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In an effort to better connect with the communities it serves and get residents the services they need, the Lewis-Mason-Thurston Area Agency on Aging (LMTAAA) announced it will host open house events in 2024 beginning next month on May 16.

It will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the LMTAAA’s Chehalis location — 1651 S. Market Blvd. — according to an LMTAAA news release. Additional open house dates and locations will be announced later this year.

“Through open house events that meet communities where they are, we continue to foster a culture of caring,” LMTAAA Executive Director Nicole Kiddoo said. “As a champion of belonging and equity, we realize obtaining assistance begins with the empowerment of knowledge. Our open house events aim to remove barriers between resources and the people who often need them, but don’t know where to begin.”

The LMTAAA held its first open house last November in Olympia and welcomed approximately 100 attendees who found information on home health coordination, meal services, respite care, LGBTQ+ support and assistance with Medicare, Medicaid and more. 

“Not only did I learn about the good work being done by this organization, I also learned about other work being done in the community to support our elders,” Debra Hatzialexiou, Washington state Department of Labor & Industries legal services program manager, said in the release. “The impact of this special event still lingers, and I’m grateful for the people who do this work.”

Founded in 1976, the LMTAAA is focused on assisting older adults, unpaid caregivers and adults with disabilities in the region.

The announcement of the 2024 open houses comes as data in Lewis, Mason and Thurston counties predicts a 5.7% increase in the need for regional home care services by 2027, and the number of adults 60 or older is expected to grow by 4.9% by then as well.

The LMTAAA is funded through the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services, the Aging and Long Term Support Administration, the federal Older Americans Act, the Administration for Community Living and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

For more information, visit https://www.lmtaaa.org/ or email LMTAAA Communications Manager Becca Frisch at becca.frisch@dshs.wa.gov.  

The Chronicle failed to maintain publicly available commercial advertiser books, a lawyer representing the newspaper acknowledged in a letter to the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC).

The March 13 letter from a lawyer at the Dan Brady Law Firm is a response to a formal PDC complaint against the newspaper and the Silver Agency, both owned by Chad and Coralee Taylor.

The PDC has not yet responded to the complaint.

“Both the Chronicle newspaper and the Silver Agency marketing firm were very reluctant to even provide the books for public inspection as required under RCW 42.17A.345,” complainant Kyle Wheeler wrote on Feb. 13. “When these books were eventually provided, they were incomplete in not only the required categories listed in this RCW but I later discovered a transaction listed on the Lewis County Republican Party financial statements which were not included on the Silver Agency books until pointed out and corrected. “

In their response, the Dan Brady Law Firm said that CT Publishing “was surprised that the public could access company records that in almost any other circumstance are not available to the public.”

Once The Chronicle became aware of the campaign finance and public disclosure requirements, it “began assembling the records requested,” the law firm stated.

“However, the records were not organized or formatted in such a manner that would allow immediate and complete disclosure,” the letter reads.

According to the response, the requested records are now available “to the extent they exist."

Both The Chronicle and the Silver Agency created “an internal record retention and data fulfillment process to ensure timely and complete disbursement of any information requested.”

The letter states both The Chronicle and the Silver Agency established email addresses to service future responses.

In recent months, Wheeler has filed several other PDC complaints against local officials and entities, including Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston, the Lewis County Republican Central Committee, Commissioner Scott Brummer and commissioner candidate Christina Riley.

All five complaints are currently in the “assessment of facts” status, according to the PDC. They can be found at https://tinyurl.com/3mdmrnzu.  

Chad and Coralee Taylor purchased The Chronicle and its sister publications in January 2021.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing Idaho to enforce its ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth while lawsuits over the law proceed, reversing lower courts.

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