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She defies her bipolar diagnosis

Succeeding in spite of it Despite the diagnosis of bipolar disorder and the bleak prognosis, Brown went on to marry, raise a family, earn a master’s

MARCH 2019

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PHOTO BY CHRISTOPHER MYERS

By Carol Sorgen Charita Cole Brown remembers being “weepy and clingy” as a child, but she didn’t experience her first significant bout of depression until high school. She rebounded from that and went on to college at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, where she majored in English. But during her first semester, she suffered another round of depression and withdrew from school for a semester. “I always knew I would return [to school],” said Brown. “I’m a fighter.” But while finishing her final semester, Brown had a psychotic breakdown so severe that doctors predicted she would never lead a normal life and would eventually require custodial care. Her diagnosis: bipolar disorder. Formerly called manic depression, bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings, including emotional highs and lows. It affects nearly 5.7 million adult Americans every year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. The symptoms and their severity can vary. A person with bipolar disorder may have distinct manic or depressed states, but may also have extended periods — sometimes years — without any symptoms. A person can also experience both extremes simultaneously or in rapid sequence. Brown, now 59 and residing in Baltimore City, has recently published a book, Defying the Verdict: My Bipolar Life (Curbside Splendor Publishing), that she hopes will help shed light on the disorder itself and lessen the stigma that surrounds mental illness in general. The median age at which bipolar disorder begins is 25, although the illness can start in early childhood or as late as one’s 40s and 50s. It is found in all ages, races, ethnic groups and social classes, and in men as often as women. More than two-thirds of people with bipolar disorder have at least one close relative with the illness or with major depression. Brown’s maternal grandmother and maternal great-uncle also suffered from the condition.

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Riding the rails through the magnificent Canadian Rockies; plus, presidential retreats in Virginia page 23

ARTS & STYLE Charita Cole Brown was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when she was in college. She wrote her recent book, Defying the Verdict: My Bipolar Life, to help people understand the disorder and to challenge the stereotypes that surround mental illness generally. Brown had a career in elementary education, and now is a mental wellness advocate for numerous organizations.

degree in teaching, and enjoy a career as an elementary school educator. She emphasized that bipolar disorder, while not curable, is highly treatable. She said her success was possible because she sought treatment and has continued to “work her plan.” “However, more than half of Americans living with the disorder won’t seek treatment,” she noted. “The fact that the U.S. suicide rate for people who have bipolar disorder is 20 times higher than that of the general population is even more sobering.” Brown, who serves on the Board of Directors for the Maryland chapter of National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and is a

mental wellness advocate for numerous other programs, said she felt compelled to write her book to encourage people living with the disorder to seek treatment. Bipolar disorder is a lifelong condition and, Brown admits, a difficult one. “If I had an enemy, I wouldn’t wish this on him or her,” she said.

Treating bipolar disorder Treatment is available to manage symptoms. It may include lifelong mood-balancing medications, day treatment programs to provide support and counseling, substance See CHARITA BROWN, page 10

Play based on a true story revisits Amish tragedy and uncovers forgiveness page 27

TECHNOLOGY 3 k Don’t fall for growing tech scam FITNESS & HEALTH 6 k Are you aging too fast? k Simple supermarket shortcuts LAW & MONEY 17 k How to know when to buy low k Car-buying mistakes to avoid ADVERTISER DIRECTORY

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Not in our family Back in the 1970s, a progressive TV sit- gays, African Americans, Latinos, Jews, you com poked fun at certain members of an name it. older generation for their Yet, we loved to watch him, prejudices and beliefs, at the even though he couldn’t comsame time revealing a prehend the changes in attiglimpse of the humanity that tudes and behaviors that were could sometimes shine occurring in America in the through the tough, stained 1960s and ‘70s. He was an emexterior of a bigot. barrassment to his daughter, The family portrayed in All but he was still her Daddy. She in the Family consisted of loved him, and he still loved Archie Bunker, a man full of her (and yes, in a way, his sonmore bunk than one would in-law). have thought possible, his FROM THE Archie helped us see how clueless but loveable wife PUBLISHER senseless and baseless racist, Edith, their flighty daughter By Stuart P. Rosenthal sexist and anti-Semitic views Gloria, and their radical sonwere, but we could laugh at in-law Michael (aka “Meathead”). It was a them coming from a poor, uneducated, backcast of stereotypes brought together to ward older white man, knowing that the crush other stereotypes. world he represented was quickly changing All in the Family was a phenomenon. It and he was the one being left behind. ran for nine seasons, and was literally at And yet, even as we tuned in each week the top of the Nielsen ratings — the most- to laugh with our family and friends at watched TV show in America — for five whatever outrageous opinions Archie consecutive years. would spout this time, we all knew that cerThe opinions expressed by Archie were tain members of our own families or workdecidedly backward. He was an uncouth place shared some of Archie’s beliefs. We bigot who relentlessly stereotyped women, might even occasionally have thought to

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ourselves, “Gee, do I sometimes say or think that?” In its over-the-top way, the show and its immense popularity generated a subtle pressure on people to change their attitudes, open their minds and see things from another perspective. And perhaps most importantly, All in the Family helped us see that by laughing at others (and ourselves), we could more easily let go of opinions and attitudes that didn’t withstand scrutiny in today’s world. My, how times have changed! We no longer laugh at bigots, or even make allowances for bigoted behavior that may have taken place years ago at a time when standards were very different. It’s one thing when the behavior rises to the level of abuse of others, or when the behavior has continued into the present day. Here, I’m thinking of the parade of Hollywood execs whose appalling treatment of starlets and others was so recently splashed across the papers almost daily. But more recently, we have learned of people in high positions whose insensitive acts appear to have occurred long ago. And yet, they may not only be ostracized or criticized for it, but can lose their jobs, their reputations, their fortunes, their past awards and honors, and even their friends. Certainly, past ill behavior raises a question about a person’s character, which is not some ephemeral thing, but rather

should reflect a person’s core values. Even so, don’t we also believe that people make poor decisions sometimes? And that they can change their attitudes and behavior, sincerely apologize for past insensitivity, learn from their mistakes and, at some point, do sufficient penance, or show evidence of a new heart, so that they deserve some type of forgiveness? In individual cases we may decide a particular person or behavior does not deserve to be forgiven. But to close off the very possibility of forgiveness — what is called today zero-tolerance, even of past sins — seems too harsh to me. Is that really a standard we can all live with? Especially when the list of behaviors now seen as irredeemable seems to grow by the day. We can — and should — raise our standards and boost our expectations of our leaders over time. But as we do so, we need to remember we are all human, and that means we all have failings. That, to me, was one of the chief takeaways from the All in the Family sitcom. Every character had failings galore, in one area or another. But even so, they all remained family. Those were the days...

Letters to the editor Readers are encouraged to share their opinion on any matter addressed in the Beacon as well as on political and social issues of the day. Mail your Letter to the Editor to The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915, or e-mail barbara@thebeaconnewspapers.com. Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification. Dear Editor: [In regards to the February cover story, “When a DNA test surprises you,”] I did the DNA test. I got back nothing on my mother’s side, no profile, and only two generations back on my father’s side. I waited about six months for more in-

formation about living relatives. According to my grandmother, the Duke of Wellington knighted one of our ancestors. I would like if that did happen! Elizabeth Gallier Baltimore

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Technology &

Innovations How to spot common tech support scams By Justin Lavelle Don’t be fooled by a scammer who calls you claiming to be from Microsoft or Apple. Despite warnings that come year after year about tech support scams, fraudsters continually find new and more effective ways to trick consumers into giving up their personal and financial information. Microsoft recently reported that tech support scams were up 24 percent between 2017 and 2018. The tech giant received 153,000 reports of customers encountering or falling for a fraud attempt, with 1 in 10 actually losing money from those scams. Microsoft customers paid an estimated $3 to $6 million to criminals — all because they didn’t know how to spot a hoax. The typical tech support scam involves the fraudster calling or emailing a customer claiming to be from a legitimate technology company. The scammer says there’s something wrong with the customer’s computer, and uses a lot of tech jargon to confuse them. They then ask for passwords, remote desktop access, and even payment so they can “fix” the non-existent problem. Savvy Internet users know that no corporate tech support representative would ever

contact them about a device issue unless the customer reported it first and asked for a call back. However, if you’re not particularly knowledgeable about technology, it can be very easy to be fooled by a convincing-sounding scam artist. Here are a few steps to take if you suspect someone is trying to pull a tech support scam on you. 1. Verify the source. Because of the sophisticated technology fraudsters have access to, it’s very easy for someone to create a convincing- looking scam email, or fake a caller ID to make it look like a phone number is coming from a specific area code or geographical region. If you were actually expecting a call from a tech support agent, you can run a reverse phone search or look up the listed tech support number to see if it’s an exact match for the company that’s supposed to be contacting you. If you receive an email or browser pop-up notice, carefully verify the logo, email sender address, signature, etc. The differences be-

tween a real and fake email or ad can be very subtle and easy to miss, so look at it with a very scrutinizing eye. More importantly, do not click on any links or call any phone number listed in suspicious emails and pop-ups. 2. Never give a random caller your password or desktop access. No matter how convincing the call, email or pop-up seems, you should never give out your account passwords or allow someone else to take control of your computer remotely. If you’re having trouble with your computer, it’s best to bring the machine in to a tech repair shop or official device retail store, or have a tech support professional come to your home to look at it in person. 3. Keep your browser, programs and security software up to date. Don’t ignore those messages on your computer that remind you to update your software. Software companies and device manufacturers are constantly working to patch

No legitimate tech support rep would ever contact you first.

security flaws and bugs, so failing to update at the advised time could leave your machine vulnerable to hackers. (Just make sure it’s a legitimate message from your own software provider; not a scammer.) 4. Stay vigilant. To avoid becoming the next victim of a tech support scam, it’s important to be vigilant about computer and Internet safety. Never respond to a message or phone call from someone claiming to need access to your PC if you didn’t previously report an issue. If you are really having a tech support problem, contact your device manufacturer or a trusted tech support professional directly using the info listed on their website. Most importantly, keep yourself educated and informed about the latest fraud tactics and the warning signs of any new scams. Arming yourself with this knowledge could save you from a sneaky data thief. Justin Lavelle is the chief communications officer for BeenVerified.com, a source for online background checks and contact information. BeenVerified allows individuals to find more information about people, phone numbers, email addresses and property records.

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Weigh risks and benefits of a smart home By Anick Jesdanun You might have heard of lights that turn off with an app or voice command. Or window shades that magically rise every morning. Technology companies are pushing the “smart home” hard, selling appliances and gadgets that offer Internet-connected conveniences you didn’t know you needed. A smart home can encompass features as simple as remote-controlled lamps or as sophisticated as thermostats that know when you’re home and turn up the heat automatically. Down the line, you may want to mix and match these tasks into routines, such as a wake-up ritual that automatically starts the coffee maker, lifts the window shades and plays the news. But before you succumb to the temptation — for yourself or others — consider that these devices might also give companies and hackers a key to your home. Here’s how to get started on your smart home and what to worry about along the way.

Pros and cons Many people start thinking about a smart home when they get a voice-activated speaker such as Amazon’s Echo or Google Home, although such gadgets aren’t strictly necessary. Nor do you even

need actual smart lights and appliances, as you can buy smart plugs — adapters that control existing lights or whatever appliances you plug into them. If you catch the smart-home bug, you can add appliances with the smarts already built in as you replace your existing ones. Major remodels also offer an opportunity to make bigger smart-home plans. You probably wouldn’t want to get new window shades now only to replace them with smart ones a year later. There are some concerns to keep in mind. Many devices are constantly listening for commands and connect to corporate servers to carry them out. Not everyone is going to be comfortable with live microphones in their homes (though your phone may already be doing the same thing, if you have enabled assistive features such as “Hey Siri” and “OK Google”). For the most part, recordings will leave home only when you trigger the device, such as by speaking a command phrase like “OK Google” or pressing a button to get the device’s attention. But an Amazon device once mistakenly recorded and sent a family’s private conversation to an acquaintance after the device mistakenly thought it heard the trigger word followed by a “send message” request.

Check what safeguards a device offers before buying it. Smart speakers, for instance, typically have a mute button to disable the microphone completely. Mozilla’s “Privacy Not Included” project seeks to warn consumers about products with security or privacy problems. A general web search also might turn up complaints. In general, it helps to stick with major brands, as their corporate reputations are at stake if they’re caught taking shortcuts. Bigger companies can also quickly fix security holes that crop up. Gadgets from startups and no-name brands may offer little or no protection; those companies may be more concerned with rushing a product to market. Bigger companies, however, are also more likely to use your data for marketing. So consider the trade-offs.

Who else is listening? Even if a product works as intended, it may be leaving a record that can resurface after hacks, lawsuits or investigations. Manufacturers, for instance, typically store the voice commands their gadgets send over the Internet and use that data to help them personalize their services — and, potentially, ad messages they send you. These voice snippets may include music or conversations in the background. Reputable brands let you review and delete your voice history. Be sure to do so regularly. And think twice about smart locks and their digital keys. On the pro side, with the right tools, you can check whether you remembered to lock the doors — and then lock them remotely if you forgot. Some systems can also create temporary digital keys you can give guests and contractors

to gain access. But note that in a child-custody dispute, for instance, your ex might subpoena the records to learn that you’ve been staying out late on school nights. Or if you rent, a landlord might suspect an unauthorized occupant if you create a guest key that’s used daily.

