April 2018 | Fifty Plus Richmond

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APRIL 2018 • FREE

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APRIL 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

Calling all artists!

We at Fifty Plus have been inspired over the the age of 50 in one or more of four cateyears by moving stories from readers who de- gories, up to three items in each: — Painting or Drawing: vote themselves to painting, using any medium (watercolor, sculpture, photography, poetry pastel, oil, pen and ink, etc.) and other artistic endeavors.

— Sculpture/Jewelry/PotSome have turned to one of tery/Mixed Media: this broad these arts for the first time in recategory includes any three-ditirement. Others have been drawn mensional ar twork in any back to an early passion. medium (wood, stone, metals, How about you? Do you paint fired clay, fiber art, found object or draw? Perhaps you make potart, etc.) tery, jewelry or sculpt. Or do — Photography: images of you enjoy digital photography or people, places or objects, as well write poetry? as abstract and other images In whichever of these arts you FROM THE manipulated by digital means shine, we are pleased to invite PUBLISHER — Poetry: a poem in any foryou to enter your best works in By Stuart P. Rosenthal mat no longer than two pages our online Celebration of the Arts competition — open only to amateur artists 50 typed, double-spaced The online competition opens April and over who live in Virginia, D.C. or Maryland.

Winners will receive awards, cash prizes 2 and runs through June 29, 2018.

PLEASE NOTE: All entries must be (up to $100), as well as public showings of their works. In addition, photos of all artists photos of your artwork (even of poetry), and their works will be published in a special and must be uploaded to our online com“Celebration of the Arts” section to be petition website: mdfedart.com/BeaconCelebration. You will also find entry rules printed in Fifty Plus this fall. and detailed entry instructions there.

How to enter If you need assistance in either photoYou may enter original works created after graphing your artwork or in uploading your

a publication of

The Beacon Newspapers, Inc.

Editorial Mission: Fifty Plus is dedicated to providing readers with accurate information, professional guidance, and useful resources. Our publication is intended to both reflect and enhance fifty-plus lifestyles, and to encourage reader dialogue and input.

Fifty Plus is published monthly and distributed free of charge. The advertising deadline is the 20th of each month for the upcoming issue. The entire contents of Fifty Plus are ©2018, The Beacon Newspapers, Inc. No portion may be reproduced in whole or in part by any means without the express written consent of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed by writers and columnists do not necessarily represent those of Fifty Plus or its staff.

Publisher/Editor: ........................Stuart Rosenthal Vice President, Operations: ..........Gordon Hasenei Vice President, Sales and Marketing: ..Alan Spiegel

entries, print out the instructions and take them to a friend (or perhaps child or grandchild) who can help you. If you live in a community with a computer center, someone there may also be able to assist you.

More info Winners will be announced in August, with first, second and third place awards as well as honorable mentions.

While there is a modest fee of $10 for each entry, entering will entitle you to a one-year membership in the Maryland Federation of Art (new members only; value: $70).

That organization, by the way, has members from throughout the United States. It’s not just for Marylanders. Among other benefits of membership, you will be able to set up your own portfolio on their website. There you can upload your bio and images of up to 20 artworks or poems, and share the link

with family, friends and the community.

Entries will remain archived on the site, and will be visible to the general public once winners are announced. You may also offer your works for sale through the website!

I think this contest is well named. There is so much to celebrate when people try something new later in life and discover a new passion. We’re very excited about our Celebration of the Arts, and look forward to seeing the works of hundreds of our readers entered in the competition. Including yours!

Again, for complete rules and to enter your artwork, photos or poems, visit mdfedart. com/BeaconCelebration between now and June 29, 2018.

I look forward to seeing your work!

Letters to the editor Readers are encouraged to share their opinion on any matter addressed in Fifty Plus as well as on political and social issues of the day.

Mail your Letter to the Editor to Fifty Plus, P.O. Box 2227, Silver Spring, MD 20915, or e-mail to info@fiftyplusrichmond.com. Please include your name, address and telephone number for verification.

Dear Editor: Martha Steger’s article about the two World War I exhibits (“Two exhibits for World War centennial,” March) brought back many memories. My childhood was filled with my parents’ stories of the “Great War.” Whenever my entire family got together at my grandmother’s house, the uncles would gather in a corner and relive their life in the trenches and the hunger, the blood and the cold.

The aunts, meanwhile, remembered lining up before dawn, waiting for the shops to open so that they could buy milk for their children.

Such was the situation in Vienna, Austria, where my family lived. Yes, my dad flew in the Kaiser’s army.

Unfortunately, the “war to end all wars” did not do so, being followed by the even bloodier World War II. Thank you, Fifty Plus, for not only helping us old folks understand the new technology we now live with, but thank you also for helping us remember the past, which, for good or bad, shaped our present lives.

Frances Nunnally Richmond

M A R K YO U R C ALE NDAR

May 4

SENIOR IDOL

Shepherd’s Center of Chesterfield is holding the final round of Senior Idol on Friday, May 4 at 7 p.m. at Victory Tabernacle Church, 11700 Genito Rd., Midlothian. This annual talent competition showcases eight local seniors, alongside a similar teenage competition Teen Idol, who will compete for the title. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets purchased in advance cost $10 and $15 at the door. For more information, call (804) 706-9198.

Managing Editor: ..........................Barbara Ruben Assistant Editor: ..........................Rebekah Alcalde Art Director: ....................................Kyle Gregor y Director of Operations: ........................Roger King Advertising Representative: ................Wendy Bond

Fifty Plus Richmond • PO Box 2227 • Silver Spring, MD 20915 PH: 804-673-5203 • info@fiftyplusrichmond.com © Copyright 2018 The Beacon Newspapers, Inc.

Ongoing

AGING SURVEY

The Department of Gerontology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is conducting research on attitudes toward the aging process and are asking for participants for a voluntary fiveminute online survey. Your answers to this survey will remain anonymous and confidential, and no identifiers will be collected. If you have any questions about the study, want additional information, or wish to receive results of the study, please contact the primary researcher, Dr. Tracey Gendron. To access the survey, visit http://bit.ly/VCUAgingSurvey.

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FIFTYPLUS — APRIL 2018

Feature Story Restoring Richmond’s black American history Slave trading center Shockoe Bottom was a commercial slave trade center; in 1861, the largest slave-trading district north of New Orleans.

Enslaved Africans were shipped up the James River, unloaded at Manchester Docks, and forced to walk to jails and pens to await their sale. In the three decades before the Civil War’s 1865 end, traders sold between 300,000 and 350,000 people of African descent out of the area’s auction houses.

Shockoe Bottom had an elaborate slave trade infrastructure of at least five jails, the town gallows, auction houses, hotels, taverns, offices, and shipping and railroad lines.

Gabriel Prosser was executed there in 1800 for leading an unsuccessful slave rebellion.

In 2014, the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed Shockoe Bottom as one of the 11 most endangered historic places in the country. During the 2014 baseball stadium battle, Stephanie Meeks, the Trust’s president, stressed the area’s national significance and told the Washington Post, “We see this as a site of conscience, and one that shouldn’t just be quickly covered up with a baseball stadium.”

Moved to act

See ANA EDWARDS, page 5

MAIL OR FAX FOR FREE INFORMATION For free materials on housing communities and real estate services, just complete and clip this coupon and mail it to Fifty Plus. ❏ Crossings at Bon Air (see ad on page 13) ❏ Crossings at Hanover (see ad on page 6) ❏ David Mize Real Estate (see ad on page 5) ❏ Dominion Place (see ad on page 15) ❏ Greenfield Residences (see ad on page 12) ❏ Guardian Place (see ad on page 8) ❏ Sandston Plateau (see ad on page 6) Name______________________________________________________________ Address_______________________________________________________________ City______________________________________State______Zip________________ Phone (day)__________________________(evening)_________________________ E-mail_________________________________________________________________

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In 2002, Edwards became troubled about substandard conditions in the city jail, including the lack of air conditioning in a building intended for 800 but housing 1,400.

She believed she saw people, disproportionately minorities, being wrongfully convicted, and with Wilayto, founded the Defenders organization. That same year, she organized a protest against a white supremacist group at the Chesterfield Library.

In 2003, the Defenders launched a campaign to put an historic marker at the site of the Burial Ground for Negroes, renamed the Richmond African Burial Ground, where slaves in Prosser’s rebellion were hanged.

The Defenders unveiled the marker in 2004, when Dr. Haskell Bingham, a Prosser descendant, pulled the cord.

Two-hundred people attended a symposium, and then marched behind the banner “Death or Liberty.” This, their first public history project, led to championing the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project.

In 2005, Edwards started a newspaper called The Virginia Defender to advance black history. It is now published by her husband.

From 2005 to 2013, she had a weekly, social justice radio talk show on WRIR, 97.3, called

In the decades before the Civil War, Shockoe Bottom was the largest slave trading center north of New Orleans. Now it’s home to desolate parking lots and empty fields, along with elevated lanes of I-95. Ana Edwards has fought to stop commercial development of the area and instead restore and preserve its history.

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or not, loyally served” the South.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ANA EDWARDS

By Glenda C. Booth Ana Edwards is tackling one of Richmond’s ironies.

In the heart of Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom, under the clattering, elevated lanes of Interstate-95 and two railroad tracks, is a desolate, nine-acre parcel of parking lots and an empty field. Buried under layers of asphalt, road construction detritus and the miscellany of 200-plus years of history are the unmarked graves of enslaved African Americans long forgotten.

The area is just down the hill from St. John’s Church, where Revolutionary patriot and slave owner Patrick Henry delivered his famous 1775 “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech. Just up the opposite hill stands Virginia’s iconic state capitol designed

by Thomas Jefferson, principal author of the Declaration of Independence, also a slave holder.

No one knows how many people were buried here, once also the site of a dog pound and dump. “It’s blighted down there. It’s terrible,” Edwards laments.

Edwards envisions this bleak landscape as a memorial park honoring those who died in slavery or were killed for rebelling. It should be a place of reverence, she maintains.

Edwards, 57, has led opposition to a Flying Squirrels baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom as proposals have surfaced since the early 1990s and most recently in 2014.

