Freezing death of Mich. man in house sparks anger

[azurnoir]

BAY CITY, Mich. – When neighbors went inside Marvin Schur's house, the windows were frosted over, icicles hung from a faucet, and the 93-year-old World War II veteran lay dead on the bedroom floor in a winter jacket over four layers of clothing.

He froze to death — slowly and painfully, authorities say — days after the electric company installed a power-limiting device because of more than $1,000 in unpaid bills.

On Jan. 13, a worker with the city-owned utility installed a "limiter" on Schur's electric meter after four months of unpaid bills. The device restricts power and blows like a fuse if usage rises past a set level. Electricity is not restored until the device is flipped back on by the homeowner, who must walk outside to the meter.

Bay City Electric Light & Power did not contact Schur face-to-face to notify him of the device and explain how it works, instead following its usual policy by leaving a note on the door. But neighbors said Schur rarely, if ever, left the house in the cold.

Michigan's big, state-regulated utilities are not allowed to shut off power to senior citizens in the winter and must offer payment plans to the poor. State regulators also discourage the use of limiters. But Michigan's 41 smaller municipal utilities — Bay City's included — are not overseen by the state.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090128/ap_on_re_us/frozen_indoors

[Why Syzygy]

1. I sure hope his family sues BIG. nt

[Two Americas]

9. why?

Why should his family, who apparently was not checking on him if he has any family, make money off of this?

Why would we advocate a personal solution when this so obviously demands political action and public solutions?

[Quantess]

10. good point.

[acmavm]

11. Thank you. That point seemed to have escaped most of the people here.

This old man got the shaft from EVERYBODY. No one cared apparently until the frigging frost was on the windows and the guy was dead.

The only thing that needs be done here is pass a law making sure no one else ever has this happen to them again. As for his family, they need to go mind their business like they've done so well up to now.

[Two Americas]

13. more than that

This is happening all over the country, and is standard operating procedure in everything from medicine to water. This time they happened to kill a man and it happened to make the news. But that is completely consistent with the privatized nightmare we are living in all throughout society, and that is supported and perpetuated by a libertarian doctrine of selfish individualism.

We either stand in solidarity with the people, especially the most vulnerable among us, and fight back, or we continue to dabble around with individualism, "personal choice" Reagan-era bootstrap libertarian everyone-for-themselves bullshit.

Politics means fighting for public solutions to social problems, not coming up with glib personalized individual solutions. There is no place for the destructive doctrine of libertarian individualism in politics, especially in the current emergency, and time is quickly running out.

[Le Taz Hot]

12. I agree there.

Though the utility company's practice of putting mechanical devices on meters so the homeowner has to come out of their house and switch it back on is draconian, to say the least, I can't imagine family members not coming to check on him regularly -- particularly if he was suffering from dementia. I have an aunt and uncle, 86 and 85 respectively, who also didn't have children. One of us nieces or nephews check on them everyday and they get visits several times a week. Even if he didn't have dementia, 90-year-olds need to be checked on regularly.

[Two Americas]

14. why?

To protect them from their own government? To protect them from unregulated commercial predators stalking the public and preying on the vulnerable with impunity?

Of course we need to look after each other, especially the most vulnerable among us. But we also need to take down the predators who have gained power over our lives. That demands a political solution. That means standing together, not looking for personal solutions.

[Le Taz Hot]

17. Why?

Because family, then friends are, or should be, the steward and protector of the elderly -- if at all possible. Not just from their own government but from a myriad of threats out there -- everything from being physically abused by "caregivers" to telephone scams set up to take their life savings from them.

I was agreeing with you that suing isn't the answer. Changing the law is. I'm pretty sure we're on the same side of the issue here. :hi:

[Two Americas]

47. yeah

We are on the same side. I am venting.

[bdamomma]

44. who even knows if this man had a family.

[liberalhistorian]

50. He apparently doesn't have any family.

He was a widower with no children and, at that age, a lot of people no longer have family, or at least not nearby. Pretty hard to castigate a family for not checking on him if there's no family in the first place.

[Two Americas]

52. yes

Being alone should not be a death sentence.

[acmavm]

56. So, no family? At all? No brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews? We have to

start looking beyond IMMEDIATE FAMILY and start thinking we are ALL family.

[Why Syzygy]

53. What other recourse is there?

Of course laws and society need to be changed so this doesn't happen!

My grandmother outlived two of her four children, and a third by only two weeks. My mother (GM's DIL) had a power of attorney which allowed her to FORCE my grandmother into a care facility. She would have never gone on her own. We don't know all the details in this case. Who may have tried to help this man in the past and whether or not he was willing.

