[nfbmi-talk] newsline article

Tue Aug 27 18:03:28 UTC 2013

That denial is demonstrably a lie. Both NFB National and NFB MI can and 
should supply the requests for funding to this very list to refute the bogus 
contention of LARA, Rodgers, and all.

JJ who are you working for?
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J.J. Meddaugh" <jj at bestmidi.com>
To: "NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 1:30 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbmi-talk] newsline article

"That denial was due to NFB's failure to provide
timely and sufficient information."

Do we have any idea what that's referring to?
As for us locally, is there any money to be saved by moving everyone over to 
the local access numbers?
I bet there's still lots of people using the toll free number who could call 
Detroit without a charge.
National also needs to update their website to always suggest the local 
number first, which at last check they weren't doing.

Best regards,
J.J.

On 8/26/2013 9:04 PM, Larry Posont wrote:
> 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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