Now developers are eyeing the area as a transit hub for a future high-speed rail station, a complex of parking decks, businesses and other commercial development.

But to Edwards and the organization she founded — Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality — it is hallowed ground that should bring sunlight to one of history’s most shameful chapters, and honor those too long ignored, many illiterate, without last names or written records.

“When you are aware of an area’s history, you can see it, you can see what’s hidden,” she explained. “I want to reweave black history into Richmond’s history.”

Citing Monument Avenue and its towering Confederate statues, Ana’s husband, Phil Wilayto, agrees: “It’s a city that is glorifying the Confederacy, but not the burial ground.

The city buried its history and did little.”

In fact, in early March, Robert Lamb, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, proposed to the city’s Monument Avenue Commission that three statues be constructed in Shockoe Bottom honoring Confederate women, captured Confederate soldiers, and African Americans who “willing

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APRIL 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

Fitness &

Health

LOVE THOSE HORMONES The “love hormone” oxytocin affects both men and women, but differently MEN’S HEALTH Men should never ignore two symptoms, which could indicate cancer NOW HEAR THIS Explore the options for improving your hearing sooner rather than later THE SNEEZING SEASON How to tell if you have allergies or the common cold, and treatment options

Why do some stay so sharp as they age?

By Lauran Neergaard It’s pretty extraordinary for people in their 80s and 90s to keep the same sharp memory as someone several decades younger, and now scientists are peeking into the brains of these “superagers” to uncover their secret.

The work is the flip side of the disappointing hunt for new drugs to fight or prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Instead, “why don’t we figure out what it is we might need to do to maximize our memory?” asked neuroscientist Emily Rogalski, who leads the SuperAging study at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Less brain shrinkage Parts of the brain shrink with age, one of the reasons why most people experience a gradual slowing of at least some types of memory late in life, even if they avoid diseases like Alzheimer’s.

But it turns out that superagers’ brains aren’t shrinking nearly as fast as their peers’.

And autopsies of the first superagers to die during the study show they harbor a lot more of a special kind of nerve cell in a deep brain region that’s important for attention, Rogalski told a recent meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

These elite elders are “more than just an

oddity or a rarity,” said neuroscientist Molly Wagster of the National Institute on Aging, which helps fund the research. “There’s the potential for learning an enormous amount and applying it to the rest of us, and even to those who may be on a trajectory for some type of neurodegenerative disease.”

What does it take to be a superager? A youthful brain in the body of someone 80 or older. Rogalski’s team has given a battery of tests to more than 1,000 people who thought they’d qualify, and only about 5 percent pass. The key memory challenge: Listen to 15 unrelated words, and a half-hour later recall at least nine.

That’s the norm for 50-year-olds, but the average 80-year-old recalls five. Some superagers remember them all.

“It doesn’t mean you’re any smarter,” stressed superager William “Bill” Gurolnick, who turns 87 next month and joined the study two years ago. Nor can he credit protective genes: Gurolnick’s father developed Alzheimer’s in his 50s.

He thinks his own stellar memory is bolstered by keeping busy. He bikes, and plays tennis and water volleyball. He stays social through regular lunches, and meetings with a men’s group he co-founded.

“Absolutely, that’s a critical factor about keeping your wits about you,” exclaimed Gurolnick, fresh off his monthly gin game.

Social engagement may help Rogalski’s superagers tend to be extroverts and report strong social networks. But otherwise they come from all walks of life, making it hard to find a common trait for brain health.

Some went to college, some didn’t. Some have high IQs, some are average. She’s studied people who’ve experienced enormous trauma, including a Holocaust survivor; fitness buffs and smokers; teetotalers and those who tout a nightly martini.

But deep in their brains is where she’s finding compelling hints that somehow, superagers are more resilient against the ravages of time.

Early on, brain scans showed that a superager’s cortex — an outer brain layer critical for memory and other key functions — is much thicker than normal for their age. It looks more like the cortex of healthy 50- and 60-year-olds.

It’s not clear if they were born that way.

But Rogalski’s team found another possible explanation: A superager’s cortex doesn’t shrink as fast. Over 18 months, average 80somethings experienced more than twice the rate of loss.

Another clue: Deeper in the brain, that attention region is larger in superagers, too.

And inside, autopsies showed that brain re-

gion was packed with unusual large, spindly neurons — a special and little understood type called von Economo neurons, thought to play a role in social processing and awareness.

The superagers had four to five times more of those neurons than the typical octogenarian, Rogalski said — more even than the average young adult.

The Northwestern study isn’t the only attempt at unraveling long-lasting memory. At the University of California, Irvine, Dr. Claudia Kawas studies the oldest-old, people 90 and above. Some have Alzheimer’s, some have maintained excellent memory, and some are in between.

About 40 percent of the oldest-old who showed no symptoms of dementia in life nonetheless have full-fledged signs of Alzheimer’s disease in their brains at death, Kawas told the AAAS meeting.

Rogalski also found varying amounts of amyloid and tau, hallmark Alzheimer’s proteins, in the brains of some superagers.

Now scientists are exploring how these people deflect damage. Maybe superagers have different pathways to brain health.

“They are living long and living well,” Rogalski said. “Are there modifiable things we can think about today, in our everyday lives” to do the same?

— AP

Can acupuncture replace opioids for pain?

By Jennifer McDermott, Dake Kang and Mike Stobbe Marine veteran Jeff Harris was among the first to sign up when the Providence VA hospital started offering acupuncture for chronic pain.

“I don’t like taking pain medication. I don’t like the way it makes me feel,” he said. Harris also didn’t want to risk getting addicted to heavy-duty prescription painkillers.

Although long derided as pseudoscience and still questioned by many medical experts, acupuncture is increasingly being embraced by patients and doctors, sometimes as

an alternative to the powerful painkillers behind the nation’s opioid crisis.

The military and Veterans Affairs medical system has been offering acupuncture for pain for several years, some insurance companies cover it, and now a small but growing number of Medicaid programs in states hit hard by opioid overdoses have started providing it for low-income patients.

Ohio’s Medicaid program recently expanded its coverage after an opioid task force urged state officials to explore alternative pain therapies.

“We have a really serious problem here,”

said Dr. Mary Applegate, medical director for Ohio’s Medicaid department. “If it’s proven to be effective, we don’t want to have barriers in the way of what could work.”

The epidemic was triggered by an explosion in prescriptions of powerful painkiller pills, though many of the recent overdose opioid deaths are attributed to heroin and illicit fentanyl.

Many opioid addictions begin with patients in pain seeking help, and acupuncture is increasingly seen as a way to help keep some patients from ever having to go on opioids in the first place.

Mixed study results For a long time in the U.S., acupuncture was considered unstudied and unproven — some skeptics called it “quack-u-puncture.”

While there’s now been a lot of research on acupuncture for different types of pain, the quality of the studies has been mixed, and so have the results.

Federal research evaluators say there’s some good evidence acupuncture can help some patients manage some forms of pain.

But they also have described the benefits of See ACUPUNCTURE, page 6

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FIFTYPLUS — APRIL 2018

Ana Edwards From page 3 “Defenders Lives.”

In 2015, the Defenders completed a concept plan for a memorial park. Edwards sees the Sacred Ground project as a logical evolution to addressing today’s challenges and to advocating for the right of the oppressed to self-determination.

“Today’s signs of oppression are manifested in the management of public housing, and barriers to getting out of poverty,” she said. “Some people have little hope.”

Edwards is dogged, according to her colleagues. “I appreciate her willingness to step out there and bring a perspective that needs to be heard,” said University of Richmond history professor Lauranett Lee. “She really has the tenacity to pursue a holistic appreciation of our cultural resources.”

A memorial park The Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project proposes a nine-acre memorial park with three elements. One site, once known as “Devil’s Half Acre,” would recognize the demolished Lumpkin’s Jail, which imprisoned men, women and children.

Robert Lumpkin touted his “success” in breaking rebellious slaves. In 2006, archaeologists found the jail’s stone foundation.

In 2008, local historian Elizabeth Kam-

bourian discovered an early 19th century map showing the Burial Ground for Negroes, and concluded that part of the burial ground was under the current Shockoe Bottom parking lot. The Defenders’ plan would make this area a central part of the park.

A third section would recognize the slave trade’s commercial infrastructure. “We do not want to recreate the Williamsburg of the slave trade,” explains Edwards, but to educate people about all facets of the buying and selling of enslaved people. Her purpose is to tell Shockoe Bottom’s entire story.

She cites as a model New York City’s African Burial Ground National Monument, a site rediscovered in 1991 when authorities were considering lower Manhattan for a federal office building.

When passersby saw bulldozers unearthing bones, officials dug into records and learned that 15,000 people were buried there, once the largest colonial-era cemetery for people of African descent. City leaders, led by Mayor David Dinkins, called in experts and initiated a formal process to document and properly curate the site, “a kind of cultural reparations,” said Edwards.

So far, the city is pursuing national historic landmark designation for Lumpkin’s Jail, but not the entire site. In February, city officials started a process with the community to develop design specifics, guided by experts from the National League of Cities’ Rose Center.

Mayor Levar Stoney explained, “Our goal is to find ways to protect and honor the significant historical nature of this area while promoting its growth and opportunity given environmental challenges. By creating partnerships and working together, we are poised to find a solution that will create a compelling destination for our residents and our visitors.”

The city council has not passed any zoning or historic preservation measures.

Edwards has garnered support from numerous organizations, including the NAACP’s Richmond branch, the Richmond Crusade for Voters, the Sierra Club’s Fall of the James Chapter, the Route 5 Corridor Coalition, Preservation Virginia, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Richmond roots Edwards’ ancestry is one driver of her work. She has traced her father’s ancestors to today’s Cameroon, and confirmed that many of her forebears were sold out of Richmond from the 1830s to 1865.

She is also of European descent. Her mother’s great-grandparents came from Norway to the U.S. “for a better life,” they wrote.

Edwards grew up in Texas, then moved with her parents to New York, where they were artists. She received a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University and moved to Richmond in 1988, where she raised two sons.