There's an organization .. sorry fuzzy thinking right now, that protects old people. I did contact them in the past, and they were able to make sure that my grandmother was being cared for. I had to take that action because after my mother moved my GM to a home, she denied me access and would not even tell me where she was. The agency got back in touch with me to inform me of her status.

Suing isn't a SOLUTION. And, from reading the rest of the story, it appears there was no one who cared any way.

[Two Americas]

54. understood

I know the challenges.

[NaturalHigh]

34. I don't know if he even had any family.

One article said that he had no children and that his wife passed away several years ago.

[SeattleGirl]

2. It is so disgusting that some companies/agencies put money

above people.

I agree with the people in this article; the company should have come to the door and talked to this man. He obviously had the money and could have paid them right then and there. And if he didn't have the money, perhaps a payment plan could have been worked out.

I really hate how this country idolizes the rich and says "fuck you" to the poor, the disabled, the struggling.

That poor man. :cry:

[azurnoir]

3. It seems that utility companies now have the "right" of

legalized murder because when you shut down someones heat in cold climate that is the result

[SeattleGirl]

4. Agreed. And that is so very, very wrong.

I just weep at this story. This should not have happened to this man.

This should not happen to anyone.

[tblue37]

38. And he obviously suffered and was very much aware of

his suffering. He was doing everything he could to try to keep the killing cold at bay. He was bundled up, and he had turned his oven on and left the door open to try to get a bit of heat. No one should die that way.

[michreject]

25. I heard an interview on the radio (I'm local)

That he had the money in the bank. He just didn't pay his bills.

[SeattleGirl]

33. It mentions that in the article; it also says that he may have started

to experience some dementia or something, as they found cash sitting on top of a pile of bills. It seems that he had intended to pay.

[JVS]

5. I call for Chinese Justice!

For information on Chinese Justice, please look here.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4927227#4927245

[northofdenali]

6. My. God.

About Us
Bay City Electric, Light & Power (BCELP) is a municipal utility, owned by the City of Bay City, Michigan. We strive to offer value to our customers by providing reliable service at a competitive price.

At year-end, Bay City Electric, Light & Power owned and operated utility assets of $64 million with total annual revenues of approximately $25.6 million. BCELP currently has 44 employees to carryout the day to day operations of the utility including line construction and maintenance, line clearance, street light maintenance, generating plant operation and maintenance, metering installation and maintenance, service building upkeep, purchasing materials and supplies, and system planning functions.

Bay City Electric Light & Power
900 S. Water Street, Bay City, Michigan 48708

Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

DU letter-writing/calling/complaining, anyone? The above is exactly the way it's posted on the city's website for the utility at http://www.baycitymi.org/Utilities/Electric/about%20us.htm

The city's site is http://www.baycitymi.org/

My mom's birthday is today. She is 93 years young. I am in tears that this could happen in the 21st century, especially as it is written "no one made personal contact"..... with a 93 year old.

Sorry, :ranton:

The Mayor

Charles M. Brunner
[email protected] <[email protected]>

The City Manager

Robert V. Belleman
[email protected] <[email protected]>

The City Commissioners

[email protected] <[email protected]>

THIS IS THE KIND OF THING WE NEED TO RABBLE-ROUSE ABOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MagickMuffin]

16. Read what the City Manager has to say about this

Bay City Manager Robert Belleman said that he was "deeply saddened" by Schur's death and that State Police will investigate. But he also said neighbors have a responsibility to each other.

"I've said this before and some of my colleagues have said this: Neighbors need to keep an eye on neighbors," Belleman said. "When they think there's something wrong, they should contact the appropriate agency or city department."


While it is true that neighbors need to check up on each other, the utility companies need to be sure that they don't cut off customers service during the cold of winter.

This brave man who was a medic in WWII died because the utility company didn't check up on him.

So, the utility company deflects the blame on his neighbors. Did the utility company tell the neighbors that they had put a limiter on his meter?.?.?

[Sequoia]

37. It seems this city manger lived about a mile away from him.

Sounds like he's pretty much a neighbor to me. Poor fellow survived WWII with a Purple Heart to boot and dies in agony because the utility company wanted their money.

[NashVegas]

40. It's So Much Easier to Point Fingers Than Deal With Tragedy

If you were this guy's next door neighbor, you might feel a little bad for not inviting him into your life and checking up on him, if he was.

If you were the electric co. worker, or manager who made the decision to install, you might feel a little bad for making that call, in the winter, or not directly communicating with him.



