Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/528759
Tosaveagallonofgas, you need to cut about 22 miles of driving from your week. Here are 10 easy ways to do that: Hop on the bus, Gus. Even if you think this is not an option for you, check out PublicTranspor- tation.org. You may be sur- prised by all the options that you have never con- sidered. Or carpool. Leaving the car at home and sharing your commute occasion- ally can help you reach your gallon-goal quickly. Sharing the ride — and expense — with another person regularly can cut your gas costs in half. Check out your carpooling opportunities at eRide- Share.com and CarPool- Connect.com. Take it easy. The faster you drive, the more gas you use. If your aver- age commute includes 20 miles of highway time and you drive it at 60 mph instead of 70 mph, it will take you only three minutes longer to get there, and you'll save ap- proximately 1.3 gallons of gas in a five-day work week. Trip-chain. Need to pick up a prescription, mail a package and go to the bank? Instead of spreading these tasks out over a few trips, chain them together by doing all of them at one time. Park in a central spot and walk from place to place. Shop online. Save the trips to the store, and con- sider other online services to minimize errands such as banking, buying stamps and paying bills. Drive a sipper, not a guzzler. If you own vehi- cles of differing size, take the smaller, more fuel-effi- cient one on any long trips that you can. Take a hike (or ride a bike). Instead of driving everywhere, lace-up your sneakers and get some ex- ercise while you save gas. A bicycle can help you rack up car-free miles even faster. Work in your sweats. If you have a job for which working from home is possible, ask the boss if you and your cowork- ers can telecommute one day a week to save gas. If you are the boss, consider making it a company-wide initiative. Drive as if gas is be- ing rationed. The time may come that you will be allowed only a set number of gallons per week no matter the cost, no matter your needs. Drive now as if you are on a 10-gal- lons-per-week limit. The practice will do you good. Get cool with school. In- stead of picking up your kids from school every day, ask a neighbor with kids in the same school to help. You can each take turns picking up the tykes. Ditto for church and sports ac- tivities. Lighten up. The heavier the load your car has to carry, the more gas it guz- zles. Don't use your trunk for long-term storage. Would you like to send a tip to Mary? You can email her at mary@ everydaycheapskate. com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, 12340 Seal Beach Blvd., Ste. B-416, Seal Beach, CA 90740. EVERYDAYCHEAPSKATE 10 easy ways to save fuel The Sacramento River Discovery Center would like to thank the many vol- unteers that have shared their time and talents with the center over the last cou- ple of months. Projects have included school programs, the Lit- tle Stinker walk and run, the SpringFest Plant Sale, the new section of irriga- tion system, the new sec- tion of decomposed gran- ite trail, propagation of many different plant spe- cies, the spreading of mulch, the removal of in- vasive species, pruning of plant material. They have all occurred because of volunteer sup- porters. A special thank you to the Red Bluff High School Senior Make a Difference volunteers for spreading mulch, removing invasive plants and helping prepare for Summer Day Camps that begin June 15. All the projects are not done yet. Organizers are looking for help both in- side and outside for proj- ects including removing invasive species, tending a small fruit and vegeta- ble garden and harvested food will be donated to feeding programs for the needy. Help is needed with the Garden Plant Identification project. This will include creat- ing information on all the plant species in the garden, including photographs. This project has elements that can be done at home, using print or digital me- dia. The garden plants will all have identification tags before the April or May plant sale. This proj- ect is being funded by the Shasta Regional Commu- nity Foundation. There is an opportunity for someone who likes to create maps to help with new information centers that will be located in dif- ferent garden sections that will indicate the type of plants, and why they do well together. Maps will need to be created to identify what plant is in what location. One of the by-products of this project will be the cre- ation of a new center gar- den book. The next six weeks from 8 a.m. to noon, the center will be focusing on 6- to 12-year-olds through sum- mer day camp programs. Students ages 10 to 14 are being sought to participate in a camp that will run July 27-31. If you are interested in learning more, write to Zach Whitten at teach- erwhitten@gmail.com or call the center at 527-1196. Deadline for enrollment for this older student camp is July 4. If you would like to visit the center, plan your visit after 12:30 p.m. The center is within the Mendocino National For- est's Red Bluff Recreation Area at 1000 Sale Lane. Summer hours are 12:30-3 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Regular hours will re- sume Aug. 15. Visit www. sacramentoriverdiscov- erycenter.com or call 527- 1196. Volunteers thanked; more help needed DISCOVERY CENTER COURTESYPHOTO Parents and students register for the first week of Sacramento River Discovery Center summer day camps programs. By David Sayen People ask me all kinds of questions about Medi- care. One