She now lives in the Forest Hill area, and

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inspired by the Sacred Ground project, is working on a master’s in history at Virginia Commonwealth University. Two days a week, at the American Civil War Museum, she helps tell the Civil War story from multiple points of view — that of Union soldiers, Confederates and African Americans.

Edwards sees the Defenders’ work as part of a worldwide movement. She comments, “The impact of the trans-Atlantic and domestic slave trades on all New World peoples and nations has been devastating on the one hand.

On the other, we are here now, the result of it all, and have to figure out how to go forward.

“And Richmonders, no less than any others, want to see that history, the struggle and the planning for a better future reflected in the landscapes they live in.”

Noting that 2019 is the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first Africans to the Virginia colony, she scolds national officials.

“There is no clear messaging coming from our national leaders,” she said. “That is most telling and troubling for the country.”

What moves her to act?

“First, learning history empowers and energizes me and I’ve seen it empower others.

Second, this project will reveal the truth, acknowledge the truth, and we will learn from it.

This is Richmond’s opportunity for a kind of truth and reconciliation process,” she explained.

“It’s all about what it means to be American and how we got here.”

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Fitness & Health | www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

Acupuncture From page 4 acupuncture as modest, and say more research is needed.

Among doctors, there remains lively debate over how much of any benefit can be attributed simply to patients’ belief that the treatment is working — the so-called “placebo effect.”

“There may be a certain amount of placebo effect. Having said that, it is still quite effective as compared to no treatment,” said Dr. Ankit Maheshwari, a pain medicine specialist at Case Western Reserve University, who sees it as valuable for neck pain, migraines and a few other types of pain problems.

Many doctors are ambivalent about acupuncture, but still willing to let patients give it a try, said Dr. Steven Novella, a neurologist at Yale University and editor of an alternative medicinebashing website. He considers acupuncture a form of patient-fooling theater.

Acupuncturists and their proponents are “exploiting the opioid crisis to try to promote

acupuncture as an alternative treatment,” he said. “But promoting a treatment that doesn’t work is not going to help the crisis.”

Acupuncture has been practiced in China for thousands of years, and customarily involves inserting thin metal needles into specific points in the ears or other parts the body.

Practitioners say needles applied at just the right spots can restore the flow of a mystical energy — called “qi” (pronounced CHEE) — through the body, and that can spur natural healing and pain relief.

In government surveys, 1 in 67 U.S. adults say they get acupuncture every year, up from 1 in 91 a decade earlier. That growth has taken place even though most patients pay for it themselves: 2012 figures show that insurance covered the cost of acupuncture for only a quarter of adults.

Medicare says no; military says yes The largest federal government insurance program, Medicare, does not pay for acupuncture. Tricare, the insurance program

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VIRGINIA WAR MEMORIAL

The Shrine at the Virginia War Memorial honors Virginians who have made the ultimate sacrifice. By buying a brick on the Walkway of Honors, you can leave a lasting tribute to a loved one. For more information, visit http://vawarmemorial.org/bricks.

APRIL 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

for active duty and retired military personnel and their families, does not pay for it either.

But VA facilities offer it, charging no more than a copay. Jeff Harris signed up for acupuncture two years ago. The 50-year-old Marine Corp veteran said he injured his back while rappelling, and had other hard falls during his military training in the 1980s.

As a result, he has shooting pain down his legs and deadness of feeling in his feet.

Acupuncture “helped settled my nerve pain down,” said Harris, of Foxboro, Mass.

Another vet, Harry Garcia, 46, of Danielson, Conn., tried acupuncture for his chronic back pain after years of heavy pain medications.

Acupuncture is “just like an eraser. It just takes everything away” for a brief period, and keeps pain down for up to 10 days, said Garcia.

There’s a history to the open-mindedness in the military. About a decade ago, the military and Veteran Affairs began promoting a range of alternative approaches to pain treatment, including acupuncture, yoga and chiropractic care.

In 2009, former Army Surgeon General Dr. Eric Schoomaker chartered a task force to reevaluate the Army’s approach to pain, which had centered on opioids. The focus was understandable — “nobody who has his leg blown off screams for acupuncture,” said Schoomaker, who is now a professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, a military medical school in Bethesda, Md.

But he added there was also openness to acupuncture and other approaches among soldiers and sailors who, while overseas, had tried non-drug approaches for chronic pain.

Schoomaker said he was inspired to seriously consider alternative approaches by his wife, a yoga instructor.

Now two-thirds of military hospitals and other treatment centers offer acupuncture, according to a recent study.

The military’s openness to alternatives is “because the need is so great there,” said Emmeline Edwards of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, a federal scientific research agency. “Perhaps some of the approaches have been used without a strong evidence base. They’re more willing to try an approach and see if it works.”

Her agency is teaming up the Pentagon and the VA to spend $81 million on research projects to study the effectiveness of a variety of nondrug approaches to treating chronic pain.

While research continues, insurance coverage of acupuncture keeps expanding. California, Massachusetts, Oregon and Rhode Island pay for acupuncture for pain through their Medicaid insurance programs.

Massachusetts and Oregon also cover acupuncture as a treatment for substance abuse, though scientists question how well it reduces the cravings caused by chemical dependency.

— AP

FIFTYPLUS — APRIL 2018

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APRIL 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

Explaining love hormones, eye floaters

By Dr. Howard LeWine Q: Do humans really have a love hormone?

A: Yes, we do. It’s called oxytocin. It’s one of the many hormones released into the blood stream from the pituitary gland, a small structure at the base of our brain.

It got the name “love hormone” because of its association with intimacy, both physical and mental. The pituitary gland releases oxytocin in response to a variety of stimuli.

In women, it plays an important role in childbirth by promoting contraction of the uterus during labor. Breastfeeding also raises levels of the hormone. Nipple stimulation sends signals to the pituitary gland to send out more oxytocin, resulting in a positive cycle of loving feelings and bonding with the baby.

Sexual intimacy raises levels of oxytocin.

But so do many other types of social bonding, like hugging, holding hands, or just having loving feelings about people close to us.

Oxytocin is a natural stress reliever. When our love hormone level rises, it acts on our brain to diminish anxiety and induce relaxation.

In addition, a higher oxytocin level is associated with lower blood pressures and heart rates.

While there are important biological benefits for women, men also make oxytocin.

And they can release just as much of the love

hormone as women do.

But the mind and body response to oxytocin is not the same for both sexes. Testosterone dampens the positive effects of oxytocin; estrogen appears to enhance them.

Researchers have found that there are distinct differences in the way women and men experience, and respond to, stress. This could be related to the dampening vs. enhancing properties of male verses female hormones.

When under stress, both men and women release epinephrine and cortisol — the hormones that help ready us to fight or flee.

Given the greater oxytocin influence in women, they are less likely to fight or flee when faced with stressors. Instead, their tendency is to “tend-and-befriend.”

“Tending” is nurturing behavior designed to protect and relieve distress. “Befriending” refers to seeking and maintaining social connections.

Men under stress release testosterone, which overrides any stress relieving properties of oxytocin. This makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint. Thousands of years ago a heightened fight or flee response was necessary for male survival.

But in modern times, not so much. In fact, tamping down the stress response is an important part of a healthy lifestyle for everyone.

So, what can a man do? As a male, I can’t naturally do anything to alter my testosterone level, and I don’t want to. But the suggestion that I might help boost my oxytocin level with more social bonding sounds very appealing.

Q: I developed spots in my left eye.

My doctor called them floaters. I wear glasses and, other than being a bit annoying, my vision seems fine. Will they go away? If so, how long will it take?

A: As we age, the thick, jelly-like substance that fills the center of the eye — called the vitreous — can form blobs that look like spots, cobwebs or strings. Some of this debris may wind up floating around and blocking some of the light coming into your eyes.

Most floaters are small and don’t bother vision much. But if they are larger or ringshaped, they might indicate that the vitreous, which normally hugs the retina in the back of the eye, has freed itself from the retina.

When there is a sudden appearance of larger floaters, it may be caused by a detached or torn retina. If that happens, you should immediately call your eye doctor or primary care physician. A detached or torn retina requires prompt diagnosis and treatment.

People at risk for retinal tears include those who are older, are nearsighted, have a

family history of a retinal detachment, or have had eye surgery.

Most floaters are usually just a nuisance. In many cases, floaters become less noticeable or more tolerable over time, and can even disappear. But how much they bother you and how long it lasts varies.

In extreme cases, surgery can be considered.

The traditional procedure is known as a vitrectomy. The eye surgeon removes the gel — along with its floaters. It’s effective, but it has risks, including cataracts (cloudy lenses) and retinal detachment. It’s usually a last resort for people whose floaters make it hard for them to see.

Another treatment called YAG vitreolysis uses a laser procedure to vaporize floaters by heating them. Although most eye surgeons don’t recommend it, a recent study suggested that for very large floaters it appears to be effective and safe, at least in the short run.

However, the researchers acknowledge that larger and longer studies are needed.

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, please visit www.health.harvard.edu. © 2018 President and Fellows of Harvard College. All Rights Reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

804-355-3013 1620 N. Hamilton Street Richmond, VA 23230

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FIFTYPLUS — APRIL 2018

9

Men: never ignore these two symptoms

By Dr. Eric A. Klein Do you put off seeing a doctor for regular checkups or to discuss a health concern?

This can be risky.

While symptoms often can be benign or require minimal treatment, in some cases, they also can be early signs of cancer. By dismissing them without talking to a doctor, you could miss a chance for early cancer diagnosis — and early treatment.

Doctors identify each of the most common cancers in men — prostate, testes, bladder and kidney — differently. Some signs may suggest cancer, while others may indicate some other condition.

Even if it is simply to rule out more serious problems, you should see a doctor if you experience these two symptoms: 1. Changes and pain in your testicles Testes cancer, or testicular cancer, occurs mainly in men between the ages of 15 and 35, but it can also develop in children and older men. The most common symptoms are pain, swelling, hardness or a lump in the testicle.

You can detect all of these signs with a selfexam.

If you do notice any of these changes in either of your testicles, see your primary care doctor for an evaluation.

2. Blood in your urine

As a sign by itself, blood in the urine (hematuria) is usually associated with other non-cancerous conditions, such as an enlarged prostate or a kidney or bladder stone.

