UPDATED - ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING!!!!!! additional information on page 3

[nysart8902]

I just finally got to read this entire post, and I have to say that this was just wrong. In the winter no electric company should do that, especially in areas where it gets extremely cold.
I also have to say one other thing to this part of the article:

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."

This guy should be put in jail! My neighbors are actually distance relatives (in other words family), and they don't come check in on me all the time when my husband is away (he's in the Army National Guard). So I really don't think that neighbors have a responsibility to each other.

Are you 90+ years old?

No, but I do have health problems that limit what I can do

 

[Relic]

l think it's a crime in itself that ANYONE that age is living all alone without anyone to pop in to check on them. lt's sad what happened but on the other hand l'm a believer that if a person living close by knows someone in there 90's is living alone that it is just common sense and decent to keep an eye on them and especially in cold weather to pop in and make sure everything is fine and they have food water and heat to get them through. How much effort does that really require to care enough to make sure that an older person is alright in your own neighborhood. Power and gas up here is turned of year round they don't give a fig about your age or personal problems if you fail to pay the bill then you go without.

 

[minie812]

I just finally got to read this entire post, and I have to say that this was just wrong. In the winter no electric company should do that, especially in areas where it gets extremely cold.
I also have to say one other thing to this part of the article:

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."

This guy should be put in jail! My neighbors are actually distance relatives (in other words family), and they don't come check in on me all the time when my husband is away (he's in the Army National Guard). So I really don't think that neighbors have a responsibility to each other.

Are you 90+ years old?

No, but I do have health problems that limit what I can do

So do I but my neighbors check on me & I likewise do the same for them even if it is just a phone call- sorry your family is that insensitive

 

[wcr]

It is a very sad thing to happen and I am sure the power company needs to review their policies but it isn't fair that they take the brunt of the criticism. Where is this man's family? Who is checking that his welfair is seen to? It wasn't a money issue with the money laying around. For goodness sake, he is 90 years old and has the right to be mentally challenged. Why wasn't the family making sure his needs are met and why didn't they know he hadn't paid his bills for 4 months?

I think we have gotten to the stage in this country that we point fingers at "government", "outside agencies" anyone other than ourselves and each other. What happened to the values of taking care of our own and each other? The old days when neighbors knew each other and were always there in a crisis? Are we so wrapped up in our own lives we can't take a few minutes to check on an elderly man living alone to make sure he is okay? Who was checking to make sure he even had food to eat if he never went out in the cold?

I think this is a very sad commentary on the state of our nation that we are so concerned with taking care of other countries problems that our own are ignored.

 

[Annabellarose]

There is an old man that owns one of the farms that borders my farm. He lives alone. He does have a few "friends" and family members that do come to check on him, occasionally. However, he will be there without a visitor for days and weeks at a time. He is extremely hateful, perverse, and even violent. He killed his own dog a couple of years ago. He is constantly peeing off of his back porch and I know that he has running water. I want nothing to do with him and I would actually be afraid that he would pull a gun on me if I ventured over to check on him. Sometimes I am afraid that he will shoot or poison my horses. He has yelled mean and perverse things to me about my horses in the past. Despite all that, I do kind of look for him everyday while I am at my farm caring for my horses. He has a golf cart that he rides around on his small farm (maybe 5-7 acres) almost everyday. If I didn't see him for a couple of days I might get together with my other neighbor and we might decide to call the authorities, but I and my other neighbor refuse to step in personally due to how I and my other neighbor have been treated by him in the past. Not too long ago a family that was over to check on him lost a dog that they brought with them so that it could run around on his farm and they came over to ask us if we had seen it and we asked them about the old man. They talked about how they liked to check on him occasionally but that it was hard because he was such a nasty old man. I commended them.

I really hated to read that quote from the guy at the electric company that placed blame on the neighbors. Screw him! I highly doubt this man was hateful, perverse, or violent, like my neighbor, but we just don't know the situation. I like to help people, in need or not, but I will not put my own life in danger or be subjected to violence or abuse to check on or help someone.

 

[wcr]

You can request the police do a welfare check on someone if you think something might be wrong without being involved if that is an issue. We do this regularly in the medical field and sometimes the police seeing poor living conditions is what it takes to get the care needed for someone who can no longer care for themselves in an appropriate manner.

 

[AppyLover2]

I'm not as old or infirm as this man was but I do know what it's like to be alone with no one looking out for your welfare and no one who appears to give a dam whether you're ok or not. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that if something were to happen to me I would/could lay here for days before anyone became concerned, and even when someone did, it would be friends a thousand miles away. Being alone is bad enough but to have a "service" like electricity shut off with no follow-up is inexcusable and cost this man his life.

 

[Sonya]

The man who died in Bay City did have dementia.

Just heard on the news last night that Granholm (gov in MI) is pushing for legislation to stop local/city electric companies from shutting off electric in winter months on the elderly/handicapped. However, I don't think the legislation would include any wording about the limiters that some city electric companies use and that was used in this case. We have Consumers energy at our place (which is regulated by the state I believe). To my knowledge, Consumers can not shut off electric in winter months.

This did happen last winter too, an elderly woman froze to death in southwest MI because her power was shut off (Indiana Michigan Power Co). The woman's mentally handicapped daughter lived with her and suffered frostbite. She also had $ to pay the bill.

I think this happens more than people realize.

 

[AppyLover2]

An update on this - read it yesterday - this old guy's will gave $600,000 to a (local?) hospital so a shortage of funds certainly wasn't to blame.

 

[susanne]

Forgive me for answering without having read all of the posts -- I haven't been on here much and now am on jury duty...

Instead of casting blame, we need to see that EVERYONE is to blame -- neighbors, family AND the utility. THAT is the meaning of COMMUNITY.

Judging by the "warm and fuzzy" commercials for our local utilities, they wish to promote themselves as being at the heart of their communities...but do they put their money where their bureaucratic mouths are?

And where was this nephew? (Sorry, the article may address this) Even if they live far away, I would hope the family would at least check in on such an elderly relative. Even if he were a nasty old coot who pushed them away, they should at least check up on him through neighbors, law enforcement, etc.

Same for the neighbors...I've had neighbors I don't particularly care for, but I keep an eye out. It takes such little effort to make certain you see them moving about, lights going on and off, etc.

What about postal workers? Around here, mail carriers are instructed to keep an eye out for the elderly along their routes.

What about community churches? Perhaps this man was not a member of any church, but I bet some of his neighbors were, or that various clergy passed his house while making rounds. Why not reach out?

Did anybody care?

Or was it easier for everyone to talk big about how good they are while looking the other way?

I repeat, we ALL are neighbors. This man's entire community (and, honestly, his entire country) failed him. It's not a case of personal responsibility or who is to blame. It's all part of being human and remembering that this is not an address, an account number, a nearby house -- this was a human being.

And this sad story makes us that much less human.