Latest news with #Brewer
Time of India
2 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
More concerned about teeth than constituents: Gale Brewer faces backlash over demanding dental care for migrants
Upper West Side councilwoman Gale Brewer is facing backlash after calling for free dental care for migrants, after she revealed already have paid up to $10,000 out of her own pocket to cover their dental expenses. The 73-year-old Democrat made the plea during a budget hearing with the NYC Health Department on May 23, where she criticised the lack of attention to migrants' full health needs. 'Is someone paying attention to all of their health needs?' she demanded. 'They have a lot of health needs. Forget the dental! I'm already out $8,000–$10,000 on the dental. So who is paying attention to them?' Brewer, who earns $148,500 as a council member, later told The New Post that she has been covering the cost of procedures such as root canals and cavity fillings for several migrants, especially young people she supports personally. 'I've been doing this kind of stuff for years, especially helping younger people,' said Brewer, who, along with her late husband Cal Snyder, fostered 35 children. 'This is nothing new for me.' She also pressed acting health commissioner Dr Michelle Morse to improve awareness among migrants about the city's existing free healthcare options. Brewer said many asylum seekers, particularly young delivery workers, are enrolled in city-funded health insurance schemes like NYC Care but have no idea how to use them. 'And I assume you can't do dental, because you can't get dental for Americans — let alone for anybody else. They all have dental issues.' Brewer added, 'I happen to know a lot of asylum seekers and support them.' 'These are young guys. They're pretty lost' she said, referring to what benefits the immigrants qualify for. However, her remarks have sparked criticism from some in her own district. Longtime Upper West Side activist Maria Danzilo accused Brewer of ignoring her constituents. 'This is another example of misplaced priorities from Gale Brewer,' Danzilo said. 'It's unfortunate that Gale feels migrants' dental problems are more important than the needs of her own constituents. What is she doing about the healthcare needs of her community? Plenty of New Yorkers also lack medical coverage.' Morse responded by promising that the Health Department would work with city hospitals to improve outreach efforts about available healthcare services under NYC Care. City law already requires all hospitals to treat emergency patients regardless of their immigration status or ability to pay. Migrants seeking asylum are eligible for Medicaid, while minors, seniors, and pregnant women can access free healthcare regardless of immigration status. The health department declined to say whether Brewer could have referred migrants to more affordable city options rather than paying out of pocket. This isn't the first time Brewer has made headlines during budget hearings. In March, she told correction officials that the food served at Rikers Island made her sick — and suggested the city should serve inmates 'farm-to-table' meals like those at high-end Manhattan restaurants.
New York Post
2 days ago
- Health
- New York Post
Woke NYC Councilwoman Gale Brewer demanding free dental care for migrants
A lefty Upper West Side councilwoman demanded free dental care for illegal immigrants this week — as she revealed she's shelled out more than $8,000 of her own dough to keep their pearly whites intact. 'Is someone paying attention to all of their health needs!' Councilwoman Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan) roared at NYC Health Department officials during a May 23 budget hearing. 'They have a lot of health needs. Forget the dental! I'm already out $8,000-$10,000 on the dental. So who is paying attention to them?' she scolded. 7 Councilwoman Gale Brewer claims getting proper dental care for illegal immigrants is like pulling teeth. Getty Images Brewer, who earns $148,500 as a council member, told The Post Friday she's been fighting tooth and nail for migrants' health needs — including paying out of her own pocket for some of them to root canals, cavity fillings, and other dental procedures. 'I've been doing this kind of stuff for years, especially helping younger people,' said the 73-year-old Brewer, who previously fostered 35 children with her husband, author Cal Snyder. 'This is nothing new for me.' During the hearing, Brewer told Acting Health Commissioner Michelle Morse the agency needs to do a better job spreading the word about what free healthcare assistance is available to migrants at city hospitals — including dental. 