USDA agency offers loans to deal with October storm damage
U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency is offering physical-loss loans to farmers in 13 Maine counties who were affected by the Oct. 29-30 windstorm, according to the agency.
Farm operators who have suffered major physical losses caused by heavy rain, high wind and flash flooding that occurred during the storm might be eligible for emergency loans.
The notification is effective in Androscoggin, Cumberland, Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec, Lincoln, Oxford, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Somerset, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Additionally, three Maine counties are contiguous to that designated disaster area, making farmers there also potentially eligible for programs based on that designation. The contiguous counties are Aroostook, Knox and Piscataquis.
Carroll, Coos and Strafford counties in New Hampshire are also eligible for emergency loans because they are contiguous to the disaster area.
FSA’s low-interest emergency loans may be made available to any applicant with a qualifying loss in the counties named above. Approval is limited to applicants who suffered severe physical losses only.
Physical loss loans may be made to eligible farmers and ranchers to repair or replace damaged or destroyed physical property essential to the success of the agriculture operation, including livestock losses. Examples of property commonly affected include essential farm buildings, fixtures to real estate, equipment, livestock, perennial crops, fruit- and nut-bearing trees, and harvested or stored crops and hay.
Producers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans for physical losses.
Contact FSA for more information on loan eligibility and the application process. FSA office information is available at offices.usda.gov. Additional FSA disaster assistance program information is available at disaster.fsa.usda.gov.
Franklin Community Health Network OKs unification with MaineHealth
The board of trustees of Franklin Community Health Network recently adopted a proposal for the organization to join with other members of the MaineHealth system to form a single financial and operating model, a change in governance that has been discussed for the past year as a “unification” of the health care system’s members.
The unification proposal is subject to a due diligence review by FCHN, MaineHealth and the other member organizations. Assuming the other of MaineHealth members give their approval in coming weeks and there are no unexpected findings in the due diligence process, FCHN and the nine other MaineHealth members will be governed by a single board of trustees beginning in January 2019.
FCHN is the parent organization of Franklin Memorial Hospital and its affiliated health care services.
The unification is expected to allow resources to flow more freely across the system to improve support of care in local communities.
The FCHN board conducted an extensive review of the proposal. It also asked for reaction from the communities it serves, including by holding community forum June 11 that drew about 75 people.
In the end, the unification proposal adopted by the FCHN trustees provides a strong role for a local board. Its responsibilities will include formulating budgets and strategic plans, the credentialing of physicians and other providers as well as oversight of care quality.
The proposal also guarantees FCHN a representative on the system board for the first five years. This was a topic of extensive discussion among MaineHealth members, as leaders wrestled with the fact that providing that representation across the system creates a large board that could prove unwieldy. The five-year guarantee, along with an ongoing commitment to maintaining geographic diversity on the board after that time, was a compromise reached as part of the discussion among MaineHealth members.
Attorney McKenna receives award for probono legal service
Attorney James A. McKenna III recently received the Pine Tree Legal Assistance Award for Pro Bono Service at the Maine State Bar Association’s Legal Year in Review event in Augusta, according to a news release from Allison Paine, the agency’s pro bono coordinator.
Pine Tree Legal Assistance is a nonprofit law firm whose mission is to ensure that state and federal laws affecting poor people are upheld, while also addressing the systemic barriers to justice faced by Mainers with low incomes.
McKenna joined Pine Tree as an in-house pro bono attorney in 2013 after retiring from the Office of the Maine Attorney General, where he worked for more than three decades and authored the “Maine Attorney General’s Consumer Law Guide.” For the past four years, McKenna has volunteered in Pine Tree Legal’s Augusta office five mornings a week.
He brings his extensive knowledge of consumer rights law to his service there. He has worked on 177 cases in four years.
DFD Russell Medical Centers hire family nurse practitioner
MONMOUTH — DFD Russell Medical Centers recently announced the addition of family nurse practitioner Leah Hebert to the Monmouth location.
Hebert earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Maine at Augusta with a focus on mental health. She completed the Options Program at the University of Southern Maine to earn her master’s degree as a family nurse practitioner. A nationally certified nurse practitioner with the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and an advanced practice registered nurse, she has a background in mental health, rehabilitation, long-term care and rural family medicine.
Her specialties include pediatrics, women’s health and preventative medicine with an emphasis on nutrition and fitness. She is Nexplanon and Mirena certified and is skilled in performing many minor in-office surgeries such as joint injections, biopsies and other skin care procedures.
Hebert comes to DFD Russell after years of practicing at a health center in Orangeburg and Spartanburg, South Carolina, where she was an advanced practice registered nurse. before that, she practiced in Bangor.
Cumberland Farms scholarship application deadline Monday
Time is running out for high school seniors to apply for Cumberland Farms’ 2018 Believe and Achieve Scholarship Program, according to a news release from the company.
The eight-state convenience store retailer is urging seniors graduating in the class of 2018 to apply by Monday for one of 130 scholarships.
Through the program, Cumberland Farms has provided over $1 million in scholarships to students. The program is open to students entering a full-time undergraduate course of study at an accredited college, university or vocational-technical school in the fall of 2018 who live within 30 miles of any Cumberland Farms location.
The company also will designate one special Believe and Achieve Scholarship award recipient as the “Haseotes Scholar.” Named for the founders of the company, the Haseotes Scholar Award is presented to the student who best exemplifies the company’s values of hard work, achievement and commitment to community.
With the financial assistance provided by the scholarships, Believe and Achieve winners have been able to attend a wide range of institutions, including Harvard University, Yale University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Boston College, Tufts University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maine, and more.
Information about the program, including entry criteria, is available online at scholarsapply.org/cumberlandfarms.
Compiled from contributed releases
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