However, this is also one of the signs of both kidney cancer and bladder cancer. It’s important to talk to your doctor if you ever see blood in your urine.

If you detect either of these two symptoms, it’s best to see your doctor first for an initial evaluation and further instructions. Your doctor may then send you to a urologist for a more detailed assessment and possible testing.

PSA, a protein produced by the prostate gland.

I suggest having your first PSA test at age 50. The results will determine how often you need to get tested in the future. If it is at or below average, then you should have another PSA in five years. If it’s above average, I recommend a PSA every two years.

Younger men should also perform a monthly self-exam of the testicles and be aware of any changes or lumps that may develop. Watching for these symptoms, and checking with your doctor if you notice anything unusual, will increase your chances of

Testing for cancer

M A R K YO U R CAL EN DA R

If needed, tests for these cancers will include the following: — If you notice changes in your testicles, an ultrasound of the testicles is the first step; depending on the results, your doctor may order additional tests and treatments.

— For blood in the urine, a urine culture and cytology test (to analyze contents of urine), CT urogram (imaging exam for urinary tract) and cystoscopy (visual exam of bladder) are typical tests.

In prostate cancer, there are usually no symptoms, so it is usually diagnosed with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. This is a simple blood test to determine the levels of

Apr. 21

You can make a difference in the lives of low-literate adults.

Donate your car, RV, truck, or other vehicle through CARS to benefit The READ Center.

Schedule a pick-up by calling 1-855-500-RIDE or visit www.readcenter.org/ donate-today.

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detecting cancer early and getting the necessary treatment.

For self-exam instructions, see testicularcancersociety.org/testicular-self-exam.html.

This information provided by Cleveland Clinic HealthEssentials. A Wellness Update is a magazine devoted to up-to-the minute information on health issues from physicians, major hospitals and clinics, universities and healthcare agencies across the U.S. Online at www.awellnessupdate.com. © 2018 www.awellnessupdate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

SURVIVING DISASTERS

The Central Virginia Emergency Management Alliance will host a free Survivor Day program during which emergency and communityresponse professionals will teach residents the best ways to prepare for disasters.

The event on Saturday, April 21 opens at 8 a.m. for registration and will last until noon. Attendees will learn how to survive in their homes without power for at least 72 hours, what to take with them should they need to evacuate and more. Topics include “Basic Active Shooter Awareness,” “Food and Water Safety,” “Household Safety,” “First Aid and Hygiene,” “Planning and Documents,” and “Fraud, Home, Security and Identity Protection.” Registered attendees who complete the training will receive a free backpack with emergency supplies (limit one per household).

Training takes place at Eanes-Pittman Public Safety Training Center, 6610 Public Safety Way, Chesterfield. For more information, visit http://survivorday.com or call (804) 323-2033.

10

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APRIL 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

Options for those with hearing problems

By Mary Kane Stephen Moore began to realize he had hearing problems more than a decade ago, when people seemed to mumble in conversations.

He asked his wife to repeat lines at the movies. “It drove her crazy,� he said. He turned the TV volume up so high that family members complained.

Finally, when he felt he was missing out on hearing important details during meetings at work, he got his hearing tested and was then fitted for hearing aids. “Hearing loss is so gradual, you don’t really recognize it until your hearing is impaired and it gets really bad,� said Moore, now 57. An economist for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, Moore also works as a TV analyst. He said, “there’s still a little bit of a stigma about wearing hearing aids.�

As people age, they often don’t immediately recognize hearing decline or seek treatment for it, said Barbara Kelley, executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America. It takes an average of 7 to 10 years from the time someone recognizes he or she has a hearing loss until getting help for it, she said.

According to a report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medi-

cine, about 80 percent of adults who could benefit from a hearing aid don’t get one.

Baby boomers are sometimes reluctant to take even the first step of getting a hearing test, seeing it as a sign of aging, and fearing having to wear “that brown plastic thing behind your ear,� Kelley said.

There’s also the fact that hearing aids can be expensive — as much as $3,000 per ear — and aren’t covered by Medicare and only sometimes by other insurance.

Over the counter alternatives So it was good news for people with hearing loss when Congress last August authorized the Food and Drug Administration to create a new class of hearing devices, which will be available over the counter and expected to cost far less than what you pay for a device from the audiologist’s office.

The over-the-counter hearing aids are for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss and will be FDA-regulated.

The only way now to purchase a hearing aid is through an audiologist or hearing instrument specialist. In the future, certain hearing aids and other hearing wearable devices will be available in pharmacies and electronics retailers.

What’s often confusing, though, is that

some over-the-counter alternatives, sometimes called personal sound amplification products, are available in stores now.

Moore, for example, once grabbed a cheap pair when he lost his regular hearing aids on a trip. Quality and prices for the devices vary widely. Some disposables sell for $20 to $30 per pair, while high-tech sound amplifiers cost several hundred dollars.

But these devices aren’t considered medical devices or regulated by the FDA, and they can’t be marketed as hearing aids or as a product to improve hearing loss, even with the new law.

The FDA has up to three years to write regulations and set safety and labeling standards for the authorized OTC devices. An FDA spokesperson said the agency won’t speculate on a time frame for the process. Once regulations are in place, expect lower prices for FDA-approved aids, and more choices.

Getting help now Don’t wait to address your hearing health until the guidance is sorted out. Get tested by an audiologist, take an online screening test, or visit a hearing center that has licensed hearing health providers.

Single device costs range from about $400 to $2,500. Find a hearing aids guide at hear-

ingloss.org.

Take advantage of hearing aid discounts.

Costco offers its own brand of hearing aids and other hearing services. Drugstore chain CVS has opened 32 hearing centers in seven states, with plans to expand this year, a company spokesperson said.

Or try a high-tech device that’s not a hearing aid. Hearing technology company Nuheara sells wireless earbuds that work with a smartphone app for about $300 a pair. Wearers can tune out background noise at restaurants, offices or outdoors, and can “control how they hear the world around them,� said company cofounder David Cannington.

Do you need a hearing aid?

The following are some signs of when to consider having your hearing tested, according to the FDA: You hear better out of one ear than the other.

People say you are shouting when you talk.

You often ask people to repeat themselves.

You can’t hear a dripping faucet or highpitched musical notes. Š 2018 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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11

Is it the common cold or seasonal allergies?

Q: I woke up feeling ver y tired, and I have a cough and r unny nose.

How can I tell if it is my allergies with the flowers blooming, or if I have caught a cold?

DR. RX A: Spring is

By Jiwon “Jasmine” Oh here, and many people have seasonal allergies when trees and plants bloom.

Pollen is carried by the wind and ends up in our nose, eyes and lungs. Our immune system reacts to this by releasing histamine, which causes coughing, mucus production and itchiness in the eyes, nose and throat.

However, it can be difficult for the average person to distinguish between seasonal allergies and the common cold since they have similar symptoms. And many viruses, which cause colds, have frequent outbreaks in early to late spring as well.

It is important to distinguish between the common cold and seasonal allergies, as there are different treatment options available for each.

Symptom

Common Cold Seasonal Allergy Treatment Options

Muscle aches Fatigue, weakness Fever Cough Headache Stuffy nose

Usually Usually Occasionally Occasionally Occasionally Usually

Rarely Rarely Very rarely Occasionally Occasionally Usually

Runny nose, itching, sneezing

Usually

Usually

Sore throat

Usually

Occasionally

Itchy ears and throat

Rarely

Usually

Allergy symptoms typically persist for one to three months or longer, while the common cold generally resolves within 10 days. There is no cure for the common cold, but we can treat the symptoms to provide relief.

The chart above summarizes symptoms of

Pain relievers such as Tylenol (acetaminophen) or Motrin (ibuprofen) Rest and drink plenty of fluids (avoid caffeine and alcohol) Fever reducers such as Tylenol (acetaminophen) or Motrin (ibuprofen) Cough suppressants such as Mucinex or Robitussin (guaifenesin) Pain relievers such as Tylenol (acetaminophen) or Motrin (ibuprofen) Saline nasal spray, nasal decongestant such as Afrin (oxymetazoline), oral decongestant such as Sudafed (pseudoephedrine). Nasal decongestants should not be used for longer than three to five days or they can cause rebound congestion, which is when nasal congestion is brought back on or worsened. Pseudoephedrine has many possible side effects such as high blood pressure, headache, dizziness, and trouble sleeping.

Older adults may be more sensitive to these. Also, pseudoephedrine should not be used if you have high blood pressure.

Antihistamines such as Claritin (loratadine), Zyrtec (cetirizine), Alle. gra (fexofenadine). Benadryl (diphenhydramine) should be avoided be cause of its side effects.

Pain relievers such as Tylenol (acetaminophen) or Motrin (ibuprofen), throat lozenges and sprays such as Chloraseptic (phenol) Antihistamines such as loratadine (Claritin), cetirizine (Zyrtec), fexofenadine (Allegra).

the common cold and seasonal allergies to help distinguish between them, and includes potential treatments of each symptom.

It is important to remember that if symptoms of either seasonal allergies or a cold do not improve after a few weeks of treatment,

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you should contact your doctor. If you ever have questions about which over-the-counter options may be best for you, don’t hesitate to ask your local pharmacist for help.

Jiwon Oh is a Pharm. D. student at VCU School of Pharmacy.

12

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APRIL 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

Try stuffed tomatoes instead of peppers

By Melissa D’Arabian Does your meatless Monday game need an overhaul?

As a meat-eater myself, I find that the trick to meatless meal-making is to have a small repertoire of recipes that can work as a side dish or first course, or be eaten in larger quantities as a vegetarian main dish. This is the same strategy I use when hosting a vegetarian in my home.

Today’s Quinoa-Stuffed Tomatoes fits the bill perfectly. Serve one tomato as a tasty and toothsome side along some roasted chicken or sliced beef tenderloin, or double up for a vegetarian meal that will fill you up, even if you aren’t vegetarian.

These tomatoes can be made in advance, so they are equally brilliant for both company dinners and weeknight family suppers.