'Those guys you see driving those mobile e-bikes, they all have [city-funded health insurance] …, but they don't know what to do with it, to be honest with you,' she said. 7 'They have a lot of health needs. Forget the dental! I'm already out $8,000-$10,000 on the dental. So, who is paying attention to them?' Brewer said. New York City Council 'And I assume you can't do dental, because you can't get dental for Americans — let alone for anybody else. They all have dental issues.' 'I happen to know a lot of … asylum seekers [and] support them,' she ranted. 'You can't imagine how well I know then them – extremely well. And so, I've taken on a lot of the young people, a ton of them.' 'These are young guys. They're pretty lost' about what taxpayer-funded health benefits they qualify for, Brewer added. 7 Brewer told Acting Health Commissioner Michelle Morse the agency needs to do a better job spreading the word about what free healthcare assistance is available to migrants at city hospitals. 7 Morse said her agency would work with the city's hospital system to expand education to migrants about free healthcare services through the 'NYC Care' program. New York City Council 'I'm really concerned about their health.' Critics said the longtime pol is more concerned with illegal migrants' pearly whites than the needs of her own district. 'This is another example of misplaced priorities from Gale Brewer,' said longtime Upper West Side activist Maria Danzilo. 7 Recently arrived asylum seekers get information on free health care in front of P.S. 188 in Coney Island, which has recently begun housing migrants in the school gym on May 16, 2023, in New York City. Getty Images 'It's unfortunate that Gale feels migrants' dental problems are more important that the needs of her own constituents in the community. 'What is she doing about the healthcare needs of her community? Plenty of New Yorkers also lack medical coverage.' Morse said her agency would work with the city's hospital system to expand education to migrants about free healthcare services through the 'NYC Care' program. 7 Darton College dental hygiene students Regina Schirato and Brooke Wenck give a farm worker a dental exam Wednesday evening, June 18, 2003, in a migrant farmer camp near Moultrie, Georgia. Getty Images All city hospitals – both public and private – are required by law to treat emergency patients regardless of their ability to pay or immigration status. Migrants who've applied for political asylum are also eligible for Medicaid benefits. Minors, seniors, and pregnant women are eligible for free health care regardless of their immigrant status. The Health Department declined to comment when asked if Brewer could've saved herself some cash by directing migrants with dental issues to city hospitals or health centers. 7 Brewer said she's been fighting tooth and nail for migrants' health needs. Laura Cavanaugh This isn't the first time during hearings over the next fiscal year's budget where Brewer's gone off on a wild tangent. She told Department of Correction honchos during a March hearing that the food menu offered on Rikers Island is so bad it makes her sick to her stomach. Brewer then proclaimed she wanted the city to feed jailbirds 'farm-to-table' meals, like ones served up at some of the Big Apple's top Michelin-starred restaurants.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Madeline Brewer Reflects on 'The Handmaid's Tale' Finale and Saying Goodbye to Janine: 'She's So Much a Part of Me' (Exclusive)
Madeline Brewer reflects on the the last six seasons starring as Janine on Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale The actress tells PEOPLE how the role changed her and the lessons she's taking away from her character Brewer also looks back at her final day on set, and why she thinks moving on is bittersweet but a "natural" step Madeline Brewer is saying a bittersweet goodbye to The Handmaid's Tale. After spending eight years playing the resilient, one-eyed character Janine on the hit dystopian drama, the actress opens up about how the role has shaped her — and what's next. "So I started on The Handmaid's Tale when I was 24 and I just turned 33 last week," Brewer, 33, tells PEOPLE exclusively. "So it's quite a bit of time spent together, a lot of growing. My frontal lobe wasn't cooked yet when we started." "I think of her so fondly," Brewer says of Janine, noting that describing her as a sister was "too close" but a best friend was too far. "She's so much a part of me. But we're so different. I think in a lot of ways on the surface, she's much gentler than I am, but she's also much stronger than I am. I really admire her." Over the years, the actress admits that Janine has taught her many lessons, particularly in sisterhood and activism, that have "changed me cellularly." "She's much more compassionate, I think, than I can be sometimes," she says of her character. "I think she's more resilient than me, and I've taken some of her resilience with me. I tend to catastrophize and she obviously looks for the silver lining in everything." "She's a fierce, fierce