- Gridlock in Congress keeps food stamp funding higher in Oregon, By Jim Myers, September 1, 2013, The Oregonian: “Food stamp programs in Oregon and across the nation continue to be saved from billions of dollars in budget cuts and other major changes by an unlikely savior: Congressional gridlock. In a clear case of unintended consequences, the much-criticized trend in Congress to accomplish nothing of lasting significance entered its second year of no food stamp overhaul. Until Congress acts, states will receive the same level of benefits. That’s a big deal in Oregon, where one in five Oregonians benefit from the state’s program, which receives about $1.2 billion annually…”
- As debate reopens, food stamp recipients continue to squeeze, By Sheryl Gay Stolberg, September 4, 2013, New York Times: “As a self-described ‘true Southern man’ — and reluctant recipient of food stamps — Dustin Rigsby, a struggling mechanic, hunts deer, dove and squirrel to help feed his family. He shops for grocery bargains, cooks budget-stretching stews and limits himself to one meal a day. Tarnisha Adams, who left her job skinning hogs at a slaughterhouse when she became ill with cancer, gets $352 a month in food stamps for herself and three college-age boys. She buys discount meat and canned vegetables, cheaper than fresh. Like Mr. Rigsby, she eats once a day — ‘if I eat,’ she said. When Congress officially returns to Washington next week, the diets of families like the Rigsbys and Adamses will be caught up in a debate over deficit reduction…”
Day: September 4, 2013
Early Childhood Literacy
Imagination Library aims to spark a love of reading in KC area children, By Mara Rose Williams, September 2, 2013, Kansas City Star: “The choo-choo train story made 3-year-old Katelyn Sims giggle and wiggle and squeal. She was having a great time in her mother Elisha Sims’ lap as Mom read Watty Piper’s “The Little Engine That Could” to the toddler. “I think I can. I think I can,” Sims read. Two weeks ago, the book had arrived by mail, wrapped in plastic, at the Simses’ home in Kansas City’s Marlborough neighborhood…”