For this recipe, tomatoes, a favorite source of heart-healthy lycopene, are stuffed with quinoa and sauteed eggplant and mushrooms, both hefty, meaty vegetables. You can

swap out the quinoa for brown rice, and use whatever veggies you find in the crisper drawer, or even in your freezer.

Baking tomatoes is an excellent strategy for using up the less-than-perfectly-sweet ones that winter can bring. A big bonus: roasted tomatoes are simply gorgeous, appealing to our farm-to-table sensibilities.

While I don’t think you’ll miss the meat, if you must, feel free to add a little cooked ground meat right into the filling. Either way, you’ll have a healthy and hearty dish that is a nice change from the classic stuffed pepper.

And as for the pulpy, fleshy middle of the tomato that you’ll remove to stuff it: don’t throw it out! Blend it up — juice, seeds and all — with a little garlic and onion, and then mix it into your next tomato-based pasta sauce, or use it as part of your liquid next time you make rice.

Quinoa-Stuffed Tomatoes Servings: 8 (side); 4 (main)

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Start to finish: 1 hour, including inactive cooking time 8 medium sized tomatoes 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 small yellow onion, diced (about 3/4 cup) 1 small eggplant, cut into small dice (1/2 inch), about 2 cups 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup roughly chopped or sliced white mushrooms 3 tablespoons dry white wine 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil 1 1/2 cup cooked quinoa 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper Preheat the oven to 375 F. Slice off the top of each tomato, reserving the tops.

Run a paring knife around the inner rim of the tomato, loosening up the flesh on the inside of the tomato. Use a small spoon and scoop out the flesh, juice and seeds of the tomato. (Either discard or pulse in blender to use in a tomato sauce.)

Sprinkle the insides of the tomatoes with half the salt and set aside. In a large saute pan, cook the onion and eggplant in the olive oil over medium high heat until vegetables start to soften, about 8 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook until

mushrooms soften, about 5 more minutes.

Pour in the wine and stir to let it evaporate.

Add the basil, quinoa, remaining salt and pepper and turn off the heat. Stir in the parmesan cheese. Gently spoon the filling into the empty tomatoes, and top each one with a reserved tomato top.

Place the tomatoes in a baking dish sprayed with a little olive oil from a mister (or nonstick spray). Then mist the tomatoes themselves with a quick spray of olive oil from a mister.

Cover the dish with an oven-safe lid or foil.

(Tip: Crinkle up foil into a ball if you need to secure tomatoes in baking dish so they don’t slide around.) Bake until the tomatoes are tender and quinoa mixture is hot, about 35 to 40 minutes.

Chef’s note: The recipe works well with up to a half pound of cooked ground meat added to the filling, if desired.

Nutrition information per serving: 115 calories; 26 calories from fat; 3 g. fat (1 g. saturated; 0 g. trans fats); 2 mg. cholesterol; 176 mg. sodium; 19 g. carbohydrate; 5 g. fiber; 6 g. sugar; 5 g. protein.

Food Network star Melissa d’Arabian is an expert on healthy eating on a budget. She is the author of the cookbook, “Supermarket Healthy.”

Online: http://www.melissadarabian.net

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

FIFTYPLUS — APRIL 2018

Money

13

BECOME A SCAM SPOTTER Check for outlandish claims, grammatical errors and requests for personal information to decide if someone is trying to take advantage of you online or by mail NON-NEGOTIABLE If you hate to haggle at auto dealerships, do your homework first to determine the best prices, and get offers via email

How to avoid huge, surprise medical bills

By Tom Murphy The winter’s nasty flu season may smack patients with a financial side effect: surprise medical bills.

People who wind up in the emergency room or need an ambulance can be blindsided by hefty, unexpected charges. This often happens after patients visit a doctor or hospital outside their insurance network.

Insurance deductibles that reset every January and must be paid before coverage begins can make these invoices even more painful.

Here’s a look at the issue and some tips for dealing with surprises:

Complicated network Insurers form networks of doctors, hospitals and others and then negotiate rates with them.

Doctors cannot bill outside those agreed-upon rates for in-network care.

For out-of-network care, however, providers can bill patients the difference or leftover balance between what the insurer paid for the care and what was charged.

On top of that, many insurers also make customers pay separate, higher deductibles for out-of-network care before they will provide coverage. Then they tend to cover less of the remaining bill than they would have for in-network care.

The end result could mean a bill topping

several thousand dollars, depending on the coverage and the care a patient needs.

Some plans even provide no coverage for non-emergency care outside their network.

That’s more common with individual coverage sold on the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces.

Networks in those marketplaces also have gotten particularly narrow in recent years, which makes it easier for patients to end up with an out-of-network provider.

Source of confusion When you’re on the way to the ER, patients are focused on getting help and not always researching their coverage. Even if a patient

chooses an in-network hospital, the doctor delivering care there may be out of network.

For more complicated cases, the odds of that happening increase. A doctor assisting in a surgery may be out of network, and so might the anesthesiologist.

A woman may give birth with help from an in-network doctor. But the baby may wind up in neonatal intensive care, where a doctor outside the network treats it.

Ambulance rides are another case where a patient may have little control over who provides the care. “You call 911, and the ambulance that shows up is the ambulance you See MEDICAL BILLS, page 15

14

Law & Money | www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

APRIL 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

How to spot scams in the mail and online

By Sean McDonnell There is no shortage of ways for crooks to try to separate you from your money. All it takes is letting your guard down for one moment, or overlooking the warning signs of fraud, for scammers to steal your personal information.

In 2016, thieves stole more than $16 billion from 15.4 million consumers, according to a report by Javelin Strategy & Research. Older adults are frequently the targets. A report published last August in the American Journal of Public Health found that one in 18 older Americans falls victim to a financial fraud or scam each year.

As a financial adviser to many retired clients, I can attest that identity theft and cybersecurity are among the top financial concerns of older adults.

It’s now common for me to talk with clients not about their portfolios, but about a suspicious email or letter. I’ve also been the target of financial scam attempts myself.

In the past couple of months, I’ve encountered three types of scams for the first time.

All told, I’ve learned to decipher the tell-tale signs of financial scam artists.

Here are three real-life examples of financial scams, and how to tell when someone is trying to take advantage of you.

Your long-lost relative Although digital data breaches and pandemic malware get the headlines, thieves continue to use old-fashioned forms of communication, such as the phone and regular postal mail, to deceive their victims.

You should have seen the looks on my teen sons’ faces when I showed them the letter that arrived in our mailbox. It was sent from Alfred Consultants in Newmarket, Ontario, and it detailed some fantastic news — my recently deceased ancestor, James McDonnell, had left me $4.2 million.

The letter looked official. It had the consultant’s name in big bold letters. It was marked “private and personal,” and it even listed a reference number.

The consultant explained in the letter that he was already in possession of the funds and could easily transfer them to me. My boys were excited about our newfound wealth and asked how soon we would get the money.

That’s when I pointed out the letter’s many flaws, which are also prevalent in spam emails: • There were many grammatical errors and inconsistencies. For example, the letter omitted proper salutations and my first name. It was addressed not to “Sean” or “Mr.” but to “Dear McDonnell.” Further, the contact email provided was bernardoconsultants@gmail.com, which is

not consistent with the company’s name, Alfred Consultants. (Not to mention, using a gmail address rather than an official company email address is suspicious in itself.)

• The consultant requested that we only communicate by email or fax — not by phone or mail. That’s a red flag suggesting they are attempting to avoid federal anti-fraud laws.

• While I do have multiple ancestors named James, it’s also a common name that could have been easily pulled from public records or simply guessed.

• The consultant should not already have possession of the funds, even if they really existed, for obvious reasons.

• Finally, the consultant had already deemed me as the sole heir, instead of first trying to determine if I was of any relation to the late James McDonnell he spoke of.

While it may seem that these apparent mistakes are the work of an unintelligent scammer, there’s actually a method to the ineptitude.

Fraudsters purposefully place errors in letters and emails to quickly weed out more discerning individuals who are least likely to give up valuable personal information.

Needless to say, my sons’ dreams of shiny new sports cars for their 16th birthdays were dashed. But they learned the valuable lesson that things that seem too good to be true often are.

Social media quizzes Social media is, well, social. Every day we share photos and experiences with our friends and family. But, unknowingly, we may be also sharing valuable information with unwanted strangers. With more than 2 billion active users worldwide on Facebook alone, scammers are all over social media platforms, searching for users to con.

One popular ploy used by scammers are those quizzes and surveys people frequently complete and share. They typically promise a free gift, or offer to reveal what movie character you’re most like or what city you should live in.

All you have to do is answer what seem like innocuous personal questions, such as: What’s your favorite color? Who was your favorite teacher? What’s the name of the street you grew up on? Who was your best man/maid of honor? What was the model of your first car?

And, so on.

Take a moment to think about these questions. You may realize they are familiar.

That’s because many websites require you to answer similar security questions before you can gain access to things like your bank or credit card account. What seems like a harmless gimmick is a way for scammers to collect See SPOT SCAMS, page 15

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FIFTYPLUS — APRIL 2018

Spot scams From page 14 personally identifiable information that can be used to defraud you.

By filling out one of these surveys, you could unwittingly be giving crooks the keys to your money. Further, people often click “accept” on the terms and conditions of a social media site or app without a second thought, granting permission to pass on their data.

When in doubt, never click on an unfamiliar link or widely share your personal details.

Consider even setting your social profiles to private so that you can better control who sees your posts.

Social media can be a great way to keep in

Medical bills From page 13 take,” said Erin Fuse Brown, a Georgia State law professor who researches medical billing.

How to avoid, or deal with, surprises If you’re having a planned surgery or procedure, check ahead with both your insurer and the hospital or doctor to make sure they are in network. Also, ask about any physicians that may assist with the procedure.

If you wind up with a surprise bill, check first for errors in what was charged, or if you have been billed out of network by mistake.

touch with family and friends, but always be careful with what you share. There’s no way to know who is keeping watch.

Warning! Warning! Click this link!

Imagine that while you’re reading this article, a window pops up on your computer screen that said: “*Microsoft Warning Alert*: Your computer has been hacked! Please call us immediately at 800-555-5555. Do not ignore this critical alert. If you close this page, your computer will be disabled. If you do not call in the next five minutes your data will be lost.”