Seems we'll do just about anything we can to avoid feeling "bad"; we've lost so many of our emotional skills as we rush into the automated world.

[Selatius]

7. This country sucks for the poor. nt

[SeattleGirl]

8. Yes, it does.

It also sucks for the disabled, the minorities (Obama's election notwithstanding), and anyone who doesn't fit into the rich white man mold.

[SammyWinstonJack]

27. Time to get rid of that 'pull yourself up your own bootstraps' mentality crap!

x( Especially it never applies to the greedy corporations, but only to those whose bootstraps are long gone. This country sucks on many levels.

[Fleshdancer]

29. I agree. We're a society, not just an economy.

It's time we start acting like it.

[malaise]

15. the 93-year-old

World War II veteran lay dead. Greedy capitalists have no respect for Veterans.

[annabanana]

18. WHEN CLASS WARFARE TURNS DEADLY. . .

This is another form that it takes.

[ejpoeta]

19. we've been threatened to have our electricity shut off in the winter.....

and we had and still have young kids in the house. we ended up at HEAP, i believe. we have had our electricity shut off in the summer, I believe. I am not proud of that chapter. we had no money. we were SO struggling back then. I think we were even on food stamps at the time. It's the worst place to be.... Where you can barely keep your head above water. not because we went on a spending spree, either. some think t hat folks are just deadbeats who don't pay their bills because they just don't feel like paying them. But that's not true. I wonder if the old man who died was living on social security or something.

[Berry Cool]

20. Everyone failed this man. What I'd like to know is why.

Personally, he was failed. His wife was dead and he had no children--but even so, why was he alone in the world? Did he have not one friend, one neighbor, one relative somewhere who cared to look in on him and see whether he was dead or alive, especially given the loss of mental faculties he appeared to be suffering? That's a sad commentary on our society.

And institutionally, he was failed. There was no social worker who could have helped look after an elderly man living alone like him and ensure he was OK. The utility chose to deal with him impersonally when his bills went unpaid, rather than try to contact him directly and talk to him or to anyone else who might have a connection to him and be able to assist in getting the bills paid. Why?

[slampoet]

30. Sorry to say but sometimes people out live EVERYONE they know.

[Blue_Tires]

31. i was about to mention that

sounds like my mom's mentor...brilliant, brilliant woman -- PhD., educator, scholar, author, historian, civil rights activist, and was just a walking talking piece of history with the the things she had seen, done, and been a part of in her life...long outlived her husband and had no kids.

Now she still had plenty of friends to look in on her, but the problem was her will (she wasn't even really rich; but like i said she had a museum's worth of black art, photos, rare books, signed documents, etc.) which she entrusted to three similarly distinguished attorney friends of hers...of course even though they were younger, she outlived them all at the age of 98 or 99, and the will got muddled or lost or whatever...her belongings that weren't stolen by her evil caregiver went to a VERY distant relative, but the bulk of the art, papers and books were thrown out(!) because no one saw any monetary value in them...I still remember seeing some things on the curb...tragic

[slampoet]

43. My parents are about to take in a Doctor friend of theirs that outlived his two kids and wife.

Dr. A was lucky enough to befriend my father who was a good friend of Dr. A's last surviving son who died at age 36. Since the son's death Dr. A and my father have had an adoptive father-son relationship and my mother was a good friend to Mrs. A as well and helped them a lot once Mrs. A went blind in the last years of her life.

Now Dr. A is alone and he was swindled out of his house by a criminal. He has nothing and my folks are taking him in. It all sucks but at least Dr. A is warm and safe.

[Two Americas]

49. the elderly

I worked with the elderly for years in Detroit. Even in elder care facilities, people are not being adequately cared for.

Many people I knew were immigrants, without extended family here. Their friends die, neighborhoods collapse, services have disappeared, people don't care. Their children are transferred to jobs in the other side of the country. Even if they have family in the area, after thousands of hours in hundreds of facilities, I can count on two hands how many times I ever saw family visiting their relatives in the institutions. They are stressed with their own lives, struggling to survive. There are exceptions of course. But too often it is out of sight out of mind. Giving up their homes and moving to unfamiliar new surroundings can be difficult. Holding on to independence and dignity is important.

Old people are of no value to this society. Squeeze the last few dollars out of them for medicine and housing, and beyond that they don't serve "the economy" and are superfluous. Elder care is a for-profit industry, and quite lucrative. The goal is to assess the person's net worth, and then calculate how to extract it from them as efficiently as possible, and those who have no wealth are "ineligible." The general public looks the other way, as it is unpleasant and frustrating to think about.