friend and I am as well. So I think that's a way in which we're alike," she adds. Based on the bestselling book by Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale has been consistently revered for its acting performances, writing and production design, taking home two Golden Globes, 15 Emmys and countless nominations over the series' run. After premiering it's first season in 2017, Hulu announced that the series would be concluding with its sixth season. The finale airs May 27. Though it's been "hard to say goodbye," the actress confesses that she felt "like our circle is completed." "I've given her everything I can give her, she's given me everything she's supposed to give me, and it's a natural ending," she continues. "It's time for us to move on." Brewer says that her last day on set was like any other. "We wrapped under a bridge in the middle of nowhere in Canada, and it was snowing and it was freezing and it was 3 o'clock in the morning," she recalls. "I don't know that it's even hit me yet that it's over." "It wasn't particularly emotional though," she says of the cast's "amazing" final wrap party. "For some people it was, like Yvonne [Strahovski] was a mess, but I know for me, it's just time to move on." Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. She's plenty busy as this chapter of her professional life ends. Brewer is set to marry British cinematographer Jack Thompson-Roylance, in a July wedding in England. She'll even have two Handmaid's Tale costars, Nina Kiri and Bahia Watson, by her side as bridesmaids. 'They're two of my closest friends. And we shared this incredible thing together,' she told PEOPLE in April. "But it's gone far beyond that. I mean, those are two of the best people in the world, and they're my friends. I get to be friends with them.' As a 'perfectionist,' Brewer wants everything to go smoothly to pull off her vision of 'Bridgerton by day and Saltburn at night.' But she has no nerves when it comes to saying 'I do.' 'That's my dude,' she says. 'It's going to be fun.' The series finale of The Handmaid's Tale airs Tuesday, May 27 on Hulu. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former state senator believes Ukraine can still end the war, if given right weapons
Former State Sen. Tom Brewer and Don Hutchens, a former head of the Nebraska Corn Board, survey a combine, provided by the Howard Buffett Foundation, that was destroyed by a Russian missile in Rivne, Ukraine. (Courtesy of John Grinvalds) LINCOLN — After his fifth goodwill and fact-finding trip to war-torn Ukraine, a former Nebraska state legislator and decorated veteran still feels that Ukraine can prevail in its war with Russia if given the right weapons. And former State Sen. Tom Brewer, who represented north-central Nebraska, said he sees a possible reckoning ahead for President Donald Trump in his dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin, he said, has never been truthful in his negotiations over the war, and his latest flirtations with peace talks may turn out to just be a delaying tactic to allow Russian forces to get organized for a summer offensive. 'There's a huge game of chess that's being played right now,' Brewer said in a recent interview. 'I think the next month will bring to light that Putin is not serious about negotiations, he's just buying time.' 'If you look at history, the Russians have never been honest about any of the negotiating they've done,' he added. 'Why would they start now?' Brewer, now 66, is at an age when most veterans are working on their golf game or heading out on a fishing trip. He's had more than 70 surgeries to repair war wounds and a bad back. The trip by plane, train, bus and eventually Toyota 4Runners in the dark of night is long and grueling, over roads pock-marked by missile strikes. But he keeps going back to Ukraine in part because he admires their freedom-loving spirit and in part because he feels his military experience — six tours of duty in Afghanistan and experience with artillery and helicopters — could help their war effort. Eventually, he believes he could also help the reconstruction of a country known as the 'bread basket of Europe.' On this latest trip he was accompanied by Don Hutchens, a retired head of the Nebraska Corn Board and a veteran of foreign trade missions. They set up a video meeting with University of Nebraska President Jeffrey Gold and Ukraine's ministers of agriculture and intelligence to lay the groundwork for possible collaboration in rebuilding Ukraine's crop production. Ukraine has lost more than 20% of its farmland since the Russians invaded, according to Alliance Magazine, and an estimated 139,000 square kilometers of land — almost twice the size of Nebraska — are suspected to hold land mines. Brewer said that in areas where the Russians had occupied, anything of value was taken and farm machinery not taken was disabled. Farmers are left using old equipment in hopes of growing a crop, he said. During his trip, Brewer visited associates of Howard Buffett, the son of Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett, who is on track to pass a total of $1 billion in private aid this year given to Ukraine to remove mines and provide new combines, planters and tractors. '(Buffett) has a really good team over there that is well-organized,' he said. 