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Better Internet coming to rural communities

Internet access has become a prerequisite for participating in modern life. Examples: Getting medical care, filing taxes, or paying rent can all require logging on. But the connectivity to make that happen isn’t equal for all. High-speed broadband access that’s taken for granted by city-dwellers often is out of reach in rural places.

To change that, the federal government has made tens of billions of dollars available nationally for telecom companies and local governments to help close the gaps. The Key Peninsula area in Pierce County received some good news in January when county officials and Comcast finalized an agreement to expand the availability of high-speed Internet for more than 526 homes and businesses.

Comcast will build the infrastructure for multi-gig broadband speed for residents and business customers. The approximately $5 million project is being funded as a public-private partnership between Comcast and the county, with $3.75 million of the funding funneled through the county in the form of federal money from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

“Now more than ever, it’s crucial that people have access to high-speed Internet” for work, school and entertainment, said County Executive Bruce Dammeier.

Nationwide, the number of homes with no or slow Internet access isn’t clear, but Microsoft estimates as many as 120 million people — roughly one-third of the U.S. population – are behind the curve.

Key Peninsula is one of the places that’s catching up. Roy Novosel, a regional vice president of Comcast, said the upgrades on the way there are “an extension of our commitment to investing in and expanding our network to ensure that more residents and businesses have the important broadband connections they need.”

Once permits are obtained and construction has begun in public rights-of-way, Comcast will start giving peninsula-area residents information about the network buildup in their neighborhoods, including product and service details.

Meanwhile, broadband advocates see a rare chance to reshape the highly consolidated online landscape, thanks to a $42 billion program tucked into President Biden’s 2021 Infrastructure Law. Unlike previous federal subsidies, the most ambitious single deployment of federal resources to date will flow through state governments, which can prioritize open-access networks.

Even amid growing acknowledgement of the Internet as an essential utility, some advocates remain skeptical of whether passing money through states will overcome decades of fragmented policy and keep rural locales from slipping through the digital cracks.

Public utility districts (PUDs) emerged in Washington in the 1930s, when rural areas were grappling with how to provide electricity. At that time, rural communities lacked the legal authority to form public utilities, and it took a statewide ballot measure, passed in 1930, to pave the way for public electrical systems.

Internet service has followed a similar trajectory. Until a repeal in 2021, Washington was one of 20 states that banned or restricted public entities from providing Internet service. Most of those laws are still on the books, posing obstacles to federal efforts to expand access.

Amid the influx of federal stimulus dollars, many of Washington’s PUDs are jockeying for state infrastructure grants. In one such case in the state’s southwest area near Elma, a state board rejected a grant application due to an objection from Comcast, which argued it already served about a quarter of the homes in the proposed area. It was one of eight public broadband expansion plans scuttled by objections from private telecom companies, including Comcast and Nevada-based Rural Wireless LLC, in a process that state regulators have vowed to reform.

Washington has earmarked more than $400 million for broadband infrastructure grants, most of it federal aid from the American Rescue Plan. The most recent round of applications closed Jan. 17.

If past federal efforts to expand broadband access were plagued by a lack of oversight or accountability, local leaders in Washington hope this time will be different. State officials expect to pull in at least $900 million from the federal infrastructure bill this summer.

In Washington, only public and non-profit entities — ranging from PUDs and ports to cities and tribes — can apply for funding. But many are expected to form partnerships with private companies to serve customers.

One county is experimenting with a different, fully public model. Taking advantage of the 2021 law change, Jefferson County’s PUD is getting into the retail telecom business to offer service directly to consumers. The PUD won a $24 million grant last year to build fiber lines to 2,600 homes on the Olympic Peninsula.

 

Sources: Crosscut, a non-profit Pacific Northwest news site and part of Cascade Public Media, contributed to this report.

The Purdy Bridge is known as the gateway to Key Peninsula, one of the rural locales targeted for high-speed Internet through local and federal efforts.
srmedia by — March 22, 2023 in Spotlight

The Pierce County Council has approved a higher sales tax countywide to help pay for housing and other services for homeless persons.

The council voted March 21 in favor of the Maureen Howard Affordable Housing Act, or 2022-81s, which will implement a one-tenth of 1 percent sales tax increase for affordable housing and related services. The earliest the tax can begin to be collected is July 1.

County officials said the financial impact on taxpayers will be 10 cents for every $100 spent on most purchases. The additional tax won’t apply to groceries, medicine, and certain medical supplies and hygiene products.

Officials said the tax increase will generate about $20 million in revenue per year, helping cover the annual pricetag of $150 million-plus for the county’s homeless response system. The county spends roughly $40 million a year now and needs another $117 million a year to fully fund the system in the next five years. Some of the money will be spent building 600 to 800 housing units each year.

State law requires the income generated from the sales tax increase to support programs and projects for people who at or below 60 percent of the median (mid-range) income of Pierce County residents and have behavioral health problems, are veterans or seniors, are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, unaccompanied homeless youth or young adults, disabled persons, or domestic violence survivors.