Scammers like to try to use our emotions against us. In this case, preying on our anxiety when an alert suddenly appears.

A friend of mine recently received a warnThen ask if the claim can be processed again as in-network care, especially if you had no way of knowing it was out of network beforehand.

If that fails, some hospitals may be willing to negotiate discounts or put you on a payment plan.

In some markets, the law may be on your side. New York, California and several other states prevent providers from dropping surprise bills on patients unless the person had agreed to out-of-network care ahead of time.

But there are no federal laws that govern surprise medical bills. And those state laws don’t apply to some forms of insurance, like

15

ing message just like it, and with no time to spare, quickly called the number listed. A member of the “Microsoft Security Team” informed him that he did, indeed, have a breach on his computer.

They told him they could clean the hard drive remotely for $550. All he needed to do was provide his banking information and then click on a link in an email they would send, which would allow remote access to his computer.

The red flags in this scam are relatively easy to spot. First, Microsoft is not going to contact you about a hack on your individual computer.

Second, no one other than a legitimate financial institution should ever ask for your

bank account information.

Finally, no one with good intentions will solicit you for remote access to your computer.

Once in, scammers can further infect your computer with malware and steal any personal information that you may have stored or that you enter thereafter.

Commands to take immediate action to resolve an issue should be met with a healthy dose of skepticism. Better yet, always treat anyone or anything that involves your money or personal information with the utmost caution.

Ask a lot of questions. When in doubt, seek the advice of friends or relatives. © 2018 The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

the coverage millions of people receive from large employers, said Kevin Lucia of Georgetown University.

At the very least, don’t ignore a surprise medical bill. A hospital may report your ac-

count to a credit agency or turn it over to a debt collector who sues or tries to have your wages garnished.

“It’s not going to go away,” said Fuse Brown.

— AP

M A R K YO U R CAL EN DA R

Apr. 16

CHESTERFIELD PLANNING MEETING

Chesterfield County is holding a meeting on Monday, Apr. 16 from 6:30 to 10 p.m. for residents pertaining to rezoning case 18SN0560, the planned mega site. The meeting is located at Carver Middle School Auditorium, 3800 Cougar Trail, Chester. For more information, visit www.chesterfield.gov/megasite.

16

Law & Money | www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

APRIL 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

How to negotiate a car if you hate haggling

1. Know your numbers In the car business, there’s a saying: “Hit ‘em with high numbers — then scrape them off the ceiling and make a deal.” But if you have a good idea of what you should pay for a car, this trick won’t work.

Picture this: The dealer said an SUV is $27,500, but your research found the current price is $24,500. Do you think you’ll have trouble saying no?

Research the key numbers first, and that knowledge will guide you through the negotiation and depersonalize the interaction, since

you’re relying on data rather than opinion or emotion to establish the sales price.

Here are the numbers you should know: — The current market value of the car you want to buy, which you can research on sites like Edmunds, Kelley Blue Book or TrueCar — Any incentives you might qualify for, such as customer cash back or low-interest financing — The trade-in value of your current car — Estimated fees and local sales tax With these figures, you can determine a target price to empower you in negotiations.

2. Negotiate remotely Once you test drive the car and know what you want, leave the dealership, as you can do almost everything else from home.

This means that if you don’t like the numbers or how you’re being treated during a negotiation, you don’t have to physically leave the dealership. Instead, you can just say goodbye if you’re on the phone, or simply stop email or text communications.

To use this approach, call the dealership and ask for the Internet department. Or email the Internet manager through the company’s website.

Often the response to a remote query will be, “Come on down! We’ll take care of you!”

Instead, say: “I already test drove the car and I know what I want. Now, I’m shopping for my best price.”

3. Shop your price Once you get a price from one dealership, you can “shop” it by contacting other dealers for a quote. Tell the other dealers that you already have an offer in hand. Dealers often test competitors prices so they know what figure they’ll have to offer to win the sale.

A dealer might say, “We’ll beat any competitor’s price.” Instead of tipping your hand and giving them a number to beat (so they can shave off a few hundred bucks), just ask for their best price.

4. Be unpredictable Salespeople are encouraged to control customers by pressuring them into a test drive, getting them into a sales office, and working to close the deal quickly. If you prefer to visit a dealership to hammer out a deal — which I don’t recommend — make sure you’re calling the shots.

A quick way to show you can’t be controlled is to be unpredictable. When you make an offer on a car, and the salesperson leaves to “take the offer to my boss,” you should also leave the sales office. Tell the

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5. Negotiate with your feet I had a retired friend with time on his hands who liked to go to dealerships, kicking the tires on a new car. He let the salesman talk awhile, and then he would walk out — twice. On the third visit, my friend bought the car, figuring the salesman negotiated himself down to his lowest offer.

Another friend of mine brought his restless 2-year-old into the sales office. When negotiations stalled, he picked up his child and prepared to leave. That simple move dropped the price $750. Remember, body language can speak louder than words.

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By Philip Reed A short stint as a car salesman taught me that dealers are pros who negotiate all day for a living — and they always have the home field advantage.

Later, while buying dozens of test vehicles for an automotive website, I was on the other side of negotiations, and experienced the tricks dealers use to pressure buyers.

I’ve found that simple, non-confrontational negotiating tactics can even help car shoppers who hate to haggle still get the best deal possible. These strategies, combined with online tools, can keep car shopping from turning into a battle with the dealer.

Here are five ways to level the playing field:

1-888-606-6309 Mention promotional code 109240 for special introductory pricing. © 2018 firstSTREET for Boomers and Beyond, Inc.

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

FIFTYPLUS — APRIL 2018

Travel

17

Leisure &

Check ratings to avoid the worst and busiest airports. See story on page 19.

Taking it easy at three historic Virginia inns night at an inn or bed-and-breakfast. These three have stories that engaged our interest as well as stays that greatly pleased us.

The Lafayette Inn

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALAN PYLES

Innkeepers-owners Kaye and Alan Pyles know what it’s like to be away from home: they traveled on business — more than 3,000 nights away — for 25 years before purchasing the Lafayette Inn & Restaurant in Stanardsville14 years ago.

My husband, Tom, and I had spent a long day researching a project when we checked into the three-story 1840 Lafayette Inn’s first-floor Washington Suite (handicap-friendly) late in the evening. We found a small bottle of complimentary champagne with ice and a welcome snack.

We enjoyed sipping champagne amidst the antiques collected by the Pyles before turning in — and regretting that our necessary early start would preclude the inn’s full breakfast.

(I had once enjoyed a business lunch of quiche and salad at the restaurant here.)

Just 10 miles from the inn, we had passed Shenandoah National Park’s Swift Run Gap entrance. Even though this wasn’t the time to explore by bike or go tubing, we enjoyed the exhilarating mountain views and beautiful farmland.

Stanardsville, a well-kept secret situated a half-hour’s drive from Charlottesville, is a Virginia and National Historic District with most buildings having been built pre-1900.

We’ve marked our calendar for Sept. 22-23 this year, when we’ll have time to enjoy the inn’s colonnaded porch during the

Chef Alan Pyles and his wife Kate own the antiquefilled Lafayette Inn in Standardsville. The three-story inn was built in 1840.

Virginia Clay Festival, which brings potters, sculptors and jewelers selling their all-clay works in the town.

This time we’ll arrive early enough to sample the Pyles’ Brazilian-style flatiron steak for dinner, finishing off with the bread pudding du jour.

146 East Main St., Stanardsville, VA 22973 Six suites (one handicap-accessible; all with private entrances, $149-$199) (434) 985-6345, www.thelafayette.com; email: info@thelafayette.com

P H OTO C O U R T E S Y O F L’ A U B E R G E

By Martha Steger Now is a good time to get out after being cooped up at home during a winter that blasted through the end of March.

Virginia’s upper Shenandoah Valley provides not only entry to Shenandoah National Park but also to the 105-mile-long Skyline Drive and, connecting to it further south at Waynesboro, the Blue Ridge Parkway.

By mid-to-late May in the valley, the brilliant blossoms of dogwood, redbud, rhododendron and trillium (with bluebells a bit later) rival that of autumn’s radiant foliage.

If wineries, historical attractions, and artisans’ shops are also of interest, the valley makes a great destination for those, too — as does the area around King George, near the top of Virginia’s Northern Neck, where one of the accommodations covered here is located.

Sometimes we want nothing more than a couple of days to unwind with a pleasing

L’Auberge Provencale Bed and Breakfast Inn It was dark, and we drove right past the 18th-century farmhouse on Lord Fairfax Highway in White Post. The concierge at L’Auberge Provencale turned on the L’Auberge Provencale Bed and Breakfast Inn, which lights when we called and dates back to 1752, offers 11 guest rooms and suites, as well as a restaurant. turned around.

The inn and restaurant are normally closed on Tuesdays, but we had pave, sheep’s milk cheese, and salmon; and a phoned more than a week in advance, and winter-spiced waffle with cardamom butter, sales manager Christian Bentley arranged for local hickory syrup, sautéed local apples, and our fireplace to be ready, as well as a fine repast applewood-smoked bacon.

The owners, Alain and Celeste Borel, fea($130 for two) including a bottle of wine, soup, charcuterie, cheeses, French bread, fresh fruit, ture food from about a dozen farms ranging and house-made madeleines to enjoy as we re- from Clarke County and Purcellville, Va., to Boyds and Accident, Md. covered from the day’s drive.

Like the other two properties covered We pondered the antiques in our guestroom; because of the pottery pieces there and in our here, the inn does weddings — but only very bathroom, we enjoyed the coffee-table book, small ones. “We specialize in elopements,” Pottery from the Shenandoah & Cumberland Bentley said.

