Saturday, October 22, 2016 is one of the
semi-annual, statewide Drug Take-Back days in
Wisconsin. On this day, law enforcement
throughout our state will be collecting old
medications and prescription drugs so they can be
disposed of safely to prevent them from landing in
the hands of someone who might abuse them or in a
way that harms our environment. It is a good
reminder for each of us to go through our medicine
cabinets and households to collect old, expired,
unused medications and take them to a safe
disposal site in our community.
Most
disposal sites will accept:
controlled
and uncontrolled substances,
over-the-counter
medications,
ointments,
patches,
creams,
non-aerosol
sprays,
vials,
pet
medications.
Most disposal sites do
not accept:
needles,
sharps,
aerosols,
inhalers
medical
waste
Check with your local site to
confirm the items they are willing to dispose of
for you. For more information on guidelines,
special events and drug disposal in Wisconsin,
please visit http://www.doseofrealitywi.gov/.
Safe drug disposal is very important
because it keeps powerful drugs out of the hands
of someone who may abuse them or sell them. Old
prescriptions in your cabinets are prime
temptations for young people to steal, sell or
take to parties where miscellaneous, random
prescription drugs are abused. According to the
Green County Department of Health, 70% of all
abused prescriptions are taken from family and
friends. Statistics show that many heroin users
start by abusing prescription opioids like
oxycodone, Vicodin and other common painkillers
that are often prescribed following routine
surgeries.
Unfortunately, many people
do not understand the extreme danger of abusing
prescription drugs. They assume that prescription
medications are “safe” because they are prescribed
by doctors. But they do not understand that
over-dosing and mixing medications can be
lethal.
Safe drug disposal is also
important to protect our environment.
Flushing drugs down the toilet contaminates our
water supply. Municipal water treatment can’t
remove some very powerful medications from our
water. It is also important to keep them out
of landfills where they leech into water and may
be consumed by animals.
If you have
ongoing prescriptions and medications that you
keep in your home, consider keeping them in locked
storage. For more information on techniques to
secure your medications, please contact your
county health department or visit http://www.lockyourmeds.org/.
Grant and Juneau counties are holding
special events for Drug Take-Back Day in addition
to the permanent sites in each county:
In Grant County, take your
medications to the following locations on
10/22/16, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.: Hazel
Green Village Hall – 1610 Fairplay Street, Hazel
Green Livingston Village Hall – 220 W. Barber
Ave., Livingston Bloomington Township Garage –
534 State Hwy 35, Bloomington
In Juneau County, take your
medications to the following location on 10/22/16,
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Riverside Park, Mansion
Street, Mauston
While Drug Take-Back
Day is an official event this month, all of the
counties of the 17th Senate District
have permanent drug disposal boxes that are
available nearly every day of the year.
Click on the link for each
county's disposal sites with their days and hours
of operation:
Thank you for
taking time to fall clean your medicine cabinet to
protect the people in your life and the
environment in which we live. Drop-off your old
medications today!
Have
you ever heard of a Pharm-Party? It's a party
where teenagers take random prescription drugs
for fun.
Dangerous Fun.
Click on the image for a video from
www.doseofrealitywi.gov.
Every
parents' nightmare.
Click on the image
for another eye-opening video from
www.doseofrealitywi.gov
Rep.
Travis Tranel and Sen. Marklein helped out at
the Second Harvest Mobile Foodbank
co-sponsored by Alliant Energy in Patch Grove.
They helped to distribute approximately
6,000 pounds of food to approximately 100 people.
Second Harvest distributes food every month in
Patch Grove on the second Tuesday of the month.
Click here for a full list of
mobile food pantries in our area.
Pictured above are the volunteers who
assisted with the Food Pantry.
Sen.
Marklein met with local members of the League of
Wisconsin Municipalities in Dodgeville on October
12, 2016 to learn more about their ideas and
priorities for the next legislative session.
Pictured above: Sen. Marklein with Gary
McCrea, President, Village of Benton.
Sen.
Marklein was also honored to received the
Legislative Champion Award from the League of
Wisconsin Municipalities for my work with local
leaders during the last session.
Sen.
Marklein attended the Fennimore Chamber of
Commerce's Annual Meeting on October 13, 2016.
The featured speaker was Drew Nussbaum,
Regional Tourism Specialist for the Wisconsin
Department of Tourism. Pictured: Drew Nussbaum,
Rep. Travis Tranel, Sen. Howard Marklein and Linda
Parrish. Photo courtesy of Robert
Callahan, Editor, Fennimore
Times.
Property
Values Up 3% Statewide
Recent data from
the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) shows
the value of taxable property statewide had a 2016
value of $505.1 billion, which is an increase of
3.0% from 2015.
Preliminary
Full-Market ("Equalized") Property Values by
County in the 17th Senate District and Percent
Change ($
billions)