Council members said the county’s priorities for tax revenue include:

  • Up to 30 percent will go to projects serving individuals with income below 30 percent of the area median income, and up to half of the funds will be spent on projects benefitting people with incomes between 30 and 60 percent of the area median income.
  • Up to 20 percent will go toward housing-related services, behavioral health treatment facilities, and “related programs.”

 

“This revenue source will give us access to much needed resources to help those in need of an affordable place to live, including our veteran community and those fleeing abusive and often deadly situations at home,” said Councilman Ryan Mello.

Councilman Marty Campbell said “thousands of people” will be helped.

The Affordable Housing Act is named after Maureen Howard, a leading advocate for homeless persons. She died Jan. 5.

srmedia by — March 22, 2023 in News

Construction of the Link light-rail extension by Sound Transit is shaking up traffic flow near the Federal Way Transit Center.

In changes that were scheduled to take effect Feb. 23:

  • 23rd Avenue South will be one-way going north between South 320th Street and South 317th Street until November to accommodate utility work and paving. South 317th Street will lose its center turn lane.
  • Pete von Reichbauer Way South will be restriped to increase vehicle capacity in an effort to offset the loss of two-way access of 23rd Avenue South.
  • A roundabout will be built by the end of the year at the intersection of 23rd Avenue South and South 317th Street.

Federal Way Link will extend light rail from Angle Lake Station in the city of SeaTac to the Federal Way Transit Center. The 7.8-mile extension will have three stations, located in the Kent-Des Moines area near Highline College, Star Lake, and downtown Federal Way. More information about theh project is at soundtransit.org.

srmedia by — March 16, 2023 in News

By Shelly Gordon

Like the estimated 160,000 men diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in the U.S., each man must make decisions about what kind of treatment to pursue—and every single one of them wants to avoid the dreadful side-effects of incontinence, erectile dysfunction, and penile shrinkage that can and often do accompany standard prostate cancer treatments, including radical surgery and radiation. Most importantly, they want to maintain their quality of life and continue pursuing activities that bring them joy.

In evaluating their treatment options, men with localized prostate cancer are eligible for active surveillance, or “watchful waiting,” which is commonly offered to lower-risk prostate cancer patients. But many men aren’t a fan of that approach because of the uncertainty of living with a diagnosis of cancer.

Men with localized cancer who are fortunate to live in areas of the U.S. with hospitals that offer robotic focal HIFU find they are good candidates for this non-invasive outpatient procedure. HIFU (high-intensity focused ultrasound) uses concentrated sound waves to destroy the diseased tissue in the prostate. Urologists use ultrasound imagery to guide a probe during the procedure to spare healthy tissue. In addition, if the cancer, it can be retreated with HIFU or other traditional options like surgery or radiation.

Some men have shared their experience with robotic focal HIFU. William Whitlow is one of them.  

“I’m 58, African American, and born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. I’m trained as a social worker and for 20-plus years, I worked for the Office of Child and Family Services.

“Had I not been getting my PSA checked since I was 40, I wouldn’t have caught my prostate cancer early enough and my quality of life could have suffered, or worse. Unfortunately, my dad didn’t go to the doctor until his prostate cancer spread to his lymph nodes. He died of the disease in 2001 at age 56.  My uncle also died of prostate cancer. I heeded the advice of my doctor to get tested early and often. That’s why I was able to catch my prostate cancer at stage 1. Because the cancer was detected early, it was easily treatable.

“Before I got the diagnosis, my doctor said my PSA levels were high and he sent me for an MRI, which showed a suspicious shadow. My doctor referred me to a surgeon who does robotic surgery at Maimonides Medical Center.  But I decided it was too invasive, and I was warned of the side-effects of urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. I went to see Dr. David Silver, chief of urology at Maimonides, and that’s where I learned about robotic focal HIFU. He said HIFU is ideal for patients whose prostate cancer is still confined to a small part of the prostate like mine was.  He explained that there’s no incision with HIFU and he only destroys the diseased portion of the prostate, sparing surrounding nerves, which means incontinence and impotence are less likely to occur. HIFU is done quickly, in approximately two to three hours, and in a single session at an outpatient surgery center. I chose that option and was able to go home the same day.

“So not only were urinary incontinence and sexual impotence low-risk, I also liked that HIFU was an outpatient procedure. It was the best choice for me. After I returned home, the drugs wore off, and while there was a bit of discomfort, as I had to wear a catheter for a few days, I was able to heal quickly and returned to work after five days. Now I’m back to normal.”

Thousands of men diagnosed with prostate cancer have two things in common: They are determined to beat the cancer and hold on to their quality of life in the process. Most importantly, men have to ask their urologists if they qualify for robotic focal HIFU. It’s a good chance they do, as between 2015 and 2019, 71 percent of prostate cancer cases were diagnosed at a localized stage, meaning the cancer hadn’t spread outside the prostate.

The coverage for a hospital performing a robotic focal HIFU procedure on a Medicare patient is increasing. More than 90 percent cover the current reimbursement level effective Jan. 1, 2023. Both are very positive for prostate cancer patients who can benefit from this therapy,

Shelly Gordon is the founder of G2 Communications. She has worked with medical specialists and medical device manufacturers on articles about medical conditions and treatments.

srmedia by — March 16, 2023 in Health & Fitness