'He's probably more highly thought of than anyone else in the country. If he wanted to run for president he could beat out (Ukraine President Volodymyr) Zelinskyy.' Brewer also visited an orphanage under construction near Kyiv that has been supported by Ukrainian-Americans as well as a hospital where wounded soldiers are fitted for prosthetic limbs. An estimated 52,000 Ukrainians have lost parts of arms and legs in the war, he said, which has left possibly 18,000 children orphaned. Some U.S. military aid is still reaching troops in Ukraine, he said, but the elimination of the USAID agency has meant an end of food shipments to those living in a 'no-man's land' near the front. Despite the pull back of some American aid, the Ukrainians provided a warm welcome back, Brewer said. As after past trips, the former legislator will provide a trip report to the Nebraska delegation in Congress in hopes that makes a difference. On this trip, Brewer watched young Ukrainian soldiers, fueled by Red Bull and vape pens, guiding attack drones and was impressed by the capability of an artillery team unit that got only three week's training on guns the U.S. Army provides months of training to operate. He said that if he was 'king for a day,' the U.S. would provide more long-range missiles so that Russian forces could be moved farther away from the Ukrainian border to deter drone attacks and dropping of unguided 'glide bombs.' Tougher sanctions, Brewer added, could help squeeze the Russian economy to the point that they would give up. The former senator said he is sometimes 'astounded' about how long it took the U.S. to provide the weaponry that is needed. The sounds of drones buzzing overhead is a constant near the front, Brewer said, and the glide bombs, which cannot be detected by anti-missile batteries, have exacted a horrible toll. He said that this war could completely reshape Europe and the future of democracy, and it's important to stop Putin now, or else he will be emboldened to invade more countries. Brewer said he 'hates' the idea that Ukraine would have to give up valuable territory to end the war. 'The only way to defeat (the Russians) is to defeat them on the battlefield,' he said, 'and the only way to do that is give (Ukraine) the right weapons to do it.' 'Even though they've been through three years of war, and even though they've lost an estimated 100,000 civilian and military lives, their spirit is still passionate about staying free,' Brewer said. 'You're not going to see the Ukrainian people say, 'We've had enough.' I think they'll fight until they have nothing left to fight with.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Scoop
26-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
Have Your Say On Public Finance Amendment Bill
Press Release – The Finance and Expenditure Committee He says the changes also dispense with the requirement for Treasury to produce a Wellbeing Report every four years. Whats more, governments will no long have to articulate the wellbeing objectives that guide Budget decisions. The Chair of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for submissions on the Public Finance Amendment Bill. The closing date for submissions is 11.59pm on Monday, 7 July 2025. 'The proposed changes will enhance the transparency and accountability of our public finance system. They specifically aim to make the extent of fiscal risks clearer for incoming governments,' says Chair of the Finance and Expenditure Committee, Cameron Brewer. He says the changes also dispense with the requirement for Treasury to produce a Wellbeing Report every four years. What's more, governments will no long have to articulate the wellbeing objectives that guide Budget decisions. 'A second tranche of reforms to the Public Finance Act is likely next year, once our committee has completed its inquiry into performance reporting and public accountability,' says Mr Brewer. The bill would amend the Public Finance Act 1989. Among other things, the bill would: introduce more specific disclosure requirements for the statement of specific fiscal risks introduce a requirement to publish a tax expenditure statement repeal the requirement to articulate wellbeing objectives in the Budget Policy Statement repeal the requirement to prepare a wellbeing report amend the publication window for the pre-election economic and fiscal update. Tell the Finance and Expenditure Committee what you think: Make a submission on the bill by 11.59pm on Monday, 7 July 2025.
