BRIEFS

Florida A&M University Presents the Annual President’s Concert

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida A&M University (FAMU) is hosting its annual President’s Concert Monday, April 19, in Lee Hall at 8 p.m. The concert is open to the general public.  Admission is free.

The focus of this year’s concert is the university community. Each year the concert focuses on a particular segment of the community.  Examples are faculty, Greek letter organizations, retirees, honor students, colleges and schools, state legislators and civic organizations.

The concert was conceived with the idea of presenting a musical, cultural event under the auspices and sponsorship of the university president.  The university community is invited to hear the talent of the FAMU Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble perform standard, contemporary and popular literature.

For more information, call (850) 599-3024.

Florida A&M University’s Board of Trustees Schedules Meeting

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida A&M University (FAMU) Board of Trustees will meet Thursday, April 22, at 9 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom on FAMU’s campus.  Committees will meet on Wednesday, April 21, beginning at 9 a.m.

The call in number for the board meeting is 1-866-356-6464 and the conference ID number is 68225674.  The agendas are attached.  For more information, call (850) 412-5211.

Reception honors black legislators

The Tallahassee Tuskegee Alumni Club held its 29th Annual Legislative Reception honoring members of the Florida Conference of Black Legislators at the Marzuq Shrine Temple. The group uses this event to allow members of the community the opportunity to meet the legislators and to raise funds for scholarships for students who attend Tuskegee University.

C. U. Smith welcomed the legislators and other guests to the reception and allowed each legislator to introduce herself/himself and talk about impending bills that are being supported.

Other elected and appointed officials were also invited to speak. Among the legislators that took time out of their schedule to join the group were Sen. Tony Hill and Reps. Alan Williams, Audrey Gibson, Hazelle Rogers, Gwyn Clarke- Reed, Betty Reed, Mia Jones, Arthenia Joiner and Perry Thurston.

Tamara Buie is the president of the club. Those attending also enjoyed the refreshments and the music. Many even danced.

To see more pictures from the Legislators Reception, please see the print edition of the Capital Outlook available on newsstands today.

Family of the Month

Inges know the importance of family

BY DOMINIQUE SHAW
Outlook Staff Writer

Being family oriented comes second nature to the Inge family, who moved to Tallahassee during the mid- 1970s. Leonard and Saundra Inge have been happily married for more than 45 years.

Saundra Inge attended Tennessee State University and received a degree in music and Leonard Inge made Florida A&M University, his beloved alma mater. Tallahassee became a “home away from home” for the Inges. After graduating from the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leonard decided to extend his knowledge to others by teaching there.

The Inges have enjoyed parenting their four children: Mica Inge, 47; Leoneda Inge, 44; Cassaundra Inge Burks, 42; and Leonard Inge Jr., 36.

“My parents wanted us to live in the South but have opportunities they did not have,” said Leoneda Inge. “Tallahassee has always been a perfect fit for our family.”

To read more about the Inges, Capital Outlook Family of the Month, please see the print edition of the Capital Outlook available on newsstands today.

By Lori Parham

What does America’s new health-insurance reform mean for you? Find out when AARP volunteer host Dr. Thelma J. Nolan brings you the details on News You Can Use From AARP, on WTAL-AM 1450 radio at 2:30 p.m. April 21. Please tune in.

Some benefits of the new law will start in just months, while others will start in early 2011 and thereafter:

• Help with prescription drug costs. If you fall into the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit coverage gap, or donut hole, you will get a $250 rebate this year. Next year, you get a 50-percent discount on name-brand drugs, and discounts grow until the donut hole is gone for good.
• Preventive care. Medicare will now cover heart-disease tests, diabetes screenings and other preventive care with no copays or deductibles. Private insurers will be required to pay for routine checkups and preventative care.
• Immediate access to special insurance pools. If you’ve been denied coverage, starting in June you can buy coverage through a special insurance pool. After 2014, you can join new insurance exchanges that will combine your buying power with thousands of others, helping to bring costs down. If you can’t afford coverage, you may qualify for subsidies.
• No more pre-existing conditions. Starting immediately for children and in 2014 for adults, insurers won’t be able to deny you coverage based on pre-existing conditions.
• No more annual or lifetime benefit caps or loss of insurance just because you got sick. Today, many insurance policies carry annual and lifetime caps on the cost of your care. After you exceed the cap, you’re on your own. Under the new law, insurers can’t impose these benefits caps or drop you because you get sick.

To learn more, go to www.aarp.org/getthefacts or tune in Wednesday, April 21st

Lori Parham, Ph.D., is AARP’s Florida state director.

HUD Awards Grants to Help Low Income Families

SPECIAL TO THE OUTLOOK

(NNPA) – U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan has announced that public housing agencies across the U.S., Guam and Puerto Rico will receive nearly $49.3 million to provide low income people with the necessary job training to put them on a path toward self sufficiency.

Funded through HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher Family Self-Sufficiency Program, the grants allow public housing agencies to work with welfare agencies, schools, businesses, and other local partners to develop a comprehensive program to help participating individuals develop the skills and experience to enable them to obtain jobs that pay a living wage.

“In today’s economy, this program is needed more than ever to help families obtain the skills that lead to jobs,” said Donovan. Local housing authorities use the funding to hire family self sufficiency coordinators to link adults in the Housing Choice Voucher program to local organizations that provide job training, childcare, counseling, transportation and job placement. These housing authorities can also hire coordinators to help families get homeownership counseling.