of the most fre- quent concerns is whether they should sign up for Medicare Part B. Part B is medical insur- ance. It covers professional fees for doctors and other health care providers, out- patient treatment, durable medical equipment, home health services, and pre- ventive care like flu shots and screenings for cancer and heart disease. Part B requires a monthly premium, which is $104.90 for most Amer- icans in 2015. You're not re- quired to pay the premium if you don't want Part B coverage. But is it to your advantage to pay? The answer depends on your current and fu- ture health insurance cov- erage and needs. Let's say you don't have any other health insurance when you become eligible for Medi- care. You should enroll in Part B when you're first el- igible (which, for most peo- ple, is when they turn 65). If you don't sign up for Part B when you're first eligible, you may have to pay a late enrollment penalty for as long as you have Medicare. What if you have insur- ance through your current job? If you or your spouse (or family member if you're disabled) are still working and you're insured through that employer or a union, contact your employer or union benefits administra- tor to find out how your in- surance works with Medi- care. This includes federal or state employment. It may be to your advantage to delay Part B enrollment. You can sign up for Part B without a penalty any time you have health cov- erage based on current em- ployment. (Keep in mind that COBRA and retiree health coverage do not count as current health coverage.) Once your employment (or your employer/union coverage) ends, three things happen: You may be able to get COBRA coverage, which continues your health in- surance through the em- ployer's plan (in most cases for only 18 months) and probably at a higher cost to you. You have 8 months to sign up for Part B without a penalty, whether or not you choose COBRA. To sign up for Part B while you're employed or during the 8 months after employment ends, complete an Applica- tion for Enrollment in Part B (CMS-40B) and a Request for Employment Informa- tion (CMS-L564). If you choose COBRA, don't wait until your COBRA ends to enroll in Part B. If you don't enroll in Part B during the 8 months after the employ- ment ends: • You may have to pay a penalty for as long as you have Part B. • You won't be able to en- roll until January 1—March 31, and you'll have to wait until July 1 of that year be- fore your coverage begins. This may cause a gap in your coverage. If you already have CO- BRA when you enroll in Medicare, your COBRA will probably end. If you become eligible for CO- BRA after you're already enrolled in Medicare, you must be allowed to take the COBRA coverage. It will al- ways be secondary to Medi- care (unless you have End- Stage Renal Disease). What if you have TRI- CARE? If you have TRICARE and Medicare Part A (hos- pital insurance), you must have Part B to keep your TRICARE coverage. If you're an active-duty service member, or the spouse or dependent child of an active-duty service member: • You don't have to en- roll in Part B to keep your TRICARE coverage while the service member is on active duty. • Before the active-duty service member retires, you must enroll in Part B to keep TRICARE without a break in coverage. If you have Veterans' benefits, enrolling in Medi- care may provide you with additional service and lo- cation options. If you don't keep Part B, you may have to wait to sign up later, and you may pay a late enroll- ment penalty. For information on sign- ing up for Part B under cer- tain special conditions, go to: http://www.medicare. gov/sign-up-change-plans/ get-parts-a-and-b/part-b- special-conditions/part-b- special-conditions.html. David Sayen is Medicare's regional administrator for Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and the Pacific Territories. You can always get answers to your Medicare questions by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800- 633-4227). MEDICARE Should I sign up for Part B? Answer depends on needs, coverage Mary Hunt www.redbluff.mercy.org redbluff.mercy.org Lupus/Fibromyalgia Support Group 5:30pm-8:00pm 6/16 3rd Tuesday Columba Jackie Kitchell 529-3029 TCHSA-Public Health Immunization Clinic 1:30pm-4:30pm 6/18 3rd Thursday Russell Cheyenne Humphrey 527-6824 Living Well w/Diabetes 3:00-5:00pm 6/23 4th Wednesday Columba 888-628-1948 redbluff.mercy.org/classes_and_events Living Well w/Better Nutrition 1:00pm-3:00pm 6/23 4th Wednesday Columba 888-628-1948 redbluff.mercy.org/classes_and_events RedBluff-TehamaCounty Chamber of Commerce SpecialthankstoourFarmer'sMarketSponsors: WEDNESDAY NIGHTS • 5-8:00 PM OnWashington&PineStreets,DowntownRedBluff KIDS ACTIVITIES 5:30-7:30PM EVERY WEDNESDAY Sponsored and facilitated by Red Bluff Parks & Recreation DRBBA SUMMER CONCERT SERIES September 2 SKY RIVER MUSIC Classic Rock 9 LOOSELY STRUNG Fiddlers/Country June 17 ROY DYER & THE BIG-UNS Country Blues/Rock 24 MAIN ST. BAND Nostalgic 60s & 70s Rock July 1 PINE DOGZ Country Rock 8 LTD BAND Rock 15 MATTHEW SONGMAKER Bluegrass/Acoustic Guitar 22 WILD CARD Country Blues/Rock 29 CHAD BUSHNELL FT. CASEY DOSS Country August 5 FLAGSHIP ARMADA Alternative/Indie Rock 12 BLUEGRASS BAND Bluegrass 19 FLASHBACK Blues/Rock/R&B 26 AFTER-THOT Eclectic Acoustic • SHOP FRESH • SHOP LOCAL • EAT HEALTHY • LIVE HEALTHY EBT/CREDIT/DEBIT ACCEPTED LIFESTYLES » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, June 17, 2015 » MORE ATFACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS A5