Program helps poor pay for phone service

By KAREN YOUSO, Star Tribune

Last update: November 15, 2009 - 7:55 PM

Q Is it true that the Obama administration has a new program that gives free cell phones to welfare recipients?

A No. Low-income households have been eligible for discounted phone service for more than a decade. But the program is funded by telecom companies, not by taxes, and the president has nothing to do with it.

It consists of two parts: Link-Up, which helps income-eligible people set up new home phone service, and Lifeline, which helps income-eligible people pay their monthly phone charges. The idea is to make sure that even the poor have access to telephone service to be able contact family members, doctors, schools, etc.

The program as it exists today was created more than a decade ago by an act of Congress, the Telecommunications Act of 1996. A version of the Lifeline program was already in operation as far back as the early 1980s.

The specific benefits vary according to locale and service provider. Note that the program is designed to help low-income people generally, not just welfare recipients. Although it's administered by the Federal Communications Commission, it's not actually federally funded. Since its inception, the program has been financed via the pooled contributions of commercial phone service providers, which in turn impose small monthly fees on their regular customers to recoup the cost.

From Factcheck.org and David Emery at About.com

Yellow light guidance

Q I see people driving through yellow lights all the time. Is a driver supposed to stop for a yellow light?

A If the light is yellow, do not enter the intersection if you can stop safely before doing so.

If you cannot stop safely, move through the intersection with caution.

If you are waiting in the intersection to make a turn and the light turns from yellow to red, complete the turn as soon as safely possible.

Information from Minnesota State Patrol

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