanks Alan, we'll talk again, Alan Price,
you take care the library Director of the JFK Presidential Library.
Thanks again. When we get back, we're going to talk
about the Northeast ARC and they're offering free swimming lessons
to children six months in older. And this is a
program called through the Saving Lives Swim Program. We're going
(29:28):
to talk with Joeanne Simon's president and CEO of Northeast
ARC Organization. I'm very familiar with They do great work.
And we'll be talking with joe Inn right after the
break here on Night Side.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
It's Night Side with Dany Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
All right. I think all of us are familiar with
the various arcs around the Commonwealth. Joanne Simmons is very
familiar with the arcs because Joeanne is the president and
CEO of the Northeast ARC and they have a swimming
program up there which is available for kids as young
as six months old. Joanne, welcome to Night sid How
(30:06):
are you hey?
Speaker 6 (30:07):
Good, good evenings then, and thanks for having me.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
You're welcome. So tell us about the swimming, the swimming program.
I was unaware that you were doing this.
Speaker 6 (30:16):
Well, I'm going to tell you how it came out.
Is that you may not be aware that drowning is
the leading cause of death for children with autism, and
just last summer in this country, over twenty six children
with autism drowned, and most under the age of There.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Was a story. It was a story in one of
the local newscasts tonight about a little boy eight years
old who I believe is dealing with Did you see
that story.
Speaker 6 (30:43):
Tragedy in Clinton? Little boy eight years old with autism
who is nonverbal wandered, which is very common with children
with actism. Of them wander they have anxiety and to
deal with their anxiety, wandering often a release to them
(31:03):
and they're attracted to water. And unfortunately, the tragedy that
unfolded in in Clinton was not the first one of
this kind, and it made us realize that there was
something that we could do as a leading provider of
services to people with disabilities and autism. We've developed a
program that will pay for swimming lessons for any child
(31:28):
birth to three that are in our early intervention programs,
which we operate in many cities, in towns in the
North Shore and cay Van. And we're doing this because
we think the most important thing you could do is
save a life and financial means should not be a
(31:49):
barrier for a child to learn to swim.
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Let me ask you a question, if I could, is
this available for children who have been dying gnosed with
autism or for any child between those.
Speaker 6 (32:03):
Ages, Well, any child who's in an early intervention program
they may have autism. Then they have down to them,
then they have a speech delay they may have.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
When you said early intervention, I wasn't sure. And of
course we know that that with children. Sometimes children are
not diagnosed with autism until they're one and a half.
Speaker 1 (32:24):
Two years old exactly.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
So that's something that people should be thinking about, and
it's what do you what do you do if you
have a child that has autism and is a little
or or again some sort of a developmental issue, who's
older than three? Why is it cut off at three?
Speaker 6 (32:43):
Well early, you know, we have to start somewhere, and
this is the first year that we're doing it, so
we're rolling it out to see. Obviously, we are very
fortunate because he was all of the ahilanthropist and Marvel
head who established the Changing Lives fund that these dark
a few years ago, has graciously stepped forward to fund
(33:06):
the Saving Lives program here and so we're going to
start with the children that we serve because we see
them for us to three and we're partnering, which what
makes us unique is we're not going to actually provide
the swimming lessons. We're partnering with the Yomsta, the North Shore,
the Metro North YMCA and the North Shore Jewish Community Center,
(33:26):
which all have swim lessons for children of this age
in a variety of locations. So we want families to
be able to go where they would be normally seeking
out swim lessons, maybe for their family as well. And
you know, we hope that we could you know, you know,
expand this. So we're starting with something that we we Obviously,
(33:47):
the other challenge is that the YMCAs are also inundated
with just requests for swimming lessons, and so we don't
want to create a demand that you know, our YMCA
partners you know, can't neither.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
Well, okay. So so for the parents of children who
have whether autism or other you know, I think you're
referred to them as developmental issues, is what's the property, yeah,
or just if.
Speaker 6 (34:13):
They're you know, reached out to the Northeast Dark and
if they're interested in our early Intervention program, which is
a free program that you can self proport to, we
can do an evaluation, get them signed up for all
sorts of services. And in addition, this is an added benefit.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
Again just focusing on this, the child has to be
between the age of six months in three three and
the autism obviously is one one diagnosis that you would
deal with. What is the some of the other diagnoses
or the umbrella term for all of these diagnoses, it's just.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
Just to development.
Speaker 6 (34:53):
No, not just because of the ratism. It can be
any kind of delay. It could be a speech delay,
it can be a motor issue, it might be could
be terrible positive and.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
So they would be joy And I just want to
make sure I understand that I'm sorry, and I know
I'm I'm interrupting you there, and I apologize, but I
want all parents to understand if the umbrella issue would
probably be any form of a developmental issue, they should
contact you, folks if they're interested in getting swimming lessons
for their son or daughter between the age of six
months and three years.
Speaker 6 (35:28):
Correct, and yes, and if they're living in the north
Shore in the Cape Ann area, those are that's the
catchment areas where we currently provide early intervention services. And
this is open to anybody in our who received those services.
Speaker 2 (35:43):
Okay, but again I assume that someone when you say
Cape Ian area without listing every city in town, I
assume someone who is up in that general north Shore
Cape Ann area. Uh, if they can get you know,
they have to transport their child to the swim lessons
and all of that.
Speaker 6 (36:01):
Again, well they do, but early intervention actually provides services
in the home environment as well. So the first step
would be getting in touch with the Northeast Dock Early
Intervention Program.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
Okay, how did they do that?
Speaker 6 (36:16):
They can south before they can just www dot any
hyphen a arc dot org.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
And again we're talking over each other. It's just any
hyphen uh aar c aar c dot org. That w
w W is No one has to use that anymore,
so no one, you know, so, I mean it's like
he confuses people sometimes, So give it to me without
(36:44):
w W one more time.
Speaker 6 (36:46):
Any hyphen a arc dot org or just google Northeast
arc Early Intervention.
Speaker 2 (36:53):
Perfect. Okay, Hopefully some folks have been able to write
down what they have to write down and just get
in touch with the Northeast r Thanks very much, Johayne.
I appreciate it. Thanks for the work you do.
Speaker 6 (37:03):
Thank you Jed for having us Okay, supporting us.
Speaker 2 (37:07):
Okay, you know you can always count on me. Thank
you so much. Nine o'clock News is coming when we
get back. We're going to talk about that mayoral primary
election in New York City a couple of nights ago
and a stunning upset. We're going to be talking with
Boston Globe opinion writer Karine Hajar, who wrote a very
interesting piece in the Boston Globe today on a shift
(37:28):
within the Democratic Party that some Democrats are now beginning
to become concerned about back on nights out after this
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