Today's column
Here's the link to today's column. I've been working on this story, off and on, over three months, watching Howard Fry's progress, or lack of it, in finding a new place to live, learning more about him and his relationship with his mother. It's a complex story, and I arrived, with summer intern Rafi Tamargo, some 18 months after the brutal crime. So it's been a challenge to understand who Howard Fry is now compared to the Howard Fry with hands and legs. Had he not been attacked in so brutal a way, Howard would likely be living on the margins, but independently so.
The bit about crime victim's compensation is a joke -- the state couldn't find a 100 bucks to send this man's way.
Comments
Yet the state has $400,000 more than the appraised value to pay for some land on the eastern shore that may or may not be worth anything. And another $400,000 to offer the director of the stadium authority a settlement to get rid of her (although now the state will have to use that money to defend itself against any presumed lawsuits she brings).
Maybe we can get BGE to front the state a loan to help out people like Fry. It seems to be doing pretty well these days.
Posted by: brstevens | September 28, 2007 8:03 AM
Please remember this when you hear about the other great ideas coming out of Annapolis, and when the folks serving down there ask you to vote for them, again.
In a past life, I managed a mental health and substance abuse treatment facility that served children, most whom received health care coverage through the state. The vendor that held the state contract had computers that would not accept claims, so the invoices for services went unpaid. The vendor that received the next contract refused to acknowledge or process the claims against the prior provider.
Then, the Governor and the General Assembly could not decide to fund any services for Youth Services Bureaus, so we closed. The management took the hit. The mental health professionals who treated the children took the hit. The politicians and the vendors got paid.
The kids? We found providers for those we were treating, and wondered about the several thousand that we did not treat in the ensuing two years due to the treatment void in the community.
Too many will join Howard Fry.
Howard and the others are our children. This is another example of how our politicians care for, and do it all for, or is it to, the children.
Posted by: Bruce Robinson | September 28, 2007 12:20 PM