Many options to choose from As cable and Internet services become commodities, the companies behind them are turning to smart homes for new sources of revenue. AT&T’s Digital Life and Comcast’s Xfinity Home offer cameras, door controls and other smart-home devices. The packages are good for those who prefer one-stop shopping, though you might save money and get more choices by shopping around. For the do-it-yourself approach, consider which company’s services you’re already using heavily. If it’s Amazon, then devices powered by its Alexa digital assistant might work best. There’s a range of Alexa products, including refrigerators and washing machines. You can command an Alexa microwave oven to “reheat one potato” instead of having to look up how many seconds it should take. It’ll also reorder popcorn on command — from Amazon, of course. Likewise, if you’re a heavy Google user, choose devices that support Google’s Assistant. Apple has products under the umbrella of HomeKit, while Samsung has SmartThings. Fortunately, some products will work with more than one digital assistant. Some devices, especially cameras, come with extra fees for extended storage and other features. But in most cases, you have to pay only for the product. — AP

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Get a glimpse of the Vietnam War through the eyes of those who served in it. “Personal Snapshots: Picturing the Vietnam War” from the Library of Congress Veterans History Project (VHP), explores the wartime experiences of 12 Vietnam veterans through their oral histories, written correspondences and amateur photos. Compared to images captured by official military photographers, the amateur snapshots taken by soldiers, sailors and Marines provide a nuanced and personal view of the Vietnam War. Among the veterans profiled is G. Mike Mabe, a self-described “low-rank infantryman” who served with the 101st Airborne Division. His candid shots of everyday life overseas include pulling kitchen patrol duty, interacting with Vietnamese, and eating c-rations on the hood of his Jeep. VHP was created by Congress in 2000 to collect, preserve and make accessible firsthand remembrances of United States war veterans from WWI through the most recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Visit loc.gov/vets/stories/ex-warsnapshots-vietnam.html

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Health Fitness &

FOR A SMOOTHER SYSTEM Most of us need more fiber; learn about the best ways to ingest it SPEAKING OUT Rest your voice and stay hydrated to help strengthen an aging voice SUPERMARKET SHORTCUTS Salad bars, frozen food and rotisserie chickens can make mealtime easier MEDICAL MALFUNCTIONS Certain medical devices can sometimes cause more harm than good

The secret of happiness: it’s your choice By Mary Kane Many of us worry about what our lives will be like in our final years. But after spending a year following six people ages 85 and older, New York Times reporter John Leland came to some surprising conclusions about old age and contentment later in life. His work inspired his book, Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons From a Year Among the Oldest Old (Sarah Crichton Books, $16), which came out in paperback in January. In this lightly edited conversation with Kiplinger’s Associate Editor Mary Kane, Leland talks about applying their wisdom to our lives at any age. You write, “If you want to be happy, think like an older person.” Can you explain how that works? We know from a lot of research that older people are more content with their lives than younger people are. Thinking like an older person is thinking about resilience and focusing on what is — as opposed to what is not. Accepting your mortality by not being so afraid of it. When you are older, you view the time horizons in front of you differently. You understand the days are finite, and we might as well enjoy the ones we have left. The big lesson for me, the really practi-

cal one, is waking up in the morning and saying, “Thank God for another day.” It’s the conscious practice of gratitude. Can you explain what you call “selective forgetting”? We do forget the horrible things in our lives to a great extent but not entirely. The traumas of our lives stay with us. But we’re constantly writing the stories of our lives, and there are lots of things we’re filtering out. Usually our stories are about the positive things. That flu that almost killed you — you forget about how miserable you were. You just remember that it didn’t kill you. That friend you made when you were 14 — that’s something you remember. [The people I interviewed] saw loss as part of what it is to be human. It doesn’t make loss any more fun. But you’re not being singled out for punishment. You’re sharing that same experience with every other person that’s ever lived. What do you mean when you say happiness is a choice?

You come to understand that the quality of our lives isn’t based in the events of our lives. It’s really in the reaction to the events in our lives. That’s a really useful thing, to realize: “I don’t have control over some of the events in my life, like the weather, but I actively have a say in how I respond to the weather.” The title of the book is Happiness Is a Choice You Make, but the key word isn’t happiness. It’s choice. It’s declaring that you won’t be defined or determined by the circumstances of your life. You have a say in this. That declaration is liberating. That liberation is happiness. Happiness isn’t just the thing you choose; it’s the act of choosing it that makes you happy. You talk about the essence of what you learned: “to shut down the noise and fears and desires that buffet our days and think about how amazing, really amazing, life is.” Can we all do this? There are things we can do to change our ways of thinking and improve the qual-

There are things we can do to change our ways of thinking and improve the quality of our lives.

ity of our lives. I’m not talking about depression, which is a serious illness that kills people and needs to be treated. But you can be focusing on what is, not what you don’t have and what you’re missing. Optimism doesn’t mean the future is going to necessarily be better. It means seeing that the present is better. We are so detached from the oldest old, in a way previous generations were not. How can we address that? We think of old age as some sort of place to visit — and not a pleasant place. But just spending time with the old is sometimes all we can do, and the most important thing we can do. Give older people a chance to talk. Find out what they care about, and what’s important to them. Older people aren’t being asked about what they need. They are being told what they need by people who have never been old. This article was written with the support of a journalism fellowship from the Gerontological Society of America, Journalists Network on Generations and Silver Century Foundation. © 2019 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Fight a denied Medicare Advantage claim By Eleanor Laise If a Medicare Advantage plan denies you coverage for medically necessary care, don’t take it lying down. File an appeal, and your odds are good that the plan will overturn its decision. That’s the message for consumers in a recent government report examining service and payment denials in Medicare Advantage plans, which are offered by private insurers and often combine basic Medicare benefits with drug, dental and vision coverage in a single package. Looking at appeals filed by Advantage enrollees and healthcare providers between 2014 and 2016, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General found that plans overturned 75 percent of their own denials. “The high number of overturned denials raises concerns that some Medicare Advantage beneficiaries and providers were initial-

ly denied services and payments that should have been provided,” the report said. To make matters worse, enrollees and providers appeal only 1 percent of denials, the Inspector General found, suggesting that some beneficiaries may be going without needed services or paying out of pocket for care. And for patients, plan denials may have even broader repercussions. “If a provider is denied payment, they may be more reticent to provide certain services” in the future, said Leslie Fried, senior director at the National Council on Aging’s Center for Benefits Access.

More members, more denials Inappropriate denials are a growing concern as the number of Medicare Advantage plan beneficiaries soars. Advantage plans had 21 million enrollees in 2018, up from 8 million in 2007. As the government

gives Advantage plans added flexibility, such as allowing them to offer supplemental benefits not covered by traditional Medicare, that number is likely to grow. But unlike traditional Medicare beneficiaries, Advantage plan enrollees looking to limit their costs must stay within their plan’s network of providers, and typically need referrals to see specialists. “Medicare Advantage plans are committed to providing quality, affordable and appropriate care to patients,” said Cathryn Donaldson, a spokesperson for America’s Health Insurance Plans, a health insurance industry group. A denial, she said, “can often be a request for additional information for the claim, or a move to an alternative treatment that’s more effective.”

aries to read their denial notices, understand their rights to appeal, and file appeals promptly, patient advocates say. But the denial notices that plans send to enrollees aren’t always clear, said Fred Riccardi, vice president of client services at the Medicare Rights Center. In 2015, audits by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found that 45 percent of Advantage plans sent denial letters with incomplete or incorrect information, according to the Inspector General’s report. Follow the instructions on the denial notice to make your appeal. Ask your doctor to write a letter explaining why you need the care. And understand the timeline to make your claim. Advantage enrollees have only 60 days from the date of the denial notice to file an appeal with the plan, compared with 120 days

Dealing with a Medicare denial It’s critical for Advantage plan benefici-

See DENIED MEDICARE, page 7

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2019

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

Are you aging faster than you need to? By Howard LeWine, M.D. Q: I read that shrinking chromosomes might be a sign of faster aging. Can a person be tested for this? Is there any way to slow that down? A: The shrinking is actually happening in the telomeres, the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes in your cells. Each cell in your body carries a set of genes, unique to you, that tell it what to do and when to do it. The genes (made up of DNA) are linked together in long strands called chromosomes. Chromosomes come in pairs: We have 23 pairs in each cell. At each end of each chromosome is a protective cap called a telomere, which keeps the chromosome from becoming damaged when a cell divides. A telomere is made up of thousands of sections of expendable DNA. Each time a cell divides, the telomeres shorten just a bit. Once telomeres reach a critically short

stage, they can’t protect the chromosomes anymore, and the cell usually dies. Thus, the progressively shorter telomeres of a cell constitute a measure of its aging. Unhealthy lifestyle factors — such as smoking, eating junk food, obesity, inactivity and chronic stress — are all associated with shorter telomeres. Shorter telomeres, in turn, are associated with a lower life expectancy and higher rates of developing chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease.

Should you test your telomeres? Commercial tests to uncover the status of your telomere length are available. But the accuracy of various commercial telomere tests is uncertain. Also a single telomere test — even if it is accurate — can’t provide a true picture of biological aging or tell you how fast your telomeres are shortening.

Denied Medicare

up to three more levels of appeal.

From page 6

Where to get help

for traditional Medicare beneficiaries. The plan must then make a decision within 30 days if it’s denying a service that you haven’t yet received, or 60 days if it’s refusing to pay for a service that you already received. If your health could be harmed by waiting for the standard appeals process to play out, request an expedited appeal, which requires a decision within 72 hours. If the plan rejects your initial appeal, your claim will be automatically forwarded to an independent entity for review. And if your appeal is rejected there, you still have

The appeals process can be overwhelming, particularly for patients who are sick or frail. Find expert assistance through these resources: Medicare Rights Center: An advocacy group for Medicare beneficiaries. Go to medicarerights.org or call 800-333-4114. State health insurance assistance programs: Here are numbers for local offices. Baltimore City: (410) 396-2273 Baltimore County: (410) 887-2059 © 2019, Kiplinger. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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No matter what a telomere test finds, scientists are still in the early stages of understanding what the information means. If your telomeres are shortening, it doesn’t mean something bad will happen. And if your telomeres are long, it also doesn’t guarantee that something bad won’t happen. That said, learning your telomeres status could be a wake-up call to change behaviors associated with telomere shortening. You could eat a healthier diet, exercise more,

lose weight, stop smoking or reduce stress. But these are lifestyle choices you should make anyway, whether or not you have shorter telomeres. Howard LeWine, M.D., is an internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. For additional consumer health information, visit www.health.harvard.edu. © 2019 President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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MARCH 2019 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Juicing, done right, can improve nutrition Dear Mayo Clinic: Is juicing as healthy as some proclaim, or are some nutrients lost in the process? Answer: Juicing — extracting the juice from fresh fruits and vegetables — can be a good way to add nutrients to your diet. If you struggle to eat the recommended five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables each day, juicing can help you get there. The good news is that the juice contains most of the vitamins, minerals and plant chemicals (phytonutrients) found in whole fruit. Juicing also may help you incorporate a broader variety of fruits and vegetables in your diet, such as kale, spinach or tropical fruits. However, juice shouldn’t be the only

way to get these nutrients. Whole fruits and vegetables also contain healthy fiber, much of which is lost during juicing — especially if the skin and pulp are removed. Dietary fiber not only aids in digestion, but also may improve blood cholesterol levels and lower the risk of heart disease. Fiber also helps you feel full, which can help with weight control.

Not a weight loss plan Some promote juicing as a quick way to lose weight. However, a diet containing only fruits and vegetables isn’t balanced. Be sure you’re also meeting your needs for fiber, protein, calcium, iron and healthy fats. You can do this by incorporating juicing into a healthy-eating plan that includes var-

ious whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean protein sources, and whole fruits and vegetables. While juicing in moderation is generally healthy, certain types of juice may not be appropriate for everyone. A juice made of mostly fruits can be high in carbohydrates and sugars, which can influence blood sugar levels. For people with kidney disease, fruits that are high in potassium, such as melons and bananas, can cause complications and may need to be avoided. Juicing also can be a significant source of calories, depending on the contents and the portion size you consume. Without the fiber to keep you feeling full, you may find that you’re hungry sooner. Add these up, and you have a recipe for potential weight gain if not kept in check. Here are steps you can take to make sure your juice is as healthy as possible: Limit added sugars. Some juice recipes call for sugar, honey, syrup or other added sweeteners. Since the typical American diet already includes an overabundance of added sugars, try to eliminate or minimize these additions. Added sugars contribute to calories and weight gain. They’re especially common in store-bought fruit drinks. Consider blending. Rather than extracting juice, blending the edible parts of fruits produces a drink that contains more fiber and other healthy nutrients. If the result is too thick, add a little water. Handle produce safely. Wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly before

use. Even if you plan to peel the produce, wash it first, so that dirt and bacteria aren’t transferred. Take extra caution with pre-cut fruits and vegetables, and any kind of sprout, which are more likely to harbor dangerous bacteria such as E. coli. Use the pulp elsewhere. Try adding the leftover pulp from your juicing to soups or baked goods to increase the fiber in your diet. Opt for pasteurized juice. When buying juice from a store, choose a pasteurized juice when possible to prevent the likelihood of foodborne illness. Most juice sold in stores is pasteurized to kill harmful bacteria. Refrigerated products that aren’t pasteurized are required to carry a warning label. Since juice sold in restaurants isn’t subject to the same labeling, don’t hesitate to ask if you’re unsure if the product has been pasteurized. If you’re not sure whether juicing is a healthy option for you, talk to your healthcare provider or a dietitian. — Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., Endocrinology/Nutrition, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Mayo Clinic Q & A is an educational resource and doesn’t replace regular medical care. E-mail a question to MayoClinic Q&A@mayo.edu. For more information, visit www.mayoclinic.org. © 2019 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2019

Should you be taking a fiber supplement? Dear Mayo Clinic: I experience irregularity almost weekly, and eating bran flakes every day isn’t helping. Are fiber supplements safe to use regularly and long term? Is there anything else I can do? I’m a 53-year-old woman and otherwise in excellent health. Answer: When consumed at recommended levels, dietary fiber is widely recognized to have health benefits, including relief of constipation. Adult women 50 and younger should consume at least 25 grams of fiber a day. Women over 50 should have at least 21 grams a day. Adult men need at least 38 grams of fiber a day if they are under 50 and at least 30 grams of fiber a day if they are over 50. Ninety percent of the U.S. population consumes far below those recommendations, averaging only 15 grams of daily fiber. Fiber-rich foods include fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. Many cereals, such as bran flakes, are good sources of fiber. Although fiber supplements can fill the daily fiber gap, they usually have only one type of fiber, rather than a variety of fibers and micronutrients, and they may not provide all the health benefits associated with fiber in food. Therefore, boost your fiber intake in your diet first by eating a wide variety of high-fiber foods. If you still can’t get enough fiber to meet the daily recommendation, consider using a supplement. Many fiber supplements can be used regularly long term.