The inn has seven rooms, four suites, and Valleys. A few rare pieces in the book were from three rooms at Villa La Campagnette, located a the John Bell family, and we were left with the mystery as to whether this was the same John five-minute drive from the inn. Rooms range Bell to whom the site on which L’Auberge from $200-$429/night. There’s a ramp into the Provencale was built around 1752 was granted. restaurant. No rooms are handicapped-accessiWith a late check-out, we opted to have ble, but six rooms are ground-floor ones. breakfast (included with room) delivered: a winter vegetable omelette of rosemary potato See VIRGINIA INNS, page 18

18

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APRIL 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

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Belle Grove Plantation Bed and Breakfast After we checked into the Madison room at Belle Grove Plantation in King George, Michelle Darnell — who, with her husband Brett, has managed the historical property as a B&B since 2011 — asked if we’d like the Revolutionary War patriot-mannequin removed.

We’d rather liked him stationed in our large bedroom, especially as the manor house was birthplace of the man considered father of the U. S. Constitution: James Madison, whose home, Montpelier, lies across the Rappahannock River.

(A couple of osprey on the property had earlier alerted us we weren’t far from water.)

Historians think an epidemic sweeping Orange County on the other side might have led James Madison’s mother to come to her family home on this side of the river toward the end of her pregnancy.

We enjoyed a very good night’s rest, sharing our elegant suite with the lifeless histori-

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cal figure. But we gather some guests didn’t care for his presence, as Michelle recently told me he’s been permanently removed.

We requested a “breakfast with a view” served on the balcony next to our Madison room on the second floor (elevator provided).

It was a gloriously sunny morning topped off with our choices of chorizo and roasted-redpepper frittata and red-white-and-blue waffles (strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream).

Michelle’s culinary skills put afternoon tea here in high demand; reservations are required ($35/person). Don’t go to the wrong Belle Grove, as the Belle Grove Plantation in Middletown (100 miles northwest of here), built by James Madison’s sister, Nelly, and her husband, Major Isaac Hite, is an engaging 1797 historical site but not a bed-andbreakfast.

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OPIOID OVERDOSE TRAINING

To prevent fatal opioid overdoses, Chesterfield County is launching a program to provide training and free medication, naloxone (also known as NARCAN®), in the community. During the 1.5-hour trainings, participants will learn about how to administer naloxone and about resources available in the community. There will be a training on Tuesday, May 15 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Bon Air Library, 9103 Rattlesnake Rd., Chesterfield. The Chesterfield Health District will provide one box, containing two doses, of naloxone nasal spray to everyone who attends a REVIVE! training. A CPR face shield and a pair of gloves also will be provided. For more information or to register, contact Debbie Severt at (804) 717-6839 or visithttp://www.chesterfield.gov/revive.

19

www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com | Leisure & Travel

FIFTYPLUS — APRIL 2018

Look at ratings to avoid the worst airports • The lowest-ranking medium airports — With airport ratings, checking out the “best” list doesn’t really matter much. After the smallest that Power studied — are Columbus, Omaha, San Antoall, if you want to go to Albunio, Kahului, Cleveland, and querque, the fact that Orlando Hartford-Springfield. But all six Airport earns better scores earn scores that are well above doesn’t help much. the average scored in the larger At the other end of the scale, two groups. however, looking at the “worst” airport lists can sometimes help Cities with a choice you decrease your risk of probYou have no real alternative lems and hassles: in most U.S. cities. If you’re • At a multi-airport city, you heading to Philadelphia, for exmight want to try for a flight TRAVEL TIPS ample, you can’t escape its lowto/from the better of the alternaBy Ed Perkins scoring airport. But seven big tives.

U.S. metro areas provide two or • If you’re making a connection, you might want to select an itinerary more alternatives, some with varying satisfaction scores: that avoids the least friendly hub airports.

• Chicago: Midway outscores O’Hare by Bad big airports at least a little bit.

According to the latest J. D. Power survey • Dallas-Ft. Worth: Love Field outscores of U.S. airport customer satisfaction, a few International, but both score well. rate well below average for their size: • Houston: Both airports score well.

•The lowest-rated mega airports are New • Los Angeles: Burbank and Orange York/JFK, Chicago/O’Hare, Los Angeles, County outscore International; Long Beach and Newark. isn’t scored.

• The lowest-rated large airports are • New York: All three mega airports earn Philadelphia and New York/La Guardia; in embarrassingly low scores, but JFK does somefact, La Guardia scores lowest of all airports what better than La Guardia or Newark, which in the report. are the only airports scoring below 700 on

Power’s 1,000-point scale.

• San Francisco: International outscores Oakland and San Jose, but all score reasonably well.

• Washington: Baltimore, Dulles and Reagan National all score well and about the same.

Traffic concerns A new consideration in airport choice is emerging: avoiding city traffic congestion.

Urban traffic jams have become so annoying that “other side of town” airports are starting to become important.

In the San Francisco Bay area, for example, traffic across the Golden Gate Bridge and through the city has become so bad for folks heading to/from Marin and Sonoma that airlines have recently added a bunch of new destinations and flights at Santa Rosa.

Seattle traffic has become bad enough that Alaska has decided to start flying to/from Everett, north of the city center, with other lines to follow.

And you see frequent reports from folks in Georgia, who want to open a new Atlanta airport north of the city.

Although access to Manhattan is terrible, travelers heading to/from some parts of the New York area can minimize traffic problems by flying at Islip, Newburgh, or White Plains,

despite much fewer flight options.

J. D. Power scores can also help influence choice of hub airports: • Avoid hubbing in New York/Newark or New York/JFK on any airline connections if alternatives are available. Both airports are especially difficult for connections between different airlines.

• American’s hubs at Charlotte and DallasFt. Worth International outscore its hubs at Chicago/O’Hare and Philadelphia.

• Delta’s main hubs at Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Salt Lake City all score well.

• United’s hubs at Newark and Chicago/ O’Hare both score poorly; Houston/ Bush, San Francisco and Washington/ Dulles are better alternatives when they work.

The Power study did not include any foreign airports, but Munich has become Europe’s consensus “best hub.” Low-fare travelers also find Reykjavik an easy airport to navigate, although rapid traffic growth is apparently creating some crowding.

At this point, Asia’s many big, new airports all make hubbing relatively easy, although you can expect some long walks.

Send e-mail to Ed Perkins at eperkins@mind.net. © 2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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www.FiftyPlusRichmond.com

FIFTYPLUS — APRIL 2018

Style

21

Arts &

The new Institute of Contemporary Art houses rotating visiting exhibits of art from Richmond and beyond.

Contemporary Art Institute opens at VCU The Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA) has all of the potential to make a big impact as a start-up, and to become a hub for a growing community of art and design lovers.

That’s not to say that residents and visitors who want to experience innovation and creativity don’t already have great resources in Richmond, among them the collections of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, the Library of Virginia, Cabell Library, and the Valentine History Center.

For visiting exhibits only One difference is that the ICA will be a noncollecting museum, meaning it will focus on

fresh, ever-changing exhibitions. The fact that the ICA won’t be focused on building collections means that its attention will be broadly and exclusively focused on contemporary art being produced throughout the world today.

Its opening in the block of Broad and Belvidere Streets at 601 W. Broad signals more than that of a non-collecting museum: the building’s design by Steven Holl Architects — which appears in the abstract as fingers stretched outward — denotes the Institute’s mission to reach out into the world and engage visitors through multiple points of entry for community collaboration. Besides changing exhibitions, the museum will offer performances, films and interdiscipli-

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If the inaugural exhibition, “Declaration” (April 21 – Sept. 9), is any indication, visitors can look forward to a dynamic mix of projects in the ICA’s four galleries. These are works chosen to generate discussion.

As examples, in a walk through the galleries while work was being installed, Interim Director Joe Seipel pointed out exhibits referencing women’s rights as well as pressing environmental issues, and mentioned several “naughty” anatomical pieces of sculpture by members of the local shock-rock group GWAR, formed in 1984.

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By Martha Steger The $41-million Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University — built entirely with private money and opening April 21 — is the most recent feather in Richmond’s many-feathered cap.

Almost five years ago, Forbes magazine listed Virginia’s capital city as one of the top 10 up-and-coming cities in the world for entrepreneurial startups. And last year Virginia Commonwealth University ranked first in the nation for fine arts programs among public universities — and second among all university fine arts programs, according to U.S. News & World Report, making this an auspicious place for such an undertaking.

22

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APRIL 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

Azaleas are your garden’s spring royalty

By Lela Martin flowers, although the size varies greatly. BlosBright regal blossoms make azaleas a fa- soms can be single (usually five petals), hosevorite in the spring garden. Most azalea vari- in-hose (giving the appearance of one eties bloom from blossom inside anmid-April to midother), double (staMay in the mid-Atmens becoming lantic area. petals), and even While the hardier triple. deciduous azaleas, Azaleas may be which lose their early, mid or late leaves in fall, are nabloomers depending tive, you may be on the variety. Include more familiar with several in your landevergreen azaleas, scape to enjoy flowers originally from all spring and early Japan. Because azalsummer. The trait to White azaleas eas have been hyrebloom in the fall has bridized (cross-bred) over many years, there is been bred into Encore and ReBLOOM azaleas, a wide variety from which to choose. among others.

Azaleas belong to the genus RhododenIt’s smart to purchase a plant in the spring dron, and some small-leaved rhododendrons while it’s blooming to ensure the color of the look like evergreen azaleas. To tell them flowers. Typically, garden centers stock more apart, first look at a flower — most azaleas azaleas when they are in bloom. have only 5 or 6 stamens (the pollen-producing part of the flower), while most rhododen- Colors drons have 10 stamens.

Aristocratic azalea flowers are white and various shades of purple, pink, red, reddish orange Blossoms and yellow (deciduous only). They may be a The azalea’s crowning glory is its blossom. single color or bicolor; they may have stripes, Many azalea varieties have two- to three-inch flecks, blotches, margins or sectors (all or part

(the focus of a garden), in borders and even of one or more petals of a different color).

Even the leaves of some azaleas can pro- in containers. Most azaleas prefer fairly mild, vide color. The leaves of evergreen azaleas humid climates, such as those in metro Richwith darker red or purplish red flower colors mond. Make sure that the azalea you choose typically show some red pigmentation in their is hardy in Zone 7.

Select a planting site where azaleas will be foliage as the plant ages. Deciduous azalea leaves can turn yellow, red or orange in au- protected from the wind by buildings, slopes, evergreen shrubs, or evergreen trees such as tumn before they fall.

