Page 2 October 13, 2016 TORRANCE TRIBUNE Medicare Enrollment Opens the Door for Scammers By Rob McCarthy Medicare recipients and their families should be on the lookout for health-care scams and identity thieves who use the open enrollment period that starts Saturday to rip off seniors. “This can’t be said enough. Do not give your sensitive personal information to anyone who calls claiming to be a representative from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.” If the phone rings and the caller says he or she is from the Medicare office, just hang up. Identity thieves will use various schemes to steal seniors’ personal and financial information during the Medicare open enrollment period, which runs from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7, says a warning from the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office. Con artists turn brazen this time of year. This can’t be said enough. Do not give your sensitive personal information to anyone who calls claiming to be a representative from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. They will come to the house posing as a Medicare sales agent or call seniors to urge them to join a prescription plan or risk losing their health care benefits. They promise refunds or discounted Medicare products, but they’re not giving deals. They are stealing personal information, according to the county prosecutor’s office. “Their intended goal is to steal identifying information to apply for lines of credit or to commit Medicare fraud by purchasing items that the victims never receive,” according to the alert issued for L.A. County seniors, their families and caregivers. The con artists will lie to Medicare recipients about the prescription drug benefit. The drug benefit is voluntary, and anyone who says it is required is lying. Medicare Part D is a supplemental policy that a senior or someone on disability with Medicare coverage can elect to buy or not. “Medicare will never call and ask for your Medicare or Social Security number,” officials say. Since the Medicare system keeps every beneficiary’s policy number and personal information, they wouldn’t be calling a South Bay resident’s home to verify or update the information on file. Seniors should never give out personal identifying information over the phone or to someone at the front door, authorities say. What if the caller knows the first few numbers of your Medicare account or your checking account? Don’t fall for that one either. Medicare doesn’t collect on “overdue” medical bills over the phone. They do it by U.S. mail, and there’s a toll-free phone number for consumers to call with questions about benefits, re-enrollment and billing questions. Medicare enrollees can review their Medicare coverage options either by calling 1-800-MEDICARE or visiting the web site Medicare.gov. Film Review ‘Do Not Resist’ is an Unsettling Exposé of Those Sworn ‘To Protect and Serve’ By Morgan Rojas for www.cinemacy.com On Saturday, Oct. 8, three Palm Springs police officers were shot after responding to a family disturbance call, a seemingly routine operation that ended up being anything but. Jose Gilbert “Gil” Vega, 63, a 35-year veteran who was due to retire in December, and Lesley Zerebny, 27, who had just returned from maternity leave after giving birth four months earlier, were both killed as a direct result of their gun-related injuries. As tragic and shocking as this situation is, officer-involved shootings– from both sides of the gun– are no longer isolated incidents, but instead are becoming more commonplace each day. The pervasive question of “how did we get here” is what makes director Craig Atkinson’s timely documentary “Do Not Resist” so compelling as he shines a light on the reality of American policing today, the militarization of the force, and the effect it is having on the communities they are sworn to protect. “Do Not Resist” opens on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri during one of the nightly protests following Michael Brown’s shooting death in 2014, where tension and emotions are at an all-time high. Atkinson and his camera become a fly on the wall as hundreds roam the streets chanting “No Justice, No Peace” and “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” while police try to control the ever-growing, increasingly hostile crowd. It’s these types of scenarios that raise the question of how to ensure the safety of citizens and the officers themselves. Many seem to think that military-grade weapons, armored cars, and other various equipment will make communities a safer place, and since the federal government has given police departments more than $40 billion in military-style equipment since 9/11, access to this weaponry is so much easier. But who is this benefitting, really? Atkinson attempts to show how citizens disagree with the choice to accept such high-powered weapons for fear that America will become a militarized war zone and in turn, the rights and free will of citizens will come second to an officer’s agenda. “More Mayberry, Less Fallujah” one protestor’s sign reads. Then there are those who side with law enforcement, claiming that Police in Richland County, South Carolina conduct a drug search warrant for marijuana in ‘Do Not Resist.’ Courtesy of VANISH Films. Ground is Broken for New Aquatic Center Local Resident Makes a Difference in Children’s Lives By Cristian Vasquez Torrance resident Angie Kim is a devout Christian who was eager to live by the teachings of her faith and church’s values. When Kim learned of a fair that would host different organizations dedicated to helping children, she decided to attend and learned about CASA of Los Angeles [Court Appointed Special Advocates]. “I really liked what I heard,” Kim said. “I am a mom of two kids who were in elementary school at the time, so in terms of hours, it fit into my lifestyle. I knew that I could make a difference in a child’s life in a measurable way and that was attractive to me.” CASA is an organization dedicated to improving the lives of foster children throughout Los Angeles County. In Los Angeles County it is estimated that 30,000 kids have been placed under the power of the courts due to abuse or neglect. “Becoming a CASA means becoming a life-changing presence, advocating for