Two types of fiber Fiber is classified as soluble or insoluble. Soluble fibers are more fermentable and may cause gas. Insoluble fibers move

through the digestive system largely intact, and that can increase stool bulk. Most fiber supplements are exclusively soluble or insoluble fiber. For example, FiberCon (calcium polycarbophil) and Benefiber (wheat dextrin) are mainly soluble fiber. They tend to cause more bloating and flatulence. Citrucel (methylcellulose) is mainly insoluble fibers that are nonfermentable, so it’s less likely to contribute to bloating and gas. Psyllium husk (Metamucil and Konsyl) is rich in both soluble and insoluble fiber. Generally, fiber supplements with mainly insoluble fiber may be a better option for constipation.

Medications can be affected Before taking a fiber supplement, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist to review your medications. Fiber supplements can decrease the absorption of certain medications, including drugs that treat thyroid disorders, depression, diabetes, high cholesterol, seizures and various heart ailments. Even common medications such as aspirin, ibuprofen and penicillin can be affected by an increase in fiber. To minimize the interaction, take your medications one hour before or two hours after eating fiber. Some fiber supplements may not be appropriate for people with certain medical conditions. For example, if you have celiac disease, you may need to stay away from fiber products derived from wheat. If you have diabetes, you may need to use a flavorless formula to avoid extra sugar. Consult your healthcare provider for guidance about the appropriate fiber supplement. Go slow as you begin fiber therapy. Fiber supplements may cause abdominal

bloating, cramping and flatulence, especially if you start at a high dose. Begin with a low dose, gradually increasing the amount of fiber. Don’t add more than 50 grams of fiber in a supplement per day, as that may affect how your body absorbs nutrients. Your healthcare provider can help determine what’s right for you. Drinking plenty of water and exercising regularly can help ease constipation, too. You also may want to consider nonfiber products for the condidion — such as stool softeners, stimulant medications that cause your intestines to contract, enemas

or suppositories. If increasing fiber doesn’t improve your symptoms, see your healthcare provider. Constipation can be a symptom of various underlying medical disorders — such as pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, slow gastrointestinal motility, anatomical abnormalities or endocrine dysfunction — that may require different treatment. — Yan Bi, M.D., Ph.D., Gastroenterology, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla. © 2019 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Charita Brown From page 1 abuse treatment if needed, and hospitalization if one is behaving dangerously, feels suicidal or becomes detached from reality. Brown said she has been in remission and recovery for 25 years with the aid of medication, counseling, and learning what she needs to do to keep her illness in check. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t drink, I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stay up late, I do deep breathing exercises, I meditate, I pray, I do my best to manage stress, and I have friends and family members who can recognize if my mood starts to change,â&#x20AC;? she said. She has also learned that thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no shame in putting herself first. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If I need to lie down and rest, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what I do. If I already have enough scheduled for one day,

I say no to doing anything else, without feeling I need to offer a reason. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve learned that â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;noâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is a complete sentence.â&#x20AC;? The title of her book was inspired by a quote from Norman Cousins, author of Anatomy of an Illness, who wrote, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t deny the diagnosis, defy the verdict.â&#x20AC;? Though Brown herself hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t denied her diagnosis, once when she was hospitalized a psychiatrist tried to change her diagnosis to schizophrenia. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe that African Americans were intelligent enough to have bipolar disorder,â&#x20AC;? she said, adding that subsequent generations of medical students are being trained to understand cultural norms and not put patients in a â&#x20AC;&#x153;box.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The medical community is trying to do better,â&#x20AC;? said Brown, â&#x20AC;&#x153;but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still a long way to go. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important for psychiatrists

MARCH 2019 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; BALTIMORE BEACON

and therapists to know who their patients are, and not just from a medical standpoint.â&#x20AC;?

Need for more diversity Brown observed that when she speaks to medical audiences, sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all too aware of the need for more clinicians of color â&#x20AC;&#x201D; not just African Americans but Asians and Hispanics as well. Brown also hopes that her book and her advocacy work will educate people about who can have mental illness. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not just the guy who shoots people in a movie theater or a school,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It can be a creative, articulate, intelligent African American woman â&#x20AC;&#x201D; like I am. I am not an anomaly.â&#x20AC;? While writing the book, Brown read numerous memoirs, many of them about bipolar disorder. All but two of them, she noted, were written by Caucasian women. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s another reason she wrote the

book â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to share her story so that other women, and women of color in particular, will know that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not alone. Despite living with a mental illness, Brown said she considers herself a â&#x20AC;&#x153;positiveâ&#x20AC;? person who doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t live her life â&#x20AC;&#x153;waiting for the other shoe to drop.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;As long as Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m in touch with my illness, I expect to be healthy,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I never lose the understanding that I might have lived my life with a custodian and not had the life Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had for the past 25 years. My life is a gift.â&#x20AC;? Brown will be appearing at the Central Branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral St., as part of the Writers Live series on March 26, at 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.calendar.prattlibrary.org or call (410) 396-5430. Her book will be available for purchase. It is also available at Barnes and Noble, the Ivy Bookshop, and on Amazon.com.

BEACON BITS

Mar. 12+

GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP Valley Presbyterian Church, 2200 W. Joppa Rd., will host a free,

nondenominational grief support program meeting on Tuesdays, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., March 12 - June 11. Each session will cover a different topic; participants can join at any time. Registration preferred. Contact the church at (410) 828-6234, or send an e-mail to mjensen@valleypca.org. Visit www.griefshare.org for more information and other group locations and schedules.

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BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2019

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

Maintain and improve your voice as you age By Howard LeWine, M.D. Q. My voice has become less forceful and raspy as I get older. Is there anything I can do to improve it? A: It’s a common condition, known as presbylaryngis, or aging of the larynx. The result is often a raspy, hoarse tone. Our vocal cords are folds composed of muscles surrounded by softer membranous tissues. Over the years, the vocal cords can lose strength, elasticity and structure. These changes in the vocal cords may allow too much air to escape between them, which can cause your voice to be breathy and weak. Certain habits also can affect how you speak. For instance, you can irritate your vocal folds if you constantly clear your throat while speaking. A dry throat and irritation are often the main triggers for chronic throat clearing.

But people get in the habit of doing this whenever they speak even when they don’t need to. You can’t turn back the clock so your voice sounds like it did when you were 30. But you can maintain and even improve how your voice sounds now. Here are some steps you can take to help strengthen and protect your voice. Give your voice a rest when needed. Your voice needs rest when it becomes fatigued, just like your body does. If you feel voice fatigue or have throat discomfort when talking for long periods, rest your voice for several minutes every hour. Also try not to yell or raise your voice, and avoid talking over background noise, like the TV. Stay hydrated. The vocal folds depend on a thin layer of fluid to cushion them during speech, so it’s important to drink enough water to stay well hydrated. This is

BEACON BITS

Feb. 26

POISON CONTROL FACTS

Learn about the many functions of the Poison Control Center and how they serve and educate the community by promoting poison prevention. The class will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 26 from 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. at Pikesville Senior Center, 1301 Reisterstown Rd., Pikesville. For more information, call (410) 887-1245

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especially helpful if you battle constant throat clearing. Inhale steam. A hot shower or steam inhaler can help clear any allergens from your nose and throat. This provides shortterm hydration while helping to capture and clear irritants in your upper airway that could be affecting your voice. Consider whether acid reflux may be affecting your voice. Stomach acid that backs up into the throat can irritate the vocal folds and cause them to swell.

Most often people with acid reflux have symptoms like heartburn and an acid taste in the mouth. But you may not experience these, so may not know you have reflux. If hoarseness or other voice changes have just happened recently, don’t just attribute them to age. You should contact your doctor to have a throat exam, especially if you have been a smoker. © 2019 President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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MARCH 2019 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Friends closer than sisters — and not Dear Solutions: and cry together. That’s what friends do. My sister’s friend died recently. My Let go of your resentment. Tell your sissister, who considered this ter that you understand her person her best friend, grief and you’re there for her can’t seem to get over it. whenever she needs you. She says she has no one to Dear Solutions: really talk to anymore. I have different kinds of I thought we were always friends, and one of them close, and I feel a little inwhom I love dearly is loud sulted. I told her she still and not too “cultured or has me to talk to, and she refined,” but good-hearted just said it’s not the same. and loads of fun. I thought a sister is closer One of my old friends SOLUTIONS than a friend. from school days told me reI would like to under- By Helen Oxenberg, cently that I should be stand her attitude better, MSW, ACSW aware that people will judge and I would like to comfort me as being the same as her her without resenting it. How can she if I keep being friends with her. “You feel closer to a friend than to a sister? know,” she said with a very smug look, — The Sister “birds of a feather…” Dear Sister: I’m having a party and I was planWell, for one thing, she could talk about ning to invite both of these friends. you to a friend! If she talked about you to Should I tell them they’re both invited? you, there might be all kinds of sibling — Rhoda “stuff” to deal with. Dear Rhoda: The real difference is that a close friend is You’re your own bird. Don’t worry one step outside the emotional circle of fam- about being judged the same as your ily and can therefore be neutral territory. “loud” friend — or the same as your Close friends can share the stories of “smug” friend, for that matter. their lives without feeling they’re betrayWhen birds of a feather “flock together,” ing anyone. They can look for and hope for they can be pretty boring because they’re honest reactions. They can laugh together all the same. A different feather enlivens

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the scene. Invite them both without any apologies or request for permission. If your smug friend doesn’t like it, open the window so she can fly away. Dear Solutions: I’ve been going out with a man whose wife died a couple of years ago. He’s very interested in me, and although I like him a lot, I’m not sure enough to make any promises. Now he wants to give me a ring that belonged to his wife. It’s the style that used to be called a “cocktail ring,” and it’s very pretty. I don’t feel comfortable wearing a ring that belonged to his wife and I told him that. I don’t really want any jewelry from him, but he insists that he wants to buy me something and asks me to tell him what I want most right now. I’m just furnishing my new apartment, and what I really would like him to buy me is a cocktail table for in front of my couch. Do you think it’s wrong for me to ask for that since he seems to want to get me a ring? — Elly Dear Elly: It’s going to be hard to fit a cocktail table on your finger instead of that cocktail ring, but go ahead and try. Take him at his word. He asked you to tell him what you want most right now, so tell him. Don’t accept his wife’s jewelry now or in the future. It will just link you and him to his past when what you both need to think

about is your future. Perhaps he should table the ring — or sell it and put the money toward your present. Anyway, happy cocktails, whatever form they may take. Dear Solutions: My husband talks in his sleep. He falls asleep much faster than I do, and he starts talking just as I’m getting into sleep. It wakes me up immediately and keeps me from going back to sleep. Since he doesn’t talk ver y much during the day, I’d like to hear what he says, but it’s never clear. How can I stop him? — Mollie Dear Mollie: The trouble is not that he’s talking in his sleep. The trouble is that he’s talking in your sleep! Just as with a snorer, the problem is that it keeps you from really falling into a deep sleep. Work it out so that you will go to sleep before he even gets into bed because it’s most disturbing when you’re trying to go to sleep. Once you’re asleep, you probably won’t hear him. Or you could try wearing earplugs. Anyway, don’t bother trying to hear what he’s saying. You’d have to get into his dream to understand that. © Helen Oxenberg, 2019. Questions to be considered for this column may be sent to: The Beacon, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915. You may also email the author at helox72@comcast.net. To inquire about reprint rights, call (609) 655-3684.

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BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2019

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

Supermarket shortcuts for easier dinners By Katie Workman Cooking for one (or two) can be a chore, especially if you want to have something different every night. So here are a few food shopping hacks that can significantly cut your prep and cooking time, and get you to a nice, easy dinner faster. Make the salad bar your sous chef. Walk on over to that salad bar and take a good look at it from an ingredient perspective. So many prepped foods to choose from! Sliced peppers, diced onions, cubed zucchini, shredded chicken, cooked beans, washed baby spinach leaves, broccoli florets, a bounty of prepped items, all ready to turn into a stir fry, vegetable lasagna, frittata, soup — and sure, maybe even a salad. And the nice thing is, you can buy exactly how much of each item you want. Explore other precut, washed or prepped produce. Next to the whole fruits and vegetables you can find a section of other prepared produce, usually uncooked. Shredded carrots, spiralized sweet potatoes, peeled garlic, shelled peas, bags of washed salad let-

tuces, and so on. I know I’m not alone when I say that peeling, seeding and cubing a winter squash at the end of a busy day can feel like a real obstacle to dinner. But a container of peeled, cubed squash is a game changer. Rotisserie chicken – best dinner saver ever. Cold, warm right out of the container, or reheated, there are few supermarket gifts as happy-making as a rotisserie chicken. Add a salad and something starchy and you are done. Or shred up that meat and you have a springboard for numerous other dinners: chicken salad, quesadillas, enchiladas and burritos, soups, stir fries, casseroles. I buy a rotisserie chicken often because I know that it will get me to some chicken dinner in the coming days, and usually a different one every week. Stock up. Once a month, do a little inventory of your most-used ingredients and make sure you’ve got a good stash of all of them — pasta, beans, rice, broth, canned tomatoes,

and fridge staples like eggs and grated cheese. Having a full inventory saves you lastminute dashes to the market. Bonus points if you can stock up when these items are on sale. Buy bulk. Buying in the bulk-food aisle definitely saves money, and offers you some nice whole-food choices. But it can also save you time once you get it home. Decant all of your bulk items — quinoa, lentils, rice, oatmeal — into containers, preferably clear ones, and label them. Organize them by category in your cabinets or pantry closet — for example, whole grains, cereals, baking ingredients.

Then when you are ready for them, there they will be, easy to find and easy to access. It’s also easy to see when you are running low on any of them. Don’t underestimate the freezer aisle. There are so many ingredients and meal components in the freezer aisle that can help you get dinner on the table faster. Frozen vegetables are of really high quality, often quite economical, and cook up super quickly. Some more ideas: Frozen fruits make quick smoothies. Frozen hash browns aren’t just good with eggs but also as a potpie topping. And frozen shrimp and fish cook up in a flash. — AP

BEACON BITS

Feb. 22+

STARGAZING AT CCBC DUNDALK Bring your family, friends and your telescope (telescopes also avail-

able to use onsite) to observe the heavens at Twilight Star Parties at CCBC’s Dundalk campus observatory, 7200 Sollers Point Rd. Observe the solar system through the Dundalk Observatory’s high-powered 14-inch telescope and learn about celestial bodies from CCBC astronomy faculty. The next event will be Feb. 22 from 7 to 8 p.m. Upcoming events will be on March 8 and 22. All are free and open to the public. No reservations required. In case of inclement weather, call (443) 840-3486 for an updated voicemail no earlier than 45 minutes before show time.