[Vinca]

21. Someone needs to be going to jail. Seriously.

They should at least have face-to-face contact with a person who's getting their "restricted" power. Start with the CEO and put a few people away. Maybe they'll learn something from sitting in a cold cell. That poor man.

[salin]

22. So, a worker was at the residence to install the device

but couldn't knock on the door? Unbelievable.

[MicaelS]

48. YES! That infuriated me...

The bastards said "We don't have the resources to contact people." Oh they have TWO people whose FULL-TIME job is installing limiters and doing disconnects, but these same people can't talk to people face to face?

I wonder what that tech who installed that limiter is thinking right now?

I really hope they prosecute someone over this, but they won't. That City Manager should resign.

Bastards. :nuke:

[all.of.me]

23. The point is....

... there should be a law in place EVERYWHERE that power cannot be shut off or limited in extreme weather. Period. It is inhumane to do otherwise.

[Blue_Tires]

32. another DUer said it used to be law in Mich. but the utils got it overturned

[all.of.me]

51. That infuriates me.

I did read something to that affect in the article that was posted. I wrote to Bay City and told them how I felt. I also included a clip from the article that said the utility did not see Mr. Schur face-to-face to explain that the limiter was put on his box and how to use it. It will probably end up costing them more than $1,000 in the long run, cheap greedy bastards.

[Sherman A1]

24. Completely

reprehensible. This should be treated as a homicide investigation by the State Police. In my opinion the Mayor, The City Board of Supervisors (or whatever they call themselves), The head of the Utility and the person that installed the device along with whoever directed it to be installed are culpable.

To have installed such a device in the dead of winter without so much as the courtesy of directly contacting the individual is beyond absurd.


:banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[CTyankee]

26. This reminds me of a photo I saw after Katrina, where old sick people were

lying on a baggage conveyor belt at the airport after being evacuated from their nursing home.

I had just lost my elderly mother the previous spring and one of the elderly women on that conveyor belt looked like her. I was so glad that she had had wonderful care in her assisted living and then a nursing home, but I remember thinking "What if Katrina had hit Dallas and my mother had to be moved to such a situation. I started to cry just thinking about that...

[BirminghamExaminer]

28. And well it should

It should spark anger. It's a growing symptom of the mess our economy is in.

I was really disappointed that Obama's stimulus package only has about $30 billion for infrastructure spending but has some $300 billion for tax cuts. He tried to accomadate the GOP and look where it got him. He didn't get a single Republican vote for his package.

I mentioned the 93 year old guy in an article I wrote about the stimulus package not having enough infrastructure spending.

Karen

[TwilightGardener]

35. Awful--they never sent anyone to check and see if he was sick or elderly first--

poor old guy was probably like a frog in a pot, didn't realize he was slowly being frozen to death, became hypothermic, confused, and then lay down to die. Just awful.

[tblue37]

39. He realized it. He bundled up with 4 layers of clothing and

a coat, and he turned his oven on and left the door open. He did everything he could to try to get a bit of warmth. He probably suffered for a long time before he died, and he was probably fully aware of it.

[TwilightGardener]

41. I think he was cold, but since his power was still on, he probably didn't

realize it was being limited--he was probably just wondering why he couldn't get warm. I'm not sure I would catch on right away, either, if I was elderly and didn't use a lot of electronics or appliances. Since he wasn't paying his bills, he may have had some mental decline or health issues.

[tblue37]

46. They believe he was suffering from some degree of dementia. nt

[NaturalHigh]

36. There is no excuse for this.

Absolutely none. A man freezes to death because of a $1,000 unpaid bill? It would be bad enough if his electricity was cut off when temperatures were mild. To cut it off during the dead of winter, essentially sentencing this man to death, is morally repugnant.

[WI_DEM]

42. he lived in that house for 50-60 years, according to the article. Wife died two years ago

and no kids. There was a nephew quoted who said he mind maybe began to slip. Apparently money was not an issue. It's tragic that nobody thought to check on him.

[bdamomma]

45. the whole situation of this man's death just sucks

no one should die like this. And having no one check on him is pure negligence.

[grasswire]

55. it's a good argument for meals on wheels...

...in a community. With that program, someone is delivering a hot meal to elderly every day and noticing if something's wrong. Donate to meals on wheels in your community, if you can.

[shintao]

57. This is why Energy in America should be run by the Government

This is exactly why all energy should be run by the government, as free as possible to US citizens. We should own the grids. We should own the power plants & other sources of energy. We should own the water and own the oil. It should not be subsidized to subcontractors, but run by WE THE PEOPLE. We are fools to go along with this ploy of corporations murdering our people year after year.