Also on today’s menu:
Heart Pump Has Been Killing People
Charged Up Over F-150 Lightning
Back in 2014, the Liberty Independent Media Project made a video documentary about homelessness, “The Invisible People,” focusing on efforts to help those who have lost their homes to regain a sense of self-worth and establish new lives for themselves. In the years since then, other efforts have emerged to assist the homeless, but most have restrictions barring people with addictions to alcohol or drugs. Offering shelter only to those who are sober leaves a large percentage of people, who have not been able to break out of addiction, out in the cold.
The Isaiah 61 Café in Laconia is working to fill that need. Dawn and Dave Longval, who operate the café on New Salem Street, have received planning board approval to provide overnight shelter to as many as 31 people from December through March.
The Longvals opened the Isaiah 61 Café in 2018 as a drop-in center and soup kitchen where anyone who wishes can have coffee, a warm meal, and a hot shower, or stow their belongings. Centered on the Bible verse Isaiah 61:1-4, which calls upon the faithful to rebuild, restore, and renew, the operation reflects the faith of those involved.
Not everyone is happy. Donna Clairmont, who lives next door, said Isaiah 61 Café has been a disruption and annoyance to her, saying the Longvals are not doing enough to control the behavior of their patrons. The planning board set as a condition of approval that the Longvals build a fence between the properties.
Heart Pump Has Been Killing People
The HeartWare Ventricular Assist Device, or HVAD, that thousands of patients have had implanted to prolong their lives, carried a warning from the Food and Drug Administration as early as 2014 of HVAD defects, such as faulty batteries and short circuits caused by static electricity, that had killed patients. Since then, the company issued 15 serious recalls of the device, and after Medtronic acquired HeartWare in 2016, the Federal Drug Administration met with the company more than 100 times to ensure that the problems were being fixed and to review safety concerns related to the heart pump. In June, Medtronic stopped HVAD sales and implants.
Yet 4,000 patients worldwide and 2,000 in the United States still rely on the HVAD. The required surgery to remove the device is typically considered more dangerous than leaving it in.
While Medtronic has offered support to those with the device, many people say they found out about the discontinuation of the device from friends, social media, or news reports. Some only received a letter from Medtronic after they contacted their doctors.
Kelly Sanchez told ProPublica, “Pretty much everything they said could go wrong with it has gone wrong with it, except for the death part. Neurological issues, the strokes, the clotting. The pump exchange.”
Charged Up Over F-150 Lightning
Ford is planning on nearly doubling production of the F-150 Lightning, the first all-electric version of the country’s top-selling vehicle, increasing from 80,000 vehicles this year to 150,000 vehicles per year by 2023 at the River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan. Ford plans to increase manufacturing capacity for electric vehicles over the next two years to reach a global target of 600,000 per year.
The company has nearly 200,000 reservations for the Lightning, which involves a $100 refundable deposit to put them in line to buy the model when it becomes available. Parts shortages are limiting production at the moment.
All-electric vehicles currently are not as desirable in rural areas, with the Lightning’s range of about 230 miles. Those whose mileage is greater say they need a range of 400 or more miles. Still, Ford has been advertising it in the most expensive ways, such as on NFL games, to hype the machine’s features that may make it better than a gasoline model, such as providing backup power to homes.
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