What you need to know about medical cannabis Join Brian Sanderoﬀ, Clinical Director & GM, Curio Wellness for:

Medical Cannabis 101 2/20, 3/20 and 4/17 6:30–8:00 p.m. Call 443-484-8600 to sign up for the FREE CLASS or to schedule an appointment to meet personally with Brian.

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2060A York Road, Timonium 443-484-8600 | curiowellness.com Monday – Saturday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

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Health Studies Page

MARCH 2019 — BALTIMORE BEACON

THE PLACE TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION ON AREA CLINICAL TRIALS

Psoriatic arthritis patients sought for study By Carol Sorgen Johns Hopkins University is currently recruiting approximately 200 patients for an observational study of how well treatment goals are met in psoriatic arthritis. Psoriatic arthritis is an autoimmune disease that occurs in one in three people who have already been diagnosed with psoriasis. Psoriasis is a common skin condition that speeds up the life cycle of skin cells, causing cells to build up rapidly on the surface of the skin. These extra skin cells form scales and red patches that are itchy and sometimes

painful. Psoriasis is a chronic disease that often comes and goes but can’t be cured. Psoriatic arthritis, a complication of psoriasis, can cause inflammation of the joints, tendons and ligaments, as well as swelling of an entire finger or toe (known as sausage digits), and spondyloarthritis (spinal inflammation). Because the condition affects both the skin and the musculoskeletal system and can cause uncomfortable, painful symptoms, it can have a significant negative impact on a patient’s life. Medications that are traditionally used

BEACON BITS

Mar. 17

SPACE SPEECH

Jeff Goldstein, PhD, director of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE), will speak on “Human Exploration — Celebrating the Past, Embracing the Present, and Inspiring the Future” on Sunday, March 17, at 9:30 a.m., at a breakfast event sponsored by the Brotherhood Breakfast Series of Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, 7401 Park Heights Ave. The event is free for Brotherhood members and $10 for nonmembers. All are welcome. For more information or to register, call Sid Bravmann at (410) 952-6352 or visit www.baltimorehebrew.org/breakfast.

to treat psoriatic arthritis can have variable effects, with some being more effective for skin issues and others more effective for the joints. Because of this, the care and treatment of psoriatic arthritis is complex. Doctors must balance the disease with the risks and benefits of medication, as well as the patient’s priorities.

From a patient’s perspective The chief goal of treatment is remission of the disease or reduced disease activity. In previous studies, researchers have reported that physicians tend to overestimate remission and lowered disease activity in patients with psoriatic arthritis. In addition, patients and physicians frequently are not of the same mind when it comes to what signifies remission or minimal disease. In the Hopkins study, the investigators want to identify the predictors of successful treatment from a patient’s perspective on a range of measures, including psoriasis, arthritis and inflammation, as well as patient-reported outcomes and laboratory results from tests that are routinely collect-

ed in the care of the disease. Researchers also want to find a way to quantify treatment success from a patient’s perspective, and to create a way to measure health-related quality of life that corresponds to treatment success from the patient’s (not the doctor’s) perspective. Investigators hope that this research will enable them to better predict the success of treatment from a patient’s perspective, which will then be applied to goals of care for psoriatic arthritis. The study is looking for a wide range of participants, from ages 18 to 95, who have been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. They must be patients at the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center and/or the Johns Hopkins Psoriatic Arthritis Clinical Program. Study participants will use a touch screen computer to record symptoms and progress, starting three to four months after enrolling in the year-long study. Patients will be followed every three to four months for regular rheumatologic care. To learn more about the study, contact Michelle K. Jones at (410) 550-9674 or mrkjones@jhmi.edu.

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2019

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Fitness & Health

Concerns rise over medical device problems By Meghan Hoyer As better tracking finally becomes available for medical devices, patients are experiencing a number of problems related to a range of devices.

Spinal-cord stimulators For years, medical device companies and doctors have touted spinal-cord stimulators as a panacea for millions of patients suffering from a wide range of pain disorders, making them one of the fastest-growing products in the $400 billion medical device industry. Companies and doctors aggressively push them as a safe antidote to the deadly opioid crisis in the U.S., and as a treatment for an aging population in need of chronic pain relief. But the stimulators — devices that use electrical currents to block pain signals before they reach the brain — are more dangerous than many patients know, an Associated Press investigation found. They account for the third-highest number of medical device injury reports to the FDA, with more than 80,000 incidents flagged since 2008. Patients report that they have been shocked or burned, or have suffered spinalcord nerve damage ranging from muscle weakness to paraplegia, FDA data shows.

Breast implants To all the world, it looked like breast implants were safe. From 2008 to 2015, the FDA publicly reported 200 or so complaints annually — a tiny fraction of the hundreds of thousands of implant surgeries performed each year. Then last fall, something strange happened: Thousands of problems with breast implants flooded the FDA’s system. More than 4,000 injury reports were filed in the

last half of 2017. Another 8,000 in the first six months of 2018. Why had it taken so long for complaints to see the light of day? Makers of breast implants were required to track patients and their health. But for more than a decade, manufacturers with high numbers of recurring problems — in the case of implants, ruptures that required surgery to remove — were allowed to report issues in bulk, with one report standing in for thousands of individual cases, and no way for the public to discern the true volume of incidents. That agreement stood even as the FDA began closely monitoring a rare type of cancer, and acknowledged in 2011 that it might be linked to breast implants.

Insulin pumps When it comes to medical devices, none have had more reported problems over the last decade than insulin pumps, a product that’s used by hundreds of thousands of diabetics around the world, many of them children. Collectively, insulin pumps and their components are responsible for the highest overall number of malfunction, injury and death reports in the FDA’s medical device database, according to an Associated Press analysis of reports since 2008. In terms of injuries alone, insulin pumps were second only to metal hip replacements, whose problems with metal shavings in the body causing damage to bone and tissue and other issues, have been well-documented and widely reported. By contrast, problems with insulin pumps largely have flown under the radar. Medical device companies and many experts say insulin pumps are safe devices that can help diabetics lead more normal lives.

They blame user error for most reported problems, noting that the pumps are complicated devices requiring special training for patients.

For more stories on these issues and others related to implanted medical devices, see the links at the bottom of this article on the Beacon’s website. — AP

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MARCH 2019 — BALTIMORE BEACON

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BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2019

Say you saw it in the Beacon

Money Law &

POT STOCKS TOO HIGH? Eager investors have inflated cannabis stock prices; there may be potential, but don’t be in a rush to buy HANDLING VOLATILITY Spooked by the market? Time to sell some stock holdings and rebalance RULES OF THE ROAD Follow this checklist for research and dealmaking when buying a car

Social Security calling? It’s likely a scam For the past few years, the media have ously complicate their lives. widely reported on scammers who call unNew scam techniques suspecting victims pretending Unfortunately, these scamto be representatives of the mers are becoming more soIRS. They claim the potential phisticated in their techvictim owes money and enniques. For example, they are courage them to make paynow using robo-call systems ments using credit cards, that allow them to make mildebit cards or even gift cards. lions of calls and repeat calls Amazingly, thousands of until they receive a positive people have fallen for the response. scam and have collectively The scammers falsely yet lost tens of millions of dollars. convincingly make it look like As articles and columns un- THE SAVINGS they’re calling from a legitifailingly point out, this is not GAME mate 800 number associated how government agencies col- By Elliot Raphaelson with SSA (specifically 1-800lect debts. The IRS will not call you to collect a debt, and it certainly will 772-1213). One of their demands is that the potential not recommend payment via gift card! Now it seems the fraudsters have a new victim makes a payment over the phone in wrinkle: impersonating a representative from order to obtain a new Medicare card. While new Medicare cards are being issued, they the Social Security Administration (SSA). AARP has warned of a dramatic increase are absolutely free. So if any caller claiming in complaints from individuals complaining to be a government agent asks you for any about callers purporting to be from the payment in order to receive a new Medicare SSA. As with the IRS scam, the SSA imper- card, you know you are dealing with a scamsonation scam gains its effectiveness from mer. Other ploys include indicating that you the simple fact that people fear getting on the bad side of SSA, as doing so could seri- are in danger of losing some benefits un-

less you provide some personal information. Again, this is a sure sign that you are the subject of a scam. Sometimes the scammer will claim that if you provide personal information, you may be eligible for a larger Social Security benefit, or that you are being called because SSA computers are down and your personal information has been lost. A reliable sign that the call is a scam is if the caller threatens that your benefits will be terminated or reduced if you don’t comply with his or her demand for a fee or personal information. In another variant on the scam you may receive an automated recording indicating that your Social Security number has been suspended because of illegal activity. You are then provided with a phone number to call to fix the problem and told that if you don’t call to fix the problem, your assets will be frozen. Once you call the number, you will be asked to provide personal information, exposing yourself to identity theft.

Report calls to the SSA If you believe you have received a fraudulent call, report the details of the call to the fraud hotline of the SSA inspector gen-

eral of Social Security at 1-800-269-0271 or online at oig.ssa.gov/report. Also notify any seniors you know who might be gullible to be on the lookout from scammers claiming to be SSA representatives. It is possible that the SSA could discover it has overpaid you for some reason and will demand you repay the overage. In that case SSA will contact you by mail, not by phone. If this happens, insist on a clear explanation as to why you were overpaid. You have the right to appeal such a request by filing Form SSA-561, Request for Reconsideration. If you agree you have been overpaid but you believe you did not cause the overpayment and you can’t afford the terms of repayment, file Form SSA-632, Request for Waiver of Overpayment or Change in Repayment Rate. By filing this form, you are asking SSA to reconsider their decision and either let you pay back the amount at a different rate than SSA requested or waive the request for overpayment. Elliot Raphaelson welcomes your questions and comments at raphelliot@gmail.com. © 2019 Elliot Raphaelson. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

When stocks dip, is that the time to buy? By James K. Glassman Around the beginning of 2018, the volatility of the stock market suddenly picked up. It was a worrying development for most investors, who prefer a smooth ride to a turbulent one. But volatility is a necessary condition if you want to deploy a strategy known as buying the dips, or BTD. The idea is to purchase stocks when they have dropped sharply, anticipating that they will bounce back. The BTD strategy requires some courage, but it seems to work. In a recent paper, Vivian Ning, of investment research firm S&P Global, looked at every stock in the Russell 1000 index that fell at least 10 percent more than that index on a single day. In other words, if the Russell (roughly the 1,000 largest U.S. companies) fell 1.5 percent, the stock would have to have dropped 11.5 percent or more to be counted. Then Ning looked at the subsequent per-

formance of those dipping stocks — again in comparison with the Russell 1000 as a whole. What she found was striking. The BTD strategy “significantly outperforms” the index. Had you bought the fallen stocks, you would have beaten the Russell 1000 by an average of 0.47 percent the next day, by 4.8 percent over 30 days, and by an incredible 28 percent over 240 days. What’s more, these BTD opportunities for individual stocks are more common than you might think, typically occurring about 200 to 300 times a year for a group of 1,000 companies. But don’t get carried away. Ning’s study included about 4,000 instances of 10 percent-plus declines in two years, both during a brutal bear market: 2008 and 2009. Her results may tell us more about the recovery of the market as a whole from the Great Recession (and confirming the simple strategy of maintaining your portfolio

in tough times) than about a BTD strategy for picking individual stocks. Also, as Ning describes it, BTD is a strategy for traders, not long-term investors. Immediately jumping to buy a fallen stock — or several — in a single day is impractical.

A strategy for buy-and-holders Rather than a mechanical strategy, I think of BTD as a sound idea to keep in mind as you apply a broad, buy-and-hold approach to investing. The best way to make money in the stock market is to purchase excellent companies and keep them as long as possible. Sell only if you need to cash out for a pressing need — such as a home purchase, tuition payment or retirement — or if you believe something important has changed about the company — new leadership that is inferior to the old, for example, or a fierce new competitor that drives down prices, or changing con-

sumer tastes that management can’t adapt to. When you buy a stock, you should think of yourself as a partner in a business. Every day, as Warren Buffett’s mentor Benjamin Graham put it, a character named Mr. Market offers to sell you shares in that business at a particular price. Wouldn’t you rather pay a low price than a high one for the shares? If you take the long view and you believe in the company, then you should love a low price. Of course, Mr. Market often offers a low price as a signal that something terrible and irreparable has happened to the business. Take General Electric (symbol GE), for example. At the start of 2017, it was trading at about $32 a share. By January 2018, it had fallen by half. But if you had bought on that dip, you would have suffered a big loss. Rather than bouncing back, GE fell below See BUY THE DIP, page 18

Law & Money | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Buy the dip From page 17 $8 by early December. The decline brings to mind another Wall Street cliché: don’t try to catch a falling knife. Ouch! General Electric’s price has declined for good reasons. It is not the same company in the same environment as it was in 2000, when Jack Welch was CEO and the stock traded at $58. Buying the dips is not a surefire route to success, but you can still exploit its two underlying principles: Mr. Market often goes too far in his pessimism, and good business-

es frequently overcome setbacks. If you love a company and you think nothing serious has gone wrong, then consider a stock decline to be a fabulous buying opportunity.

Some good examples If 3M (MMM, $196, -21.5 percent off peak) was a good buy at $259 in January 2018, why isn’t it better when it’s $63 cheaper? It’s a solidly profitable industrial company with a history of rebounding when shares drop. ValueLine Investment Survey gives 3M a top rating of 100 for both earnings predictability and price stability, so capitalize on those rare dips. (Prices are as of Jan. 18, 2019; the percentage

MARCH 2019 — BALTIMORE BEACON

is how far it’s fallen from its 52-week high.) An example of BTD working well is Netflix (NFLX, $271, -35.6 percent), the leader in video streaming. Periodically, investors sour on the stock, presenting excellent buying opportunities. In July 2011, for example, Netflix was trading at $43; four months later, it was down to $9. It took two years to get back to $38, but by December 2, 2015, Mr. Market was demanding $131 for a share. Two months later, the price had dropped to $80. By July 2018, Netflix was trading at $419, but it has since fallen by more than one-third. Is now the time to buy? I think so, since Netflix is a strong company with a great future. If you want to add to your holdings, the best time is when the stock has fallen sharply.

