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A blood drive is scheduled at Sturgeon Bay High School on March 4 from 9 am to 2 pm. Blood donors are everyday people who help save lives. During Red Cross Month in March, the American Red Cross recognizes these lifesavers for their generosity and encourages others to join their ranks.

Appointments can be made by calling 800.733.2767 or visiting redcrossblood.org, or walking in during the event. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age – or 16 with parental consent – weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

Prospective students can get a glimpse of college life as Northeast Wisconsin Technical College holds Instant Application Night, a one-stop enrollment event and open house, on Tuesday, March 4 from 4 – 7 pm on its Sturgeon Bay campus.

During Instant Application Night, attendees can meet with academic advisors, talk with staff about financial aid and career options, and complete a free application ($30 value) and admissions testing (a $20 value). Staff will also offer tours of classrooms, labs, and each of the campus’ facilities. The first 200 applicants will receive a free T-shirt and all attendees can enter a raffle to win a Kindle Fire.

“More than any website or brochure, events like Instant Application Night can really showcase our updated campuses and allow for the one-on-one attention that we pride ourselves on providing,” said Karen Smits, NWTC’s vice president of College Advancement.

Registration is not required, and family and friends are encouraged to attend. For more information, visit nwtc.edu or call 920.498.5444.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) NE Regional Office in Green Bay has a tentative listing of construction projects scheduled for 2014. Schedules are subject to change. Once construction has begun on a project, updates on traffic impacts and construction progress will be available on WisDOT’s weekly construction media release, distributed every Friday, tentatively set to begin in early March.

Door County projects are:

• A seven-mile stretch on Highway 42/57 from County MM to Bayview Bridge in Sturgeon Bay. Work begins after July 4 and is expected to be completed by September. Work includes pavement repair, asphalt resurfacing and improvements to the south junction of the Hwy. 42/57 intersection.

• A 2.2-mile stretch of Highway 42 between Gills Rock and Northport. There will be asphalt milling and overlay for 20 working days, beginning after Labor Day.

• A 12-mile stretch of Highway 42 between Sturgeon Bay and Egg Harbor will be resurfaced for 20 working days after Labor Day.

For statewide road construction updates visit 511wi.gov or dot.wisconsin.gov/projects/ne.htm.

Integrating drug and health benefits in a statewide managed care program during the next 10 years could save Wisconsin Medicaid more than $2 billion in federal and state spending, according to a new National Center for Policy Analysis (the NCPA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization). Wisconsin has moved about two-thirds of its Medicaid enrollees into privately administered managed care plans, known as BadgerCare. However, the state has been very slow to move Medicaid enrollees into managed drug plans. Virtually all state Medicaid programs distribute some drugs on a fee-for-service (FFS) basis separately from enrollees’ health plans. A few states distribute almost all their Medicaid drugs this way; Wisconsin is one of them.

“This inefficient practice needs to change,” says study author and NCPA senior fellow Devon M. Herrick. “Wisconsin has enormous opportunities to save money by letting private drug plans manage their Medicaid drug benefits. Some of the techniques private drug plans use to save taxpayers’ money are exclusive pharmacy networks, using generic drugs where appropriate and paying market-based dispensing fees.”

Herrick says research shows privately managed Medicaid drug plans are more efficient than state-administered programs.

For more information visit ncpa.org/pub/ib139.

Volunteers are being sought by the Door County Invasive Species Team for its ongoing effort to control Phragmites on county shorelines. Contractors will complete most of the work, but before they can tackle the invasive grass in late summer, help is needed to double-check the locations where Phragmites are found. Volunteer tasks will include walking shorelines with maps showing where Phragmites has been found and locating any new growth areas. For more information, contact the DCIST at 920.743.8695 ext 306, or via email, [email protected]. You can view the current Phagmites inventory maps at map.co.door.wi.us/map.

 WHAT HAPPENED

Southern Door farmer Nick Vogel was selected as a winner in America’s Farmers Grow Communities, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund. Vogel chose Southern Door FFA to receive the $2,500 donation. A check presentation was held at Southern Door High School on Feb. 27. America’s Farmers Grow Communities works directly with farmers to support nonprofit organizations doing important work in rural communities. The program encourages farmers to win $2,500, which is then directed to the farmer’s nonprofit of choice. Launched nationally in 2011, the program has grown to include 1,289 eligible counties in 39 states.

For a complete list of Grow Communities winners and more program information, visit growcommunities.com.

At the Feb. 24 meeting of the Southern Door County School District board, school bus driver Ted Chaudoir was presented with a $2,500 check to support his Books on the Bus program. It was one of three Wisconsin Forward Together Awards presented to innovative education projects throughout the state, out of 156 submissions. As Superintendent  Patricia Vickman and Reading Specialist Melissa Bousley said in their nomination of Ted: “At a time when budgets have become tighter, and standards have increased, Ted’s project has provided another opportunity for Southern Door students to practice their reading, engage in conversations about books, and foster a love of literature with an older buddy on the bus.”

The check was presented by WEA Trust representative Denise Gaumer-Huthchinson. The WEA Trust is a not-for-profit insurance organization serving Wisconsin public school employees and their families. It administers the Wisconsin Forward Together Awards. You can read more about Chaudoir’s Books on the Bus program in a Dec. 6, 2013, Pulse story titled “Getting Kids Hooked on Books.”