| Comcast customer has conversion confusion
As part of the government program, every U.S. household is eligible to receive up to two coupons, worth $40 each, toward the purchase of eligible converter boxes. Consumers can start requesting the coupons in January 2008. For more info, go to www.ntia.doc.gov/ dtvcoupon or call (888) 388-2009. For more about the switch to digital, check out www.dtv.gov/consumer corner.html. Dear Fixer: I received a gift card for $2,000 for BPShopping.com from the car dealership where I bought my car. According to the terms of the gift card, I could get anything I wanted, but I'd have to pay shipping. I ordered two MP3 players and paid $36.95 for the shipping, but I never received the MP3 players. I've tried calling, and they promise me they're on the way but I still haven't received anything.
In Fla., age is an issue for McCain
It's very difficult." It is difficult to determine whether age is a drag on McCain's chances. But voters often cite it as a reason for not supporting him. "Wonderful man, a little old," was the verdict from Don Vercauteren, 65, a real estate agent from Sarasota who is leaning toward Romney. "I know I don't have the strength I had when I was 50 or 60. To work 18 hours a day, nine days a week, the way a president has to, it takes a toll." Mostly, though, older voters look at McCain and see someone with a wealth of life experience. "I like Romney, but I think he needs a little maturity - that's just a grandma talking," said Margaret Foster, 71, at Sun City Center. "It's quite a world out there, and it's going to take a lot of acquired wisdom to get us through the next few years." Yesterday at the Villages, when McCain was done speaking and opened the floor for questions and comments, Maryanne Lane, 65, got the microphone first.
Providing a home cuts public costs
Not so long ago, a bed for Dave Koens meant an abandoned car somewhere in Sioux Falls, an old shed, a cardboard box, or a stay in the emergency room after a night of drinking.
A chronic alcoholic, the 48-year-old Garretson native represented the most challenging - and most expensive - of Sioux Falls' 650 homeless.
Inevitably, his drinking led him again and again to the detox center - or worse, when he began having alcohol-related seizures, to the hospital. Taxpayers were spending $31,000 a year in emergency and medical services on him, yet he still was homeless at the end of the day.
But not anymore. In a day when fewer people think the answer for Dave Koens is more homeless shelters, he now represents the hope of a community seemingly bent on alleviating homelessness with more affordable housing and, when needed, more case management.
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