Good stocks, flagging industries I don’t consider a dip worth buying until the price decline in a stock reaches 20 percent or more (the threshold that typically defines a bear market). Such fallen companies abound. Two of my favorites are Schlumberger (SLB, $45, -38.3 percent), the oil-service giant, which has dropped sharply over the past four years, and NVR (NVR, $2,490, 33.2 percent), a well-run homebuilder that never seemed to fall in price until 2018, when it declined by more than one-third from January 2018 through this January. These companies are suffering because their industries are languishing. Energy prices and demand for homes could certainly decline even more. But both sectors are cyclical, and when good times return, you’ll want to own the best of the breed in your portfolio. Tech stocks have also been hammered lately. Apple (AAPL, $157 -29.1 percent) presents an excellent BTD opportunity. So does Symantec (SYMC, $20, -35.1 percent), the cybersecurity company, with a price-earnings ratio, based on the consensus of analysts’ estimates for the next 12 months, of just 13. The shares are down by

one-third since October 2017. Also tempting is International Business Machines (IBM, $124, -25.7 percent), which has fallen from $167 a share in January 2018. Big Blue carries a dividend yield of 5.3 percent. Unfortunately, the best of the tech stocks — Amazon.com (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOGL) — are not down far enough from their highs, at least for now. Keep an eye on them, and consider buying if they fall more sharply. However, I would stay away from Facebook (FB), whose management seems unable to cope with troubles involving user privacy and the spread of “fake news.” The best way to take advantage of the BTD strategy is through the simple process of dollar-cost averaging. Make monthly or quarterly purchases of the stocks and funds in your portfolio in consistent dollar amounts. If prices decline, you get to buy more shares. You already do this if you contribute automatically to a 401(k) plan, for example. Or you could instruct your broker to buy $1,000 worth of a stock every three months. In January, if the stock is $100 a share, you can afford to purchase 10 shares. If the stock drops to $80 in April, you can afford 12.5 shares. In the end, that’s the advantage of BTD. It helps turn the basic emotions of investing upside down, making fear your ally. If you are holding stock in a good business for the long term, lower prices help you grab as many shares as you can at bargain prices. Down can be a happy direction. James K. Glassman chairs Glassman Advisory, a public-affairs consulting firm. He does not write about his clients. Of the stocks recommended in this column, he owns Amazon.com. His most recent book is Safety Net: The Strategy for De-Risking Your Investments in a Time of Turbulence. © 2019 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

BEACON BITS

Mar. 20

UNITED SENIORS OF MARYLAND LEGISLATIVE FORUM

The United Seniors of Maryland Legislative Forum will be held on Wednesday, Mar. 20, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Miller Senate West Wing in Annapolis. Cost is $15 per person, which includes USM membership and food. To register, email Elizabeth Weglein at ew@elizabethcooneyagency.com or call (410) 608-7966.

Ongoing Ongoing

LEGAL SERVICES FOR THE ELDERLY The Bar Association of Baltimore City provides free legal services to eligible older adults. For more information, call (410) 3961322.

BALTIMORE CITY SENIOR CENTERS

Fourteen Senior Centers are located in Baltimore City and offer a wide range of services, programs and activities that help meet the social, physical and intellectual needs of older adults. For a complete listing, visit http://health.baltimorecity.gov/seniors/senior-centers or call (410) 396-3835.

Feb. 27

RESOURCES FOR CAREGIVERS

There will be an opportunity for caregivers to network, explore resource options and learn about better strategies in caring for older adult relatives during a program at the Bykota Senior Center on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 1 p.m. The senior center is located at 611 Central Ave., Towson. For more information, call (410) 887-3094

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2019

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money

More investors buying cannabis stocks By Ryan Ermey The movement toward legalized marijuana use in North America is gaining ground. Last November’s midterm elections saw Missouri and Utah join 31 other U.S. states where medical marijuana is legal. Michigan voters made their state one of 10 (plus the District of Columbia) where recreational use isn’t a criminal offense. Canada recently became the first industrialized nation to legalize recreational marijuana use nationwide. The prospect of continuing momentum has investors seeing green in more ways than one, but those who have been riding the green wave thus far have had a wild run. In advance of Canada’s October legalization, Canadian cannabis stocks soared. Canadian pot firm Tilray was trading in the low to mid $20s for much of August before the share price spiked to an intraday high of $300 in September. The shares have since receded dramatically, trading at $77 in mid-January. Shares in other major Canadian growers and distributors, such as Canopy Growth and Aurora Cannabis, followed a similar, if less extreme, trajectory: a huge run-up prior to legalization followed by a pullback due to concerns over industry-wide supply shortages. Despite the volatility, some intrepid investors (and some blue-chip companies) are entering the fray. If you are considering cannabis stocks, here’s what you need to know. What’s the appeal? Analysts at the Arcview Group, a cannabisfocused investment and research firm, estimate worldwide legal cannabis spending will reach $32 billion by the end of 2022, up from an estimated $12.9 billion in 2018. Firms such as Aphria, Aurora Cannabis, Canopy Growth, Cronos Group and Tilray have been able to gobble up the majority of supply agreements that allow companies

to sell recreational weed in Canada, said Vivien Azer, an analyst at investment firm Cowen, and are likely to be first-movers when it comes to expanding into international markets. Major firms are showing interest. In December, tobacco giant Altria announced plans to pay $1.8 billion for a 45 percent stake in Cronos Group. In August, beer, wine and liquor producer Constellation Brands invested $4 billion in Canopy Growth, upping its stake in the cannabis firm from 9.9 percent to 38 percent. Should I invest in cannabis stocks now? Probably not — it’s still too early. Even the more established players in the cannabis business are going through growing pains. Although nearly all Canadian growers are reporting massive spikes in revenues following legalization, most project little to no earnings in addition to operating losses as they pump money back into expanding their businesses. The supply shortage following legalization is just one of many hurdles these firms face, said Jason Wilson, president of investment firm Budding Equity. “Postprohibition, it remains to be seen which companies will be able to execute on all these different levels — from marketing to supply chain to branding,” he said. Plus, legal cannabis businesses compete not only with each other, but also with longestablished black markets, said Charles Feldmann, an attorney whose practice assists medical marijuana business clients. And “black-market distributors don’t have to pay lawyers or accountants or banks or taxes,” he said. With the industry still in its early stages, trying to pick a winner is like playing the lottery, Feldmann said. “If you’re consider-

ing investing in pot stocks, it has to be with money you have no problem losing.” What makes these stocks particularly risky? Even after pulling back, prominent pot stocks are trading at nosebleed levels. A basket of cannabis stocks tracked by analysts at Wells Fargo trades at an average price that’s 22 times projected 2019 sales (not earnings; sales). Remember: There are no earnings to speak of. The average price-to-sales ratio for the S&P 500 is 1.9. Increased volatility stems in part from the fact that pot stocks are owned mostly by individual investors who are often more likely to react to headlines than are institutional shareholders. If I still want to invest in such stocks, where can I do it? Canadian cannabis firms can list on U.S. exchanges and trade just like any other stock, as long as they don’t have business operations in the U.S. Only a few have opted to do so, so far. You’ll find a handful of cannabis-based biotech firms, both domestic and internationally based, listed on U.S. exchanges as well. Some Canadian firms that haven’t listed stateside trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and may be available to trade via your online broker. Because marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug, it’s still federally illegal in the U.S., and American firms can’t list on U.S. exchanges or in Toronto. But these stocks, along with smaller Canadian names, trade on minor Canadian exchanges or on overthe-counter markets. Most are penny stocks that don’t have to adhere to the reporting requirements of major exchanges and should probably be avoided. If you must speculate, consider a diversified approach. The ETFMG Alternative

Harvest ETF (symbol MJ, $31) holds nearly 40 stocks — mostly cannabis producers, but also makers of fertilizers, pesticides and growing equipment, as well as tobacco firms. Are there other ways to invest in the green wave? The partnership of Constellation Brands (STZ, $164) with Canopy Growth represents an intriguing opportunity, said Azer. Constellation, known for brands such as Corona beer, Black Box wine and Svedka vodka, eventually plans to produce cannabis-infused beverages and sleep aids. Canopy’s revenues are currently a drop in the bucket at Constellation, so investors bullish on cannabis shouldn’t buy for that reason alone. Nevertheless, the firm is worth considering on the strength of its alcohol business, buoyed by strong demand for its lineup of craft and imported beers. “Constellation is a best-in-class beer stock with a free cannabis option,” said Azer. Biotech firms might be another way to play cannabis. In June, the Food and Drug Administration announced its first approval of a marijuana-derived drug, Epidiolex, a treatment from GW Pharmaceuticals (GWPH, $137) for rare forms of epilepsy. Although there is huge potential for growth in this field, said Arcview CEO Troy Dayton, it remains to be seen what kind of market exists for these treatments and how willing doctors will be to prescribe them. Analysts at investment research firm Stifel assign a “buy” rating to Cambridge, England-based GW Pharmaceuticals, which trades in the U.S. as an American depositary receipt. But the stock is a risky proposition given that the firm isn’t expected to produce See CANNABIS STOCKS, page 20

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MARCH 2019 — BALTIMORE BEACON

How to handle stock market’s volatility By Elliot Raphaelson It’s normal to worry about your portfolio when the stock and bond markets become volatile and when you see your portfolio fall significantly in value. It’s natural to wonder what to do, if anything, to protect your portfolio. The best general advice is to keep focused on long-term objectives. Ideally, you have structured your portfolio based on long-term objectives. If so, you probably don’t have to do anything drastic to modify your portfolio. If not, make some changes you can live with. Consider the following: Sell some of your stock holdings. The previous nine years have likely been good for your portfolio. If you have significant gains in the stock portion of your portfolio, and have not reduced your holdings, take some profits and reinvest conservatively, if only temporarily. For example, consider Treasury bills, money market instruments or short-term bond funds. Review your relative allocation of

stocks and bonds. If you are 15 or more years away from retirement, don’t be concerned about having too high a percentage of common stocks in your portfolio. However, the closer you get to retirement, the more you should increase the percentage of your portfolio in bonds. For example, prior to retirement, I often had 70 percent of my portfolio in stocks. However, as I approached retirement I gradually increased the size of my bond portfolio to 50 percent. In retirement, I have maintained a 50-50 ratio of stocks to bonds for approximately 20 years. Many retirees maintain a much higher percentage of bonds than 50 percent, which I believe is a mistake. There will always be some inflation, so it is necessary to maintain a significant portion of stocks in your portfolio during retirement both to protect you from inflation and because the expected lifespan for retirees is continually increasing. In the long run, you should still be investing in stocks even if there are periods

in which common stocks don’t do that well. Diversify your stock portfolio. Although I sometimes devote some of my portfolio to sectors I like, such as healthcare, I maintain the majority of my portfolio in diversified index mutual funds. There can be a great deal of volatility in individual sectors. If you invest disproportionately in one sector, you run the risk of deeper losses in your portfolio compared to the broader market. A good example is the technology sector in recent months. If you are the type of investor who looks at the value of your portfolio every day, you will sleep better at night if you maintain a diversified portfolio of index funds. Re-balance your portfolio at least once a year. I rebalance more often when there are significant changes in the value of my portfolio. For example, if my goal is to maintain a 50-50 ratio of stocks to bonds, then when my stocks reach 55 percent of the value of my portfolio, I sell the portion of my

stocks that have done the best. I then reallocate these funds to the bond portion of my portfolio. This approach provides more stability in your portfolio when there is a great deal of volatility. Hold the appropriate types of bonds. Bonds, overall, did poorly in 2018, primarily because the Federal Reserve continually raised interest rates. When the Fed does this, long-term bond holdings fall more in value than shorter-term holdings. It’s hard to predict future actions of the Fed. If you want to ensure that the bond portion of your portfolio is more stable, switch from long-term bond holdings into intermediate- and short-term bond holdings. Build liquidity. During periods of great volatility, if you can, increase the size of your emergency funds in liquid shortterm investments. You can always dollarcost-average back into the stock market later when volatility becomes tamer. © 2019 Elliot Raphaelson. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Cannabis stocks

What will it take for marijuana investing to take off in the U.S.? Nationwide legalization. The STATES Act, a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress in 2018, would repre-

sent the biggest step yet toward legalization, said Azer. The bill would grant each state the right to regulate the sale of marijuana within its own borders. Opinion among cannabis industry insiders

From page 19 positive earnings until 2020, according to Stifel’s estimates.

Say you saw it in the Beacon | Law & Money

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2019

Avoid costly mistakes when buying a car By Philip Reed In the excitement of buying a new (or used) car, it’s easy to forget critical details that wind up costing you money. I learned this over more than a decade of buying dozens of test cars for the automotive site Edmunds. No matter how much experience I got, I always consulted my car-buying checklist and updated it based on what I learned. Once you’ve decided on the type of car you want, the buying process can be divided into two sections: research and dealmaking. This breaks a seemingly overwhelming job into smaller, more doable tasks. Here is your car-buying checklist — the crucial steps to help you get the wheels you want at the right price.

Research These steps help you locate the specific vehicle you want to buy and strengthen your position when it’s time to negotiate. 1. Configure your car. Go to the carmaker’s website and decide which model (often called the “trim level”) you want and what options you need. 2. Check pricing. Using car sites like Edmunds, Kelley Blue Book or TrueCar, find the car’s real market value price, which is what others are paying for it. 3. Look for incentives. Check the carmaker’s site for incentives, such as customer cash back or low-interest financing, on the model you want. 4. Locate your car. Search the inventory of local dealerships to find the exact car you want to buy. Write down the stock number or vehicle identification number (VIN). 5. Check your credit. Your credit score will give you a sense of the interest rate you’re likely to get. This is especially important for borrowers with fair to poor credit (generally below 690), who may face higher rates. 6. Run the numbers. Use an auto loan calculator to estimate your monthly car payment to ensure that it fits your budget. For the car price, you can use the true market value. 7. Get preapproved financing. Apply for a car loan before going to the dealership so you’ll know your interest rate. You can still use dealership financing if they can beat the preapproval rate. 8. Round up your paperwork. You’ll need to bring the following to the dealership: • Preapproved loan information

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• Driver’s license • Proof of insurance • Funds for your down payment If you’re trading in your old car, you’ll also need the current title, registration and loan information.