Many deciduous azaleas are extremely up- pine, juniper or spruce. Azaleas typically prefer filtered sunlight, right, some reaching not dense shade. Ena majestic 20 feet tall. core azaleas, howA few are low-growever, do well in full ing ground covers, sun. such as “Joseph Hill,” Plant azaleas which grows only where there is good about a foot high. drainage and acidic However, most are soil with a pH of 4.5 to shrubs, from dense 6.0. Dig the hole to open, that fall in betwice the diameter of tween. the root ball and only Typically, everas deep. It is better to green azaleas grow Red azaleas plant too shallow, as high as they grow wide. There are even weeping azaleas rather than too deep. Never plant azaleas so such as ‘Pink Cascade.’ Read the plant tag to deeply that the plant stem is covered deeper pick the right size and growth potential for than it had been while growing in the container.

Mulch with coarse materials, such as paryour site. tially decomposed oak leaves or pine needles

Helping azaleas thrive Azaleas can be grown as specimen plants

See AZALEAS, page 25

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FIFTYPLUS — APRIL 2018

Art institute From page 21 The exhibition’s variety is wide-ranging, which Seipel described as “very textured, including sound and video work, three-dimensional sculpture, and beautiful paintings.”

Many of the works by the 30 local, national and international artists in the opening haven’t been shown previously, and none has been shown in the Richmond area before.

The emerging and established artists in “Declaration” have created conversations exploring the beginnings and clarifications of proposed social contracts, whether between two people or as broadly public as an expression of the informal contract between the ICA and the Richmond community.

Individual declarations For openers, more than 100 colorful letterpress prints mounted on a large wall in the Forum (atrium) have quotes or “declarations” from personnel at barbershops and salons around Richmond. Artist Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. of Detroit, Mich., has given expression to these words of wisdom, such as “Life has no limitations except the ones you create” by Classic Creations salon.

The originating shops have their own set of the prints displayed at their venues. The mounted prints in the show will be distributed to members of the community at the conclusion of the exhibition.

Visitors to the exhibit will be able to write and post their own “declarations” as well — in handwritten format in Gallery 3 on the second floor.

Artists from across the globe Just as none of us can know if our declarations will be heard, how they will be received, or where they’ll lead us, the artworks reflect voices of uncertainty in varied media, tones and intensity.

Canadian transgender artist Cassils — whose work spans live art, performance, sculpture, photography and even the occasional watercolor — demonstrates the ultimate “uncertainty” through the real human terror of being lit on fire. ICA visitors can sense the terror through the graphic video on display, which uses stunt actors enduring a 14 second full-body burn (which has been extended to 14 minutes of slow motion).

Other participating artists come from around the world, including the Bahamas, England, Holland, Italy, Cuba, Argentina and Japan.

Some of them, such as ICA Artist in Residence Paul Rucker, will be present to talk to visitors on ICA’s opening day. In 2015, Rucker, who is African American, began making a Ku Klux Klan robe every week for a year. Richmond has a much larger display of the robes than those exhibited as part of his touring show in Baltimore; Seattle and Ellens-

burg, Wash.; Ferguson, Mo.; and York, Pa. Rucker said, “Each robe is a riddle [dealing] with the ideology, organization, and motivation of the KKK. The robes I make…from scratch, using non-traditional materials…are based on the second wave of the Ku Klux Klan that had between 4 and 5 million members in the 1920s,” he said. “That’s 5 percent of the U.S. population at the time, the same number as the population of NYC [then].”

Among other Richmond artists featured in “Declaration” are Sonya Clark (“Edifice and Mortar,” including bricks, mortar, hair, Plexiglas and steel); Andrea Donnelly (“To the Various Futures,” including painted, woven and rewoven cotton thread and pigment); Lily Lamberta and All the Saints Theater Company (“Our Waters Will Rise,” including mixed media and papier-mache puppets, and “A Funerary March for the Confederacy” from Richmond’s 2017 Halloween Parade); Jon-Phillip Sheridan (“Fixed Air,” video installation with live carbon emission sensors); and Stephen Vitiello (“whether there was a bell or whether I knocked,” 18-channel sound installation).

How the Welsh Changed the World The Tale of Two Tredegars

June performances Paul Rucker will be playing cello with students from his improvisational music class and members of the Richmond Symphony as part of the three-day Festival of the River on Brown’s Island on June 9. ICA is a partner of the festival.

Rucker said he’s writing a new composition that integrates interviews with people in communities surrounding the James River.

Also performing, at the Festival of the River, though in a very different way, will be Hope Ginsburg, whose video with sound, “Land Dive Team: Bay of Fundy 2016,” is part of the ICA display. The video shows three divers and Ginsburg in October 2015, sitting in meditation at the shore of the Bay of Fundy on the coast of St. John, in New Brunswick, Canada, where the tides go up and down 50 feet, twice a day.

In this unusual “dive,” they sat for an hour and a half as the tide came in and rose around their bodies. Ginsburg said, “[This] was the time it took for the water to rise from our fins, where the piece begins, to over our heads so that the only remaining trace of us was our breath hitting the surface of the water in clusters of bubbles.”

Admission to the ICA is free, but timed tickets are required for building and exhibition access during opening weekend (April 21-22). After the opening, timed tickets will be required for exhibition entry and special events only.

Tickets will be available prior to the opening. For tickets and more information, go to ica.vcu.edu or call (804) 828-2823.

A grand opening block party will be held outdoors at 601 W. Broad St. on April 21 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The block party is free and open to the public.

The Tale of Two Tredegars explores the historic connection between the iron towns of Tredegar, Wales and Richmond, Virginia. A fascinating story of the influence of the Welsh people on the developing U.S. and the legacy that was left. Welsh workers played an important part building and operating one of the most important U.S. industrial landmarks, the ironworks of Richmond, named Tredegar in honor of the Welsh from Tredegar, Wales.

THURSDAY, APRIL 26 AT 10 PM

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APRIL 2018 — FIFTYPLUS

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FIFTYPLUS — APRIL 2018

Azaleas From page 22 about 2 inches deep, and water after planting.

Make sure to protect your azalea’s shallow roots from damage. Take care to keep azaleas hydrated during the summer months; however, do not water excessively in the fall.

Fertilize after blooming with a product specially formulated for azaleas and other acid-loving plants (for example, Espoma Holly-tone); do not fertilize after July 1. In the fall, replenish mulch to the two-inch depth. Pruning azaleas is not usually necessary.

Ovulinia petal blight, another fungal infection, is easily spread from flower to flower by wind, rain and insects. Select cultivars that are more resistant to problems such as azalea lace bug and Phytophthora. Stem bark splitting results from rapid temperature changes and freezing.

But don’t let these potential problems keep you from allowing azaleas to reign in your garden.

Lela Martin is a Master Gardener with the Chesterfield County office of the Virginia Cooperative Extension.

FROM PAGE 26 ANSWERS TO CROSSWORD

Potential problems Unfortunately, deer seem to enjoy azaleas as much as people do and may thwart the azalea’s accession to the throne.

The azalea lace bug is the most common insect culprit. It sucks plant sap from the underside of leaves, causing a pale stippling on their upper surfaces, giving leaves a grayish cast. The whole leaf appears white and drops early. Treatment plans for an infestation include horticultural oil, insecticidal soap, and neem-based products. Also troublesome can be aphids, leaf miners and scale.

The most common diseases that affect azaleas are Phytophthora root and crown rot (a fungus that thrives in poorly drained or wet conditions). Once an area is infected, the fungus cannot be eradicated from the soil.

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STILL INTERESTED IN LIONEL, AmFlyer, Marx electric toy trains of your youth? The Virginia Train Collectors is a forty-year old, 250+ members, Richmond-based club. We have monthly meetings, quarterly train shows, and seasonal socials. For additional information, call George Hoffer, 804-741-4065.

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1. Weeps 5. Yoga accessory 8. Ocean’s Eleven targets 13. Mr. E Coyote, to pals 14. Man from Sudan 16. TV teaser 17. “Thanks ___!”

18. Get on one’s nerves 19. Nick at Nite broadcast, usually 20. Fast ... dairy/seafood 23. Scarecrow and ___ King 24. IRS term for “Employer Identification Number” 25. “Wow; what a great matador”, briefly 26. 23 Across network 29. SCIENCE center 30. Response to a ques.

31. Lower-case end to TN state capital 32. ... appetizer 36. Smell or taste 37. Annual HS volumes 38. Little map in a big map 39. ... sidedish 42. End in ___ 43. Ft. Sumter summer setting 44. Busiest airport in TX 45. Ice beer container 46. Ice cream container 47. ___-doo economics 48. Numberless billiard ball 51. ... veggies 55. The U in UHF 57. The U in ICU 58. Legal document 59. Long-distance runner 60. Slight advantage 61. Real head-scratchers 62. ___ a fox 63. First across in every puzzle 64. Use a hot-air balloon

1. Bee plentiful 2. Wildcatter 3. ‘net diaries 4. ___ poor example 5. Gin and vermouth 6. Suffix with parliament7. After-bath powder 8. Indulgent outing 9. Greek god who could have used anger management classes 10. Take back a house 11. Bird which lays two-pound green eggs 12. Cain, to Adam 15. Tell the truth 21. Giggle sound 22. Ultimatum ender 27. Royal and baby 28. Natl. Bourbon Heritage Month 29. ___ Really Going Out with Him? 30. Monastery leader 31. “The future ___!”

32. Consumed a second time 33. Not looking good 34. Two-time Outstanding Drama Emmy winner in the 90’s 35. ___ tat 36. 60-ft. tall Washington state 40. Fifth book of the OT 41. Chosen child 46. Peter and Paul (but not Mary) 47. Victorious hand-gesture 48. Knickknack 49. Erie canal city, inside the word NAUTICAL 50. Poly-___ blend fabric 52. Output of the liver 53. Opposite of ecto54. Those that violate Ben Franklin’s sleep advice 55. Speaker’s filler words 56. “___ Abner”

Answers on page 25.

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FIFTYPLUS — APRIL 2018

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