Our Plans for 2020By: Rana Goodman / On My SoapboxAs we welcome the New Year, The Vegas Voicewill be writing a series of articles about themany scams seniors are constantly subjected to,what our government agencies are doing about them, and ideas of howto handle them.Those annoying phone calls usually pop up at mealtime or early inthe morning. Blocking the phone numbers is one way to avoid them,but alas, the scammers seem to justcall back cloning a different phonenumber that pops up on your callerI.D. to fool you.The “Do Not Call List” is a totalwaste of time. Although manynumbers and complaints are filed,these people keep calling numeroustimes a day.It seems local, state and federalagencies don’t really do much tostop these calls, yet it seems to me that a heavy financial penalty mightcurb those coming from the U.S. The threatening calls that claim to befrom the IRS, Social Security and such are especially dangerous.Speaking of scams, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to “play” withone of these callers when he told me I had just WON the Publisher’sClearing House Sweepstakes. He claimed I would be receiving my$3,150,000 prize along with a brand-new Mercedes. (He didn’t mentionthe roses, I love roses).As I was playing along, I walked into Dan’s office with the caller onspeaker. I was told that 90% of the taxes would be paid for me - all Ihad to do was have the rest of the money ready for the man makingmy delivery.When I said I could only come up with $4,000 right away, he claimedhis people would then accompany me to the bank and we could makethe exchange.Suddenly he asked, “I just heard someone else on the line.” I saidyes, that’s it’s my husband who is a federal agent working in the frauddivision. CLICK, the man abruptly hung up.I guess I don’t get the money, thecar, OR the roses!*As promised, an update onMarianne Chiang’s quest to theFamily Court to terminate her son’sguardianship over her, which ifsuccessful, would stop her children’sfrom forcing her to move into anassisted living facility in California.If successful, she will be FREE toenjoy her life as she has always done.The hearing held December 17 th was unlike any I have witnessedbefore in a guardianship case. The attorneys were allowed to callwitnesses and due to the length of the hearing, only Marianne and herdaughter made it to the stand. The final round, hopefully, is scheduledfor December 30 th .You can contact Rana by email: Rana@thevegasvoice.net. Alsocheck out her blog about life in Sun City Anthem at:Anthemtoday.comBy: Dan Hyde / Call to ActionNationally, there are an estimated 500,000people who call the streets their “residence.”In Clark County the estimate is between 8,000-10,000. I believe that both estimates are woefullyunderstated.The federal government working in partnership with the states andtheir local entities, have invested literally billions of taxpayer dollarsover the years to eradicate the problem, but the problem still persistsand continues to grow. How can that be? Where did and does all thatmoney go?Having been associated with several local entities over the years, Ican offer an explanation and, perhaps a solution. Just throwing moneyat any problem does not guarantee a desirable solution.What is needed is a coherent, regional approach working togetheras a collective team. Part of the problem is that most governing bodiesoperate independently and separately, thus duplicating costs. Thosecosts can be drastically reduced by working in collaboration.The plague I mention is because more and more homeless are using24Homelessness - A Growing PlagueJanuary 2020the streets as theirbathroom.By doing sothey are creatinga resurgence ofheretofore medievalnon-existent diseases.Health specialists arerightfully demandingthat immediateaction be taken.In Las Vegas a visionary, Arnold Stalk, created a viable, cost-effectivetransitional housing facility called Veterans Village. Converting oldrailroad box-cars (300-500 square feet) with a bed, stove, A/C andHeating and placing them together with bathrooms facilities available,he has created an excellent use of taxpayer dollars.They are cost effective, safe, secure and, most importantly sanitary. Ithink this idea should be replicated everywhere, don’t you?Dan Hyde is a passionate and effective advocate for the seniorcommunity. He can be reached at: dhyde9@cox.net.
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