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LORAIN COUNTY
AMHERST NEWS-TIMES • OBERLIN NEWS-TRIBUNE • WELLINGTON ENTERPRISE Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022
Biggest jump to Social Security since the 1980s
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Volume 9, Issue 42
Mighty Phoenix seniors
JASON HAWK EDITOR
Scared about rising prices, Valerie Husbands drove to Giant Eagle in Amherst a year ago when chicken went on sale for $1.47 per pound. She bought 50 pounds to freeze, and has been making that purchase last. It was the right gamble. Inflation has driven consumer prices up 8.2 percent over the past 12 months, according to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report released last Thursday, and food is a huge part of the increase. The squeeze has eased slightly since this summer, when costs soared to a 40-year high. Gas prices have dropped significantly, though food and rent are still edging upward, the federal report shows. “I think what this inflation has done is scared me more than anything else,” said Husbands, 73, of North Ridgeville. “I can handle the prices, but it’s the fear — if it’s this bad this year, what about next year?” There is good news for retired seniors. Social Security benefits are directly tied to the inflation rate, and the government also announced that it will pass along the largest cost of living adjustment since the early 1980s. Starting in January, Social Security checks will increase by more than $140 per month on average — an 8.7 percent boost for about 70 million Americans. At the same time, Medicare Part B premiums are being lowered by more than $5 per month, “which will give seniors more peace of mind and breathing room,” said Kilolo Kijakazi, acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration. “This year’s substantial Social Security cost-ofliving adjustment is the first time in over a decade that Medicare premiums are not rising and shows that we can provide more support to older Americans who count on the benefits they have earned,” she said. Husband’s daughter, Carrie Adams, is director of the Amherst Office on Aging. To Lorain County residents living on a fixed income, another $140 per month will make all the difference in the world, she said. “Our seniors are struggling to make ends meet, and they’ve started cutting things. Generally that’s good food and the extras,” she said. Demand for her agency’s home-delivered meals in Amherst has increased by 20 percent in the past three months alone, said Adams. The city charges $5.50 SOCIAL SECURITY PAGE A3
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Erik Andrews | Oberlin News-Tribune
Oberlin celebrated its five marching band seniors at halftime of Friday night's game against Clearview. Pictured are John Georgiadis, Ian Boyer, Iliana Bennett, director Ryan Jaeckin, Braydon Dobos and Ronan Ortiz.
Trump a factor in early voting Former president isn’t on the ballot, but he’s on minds JASON HAWK EDITOR
SHEFFIELD TWP. — Former President Donald Trump isn’t on the ballot this fall, but his influence was easy to see last Wednesday as early voting got underway. Among those to cast ballots on the first day of in-person voting was Barbara Ambler of Elyria, who said she was voting straight Republican. “I’m a Trumper,” she said. "I know he’s not running, but I’m thinking long-range because the guy who’s up there right now is not doing a good job.” Norman Kloos of Avon said he was there to vote for JD Vance, the Trump-backed Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. After watching about 20 minutes of a debate Monday between Vance and Democratic opponent Tim Ryan, Kloos said he wanted to back the Republican. Mary Valliere of Elyria said she’s made early voting a tradition. She tends to vote for Democrats. Last week, she wanted to vote against Trump’s interests on the ballot, including any of his preferred candidates. “I watched him try to steal a home from an old lady in Atlantic City when he built his first casino,” Val-
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liere said, referencing a well-documented case in the 1990s. It revolved around Trump’s use of eminent domain to attempt to seize an elderly woman’s home to build a limousine parking lot. The woman ultimately won in court. “Ever since then, I have nothing good to say about him,” Valliere said. Randall Nichols, a Lorain County resident, sat at the roadside in front of the election office wearing a red hat stitched with the word “maggot”
and holding a since that read “Vance hates hillbillies.” Nichols said Vance’s novel, “Hillbilly Elegy,” puts down poor rural residents. “And of course, he’s got Trump backing him, which leads me to believe that he’s mentally ill, intellectually challenged and a moron,” he said. Drawing honks from passing cars, EARLY VOTING PAGE A3
A NEW RECORD
The total number of registered voters has risen to 219,291 in Lorain County as the fall general election gets underway. Paul Adams, director of the county Board of Elections, said there are still more registrations filed just before the deadline last Tuesday, so the final number will increase slightly. As of the Aug. 2 special primary election, there were 217,420 registered voters in the county. Adams previously said the lion’s share of new registrations were coming from Avon, Avon Lake and North Ridgeville, where the population is booming.
INSIDE THIS WEEK
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Bruce Bishop | Community Guide
Randall Nichols, identified himself only as a Lorain County resident shows his sign opposing JD Vance as he stood outside the Lorain County Board of Elections during the first day of early voting.
Amherst
Oberlin
Wellington
Nurse saves man’s life before Brown’s game • A3
Alumni rethink giving after college bylaws change • B1
Officer will not face charges from July shooting • B1
OBITUARIES A2 • CLASSIFIEDS A4 • BULLETIN BOARD A6 • PUZZLES B2 • KID SCOOP B6