Dealmaking If you hate haggling, consider emailing the dealership’s Internet manager for price quotes. But assuming you’re going old school and negotiating in person, here’s what to do: 1. Test-drive the car. Even if you’ve already decided on a car, test drive it again to verify your choice and confirm it has the options you selected. 2. Start the negotiation. Tell the salesperson you’ve shopped around and priced similar models. Then, ask for the dealership’s best price. If they won’t name

a price, make an opening offer at least $1,000 below the true market value price. 3. Send a message. If the salesperson says, “I’ll take your offer to my boss,” don’t wait meekly in the sales office. Instead, be unpredictable. Wander around the dealership. Believe me, they’ll find you in a hurry. 4. Make a counteroffer. If your first offer isn’t accepted, consider raising your price by $250 until you reach an agreement or the true market value price. 5. Get an out-the-door price. Before you agree to any deal, ask for an out-thedoor price with a breakdown of fees and any extras. 6. Be ready for upsells. Once you reach an agreement with your salesperson, the finance and insurance manager will draw up the contract. But first, you’ll be pitched extras, such as an extended

warranty, paint protection and anti-theft devices. Be ready to say “no” or buy these later. 7. Review your contract. Check the contract for any add-ons you didn’t ask for. Make sure the numbers match what you agreed to in the sales office and your own estimates. 8. Get it in writing. If anything is missing, like spare keys or an owner’s manual, or if any work is promised on the car, get it in writing. This is called a “due bill.” 9. Check the gas gauge. New cars are sold with a full tank of gas. Check the fuel level before you leave the lot. There are other ways to buy cars, but this checklist covers the most common dealership transaction. Keep it with you as protection — and a money-saver — the next time you go car shopping. — AP

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Say you saw it in the Beacon

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Leisure &

President Herbert Hoover and wife Lou enjoying their home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Learn about this and other Virginia presidential retreats on page 25.

Ride the rails through Canadian Rockies capped heads. Waterfalls cascade down mountainsides, rivers froth, pristine lakes shimmer in the sun, and fir-covered slopes plummet down to verdant meadows sprinkled with wildflowers.

“All aboard” to bagpipes

PHOTO COURTESY OF ROCKY MOUNTAINEER

Condé Nast Traveler named the Rocky Mountaineer one of the top five trains in the world. The service offers four routes through the Canadian Rockies in British Columbia and Alberta from mid-April to mid-October. The coaches have roomy seats with ample leg room and big windows for viewing. The train has wheelchair facilities for all services and wheelchair lifters at all stations. Breakfast, lunch, snacks and generous beverage service aboard the train are included in your ticket. Passengers spend nights in hotels, usually with time to explore the towns or take excursions. Some routes also include bus travel and additional sightseeing trips. “It’s a perfect way to see the Canadian Rockies without having to drive,” said Patricia McCarthy, a fellow tourist from Arlington, Va. “It’s an all-encompassing trip that captures the magnitude of what you’re seeing.” There are two levels of service — Silverleaf single-level dome coaches and Goldleaf bi-level dome coaches. The Goldleaf Service dome coaches are equipped with interior elevators. Usually, the train travels about 30 mph, a crawl in the railroad world, but a good pace for sightseeing. The Mountaineer slows down for some pre-determined sites and when the locomotive crew spots something exciting. Friendly guides the sights, explain The Rocky Mountaineer train passes by a snowy Stoney local history, geology, Creek in Alberta as it traverses the Canadian Rockies.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ROCKY MOUNTAINEER

By Glenda C. Booth In planning my “journey through the clouds” excursion last summer aboard Canada’s Rocky Mountaineer train, little did I realize the adventures ahead. After all, whizzing along on a train usually puts me to sleep. Not this train. By the end of my six-day excursion, I had walked on a glacier, helicoptered over the Rocky Mountains, and been dazzled by tumbling waterfalls, rushing rivers, soaring peaks, mountain goats, moose, loons, bald eagles and a grizzly with her cub. Just rolling through western Canada watching spectacular scenery unfold, mile after mile, is mesmerizing too. Despite the soothing rumble, you can’t snooze. If you nod off, you’ll be jolted by cries of “Moose, moose!” “Mountain goat!” and “Grizzly!” from fellow passengers. As you travel along through the vast, stunning landscape, the backdrop is one of majestic mountain peaks shrouded in clouds or projecting their bald or snow-

Excursions included with some Rocky Mountaineer train itineraries include adventurous side outings. Here, a group rafts on the Bow River to see native wildlife up close. Other options include walking on glaciers, helicoptering high over the snowy peaks, and an Alaskan cruise.

botany and other miscellany. “We are about the journey, not the destination,” one staffer said. On-board chefs say they can prepare meals without dropping dishes because they have “train legs.” Breakfast and lunch are varied, tasty and ample; British Columbia wines, plentiful. In the towns at dinner, you’ll likely find northwest salmon dishes and Canada’s favorite, poutine — fries and cheese curds smothered with gravy. When we set off from Vancouver, one of several departure points, a bagpiper played a send-off, and soon we were aboard savoring early-morning, nonalcoholic cocktails served by staff. The train snaked along the Fraser River through Hope (“Chainsaw Carving Capital of the World”), and soon to Hell’s Gate, the narrowest point on the Fraser River — where 750 million tons of whitewater rapids rush per minute, twice that of Niagara Falls. Next came the Jaws of Death gorge, more roaring rapids and gravelly slopes. We stopped off in the town of Kamloops, the Tournament Capital of Canada, known for its forestry, mining, paper manufacturing and cattle ranching. The Kamloops Mounted Patrol greets arriving guests. Kamloops’s Main Street is a 1950s throwback of mom-and-pop stores.

At the unusual First Nations cemetery, caretakers let the grass and sagebrush grow as nature intended. The area’s gray hills have made Kamloops a favorite spot for filming sci-fi shows like “The X-Files.”

On a gondola and a glacier The bus segment of this journey explores up to four world-renowned national parks, all connected to one another — Jasper, Banff, Yoho and Kootenay. In Jasper, guides tutored us on black and grizzly bears. For example: bears eat 150,000 buffalo berries a day, totaling 60,000 calories. The most common bear, they chuckle, is the “stump bear,” poking fun at overly-eager tourists who mistake a tree stump for one. And guides explained that bear spray is not a repellent. You spray it at the bear, not on yourself. Banff National Park in Alberta is Canada’s oldest national park, established in 1885 and now part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. In its 2,564 square miles of wilderness, visitors hike through oldgrowth forests amid roaring rivers, alpine meadows, pristine lakes and a bison herd. The Banff gondola lifts visitors 7,486 feet above sea level to Sulphur Mountain’s crest for 360-degree views of mountain See CANADIAN ROCKIES, page 24

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Canadian Rockies From page 23 after mountain, as far as you can see. One of the park’s most famous visitors was Marilyn Monroe, who injured her ankle while filming and recuperated for six days in the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel. Legend has it that the bellhops tossed a coin for the chance to push the blonde bombshell’s wheelchair. The scenic drive on Alberta’s Icefields Parkway, also known as the Promenade des Glaciers, is billed as one of the top ten drives in the world. It parallels the Continental Divide from Jasper to Lake Louise. The Athabasca River and many alpine lakes along the way are a milky turquoise because of rock flour — the fine silt suspended in the water that comes from glaciers grinding down the mountains.

The 125-square-mile Columbia Icefield feeds eight glaciers and several rivers with its meltwaters, and offers a once-in-lifetime — if a bit harrowing — experience. This massive ice sheet, formed during the Great Glaciation, is surrounded by mountains and is basically a gigantic bowl of ice up to 1,200 feet thick. Visitors here get a quick lesson in glaciology. A glacier’s toe has bluish ice. Crevasses (not the same as crevices) are deep cracks in glaciers that water flows through, washing out the fine-grained rock flour into lakes and rivers. Peyto Lake, for example, is glacier-fed, and its suspended particles scatter bluegreen rays of light making it the “bluest lake in the Rockies.” It’s also distinctive because one end is shaped like a coyote’s head. At the Athabasca and at Brewster Glacier Icewalks, you can literally walk on a glacier.

MARCH 2019 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Large hybrid bus-truck vehicles called Ice Explorers, featuring six-wheel drive, rumble down and then up a track delivering bold visitors to an icy expanse with no guard rails, ropes, bannisters or other supports. Wary glacier novices carefully pick the spot to place each foot on what looks like a vast frozen lake, as the wind whips across the stark white landscape. Be sure to be fully insured before doing this!

Canadian Rockies from high in the sky over Kananaskis, Alberta. At the Stoney Nakoda Resort and Casino is this bucket list adventure — soaring over the Rockies in a Bell 407, six-seater helicopter. The view of high, snowy mountain tops, chiseled granite peaks, sheer cliffs, more turquoise lakes and even wild horses on the First Nation’s reservation are unforgettable.

Hiking the hills and up in the air

Planning your trip

Lake Louise is a 1.2-mile, aqua-emerald lake surrounded by mountains and bookended by the Queen Victoria glacier and the towering, elegant Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. The opulent 550-room hotel was built in the 1890s by the Canadian Pacific Railway and is open year-round. Four million people visit Lake Louise every year. The lake, fed by six glaciers, is frozen from November to June, warming up to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer. Lake Louise boasts the most grizzlies in Canada, but that doesn’t deter hikers who explore the compound’s trails, including one up to the alpine-style Lake Agnes Tea House. Hold onto your seat, not so much for safety, but for jaw-dropping views of the

There are 65 different Rocky Mountaineer packages to choose from. Start at www.rockymountaineer.com and choose a route, departure city, date and service level, and preferred side trips. Departure cities are Seattle, Vancouver, Lake Louise, Banff, Jasper and Calgary. Trips last two to 14 days, with prices ranging from $1,300 (U.S.) up to $12,150 per person, double occupancy, depending on the package (with the costliest including an Alaska cruise). For some bookings made far in advance, the company offers credit toward an extra hotel night or other benefit. Friendly telephone staffers at (866) 545-2766 can help with customization options and answer questions.

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BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2019

Four presidents who retreated to Virginia By Glenda C. Booth U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was a gregarious, swashbuckling outdoorsman who hunted elephants in Africa and bears in Colorado. He came from wealth and owned a 23-room mansion, Sagamore Hill, on Long Island’s Oyster Bay. But when Teddy and wife, Edith, wanted to relax, they traveled four hours south of Washington to a plain little wood-frame cabin in Virginia’s woodlands called Pine Knot. There they indulged in solitude and studied the “little forest folk,” as the president called the wildlife. Postal officials added a car to the mail train, and the Roosevelts disembarked at a dot on the map called North Garden. Once in office, most U.S. presidents soon feel compelled to escape Washington’s pressure cooker and the oppressive summer heat. President Donald Trump has his private club getaways in Florida and New Jersey. Richard Nixon lolled around on Bebe Rebozo’s houseboat in Key Biscayne, Florida. Franklin Roosevelt opted for Canada’s Campobello Island and, after being struck by polio, a cottage at Georgia’s Warm Springs. But four presidents chose rural Virginia for their private retreats. Three of these sites are open to the public today.

Pine Knot In 1905, Edith Roosevelt bought an unpretentious, rustic cottage on 90 forested acres for $250 in Albemarle County “for rest and repair for the President.” “The Tsar and Tsarina would have found it somewhat confining since it consisted of one rough-cut, stone-chimneyed boarded box, with two smaller boxes upstairs,” she wrote, describing the first-floor

lodge-type room and small bedrooms. “The pitched roof was overlong in front, creating a shaded ‘piazza’ at mosquito level.” Of course, the Roosevelts could retreat to Sagamore Hill as well, but Edith said her husband needed wilderness, since at Sagamore Hill the White House in effect went with them. Throngs of cabinet members, legislators, ambassadors, potentates, envoys, generals, industrialists, labor leaders, writers, historians, architects, artists, naturalists and others descended on the home, and telephone and telegraph lines linked it at all times with Washington. Not so at Pine Knot. The house had no electricity, heating, insulation, telephone or indoor plumbing. The President’s chief domestic chore was to “empty the slops.” (He did not know that Edith had the Secret Service patrolling the woods.) After exiting the train, Roosevelt did not read a memo, choosing to listen to the critters over the chatter of government big wigs. He unwound by watching birds from the porch, one day identifying 75 species by their call. He also may have had one of the last sightings of the nearly extinct passenger pigeon in 1908. He wrote his son Kermit in 1906 that he left the cabin under a brilliant moon for hunting and, after 13 hours in the woods, got one turkey, “a beautiful side shot at about 35 yards.” In another letter to Kermit he said, “It is really a perfectly delightful little place; the nicest little place of the kind you can imagine. Mother is a great deal more pleased with it than any children with any toy I ever saw.” Other than family, the Roosevelts had only one friend visit from 1905 to 1908.

Today you can tour sparsely-furnished Pine Knot by appointment, surrounded by oaks, redbuds, dogwoods and scampering critters, much as it was in the Roosevelts’ day. A large farm table is the only remaining piece of Roosevelt furniture.

Rapidan Camp President Herbert Hoover and his wife, Lou, made 70 trips to their 164-acre retreat among Blue Ridge Mountain hemlocks and rhododendrons in today’s Shenan-

doah National Park. They named the 13building enclave Rapidan Camp for the Mill Prong and Laurel Prong streams that merge to form the Rapidan River. The president gave the Marines, who built it, three criteria in choosing a site: it should be at least 2,500 feet in elevation, within 100 miles of the nation’s capital, and have excellent fishing. Every building was within earshot of a babbling stream to “reSee PRESIDENTS, page 26

Leisure & Travel | More at TheBeaconNewspapers.com

Presidents From page 25 duce our egotism, soothe our troubles and shame our wickedness,” he wrote. The plain, pine-board buildings were designed to harmonize with the natural surroundings. The compound had the president’s cabin, cabins for 25 guests, a mess hall, offices, a community center, servants’ quarters, stables and a dog kennel. The Hoovers, both geologists, brought the outside in by “decorating” with rocks, crystals and hemlock branches. While decompressing, the president

MARCH 2019 — BALTIMORE BEACON

also used the camp to address the nation’s problems. “I have discovered that even the work of government can be improved by leisurely discussion of its problems out under the trees where no bells ring or callers jar one’s thoughts,” he said. An airplane dropped mail daily, and the president’s cottage had a telephone. Famous people visited, including Thomas Edison, Edsel Ford, Winston Churchill and British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. The press was not welcome. An avid angler, Hoover fished, not just for policy solutions, but for sport and escape. While fishing, he could “find relief

from the pneumatic hammer of constant personal contracts,” he said. He built dams in the streams to create trout pools, and fed the fish beef hearts. Today’s visitors can explore the woodsy paths, footbridges, streams and three stillstanding buildings: the president’s cabin, dubbed the Brown House (facetiously named to differentiate it from the White House), the Prime Minister’s Cabin and Creel Cabin. The Brown House is restored to its 1929 appearance with some original furnishings. The Prime Minister’s Cabin has exhibits on life at the camp and Hoover’s Depression-era presidency.