the best outcome in the life of a foster child who in many circumstances has no one to turn to,” said CASA/LA Executive Director Dilys Garcia. “Often CASAs are assigned to cases where there has been abuse, neglect or where there is a need for deeper attention than what a social worker can provide. We step in to help with a wide range of challenges these kids face, each of which on their own could prevent that child from living a successful life.” CASA trains all volunteers before sending them to connect with the children they serve. Training is a mixture of in-person interaction at the CASA offices located in Monterrey Park and online materials. Once ready, volunteers are matched with a child and encouraged to connect visit at least once a week. After a while volunteers can develop a strong ability to have much influence in the life of their youth through advocating across issues such as permanent placement, health care, education, mental health and enrichment activities. “CASAs help prevent that child from miss out on their education. CASAs help prevent that child from becoming homeless. CASAs help prevent that child from becoming a forgotten part of our society,” Garcia said. “We need help, and there is no shortage of foster kids in Los Angeles who are desperate for someone to be there for them.” With time volunteers become the one consistent adult presence in the child’s life, which allows for trust to be built between the youth and grown up. Kim described her first encounter with her youth, a 15-year-old boy, as nerve racking. Still, the mother of two daughters approached the new experience with an open mind and heart, introduced herself and began the process of connecting with the teen. “It took about seven to eight months to where I could say he trusted me enough to call when he needed to,” Kim said. “About eight months after meeting, he ran away when he found out he was going to a group home so he called me. He called to let me know he was doing okay, and I think he was trying to get a feel for what was going on.” While CASA volunteers aren’t required to report their youths, Kim did encourage her youth to call his social worker. Six years after their first meeting the bond Kim and her youth has grown with the two still staying in constant communication. With absolute legal standing to investigate a child’s circumstances, CASA makes recommendations to the court as to how the courts and community can best support the child. “Kids in foster care don’t usually have healthy boundaries, discipline or structure so it is hard to learn to be responsible at times,” Kim said. “I see him now working to find a fulltime job and start making a life for himself.” In addition to adult connections, CASA has a strong focus on educational, health and mental health advocacy as well as early childhood development, court assistance and helping teenagers transition into adulthood. Becoming a CASA volunteer hasn’t been easy for Kim but it has been rewarding and she’s already connected with a second youth, another 15-year-old boy. “I grew up in a home where there was a push for education, a lot of structure and I just knew what I had to do; my kids have rules and consequence and these kids don’t have that, so I would get so frustrated,” Kim said. “It has been a learning experience for me. I am learning to be more patient and it has helped me be more empathetic and to understand this other side of the world that I had never been exposed to.” CASA hosts regular information sessions. • By Cristian Vasquez In the presence of Torrance Unified School District officials, parents and city representatives, ground was broken to make way for the new Aquatic Center on Monday, Oct. 10. The $15 million project is made possible via Bond Measure approved by Torrance voters. “It is an honor to be here to be part of this history in the making aquatic center groundbreaking,” Board President Martha Deutsch told those in attendance. “Our goal was to reach out to our parents and community to develop the project for Measures T and U to see what programs they felt needed strengthening in the district…I want to take an opportunity to thank all of the parents and community in helping us pass the measures by over sixty percent.” The Aquatic Center Project is located at 2320 Crenshaw Blvd. and is being built to accommodate the aquatic programs in all four of the District’s high schools. “It is long overdue. We have needed a pool and this is a very high quality facility, with a lot of thought put into it,” North High School Principal Dr. Ronald Richardson and member of Aquatics Advisory Committee said. “It will have four locker rooms, so each high school will have its own locker room and each one will be reflective with the colors of the school. It’s just going to be a very aesthetic pleasing pool in the area, but it will also give the swim teams and water polo teams a place instead of having to be at the plunge.” At the moment, all water sports are hosted at the city-owned Victor E. Benstead Plunge, located next to the Katy Geissert Library. Among the amenities in new facility are a 60-meter competition Olympic pool, which will be surrounded by a concrete pool deck; there will be a warm up pool, as well as elevated bleachers with a capacity for 500 spectators. The bleachers will be covered by shade canopies, as will be both the north and south ends of the pools. In addition, the new structure will separate the pools from the parking and lot will include restrooms facilities; there will also be a multipurpose room, coach offices, storage/utility/maintenance rooms, a ticket room near the main entrance, and pool pump and equipment rooms. “The Plunge [Victor E. Benstead] is a great facility to workout in but it awful hard to have a big meet in because of how it is laid out,” West High Parent and Aquatics Advisory Committee member Kevin Mackintosh said. It is so overcommitted from the schools and the recreation department.” Part of the project includes the resurfacing and restriping of the existing 411 parking stalls, and will maintain all off-street parking stalls. Modernization and reorientation work will also take place for the existing varsity See Film Review, page 4 See Aquatic Center, page 9 See Medicare, page 8
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