[nfbmi-talk] newsline article

Tue Aug 27 01:16:58 UTC 2013

Who in the Sam Hill is this LARA hack David Moon?
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry Posont" <president.nfb.mi at gmail.com>
To: "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, August 26, 2013 9:04 PM
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] newsline article

National Federation of the Blind of Michigan
20812 Ann Arbor Trail
Dearborn Heights, MI 48127

August 26, 2013

Dear Michigan Federationists:

     Here is an article that my son Peter found on the internet
concerning Newsline. I believe it will be in the paper tomorrow or may
have already been published today.
http://m.freep.com/localnews/article?a=2013308260127&f=1232

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Agency says newspaper service for blind ends Saturday after state cuts 
funding
By Paul Egan Detroit Free Press Lansing Bureau
August 26, 2013

David Meyer, 58, of Forest Park, IL, left, listens as the Victor
Reader Stream recites the Chicago Sun Times during the National
Federation of the Blind convention in Detroit, Friday, July 3, 2009. -
Andre J. Jackson/Detroit Free Press
LANSING — A service used by about 3,000 blind people in Michigan to
access newspapers and magazines is to be shut off this week because
the state cut funding, the provider said Monday.
The state no longer wants to pay the $52,000 annual cost of the
NFB-Newsline service, which provides 24/7 free audio access to about
360 local, national and international newspapers and magazines,
including the Free Press and five other Michigan newspapers, said
Scott White, who directs the service for the National Federation of
the Blind in Baltimore.
Edward Rodgers II, director of Michigan's new Bureau of Services for
Blind Persons, did not return a phone message. Jason Moon, a spokesman
for the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, issued a brief
statement late Monday suggesting the decision may not be final.
"An initial request to fund the new grant cycle was denied by the
bureau," Moon said. "That denial was due to NFB's failure to provide
timely and sufficient information."
Moon said the bureau "is focused on providing a diverse set of quality
services to ensure that blind individuals have the opportunities they
need" to get jobs and be independent. That includes access to
"cutting-edge technology," Moon said.
Georgia Kitchen of Flint, who is blind and volunteers as a state
coordinator of News¬line, said the service provides blind people not
just with news, but with leads on jobs through classified ads and
information about things going on in the community.
Losing the service will make blind people "more isolated," Kitchen said.
"I'm pretty passionate about it, because I've been using it since 1998."
The Bureau of Services for Blind Persons, along with the Commission
for Blind Persons, was established last year after Gov. Rick Snyder
abolished the Michigan Commission for the Blind by executive order.
White has notified about 3,100 Michigan subscribers about the planned
shutoff at midnight Saturday. The service launched in 1995 and is
available in all but a few states. Nearly all subscribers are blind or
visually impaired, though some have other disabilities that make it
difficult to read newspapers and magazines.
"A proposal for the service to continue in Michigan was sent to the
director of the bureau, Mr. Ed Rodgers," but was turned down, White
said in an e-mail to subscribers.
Seniors, who are used to newspapers and aren't always adept with
computers, are particularly dependent on the service, said Larry
Posont, president of the National Federation of the Blind of Michigan.
Posont, who was a member of the commission Snyder abolished, said its
membership has been weakened through the removal of strong advocates
for blind people.
Unlike the former commission, which had statutory powers, the new one
serves only an advisory role.
Posont and Kitchen said there are regional radio-based services
through which parts of newspapers are read aloud over the air, but
those services are available only at fixed times in limited geographic
areas, and those who tune in don't get to choose which articles are
read.
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan at freepress.com
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Sincerely,
Larry Posont
President
 National Federation of the Blind of Michigan
 (313) 271-3058
 Email: president.nfb.mi at gmail.com
 Web page: www.nfbmi.org

 Vehicle Donations Take the Blind Further Donate your car to the
National Federation of the Blind today!
 For more information, please visit:
www.carshelpingtheblind.org
 or call 1-855-659-9314National Federation of the Blind of Michigan

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