Poplar Forest Building a private retreat was not the novel idea of hassled, 20th century presidents. Thomas Jefferson was the pioneer. He chose a 4,800-acre site near Lynchburg in what he called “western country,” and designed and built Poplar Forest there. While in Europe for five years, Jefferson had studied European architecture. For his hideaway, he drew on the designs of 16th-century Italian architect Andrea Palladio to build a neo-classical, country villa so he could “detach myself from public life, which I never loved,” he wrote. Built between 1806 and 1823, the onestory brick house sits on a high basement, with four elongated octagonal rooms that surround the cube-shaped central chamber. A 16-foot skylight and tall, triple-hung windows illuminate the interior. Reflecting Jefferson’s love of geometry, Poplar Forest was the first octagonal house in America. Two artificial mounds on each side of the sunken lawn screened octagonal privies. While he started building it during his presidency, it came to be a favored respite in his retirement because Monticello had become an almost unbearable clamor of children, grandchildren, slaves and uninvited guests. At Poplar Forest, a three-day horse ride (90 miles) from Monticello, he rekindled his spirit in tranquility. In 1811, at age 69, he wrote to a friend, Benjamin Rush, that he went to Poplar Forest three or four times a year, staying up to a month at a time. “I have fixed myself comfortably, keep some books here, bring others occasionally, am in the solitude of a hermit, and quite at leisure to attend to my absent friends,” he penned. Today, visitors can take guided tours of the house and self-guided tours of lowerlevel exhibits, offices, grounds and slave quarters. Exhibits describe restoration, archaeology and slave life. A computer model demonstrates Jefferson’s landscape design.

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pounds in Hyannis Port, Mass.; Palm Beach, Fla.; or Newport, R.I., the couple chose 39 acres of farmland near Middleburg, Va. While he was a U.S. senator, Jack became familiar with Loudoun County when he leased Glen Ora — a 400-acre farm in Virginia horse country, 40 miles from the White House. Jackie designed a 3,500-square-foot stone and stucco ranch-style home, intended to be “nothing elaborate,” said Pamela Turnure, the first lady’s press secretary. Completed in 1963 for $127,000, it had seven bedrooms, a Signal Corps switchboard, bomb shelter, stables and Secret Service workspace. They named it Wexford for the Ireland county where the Kennedy family originated. At Wexford, Jackie could indulge in her horseback-riding passion. Caroline, age 6, rode her pony, Macaroni, and Jack buzzed 3-year-old John, Jr., around in a golf cart and hit golf balls in the pasture. The president wrote, “This house may not be perfectly proportioned, but it has everything — all the places we need to get away from each other — so husband can have meetings…wife paint…all things so much bigger houses don’t have. I think it’s brilliant!” Jackie and the children visited at times by helicopter or limousine without Jack. Sadly, they went there together only twice, in October and November 1963. Jackie sold Wexford in 1964 for $225,000. Today’s owners bought it in September 2017 for $2.9 million. A private getaway may be an illusory notion in today’s hyperconnected world. But these four presidents understood the need to de-stress in settings far simpler than the high-stress White House.

If you go Rapidan Camp, in Shenandoah National Park, is managed by the National Park Service. Grounds are open year-round. From spring through fall, rangers host tours. See more at www.nps.gov/shen/learn/ historyculture/rapidancamp.htm. Register at www.recreation.gov or call (877) 4446777. Pine Knot is owned by the Edith and Theodore Roosevelt Pine Knot Foundation and is open by appointment. For information, see www.pineknot.org or call (434) 286-6106. Poplar Forest is owned by the Corporation for Jefferson’s Poplar Forest. Guided tours are offered daily, March 15 through Dec. 30, with self-guided tours on weekends from mid-January to mid-March. See www.poplarforest.org, or call (434) 5251806. All sites require a car to visit. Amtrak has service to Charlottesville and Lynchburg. Glen Ora and Wexford are not open to the public.

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Sample Baltimore’s historic markets and food halls. See story on page 28.

A healing rite of passage through pain

A very different culture Everything Is Wonderful provides a rarely seen look into the life of an Amish family. It explains their traditions and cultural mores, and explores what happens when there are disruptions — whether from within or from outside forces — that threaten members’ adherence to the rules and laws of the community. Everyman staple Bruce Randolph Nelson plays Jacob, the paternal head of the Amish family, who carries himself on stage as a man heavily weighted down with the pain of a father who has lost his two sons. The cause of that unfathomable loss, Eric (Tony Nam), arrives at Jacob’s door

one evening, literally shaking with guilt. He comes seeking punishment, begging Jacob and his wife, Esther (Deborah Hazlett), to “press charges” for the auto accident that claimed their sons’ lives. Instead, Jacob and his family take in Eric, allowing him to work and live on their farm. In so doing, Jacob finds a way to temper the tempest of emotions he is battling as he grieves the loss of his sons. On the other hand, while Eric has his adopted family’s forgiveness for the accident, he can’t find a way to forgive himself.

PHOTO BY CLINTONBPHOTOGRAPHY

By Dan Collins In 2013, filmmaker Werner Herzog released a short film, From One Second to the Next, which dealt with tragedies born of texting while driving. One of the stories told in the film is that of Chandler Gerber. In 2012, while sending a text to his wife, he plowed his car into a horsedrawn Amish buggy, killing three children. As Amish culture emphasizes the importance of forgiveness, the family of the children reached out to Gerber, sending him a letter saying, “Wishing you the best with your little one and the unknown future… Keep looking up. God is always there.” Inspired by this true-life tale, playwright Chelsea Marcantel developed her play, Everything Is Wonderful, now on stage at Everyman Theatre in downtown Baltimore.

Intertwining stories Eric’s story line is one of several that intertwine throughout the two-plus hours of the play, as the playwright jumps back and forth through time. A second storyline follows Jacob and Esther’s daughter, Miri (Alex Spieth), who has left home to live among the “English,” i.e. outside the Amish community. Miri’s break with her roots has a number of roots itself, including one with sizable shoulders named Abram (Steve Polites). However, Abram’s desire to enforce what he perceives as God’s will interferes with his relationship with Miri, driving him toward Miri’s sister, the practically angelic Ruth (Hannah Kelly).

In the play Everything is Wonderful, based on a true story, an Amish family takes steps to forgive a distracted driver who plowed into the family’s horse-drawn buggy, killing two of its sons. Here, daughter Miri (Alex Spieth), who has left the Amish community, shares a light moment with Abram (Steve Polites). The play continues at Everyman Theatre through Feb. 24.

Amish feel to the set. What connects them all is the underlying theme of forgiveness — a principle that sits at the core of the community’s religious beliefs. It is also part of the “Ord-

nung” (the German word for “order”), the principles followed by each Amish church district on how life should be lived. See AMISH, page 29

O P E N I N G M A RC H 2 1

Finding forgiveness All these stories work themselves out on an austere and rustic stage (kudos to set designer Daniel Ettinger) that gives a truly

Cars, boats, furniture, antiques, tools, appliances Everything and anything is sold on

Radio Flea Market Heard every Sunday, 7-8:00 a.m. on 680 WCBM

410-730-8311

TobysDinnerTheatre.com Due to the nature of theatrical bookings, !!"#$%&#" '("( )*#" +*"#,-.*/)")%"/$ '0*1""2""3%-45#"67''*+"3$* )+*8"9%!,:-7 8";6

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MARCH 2019 — BALTIMORE BEACON

Sample Baltimore’s markets and food halls

Lexington Market 400 W. Lexington St. (410) 685-6169 www.lexingtonmarket.com In 1782, Revolutionary War General John Eager Howard donated a portion of his family pasture land to be used as a market. That land was situated between what are now Eutaw and Greene Streets, stretching out to the present locations of Baltimore’s Washington Monument and General Howard statue. The site was originally known as the Western Precincts Market, but was soon renamed in memory of the Battle of Lexington, the first battle of the American Revolution.

Founded in 1782 at the site where it stands today, Lexington Market is the oldest market in America. Today it houses more than 75 vendors offering everything from fresh produce and fried chicken, to Baltimore’s famous Faidley’s crab cakes and Berger’s cookies.

Broadway Market 1640-41 Aliceanna St. (410) 685-6169 www.broadwaymarketbaltimore.com Broadway Market first opened in 1786, and was called Fell’s Point Market until 1797, when it was moved to the center of Broadway to accommodate the immigrants and sailors of the neighborhood. The market, located in historic Fells Point, once consisted of four long sheds that extended to the harbor, with vendors selling fruits and vegetables brought by farmers who came by wagon, boat and ferry. Today’s offerings are even more varied, and include offerings from pierogis to fish tacos, seafood, made-to-order sandwiches and much more. The market’s north shed, located between Broadway and Fleet and Aliceanna Streets, has undergone a $3 million renovation and is re-opening this month, with the south shed scheduled to re-open this summer.

PHOTO COURTESY OF VISIT BALTIMORE

By Carol Sorgen Several years ago, food trucks were all the rage. Now food halls are popping up all over the country, giving restaurateurs the opportunity to lower their overhead by sharing space, while also giving diners the opportunity to partake of a variety of food offerings in one location. Baltimore has long had its own version of food halls, with its traditional city markets. These include some of the oldest public markets in the country. Whether you want to go the traditional route or sample the city’s new food halls, here are some to choose from.

Lexington Market is the oldest market in America, founded in 1782. In recent years, Baltimore has spawned several other markets and food halls that, like Lexington Market, offer a huge smorgasbord of offerings.

R. House

Mount Vernon Marketplace

301 W. 29th St. (443) 347-3570 www.r.housebaltimore.com In a former automobile showroom located near Johns Hopkins University and the Baltimore Museum of Art, R. House showcases nearly a dozen casual, chef-driven menus within a 50,000-square-foot space. Their kitchens surround a 350-seat food hall with roll-up garage doors, booths, communal tables, and a neighborhood bar at the center of it all.

520 Park Ave. (443) 796-7393 www.mtvernonmarketplace.com Mount Vernon Marketplace is located around the corner from the Walters Art Museum and a block away from the Maryland Historical Society. There are more than 14 food purveyors offering gourmet cheese, artisanal sandwiches and charcuterie, fresh local oysters and seafood, noodles and dumplings, crepes, Ethiopian cuisine and coffee, vegetarian and vegan fare and more.

BEACON BITS

Feb. 24+

SURREALISM AND WAR IN THE ‘30S AND’40S The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) will present 90 Surrealist

masterworks by Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, André Masson and Pablo Picasso painted through the lens of violence and exile during the Spanish Civil War and World War II. On view at the BMA from Feb. 24 to May 26, this ticketed exhibition is coorganized by the BMA and the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. Prices are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors, $12 for groups of 7 or more, $10 for students with ID, and $5 for youth ages 7–18. BMA Members and children age 6 and under are admitted free. The BMA is located at 10 Art Museum Dr. Tickets are available at www.artbma.org.

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Say you saw it in the Beacon | Arts & Style

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2019

Amish From page 27 Abram has followed the community’s “Ordnung” for achieving forgiveness, confessing his sins before the entire congregation, but one senses he gains no relief from it. And it is how the community administers forgiveness that plays a huge role in driving Miri away — from Abram, from the Amish way of life, and from her own family. There are a number of poignant touches interspersed throughout the play, brief silent vignettes as each actor takes a moment in the spotlight to raise his or her hand in a slightly different way. Whether smiling or appearing confused or pained, they reflect gelassenheit, which translates as “yieldedness” or “submission.” As Jacob tells Miri, “Bad things happen. They happen quite a lot. And surrender is not the only way to move on. But it is the way we know best.” Each character must ultimately submit

— whether by accepting the death of two sons, the community’s Ordnung, or how one is perceived by family and friends. And in so doing, they yield to the healing power of time, or come to the realization that they must ultimately choose how best to live. All cast members deliver wonderfully nuanced performances, creating believable characters, each of whom undergoes a rite of passage through pain. And yet, all end up in a world where everything is wonderful in the truest sense of that word — full of things that are unexpected, inexplicable, and leave one in awe. Everything Is Wonderful runs at the Everyman, 315W. Fayette St., near the Hippodrome Theatre and historic Lexington Market, through Sunday, Feb. 24. Tickets are $56 to $65. Those 62 and older may request a discount of $5 off tickets for Saturday matinees and Sunday evening performances. Call (410) 7522208 or visit www.everymantheatre.org for ticket information.

BEACON BITS

Mar. 3

JEWISH REFUGEES IN SHANGHAI

Join doctoral candidate Sara Halpern at the Jewish Museum of Maryland on Sunday, March 3 at 1 p.m., as she shares the experiences of Jewish families in Shanghai during World War II. Cost is $10. To learn more and register, call (410) 732-6400 or visit www.jewishmuseummd.org/single/in-their-own-words-as-jewish-refugees.The Museum is located at 15 Lloyd St.

Classifieds cont. from page 31. TV/Cable DIRECTV. CALL AND SWITCH NOW — Get NFL Sunday Ticket for FREE! Every Game. Every Sunday. CHOICE- All-Included Package. Over 185 Channels. $60/month (for 12 Months.) CALL 1- 888-572-4953.

Wanted GLOBAL WANDERER TRAVEL is proud to provide luxury group travel opportunities. We have openings for upcoming trips to New York, London, and Paris. Visit us online at www.globalwanderertravel.com to book your spot now before they sell out! MONEY, TIME TO SELL! Make the right choice. Call Greg, 717-658-7954. We buy jewelry, coins, silver, antiques, watches, gold, art, paper money, toys, bottles, comic books and records, etc. No middleman, no fees, no overhead means more money for your stuff. Give me a call, and let’s do business. 717-658-7954. TOP PRICES PAID for fine antiques, artwork and high quality decorative items including decorated crocks and jugs, rare antique clocks, music boxes,unusual lamps, slot machines and great old toys and dolls to name a few. I am 66 years old with over 40 years in the antique business, well educated and financially capable . Why pay expensive auction house , estate sale, or consignment store commissions when you can get a fair upfront price for your pieces immediately? If you have something unusual and interesting, rare and valuable and are prepared to sell it I would like to speak with you. Please call Jake Lenihan 301 279 8834 . No calls after 7 pm please. Thank you.

Wanted ESTATE LIQUIDATION/ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES: One call solves it all when you hire us to handle your estate liquidation, down-sizing and/or home cleanout. We sell your treasures, take care of charitable donations and provide junk removal. We also purchase partial estate contents/collections. Always buying antiques, jewelry, fine art, vintage toys, collectibles, advertising, sports memorabilia, military items, rare books, Mid Century Modern furniture, vinyl records collections and more. Based in Silver Spring, we serve Montgomery County, Howard County, Baltimore County, Washington D.C., NOVA and beyond. No home, barn or warehouse is too packed for us! Friendly, conscientious staff. Call Chris on cell (202) 731-9447. www.OrionsAttic.com. BUYING VINYL RECORDS from 1950 through 1985. Jazz, Rock-n-Roll, Soul, Rhythm & Blues, Reggae and Disco. 33 1/3 LPs, 45s or 78s, Larger collections of at least 100 items wanted. Please call John, 301-5966201. COLLECTOR BUYING MILITARY ITEMS: Helmets, weapons, knives, swords, bayonets, web gear, uniforms, etc. from all wars and countries. Also Lionel Toy Trains, and coin operated machines. Will pay top prices for my personal collection. Discreet consultations. Call Fred, 301-910-0783. SEEKING FULLS/SEALED BOTTLES of vintage Bourbon and Rye. Do you have full/sealed vintage bottles of bourbon or rye collecting dust in your cabinet? Do any of your bottles have an old red and green tax strip? Call Alex, 443-223-7669.

Jewish Refugees and Shanghai 301 McMechen Street | Baltimore, MD 21217 . Take advantage of our great specials! One bedrooms as low as $939/a month. Studios as low as $798/a month. Call Today! 410-523-0013 TTY: 711

Income and age restrictions apply. Professionally Managed by Habitat America, LLC

Get your first month of rent FREE!

ON VIEW AT THE JEWISH MUSEUM OF MARYLAND FEBRUARY 3 – MARCH 10, 2019

Public Programs every Sunday (and more!)

More info at: JewishMuseumMD.org

MARCH 2019 — BALTIMORE BEACON

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Crossword Puzzle

Daily crosswords can be found on our website: www.TheBeaconNewspapers.com Click on Puzzles Plus Top Toys 1

16 19

24 30

22 25

26 32

31 36

45 47 53

44 48

46 49

50 56

51 57

Across 1. Attempt a Hail Mary 5. Accumulate 10.AHats popular in the 1920’s 14. Bestselling American cookie 15. Over-exuberance 16. Work on video post-production 17. Toy Hall of Fame Member, first bounced in 1949 19. Ready for eating 20. Prepare BLT’s for the soup-nsandwich combo 21. The vowels you can find on a SNIPEHUNT 22. AOL mailer, circa 1993 23. Recipient of a W-2 from Santa 25. Room deodorizers 27. Part of a journey on a ferris wheel 30. Author of The Tell-Tale Heart 32. Resident of Belgrade, most likely 33. About 30 centimeters 35. Most blood cells 37. Express disapproval, automotively 41. Hall member, first pulled in 1930 44. Tequila Sunrise garnish 45. Age ... epoch ... period ... ___ 46. Act like a lunatic 47. Barbra’s co-star in A Star is Born 49. A means to an ___ 51. Bottom right quadrants, briefly 52. Paved over dirt paths 56. “Every man is guilty of the good he ___ not do” (Voltaire) 58. Times open for business 59. Letters on ancient Greek M&M’s 61. Windows operating system, supported 2007-2009 65. “Don’t give up; keep ___!” 66. Hall member, first seen in 1939 68. Attorney General prior to Ashcroft 69. Book of maps 70. Layer of paint 71. Over-caffeinated 72. Starlings’ dwellings 73. Birds that eat insects, mice, and Tootsie Pops BB319

21 23

Scrabble answers on p. 28.

Stephen Sherr By Stephen Sherr 10 11 12 13

Down 1. Fancy-schmancy 2. Operatic solo 3. Manage a flea market booth 4. Put the last letter in the puzzle 5. Roadie’s responsibility 6. Home to Haleakala National Park 7. Tosses in a chip 8. Part of an Army Physical Fitness Test 9. Use your words 10. Hall member, first stuffed in 1903 11. Be smitten with 12. One ineligible for military service 13. Bouquet handles 18. Website with slogan “We Know Just the Place” 22. 18-time MLB All-Star, Rod 24. Lose a deposit 26. Come up with a new marketing approach 27. 60’s hairdo 28. Sound before an MGM movie 29. Musical finale 31. Sushi selection 34. Hall member, first manufactured in 1914 36. All free clear detergent has none of it 38. Five of Jack Nicklaus’ major championships 39. Top-rated 40. Explosive compounds 42. Shrek’s three children 43. Homophone of heir and err 48. One with Middle Eastern ancestry 50. One-named starlet, usually 52. Daycare directive 53. Brought along a diaper bag 54. Having second thoughts 55. Activities for Aaron Burr 57. Song of (Donna) Summer 60. Battle against flies 62. Put in the overhead compartment 63. Jacksonville Jaguar uniform color 64. First section in each New York Times (alphabetically) 66. U-Haul option 67. Second degrees, technically

Answers on page 28.

BALTIMORE BEACON — MARCH 2019

CLASSIFIEDS The Beacon prints classified advertising under the following headings: Business & Employment Opportunities; Caregivers; Computer Services; Entertainment; For Sale; For Sale/Rent: Real Estate; Free; Health; Home/ Handyman Services; Miscellaneous; Personals; Personal Services; Vacation Opportunities; and Wanted. For submission guidelines and deadlines, see the box on the right. CAVEAT EMPTOR! The Beacon does not knowingly accept obscene, offensive, harmful, or fraudulent advertising. However, we do not investigate any advertisers or their products and cannot accept responsibility for the integrity of either. Respondents to classified advertising should always use caution and their best judgment. EMPLOYMENT & REAL ESTATE ADS: We will not knowingly or intentionally accept advertising in violation of federal, state, and local laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, familial status or handicap in connection with employment or the sale or rental of real estate.

Business & Employment Opportunities A PART-TIME CARPENTRY JOB Where You Can Make a Difference! Second Chance, Inc., a nonprofit near Raven’s Stadium, is seeking an experienced part-time carpenter to work on such projects as interior/exterior renovations, bathrooms, kitchens, framing, painting, finish trim, doors and windows. If you’re interested in joining a business with a heart, we’d love to talk. Contact us: 410-385-1700 x 111 or jobs@secondchanceinc.org. Learn more about us at www.secondchanceinc.org.

Financial GOT AN OLDER CAR, VAN OR SUV? Do the humane thing. Donate it to the Humane Society. Call 1-844-230-2952. GAMEPLAN FOR RETIREMENT. We rollover 401ks, 403bs, IRAs, TSPs, and other work plans to guaranteed and insured lifetime income for you and your spouse! Free Consult! 410-902-0464. DONATE YOUR CAR, TRUCK OR BOAT to Heritage for the Blind. Free 3-Day Vacation, Tax Deductible, Free Towing, All Paperwork Taken Care Of. CALL 1-844-855-7670.

Say you saw it in the Beacon

For Sale TWENTY-YEAR COLLECTION of new ceramic tea pots — various shapes of homes and animals — some one of a kind, some of foreign make. Thirty-one pots and one large cookie jar. Pictures furnished upon request. Also own match box car set in original carry case — fair condition. Best offer. H.R. Williams, 410-308-0114. CEMETERY LOT & VAULT. Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens, In Garden of Apostles, Current Value $4090, MAKE OFFER, 443-604-4695. LOUDON PARK CEMETARY Baltimore MD. 21229. 2 Grave Lots, 1 Vault $4,100. Call Janice, 410-446-3714, dahliamama46@gmail.com.

For Sale/Rent: Real Estate WE BUY HOUSES!!! CALL 443-415-0790. Are you tired of toilets and tenants, but like the monthly income? Call us for a creative solution to your real estate problems. We buy houses in any condition, any location, any price range. We pay CASH or terms and offer QUICK closings. Call us today at 443-415-0790 or visit www.ikebuyshouses.com. FURNISHED MASTER BEDROOM/private entrance & bath wash/dryer available. Single female, non-smoker, qualified dog ok, private dog yard & kennel run available. $500.00 per month. 410-239-6225.

Health STOP OVERPAYING for your prescriptions! SAVE! Call our licensed Canadian and International pharmacy, compare prices and get $25.00 OFF your first prescription! CALL 1-888-9817657 Promo Code CDC201725. DENTAL INSURANCE. Call Physicians Mutual Insurance Company for details. Not just a discount plan, real coverage for 350 procedures. 844366-1003 or http://www.dental50plus.com/320 Ad# 6118. PORTABLE OXYGEN CONCENTRATOR — May Be Covered by Medicare! Reclaim independence and mobility with the compact design and long-lasting battery of Inogen One. Free information kit! Call 855-851-0949.

Home/Handyman Services RESIDENTIAL PAINTING: RETIRED PAINTER seeking residential, light commercial work in Baltimore area. Call Mark at 443324-0091. Good work at good prices.

NEW PROCEDURE FOR PLACING CLASSIFIED ADS All classified ads must be submitted and paid for online, via our website, www.thebeaconnewspapers.com/classifieds Deadlines and Payments: To appear in the next issue, your ad text and payment must be entered by the 5th of the preceding month (for Baltimore and Howard County editions); by the 20th (for Washington and Richmond editions). Cost will be based on the number of characters and spaces in your ad: • $25 for 1-250 • $35 for 251-500. • $50 for 501-750 (maximum length). The website will calculate this for you. Note: Maryland contractors must provide a valid MHIC number. • Each real estate listing qualifies as one ad. • All ads are subject to publisher's discretion. Payment will be refunded if unacceptable for any reason.

To place your classified ad, visit www.thebeaconnewspapers.com/classifieds Legal Services

Personal Services

WERE YOU AN INDUSTRIAL OR CONSTRUCTION TRADESMAN and recently diagnosed with lung cancer? You and your family may be entitled to a significant cash reward. Call 1-888-351-0312 for your risk free consultation.

NEED CASH? DOWNSIZING? Professional online seller with 100% positive feedback will sell your extra items - clothing, jewelry, dishes, art, furniture, etc. Free consultation. I will determine the best online markets to sell your items, photograph and list everything, and you get paid when it sells! For friendly service, please contact Julia at 571-294-8401 or at juliawilk@aol.com.

SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY? Up to $2,671/mo. (Based on paid-in amount.) Free evaluation! Call Bill Gordon & Associates. 1866-970-0779. Mail: 2420 N St NW, Washington, D.C. Office: Broward Co. FL., member TX/NM Bar.

Miscellaneous ENJOY 100% GUARANTEED, DELIVERED to-the-door Omaha Steaks! Save 75% plus get 4 more Burgers & 4 more Kielbasa FREE! Order The Family Gourmet Buffet — ONLY $49.99. Call 1-844-302-3754, mention code 51689JCT or visit www.omahasteaks.com. BLUE MOON FAMILY GRILL 9036 Liberty Rd. Randallstown, MD 21133 Tues-Sat 11a11p. Free meal with 3 meals. No Expiration Must have coupon at time of purchase. WEDNESDAY BINGO... come join us every Wednesday 11a-4p for BINGO & 6p-11p for 50 cent wings.

TV/Cable DISH Network. 190+ CHANNELS. FREE Install. FREE Hopper HD-DVR. $49.99/month (24 months) Add High Speed Internet - $14.95 (where avail.) CALL Today & SAVE 25%! 1844-560-5837. SPECTRUM TRIPLE PLAY! TV, Internet & Voice for $29.99 ea. 60 MB per second speed. No contract or commitment. More Channels. Faster Internet. Unlimited Voice. Call 1-888366-7573.

Classifieds cont. on page 29.

ADVERTISERS IN THIS ISSUE Clinical Research Studies

Skin Cancer EB . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Snyder Center . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Westminster House Apartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

COPD Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Diet Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Knee Osteoarthritis Study . . . .15 Metabolic Syndrome Study . . .12 Vitamin D/Sturdy Study . . . . .15

Home Health Care

Legal Services

Options for Senior America . . .5

Angels of Elder Care Planning 19 Frank, Frank & Scherr Law Firm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Dental Services Denture Doctor . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Education CCBC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Roland Park Country School .25

Health Keswick Wise & Well Center .10 Kraus Behavioral Health . . . . .13 Patriot Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Regenerative Medicine . . . . . . .9 Rosenblatt Foot Care . . . . . . . .10 Senior Care Lifestyles . . . . . . . .7

Housing Alta at Regency Crest . . . . . . .11 Charlestown/Erickson . . . . . .11 Christ Church Harbor Apts. . .26 Glynn Taff Assisted Living . . .20 Linden Park Apartments . . . . .29 Meadows of Reisterstown, The . . . . . . . . .26 Oak Crest/Erickson . . . . . . . . .11 Park View Apartments . . . . . .21 R Home Communities . . . . . .21 St. Mary’s Roland View Towers . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 Virginia Towers Apartments . .25 Warren Place Senior Apartments . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

Medical Cannabis

Subscriptions Beacon Subscription . . . . . . . .30

Technology Beacon Silver Pages . . . . . . . .32 TechMedic4U . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 TheBeaconNewspapers.com . .32

Theatres/ Entertainment

Charm City Medicus . . . . . . . .18 Curio Wellness . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Herban Legends . . . . . . . . . . .11 Pure Life Wellness . . . . . . . . . .8

Jewish Museum of Md. . . . . . .29 Toby’s Dinner Theatre . . . . . . .27

Shopping

Travel

Because . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Perfect Sleep Chair . . . . . . . . .16 Radio Flea Market . . . . . . . . . .27 Zinger Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Eyre Bus, Tour & Travel . . . . .25 Festive Holidays . . . . . . . . . . .24 Superior Tours . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation Manor Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Volunteers Meals on Wheels . . . . . . . . . . .24

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